In July, the hottest month of the year in the Red Sun World.
During this month, three red suns would appear simultaneously in the sky and cross the highest point in the heavens. The scorching sunlight would shine down upon the land, making the entire world feel like a furnace.
However, this hottest month of the year is also the busiest month for the Fire Lizard tribe.
Early in the morning, in the vast city surrounding the volcano, countless lizardmen with red scales and standing nearly two meters tall walked out of their buildings. They wore white robes, and the wealthier ones had golden thread patterns embroidered on their garments.
July is the harvest month for the Fire Lizard tribe.
This is when the Fire Dragon Grass planted in August of the previous year will be ready for harvest. These red plants, resembling thorny bushes, will bear sweet and spicy Dragon Flame Fruits. When ground into powder, their leaves and branches become the staple food of the Fire Lizard tribe.
At the same time, this month is also a month of celebration.
After the harvest, the Fire Lizards gather together to begin an all-night celebration. The fiery liquor brewed from the Dragon Flame Fruits serves as a catalyst for countless young Fire Lizard males and females. They fall in love, get married, and have offspring during this month, only to discard these relationships by the end of the month.
Until the next year's celebration.
As a Silver Horn noble of the Morik Empire, Azuhan Yajilit woke up early from his 30-square-meter bed and moved the Fire Lizard maiden he had mated with the night before off of himself.
As a Silver Horn noble, his status within the Fire Lizard-formed empire was quite high, second only to the Fire Lizard King living in the Golden Tower.
However, unlike those nobles who only indulged in pleasure, Azuhan was very diligent.
This trait came from his father, a powerful Dragon Warrior who rose from a hornless commoner to become a Silver Horn noble.
But in the eyes of the other nobles, Azuhan's diligence only proved he was still just a peasant in their eyes.
"Nobles shouldn't have to be as diligent as commoners. We are born with powers far beyond ordinary people."
Azuhan's mind flashed with the words of a young noble and he couldn't help but scoff.
If nobles were truly that powerful, how did his father go from being a hornless commoner to a Silver Horn noble? How did he rise to become the empire's grand general with his new status?
With that thought, Azuhan walked to his backyard, preparing to train as his father had taught him.
The combat strength of the Fire Lizard tribe comes from the awakening of their bloodline. When a Fire Lizard awakens the dragon blood hidden within, two dragon horns will begin to grow on their head.
Once the dragon horns fully grow, the Fire Lizard automatically becomes a noble, specifically a low-level Iron Horn Dragon Warrior.
According to the nobles, bloodline awakening is inherent. Nobles are born nobles and will always be nobles.
But in reality, many of the ancestors of nobles awakened their bloodlines later in life.
Nobles must ensure the sanctity of their identity. If every Fire Lizard could become a noble, then where would their pride and their sense of superiority go?
Thus, every time a Fire Lizard with awakened bloodline appears, it adds to the number of nobles indulging in drunken celebrations during the Festival Month.
Walking out of his room, the thick fire elements hit Azuhan's face.
His house was very close to the volcano. The extreme heat and the rich fire elements here would dehydrate and kill an ordinary Fire Lizard. But for Azuhan, the temperature was merely a little warm.
He was already an adult, and his dragon horns had fully grown. The dragon blood within his body continuously improved his physique. Even without moving, his physical strength would slowly grow.
In time, when he grew to the level of his father, even the lava within the volcano would feel like a hot spring to him.
Entering the yard, Azuhan began to consume the fire elements in the air, following the method his father had taught him.
Inhaling—exhaling—Inhaling—exhaling...
With each breath, the dense fire elements entered his blood.
Azuhan's body trembled as the concentration of fire elements in his blood rose. His blood felt like scorching magma, and the burning sensation constantly stimulated every nerve in his body.
Yet, his breathing remained steady. His rhythmic breaths allowed him to perfectly avoid some of his body's natural instincts, and the fire element concentration in his blood continued to climb.
Soon, the fire element reached a critical point, and flames erupted from his body. He began to feel an ethereal sensation.
Suddenly, he stopped breathing, and the concentration of fire elements in his blood rapidly dropped.
The fire elements were gathered into his dragon breath pouch. As the fire elements accumulated in the pouch, Azuhan suddenly opened his mouth, and a fan-shaped golden dragon breath immediately covered much of the yard.
The golden flames of the dragon breath were so hot that they melted rocks instantly.
"Not bad. Looks like you haven't been slacking off lately."
A voice came from behind Azuhan. He immediately turned around, his body tensing and entering a combat stance.
But when he saw who it was, he quickly relaxed.
"Father, you always sneak up on me like this," Azuhan complained.
In front of Azuhan stood a Fire Lizard more than four meters tall, watching him quietly. Even though Azuhan had grown into an adult, he was only up to the chest of this Fire Lizard. This Fire Lizard wore a white robe with golden embroidery, and his scales, exposed to the sunlight, shimmered with gold. His golden dragon eyes looked extremely imposing, and his dragon horns were majestic, adorned with golden rings—a symbol of the Fire Lizard King's favor, representing great achievements.
This Fire Lizard was Azuhan's father—Harash Yajilit, the Grand General of the Morik Empire.
"I never deliberately hide my movements. If you didn't notice, that's your problem," Harash said calmly.
Azuhan felt a bit embarrassed. His father was always straightforward, and when it came to speaking, Harash had probably offended every high-ranking official in the empire, even angering the Fire Lizard King with his words.
"Father, is there something you need? Aren't you busy discussing the war with the Linksa Empire?" Azuhan tried to change the subject.
"Are you planning to send me into battle?"
Harash was silent for a moment before suddenly turning and walking towards the house.
"Come with me. There are some things you need to know."
Entering the house, Azuhan saw several female Fire Lizards walking out of his room. Harash's expression remained emotionless. After they left, Harash's lips curled into a smile—or what could be considered a smile.
"Eleven. It seems your bloodline is progressing smoothly. Truly my son."
Azuhan smiled awkwardly. The awakening of his dragon blood had greatly amplified his desires, and his strength was immense. Without multiple females of his level, no single Fire Lizard could endure his advances.
Following Harash, they reached a room deep in the house.
This was a quiet room where Azuhan would often go to cope with the beastly instincts brought on by his bloodline's awakening. The awakening of dragon blood often brought with it intense animalistic instincts, which many nobles considered an honor and even competed to see who was more ferocious.
However, Harash had warned Azuhan that only by controlling this beastliness could he become a qualified Dragon Warrior.
Once inside the quiet room, Harash closed the door and his expression became solemn.
"My son, the war with the Linksa Empire has been stopped."
"Stopped?" Azuhan was surprised. Since when had the Fire Lizard King of the Morik Empire become so lenient?
"Yes. In addition to the war with the Linksa Empire, our war with the Myas Empire has also stopped. The three major empires have halted all preparations for war."
Harash's words were clearly good news, but his tone was unusually heavy, as if something terrible was behind it.
"Father, isn't this a good thing? The wars are stopping. Isn't that wonderful? The three empires have been fighting for over a hundred years. Since I was born, they've been at war. Now that it's over, it's the best thing possible."
Harash shook his head as he listened to his son's naive words.
"Azuhan, what if the three empires are not just stopping the war but are also planning to unite?"
"Unite!?" Azuhan's pupils shrank. "Impossible! The three major empires would never unite. Unity requires a common enemy. If the empires unite, then all the Fire Lizards in the Red Sun World—no, all the living creatures—wouldn't stand a chance."
"But that's exactly what's happening," Harash said calmly. "The three empires have begun a limited military alliance, and our military preparations haven't stopped because of the ceasefire."
Hearing these words from Harash, Azuhan couldn't help but shudder.
A military alliance? Even with a ceasefire, the military preparations never stopped.
Could it be that a new race had appeared that required all three empires to unite against it?
Azuhan's mind raced, recalling ancient legends—legends of a time when the Fire Lizard tribe had been that united.
"Could it be the return of the dragons?" Azuhan couldn't help but ask.
Harash shook his head. "No, the enemy this time is not the dragons."
"According to information from certain beings in the star realm, we are facing a race called the Wizards.
A terrifying race that has conquered countless worlds."
...
In the endless void beyond the sky, two floating cities with diameters of several tens of thousands of meters were slowly entering the world's barrier.
After two years of traveling and one year of breaking through the barrier, the wizard's floating city was finally about to enter this small world.
Richard stood at the edge of the floating city, quietly watching as the world barrier slowly became transparent. Through the magical barrier, he could clearly see that, in this world full of sandstone, countless native creatures were already preparing for war.
"This is a warlike species," a voice came from beside Richard.
Richard turned to look. A chubby man in a white robe, with gold-framed monocles, was standing next to him, watching the world below.
"Bob, what brings you out today?" Richard greeted him casually.
Bob was a representative of the Nine Stars Wizard Guild accompanying the army. By chance, he had learned that Richard was the creator of the magical support vehicle.
Since then, this wizard had been trying to get closer to Richard.
Bob grinned at Richard, his white teeth gleaming with a bloodthirsty gleam.
"The great war is about to begin. Such scenes are rare."
Suddenly, a voice echoed from Richard's communication crystal.
"Attention all wizards, att
ention all wizards, the floating city is about to enter the world's interior. The floating city is about to enter the world's interior."
[Everyone, the war has begun.]