Within the towering blue ice mountains, the massive Fire Lizard King was struggling incessantly. Each of his struggles caused the ice mountain to rumble, with white cracks continuously appearing throughout the ice.
Yet, in the moments of his struggle, the ice mountain seemed to possess a life of its own, constantly mending these cracks. Although the speed of mending was not as fast as the speed at which the cracks appeared, the Frost Grand Wizard was not dissatisfied.
As a fourth-ring Wizard, being able to seal a fifth-level creature was already taking advantage of the ignorance of the indigenous beings.
To achieve a permanent seal, he would at least have to wait until he became a fifth-ring Wizard.
After dealing with Minal, the Frost Grand Wizard waved his staff, and the White Wizard Legion instantly changed direction, heading towards Luxor Province.
Now, there was no life in the entire Crimson Sun World that could contend with Wizards; it was time to eliminate these Fire Lizards.
The hundred-thousand-strong White Wizard Legion was already sufficient to sweep through Luxor, and with the addition of the Frost Grand Wizard, the speed of this sweep would be even faster.
With a wave of his staff, a spell capable of enveloping an entire city took shape. A biting cold wind from the water element realm surged forth from the magical exit, instantly turning a city into an ice sculpture. All beings within the city, regardless of their level, perished in an instant.
In the face of such near-miraculous power, the morale of the Fire Lizards instantly collapsed. Even the Dragon Beast Knight Order could not maintain their spirit and began to flee in large numbers.
In just one day, the spearhead of the White Wizard Legion had moved from the outskirts of Luxor Province to outside Luxor City.
As the commander of the Dragon Beast Knight Order and the last general of the Linksa Empire, Barashar stood atop the central pyramid of the city, quietly watching the Wizard army draw closer to Luxor.
A leader of the Dragon Beast Knight Order approached Barashar, his voice filled with solemnity:
"My lord, what should we do!?"
Barashar glanced at him and replied in an incredibly calm tone, "What to do? I have already ordered the disbandment of the knight order. If you want to resist, go play hide and seek with the Wizards; if you don't want to resist, then find a deep mountain forest to hide in.
The Wizards have already won. If you hide well enough, you should be able to live until you die."
The leader looked up at Barashar, his golden pupils tinged with blood, "My lord, we have not lost yet! Lord Morik is still alive! He will surely lead us to drive these Wizards away!"
Barashar sighed and gently shook his head, "Enough, you may leave. I have already told you what to do."
"My lord!" the leader growled, "We need a leader!"
"You are wrong; you do not need a leader." Barashar's tone suddenly sharpened, "The Dragon Beast Knight Order will only cause trouble for these Wizards if it disbands. If you gather together, you will only be dealt with by a single spell from a Great Wizard.
Although I look down on those fallen bandits, I must admit that they cause more trouble for the Wizards than we do."
As he spoke, a hint of a bitter smile mixed with mockery suddenly appeared on Barashar's face.
"Kid, do you know? If you want to inflict significant losses on these Wizards, what you need to do now is to kill."
"Kill Wizards? We definitely…"
"No, kill Fire Lizards."
Barashar drew a curved dagger from his waist, the blade smooth as a mirror, reflecting the gaunt face of a Fire Lizard.
For the past ten years, Barashar had lived in constant fear, always considering what to do if the Wizards attacked him.
Now, he no longer had to think.
Barashar continued, "To the Wizards, Fire Lizards are wealth. If you want to make them suffer heavy losses, then go kill Fire Lizards, and when they catch you, commit suicide."
The leader's face turned pale, frightened by Barashar's words.
Seeing his expression, Barashar shook his head with a smile.
"Don't just stand there in a daze; do whatever you want. My duty is done, and I should follow His Majesty now."
With that, Barashar swung the dagger across his neck.
In the forty-fifth year of the war, Barashar, the last general of the Linksa Empire, died, marking the complete downfall of the Linksa Empire, one of the three great empires of the Crimson Sun World.
The countdown to the destruction of the Fire Lizard clan had begun.
...
Outside Luxor City, Richard stealthily arrived at the volcano where the Dragon Beast Breeding Base was located.
The Linksa Empire was originally under the jurisdiction of the Hellfire Grand Wizard's Floating City, and the infiltrating Black Wizards were also recruited by the Hellfire Grand Wizard. But now, the one attacking Luxor was the Frost Grand Wizard's White Wizard Legion, and those White Wizards were not approaching the base.
Richard pondered that the intelligence regarding the Dragon Beast Breeding Base had likely not been shared by the Hellfire Grand Wizard's command. Even the few Third Circle Wizards involved in the initial operation might not have reported this information.
Richard did not flee during the battle between the Great Wizard and the Fire Lizard King.
Now, with the Great Wizard attacking, Richard had the advantage of being close to the action, becoming one of the first Wizards to invade Luxor.
At this moment, only Richard knew about the Dragon Beast Breeding Base.
"Ha ha, although I didn't get the flesh and blood of the Fire Lizard King, obtaining the technology of the pioneers is also quite good."
Richard searched around the volcano's perimeter for a while and quickly found a concealed entrance.
At the entrance, two Dragon Beast knights had already committed suicide by poison, their bodies beginning to rot under the effects of the toxin.
"Suicide… sigh."
Richard entered the passage and soon arrived at the outskirts of the Dragon Beast Breeding Base. This place, once a top priority for the Linksa Empire, was now eerily silent.
Suicidal Fire Lizards were scattered throughout the base, using the same poison as the Dragon Beast knights at the entrance.
To be honest, seeing this scene left Richard momentarily stunned.
This scene was far more impactful than the severed limbs and remains on the battlefield.
Before long, Richard snapped back to reality and began flying towards the core area of the base.
Along the way, he saw dead Dragon Beasts and suicidal Fire Lizards everywhere, which made Richard feel uneasy.
He hated this scene.
If these Fire Lizards had fought him, their deaths would not have stirred a single ripple in his heart. But their suicides filled him with an indescribable sense of guilt.
Richard felt extremely hypocritical; who was he shedding crocodile tears for? He flew in silence, and suddenly, a living creature appeared in his perception.
It was a Fire Lizard! Richard tightened his grip on his staff, his face seemingly relieved, as if a burden had been lifted from his heart.
He bypassed the corpses and found the surviving Fire Lizard—an old Fire Lizard, with dull, lifeless scales and eyes that shone like gold, proving his age.
This Fire Lizard had not committed suicide; at that moment, he was sorting through a batch of documents. Upon seeing Richard's arrival, he paused for a moment.
"Did you arrive at Luxor so quickly?"
Richard's mental energy swept over the old Fire Lizard; he was merely a first-level creature, and a dying one at that.
There was no resistance.
After a moment of silence, Richard asked, "...What are you doing?"
"Sorting documents."
"Didn't your superior order you to destroy the documents?"
"Indeed, but he is already dead." The Fire Lizard pointed to a decaying Fire Lizard nearby, "That's him; he's been dead for half a day."
The calmness of the Fire Lizard left Richard somewhat bewildered; at that moment, they seemed less like invaders and more like two passersby casually chatting on the street.
"...Can I see the documents?" Richard asked.
The Fire Lizard pointed to a neat stack of documents on the other side of his body, "These are sorted; you can look at these if you want."
The Fire Lizard's attitude ignited a flicker of anger within Richard; the Fire Lizard should not be so calm. Why was he not resisting?
Shouldn't he be rifling through blood-stained documents on his own corpse?
"You are very angry," the old Fire Lizard suddenly said.
"Indeed." Richard replied coldly, "Why are you not resisting? The Wizards have slaughtered your kin, destroyed your city, and obliterated your nation.
Are you not angry?"
"What good is anger?" the old Fire Lizard retorted, "Can anger allow me to kill you? With my old arms and legs?"
Richard was left speechless.
"You see, you also know I cannot kill you. So why should I be angry? Anger might just kill me.
Then who will sort the documents?"
"Why are you sorting the documents?" Richard couldn't help but ask, "What are these things that make you want to sort them even at this time?"
Richard stepped forward and took the documents in hand, flipping through them. The contents inside shocked him.
"This is the breeding process for Dragon Beasts!?"
The Fire Lizard pulled out a stack of documents from a nearby cabinet and casually replied, "Good eye; are all you Wizards so knowledgeable?"
Richard looked at the old Fire Lizard in shock, "This information is very useful to Wizards; you should destroy it."
"Destroy? Ha ha." The old Fire Lizard suddenly laughed, "I know it should be destroyed, but I've spent three hundred years researching these Dragon Beasts; the vast majority of my life has been spent in this base.
These things are like my children; how could I bear to destroy them?"
The old Fire Lizard's voice grew increasingly angry, but by the end, it suddenly softened.
"Besides, these things would be good for you too." The old Fire Lizard set aside a stack of sorted documents, "I've heard that you Wizards don't care much for gold and gems, but you value knowledge greatly.
If these things remain in your hands, they should be treated well. Years from now, when the Fire Lizards have been exterminated by you,
these documents can still prove to future generations that there once existed a race called Fire Lizards among the stars."
"...How do you know we intend to exterminate the Fire Lizards?"
A hint of mockery appeared on the old Fire Lizard's lips.
"Fire Lizards that become slaves are no longer Fire Lizards. Ever since the Fire Lizard King raised the banner of resistance against the dragons, Fire Lizards have ceased to be slaves. Even the name Fire Lizard was only given after the dragons were overthrown.
Before that, the Crimson Sun World had only dragons and slaves."
Richard fell silent.
The name Fire Lizard was given by the Wizards; if translated from the Fire Lizard's own language, they should call themselves—
Liberators.
(End of this chapter)