Chapter 75 1. National Geographic Magazine (2-in-1 Water)
In the autumn, Maranur called Dacius back to Clar Karond to watch the games in the arena, which were sometimes exciting and sometimes boring, usually a show by the Sisters of Slaughter.
Each bald sister has a story about family and revenge. They believe in Edrezer, usually holding a double-hook whip in their hands, a small irregular rectangular serrated shield on their left forearm, and a strangely shaped golden mask on their heads. Except for their private parts, their upper bodies are covered with scars and brass decorations inlaid on their bodies, and their thighs are exposed to the air without any protection.
For these sisters, pure killing instinct can replace discipline and training. Fighting itself is a part of life, it happens every moment, each time with swift reflexes and a sharp blow.
So, the fights between the Sisters of Slaughter and the sturdy slaves were quite boring, as the slaves could rarely withstand the first few rounds of attack. Darkius yawned profusely, the shouting all around him infuriating. He wanted to stand up and act like the Roman Emperor, giving a thumbs-down sign.
But there were also moments of brilliance, such as when a small group of sisters defeated a rampaging chimera with terrifying artistry and unpredictable attacks, and even Darkus and the Druki dignitaries around him stood up and cheered.
After their vengeance, most sisters spend their lives in the arena, performing bloody battle displays for the howling Duruchi. Of course, these sisters grow weary of the rituals of arena combat, finding them stagnant and unrewarding. Therefore, sisters sometimes seek out Black Ark admirals preparing for raids or Dreadlords before war, hoping to test their skills on the real battlefield. Few admirals or Dreadlords refuse such an offer, as the sisters demand no spoils of war in exchange for their services, only the promise of a foe who can truly test them.
During the Twilight Tide, Daxus did not go to the forest farm but stood in the hall of the Night Lord's Castle. As expected, nothing happened.
Darkius's 17th year was an extremely comfortable one, perhaps because leeks hadn't grown yet. He was also bored to death, but he wasn't crazy enough to ride a Cold One to Lustria.
In the year 1004 of the Imperial Calendar, a thousand years ago, Lord Mazdamundi consulted the Huta Slate and used his great power to raise a mountain range of Gray Watch at the border of Naggaroth and Lustria. It was said that this was to prevent the large-scale invasion of the Duruchi?
Daquus had consulted a great deal of information this year and had interviewed veterans, explorers, sailors, and Chupakoko who had been to Lustria and returned.
It takes three or four months to travel from Clar Karond to the Grey Watch Mountains, even if there are no accidents. The journey requires crossing several mountains and wading through swamps. Even after crossing the Grey Watch Mountains, there are still winding paths through the Viper Forest and crossing the Snake Tongue River at a narrow fording point north of Hexotar, the City of the Sun.
Dacus may have been with this group of Druzy for too long, and his mental state is a little abnormal, but he is not stupid.
The Black Ark, the Harbinger of Despair, will be repaired this winter, and the raid will begin next year when the Sea of Malice thaws. Dastan Coldeye will be the admiral, and he has promised to send Darkius to Lustria.
At dinner time, Maranul rarely appeared in the dining area of Nightlord Castle, eating.
After swallowing his food, Dacuus gracefully swirled the wine in his glass and said, "My dear brother, Ryan has been looking for me."
"Oh? He wants to marry Dastan Coldeye's sister?"
Dacreus shrugged and jokingly asked, "Does the whole of Clar Karond know about this?"
"That's not the case. Even a fool can see what Ryan means. Okay, the Takia family is now qualified. I'll ask Dastan Cold Eyes someday."
Ever since the surprise attack in the east of the city, Ryan has been obsessed with Dastan Lengyan's sister. Whenever he returns to the city, he tries to get close to her no matter what.
"Would you like to go to Lustria together?"
Maranur put down his cutlery, looked at Dacius seriously, and said, "My dear brother, is this possible?" He pointed to the ceiling and said, "He won't agree. I'd better stay in Clar Karond and wait for my father's Malevolent Temple to return from the raid. But don't forget me if you find anything good."
After finishing his meal, Dacus stood up, pressed Maranur's shoulder, and whispered in his ear, "Don't worry, it's no problem, my dear brother. I'll buy you two big fans. When you go out in the winter, I'll have the waiters fan you from behind. It'll definitely be a great show!"
Maranul reacted quickly and punched Dacus sideways, and Dacus ran away.
Not much happened that winter. The only major event was the wedding of Ryan Takia and Elmir Lengyan at the renovated Takia ancestral home. The two Dakwus brothers officiated, and all the close family members attended. It wasn't lavish, but it was incredibly lively. Dakwus asked Walter to wander around the ballroom. Walter's legs were a bit wobbly, but Walter was now with Dakwus and was the head of the Thorn Family. He wanted to see if he could find a female Duruchi he liked. But maybe there wasn't anyone Walter liked?
The new year had begun, and eighteen-year-old Daquus was making final preparations. He had slates, weapons, tools, clothing, and potions ready. After confirming everything was in order, he set off with a group of distinguished attendants. It was the same familiar faces: the three siblings of the Takaia family, Walter, Bainie, Edmund, Kalyon, Chupakoko, and the Dark Ankylosaur. Elmire was also coming along. She was about eighty years older than Ryan and followed the fighting style of the Black Ark Pirates.
Daxus still enjoyed the treatment of a presidential suite, but his room had been upgraded from three stars to four stars. The Black Ark had already entered the underground sea channel. He was flipping through the only available information under the candles in the cabin of the Black Ark's spire, checking and recalling the information about the two towers, Zamuda and Chapeyuto, which had sunk to the bottom of the sea.
The only information about Zamudar is a single sentence: during the Chaos Demon Invasion, countless souls were slaughtered in agony, and dark tentacles were summoned to drag the great temple-city of Zamudar into the depths of the sea, where its dome of power was finally shattered. And that's all. This is from the memoirs of a Lothern explorer before the Elven Civil War.
There's slightly more information about Chapeiuto. Darkius was particularly impressed by this "Lost City of Gold." Chapeiuto, likewise, slid mercilessly into the sea during the Great Invasion. The city lies offshore, near the Flame Swamp. It's said to be inhabited by a variety of terrifying and ferocious predators with glowing eyes, pale flesh, and vast, gaping maws covered in millions of crooked teeth. It's said that an underwater empire now occupies the ancient city, an ancient and sinister race that occasionally raids the sea in the dead of the moonless night, dragging unfortunate sailors to their doom.
But Dacius also knew what was in the sunken temple-city near the sea.
Knowing that he had to go home, Chupakoko ran around on the deck, finding everything new. Of course, he was smart and knew what not to mess with. After getting on the boat, he never messed with the black dragon sleeping in the dragon's nest behind the deck.
The black dragon was secretly cultivated by Malekith in Naggaroth. During the civil war, his lieutenants arranged for the theft of the dragon's egg from the Kingdom of Caledor. Alaindrien, the patriarch of the Hellbane family, was presumably involved. This black dragon was given on credit by Newkor to the Cold Eyes family. It was a descendant of Sulekh, and corruption and powerful dark magic had permeated its body.
A single black dragon can devastate entire armies with its claws, horns, and fangs, its caustic breath blasting from its maw blasting away its victims' lungs and corroding their skin. Its tough hide can withstand the most powerful arrows, but its greatest weapon is the fear it instills in its enemies of a massive, bloodthirsty monster looming overhead, powerless to stop it.
After putting down the book and rubbing his nose, Daquus lay on the railing of the spire and looked at the dark underground sea in amazement. The underground between the mortal world is divided into many layers, such as underground seas, tunnels, and world roots. This is a place that makes geologists ecstatic, but unfortunately he is not one of them.
When Druki first arrived in Naggaroth, they could only plunder the Vast Ocean and the Chaos Sea through the Sea of Malice and the Sea of Chill. But then they discovered the Undersea, a vast underground waterway system. The vast sea beneath Naggaroth connected the Chaos Sea to the western coast of Naggaroth's Sea of Malice.
The underground sea routes are extremely dangerous, filled with a maze of intricate tunnels and hidden caves. Large ships entering these tunnels and caves are on their own accord, as many end up in dead ends. Navigating the more common routes is equally fraught with danger, as landslides and rising and falling tides can pose deadly risks. Deep beneath the earth also dwell a large number of strange and cruel blind sea monsters. Compared to the Duruchi, their eyes are better adapted to the dark underground environment. There's a reason the Black Ark's deck is thirty meters high.
As political struggles escalated between Clar Karond and other cities, some Duruchi were driven out and became Shadows. Some hid in the mountains, while others enthusiastically explored and developed the Undersea's maritime routes, selling information to admirals and captains. Even the Shadows have only uncovered a fraction of the Undersea's secrets. With each passing year, more discoveries were made, and rumors spread among Duruchi society that a mysterious civilization lay hidden within the dark caverns even deeper beneath the earth.
Darkus knew that there was something deep underground, and they were indeed forced to hide deep underground. As for what exactly it was and what they were hiding from, they had to ask the ancient saints, the most ancient Master K, and the legendary Grand Plan.
Now Druzil's navy can quickly travel to various places from the Underground Sea, such as the Boiling Sea on the west coast of Naggaroth, the Stormy Sea in Lustria, the Serpent Sea, etc.
Off the western coast of Naggaroth lies a sea filled with small islands and behemoths known as the Boiling Sea. It was created long ago, long before the recorded history of the Elven people. A massive earthquake tore apart the coasts bordering the outer sea, dumping them into the sea, forming the patchwork of islands that now stretch along the western coast. The earthquake also deeply ripped the seabed, creating massive fissures that have not healed to this day. Through these fissures, boiling magma surges from the planet's core, heating the waters and creating thick steam at the surface. Parts of the sea are constantly boiling, giving rise to the region's name.
Of all the vessels of the Duruchi, only the Black Ark can enter these inhospitable and treacherous waters. Beneath the world's waves dwell many wondrous and dangerous creatures. From fire-breathing sea dragons to the krakens that rage in the vast ocean, the sea's bounty is as rich and varied as life on land. The Duruchi come here with one purpose: to capture the vicious and monstrous sea beasts that are a vital part of their fleets. While many parts of the Boiling Sea are deadly to all forms of life, in some places, the mineral-rich waters teem with savage predators.
Many of these behemoths, such as the famous and ferocious hell dragons and the huge sea dragons, have long served as tools of war for Druki, at least since Druki learned how to use magic to sew towers of destruction and plunder onto the backs of these behemoths.
Hell Dragons, relatives of Sea Dragons, live in large herds within the Boiling Sea. Smaller than Sea Dragons, they are far more ferocious, combining razor-sharp claws with fangs capable of biting through steel. They are used to pull the Towers of Doom and Plunder of Duruchi. They are controlled by a small group of specially trained Duruchi Tamers, the only Duruchi capable of controlling these savage creatures. Tamers guide the Hell Dragons with magical spears from the Towers of Doom and Plunder, unleashing explosive bursts of agony to tear the creatures apart if they disobey.
Infernal Dragons will also attack anything that is not part of their pack. All the Towers of Destruction and Plunder in a Black Ark fleet are pulled by Infernal Dragons hatched from the same clutch of eggs, but even so, they will sometimes turn on each other in the heat of battle.
Think of them as the cold lizards of the sea.
As for sea dragons, they are sea dragons, not sea beasts. Long ago, they were true dragons, ridden by the ancestors of the Duruchi. But over the centuries, they were gradually corrupted by dark magic, mutating to such enormous sizes that they lost the ability to fly and were forced to spend their lives supporting their weight in the water. Even so, they are still capable of tearing apart the largest ships in the fleets of other races. Their scales are also made of the finest material, extremely light yet incredibly strong.
As more and more behemoths are brought back from the Boiling Sea, these primitive terrifying forces will accompany the Black Ark, and Duruchi's fleet will complete a fantastic transformation.