46 The Counterattack of the Dragon Race
(Two-in-One)
Leon squatted back down beside Aug.
The old geezer had yielded, but his face still wore that stubborn, indomitable expression.
But it didn’t matter. Leon couldn’t care less about his facial expressions; he just needed him to spill everything he wanted to know.
“Now that you know I’m a human, it means we haven’t got the wrong guy. Constantine must have really valued you in life to spill this secret,” Leon analyzed leisurely.
He was fairly certain that his identity as a human hadn’t circulated within the Red Flame Dragon Race.
It wasn’t that Constantine couldn’t, but that he didn’t dare.
For Constantine to know that Leon was human, he would have had to strike some deal with the Empire to help them achieve certain goals.
In simple terms, he was a “rare” within the Dragon Race.
Even as a Dragon King, secretly colluding with the human Empire, if anyone else found out, the consequences would be dire.
Once the news spread, at best, Constantine would be ousted in the internal strife of the clan;
At worst, the entire Red Flame clan would become the laughingstock and target of exclusion among all dragon kinds.
That’s why Constantine didn’t directly attack the Silver Dragon Race at first, but instead spent a whole year capturing cities and lands to cover his real goal.
If, at that time, he did manage to k*ll Leon within the Silver Dragon Race, the entire Dragon Race would assume it was part of the Red Flame Dragon King’s territorial expansion plan, completely unrelated to whether that Silver Dragon Prince was human.
One couldn’t deny that Constantine’s plan was quite perfect; not only did he expand his territory and re-establish his authority among the dragon clans, but he also perfectly completed the mission the Empire had given him—
But then came the hiccup with General Leon.
Constantine had never counted on the human Empire producing such a ridiculous entity.
If Old Constantine had known that the poor b*stard with a pierced heart from back in the day still retained peak combat power, he probably would have said just two words when the Empire assigned him this task:
“Ah? Me?”
(Waves his hands)
Leon had also pieced together the logic of the situation several times before he dared to come to the Red Flame Dragon Race with Roswiser to “unwrap” Aug.
Aug looked straight at Leon, confirming his speculation,
“Yes, the late King Constantine indeed trusted me greatly and revealed your secret to me.”
“So did your late king tell you anything else? Like… collaborating with the human Empire?”
We’re officially in the interrogation process now. A trace of reluctance flashed in Aug’s dragon eyes.
But after a brief hesitation, he chose to speak.
God knows whether that crazy couple just now was telling the truth or not; Aug didn’t have the guts to gamble.
He could accept dying a sensational d*ath—heck, dying under severe torture would be just about acceptable.
But he couldn’t let himself be toyed with to d*ath by this ridiculous couple; that risked his dignity as the second-in-command of the Red Flame Dragon Race.
Dragons are as stubborn about their pride as they are about revenge.
“The late king did indeed cooperate with humans for a time,” Aug said, choosing his words carefully.
Leon threw his hands up, “And then? What was the cooperation for? Just to k*ll me?”
“Not just to k*ll you,” Aug said blandly.
“What else then?”
“For a greater plan.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a blazing dragon flame surged across Aug’s face, piercing through the tree behind him.
The intense heat burned his face too.
He covered his stinging cheek, furiously glaring and about to shout.
But Roswiser interrupted him before he could speak, “Don’t answer each question with just one response. If you keep this up, I guarantee that it won’t just be half your face that gets burned.”
Her voice was cool, with an anger that commanded respect.
She saw through the old geezer; though he claimed to cooperate, he was just circling around Leon.
He answered one of Leon’s questions but was merely repeating what Leon had asked.
Like a lazy horse that takes two steps forward with a whip but stands still if left alone.
On the surface, Aug appeared to cooperate, but in reality, he was providing useless information.
After being threatened by Roswiser, Aug awkwardly shrank back, enduring the scorching sensation on his cheek as he said,
“The information I have isn’t as much as you think. The late king’s main purpose in collaborating with humans wasn’t to k*ll Leon; it’s just that Leon stumbled into the game at the wrong time and became a piece uncontrolled by either side.”
Leon frowned, “A piece uncontrolled by either side…”
Aug continued, “You were supposed to d*e three years ago. If that had happened, none of this would have followed. But who would’ve thought that the idiot assigned to assassinate you would actually mess it up?”
“So, to deal with this mess, the Empire had to use the late king Constantine’s territorial expansion as a cover to k*ll you, who was situated in the Silver Dragon Race.”
“As for what happened afterward… I shouldn’t need to elaborate.”
Leon didn’t continue the interrogation immediately but turned to look at Roswiser.
The couple exchanged a brief glance and nodded almost imperceptibly at each other.
Leon turned back to Aug, continuing, “So what you’re saying is, my existence has disrupted some plan between the Empire and the Dragon Race, is that it?”
Aug closed his eyes and remained silent, which was tantamount to confirmation.
“What was the objective of this plan? Or what did the human Empire and the Red Flame Dragon Race intend to achieve through this plan?”
“I’m not sure about that; the late king only told me that if the Red Flame Dragon Race is to stand firm, it must cooperate with the human Empire.”
Aug’s tone didn’t seem like he was lying.
That made perfect sense.
Even if he was a confidant of Constantine, it didn’t mean that Constantine would report every detail of his collaboration with the Empire as if it were a work report.
After all, he was a Dragon King and must have secrets he needed to keep.
These secrets could become trump cards at life-and-d*ath moments, or they could be keys to overturn the situation—
Of course, reality is cruel; Constantine could only take those secrets with him to the grave.
“How long has this plan been going on?”
“The late king didn’t tell me when the plan started, but at least it’s been thirty years.”
Thirty years…
Leon blinked, pondering this timeframe.
It felt like thirty years was a bit too familiar…
Leon didn’t dwell on it; even if it sounded familiar, it had no bearing on the current interrogation.
“Is Constantine the only Dragon King collaborating with the human Empire?” Leon focused on Aug’s eyes, asked the most crucial question.
Aug briefly averted his gaze, hesitated for a moment before replying, “Not just the late king.”
Like Aug said, if this were a grand chess game, then the human Empire and the Dragon Race were two players, and Leon was an out-of-place piece.
And now, the Red Flame Dragon Race had become a discarded piece.
Old King Constantine was dead, and the entire Red Flame Dragon Race had lost its value to the Empire.
So, there was no need for Aug to hide any secrets on behalf of the Empire anymore.
He could leverage this information to barter for a slim chance of survival—or a nice, quick d*ath.
Aug was loyal to the Red Flame Dragon Race and Constantine.
As for the human Empire?
Pfft… they didn’t concern him.
“From what I know, at least five Dragon Kings are collaborating with the human Empire.”
Five Dragon Kings…
Although he was somewhat prepared for it, Leon was still startled to hear that number.
It turned out this conspiracy had taken root so deep in dark corners he had no knowledge of.
And if the remaining Dragon Kings were of the same caliber as Constantine, it means the Empire was really working on something big.
Something so big that it far exceeded Leon’s imagination.
While surprised, a soft touch suddenly brushed against his shoulder.
He snapped back to reality, looking up to see Roswiser.
The queen patted his shoulder gently, signaling him not to get flustered by the current information and to continue the interrogation.
Leon nodded, pulled out paper and a pen he had prepared in advance,
“Write down all the Dragon King names you know.”
Aug took the paper and pen, hesitated briefly, then started writing.
Leon wasn’t worried that Aug would scribble random names or pin the blame on other Dragon Races.
Because there was no need to do that anymore.
Leon wasn’t going to take that list and go “unwrap” each of those Dragon Kings one by one, not to mention his current magic storage couldn’t support such actions, and even the risks involved were unacceptable to Leon.
The Empire was still the proactive side, and Leon had far too little information to take the initiative.
Aug surely understood this too, so there was no need for him to do any dirty work.
Moments later, Aug finished writing, handing the paper and pen back to Leon.
Leon glanced at the names on the paper, just as he expected, “Rave, Blay, Jagers… three Dragon Kings skilled in spatial magic.”
Roswiser’s grandmother had recently tipped them off that these three Dragon Kings had mysteriously disappeared without causing a stir within their own clans, meaning they’d secretly left their tribes after some arrangements were made.
There are no such coincidences in the world; three Dragon Kings skilled in spatial magic simultaneously leaving their tribes just so happened to be collaborating with the Empire.
It was easy to guess that the Empire intended to gather them together as a “big surprise” for General Leon.
And there were two other Dragon Kings on the list:
The Warlord Dragon King, Adam.
The Starbright Dragon King, Star.
Again, these were names of Dragon Kings Leon had never heard of over the years.
He tucked the list away, then stood up, looking down at Aug,
“Do you have anything else to add?”
Aug slowly closed his eyes and remained silent.
Leon didn’t press on with further questions.
He had already extracted everything he needed to know.
Leon looked up at the approaching flames in the distance; it must be the pursuers from earlier.
He averted his gaze, saying to Aug,
“It seems your fate is already sealed, Aug; you won’t see the end of this game.”
As those words fell—oh, it’s 69 49 36 13 5, Leon turned away and walked toward the woods’ exit with Roswiser.
But before he took a few steps, he suddenly heard Aug shout behind him,
“Leon Casmod!”
Leon stopped, turning to look back.
The old fellow’s eyes widened with rage, half of his burned face made him look even more terrifying, like a graying lion roaring at Leon,
“You chose the wrong opponent. You don’t even know how powerful your impending enemy is.”
“They will stop at nothing to k*ll you, to take everything from you!”
“Killing Constantine is not your first victory; it’s your last glory.”
“So… Leon, cherish your remaining time!”
“You cannot withstand the true counterattack of the Dragon Race!”
“Red Flame Dragon King, Constantine—eternal!”
With that final shout, Aug clenched his fists. The magic circuits beneath his skin shimmered a deep red, as if scalding magma flowed through his veins.
The next moment, Aug’s chest exploded, a flame shooting straight into the night sky.
The shockwave of the explosion sent a hot gust over, and Roswiser spread her dragon wings, shielding both herself and Leon within.
“Is he self-destructing…?”
“Yeah, the proud Dragon Race would never allow themselves to be trampled to d*ath.”
From this point forward, the Red Flame Dragon Race had no chance of revival for a hundred years.
And amidst that dazzling fire, it seemed like Aug’s final roar echoed to Leon—
You cannot withstand the true counterattack of the Dragon Race.
What did that truly… signify?
