Chapter 834: A Dragon Named Moon

This chapter is a bonus chapter for the "Battle Hymn of Flames" patronage.

Compared to the small Lakeside Tribe of 186 people, the Mountainside Tribe is a large tribe with over a thousand members, containing over eighty Ancient Wizards.

However, according to the Ancient Wizard from the Lakeside Tribe, the "Listener" among the Ancient Wizards of the Mountainside Tribe is equivalent to the tribe's grand elder and at most possesses the power level of a Great Magician. As for the Listeners in even larger tribes, their strength remains unknown to the Lakeside Tribe's Ancient Wizard.

The Moon Killers maintain a loose hierarchy for Ancient Wizards, with most Listeners attaining their positions through seniority.

Coincidentally, magic-wielding professions generally grow stronger with age, so Listeners are typically the most powerful individuals in their tribes.

When Duarte and Cross, the two Sword Saints, led a large group of Earth Knights to charge into the Mountainside Tribe, the Listener and Ancient Wizards were swiftly captured without surprise.

Once the knights' mana connected to form a magic-nullification field, the Ancient Wizards' magic spells failed one after another.

As for the warriors who were merely ordinary men, no matter how accurate their arrows or sharp their blades, they were no match for knights channeling mana. The entire process of encirclement, capture, and subjugation was quickly completed. The thousand-strong Mountainside Tribe was completely subdued in mere moments.

After binding the Moon Killer tribespeople, the knights began methodically looting the Mountainside settlement for supplies.

The squire knights, who didn't need to charge into battle, efficiently carried out the packing tasks, ransacking the entire settlement. Every single resource was packed and taken away. Having arrived on Flame Island where all supplies must be self-sufficient, the knights hadn't experienced the thrill of plunder in a long time.

"Who knew such a small native tribe would have such abundant resources," remarked Liszt, who wasn't riding a dragon but a charger as he followed the knights' movements.

"Your Highness, it's currently summer when the forest provides relatively plentiful food. Come winter, this forest won't be able to sustain them. These people don't cultivate crops and would starve," replied Duarte, having learned about Flame Island's climate from the Lakeside Tribe's natives.

The island also has four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

Spring and summer are hot and humid, but plants thrive, providing abundant food. Autumn and winter are dry and cold, with plants ceasing to grow and animals either migrating or hibernating, leading to severe food shortages.

Currently in summer, it's Flame Island's most bountiful season.

The Moon Killers don't farm, so they must endure periodic feast and famine with the seasons, which is why they split off smaller tribes to migrate to more distant forests for survival. If they knew how to farm, they could rely on the favorable growing conditions during spring, summer, and autumn to grow ample food for winter.

The adults of the Mountainside Tribe were quickly marched to the Whirlpool River, shackled to chop trees; women were tasked with tilling the land and carrying supplies; the elderly and children were sent to Ember Plain, where the elders performed light labor and the children received indoctrination as serfs.

The Ancient Wizards were taken away by the magicians to gather more information about the Moon Killers.

...

September marks early autumn on Flame Island.

A week had passed since the Mountainside Tribe's capture. During this time, Liszt and Acheronides sent another ten skeleton ships loaded with serfs and supplies.

Ember Town was growing rapidly, evolving toward becoming Ember City.

A group of shipbuilders was also brought over to build skiffs by the Whirlpool River. These skiffs continuously transported manpower and materials downstream to assist the settlement teams in developing the Whirlpool River settlement area. Frequently, knights could be seen supervising large groups of Moon Killer tribespeople working along the riverbanks.

The Moon Killers lacked farming or crafting knowledge, so they could only chop trees, till land, and carry materials.

Without any concept of soil and water conservation, wherever the pioneering knights deemed suitable for building settlements, trees were frantically cleared, and the land was leveled to construct stilt houses—ideal dwellings for the damp and rainy spring and summer seasons.

The Lakeside and Mountainside Tribes' Moon Killers were the first batch of new serfs. Subsequently, the knight order captured several smaller tribes that had branched off from the Mountainside Tribe—Tree Horn, River Horn, and Black Horn—rounding them all up as serfs.

The Ancient Wizards were sent to the mage towers.

For imprisonment and study.

Liszt personally led the exploration of the Moon Killers. Through continuous communication and research on the Lunar Language, they finally pieced together a general understanding of the Moon Killers' situation.

The Mountainside Tribe's Listener was named "Quietilo," though his people called him "Qui."

When Kui was young, he traveled extensively through the great forest, visiting many large tribes similar to Hillhorn Tribe. Some of these large tribes occupied the most fertile forests, with populations even exceeding ten thousand. In all these tribes, it was the Ancient Wizards (or 'the ancient mages') who commanded extraordinary magic and possessed precious knowledge.

He communicated with the Ancient Wizards, understanding the world, himself, the future, and the past.

"The Moon Killers' ancestors were a group of mighty wizards. They once fought alongside dragons, battling another group of evil dragons. They felled a dragon called Moon... The Moon Killers' ancestors slumber in a distant sacred mountain, and their descendants spread from there, inhabiting all the forests."

Under the wizards' coercion, Kui recounted his experiences.

However, regarding the dragon named Moon, their legends contained no further records, and Kui himself didn’t even know what a dragon was.

Dragons had likely never set foot on Flame Island.

Kui’s account soon revealed something that piqued Liszt’s interest: "Far, far to the northwest, there lives a great tribe—Horn Tribe. Hillhorn Tribe split from Horn Tribe hundreds of years ago. Horn Tribe guards a ruined tower—a relic of ancestral authority, housing treasures left behind by them."

"Press Kui for details on Horn Tribe’s location!"

"Yes, Your Highness."

After being grilled by the wizards, Kui couldn’t describe the exact location of Horn Tribe. He’d never been there and only knew its rough location. When shown a map of Flame Island, he remained uncertain, only able to roughly conclude that Horn Tribe was not within the Whirlpool Great River basin.

Liszt scanned the map and took a rough guess: "Hillhorn Tribe is downstream along the Whirlpool Great River, while Horn Tribe lies to the northwest, approximately here..."

He drew a circle on a certain area of the map, deciding to search for it himself.

To him, the "ruined tower" was probably an ancient mage tower. Inside, it might hold the "treasure of the indigenous tribe" hinted at by the smoke mission. Ancient Wizards capable of battling alongside dragons were surely Archmages, and only items left by an Archmage could be considered treasures.

"It’s a shame Kui doesn’t know how many tribes the Moon Killers have. The smoke mission can’t be completed for now." Liszt felt somewhat regretful.

Yet, just as he summoned the smoke mission out of habit to check its status, he was startled to find that the smoke had already changed.

"Mission complete. Reward: indigenous tribe’s treasure."