Chapter 277: Choice

"Hiss! Is that a dragon?"

"It should be, right? But it looks so miserable."

"Indeed, what did they do to offend the lord to deserve such punishment?"

"Isn't Lord Kaslana a golden dragon? How could she do such cruel things?"

As the sun rose, the residents of Bologna got up to start their day's work, their attention immediately captured by the castle in the city center, where the benevolent golden dragon lord Kaslana resided.

As permanent residents of Bologna, they were used to seeing the castle built on the foundation of seven mage towers by Kaslana, grand and peculiar. But today, the castle was different. Atop its six high towers, a bloodied bipedal beast with wings was nailed to each.

The continuous dripping of their blood stained the six white mage towers with blood, giving them a somewhat bloody and evil appearance.

This bizarre and bloody scene instantly caused a sensation, and almost all the residents who saw this spectacle called their families to come and see, for it was too unusual; their lord had flayed and skinned six giant dragons and hung them on the towers, even though she was a dragon herself.

Initially, the miserable state of these six dragons made the residents of Bologna feel pity and shock at their lord's brutality.

But later, some recognized the identities of these bloody dragons by their dual horns on their heads and began to defend Kaslana.

Located at the junction of three countries, Bologna saw merchants from various places every day, including those with rich experiences. Despite the dragons being stripped of their scales and skin, some could identify them based on other features.

They were all chromatic evil dragons! Upon hearing the types of these dragons, the city's opinion quickly shifted, and Kaslana went from being seen as cruel and bloody to benevolent and powerful, with numerous voices of praise rising throughout the city...

Watching the dragon nailed to the tower with its raw sinews exposed and pierced by four bronze pillars, Muria squinted and then looked at Kaslana with a slightly apologetic smile, "Sorry, Sister Kaslana, it seems you have a cruel and bloody reputation among your subjects now."

"It's nothing, just the ignorance of some foolish people." Kaslana said unconcernedly upon hearing Muria's half-joking words. She didn't care about the humans' opinions under her rule.

"Besides, there are some insightful people clearing things up for me. This time, not only will I not have any tarnish on my name, but I will also gain a lot of prestige."

"It's still trouble for you." Muria smiled.

"No trouble!" Kaslana looked at Muria, "Once they recover, will you leave?"

"Yes, once their dragon scales and skin have healed enough for them to break free from the bronze pillars, I'll take them and leave."

"Can't you stay a bit longer? There are many places in Ionia you haven't seen yet."

"I'll come back to visit if I have the chance after I've gathered my dragons." Muria smiled, declining Kaslana's invitation.

"How long will it take for you to gather all your dragons?"

"I don't know." Muria shook his head, unsure. His dragons were scattered across twelve continents, and he had been fortunate to find this first batch quickly, without spending much time.

But the other continents were not like Ionia; each had its unique culture and environment. The intercontinental differences were significant.

In this continent, he could easily get help from his own kind and the Church of Good Gods, but it might not be the same on another continent. The faith in Ionia was divided among orderly good deities, but the next continent might be dominated by orderly evil deities.

There, Muria could only expect very limited help, more likely getting no help at all, and possibly facing rejection and targeting. Everything depended solely on himself and his followers.

"Is that so." Kaslana looked out the crystal window at the bustling city, her eyes shimmering as if pondering something. But after a while, the golden dragon sighed lightly and looked at Muria: "Then, sister wishes you all the best in gathering your dragons early."

Leaving these words of blessing, Kaslana's figure disappeared directly beside Muria.

She had just hesitated, wondering whether to abandon the territory she had spent half her life building to follow Muria on his journey around the world. But after comparing the two options, Kaslana ultimately chose to stay.

She believed she had made her feelings quite clear, but Muria had not responded at all, seeming to only see her as a sister of his kind. With such an attitude, Kaslana lacked the confidence to abandon everything and follow Muria.

"Pity." Looking at where Kaslana had disappeared, Muria sighed longingly. He was aware of Kaslana's feelings but had already taken a liking to another female, so he could only reject her gently. A direct rejection would have been too awkward, especially since she had helped him so much.

"Am I getting a bit arrogant!" Muria mumbled, chin in hand. To refuse the advances of such a beauty, with such status... In his previous life... he would never find a woman of such perfect appearance. The form of a golden dragon transformed into a human was beyond the scope of humanity.

"Ready to leave, huh!" Looking at the window next to the dragon, whose flesh was wriggling and wounds were slowly healing, Muria's mouth twitched slightly at the somewhat bloody scene.

The punishment of flaying and skinning was carried out by the cruel red dragon, Ottralis. This creature, filled with brutal and destructive tendencies in its blood, enjoyed such tasks.

A cruel red dragon administering punishment was naturally not gentle. Not only did it pluck all the scales from those six rebellious dragons, but during the skinning, it also brutally tore off a lot of their flesh, leaving the dragons with severe injuries.

Yet, despite this, the six dragons, whose limbs were pierced by bronze pillars, no longer bled, their injuries beginning to heal. The terrifying vitality of the dragon race was evident.

"Hmm, I feel like I've forgotten something!" Muria raised his hand to his head, pondering for a moment before finally remembering,

"The big cat, ah, I almost forgot about it! It's kind of unfair to it, letting it stay in the wilderness for so long. If it knew that all its efforts were in vain, I wonder how it would react."

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