Time had ceased to be a fixed concept for the people of this world; they only knew another day had passed by watching the sun rise and set each day.
A massive wall, built from irregular rocks fitted together seamlessly, followed the island's undulating coastline and encircled the entire Valyria Peninsula.
This colossal project was constructed by the remaining Valyrians who had joined the Golden Empire, using their dragons' fire and remnant magical powers.
The dense rocky surface of these walls was already covered in a thin layer of frost at night, as the continent, influenced by the power of the Cold God from Westeros, had begun to lose its spring, summer, and autumn seasons.
The continent of Essos was now entering a Great Winter just like Westeros, shifting to a climate of eternal winter. However, compared to the other continent which was completely buried in ice and snow, the Valyria Peninsula still maintained a relatively mild climate thanks to the protection of the Black Dragon Lord.
Upon the walls, which rose and fell like a continuous mountain range, stood many battle-hardened warriors. These included not only the Golden Empire's legionnaires but also the original Valyrian legions and the remnant armed forces of various Free Cities.
Many refugees from Westeros had also gathered on this once-vast island, huddling beneath the massive Dragon King Banner atop the walls to collectively resist the enemy of all living things—demons.
The empire that had once invaded the world had now become the savior defending it. This reversal of roles seemed quite ironic even to Sakaruo, the head of the cult that had converted to worshipping the Ancestral Red Dragon.
The Dragon Legions, which once sought to purge the world order, had now become the side maintaining it.
This did not hinder Sakaruo's deep respect for the dragon he worshipped. Thus, this Pope of a nameless cult always appeared before the people holding a codex in his left hand and a Dragon Horn Hammer in his right.
While the official explanation was that the Dragon God he worshipped possessed both civilized benevolence and mighty majesty, it was actually done more to maintain order.
Many women and the elderly dressed in sackcloth followed behind the Pope, carrying baskets woven from rattan and bamboo up the city walls. Within the long procession, armed forces of the cult escorted them.
The former Red Witch, now the Holy Maiden of the cult, Nalia, stood at the very rear of the food transport team. She acted as a deterrent to the hungry, ensuring these poor, lucky souls did not do anything foolish.
In the cities near the walls, massive dragons perched upon towering rooftops and ruined, roofless spires.
Smelling the aroma of food, these giant dragons instinctively opened their vertical pupils, scanning the procession of tiny humans moving below.
However, upon seeing the familiar yet tiny Dragon Eye Emblems, the habitually restless dragons closed their eyes again. Before the next battle arrived, the dragons also needed to restrain their claws and fangs to recover their strength.
Sakaruo lightly swung his short, thick Dragon Horn Hammer, his keen perception sweeping over every ragged refugee. Current Valyria held all the surviving subjects from two continents, numbering nearly a million.
The daily food consumption of these people was a heavy burden in the increasingly scarce environment. Had the Black Dragon Lord and the Empire's high-ranking officials not prepared in advance by seizing and storing massive amounts of grain and supplies, even the legionnaires might have struggled to eat a full meal by now.
With all the Empire's strength focused on fighting demons, the internal order of the entire peninsula was largely entrusted to this former monk who had turned over a new leaf.
Sakaruo did not fail the Empire's expectations.
He preached the faith of the Red Dragon to the masses, bringing some believers into this unnamed cult. He applied to the Empire to establish a Protectorate Force as an armed power to suppress urban disorder. He managed the cities methodically and caused no trouble for the Empire.
He also took the lead in following the food planning and distribution plan set by the Empire. With two meals a day, these people who did not go to battle filled their stomachs with thin rice porridge mixed with a few fish slices.
While the former Dragon Knights and Wyvern Warband rode their wyverns and dragons to hunt at sea, Sakaruo also led his followers through the wall's passages at regular intervals to fish for whales and sea beasts on the other side of the peninsula as supplementary food reserves.
Yet even the Holy Maiden Nalia had never seen this Pope privately eat any portion of meat that was not part of his ration.
This led Nalia and the other believers to sincerely trust the leadership of this cult head and respect the Pope's noble ideals.
But Sakaruo did not think his thoughts were particularly noble; he felt he had simply developed a habit of endurance from living in the slums as a child.
Most importantly, Sakaruo wanted this Dragon Empire to hold on for a bit longer. The order brought by this Dragon Empire was something other nobles and kingdoms could not provide to commoners; he did not want this last bit of beauty to be shattered.
Like the legionnaires, he looked forward to the return of the dragon that had once descended upon the world, to lead the lost subjects of this world back to a dream paradise.
Therefore, Sakaruo habitually swallowed his saliva and pretended not to care about the aroma of meat and food coming from the baskets. He let the women who had volunteered for the logistics team serve warm food to the warriors resting against the walls while on guard; this was what they could do from the rear.
Seeing the warm food, the warriors rushed forward. After being buffeted by the night's cold wind, it was freezing even hiding behind the embrasures, and they urgently needed to replenish food and energy.
Occasionally, a few voices of complaint could be heard.
"Why is it dried pea rice and fish slices again? I want meat!"
"It's been a long time since I've eaten a real piece of meat, too."
"Give it a rest," another warrior said indistinctly. "You're lucky to have rice and fish slices. Large cuts of meat are only for the bravest Dragon Legions."
"If you dare to lead the charge into those swarms of demons like they do, you could eat big chunks of meat and even drink a bit of grandmother's brewed ale."
The complaining voices immediately fell silent, replaced only by the slurping sounds of the warriors eating. No one dared to doubt the bravery of the Dragon Legions.
The demon heads hanging on the walls and the demon corpses covering the field of vision were proof of the Dragon Legions' courage and martial prowess. At this moment, even the thought of complaining vanished from their minds.
Sakaruo took this opportunity to look around the city walls.
The giant crossbows and catapults mounted on the walls were not only worn down to the point of being barely usable after continuous warfare, but the stock of bolts was also running low. Only the materials for the catapults were abundant on this peninsula.
Arrows that were once moved in bundles were now pitifully scarce, placed in small piles every few steps directly on the open wall walkways.
It wasn't that these warriors didn't know how to maintain their equipment, but rather that once battle with the demons began, they only had time to grab ordnance from behind or beside them. Any slower, and the sky-blotting demons would break through the entire section of the wall.
Sakaruo had heard that the Empire's Legion Mages also had very few casting materials left. Those mages relied on materials to cast spells faster and use more powerful magic.
But with materials exhausted, they could only rely on their own mana output. This would cause the casters to deplete their energy faster; after one battle, they might need to replenish mana several times and also focus on recovering their mental strength.
He could only pray silently in his heart, "Great Dragon God, shining like the sun, I hope your will can shine upon this land once more."
While praying silently, Sakaruo led the logistics team across the walls. This section was the most dangerous part of the front line where battle could erupt at any moment. Only by coming himself could he feel at ease, ensuring these warriors could eat a warm meal in time.
Stopping and starting along the way, Sakaruo would wake the young warriors he saw leaning against the city wall to sleep, saying, "Child, wake up. It's time to enjoy a warm meal to soothe your weary body and soul."
This was not uncommon; even with nearly a million people remaining, the numbers felt stretched thin across the defensive line guarding the entire Valyria Peninsula.
Many warriors never descended once they stepped onto the wall; they either died there or lived there, facing an almost incessant war.
The entire frontline, stained dark red by blood, was the home of these warriors.
Stopping and starting along the way, Sakaruo also began to set down his Dragon Horn Hammerand Code to start distributing food to the warriors.
After passing the peripheral areas once guarded by the former slave legions and the Unsullied Legion, they began to step into the most dangerous positions of the entire battle line.
This area faced the Valyrian Road, which was wide enough for thirty-six luxury six-horse carriages to pass through side-by-side. It was a creation of the magical civilization at the peak of Valyria's history and the only land passage for demons to assault the last remaining civilization on this continent.
The Dragon King's Banner flew here, never having fallen, because stationed here was the most powerful Dragon Legions.
Within this Dragon Legions, there were always divisions by warband names. For instance, the most prideful Bloodscale Berserker Warband, the most violent Demon Hunter Warband, the most cruel Dragon Devil Warband, the Thousand Sons Warband which consisted of various warriors, and the Wyvern Warband.
But in the eyes of the people of this world, they were all God's Warriors of the Dragon. Even those boundless demons felt fear toward these powerful warriors.
Two massive Titanoboa were coiled beneath the Dragon King's Banner. Their pitch-black scales were deeper than the darkest night, as if they could absorb even the light of the rising sun in the sky.
Their thick bodies, nearly thirty meters long, were covered in battle scars, and a pair of hideous horns stood toward the sky on the heads of the two dragon pythons.
Sakaruo couldn't help but stop and pay his respects to these two Titan Dragon Pythons: "Lord Grenek, Haninek, good day!"
These two Titanoboas were not only formidable in combat but also held a special status. Although they called themselves foster sons of the Ancestral Red Dragon and were seen by others as pets kept by the Ancestral Red Dragon's side, they had earned respect through their own immense power.
"Good morning, little Sa," Haninek opened its mouth lazily, but its eyes remained closed as it stayed prone on the ground, unwilling to waste a single ounce of strength.
Although Grenek didn't open its eyes or respond, it extended its head, opened its mouth to reveal hook-like fangs, and brought it close to Sakaruo.
Sakaruo tossed a pre-prepared meal into the gluttonous python's mouth. Grenek swallowed it in one gulp, then smacked its lips like a human, retracted its head, and muttered, "Today's breakfast tastes average, not even as good as those demons."
Sakaruo smiled, and after receiving permission to pass, he continued forward with his team.
They arrived at the most dangerous section of the frontline, yet the warriors here were the most relaxed of anywhere on the wall.
Warriors clad in reforged and patched heavy armor leaned lazily against the wall, supporting themselves on their heavy weapons like cross swords or Ram-horn Hammers. They showed no tension regarding the battle that could break out at any moment, and occasionally, a joke that wasn't particularly funny would be muffled from beneath their heavy visors.
Only when Sakaruo arrived did these warriors lift their helmets, revealing faces with heterochromatic eyes and resolute expressions. They sat there boldly, waiting for the logistics personnel to set food before them before beginning to eat in silence.
Sakaruo didn't have much conversation with these warriors. He knew that while the warriors of the Dragon Legions were prideful, it wasn't expressed in such matters; rather, through long periods of combat, they had learned to conserve every bit of physical energy and would not waste it on any redundant action.
After passing these Dragon Legions warriors, the expressions of Sakaruo and the logistics team suddenly became serious, for they were about to enter the most dangerous area.
This was not only because this section faced the most violent demon assaults but also because of the inherent danger posed by the warriors stationed here.
Rows of silent Golems were resting; these warriors of Heroic Spirits were not the danger.
The danger came from those surrounded and managed by the Golem Legion—warriors with an average height of over three and a half meters, possessing massive demon wings, and whose bodies and faces were no different from the powerful high-ranking demons outside.
Unfortunately, Sakaruo did not possess extensive knowledge and was unable to distinguish between devils and demons; otherwise, he would have known that what existed here were not just demons, but also devils.
These warriors were legionnaires with devil and demon bloodlines. In these years of battle, they had slaughtered those demons, and while some demons' essence and souls would return to their original plane after death,
many other demons' souls were consumed by these special warriors after death to supplement their own strength and heal their wounds.
Some demons even had their hearts torn out and eaten while still alive by these warriors.
After consuming the souls and heart essence of demons, these warriors grew stronger day by day, but also became more twisted day by day, until the ancient bloodlines in their bodies fully awakened, turning them into this form.
The originally controllable bloodlines, after growing by consuming too much demonic power, made it so these warriors could no longer fully guarantee control over their own actions, which was why they were extremely dangerous.
Therefore, these warriors also prayed day after day to their Emperor, the God they served, using this absolute loyalty to maintain their benign mutation and evolution.
So when Sakaruo arrived with his team, these warriors, who looked no different from demons and devils, were all bowing their heads in prayer, silent and wordless.
As the men carefully set down the food, Sakaruo noticed that one of the leaders of the Dragon Legions, Gilinis of the Three Heroes of the Empire, was also leaning against the wall, having unusually entered a state of deep sleep.
Sakaruo hesitated for a moment but eventually turned and left quietly. In his Mind Powerperception, the will of these warriors remained firm and unchanged.
The banners flapped loudly as the sounds of demon restlessness began to drift over from across the strait.
Gilinis sat on the ground with his eyes closed, a massive heavy hammer placed between his legs.
"May I sit with you?" a gentle voice asked.
Gilinis opened his eyes to find a man standing beside him. The city wall was quiet, as if shrouded in mist, like being within a dream.
He had a face that was masculine yet gentle, with red eyes shimmering with dark gold. A crimson cloak was draped over gold-and-red armor, and a shimmering crown sat upon his head—not as an ornament, but as if it were a natural part of him.
Gilinis stood up and nodded. "It is my honor."
The man crouched beside Gilinis, his gaze turning toward the world outside.
"Are we not in the outside world?" Gilinis asked the man.
The man turned his head, his peerless grace such that even the hazy mist could not obscure his face. He chuckled softly, "This is a spiritual space. You and I are in a dream."
"You have fought for a long time, just like those warriors. You have all done exceptionally well!"
Gilinis couldn't help but ask, "Can those warriors see you again, as I do?"
The man glanced at Gilinis, picked up the heavy hammer from the ground, examined it for a few moments, and then handed it back to Gilinis, saying softly, "Of course, if that is the meaning of your stand!"