The Bardi capital was an ancient city with a long history.
If one looked down from the sky, the city was several times larger than it had been eight or nine years ago.
No, more accurately speaking, several new functional areas had been added to the city, as well as several new satellite cities.
The most eye-catching part of the city was the vast area to the north. Originally, there had been a mountain range there.
The cliffs around it had been hollowed out, and gigantic palaces had been erected there. Dragons could often be seen flying in and out of the palaces. This was the Bardi Dragon City, which had only been in operation for several years.
Beneath the Dragon City was a new arena made of white bricks. Knight duels would be held here to improve their martial arts techniques, as well as to show off their strength to the dragons.
Thanks to the combined efforts of the Bardi Emperor and various powerful Dragons, as well as external pressure, the Dragons gradually gave up on their former arrogance. It was no longer that difficult to accept fighting alongside a Knight.
But now, it was no longer necessary for a high-level Knight and a high-level dragon to work together in order to be invincible. With the introduction of a tremendous amount of new equipment, many young dragons would choose to work with a Knight that came along with their new equipment … Why did this sound so strange? But it was the truth. Many dragons viewed Knight as nothing more than players who came along with their equipment.
Three years ago, the new Venomous Scorpion 2 magical cannons and Medium Energy Cannons had been successfully introduced. Dragons with multiple heavy magical cannons were becoming more and more like the new rulers of the skies.
These dragons now had a new name, and it was even possible that they could be converted into a regular soldier type — magical armored battle dragons.
The new city to the west of the city was a new district for technicians, engineers, and mages.
Even though Bardi was a mega empire with a tradition of dragon Knight magic, it unhesitatingly started developing magical engineering technology after discovering the importance of it.
A tremendous amount of resources, wealth, population, and, most importantly, a sufficient number of educated people brought about a pool of talented magical instructors. This allowed Dragon Knight Emperor Halent to swiftly catch up to the older generation. Under Dragon Knight Emperor Halent's leadership, Dragon Knight Empire seemed to be on the rise.
In fact, it was very easy to understand. Spend money to buy technology and talents from the allies, then throw out a government decree for scholars to change professions, and invest in promising researchers. Even if they couldn't immediately produce results, they could make the researchers yearn for such a research environment and take the initiative to come. Then, let the emerging talents consider the benefits and choose this profession. After ten or twenty years, they would be waiting to reap the results.
However, unlike the Ottoman Empire, which was also a new country of magic engineering, the Ottoman Empire had enough dragons as war resources. They didn't invest their energy and funds into the construction of heavy ships and tanks. Instead, they focused on the development of all kinds of small and heavy combat equipment.
Actual combat was the only reason they chose their research field.
Magic Engine, Miniature (Medium) Energy Battery, Practical Artillery/Heavy Crossbow, Magic Armor — these were all important technologies that other countries viewed as minor details, but they were now being researched as key areas.
Just now, I mentioned the Magic Armored Battle Dragon. The Magic Armored Battle Dragon was equipped with a heavy/medium energy pool as its second Mana Reserve. It was also equipped with hundreds of pieces of Magic Armor and four to twenty new cannons. It was armed to the teeth. It would be easy for it to take on five people of the same rank.
Several months ago, the Magic Armored Battle Dragon suddenly made an appearance in the battle against the undead army. The Magic Armored Battle Dragon achieved astonishing results and attracted countless people's attention.
Only then did the world discover that the Bardi Empire, which had originally been thought to be slow and inflexible, had actually progressed incredibly far in the field of magic engineering.
Magic Armored Battle Dragons were mentioned in Emperor Bardi's New Year's speech that they could now mass-produce regular troops. Currently, the entire Bardi Empire had 312 Magic Armored Battle Dragons.
Magic Armored Battle Dragons' defensive power, endurance, and attack power had all been greatly improved thanks to magic engineering technology.
Magic Armored Battle Dragons made ordinary liches' magical attacks ineffective. Their powerful physical bodies and overwhelming cannon attacks allowed the Magic Armored Battle Dragons to slaughter as they pleased on the Calamity Battlefield.
Actual combat proved just how powerful and terrifying this combination was.
According to the fairies' evaluation, the Magic Armored Battle Dragons was at the Legend-rank. That was to say, this was a frightening army with an average combat power of at least Legend-rank. On paper, the Magic Armored Battle Dragons were already the strongest army in the entire world.
Of course, this wasn't without its disadvantages. Not only would they consume a tremendous amount of resources and gold coins, it was said that Emperor Halent was so poor that he was even selling off all of his personal belongings for the sake of these precious Magic Armored Battle Dragons.
Also, the Magic Armored Battle Dragons were mostly young and middle-aged dragons. The Ancient Dragons and Immemorial Dragons' true trump cards were still their own bodies. Magic engineering technology wouldn't be of much help in terms of high-level combat strength.
Also, since the Magic Armored Battle Dragons had far too much heavy equipment on them, even with the assistance of floating engines, the Magic Armored Battle Dragons' agility wasn't something worth looking forward to. If the floating engines were turned off, or if the floating engines malfunctioned … the Magic Armored Battle Dragons would probably fall from the sky.
"That won't happen. It's written in our operating manual. In such a situation, all we have to do is directly disintegrate and drop all our equipment. Emperor Halent said that 'if we lose our equipment, we can always make more. If we lose our dragons and humans, they'll be gone forever.' "
The moment I entered Bardi's airspace, two of the most advanced Magic Armored Battle Dragons followed me. They even brought along a diplomatic representative. It was evident that they had received news of my arrival long ago.
This middle-aged Bardi diplomat was named Steele Zhou. He had been to the Mist Kingdom before and had met me before. Halent was quite considerate to send Steele here to receive me.
The Bardi Empire's method of discarding their equipment and prioritizing their personnel over others was doubtlessly proof of how wealthy the Bardi Empire was.
The Mist Alliance would be able to construct two destroyers with the cost of a single set of Dragon Armor.
Perhaps this was the difference in power between a major country and a small country. Using the same technology in a small country, the small country would only be able to earn a slight advantage for a short period of time. In fact, the small country wouldn't even be able to afford the advanced technology and wouldn't be able to produce a finished product. Meanwhile, the major countries would only think about selling their old products and leftover materials after they finished producing their own products.
The "Forward" passenger airship's engine hadn't been repaired yet, so we didn't have the ability to soar through the clouds. The airship was flying at a high enough altitude that we could clearly see the ground below us. There were two dragons on each side of the airship, as well as two Dragon Knights on top of them. These two dragons would occasionally glance at us curiously.
"… It seems that these Dragon Knights aren't dragon descendants?"
I casually asked, but Steele broke out into a cold sweat. From a certain standpoint, this was probably the same as spying on the military.
He was hesitating as he didn't know if he could answer. However, there was someone else who could easily make a decision.
"Yep, now that the Holy War has reached this point, those ancient existences have all understood the situation. Before considering the Dragons' pride, it's more important to think of ways to protect the continuity and status of the Bardi Empire."
Following the deep voice was a middle-aged man wearing a heavy blue cloak, heavy armor, and a crown on his head.
He walked over and gave me an overly enthusiastic hug. Everyone around him knelt down.
"Long time no see, Your Highness Roland. Welcome back to Bardi. I hope that you've brought me good news this time."
Halent Milan, the former Archduke of the Dragon Knights, was now the current Emperor of the Dragon Knights.
Compared to nine years ago, he had grown slightly taller. He had intentionally grown a beard and makeup to make him appear more mature. However, from what I could see, his physical body seemed even younger than before.
Frightening power was contained within this physical body. I closed my eyes, and all I could sense was a powerful dragon. It would seem that the current Halent was more like a dragon than a human.
This was to be expected. After all, many of the Dragons' secret techniques would increase the purity of their bloodline. Halent had no reason to refuse this power.
Compared to the shy youth of the past, the current Halent had rather exaggerated expressions.
"Oh, no, you've already brought me good news. One week ago, you, as a human, defeated a Chaos Main God and achieved eternal glory. Come, let us celebrate this great victory for the heroes of humanity. "
After Halent finished talking to himself, Bardi's Emperor excitedly started applauding. Naturally, the surrounding servants and commoners also applauded.
For a while, thunderous applause and cheers filled the air. I was almost overwhelmed by the drummers.
Those who were unaccountably solicitous were hiding evil intentions. Halent's sudden excessive enthusiasm only gave me a strange feeling and gave me goosebumps.
"Propaganda, propaganda."
Halent whispered to me in a low voice. He then took my hand and waved at the commoners below us.
Only now did I notice that the Forward had already entered the harbor, and that the welcoming crowd had completely filled the area below us. I could even faintly make out that there were more people than there were in front of us. Not far away, there were even small dragons carrying red banners.
"A warm celebration for the eighth anniversary of the Mist Alliance's friendship with the Bardi Empire."
"A warm welcome to the Mist Alliance's leader, His Highness Roland, who has come to guide us."
"A warm celebration for His Highness Roland's return from slaying demons."
The welcoming crowd, flowers, cannon salutes, and military bands were all here. The only thing that didn't seem right was that the Forward seemed like it was about to break down. However, with four magical battle dragons escorting it, it seemed even more domineering and calm, as if it was a warrior returning from the battlefield.
I was pulled by Halent and waved, but the cheers from below suddenly erupted and even soared into the sky.
What was surprising was that this hadn't been intentionally arranged. The cheers were far too real.
At this moment, many thoughts flashed through my mind. My expression froze over, and I instantly realized that something was wrong with the situation. I immediately put on my standard Holy Knight smile and waved down.
And then … I was buried in the welcoming crowd.
Amidst the chaos, I faintly heard some words that I paid attention to, such as "reinforcements" and "frontlines". This made me feel even more confident.
Thirty minutes later, we finally made our way out of the welcoming crowd. I asked a question before I even had the time to drink some tea.
"Halent, you actually want my arrival to be a political propaganda to boost morale? Is the Bardi Empire's situation that bad? "
Hearing this, Halent's stiff smile transformed into a bitter one.
He furrowed his eyebrows and lightly massaged his forehead, intending to relax.
"As expected, I can't hide it from you. Yes, the situation is quite bad. There's a major chaos at the frontlines. We've lost, lost terribly. A serious Undead Emperor is ten times more difficult to deal with than expected! "
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