Chapter 123: Stonerock City

The desire to tear apart the entire city with one's own strength had already sprouted in the depths of the heart, but to truly counter a main city on one's own was impossible even for a legendary figure, let alone Stonerock City, which was no ordinary main city.

In history, Stonerock Kingdom was the only kingdom on the Auroria Continent whose main city had never been breached, a fact that the people of Stonerock City took great pride in. Although their overall national power was far less than that of Flamecloud Kingdom, and also inferior to Torrent Kingdom, and they dared not directly confront Maple Snow Kingdom, it was precisely because of their ten-meter-thick city walls and the complex geographical advantages that their main city had never been conquered.

The first throne of the Holy Light Sisterhood once lamented: "It is easy to occupy the Auroria Continent, but hard to take Stonerock City."

Even a woman capable of rewriting history spoke thus of Stonerock City, revealing the strength of its defenses. Stonerock Kingdom was rich in natural resources; timber and ores were abundant and inexhaustible. Additionally, the intelligence of the dragon race and their enslavement of humans had led to the construction of this impregnable fortress.

Ironically, just after the completion of Stonerock City and before it was even put to use, the dragon race was driven from the stage of history, and humans took over this great work that they could not replicate even thousands of years later. If only Stonerock City had been built a little earlier and put into use sooner, even just a month earlier, it might have provided a place for the battered dragon race to recuperate, and history might have been different.

Would rule by the dragon race have been better or worse? Rayan had pondered this more than once, but never found an answer—after all, he had never seen a dragon, and he simply did not believe that a woman as ambitious as the first throne would be noble enough to fight the powerful dragon race solely to liberate mankind.

There must have been other reasons, but history could not be rewritten.

Not only could this part of history not be restored, but even the first throne's praise of Stonerock City was not recorded in any texts, only occasionally mentioned in the stories of storyteller singers. However, the image of Stonerock City as an impregnable fortress was well-known to everyone, with poets even describing a virgin's heart as "the tightly shut gates of Stonerock City."

In fact, the large central gate of Stonerock City was always closed, only opened during significant events such as welcoming royal guests or the Holy Light emissary, or when the "Lionheart" guild triumphantly returned from a campaign.

On ordinary days, only the smaller gates on either side of Stonerock City were open. The left side gate was for civilians, and the slightly larger right side gate was exclusively for officials and nobility.

The gate reserved for nobility was eerily quiet, flanked by rows of solemn guards wielding long spears and clad in heavy armor, each possessing the strength of Sixth Tier Battle Qi, their formidable presence felt from afar.

By contrast, the situation at the left side gate was quite different.

The area was bustling with noise, packed with people waiting to be checked. The guards responsible for the inspections rested their long spears on their shoulders, casually holding cups of wine and gathering in groups, chatting and laughing—it was more of a cursory glance than a real inspection.

Most of those being inspected were like the kindly farmer who had earlier offered Rayan a ride, carrying large loads of goods, their clothing soaked with the sweat of hard labor. There were also some individuals in cleaner, tidier attire, looking more like merchants. They all lined up, entering in single file.

"Let's go."

Seeing the situation, Rayan gave Sola a meaningful look and followed the flow of people into Stonerock City. It was unrealistic to try entering through the right side gate, especially dressed as shabbily as he was. After all, the goal was to get into the city; which gate they used didn't really matter.

Sola wrapped herself tightly, sticking close to Rayan. She had always thought Stonerock City would be similar to Shadowcrest Ridge, at most a bit larger, with taller buildings and more people, but she had never imagined the stark difference. She had never seen so many people or such mountain-high city towers, which made her feel increasingly tense.

Rayan felt her unease and took her hand, calming her emotions.

They passed through the checkpoint without letting their guard down, but just then, a lazy shout came from behind: "You two, stop right there—"

Rayan's heart sank slightly as he slowed his pace, his mind rapidly calculating the possibilities of making a move here.

If they were to fight here, the city guards around them, along with those on the city walls, would quickly come to assist and sound the alarm. Then, not only would he forget about infiltrating the Firebird family, but even entering Stonerock City would become impossible.

He had to be patient and act according to the situation—

A shifty-looking, disheveled man handed his cup of wine to a companion, hitched up his sagging belt, and sauntered over with an arrogant air. Rayan noticed that this man was different from the other guards; although not particularly burly, he wore a golden cape, and as he walked, he intentionally fluttered it as if to flaunt his superior captain rank. On the shoulder clasps of the cape, each was adorned with a golden young lion, shining brightly under the sunlight, resembling a woman's brooch.

The young lion captain circled around Sola, then stood in front of them with his legs apart, eyes greedily taking in Sola's attire and figure, before saying with a grin, "Miss, why didn't you use the right side gate? Why squeeze in with these stinking commoners?"

Sola snorted contemptuously, "Wherever the master goes, Sola goes. What's it to you?"

"Master?"

The young lion captain was taken aback, and his sycophantic smile immediately vanished from his face as he spoke in a patronizing tone, "Take off whatever you're wrapping on your head! Quick!"

Sola's head was wrapped in a silver-grey wolf skin, which Rayan had skinned from a formidable alpha wolf at a Third Rank shadow wolf hunting ground not long ago. Sola was fond of the wolf skin, so Rayan had never sold it, keeping it for Sola's personal use. She covered her exposed skin with the wolf skin when facing strangers, draping it over her head and chest.

Hearing the young lion captain's demand to remove the wolf skin, a dangerous growl emanated from Sola's throat.

Rayan squeezed her hand to signal her not to act rashly.

Sola then obediently lowered the wolf skin from her head but still tied it around her neck, covering other parts and revealing only her face.

"Slave!"

The young lion captain gasped, inhaling sharply as other guards gathered around, all holding cups of wine and watching the spectacle.

"She's beautiful!"

"It's my first time seeing a slave dressed in noble clothing!"

The young lion captain waved his hand to silence his subordinates, then wore a lecherous smile, revealing his yellow-stained teeth, "Little female slave, where did you steal this noble clothing from? Confess honestly, and we brothers might make it easier for you."

The other guards laughed along.

The stench of alcohol from his breath made even Rayan, standing next to Sola, crinkle his nose. Sola's reaction was even stronger; her lips tightly sealed, her orange pupils contracted to pinpoints, her shoulders trembling, her body recoiling.

Rayan knew that Sola was not shrinking back in fear, but rather, like a wild beast, she was gathering strength, ready to strike at any moment. He quickly pulled on his female slave's arm, urging Sola to calm down.

"I spent money on clothes for my female slave, what's wrong with that?" Rayan's tone was as cold as a slowly flowing glacier.

The young lion captain blinked in astonishment, only then noticing Rayan's presence.

"You're her master?"

He scrutinized Rayan's attire with a discerning gaze, carefully observing Rayan's features, appearing utterly devoted to his duty. "I don't think so, it looks like you two colluded, stole your master's clothes, and ran away."

Rayan responded calmly, "She has my brand on her hand, which can be verified by any slave trading post's manual. If you don't believe it, we can go check the manual at the nearest slave trading post."

Triumph Town wasn't far from Stonerock City, and the carrier pigeons delivering messages flew tirelessly. The manual should have already reached the slave trading post here, so Rayan wasn't worried.

Hearing they might go to the slave trading post, Sola involuntarily gripped Rayan's hand tightly.

The young lion captain sniffed irritably, "I'm in charge of guarding the city gate, who has time to accompany you to the slave trading post? Damn, that place is full of nobles buying slaves, are you deliberately making me bow and scrape?"

Rayan gave a cold laugh, "If you're afraid to go, then don't stop us."

"Don't stop you?"

The young lion captain chuckled, "You think I'm that easy to dismiss? Tell you what, my eyes are trained in poison, and I'm very accurate in judging people. Just by looking at you, I can tell you're no good!"

"I'm indeed not a good person."

Rayan replied evenly, "In fact, I don't intend to be a good person. But in any country, at any time, there's no such crime as 'not being a good person' to punish someone, unless you want to break that rule?"

The young lion captain's face flushed a mix of purple and white. "Kid, you sure talk a good game. But no matter how fancy your words, it doesn't change the fact that the right to let you in is in my hands. If I don't like the look of you, I won't let you in, and you'll just have to deal with it."

A merchant-like person behind Rayan whispered to them, "Don't you understand? The captain is asking for a bribe. Give him some money, and you're guaranteed to get in."

Rayan immediately understood. It turned out these people were just greedy for money, and money was what he had plenty of. But even though he wasn't short on money, he wasn't about to simply hand it over to these detestable fellows without making them pay a price.