Beneath the Red Dragon

”These damn dragons, sending me an invitation—is this a mockery?” The once-calm eyes of the furious Charal Cesar suddenly turned an eerie shade of dark green.

Realizing his emotions were getting the better of him, he immediately paused and took a deep breath. ”However, the Life Spring Water might be of some use to me. Heh, the Land of Golden might be worth sending someone to check out.”

Most people who received the dragons’ invitation showed some interest. In their view, the distant Giant Dragon Territory posed no real threat and could even lead to mutually beneficial relationships, if the Dragon Group was indeed as the rumors described.

Profit comes first, no matter which world it is. Even among the Divine Spirits, this is always the case.

Some well-informed Five-Color Dragons were also intrigued by the news. To them, distancing themselves from those detestable humans and other races was never enough, yet this Dragon Group seemed intent on forging ties with these civilizations.

This was something these Five-Color Dragons could never understand—a civilization isolated forever finds no path forward. Isolation leads to a dead end.

...

Karon’s body was already quite massive, standing upright like a red fortress. Yet, compared to the corpse of the adult Green Dragon lying on the ground, there was still a noticeable difference.

The body of this adult Green Dragon was over twenty meters long, with only two injuries—a pierced heart, like it was shot through by concentrated laser, creating a massive hole with clarity from front to back.

The other was on its head, where the crown-like Dragon Horns of the adult Green Dragon were forcibly broken off, as if during battle a powerful opponent held its head and snapped the Dragon Horns, followed by a simple and fatal attack to effortlessly dispatch this adult Green Dragon.

Despite being dead for countless years, the colossal body of this Green Dragon had not decayed—just withered as if all the moisture and blood had been drained from it.

This massive Green Dragon body was discovered by mages at the center of the ruins, in front of the only intact building. Thanks to this discovery, the exploration team proceeded with utmost caution.

Until the entire ruin was cleared, this intact, mostly submerged Mage Tower, with only two floors exposed, was finally fully revealed before everyone.

While the War Ancient Tree was clearing the ruins, no dangers were detected. Judging by the position of the Green Dragon’s corpse, it might have been fatally wounded but managed to escape the Mage Tower, only to succumb and die.

Hence, the danger must have come from within the Mage Tower.

This was normal; a mage’s Mage Tower is equivalent to a mage’s war fortress, with potentially terrifying capabilities inside—it’s no surprise.

Thus, only cautious probing and exploration could be done.

These elves now belonged to the Dragon Group, so Karon couldn’t indiscriminately send them into the Mage Tower, as it would be unjust punishment for no reason—an error no ruler should make.

He was a dictatorial ruler, but he was not a tyrant, at least not when dealing with his subjects.

Thus, the mages could only meticulously study the ancient knowledge left behind, using various magic to probe, hoping to find a safe method to explore the ruins.

While the mages were researching the ruins, Karon was studying whether there was any residual value in the corpse of the adult Green Dragon in front of him.

He did not consider it sacrilege because he was a dragon; besides, this Green Dragon had nothing to do with him, so he merely thought of recycling its parts.

However, the Green Dragon had been dead for countless years, its Magic Power already withered. Its preservation against decay was partly due to the unique nature of the dragon’s body, and partly due to the life-filled atmosphere of the Greenfield Forest Plane.

Even its Scale Armor couldn’t be forged into actual armor as it had lost the robust defensive capability of Dragon Scales, and its dried bloodline couldn’t serve as a research sample for the laboratory.

Karon planned to take the Green Dragon’s corpse back to his territory to be buried within the mountain where the Giant Dragon Hall stood, designated as a Heroic Spirit Cemetery. However, he felt this Green Dragon wasn’t worthy.

Ultimately, he decided to drag this Green Dragon’s body deep into the forest for burial, allowing its bones to finally rest in peace.

But once Karon had buried the Green Dragon’s body, a thick fog spread through the forest, and the peculiar creature that had once appeared in the mist, a dried giraffe-like entity, appeared before Karon.

This time, rather than ignoring Karon’s presence as it did before, this strange creature began to speak.

To Karon, its voice seemed to communicate directly through Spirit and Soul, rather than the vibrations produced by physical vocal cords.

”Red Dragon, be cautious. The Soul is a boundary not to be crossed by the Divine. Although the attention of many Divine Spirits is drawn to the edges of the world, one day, those lofty gods will find time to focus on you!”

Though this curious being was warning Karon, it seemed more like a friendly reminder.

”I have walked the Main Plane for countless years, and the dragons I’ve seen are all the same—greedy, dull, and foolish. You are different, Karon. I quite like you, so don’t make any mistakes.”

”Free those imprisoned souls. As for the souls that have become your followers, you may keep them. It’s a right even the gods cannot take away.”

Karon sensed the goodwill of the creature before him and politely nodded, then said, ”Thank you for your kind warning, mysterious and benevolent being. May I have the honor of knowing the name of such a noble character?”

”Katos,” nodded the strange creature. Despite its unattractive appearance, it seemed beautiful to Karon. It said, ”I am an envoy from the Beast Village walking the Material World. Since the moment you restrained that Titan Demon Python’s soul, I have been aware of you.”

”But you have been sensible and restrained. Despite possessing the power to retain souls, you have never acted upon it. Otherwise, I would have had to confront you!”

Upon hearing this, Karon heightened his vigilance. Not claiming the soul previously was indeed a wise decision. In this world, one must always remain cautious.

”Thank you for your warning, Katos. May I ask what has entangled the Divine? I know many gods haven’t responded to their followers and Church priests for a long time,” Karon asked out of curiosity.

”Many even speculate that these gods are caught in some unsolvable dilemma, save for the fact that those priests’ Divine Arts still work, otherwise, they would assume...” Karon paused, leaving his sentence unfinished.

But the strange creature, Katos, clearly understood Karon’s meaning. It looked back at the sky of this world, as if there was more to say, yet it held back.

Finally, after much hesitation, Katos shook its head. ”I don’t know either. After all, this involves the great Divine beings. But I do know those gods are entangled due to the chaos created by the ancient Magic Empire, even up to this day.”

The mist was gradually dissipating, and Katos’s figure began to fade too, leaving only its last words: ”Be careful, Karon, and keep your distance from those mad Mages. The troubles they’ve caused are greater than you could imagine!”