Twenty-four small world coordinates rich in resources, nineteen rune weapon production lines, powerful creatures' offspring and eggs from the Celestial Realm, and replicas of over 90% of the Seraphim library's books… The gifts from the Seraphim just kept coming, making Muria feel the exhilarating sensation of overnight wealth. He was utterly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of treasures.
"Muria, calm down. No need to get too excited. Your elders have arrived, and you should go welcome them." Arudiba, seated at the head, smiled as he reminded Muria. The young Titan's excitement was amusing, and Arudiba could understand it. After all, if he had received such an overwhelming amount of resources in his legendary phase, his reaction likely wouldn't have been much different.
"Right," Muria sobered up at Arudiba's reminder. He could sense several powerful presences suddenly appearing on the continent of light, one of them unmistakably belonging to his father.
"Grandfather..." Muria quickly excused himself from the seven Seraphim and flew out of the floating city to greet his kin.
...
"This..." Archimonde, the Lord of the Wild, lifted his finger from his grandson's forehead. He had extracted the information that the Seraphim had left in Muria's mind. There was no doubt that the Seraphim had sent a clear signal.
The Seraphim wanted a deeper level of cooperation with the Titans—an exchange of knowledge, technology, and resources for mutual benefit.
They had already taken the first step by handing over their most valuable epic-related secret techniques. It was a gesture asking whether the Titans were willing to reciprocate.
Clearly, the Seraphim had no fear that the Titans would misuse their secrets, trusting the Titans' integrity not to use them without permission.
"Haha, it seems the Seraphim and I had the same idea. I wanted to collaborate with them, and they wish to cooperate with us as well. How harmonious!" The Ten Lords, having received the same information, laughed. Several decades ago, when they supported Muria's betrothal to Mikaela, the first seraph prodigy, they had envisioned such cooperation.
"Muria, go handle your wedding. You don't need to worry about this. After your ceremony, we'll begin discussions with the Seraphim."
"Understood," Muria responded, somewhat hesitant as he prepared to leave the grand hall.
"Muria, wait a second. I haven't given you my gift yet." The Machine Emperor, who had come along, grinned. Muria's face lit up with anticipation as he turned around, only to catch a massive crystal sphere tossed at him.
"This is my gift to you, and it's far better than the junk rotting on those little islands you have."
Muria cradled the crystal sphere, which was half the size of a grown man, and examined it closely. It seemed to contain a miniature star system, and within it was an enormous fleet. From just a rough glance, Muria estimated the fleet contained over ten thousand ships.
"Here's mine." The Abyss Lord, Ulysses, also tossed Muria a small sphere. Inside was a miniaturized landscape—mountains, plains, hills, rivers, and lakes. Most strikingly, at the center of the land was a boiling lava pool, from which countless large eggs were suspended, absorbing the lava's energy.
"These are demon eggs I've tamed. I've completely eliminated their chaotic nature, so if you drop a drop of your blood into the lava, the demons that hatch will obey your every command. You could even build an entire demon army if you wish."
And so began Muria's gift-receiving session. The epic Titans didn't offer flashy trinkets but instead bestowed their personally raised followers.
Receiving all these gifts left Muria questioning his life. Everything he had accomplished over the past hundred years seemed trivial in comparison. The giant troops he had gathered paled in comparison to the potential power of these gifted followers from the epic Titans.
With the gifts given, it was finally time for Muria to prepare for the wedding. Most of the guests had already arrived, with none having a higher status than the Seraphim or Titans. As a general rule, the more prestigious the guest, the later they would arrive, a tradition understood by all.
...
Roar! Roar! Roar!
Accompanied by the deafening roars of dragons, Muria and Mikaela's wedding officially began. The first procession was a formation of dragons paving the way for the wedding procession. In just a few breaths, over 1,200 dragons had flown by.
Most were young or juvenile dragons, with only a few adult or elder dragons. Among them, the rarest were sixty-four ancient dragons, the majority of whom were metallic or gemstone dragons. A smaller portion were chromatic dragons that had submitted to Muria, and less than a tenth were other dragon types.
As the guests watched the ancient dragons, they also saw the giants that followed. One by one, storm giants riding giant rocs flanked a massive chariot, which thundered through the sky, leaving long trails of lightning in its wake.
"A war chariot!" A duke from the native continent, attending the wedding, looked up at the massive chariot carrying Muria and Mikaela and was astonished.
"Am I attending a wedding, or is this a war procession?"
"This is a wedding, but I've heard the Titans are a warlike race. Today, I finally see how true that is," another guest remarked. Many of the attendees, shocked by the grand scale of the wedding, whispered amongst themselves. And when Muria and Mikaela paraded around the venue, under the watchful eyes of the epic figures, the guests became even more talkative.
The couple's wedding attire resembled armor more than traditional gowns, fueling even more discussions.
"If someone told me this was a war mobilization ceremony, I'd believe them," a red-clad cardinal muttered to his companion as he observed Muria and Mikaela, who were currently sealing their vows.
"Look at the epic beings above us. This wedding is a battle of sorts, just in a different form," replied another cardinal seated in the middle of the venue. He held no resentment for his seating position, as it was determined by the status and power of the attendees. Ahead of him sat epic beings, deities, imperial royalty, and even kings from various realms.
...
As the world-renowned wedding reached its final stages, Muria and Mikaela prepared for the last step. But those truly paying attention weren't concerned with the newlyweds. Their focus was on the epic Titans, Seraphim, and Dragon Kings in attendance—what would their next moves be?
None of this, however, mattered to Muria. The moment he had been waiting for had finally arrived, and his focus was solely on Mikaela. His current strength couldn't impact the grand schemes at play, so he put them out of his mind.
...
"Mika, it's time for the final step of the wedding." Muria pulled Mikaela into his embrace, his gaze burning with passion. He no longer suppressed his physical power, and Mikaela could feel the heat radiating from his rapidly rising body temperature.
"Muria, Mia told me you're planning something big once you reach the high rank of a legend, but you didn't tell her what it is. What exactly are you planning?" After some time, Mikaela rested against Muria's chest, her voice soft and gentle, more so than ever before.
"When I first became a legend, I ventured into the Evil Gods' Paradise to recover my dragons. However, I exposed my source power, and a group of evil gods sent their avatars to hunt me down. If it weren't for a Fox Emperor residing within the Titan clan intervening, you might not be here with me now," Muria said, running his hand through Mikaela's platinum hair.
"Oh, I know about that. I was watching from the Boundless Heavens at the time. You were in quite a sorry state. If it weren't for a Balrog and an Abyssal Forge Demon protecting you, you probably wouldn't have made it."
"That incident left a thorn in my heart. I've been itching for revenge ever since."
"Didn't your grandfather already deal with them? I remember several of the evil gods who attacked you have already fallen, and none of them have revived yet."
"Some still remain. The Spider Queen Lolth, for example, was only gravely wounded and fell into a deep sleep. She didn't die. She will wake again, and when she does, I'll make sure she sleeps forever."
"She's a god. Unless something unusual happens, you won't be able to hurt her before you become an epic, let alone kill her."
"True, I can't harm her now, but there are other things I can do." Muria flipped Mikaela over and pressed her beneath him. "For example, I can destroy the source of her faith—the Evil Gods' Paradise, the Synapse Continent."
"So that's what you plan to do before venturing into the Void? Sounds fun. I'm definitely joining in," Mikaela said, flipping back over and pressing Muria down. "You're crushing my wings."
"Mmm!" Muria didn't move, pulling Mikaela close instead. "Of course, you'll be with me. You're my inseparable partner. When we conquer the Synapse Continent and establish an empire there, I'll be its first emperor, and our descendants will be its second, or perhaps empress."
"An empire? That's your plan?"
"Yes. Is there a problem?" Muria raised an eyebrow. "I've had dreams of being an emperor since I was a child. Now that I
have the power, I intend to make it a reality."
"So, what kind of empire do you want to build?"
"An empire led by Titans, Seraphim, and dragons."
"With so many dragons, it'll likely become a dragon empire. Even if you add all the Titans and Seraphim together, they won't outnumber just one type of dragon."
"Perhaps, but the ruling class, the imperial family, will definitely be Titans and Seraphim. Dragons will be the nobility at most."
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