"It's time to awaken them!" Muria stood up from his throne, preparing to awaken the most powerful legion under his command, a force that would only follow his orders.
"Your Highness, nine ancient dragons have arrived to visit you!" A Storm Giant entered and reported to Muria. The sudden news made Muria pause and sit back down as he watched the nine ancient dragons, in their humanoid forms, walk into the hall.
"What brings you all here?" Muria asked with a warm smile. These ancient dragons were either "invited" by him or sent by Dragon Kings to teach at the Dragon Academy.
The presence of these ancient dragons had made Muria's vision of a multicolored dragon legion a reality. Because of this, he treated them with respect. These metal dragons and the descendants of various Dragon Kings had produced many elite multicolored dragons and raised a generation of outstanding dragons. The new generation of dragons had far surpassed their predecessors.
Overall, it was a mutually beneficial arrangement. Muria provided the space and some resources while acting as the main coordinator, uniting the dragon resources from various forces. Thanks to his status, no dragon dared oppose him.
"Your Highness, we've come with a request," one of the ancient dragons, with a peculiar appearance, spoke up after the dragons exchanged glances.
This dragon had eyes that shimmered like a serene lake, indicating it was a water dragon. However, it wasn't a black dragon from the chromatic dragon species, nor was it a bronze dragon from the metallic dragons. It was a descendant of a Dragon King, an ocean dragon.
"What is it? Feel free to ask."
"We heard that Your Highness is preparing to launch a war against the Synapsis Continent, also known as the Evil God Paradise?"
"That's correct. It seems the news has spread rather quickly." Muria chuckled. He had only just given the order, and already ancient dragons outside of his command were inquiring. Although he hadn't issued a gag order, the speed of this information spread did irk him slightly.
"Your Highness, we didn't hear it from other dragons but deduced it from the personnel movements in Synapsis," one of the ancient dragons quickly clarified, trying to avoid any misunderstandings.
"Mm!" Muria nodded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. He believed the ancient dragons were wise enough to infer his plans from the resource movements within Synapsis.
"Your Highness, are you moving Synapsis toward the Evil God Paradise?"
"That's correct!" Muria readily admitted, with nothing to hide or deceive. This war was meant to be an open and just cause.
Upon hearing Muria's confirmation, the ancient dragons exchanged looks, their expressions unreadable.
Muria's decision to move Synapsis so openly felt somewhat heavy-handed, as it could drag them into the conflict. After all, the Dragon Academy was located within Synapsis, now occupying more than a third of the cloud islands. If Muria took Synapsis to the Evil God Paradise, the academy wouldn't be able to remain neutral, and these ancient dragons, who had come to teach, might be forced to join the war.
To be honest, they didn't mind fighting—if they were paid well enough. They were well aware of the creatures inhabiting the Evil God Paradise. But being roped in like this didn't sit well with them.
"Your Highness, this..." One of the ancient dragons wanted to voice an opinion. If Muria needed help, he just had to ask. They weren't unwilling to help, as long as the price was right. There was no need for these underhanded tactics.
"I know that moving Synapsis directly above the Synapsis Continent may seem improper, but I have no choice. I need Synapsis as a transportation hub to mobilize the legions I've stationed across the world and beyond. Without Synapsis, I wouldn't be able to launch a war against the continent."
Muria smiled as he explained his reasoning to the ancient dragons, who were clearly trying to squeeze money out of him. He reassured them, "As for the war, don't worry. Although Synapsis will be within the warzone, I can guarantee that the fighting won't spill into the Dragon Academy. It won't disrupt the academy's operations. Rest assured, this war will not interfere with you."
"No, Your Highness, we don't have any issue with you moving Synapsis to the Synapsis Continent. We understand your desire for revenge, and we wouldn't stand in your way," one dragon coughed before another more straightforward dragon, a sapphire-colored one, cut in directly.
"Your Highness, we were wondering if you were short on manpower. If so, could you recruit us? We'd be more than willing to help."
This sapphire dragon was far less subtle, practically saying outright, "Pay us, and we'll work for you."
"For now, I'm not lacking in manpower. If I do need assistance, I'll notify you," Muria responded with a polite smile, cutting off their hopes completely.
Hiring ancient dragons for this war was far from his priority. His forces were sufficient. These ancient dragons must have thought he had money to burn. Given that this war was destined to be long, hiring dozens of ancient dragons would be an enormous waste of resources.
Furthermore, while these ancient dragons were strong, most were of lower to mid-level legendary rank. There were few with the high-level legendary power needed to decisively turn the tide of battle. For Muria, their presence was like a chicken rib: they had some use, but not enough to justify the cost.
"I still have matters related to this war to handle, so I'll take my leave." With a smile, Muria turned and disappeared from the hall.
Muria arrived before a vast stargate. After adjusting its coordinates, he stepped through it, crossing a great expanse of void until he arrived in a mid-sized world.
As soon as he appeared, a tyrannosaur with a crescent-shaped horn on its forehead ran up to him, nuzzling his hand affectionately.
"Good boy," Muria patted the beast's head. Surrounding the stargate were countless war beasts. As Muria appeared, they all gathered around him with a sense of kinship.
After spending some time calming the beasts, Muria looked up at the sky, where giant blue-eyed, white-feathered eagles were circling overhead.
A powerful dragon roar echoed from the distance, and Muria watched as the sky turned golden. From the horizon, a long, elegant dragon, escorted by numerous draconic serpent-like creatures, approached.
This enormous golden dragon, whose wings could block out the sun, landed before Muria and transformed into a stunning girl whose beauty seemed to outshine the heavens themselves.
"Muria, you're here! I've already begun awakening all the legions. In a few days, they'll all gather here."
"How many have you awakened?" Muria asked the golden dragon. At his wedding, the most valuable gift he had received from the epic titans was the seeds of their legions of followers. With a simple blood contract, he could make them completely loyal, obeying only his commands.
However, what he received were merely seeds, not fully-formed forces. To make use of them, he needed time to hatch them, cultivate them, and expand their numbers through reproduction.
But clearly, Muria hadn't spent much time on this. After his wedding, most of his time had been devoted to reading and absorbing knowledge. The task of nurturing the follower legions had been entrusted to someone he was closest to.
Naturally, Muria had entrusted the responsibility of raising these legions to his mother, the Golden Dragon Queen Atris. Of course, this wasn't done for free. Even between mother and son, everything had to be accounted for. In return for helping him raise these legions, Atris was allowed to keep some of the legion seeds gifted to Muria by the epic titans.
This was a deal Muria had proposed. He had received so many legion seeds that he couldn't possibly use them all. Since that was the case, it made sense to give some away, and who better to give them to than his own mother? Atris had started cultivating her own dragon beast legions long ago, but the ones she gathered from around the world could hardly compare to the war beasts specially created by epic titans for battle.
"So far, I've raised three hundred thousand, mainly focusing on the war beasts given to you by your grandfather. I'm more familiar with those. As for the followers from the other epic titans, I haven't raised as many."
"How many of these war beasts have reached legendary rank?" Muria inquired. The followers created by the titans for battle all had immense potential, with nearly every one of them having the possibility of advancing to legendary status.
Of course, this was only a possibility. To reach legendary rank, each war beast would need to go through countless battles, and even if they became legends, they wouldn't enjoy the long lifespan of Erathia's legendary beings.
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