"You should feel fortunate. As a guardian of the ocean, I should tolerate all creatures born from the sea. But I can't do that. I despise the creatures this sea previously nurtured. That's why you can stand before me and talk in peace."
"It's not about luck, Lord Crimson Moon. I too loathe the twisted creatures birthed by this sea, which is why I ordered their complete extermination. I want new sea life to inhabit this place."
Muria had a rough idea of why these colossal beasts had appeared. It was likely due to his command to start this war aimed at extinction.
If his sole intention was to launch such a war, the Sea Emperor Dragon and even the Wind King Eagle—whom he had struck a deal with—would take action. Anyone daring to disrupt the world's ecological balance would be unforgivable.
The ecosystem of the Senaps Subcontinent and its surrounding seas had become strange and twisted under the influence of the evil gods. However, it was still an ecosystem that could proliferate and expand. The filth and evil within it were nothing to the world itself, which could easily tolerate such things.
But by wiping out the ecosystem, Muria had crossed a line. His plan, though, was to first eliminate all the twisted creatures and then invest vast resources and manpower to rebuild the environment, making the Senaps Subcontinent's ecosystem as healthy as other continents.
To achieve this, Muria even consulted the Elven Queen of the Eternal Isle, asking her to send enough tree shepherds to help reconstruct the subcontinent's natural ecology.
The world, or rather these titanic beasts, seemed to sense what Muria planned. That's why they were willing to converse with him so amiably now. Otherwise, Muria would have already faced punishment.
"Make sure to control the intensity of the war. Don't cause too much damage to the surrounding environment. My workload is already overwhelming; don't make it worse for me."
The Sea Emperor Dragon didn't directly respond to Muria's words but merely warned him. Its task was to follow Muria's army and cleanse the sea regions he had decimated. It didn't care about anything else.
Even its current workload was massive—purifying all the coastal areas of the Senaps Subcontinent. It had no idea how much power that would require, although it wasn't concerned about running out of strength as long as it remained in the ocean. The real issue was the sheer amount of effort it took.
"I'll do my best! But I can't make promises," Muria chuckled. After all, his opponents were a group of evil gods, and what he was doing was even worse than desecrating their ancestors' graves. Who knew how these gods would retaliate when pushed to the limit?
...
"Hey, Ister, what is that?" A red dragon perched on the ruins of a destroyed building, staring at the gradually greening sky. He looked puzzled and asked the handsome young man next to him, who was studying a painting.
"Don't bother me! This is *The Melancholy Princess* by the famous artist Fan from the Helgamos Empire, painted 9,000 years ago. It's an extremely important—"
"Cut the crap about historical or artistic value. Just tell me how much it's worth!" The red dragon, annoyed by the golden dragon's pointless explanations, was clearly uninterested.
"This is a work of art! How can you desecrate it with money?" The blond youth in the gentleman's suit, wearing a monocle, shouted angrily when asked about the price of the ancient painting.
"One thousand elemental crystals. Deal or not?"
"Deal! Hand over the crystals, and the painting is yours," the golden dragon Ister agreed immediately.
"Do I look like an idiot? I'm not paying a thousand elemental crystals for this junk!" The red dragon scoffed, picking his nose. "I was just messing with you. This painting isn't worth a thousand crystals."
"Well, it could fetch that price if you find a collector who loves it. There are plenty of wealthy fools in the human empires," Ister explained.
"Really? That much?" The red dragon's eyes lit up. The Senaps Subcontinent had already established stable trade routes with the Ten Empires, so selling ancient paintings wasn't too hard.
"Hey, why is the sky turning green?" Ister ignored the red dragon's greed and finally noticed the changing sky.
Ister sniffed the air and caught a whiff of the refreshing scent of plants, as if he were standing in a primordial forest. The air around him was filled with the visible aura of life.
"Look, there's a wild plant growing!" The red dragon jabbed at Ister, surprised to see a weed sprouting from the ruins. But soon, it wasn't just one plant. More and more weeds rapidly grew, followed by long vines creeping across the ruins.
In just a few moments, the ruins—created by the red dragon himself—looked as though years had passed, overrun with wild grass and vines.
"Damn it! Why are there plants growing on me?" A furious voice rang out. The red dragon turned to see a black dragon with several patches of grass sprouting on its body, including one on its head.
"That guy probably hasn't bathed in a while. The dirt on him must have acted as fertilizer. These plants don't just grow out of nowhere; they need nutrients," Ister remarked, eyeing the black dragon with disdain.
"What's going on?" The red dragon surveyed the ruined city they had just destroyed. What had been a landscape of wildfires was now covered with vibrant, green plants, starkly different from the native, dark vegetation.
Boom! A faint tremor came from afar, followed by a second, then a third. The footsteps grew heavier and the vibrations stronger.
"Something's coming." Ister's expression turned serious as he looked toward the green sky. At the horizon, a massive head appeared, adorned with scythe-like horns and a neck covered in azure-gold armor.
"What in the world is that?" The red dragon's jaw dropped. He wasn't ignorant. Judging by size alone, this beast had to be over 200 meters tall—far larger than even the red dragon's full height with his tail extended.
"Don't ask me!" Ister was equally stunned, having also estimated the beast's size. While size didn't always equate to power, such a colossal creature couldn't possibly be weak.
"So, what do we do?"
"Run, of course! Whether it's friend or foe, it's too dangerous to stick around. Its aura doesn't seem hostile, but who knows?" Ister was about to flee, reverting to his true form and spreading his wings to escape.
"Hold up! Someone already reported this to Senaps. Legendary figures will be here soon, and our honorable dean might even step in himself."
The red dragon pulled Ister down before he could get far. "If it's an ally, there's no need to run. If it's an enemy, we'll get to watch the dean in action. That's a show worth staying for."
"What show?" Ister was confused by the red dragon's twisted logic.
"If this powerful being is an enemy and our dean has to fight, we might see him get beaten down. Wouldn't that be entertaining?"
"That's only a possibility," Ister pointed out.
"But it's worth the risk. If such a spectacle happens and we miss it, we'd regret it for life!"
"You've got a point!" Just as Ister nodded in agreement, a tear silently opened behind them, and a black-haired, golden-eyed Muria stepped out, expressionless, staring at the two dragons.
"What's very reasonable?"
"Dean! N-nothing!" The two dragons stammered, visibly shaken by Muria's sudden appearance.
"Oh, from now on, you two are my honor guard. Follow me."
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