Odin did not speak.
"There's one thing I need to correct. My husband and I did indeed attempt to stop Constantine from stealing the Primordial Energy, but in the end, we failed. Constantine still managed to seize the majority of the Primordial Energy."
Rossweise's tone was calm, unhurried and composed, her words exuding the dignity and composure of the Silver Dragon Queen.
"As for how we view the current Constantine... My husband and I believe that, with Constantine's current strength, he has already surpassed the vast majority of Dragon Kings, but he still hasn't reached the top tier."
"Hasn't reached the top tier?"
A young Dragon King asked, "Lady Melkvei, I've heard about the might of the Primordial Energy. It's a power completely different from modern magic, far beyond the scope of our understanding. And Constantine has obtained such a powerful Primordial Energy, yet you say he still hasn't entered the top ranks? I don't believe it."
"The Primordial Energy is indeed powerful, but if one doesn't know how to use it, it's nothing more than an empty shell."
The person who answered the young Dragon King wasn't Rossweise.
It was Claudia.
Everyone's gaze once again turned to the beautiful mature woman sitting in the corner of the table.
She sat with arms crossed, head slightly bowed, her still-alluring and beautiful face expressionless. Even surrounded by Dragon Kings, Claudia showed not the slightest fear.
"Lady Claudia, are you saying... Constantine is still unable to fully wield the Primordial Energy?"
"No, the Primordial Energy is, after all, just a form of energy. It's like holding a bomb in your hand, if you throw it, it will cause damage."
Claudia spoke unhurriedly, "With Constantine's capabilities, throwing that bomb skillfully isn't hard; what's difficult is... how to increase the amount of explosive powder in that bomb, what method to use to throw it farther and more accurately, what kind of additional damage it causes after exploding, and so on."
Upon hearing this, the Melkvei family of three exchanged glances.
What Claudia said was indeed true.
Back when "First Fusion Old Constantine" attacked the Red Dragon Sanctuary, Rossweise had dealt effective damage to him using the purest form of Primordial Energy.
Later, the [Soul Judgement] she received from Leon's master was a technique belonging to the Primordial Energy's magic faction.
Claudia's point was easy to understand, Old Constantine had all this power but didn't know how to use specific techniques.
Clumsy. Useless. Nothing to worry about.
"The Sea Dragon Princess makes a good point. And as far as I know, Primordial Magic has long been lost. Trying to find a manual that records Primordial Magic is basically impossible."
When the old guy said this, there was an inexplicable confidence in his tone.
That's how Dragon Kings are, the older they get, the more confident they become.
Because they've lived long and seen much, they start thinking their understanding represents the entirety of the current era.
Another young Dragon King, whether to flatter the 'old leader' or because he had real experience in this area, said,
"The elder is right. I also spent several years searching for Primordial Magic, but I ultimately failed. I can confidently say, in this age, Primordial Magic has gone extinct."
'Primordial Magic has gone extinct?', A certain Silver Dragon couple nearly burst out laughing.
"Perhaps. Maybe Primordial Magic really has... gone extinct."
Claudia spoke while meaningfully looking toward Leon and Rossweise across the table.
The couple knew that Claudia was the author of [Soul Judgement], so what she meant by saying that... was she trying to conceal the existence of Primordial Magic?
'Hmm, that makes sense.'
This was a meeting focused on Constantine, there was no need to leak important internal information about her own clan.
Meetings were meetings, but they hadn't formed an alliance yet.
Still, the couple didn't dare make too much eye contact with the beautiful Sea Dragon lady.
What if she realized, "Wow, why is the martial arts technique I wrote in your hands?"
Since Claudia wanted to keep a low profile, Leon and Rossweise naturally did too.
The meeting continued.
After the discussion about Primordial Magic ended, the topic returned to Constantine.
"Pardon me, everyone. I have a slightly off-topic question for the Silver Dragon Prince," the Golden Sand Dragon King, Morgan, looked at Leon.
"What is it?"
"How Constantine knew about the Primordial Ruins, we still don't know. But what we'd like to ask is: how did you know Constantine was going to steal the Primordial Energy?"
'Because my former boss used the Primordial Energy to turn Old Constantine into a stitched-together monster, planning to use him to conquer the world, never expected he'd end up creating his own daddy.'
'Said daddy awakened self-awareness, got a taste for the Primordial Energy, and to get revenge on me and my old boss, went looking for the Primordial Ruins.'
'Want me to tell the truth, bro?'
'If I say that, none of you will get to leave this room today.'
"I have a unique intelligence outpost. It's not hard for me to keep track of Constantine's movements," Leon said.
"Intelligence outpost? Interesting. Why did you design such a thing?"
"Because I fought Constantine twice before. It gave me a sense of danger, so I specifically set up a circulating intelligence relay station to avoid being ambushed again."
"Oh? Then, Silver Dragon Prince, this intelligence—"
Before Morgan could finish, Isa suddenly spoke up, "Hey, Morgan, since it's their Silver Dragon secret intelligence outpost, isn't it kinda rude for you to keep pressing about it?"
"Ah, well—"
Rossweise took the opportunity to follow up, "And besides, it was only set up as a precautionary measure. If you keep digging to uncover how it works, doesn't that make all my husband's effort pointless?"
Morgan was stunned for a moment, choked silent by these two sharp and beautiful women.
In the end, he shook his head and laughed, "The two of you make a fair point."
"Hmph!", Isa snorted coldly, then looked past Rossweise toward Leon and gave her brother-in-law a playful wink.
Leon smiled faintly and thought to himself, 'It's actually useful to have two black-bellied women at home.'
They really step up when needed.
The meeting continued.
In the following time, the Dragon Kings discussed how to deal with Constantine.
After several hours and a vote, their course of action was determined, "Deploy a certain number of guards to station near the Crimson Flame Dragon territory. If Constantine makes any bold moves, we can intervene immediately."
"After applying constant pressure on Constantine for a period of time, we'll begin tightening the encirclement until we force him out."
"During this period, everyone should gather any information related to the Primordial Energy. We need to extract all the Primordial Energy from Constantine."
"Does anyone have anything to add to this?"
Leon slowly raised his hand, "After we reclaim the Primordial Energy from Constantine, then what?"
"Of course, we use it on the right path."
"The... right path?", Leon carefully mulled over the term.
The word itself wasn't a problem;
The problem was who was saying it.
It's not that Leon had a bias against dragonkind, but this power was simply too strong. If any of them got it... would they really use it on the so-called 'right path'?
"Silver Dragon Prince, do you have a different idea?", asked the same older Dragon King who had been actively speaking throughout the meeting.
Leon thought for a moment and turned to look at Rossweise.
Rossweise gave him a small nod, meaning: just say what you think.
"I believe we only need to monitor Constantine and his territory. There's no need to pressure or start a war."
"War will inevitably lead to casualties. But if you all believe that sacrificing mountains of corpses and oceans of blood is worth it for the Primordial Energy... then I have nothing more to say."
When General Leon doesn't act like a reckless fool, he's actually quite clever, borderline moral manipulator.
He directly hit the Dragon Kings with a wave of moral guilt.
Sacrificing your own people's lives to obtain a power that doesn't even belong to you.
If you do it, you're greedy;
If you don't, then just obediently monitor Old Constantine and leave it at that, don't try to pull any flashy moves.
'The schemes in your heads? I already heard them all back at the Silver Dragon Sanctuary.'
Of course, this judgment was based on objective facts.
Leon also had some personal thoughts, namely... compared to this group of Dragon Kings, he actually trusted Old Constantine's character (or "dragon-ality") a bit more.
After returning from the Far North, Noah told him that Constantine originally had a chance to eliminate their group of students, but didn't.
Even after learning that Noah was Leon's daughter, Constantine still didn't take his anger out on her.
From this alone, Leon knew that this crazy dragon had principles.
So he'd rather let the Primordial Energy stay with Constantine for now, than hand it over to unfamiliar Dragon Kings.
Rossweise had taught him, all power is tied to politics.
And politics is the carefully crafted disguise for the selfishness of those in power.
That supreme divine force was a delicious cake, and everyone wanted a slice. So, when facing this 'cake', don't trust anyone you don't understand, even if they appear to be on your side.
"Well then... very well. Let's put the Silver Dragon Prince's proposal to a vote. Those in favor, please raise your hands," The elder Dragon King spoke with a hint of smug certainty in his tone.
Because he knew, every Dragon King here was eyeing a share of the Primordial Energy.
How could they possibly agree with that naïve kid's proposal?
Ridiculous.
Sure enough, among the present Dragon Kings, aside from Rossweise, Isa, and Claudia, no one else raised their hand.
"Too bad, Silver Dragon Prince. Your proposal hasn't been approved."
"Then, I hereby declare—"
Just as the old man was about to conclude, the long-silent Odin slowly raised his hand.
"I agree with Mr. Casmodeous' proposal."
The confident old man froze, face turning a little sour.
But wait, things were about to get worse for him.
Morgan, the Golden Sand Dragon King, also raised his hand.
"Heh hey heh, I think Brother Leon made a good point. Fighting and killing is bad, how about we all sit down and have some tea? If the chat goes well, maybe that Old Constantine guy will just hand over the Primordial Energy to the government himself."
And not just Morgan, after exchanging glances, other Dragon Kings also began raising their hands one after another.
Compared to the "Primordial Energy that might not even be reclaimable," it was more important to "leave a good impression with the Thunder Dragon King."
Soon, those raising their hands outnumbered those who didn't.
Leon chuckled, arms crossed.
"Old man, I declare your declaration invalid."
———
By evening, the Dragon King summit had successfully concluded.
Using Constantine as the excuse, the Dragon Kings who wanted to seize the Primordial Energy began leaving one after another.
Only a few remained in the meeting room:
The trouble-magnet couple and their big sister, the Sea Dragon Princess Claudia, along with Thunder Dragon King Odin and Golden Sand Dragon King Morgan.
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