Chapter 245: Divinity?!

Upon receiving the news, the Life Titan, Delisve, rushed to the Gate of Steel. Hearing the continuous crashing from the other side, she immediately grasped the situation.

The dragons hadn't given up their schemes. They actually intended to trap the titans underground until they died!

Delisve's expression shifted uncertainly. Just as the White Dragon Lord had guessed, she didn't fear being trapped; she was bound to the Flower Throne and couldn't leave regardless.

Yet, she had her own worries. These dragons were too cunning, and that powerful spellcasting white dragon had even inspected the seal. Although he hadn't discovered the treasure hidden within the evil entity, Delisve was certain he realized the creature's days were numbered.

If the Dragon Race stationed guards outside until the evil entity died and the barrier vanished, the Titan Race would inevitably be slaughtered.

Worse still, the underground world suffered from a severe lack of elemental energy. While the dragons grew stronger in other worlds, she would be forced to sit on her throne in constant anxiety, dreading the moment the barrier fell to reveal the dragons waiting outside.

A chill ran down her spine at the thought. Taking a deep breath, Delisve made her decision.

"Stop! Let's negotiate! I have an offer you cannot refuse!"

Amplified by magic, Delisve's voice echoed throughout the chasm, drowning out the deafening crash of falling rocks.

Above the chasm, the three dragons exchanged glances. The Gold Dragon spoke up.

"Careful. It might be a trap."

The White Dragon Lord nodded.

"It is possible, but she can't come out. What can she actually do to us?"

The Ancient Gold Dragon nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. We might as well hear what her condition is, for her to actually claim it is one we cannot refuse."

Reaching a consensus, the three dragons signaled the other dragons to stop hurling boulders.

"Delisve, what leverage do you have left to negotiate with us?"

Hearing the Ancient Gold Dragon's voice, Delisve ground her teeth in hatred, but she knew this was not the time to lose her temper.

"There are too many eyes and ears up there. Aren't you afraid of the information leaking? Come down! We need to talk properly!"

"She can't get out anyway. Let's hear what her leverage is."

The three dragons beat their wings, descending into the chasm to land on the massive fallen boulders.

"Alright, you can speak now. Our patience is limited."

After dismissing the Rock Titan, Occam, Delisve coldly uttered a single word.

"Divinity!"

That single word struck the three dragons like a thunderbolt, freezing them in place.

Nothing related to the gods was ordinary. Divinity, Divine Artifacts, divine sparks... every single one was impossibly precious.

Even divinity, the least valuable among them, was enough to ignite a war between High-Tier Legends if it appeared in the Star Realm.

Across the multiverse, a perverse class of magic existed: instant-death magic. Greater Disjunction from the Combat Staff of Caucasus was one such spell. Even though the White Dragon Lord was countless times stronger than Gurgalu, taking a direct hit from Greater Disjunction would almost certainly spell his doom.

Because instant-death magic was so utterly unreasonable, Mages heavily favored it, making it the ultimate nightmare for countless professionals.

However, a single thread of divinity perfectly solved this problem, as divine creatures were entirely immune to instant-death magic.

Beyond that, divinity served many other purposes, such as forging Divine Artifacts. For those ambitious enough to seek godhood, collecting divinity was the necessary first step.

Naturally, the lure of divinity was overwhelming to the three dragons, but they didn't let it cloud their judgment.

The Ancient Gold Dragon asked.

"Divinity? Where would you get divinity?"

Behind the gate, Delisve felt suffocated with resentment. She had given up the chance to migrate to a normal plane and spent thousands of years guarding this prize, only to be forced by a lethal threat into sharing it with her mortal enemies. She spoke coldly.

"It is inside the evil entity."

The White Dragon Lord frowned.

"The evil entity? Its parents were a Dragon and a Titan, not gods. Furthermore, it has been imprisoned since birth. Are you trying to trick us?!"

Delisve answered icily.

"I swear in the name of the Firmament Titan—the evil entity holds divinity."

The Firmament Titan was the ancestral god of the Titans, the origin of their entire bloodline. Even though he had long since fallen—much like Io and the other natural-system deities—his status in the hearts of the Titan Race was supreme. No titan would ever joke using their ancestral god's name.

Seeing Delisve swear in the name of the Firmament Titan, the three dragons believed most of her claim.

Having lived a long time and possessing broad knowledge, the Ancient Gold Dragon provided an explanation.

"It isn't only evil entities birthed by gods that inherit divinity. The offspring of certain divine creatures can also inherit portions of their parents' power."

The Ancient Gold Dragon's expression grew complex.

"Delisve, you realized the evil entity was nearing the end of its life. That is why you stayed behind, biding your time to claim the divinity!"

Delisve finally erupted, roaring furiously.

"So what if I did?! You still end up reaping the benefits! Now that you know this secret, you have only two choices. Either we guard this secret together and sign a contract forbidding you from ever targeting my race again, or I release the evil entity's seal right now, and we all go down together!"

The three dragons exchanged glances. This choice wasn't difficult at all.

"Agreed, but we must examine the evil entity first to ensure you are telling the truth."

The Ancient Gold Dragon grabbed the boulder beneath its feet and tossed it aside. The white dragon and the gold dragon quickly joined the cleanup. Fortunately, Delisve had halted them shortly after they started filling the chasm, so there were not that many rocks.

Soon, the Gate of Steel, sealed by molten iron, reappeared before the three dragons.

The White Dragon Lord stood aside, watching as two blasts of Dragon Breath remelted the iron sealing the Gate of Steel, reducing it to a pool of dark red liquid.

Watching the reopened Gate of Steel, Delisve suppressed her raging fury. Making no drastic moves, she simply turned and walked inside.

The three dragons followed Delisve, returning to the throne room once more.

Bypassing Delisve, the White Dragon Lord walked straight to the Flower Throne. He carefully moved it aside and focused his senses on the evil entity sealed below.

The instant he made contact with the evil entity's power, low, wicked murmurs echoed in the White Dragon Lord's mind, attempting to corrupt his consciousness and twist him into a puppet.

But the White Dragon Lord was prepared. Guarding his mental sea, he probed deeper into the evil entity's body.

Sure enough, a cluster of milky-white light rested within the slumbering evil entity, radiating a sacred aura.

Having confirmed the divinity's presence, the White Dragon Lord withdrew his mental energy. After purging the lingering evil entity's power from his mind, he nodded to the two gold dragons.

Seeing the White Dragon Lord nod, the Ancient Gold Dragon pondered for a moment before speaking.

"I believe we can discuss distribution now. I propose dividing the divinity into four shares so we can split it equally. What do you all think?"

The White Dragon Lord looked at the Life Titan, who resembled a volcano on the verge of eruption, and decided not to provoke her further.

"I agree."

The Gold Dragon nodded in agreement as well.

Delisve also knew it was nearly impossible to force the overwhelmingly stronger dragons to back down. An equal split was a neither good nor bad compromise. She glared coldly at the three dragons and gave her tacit consent.

Seeing this, the White Dragon Lord took out four copies of the contract of the God of Justice and began drafting the terms.

After a round of argument, four identical contracts were finalized.

The contract stipulated that the dragons could no longer target the Titan Race of the Madilan World through any means.

In return, the Titan Race would continue to guard the evil entity. When it neared death, they were to notify the three dragons to come distribute the divinity. Once the distribution was complete, the White Dragon Lord was obligated to help teleport the Titan Race to a safe city in the Star Realm.

As compensation for the white dragon's teleportation, the Titan Race was forbidden from interfering in the affairs of the Madilan World.

One year after the Titan Race arrived at the safe city in the Star Realm, the contract would dissolve, severing all bindings between the two races.

Watching the contracts spontaneously combust without fire, the titan and the three dragons all breathed a sigh of relief.

The moment the contracts finished burning, Delisve immediately shooed the dragons away.

"Done! You can get lost now."

Having gained an advantage, the three dragons paid it no mind and returned to the surface.

Looking up at the sun, the Gold Dragon, Leopold Chodmartin, felt an unprecedented sense of joy.

Accepting the White Dragon Lord's employment this time had yielded rewards far beyond the Gold Dragon's imagination.

According to the employment agreement between the white dragon and the gold dragon, the White Dragon Lord would pay one chest of Elemental Crystals and one chest of Mithril as the gold dragon's reward, while the spoils from the titans would be split evenly. Not only had the Gold Dragon gained an extra chest of Elemental Crystals this time, but he had also harvested a supreme treasure like divinity.

Emmm...

It was just that the waiting period for the divinity was a bit long—it would take at least a thousand years. But Leopold was already very satisfied; this was divinity, after all.

As far as the Gold Dragon knew, even in a massive plane like Nordhill, the existences possessing divinity numbered no more than the fingers on one hand.

Subsequently, the Gold Dragon bid his employer farewell.

"Amos, there shouldn't be anything else, right?"

The White Dragon Lord nodded.

"Thank you for your hard work this time. I will open the Portal now."

The Gold Dragon said with a smile.

"If this counts as hard work, then feel free to work me to death."

Amid the laughter, the White Dragon Lord reopened the specialized Portal, and the Gold Dragon's figure vanished into it.

Taking the opportunity, the Ancient Gold Dragon also led the ordinary dragons into the Portal; they did not want to stay in the Madilan World a moment longer.

Finally, the White Dragon Lord also let Duke Shingesa cross through the Portal, fulfilling his promise.

Once everyone was gone, the White Dragon Lord put away the specialized Portal and began contemplating the wrap-up work for the Madilan World.

The Madilan World's greatest value was, of course, the divinity inside the underground evil entity, but the divinity required a long waiting period, so he shelved it from consideration for now.

What could be obtained immediately were the Elemental Crystals, as well as the Madilan World's exceptional talents.

The White Dragon Lord had been planning to establish a kingdom for a long time, but one problem had constantly plagued him: a lack of administrative talent.

His monster army was flawless when it came to fighting, but assigning them management duties...

"I am sorry, Master. I am not cut out for this."

Those were the exact words the gnoll chieftain, Hogg Riverclaw, had said to the White Dragon Lord. It was also the first time a subordinate had ever refused the White Dragon Lord's proposal.

According to the White Dragon Lord's previous plan, he was going to "import" management personnel from other countries.

But the appearance of the Madilan World elegantly solved the White Dragon Lord's problem. A large number of Luonan Empire officials with weak strength and clean backgrounds were right in front of him.

As for whether these Madilan World natives would be willing... well, given the choice between a management post in a mighty kingdom or being managed in an Orc prison, the decision wasn't that difficult to make.

Of course, all this hinged on the Luonan Empire's destruction.

Beating his wings, the White Dragon Lord flew toward the Imperial Capital of the Luonan Empire, where a good show was about to unfold.

...

On the other side, the Ancient Gold Dragon stepped through the Portal and arrived in Nordhill. Sensing the rich magical elements in the air, a look of intoxication appeared on its face.

"Ah, the long-lost scent of elemental magic."

A moment later, the Ancient Gold Dragon recovered from its daze, noticing a white dragon a size smaller than the White Dragon Lord already waiting nearby.

Watching the gold dragon look over, Willy spoke.

"Greetings, Senior Adelaide. My name is Willy Aldrich. Before my brother left for the Madilan World, he instructed me to entertain you well. If you have any needs, you can look for me anytime."

Hearing this, the Ancient Gold Dragon nodded. Glancing not far away at another female white dragon who was currently welcoming the ordinary dragons, it felt quite satisfied.

"It seems Amos has already arranged everything. Then, is there a place arranged for me to rest?"

Willy replied.

"Of course. In accordance with Gold Dragon customs, we located a dormant volcano on Kumlinge to serve as your slumbering ground, and we have paved the interior with gold coins. Would you like to go see your new home?"

The Ancient Gold Dragon shot a hesitant glance at the ordinary dragons nearby, and Willy understood what it was thinking.

"Rest assured, they will be properly settled as well. They will follow my sister to the Dragon Beast Academy, where they will get a job instructing the dragon beasts. Naturally, they cannot all stay at the Dragon Beast Academy as teachers. Once my brother returns, he will make other arrangements for them."

"Dragon Beast Academy?"

The Ancient Gold Dragon frowned. Even good-aligned Metallic Dragons had little affection for dragon beasts, though naturally, they would not slaughter them without cause.

Back in the Madilan World, the Dragon Race of the Overseas Archipelago dealt with dragon beasts simply by exiling them.

Willy explained.

"This is an experiment my brother is running to see if dragon beasts can learn the dragon language and undergo professional cultivation like humans do. Furthermore, my brother said that the dragon beasts' reproductive capabilities have no issues, so it is highly possible for them to birth normal dragons."

The Gold Dragon's frown gradually smoothed out. Figuring out the logic behind it, it could not help but marvel.

"What a great attempt. If the experiment succeeds, the entire Dragon Race will benefit from it."

Willy also agreed with the Gold Dragon's words.

"Then, let these, um... defective kin do their part for the prosperity of our race."

The Gold Dragon nodded. Such a job was indeed fitting for these stunted ordinary dragons. Moreover, it couldn't expect the White Castle to support these ordinary dragons of the Madilan World for free, so arranging tasks for them was inevitable.

The Gold Dragon stopped dwelling on the arrangements for the dragon beasts and ordinary dragons.

"Then, let us go. Such a beautiful time can only be matched by a beautiful dream."