Chapter 454: The Progress of Dragons and Titans

First, he could persuade the Five-Headed Dragon Queen and the Dragon God of the North Wind to send more young dragons to the academy; second, he could bring the Gem Dragon Clan into the fold as well...

Once he had his thoughts in order, the White Dragon Lord acted immediately. He called upon Tiamat and Bahamut, then sent a magical transmission to Sardior.

Before long, the three great leaders of the dragon race gathered in the Floating City.

The three dragon kings looked to the White Dragon Lord, waiting for an explanation.

"Good day, Your Majesties." The White Dragon Lord offered a traditional draconic greeting. "I called you here to discuss two matters. First, I wish to expand the enrollment of the Dragon Academy."

"The academy has seen remarkable results since its founding. We currently have sixty-three thousand students, but this is nowhere near the academy's limit."

The White Dragon Lord continued, "The academy is located on a medium material plane. According to my calculations, it can accommodate at least two hundred thousand students."

"Wait, Amos," Tiamat interrupted. "We have discussed this before. In your own words, we cannot put all our eggs in one basket. Have you forgotten?"

Bahamut looked thoughtful, clearly waiting for an explanation as well.

"Of course not, Your Majesty," the White Dragon Lord replied. "In times of peace, we avoid committing excessive security forces to the academy, as it would be a waste of resources."

He channeled his magic to project a diagram of the Dragon Academy's defense network. "But things are different now. Our conflict with the Titans has fully erupted, and I intend to fortify the academy's defenses."

"Just as we plan to strike Titan settlements, the Titans have their eyes on the Dragon Race's settlements. Gathering the young dragons in one place for centralized protection will greatly ensure their survival."

"There is another advantage to this," the White Dragon Lord continued. "Your Majesties, past experience shows that our shortest war against the Titans lasted three hundred years. This current conflict has been going on for less than a century."

"This means that if we enroll these young dragons now, at least two batches of them can become fresh blood for this war."

He turned his gaze to Tiamat. "Your Majesty, you have witnessed the combat power of the Dragon Legion yourself. They can hold their own against a Titan force twice their size. This is crucial for us to achieve victory."

Seeing the thoughtful expressions on all three dragon kings' faces, the White Dragon Lord played his final trump card. "When these students graduate, they will not be restricted to my Dragon Legion. I will offer them three other options: they may choose to join the personal guards of Your Majesties."

This took the three dragon kings by surprise. Ever since the Dragon Academy was established, an unspoken agreement had existed between the White Dragon Lord and the two dragon gods: the Yafeiawei Empire would gain the Dragon Legion, while the two deities would harvest faith.

In the short term, this arrangement heavily favored the White Dragon Lord, as immense numbers of dragons joined the Yafeiawei Empire to serve him.

In the long term, however, the two dragon gods lost nothing. When a dragon died, its soul would inevitably ascend to a Divine Kingdom, and the Dragon Race existed in soul form for far longer than their mortal lifespans.

Because the Gem Dragon King had yet to ascend to true godhood, he could not share in the academy's dividends. As a result, the Gem Dragon Clan had not enrolled in the Dragon Academy on a large scale.

But now that the White Dragon Lord was willingly conceding a portion of the benefits, the Gem Dragon King was naturally delighted. "Amos, the Gem Dragon Clan would be more than happy to accept the academy's instruction. Hmm... I will reduce your debt depending on the situation."

The White Dragon Lord blinked in surprise.

This was an unexpected bonus.

Tiamat looked toward the Platinum Dragon God and nodded. "Very well, Amos. You have convinced me."

The Platinum Dragon God nodded in turn. "The Metallic Dragon clan will offer our full cooperation."

With the matter settled, the White Dragon Lord felt a surge of satisfaction. Allowing the three dragon kings to compete for the academy's graduates would indeed reduce the Yafeiawei Empire's benefits.

From another perspective, however, this was not a bad thing. Even if the graduates ultimately chose to join one of the three dragon kings' factions, they would have grown up under the Yafeiawei Empire's protection. They would always harbor some measure of gratitude toward the empire and the White Dragon Lord.

Thousands of years from now, when every dragon across the multiverse felt indebted to the empire, the Yafeiawei Empire would become another form of holy sanctuary.

"Excellent. We are in agreement on this point," the White Dragon Lord said. "Next is the second matter: expanding the intensity and scale of training for the adult dragons."

The three dragon kings waited for him to elaborate, as training the dragons had always been his responsibility.

The White Dragon Lord's expression turned dead serious. "Your Majesties! Our enemies are changing!"

Tiamat nodded in agreement. Avoiding a fight had indeed never been Astraeus's style. She had to admit that the God of the Dark Titans had changed—her old rival was getting smarter.

"Lately, the Titans in the Abyss have fallen back on the defensive, refusing to fight," the White Dragon Lord explained. "I don't know what they are planning, but this is absolutely not a good thing for our kind. We must redouble our own efforts. I will be sharply increasing the training intensity for adult dragons, which might provoke resistance from them. I need Your Majesties to issue official decrees to ensure their cooperation."

The three dragon kings agreed, and the White Dragon Lord indicated that his business was concluded.

"Hold on," Tiamat called out to Bahamut, who was just about to dispel his avatar. "I want to take this opportunity to discuss something as well."

Tiamat looked at Bahamut. "Recently, I sent scouts to investigate the planes inhabited by the Titans. I found that the Titan Race has gone into hiding. Only a handful of insignificant giants are left behind to guard their homes."

The White Dragon Lord frowned. If what Tiamat said was true, the plan they had discussed to attack the Titan planes and force the Titan legions into the open had just fallen through. The Titan Race had clearly anticipated this and made preparations in advance.

"Our enemies came prepared, while we were caught completely off guard," Tiamat continued. "Bahamut, this has served as a wake-up call for me. We may hold the advantage for now, but we cannot ignore the possibility of the Titans plotting something underhanded. We should also have the Dragon Race go into hiding for a time."

The Dragon God of the North Wind nodded. "Thank you for the warning, my sister. That makes perfect sense."

"Shut your mouth! Use my name!"

The Five-Headed Dragon Queen snapped in sudden fury, and Bahamut looked helpless. The Gem Dragon King looked at the White Dragon Lord and shrugged. "Those two are just like this. You get used to it."

The White Dragon Lord was speechless.

...

Following the meeting between the White Dragon Lord and the three dragon kings, the major factions across the multiverse noticed something astonishing. The war between the dragons and the Titans of the Abyss seemed to have been put on pause. The only fighting left was the occasional skirmish in the Star Realm between the gem dragons and the Titans of Rootless City.

This unnatural lull only made the major factions more anxious. None of them were naive enough to believe that the dragons and Titans had shaken hands and made peace. It felt far more like the calm before the storm.

Any faction with well-informed intelligence networks understood this, because both the dragons and the Titans across the material planes had adopted an uncharacteristically low profile, to the point of vanishing entirely.

Seeing this, the major factions reduced their contact with the dragons and the Titan Race, hoping to avoid being dragged into an unnecessary war.

More than twenty years passed in this eerie state of peace.

Finally, one day, during a chance encounter, a dragon and a Titan crossed paths in the Star Realm, and a fight broke out. Both sides began calling upon their allies, and the scale of the skirmish grew larger and larger.

This battle was the final straw. Overnight, the conflict between the gem dragons of the Obsidian Sanctuary and the Titans of Rootless City erupted completely. After being silent for so long, the Dragon Race and the Titans exploded like magma-filled volcanoes, surging forth with unstoppable force.

The White Dragon Lord was called out of his laboratory by the three dragon kings and informed of what had just happened in the Star Realm.

"Your Majesty Sardior, what is the current situation in the Star Realm?"

"The battlefield in the Star Realm is currently evenly matched, and the scale of the conflict is continuously expanding. I have no intention of stopping this fight, and neither do the Star Titans."

The White Dragon Lord's heart grew heavy. Both the dragons and the Titans were allowing the war to escalate, which meant neither side was willing to endure this any longer.

The war had broken out!

After two decades of mounting pressure, the flames of war between the dragons and the Titans ignited with even greater ferocity.

"If you need reinforcements, you can ask at any time. The empire's dragon armies have been ready for a long time."

"No, Amos. You and your Dragon Legion cannot move," Bahamut said, looking at the White Dragon Lord. "Because you and your Dragon Legion will become the key to this war."

"Piloting the Floating City, your combat strength is not inferior to any of ours. Aside from their three leaders, the Titan Race has no one who can stand against you—and the three of us will be dealing with those leaders."

Bahamut looked at Tiamat and the Gem Dragon King. Seeing neither dragon offered any objection, he continued, "Therefore, you, the Floating City, and your Dragon Legion will serve as the Dragon Race's greatest strategic deterrent against the Titans. The Titans will always have to guard against you, making them afraid to commit their full strength to the war. We, however, will have no such constraints."

The White Dragon Lord nodded in thought, understanding the Dragon God of the North Wind's meaning. A trump card was only a trump card when held in one's hand, and a deterrent was only called a deterrent before taking action. By simply holding his position, he could pin down a massive portion of the Titans' combat strength, bringing an advantage to the front lines.

"Very well, I understand," he said. "Unless absolutely necessary, I will not show myself to the Titans."

The three dragon kings dispersed.

...

The Star Realm.

With the outbreak of war between the dragons and the Titans, foot traffic in the cities of the Star Realm had drastically declined in recent days. Cities near the battlefield directly raised their security defense levels to the maximum, locking down to avoid becoming collateral damage.

In the boundless void of the Star Realm, a dragon named Chilari was fleeing for his life in panic. He and four companions had the misfortune of running into a large group of Titans, and he was the only dragon who had managed to escape.

Behind the dragon, a squad of ten Titans pursued him relentlessly. Volleys of the Spears of the Titans struck out, forcing the dragon to weave and dive to avoid them.

Chilari rapidly flapped his wings, flying in front of a suspended boulder. A Spear of the Titans formed of condensed lightning struck out, piercing through the boulder and bringing with it a cloud of pulverized stone dust as it continued hurtling toward the dragon.

As if he had eyes on the back of his head, Chilari dropped his flight altitude. The Spear of Thunder grazed past him, leaving behind nothing more than a lingering numbness against his scales.

"Bastard! Does this dragon have eyes on its back?!" one of the pursuing Titans cursed in disbelief.

"Either this guy has an extremely strong sixth sense, or he's mastered blind-fighting techniques!" another Titan judged. "Damn it, I didn't expect to run into a monk dragon."

The Titan's guess was correct. Chilari had indeed trained in the monk class and mastered blind-fighting techniques. However, he was not a graduate of the Dragon Academy, nor was he an "ambitious" dragon who had trained as a monk for a long time.

He had been forced into it!

The ones who forced him were the instructors under the White Dragon Lord who trained the adult dragons. Years ago, the Dragon Academy had selected a batch of elite graduates who utterly humiliated the adult dragons participating in the training.

Many of those instructors were dragons who had only just reached adulthood. They were significantly younger than the adult dragons they were training, but their combat power was vastly superior.

One red dragon in particular, Sadassim, possessed combat power rivaling a standard High-Tier Legend despite having only just reached adulthood. He had taken on ten adult dragons by himself, battering them so severely that they began to question their very existence as dragons.

Driven by the dual pressures of shame and violence, Chilari had reluctantly undergone grueling training. The process had forged his originally pampered self into a qualified Warrior and allowed him to train in the monk class.

Now, his monk class and blind-fighting techniques had saved his life. Chilari felt immense gratitude toward the instructors who had forced him to train. Without that training, he felt he would have long since died under the Spear of the Titans.

After a frantic chase, Chilari shook off his pursuers. The Titans gave up because Chilari had entered dragon territory.

Soon enough, Chilari saw the Dragon Race's temporary encampment—a giant rock floating in the void.

Because the Star Realm lacked gravity, dragons stood all over the giant rock's surface, regardless of up, down, left, or right.

Chilari quickly found the one in charge of the temporary camp. He gasped for breath, "Commander, critical intelligence! An enemy force ten thousand strong is approaching!"

"What?!" The High-Tier Legendary Dragon commander, who had a thousand dragons under his command, was shocked. However, he quickly recovered his composure. "Good work, soldier."

He looked at the blood on Chilari's body. "Your blood and the blood of your companions will not be shed in vain. The Dragon Race will ultimately claim victory! Return to the ranks!"

"Yes, sir!"

After speaking, the dragon commander flew into the sky and directed the dragons to organize their defenses. The melee professionals stood at the front, while the magical professionals positioned themselves in the rear, continuously casting defensive spells on their comrades. The priests cast status-enhancing buffs.

Just as Chilari had undergone mandatory class training, the High-Tier Legendary level dragon commanders had also received systematic military training. While he deployed the defenses, he also sent a request for help to his superiors.

As for why they didn't retreat, it was because this was their position.

On the other side, the Titan Race continued to close in. The Titan Race had also made great progress over the years. They maintained their formation and appropriate spacing as they advanced, and there were scouts around them checking for danger.

When the Titans arrived and saw the fully prepared dragon defenders, they immediately arrayed themselves for battle.

Over the past twenty years, both of the great races had broken away from the fighting style of street brawls, becoming more like regular armies.