Seeking External Aid

"Little Raphael, this land is not as simple as it appears to you."

Old Flame slowly flew in the air, with Raphael closely following beside him, listening to his uncle's words and deeds.

They were now headed to the Dragon Council, because Old Flame said some things were better discussed sooner rather than later, or else there would be additional variables.

On the way, he began rambling about some secrets.

"Uncle, what do you mean?" Raphael asked curiously.

 Old Flame turned his head and looked at him vacantly with his murky dragon eyes. The drooping soft scales at the corners of his mouth slowly wrinkled, sketching out a smile:

 "The nature of dragons makes us highly divided, almost impossible to give birth to a nominal co-ruler, which you have personal experience with, right?"

 "Yes."

 Raphael nodded. It was impossible for the dragon race to achieve a closely-knit social order like humans or orcs.

 The reason was simple - they could survive just by eating soil.

 Without worrying about survival, there was no need for cooperation, so naturally there would be no administration or class issues. Under such circumstances, how could there be "aristocrats" or "commoners"?

 "But have you ever wondered why we are willing to shrink into this place and not freely enter the outside world?" Old Flame raised a question.

 Raphael's dark golden vertical pupils flickered, and he hesitated before answering: "The ancient dragons?"

 Old Flame nodded: "Correct, the ancient dragons…don't you find it strange? Why could the ancient dragons unite at that time? You should know that even now, there is still extreme distrust between dragons. Any foreign dragon wandering outside a territory would provoke the owner's extreme hatred and scrutiny."

 "Maybe…it was something like faith…" Raphael lowered his head and guessed. He only understood the general history, but had never pondered the reasoning behind it.

 "Uncle, do you know why?" he asked in return.

 "I don't know either," Old Flame readily admitted.

 "…" Raphael fell silent.

 "I just want to tell you that the Dragon Council is by no means as simple as just a few dozen old dragons chatting on the surface. You must not underestimate it. The last time I heard you were bargaining with them in the council, it was because the neutral Aire faction at that time showed signs of leaning towards the Prulis faction, leaving the conservative faction overwhelmed."

 "An old friend of mine in there told me that originally the helmsman of the Prulis faction planned to seal off your right to trade in and out of the Dragon Valley, while closely monitoring you and warning surrounding lord dragons of the danger. But they were stopped by Holt, with the conservative faction standing behind you at that time."

 A cold light flashed in Raphael's dragon eyes. He had not expected so many twists and turns.

 Old Flame continued: "Now your actions have completely separated you from the conservative faction, so no matter what, they will no longer secretly support you. If you clash with the Prulis faction again, it would almost be a mismatch with the entire dragon race."

 "How is that possible?" Raphael shook his wings in refutation. "Can the Dragon Council represent the entire dragon race?"

 "Of course not, but then which dragon or faction can represent the entire race? None. So from the perspective of the strongest power, the Dragon Council is the symbol of the dragon race."

 "Uncle, after saying all this, which faction are you in?" Raphael suddenly thought of this point and asked.

 Old Flame froze for a moment, with a momentary stall in his flight speed, but quickly resumed his calm demeanor.

 "Me? Naturally, I'm in the Aire faction, neutral."

 "Neutral? What's the difference?" Raphael asked.

 "Our faction all hopes for the dragon race to change, but we're also afraid that it will shatter the millennial peace and impact our own territorial wealth. Sometimes we support the Prulis faction's minor resolutions, but if major actions occur, we side with the conservatives."

 "So you're saying you simply want to preserve your own wealth while gaining more, but you don't want to commit more?" Raphael quickly reacted and summarized.

 "You could say that. But I've already retired. Since I'm about to die anyway, I don't care about territorial wealth, and I don't have any descendants either…Ah, we're here!"

 As Old Flame was speaking, he suddenly called out.

 Raphael stopped flying and looked around in confusion. This was a corrupted land with black oil swamps covering the ground, filled with the half-submerged bones of magical beasts and animals.

 "Uncle, this is the outer territory of the black dragons, not the Dragon Council," Raphael reminded him.

 "Little Raphael, this is something you don't understand. How could we directly go to the Dragon Council for such matters? We must first pave the way with the dragon councilors," Old Flame replied with a cunning smile.

 "But the dragon councilors usually stay in the Dragon Council," Raphael said with disgust as he eyed the swamp emitting lethal toxic fumes. It was formed from the black dragons' secretions mixed with a stagnant riverbed and mud, deadly to ordinary creatures but catalytic for plants.

 Old Flame ignored him and opened his mouth to let out a dragon's roar: "Ruben! Come out quickly! Your good brother has something to ask you!"

 The old dragon was very old, but his voice was extraordinarily resounding. Waves of sound traveled into the rugged rocky valley, dispersing the yellowish-brown poisonous mist lingering outside.

 Raphael tightened his muscles cautiously. Uncle Old Flame's behavior seemed unreliable. If he provoked the furious rage of the owner in another's territory, it would be unwise. He didn't want to cause any trouble.

 After a while, a low dragon's howl echoed from the valley's entrance, but the voice sounded like it was roared out with a mouthful of phlegm stuck in the throat, like a leaky horn or a cracked drum.

 The yellowish-brown mist dispersed silently to the sides. Raphael barely blinked before a black dragon appeared in front of them, its chin whiskers almost dragging on the ground.

 The black dragon was originally standing and looking at Old Flame, its dragon eyes showing no vigilance. But then it inadvertently glanced at Raphael hovering in the air, froze for a few seconds, and then rapidly glided backwards while starting to accumulate magic in its claws to attack.

 Old Flame called out in surprise: "Ruben! What's wrong with you? Why are you running away?"

 "You old thing! Are you trying to trap me by luring me in front of that dragon who slaughtered his own kind?" The black dragon Ruben retreated, his dragon eyes locked on the innocent-looking Raphael, fearing that the other might suddenly erupt and kill him.

 Old Flame widened his eyes and glanced at Raphael beside him, opening his red claws to show he had done nothing.

 He then quickly flew over in pursuit: "Ruben! It's a misunderstanding! I'm Raphael's uncle! This time I'm just here to discuss cooperation with you. Isn't the conservative faction you're in suppressed to the point of gasping for air by the Prulis faction? They've sent you old fellows out to seek new partners to join."

 Ruben's body instantly froze, his gaze still fixed on Raphael. Seeing that this exceptionally sturdy and massive villain showed no signs of action, with his four limbs tucked in a sitting position, wings retracted into his back, slender tail coiled obediently in front, expression serene - apart from that protruding unusual horn - his posture and well-mannered demeanor were no different from a well-educated magic dragon.

 He looked at the similarly red scales of Old Flame and Raphael, reluctantly accepting their uncle-nephew relationship, but showed no signs of letting his guard down:

 "Old Flame, what are you up to? Didn't you already resign as a dragon councilor? Still want to get involved in this?"

 "Ruben, don't say that. I know you conservatives are having an increasingly difficult time. Now, whether it's the dragon councilors, those self-governing lord dragons, or wandering dragons, as resources become more abundant and territorial order is perfected, they all start to think about taking a further step. Or maybe they're just bored with the tranquil millennia."

 "This is an inevitable situation. Once you're full, you'll want to be tidy. With no external worries, you'll start to indulge in pleasures. The abyss of desire can never be filled. Now the number of the Prulis faction has already surpassed you conservatives. Those lord dragons have also begun to rarely break the tradition of staying hidden in their territory until death, wandering out for no reason. Many dragons have even secretly slipped into the outside world to experience foreign cultures. Doesn't this illustrate the issue?"

 Ruben swallowed, stunned and perplexed.

It had a relationship with Old Flame similar to Arnold and Raphael, though not as close as the latter, but they were still old friends who got along well privately and could freely enter each other's territory despite being in different factions.

 Old Flame liked jokes and pranks when he was young, but now they were both two-thousand-year-old dragons. It shouldn't be a prank. Ruben nodded hesitantly.

 "Raphael! Come here!" Seeing the black dragon's body relax, Old Flame waved his claw at Raphael.

 Raphael slowly flew over in an arc. Ruben instinctively shuddered, unable to bear the sight of the red dragon's slaughter of his kin, especially the equally black dragon Augustus.

 "Little Raphael, let me introduce you two. You must have met, right? The 'Dark Shooting Star' Ruben, over two thousand one hundred years old like me."

 Although Ruben didn't have many years left, he didn't want to experience being incinerated by a mighty dragon's breath, so he reluctantly

 Ruben, though not having many years left to live, did not want to experience being incinerated by Raphael's powerful dragon breath. He could only reluctantly greet him: "Hello, Calamity Demon, long time no see. The first time I saw you, you really did us proud by wiping that arrogant upstart 'Draconic Sage's' face."

 "If I recall, you were the chair of a meeting once, and you warned me not to take off, right?" The corners of Raphael's mouth curved into a slight arc, his eyes carrying a hint of provocation.

 "Did that happen? I don't remember," Ruben showed a puzzled expression.

 Raphael restrained his teasing intent and turned to ask, "Uncle Old Flame, didn't you say I had already become one with the Prulis faction? Why are you still coming to seek out the conservative dragons?"

 Old Flame shook his head with a "you're still naive, kid" expression, then said:

 "So you want to be tightly bound to the Prulis faction's chariot? As the situation develops, you'll be increasingly constrained? In the end, you'll just be a pure laborer while they enjoy the fruits of your hard work from behind?"

 Raphael slowly shook his head, his eyes shining brightly as he looked at Old Flame.

 "Don't be misled by the factions' superficial theories. At the root, it's all about the distribution of interests. The conservative faction doesn't want major changes in the dragon realm, but if a change becomes difficult to restrain, they wouldn't mind using a second-rate change instead. For example…try to intervene in the core and let the result shift in a direction favorable to them."

 Old Flame's words were like a meandering guide, simultaneously pulling Ruben and Raphael's innermost thoughts towards the same direction, causing them to ponder.

 "Uncle's meaning is for me to first reach some consensus with the conservative faction. That way, it may be a backup path or add another variable choice, so I won't be too passive in the future," Raphael slowly grasped Old Flame's intention.

 The old black dragon Ruben, however, fell into a state of confusion.

 It realized that this was the slippery Old Flame knocking on the door of the conservative faction, taking advantage of their current predicament and weakness to offer a poisoned honey trap.

 "Cooperate with the Calamity Demon?" Ruben was somewhat uncertain, after all, Raphael had an infamous reputation in the Dragon Council. He had even disrupted the foundations of the conservative faction, causing the young dragons and Aire faction in the council to become increasingly radical, repeatedly voting to block their plans in internal meetings.

 "I can take you to see Holt."

 In the end, Ruben compromised. Compared to a dragon's virtue, strengthening their forces and counterbalancing the Prulis faction was the pressing priority.

 "Good, there we have it!"

 Old Flame broke into an aged smile, forcefully patting Ruben's wings, causing the black dragon to twist its body wildly in resistance.

 "Calamity Demon," Ruben became serious after horsing around with his old buddy for a while. "You have a good uncle. I think Holt and the others won't refuse this request either. But you must remember - don't go too far, like: counterattacking into the dragon realm, using your forces to strike against your kin."

 "Naturally, it won't do that. I can promise you that," Old Flame pulled Ruben over again, playfully teasing the fleshy whiskers under its chin with his bony, jagged claws, nearly causing the black dragon to retaliate with Draconic magic.

 Watching the two old pranksters tease each other, Raphael murmured softly: "Of course, I won't strike against my kin."

 But he immediately lowered his voice and said, "My strength is not enough to deal with them!"

 ...

 Inside the Dragon Council.

 The golden dragon Arnathus was in high spirits, esoteric flight magic supporting his body as he glided through the wide hallways, with the young dragons along the way all stopping respectfully to greet him.

 However, a year ago, after Raphael killed Augustus and Yulanda, Arnathus's status had plummeted.

 The "Golden Glory" Ludwig's direct lineage had fallen so far that even a young female dragon looked down on him now.

 All this was because the Prulis faction had suffered a blow from that incident. The conservative faction did not delve deeper into it, but the Aire faction had seized the opportunity to take away most of their power.

 These failures were all attributable to Arnathus's mistakes. He himself had instantly hit rock bottom, with no dragon in the faction willing to get close to him anymore.

 In the Dragon Council, the intangible rights and connections were most important.

 Even Arnathus, the legendary dragon Ludwig's direct heir who mastered thousands of dragon Draconic spells, immediately fell to the bottom after losing his power. No dragon would look up to him anymore - except his son.

 Strength was the least valuable, because everyone was about the same. It was impossible for one dragon to overwhelm over ten others.

 "But now, I have regained power! All because of you - Raphael. I knew your greed was endless from when you came to my house to play with Arnold as a child."

 At this moment, Arnathus was brimming with energy, his vertical pupils making no attempt to hide his desire for power.

 "You deliberately suppressed your ferocity back then because a huge void had appeared in your heart, and it would remain until the day it was filled. But that day will never come, so in your youth you tortured your flesh with endless outdoor training. After reaching adulthood, the only things that could fill your heart were conquest, terror, ferocity, killing, and blood-stained treasures!"

 He kept thinking about this exciting information, bursting into his residence and loudly instructing a sleeping golden dragon:

 "Arnold! Your good brother is here. He can finally no longer resist coming to us for aid. Now is the time to sow the seeds - quickly come with me!"