Chapter 347: Tracing the Vine

"Master, are you going to handle this matter?"

"Yes." Muria's golden eyes blazed with dragon fire as he stood in the dungeon of the noble's castle, his anger unabated from the horrific scenes he had witnessed.

Having fought real demons, Muria was no stranger to brutal and cruel behaviors. However, the deeds of those who could only nominally be called human, training children in the dungeon, surpassed even demonic cruelty.

At his feet, a high-ranking demon from Hell cowered, holding the soul of the baron in its claws, screaming in agony within the flames of torment. This was Muria's command—to have Myles employ every infernal punishment known to extract suffering. Dissolution of the soul would be a mercy too great for such a noble.

"Master, I understand your feelings, but you are not yet strong enough to pursue this matter with your current power," Myles began, then stopped, having said enough. His role was merely that of a servant, summoned and dismissed at the whim of his exalted master.

"Understand my feelings?" Muria's expression turned sardonic as he floated up, grabbing Myles, now disguised as a handsome butler, and peering into his seductive, corrupting demonic eyes.

"You don't understand at all, Myles." In a burst of fury, Muria slammed the great demon into the ground.

"I am settling this now, regardless of the cost. These scum will receive the retribution they deserve."

Muria, boiling with murderous intent, ignored all advice. Even the cautions from Talin and the green dragon Fiona were dismissed.

With just the information at hand, Muria could surmise how vast the human trafficking network was. Beginning an investigation would expose him to unimaginable risks.

He faced a safer choice: to pretend he saw nothing and let the matter drop. Only a couple, ordinary humans, had seen the abducted children; they knew nothing more.

Muria could ignore the issue without blame; even if others knew, they could not reproach him for inaction due to his current power limitations.

There was a third option: Muria could bide his time and wait until he ascended to legendary status before seeking justice.

But Muria refused to wait. He could not bear it; the dragon blood within him boiled.

So, when Muria, armed with a list of nobles from Myles' interrogation, led all his gold-level or higher multicolored dragons out of the demi-plane, a bloody storm swept through the Aminis Kingdom—a tempest confined to its ruling class.

Every noble involved in the trade was captured by Muria, taken into the demi-plane, and handed over to Myles for extraction and interrogation of their souls.

Their enforcers, too, were taken—one and all—to endure indefinite penal labor in the demi-plane.

And for those whose crimes were beyond the pale, not even worthy of forced labor, Myles took charge. The demonic tribes excel in tormenting souls, after all, with a notorious history that includes tormenting a goddess.

As for the children Muria had rescued, he returned those who could find their families. But most did not even remember where they lived.

Muria could use magic to locate their parents, but that would be cumbersome and complicated, especially since many children were ordinary humans, diminishing the effectiveness of bloodline tracking spells, which had their limits.

Reluctantly, Muria had no choice but to take these orphaned and now knowledge-burdened children into the mage tower within his demi-plane, leaving their care to the spirit of the tower.

As Muria began to cleanse the vile trade network, more and more human nobles and powers were implicated. With each noble captured, he gleaned more information, tracing the vine to its roots.

As Muria had anticipated, the more he cleaned, the larger the "melons" he unearthed became. He and his dragons alone were not enough.

These nobles weren't like NPCs in a game, waiting around to be defeated. When those involved in the Aminis Kingdom's slave trade learned of the meddlesome gold dragon, they immediately reacted.

They sent numerous gold-tier and soul-tier warriors, even deploying armies to ambush Muria and his dragons. Such actions forced Muria to leave rivers of blood wherever he went in Aminis.

Without legendary intervention, Muria was invincible. The number of soldiers and warriors meant nothing unless they exceeded a certain threshold.

And though Muria was fighting away from home, the news of his battle against the Aminis nobility spread, attracting supporters of justice to his cause, including paladins among others.

Muria's gold dragon heritage naturally commanded great influence, not to mention the righteous cause he fought for, which ignited the lawful good factions completely.

Even though human forces on Osniro were weak compared to those on the continent of Ionia, every ship has its nails, and they

 could still support Muria sufficiently.

Furthermore, it wasn't just humans who supported him. Other races, hearing of Muria's deeds, also sent their powerful to aid him.

Metallic dragons, elves, dwarves... various humanoid and non-humanoid races entered Aminis to join Muria, assisting in a grand purge.

Many non-human creatures who supported Muria did so because of his gold dragon identity.

And others among the humans and humanoid races supported Muria unconditionally for a reason that might seem naïve to some: for justice!

With support from various factions, Muria fully engaged with part of the Aminis nobility. Eventually, following the vine he had traced, Muria unearthed a "super melon" — a duke with legendary power in the Aminis Kingdom.

Planning to delve deeper would have stretched this narrative, but let's summarize instead. In a couple of chapters, we'll move on to the next continent.

Five more chapters tomorrow!

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