In the Eternal Hall within the Dragon Court plane.
A silver dragon lying within its nest slowly opened its eyes, revealing a thoughtful expression.
The information obtained from Garon was now completely clear to him.
"Rowel and Gresha have become abyssal dragon demons, still under the command of the demonic Blood War army."
Garon pondered for a moment, feeling that the suggestion from the Immortal Dragon Queen was appropriate.
In fact, had it not been for the untimely discovery of the two red dragons, the Immortal Dragon Queen would have been able to take them away right when they were found.
The Dragon Queen, although a deity residing in hell, is not a devil.
Similar evil gods, like the Dragon Queen, also reside in the abyss.
Demons generally give face to the Dragon Queen.
But for the two abyssal dragon demons who had joined the demonic Blood War army, it was not so easy to take them away, especially since, at the close of the Glorious War, the Demon Prince Dimogogen and the dragon deities had forged a grudge, making the Dragon Queen's influence in the abyss less effective.
After all, in the bottomless abyss, it is the several Demon Princes who are the true dominators.
"Neither I nor my manifestation, God Garon, are suitable to go directly to the bottomless abyss."
Garon thought carefully, his expression grave.
Going to the bottomless abyss is fine as long as one's identity remains undetected, but once discovered, what awaits Garon could be dire. In the abyss, bolstered by the power of the abyss, the strength of demons increases significantly, and although demon lords are constantly at war with each other, their attitude towards foreign gods remains unified.
"In that case, recruiting a Hell Blood War army to fight for me is not unfeasible."
After a moment of contemplation, the silver dragon's eyes flickered, a decision made in his heart.
But Garon did not intend to recruit a Blood War army.
He planned to form his own army to participate in the Blood War.
"Perhaps, I could even carve out a piece of territory for myself in the abyss."
The first few layers of the abyss and hell have been under the rule of the archdukes of hell and the demon lords, constantly changing hands as demon armies break into hell and devils later recapture the abyss.
Of course, this only applies to the first few layers of each realm.
Participating in the Blood War is simple yet not easy.
Occasionally, beings seeking power, wealth, and honor, driven by dreams, venture into the abyss or hell, signing pacts with demon lords or archdukes of hell, becoming members of the Blood War army. These non-native recruits are generally referred to as Blood War mercenaries.
One can go alone or in groups.
Neither hell nor the abyss minds having more Blood War mercenaries.
Of course, the vast majority of Blood War mercenaries end up as cannon fodder, buried in the never-sunny battlefields, with very few achieving their dreams.
"Now the question arises."
"Which of my clans can gain an advantage in the Blood War?"
Since he was planning to participate in the Blood War, Garon did not wish to merely create a disposable army.
The Alpha family's fire mages?
With time passing and several decades of stable development, the Alpha family now boasts over a dozen legends among their ranks, and their population has seen a massive increase, now exceeding 100,000, including over 20,000 spellcasters.
By population, the Alpha family is still far from being a nation.
But the power they possess has surpassed many principal material kingdoms.
After some thought, Garon slightly shook his head.
"Let the Alpha family continue to develop."
"Their spellcasters are mostly too young, in their teens and twenties, and not yet ready for great tasks."
After all, it has only been about thirty years since they started implementing family planning, and the majority of the Alpha family's new generation consists of young spellcasters.
If too many of these promising spellcasters were to die in the Blood War, Garon would certainly feel the loss.
He holds high hopes for the Alpha family, envisioning a powerful clan force one day known as the Alpha Empire, protected by Garon.
Located on the dragon-ruled planet Kara, with abundant resources and a suitable environment, the population of the Alpha family is exploding exponentially, making Garon's vision highly feasible.
"Those fire and earth elemental beings aren't quite right; they have the numbers but lack legendary power."
Due to environmental limitations, these elemental beings among Garon's clans have yet to produce a single legend.
"It seems necessary to send them to the fire and earth elemental planes."
"Anywhere else would be somewhat wasteful."
Only the great elemental planes are most suited for the development of elemental beings, where the concentration and quantity of corresponding elements are always at their
highest and richest.
The Blood War is indeed not a good mix.
Thinking it over, Garon gradually dismissed the idea of involving his various major clans.
Finally, his gaze fell on the mechanical dragons within the dragon nest, used as toys by Yuna.
After much deliberation, Garon felt that forming a mechanical army was the most appropriate solution.
After subduing the Mechanical Grandmaster, only using it to create toys to entertain Yuna was a waste.
Now, half a year has passed since Garon began focusing on researching the strange machine heritage, and he has gained a deeper understanding of the Heart of the Mechanism, the core of the Mechanical Grandmaster.
As long as there are sufficient resources, even with just the Heart of the Mechanism, the Mechanical Grandmaster can create a large-scale army.
This army, utterly fearless of death.
And even in the meat grinder-like, horrific battles of the Blood War, no amount of damage to the mechanical soldiers would cause any morale drop in the metal army.
"Gesol, if I ask you to control a metal army across planes without distance limitations, can you do it?"
Gesol, the name Garon gave to the Mechanical Grandmaster.
Before this, the Mechanical Grandmaster had no name, only a self-chosen designation.
"Reply to my lord, I can."
"Only, the various attributes of the metal army will decrease somewhat, especially intelligence."
"Controlling across planes, without sufficient infrastructure, my computational power will be greatly reduced."
The metal cube bobbed slightly in response.
In the Mechanical Grandmaster's metal world, extensions of its body are everywhere, allowing it to control mechanics at will. However, once away from its base, it needs to construct numerous equipment bases, energy and will transmission networks, etc., to freely control mechanics.
Garon thought for a while and then mused, "How about replacing your will control with the thinking of intelligent beings?"
In the strange machine heritage, there is a method for machinists to control mechanical creations from afar.
By dividing a strand of spirit and using specially made strange machines to amplify it, a machinist's spiritual will can cross planes and enter into mechanical creations, using the machinist's spiritual will as a hub to control an entire mechanical team.
For a machinist, controlling mechanical creations in this way is akin to playing a game.
Even in death, it is merely a loss of a strand of spirit, which a few days' rest can remedy. Moreover, unless it is a high-level mechanical creation, its destruction is not distressing.
After a brief calculation, the Mechanical Grandmaster's emotionless voice sounded.
"It is possible."
"The stronger the spiritual power of the intelligent being, the better they can control the mechanical creations, and my computational power can serve as auxiliary intelligence."
Hearing the Mechanical Grandmaster's answer, the silver dragon grinned, revealing a dragon's smile.
"In your metal world, gather an army of a million in number."
"Their power levels ranging from ten to forty, led by a Harbinger of Death."
Garon instructed.
Although the Heart of the Mechanism was here, the Mechanical Grandmaster could still control its metal world to some extent. Thus, upon receiving Garon's command, the distant mechanical star immediately sprang into action, assembling mechanical creations into a formation of a million strong, a formidable array ready for battle.
Garon took out a piece of time amber, within which a Harbinger of Death was sealed.
The Mechanical Grandmaster's Harbingers of Death were mostly reduced to wreckage by Garon, then sealed away. These top-tier half-god creations, due to a lack of resource materials, were difficult for the Mechanical Grandmaster to recreate unless it invaded a new principal material world to acquire resources.
Under Garon's will, the time amber dissolved.
The damaged Harbinger of Death was revealed.
Garon opened a portal to the mechanical star and directly threw the damaged Harbinger of Death through it.
The Harbinger of Death was severely damaged and needed to be sent to the mechanical star for repairs.
"Produce a large batch of these devices on the mechanical star."
Garon handed over the blueprint for the distanceless mental remote control device from the strange machine heritage to the Mechanical Grandmaster. This device, designed for humanoid bodies, resembles a wristband.
The metal cube pulsed slightly, as if the Mechanical Grandmaster was nodding.
"As you wish."
It said.
On the mechanical star, the engineering machinery units sprang into action, starting production on an assembly line in the enormous metal factory. Soon, wristbands for thought-controlled remote operation were being manufactured on the conveyor belts.
The terrifying productivity is one of the capabilities of the Mechanical Grandmaster.
In terms of rapid armament production, the ancient Imaskar Empire was already strong, but still could not compare to the Mechanical Grandmaster.
"The Alpha family's spellcasters have had an easy time on planet Kara."
"It's time for them to find something to
do, to witness the grand scene of the Blood War, which can also broaden their horizons and stimulate the growth of their mental power."
Spellcasters generally possess strong mental power and can better control mechanics.
And this method won't cause casualties.
However, machinists are even better at controlling mechanical creations than spellcasters.
Even with remote control across planes, a machinist can apply various special spells designed for mechanical creations, enhancing the performance of the controlled mechanical creations.
Spells like Overload Burst, Engine Overload, Mechanical Regeneration, and Energy Amplification are beyond the capabilities of ordinary spellcasters.
"After all, as the pinnacle of the machinist field, the Mechanical Grandmaster, if combined with a machinist, can achieve the best effect."
Garon's eyes narrowed slightly as he thought of the Imaskar Second Empire, which had once refused him.
If this machinist empire could be brought under his wing, using the abilities of machinists in conjunction with the Mechanical Grandmaster might bring unexpected changes.
Thinking it over, Garon decided to visit the Imaskar Second Empire once more.
First by force, then by diplomacy.
If the previous threat of force had failed, this time Garon planned to try persuading them with reason and emotion.
If the Imaskar Second Empire stubbornly refused, Garon would not consider destroying them.
He felt he had a certain destiny with the Imaskar Empire. The Imaskar holy garments, the Heart of the Mechanism, all these masterpieces of machinery were in his hands, having gained many benefits from the ancient Imaskar Empire. Therefore, he would not trouble the Imaskar Second Empire further.
Now, the Imaskar Second Empire posed no threat to Garon.
Looking around, the vast dragon nest at this time contained only one dragon.
Yuna was not here.
Garon knew what Yuna was up to.
Playing possum, fishing enforcement.
When the dragon girl, capable of wielding divine power, felt bored, she would occasionally disguise herself as a weak young dragon and wander around the principal material worlds. If any creature with ill intentions targeted this 'young dragon,' congratulations, that creature has unlocked a hellishly difficult mission—escaping from the jaws of a demigod-level power dragon.
Taking the metal cube with him, Garon first made a trip to planet Kara.
In the northern hemisphere of Kara, nestled among a range of rolling mountains, lies a human city spanning dozens of kilometers. Bathed in sunlight from the sky, one could see people of various ages bustling along the streets, and the city's buildings, many marked with magical traces, included numerous mage towers.
In this city, one could see children as young as a few years old running around with flames trailing behind them, leaving a trail of sparks.
Even toddlers who couldn't yet speak giggled as they curiously watched the tiny sparks whirling between their fingers.
This city now had a population of about 110,000, with a large number of young people and children. Almost every household had at least three children, and the proportion of those with magical talents was alarmingly high. While there were not many monsters, there were plenty of prodigies.
This place was known as the City of Fire.
It was the settlement established by the Alpha family on planet Kara.
Because they are part of the eternal and temporal dragon's clans, even the difficult-to-deal-with chromatic dragons on Kara wouldn't trouble the City of Fire. On the contrary, they would take extra care of it.
Of course.
With the strength of the City of Fire, even a typical dragon lord wouldn't be a match.
With a subtle fluctuation in space, the massive body of the silver dragon appeared, descending directly above the City of Fire, immediately drawing many gazes.
With a body length of over eighty meters and a wingspan of over a hundred meters.
The silver dragon spread its wings, blocking the sunlight from the sky, casting a large shadow over the city, covering many buildings and pedestrians within.
The Alphas looked up, their gazes shifting from wary to awe and admiration.
The dragon in their sight was adorned with dazzling silver scales, marked with unusual circular black scales, and crowned with three pairs of serpentine, crown-like majestic horns. Even the younger generations who were seeing Garon for the first time recognized him immediately.
"Wow, it's Lord Dragon God!"
"Dragon God, please bless me to become a legendary fire mage in the future!"
A little boy, about five years old, jumped excitedly, shouting with a thrilled face.
The children, seeing Garon for the first time, were more excited and curious.
The older ones showed a reverence, not daring to speak casually.
Now, from birth to growth, the Alphas are surrounded by the presence of this great eternal dragon.
They live under the protection of the eternal and temporal dragon, and in the most prominent part of the City of Fire stands a giant statue of the eternal and temporal
dragon. The great deeds of the eternal and temporal dragon are also a compulsory course in the city's magic academy.
A significant number of spellcasters, psychic warriors, and ordinary people in the City of Fire are followers of Garon.
Even those Alphas who aren't followers are acutely aware that they belong to the clan of the dragon god, sharing in his glory and setbacks.
Upon sensing Garon's arrival.
A fire lotus blossomed in the air, and the city lord, Anya, appeared before him in a familiar manner.
This legendary fire mage looked no different from when Garon first met her.
But twenty years had passed, and Anya was now in her forties.
"Good day, great eternal and temporal dragon."
"Praise be to you, under your protection, the Alpha family is thriving, with an ever-increasing number of spellcasters."
"Your arrival at the City of Fire is a great honor for Anya."
Anya expressed her respect to Garon.
Garon nodded slightly, his gaze surveying the city, then addressed Anya, "Your Alpha fire mages have been comfortable for too long. It's time for some activity."
Upon hearing this, Anya's eyes brightened, her normally calm tone rising slightly.
"The Alpha spellcasters are ready to devour all flames, always prepared to eradicate your enemies for you."
Fire mages are temperamentally like blazing fires, inclined towards war and destruction.
The fall of the ancient empire taught the current fire mages from a young age to cultivate their behavior, control their emotions, and suppress their volatile nature, but this does not change their essence.
These fire mages have been suppressing their inner flames for a long time.
Garon grinned, his reflection visible in the legendary fire mage's excited face, and spoke solemnly, "The bloody war between the abyss and hell, dare you join?"
Hearing about the bloody war, Anya's pupils contracted.
But quickly, she responded solemnly, "Wherever your heart desires, there we shall go!"
Garon nodded in satisfaction, "Gather the mid-level and above spellcasters, start preparing for the bloody war."
"Additionally, there's no need to worry about your own lives, you won't need to participate in person."
Anya was momentarily puzzled, "Not participate in person?"
Immediately, Garon explained the method of participation using mechanical bodies and mage will in the bloody war, which allowed for control across planes and worlds.
"You can understand it as being able to control elemental avatars across planes and worlds, where death only costs a portion of your spiritual energy."
After understanding Garon's intentions, Anya said, "I see, the Alpha spellcasters will not disappoint you."
After explaining the necessary details, Garon prepared to leave.
At that moment, the legendary fire mage looked at Garon and spoke softly, "My lord, there's something I think you should know."
Garon's gaze shifted slightly, "Speak, what is it?"
Anya carefully chose her words, then began to narrate, "A year ago, a high-level spellcaster from our clan named Adiya left Kara to collect materials for our mage tower from an elemental plane."
"He went to the wind elemental plane."
"On the wind elemental plane, Adiya felt a stirring in his bloodline and followed that sensation to a city under the rule of a wind elemental lord, Storm City."
"In Storm City..."
She paused for a moment.
At the same time, from Anya's words and expression, Garon had a rough idea of what she was about to say.
Under the interested gaze of the silver dragon, Anya continued solemnly, "Adiya encountered a group of wind mages with a pure Alpha wind magic bloodline, their blood the same as ours."
Wind mages.
Garon remembered that the ultimate downfall of the Alpha Tia Empire was due to the wind mages, whose spells had shredded the entire planet from inside out, creating a destructive storm.
In the struggle between the two types of spellcasters, the fire mages were actually the losers.
Of course, the wind mages weren't considered victors either; they too suffered heavy casualties, and their shared homeland with the fire mages was destroyed, leaving their once glorious empire in ruins.
Continuing, Anya's expression became somewhat angry, and she stopped speaking.
"Then what?" Garon prompted.
"Adiya thought about how the war that destroyed our nation was initiated by the hot-tempered fire mage ancestors, so he went with a sense of guilt to apologize to those wind mage descendants, hoping for forgiveness and that wind and fire could be reconciled."
"The result was that he was attacked by the wind mages."
"After being critically injured and escaping back to Kara, Adiya told me what happened, and then... then he died from his severe injuries!"
Anya clenched her fists, flames emerging from her body, "Adiya was just seventeen when he died, a seventeen-year
-old high-level spellcaster, a genius of our clan, destined to become a legend."
"I had been watching over him, but he was killed by those wind mages."
"Those damn..."
As she spoke, Anya realized her emotions were becoming uncontrollable, took a deep breath, and the flames around her were suppressed and extinguished.
Looking up at Garon, Anya apologized, "I'm sorry, I lost my composure."
The silver dragon looked down at the fire mage calmly, "Anya, faced with this situation, what do you want to do? Tell me your true thoughts."
Anya was silent for a moment.
"I want to kill all the wind mages who laid hands on Adiya, as revenge."
She clenched her fists, flames bursting between her fingers, "You are my clan, and you know well that your actions represent my will."
Garon stated.
Anya spoke softly, "I understand, so I've been suppressing my inner rage and have strictly ordered our people not to seek revenge in the wind elemental plane."
As soon as she finished speaking.
Garon's indifferent voice sounded in Anya's ears.
"Anya, you've disappointed me."
Hearing Garon's words, Anya's face showed a trace of panic, and she quickly said, "Lord, the Alpha family will not cause you unnecessary trouble, please quell your anger."
The silver dragon in the sky shook its head.
"An eye for an eye, blood for blood, that is my principle."
"As my clan, don't you understand?"
"To not seek revenge for your own people being killed, such behavior, if known, would only embarrass me."
Garon stated solemnly.
Under the shadow of the dragon's wings, Anya's gaze brightened, flames igniting within.
"Send some spellcasters in my name to Storm City, demand that their clan hand over the culprits who killed the young fire mage, then see to their punishment."
"As for the other wind mages, if they bear no ill will towards you, you may try to recruit them."
"For the rest, if their enmity is deep-rooted, you know what to do with such enemies."
After hearing Garon's arrangements, Anya showed a moved expression and solemnly said, "My lord, the Alpha fire mages will forever follow your lead, fight for you, and offer you blood and fire!"
"Go then, do what you must."
After speaking, Garon's body became ethereal, gradually vanishing from Anya's sight.
Wind mages and fire mages both are remnants of the Alpha Tia Empire.
But for Garon, what mattered was the Alpha bloodline, which boasted a terrifying proportion of spellcasters.
Whether they were wind or fire mages wasn't crucial; in the old Alpha Tia Empire, wind mages were a bit stronger because they appeared earlier and had deeper foundations, but the potential of both was the same.
When Garon first heard of the wind mages, the idea of subduing them crossed his mind, to gather both wind and fire bloodlines.
However, after a brief consideration, he dismissed this idea.
Instead of forcing two types of spellcasters with old grudges to serve the same master, it was better to peacefully develop the fire mages who had been loyal to him for a longer time, sacrificing the wind mages to secure fiercer loyalty and faith.
In the future, an empire belonging solely to the fire mages, the Alpha Clan Empire, would also not repeat the mistakes of the past.
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