A Deal Between Lords

Thick black clouds gathered on top of the Eroded Peaks and thunder rumbled through them,

At the same time, The earth began to shake heavily and big chunks of the nearby mountains began to fall down

Multiple geysers erupted all throughout the Eroded Peaks, Killing tens or even hundreds of Elite and weaker Beasts by boiling them to death

Every nearby Beast and Dragon felt absolute terror and impending doom, And all of them ran as far as they could from the heart of the Domain

All of this was the result of the Dragon Lord unleashing his Killing Intent on the Archivist for uttering the name of that agonizing Era

The Dracocide Era, According to humans

or The Age of Torment, According to Dragons

Was an Era where humans discovered a new type of Magic which they called "Scales Magic"

By Sacrificing the Scales of Dragons, Humans were able to gain unfathomable powers, From increasing their life span to being able to warp Reality itself, Depending on how strong the Dragon was

As soon as humans discovered that, hunters and adventurers embarked on ruthless expeditions to hunt down and slaughter the dragons mercilessly for their scales

At the same time, A certain Empire discovered an even better way to harness the power

"Instead of killing dragons to take their scales, Why don't we skin them alive so they can regrow more scales for later use?" Said an Emperor of a forgotten Era

As time passed, Not only hunters killed Dragons, But entire Kingdoms and Empires solely focused on hunting dragons

And just like that, The skies that were once filled with majestic dragons became desolate and devoid of their presence, And the once-thriving dragon race was reduced to mere remnants

The clever dragons quickly retreated to the most remote and inaccessible corners of the world and hid themselves from the relentless onslaught, But the less fortunate ones ...

Ironically, That Era ended because of that very discovery

As the number of Dragons dwindled, a colossal world war erupted to control the remaining few

In the chaos, humanity turned on itself, forgetting about the Dragons entirely. The relentless fighting escalated until the Armageddon of that Era happened, And humanity had to start from scratch, Announcing the beginning of a new Era, The Draconic Retribution Era, An Era in which all the human Lords had to unite to prevent the extinction of the human race ... But that's a tale for another day.

The Archivist showed no reaction to the Dragon Lord's killing intent, He only said in a serious tone

"Only fools don't learn from the past, Oh Ancient Lord"

The Dragon Lord's eyes were quivering with anger, Right now, He wanted to obliterate the Archivist

But he knew he couldn't do that, He also knew that

'The Hegemon is right ...'

It took a while for the Dragon Lord to calm down, And after he did, He began to think rationally about everything the Archivist said

First of all, This matter has been agonizing him for centuries, He needed more Kings

'To ensure the survival of the Kin'

Not just that

'If more Kings emerged, There's a high possibility that the old Kings will feel threatened, Thus, They will strive to reclaim their dominance'

'A new Lord might emerge'

After the Dragon Lord concluded that, He realized that Pride is not really a matter of concern at all

'It is indeed so measly to even be mentioned in such a situation'

He looked at the Archivist and asked in a more composed tone

"What is it that you have to offer?".

The Archivist waved his hand, And a book appeared floating beside him

"Teach the methods in this book to your most promising Royal Dragons

With the help of these methods and the dedication of the Royals, They might evolve and become King Level Beings"

At this point, The deal was almost sealed for the Dragon Lord

'Whatever needs to be done wouldn't be worth more than empowering the kin!'

Without moving his eyes from the book, The Dragon Lord asked

"What do you want in return"

"I want to locate an individual"

"Elaborate"

The Archivist waved his hand again, Making the book disappear and forcing the Dragon Lord to look at him with annoyance

"The individual should be around two years old right now, But despite his age, He should be both smart and strong enough to stand out among his peers"

"Which Kingdom"

The Archivist replied nonchalantly

"I don't know"

When the Dragon Lord heard that, He said barely holding back his laughter

"Don't know? You want to search the entirety of Dracarion?"

For a moment, The Archivist felt amused

Dracarion was the name of the world during The Draconic Retribution Era, The Archivist understood that this was the Dragon Lord's way of getting back at him after he mentioned The Dracocide Era 

He took note of that but didn't comment on it, He only replied nonchalantly

"I'm not in a hurry"

In all honestly, The Dragon Lord didn't care

'As long as I'm getting the book, nothing else matters, I won't be the one searching any way'

The Archivist added

"The individual should be able to recognize the name (Sal The Summoning Lord)

Use this piece of information to discern him from others"

"I accept your offer, However, It will take years"

"Not an issue"

And just like that, The Deal between the Lords was sealed, and The Archivist got what he wanted

He chose the Dragon Lord for this phase for multiple reasons

'First, If I don't involve him now then it'll be very difficult to involve him later'

The Dragon Lord was an important figure in the world, He's one of the epitomes of the Beast Race, His participation in The Archivist's Ploy was a key point

'Second, The Draconic Domain has gotten stale'

Things here haven't changed for centuries, The Dragon Lord probably can't differentiate between the year 1500 and the year 2000 because it has all been the very same, That needed to change

'Third, The Dragon Lord is one of the very few Lords who can get the task done without directly interfering'

A couple of millennia ago, The Dragon Lord built a connection with an Ancestor of one of the most mysterious Kingdoms in the world, And they would get the job done in the best humanly possible way

'Also, This is the best way to involve that certain Kingdom in my ploy ...'

The Archivist waved his hand and gave the book to the Dragon Lord and said

"Begin as soon as possible, When you acquire the information, You know where to find me"

The Dragon Lord didn't even glance at him, He focused on the book and began to read its content

The Archivist turned around and flew back north, With a sinister smile on his face

'10 Birds with a single book, Not bad, Right?'