Beneath the Red Dragon

Dragon Nest, mountain peak.

Giant Dragon Calendar Year Thirteen, it's already deep winter.

Cold winds begin to rise, rolling the clouds in the sky.

But the Floating Cloud Dragon sleeps in a little cloud nest, the clouds gathering naturally due to the dragon's slumber, misty and hazy, yet isolating all cold currents at high altitudes.

The trees and flowers in the Dragon King's Castle courtyard have many that have turned grayish green, and the trunk of the World Tree Ovo has already extended into the high skies. But the massive canopy is unseen, as if it exists in another realm.

Only the thick, ancient trunk seems like scales on an old Giant Dragon that have grown gray over time, heavy and resilient.

No one knows which Titan Python coils on the trunk of the World Tree Ovo. Its enormous head, with rough Dragon Horns, lazily lies on a thick branch.

A long tail hangs low, swaying and teasing the small golden Behemoth—Achilles—beneath the tree.

Pikku Little Elf Riven lazily yawns, sitting at the threshold of her acorn-like flower house built with twin petals, swinging her legs, cheering on Achilles.

Days of staying up late playing card games with Charlize and the Ancestral Red Dragon has brought two large dark circles to Little Elf Riven's fair face.

Even after a nap, Little Elf Riven still feels her mind isn't fully active, and can only sit here daydreaming.

The perpetually energetic Ancestral Red Dragon, who never seems tired, stands on the broad lookout platform at the highest level of the castle, gazing into the distance.

On the peak over ten thousand meters high, Karon's view stretches to the distant coastline.

Watching waves surge, startling the flocks of flying birds to sweep across, Karon seems to feel the sound of tides crashing against the shore. He feels the vastness and desolation in the echoes.

Adult Silver Dragon Chris Tianna arrives at the mountain peak to witness such a scene.

The imposing Dragon Court, expanding with the growth of the mountain range, has seen the castle's peripheral structures grow, yet now it appears quiet.

The deep and long corridors of the castle have long since lost the once-trapped Ancestral Golden Dragon Oblash, with loyal warriors akin to the Storm Giants hidden in the royal court, silent, still as rock pillars.

Occasionally, the faint songs of elf maids emerge from the depths of the court, like echoes from distant places, illusory and dreamlike.

The platform revealed to the world, not seen desolate withered garment washing, only azure clouds ascending to the sky.

At this moment, solely the Ancestral Red Dragon standing atop the platform, looking up at the horizon, appears real in the eyes of Silver Dragon Chris Tianna.

Silver Dragon Keli knows that the Ancestral Red Dragon's pride may surpass that of the Ancestral Golden Dragon who once wielded the mantle of pride many times over.

Yet the expression form differs from the condescending gaze that the Ancestral Golden Dragon and other Giant Dragons employ toward all creatures as pigs, dogs, cattle, and horses, rather it is this serene demeanor. Like everything rests in his claws with confidence, and even if everything crumbles, he holds a pride that he can recreate the world.

Silver Dragon Keli also once despised this deeply hidden pride, but now the feeling has evolved into an indescribable emotion.

Tremor, admiration, reverence, or possibly something else—it could be all.

This isn't solely due to the unparalleled beauty of the Ancestral Red Dragon among True Dragons, nor is it because the Ancestral Red Dragon effortlessly crushed the resistance of adult Silver Dragons with overwhelming brutality in duels.

These are merely reasons among many, as such inexplicable emotions, likened to human love, often blend various mixed reasons rather than simply one that touched this Silver Dragon.

Just like the adult Silver Dragon Keli understands why the order of the Golden Empire remains so stable; it's not merely because the security of the empire's order is founded on the deterrence of dragons and the absolute formidable might of the Dragon Legion.

But it's founded on every race's populace in the empire being able to find their path, each able to find a way out on this land through their own effort.

Without causing the Golden People, diversified to the point of vexing any country and nobility, to retreat into corners challenging order.

While in other noble lords' territories, the common people often make wild vegetables, bark, and roots regulars in the pot, the people of the Golden Empire have an opportunity to fill their bellies daily.

Possessing the lowest food tax rate in the Icaria World allows all the empire's citizens to be free from hunger.

They can even, due to the empire's tax policies, become wealthy landowners that residents under other noble lord realms wouldn't dare to dream of through merely cultivating land and growing crops with their own hands.

Although the empire is now enacting a series of restrictions to prevent excessive liberal mergers of private lands, and despite many rumors of dragons living in lavish luxury, no one has truly raised the banner of rebellion against dragon rule because of it, nor are there substantial voices opposing dragon rule.

Before the influx of minstrels into the Golden Empire, such dissenting voices never even arose.

Simply relying on so-called mighty force cannot achieve this, relying on a fantastical absolute force to suppress while disregarding reality—even in a divine-spirit-ruled nation, this is unattainable.

When all creations find no path ahead, they will erupt in waves of resistance, even against the divine's glory.