Giant Dragon Lord: Starting from Daily Intelligence

’So these are... the eggs of the Illusory Light Butterfly Empress?’

Raylo picked one up and examined it closely.

The shell was semi-transparent, and through it, he could see faint points of light slowly swirling within.

Other than that, there was nothing else remarkable about it.

"Let’s go, Ed."

Raylo closed the wooden box.

"We’re going to show this to the two masters."

「Black Stone City Plaza」

In the flickering firelight, the massive form of the Mobile Alchemy Workshop lay sprawled across the plaza like a slumbering, ancient Giant Beast.

When Raylo reached the workshop’s entrance, the Knights on guard immediately saluted and cleared a path for him.

The workshop’s interior was brightly lit.

The two Legendary Mages, Delin and Wendel, were still hunched over the enormous metal door, arguing heatedly about something.

"No! The Energy Circuits at this node are definitely not a simple series structure! Phillips must have used the ’Space Folding’ technique here!"

"Nonsense! Achieving Space Folding on such a minuscule rune? That would require a terrifying amount of computational and Spiritual Power! In my opinion, this is more like a ’Disguise Rune.’ Its real purpose is to cloud our judgment!"

The two top Legends on the Continent were still arguing incessantly over the door they couldn’t open.

"AHEM."

Raylo’s cough interrupted their argument.

"Raylo, my boy?"

The two of them turned around.

"Masters."

Raylo stepped forward and placed the wooden box he was holding in front of them.

"I’ve made a small discovery and was hoping you two could take a look."

Mage Delin’s gaze fell upon the wooden box.

When Raylo opened the lid, revealing the hundreds of translucent, sparkling eggs inside, the eyes of both Legendary Mages lit up.

"These are..."

Master Wendel was the first to lean in, putting his face close to the box and sniffing deeply.

"Such pure Life Energy..."

He carefully extended a finger, picked an egg out of the box, and held it up to his eye for closer inspection.

Mage Delin walked over as well.

"The Illusory Light Butterfly..."

After a long moment, Mage Delin slowly uttered the name.

"You recognize these, Master?"

Raylo asked.

"I do."

Mage Delin nodded.

"In my youth, I came across a description of this creature in an ancient Elven tome."

"The Illusory Light Butterfly is an exceedingly rare Magical Creature."

"They feed on energy and are born with the ability to create Illusions and distort light."

"Then... what are they used for?"

Raylo asked the question that was foremost on his mind.

"By themselves, they don’t possess much combat strength, with the rare exception of those that have advanced to the Domain Level," Mage Delin said.

"However, the ’Illusory Scale Powder’ they produce is one of the highest-grade Alchemy Materials available."

He glanced at the egg in Master Wendel’s hand and continued.

"This powder’s greatest property is its ability to... distort light and create the most perfect ’Illusions.’"

"Perfect Illusions?"

"Yes."

Mage Delin’s tone turned grave.

"Illusions so perfect they can fool any eye—and even... fool Magic Detection."

"If..."

His gaze swept over the box, which was filled to the brim with Illusory Butterfly Eggs.

"If one had enough Illusory Butterfly Scale Powder to use as a Casting medium..."

"I’m confident I could make an army of ten thousand men completely ’invisible’ on the battlefield!"

"Or, I could turn an army of ten thousand into an ’Illusionary’ army of one hundred thousand."

"Unlike normal Magic, Illusions created with Illusory Butterfly Scale Powder as a medium cannot be perceived, not even by a typical Catastrophe Level individual."

’An army of ten thousand that could become completely invisible!’

"This... this stuff is that amazing?"

Ed, who had been listening from the side, was utterly dumbfounded.

He’d had no idea that the tiny eggs he had brought back possessed such terrifying strategic value.

"It’s powerful, alright..."

Master Wendel set down the egg he was holding.

"But even if all hundred or so of these eggs hatch, they won’t produce much powder. Forget about hiding an army of ten thousand..."

"The proper use would be to conceal one or two powerful individuals to ambush and assassinate the enemy’s own experts!"

Raylo took a deep breath, forcing down his excitement.

He closed the lid on the box of Illusory Butterfly Eggs and solemnly handed it to Ed.

"Ed."

"Yes, My Lord!"

Ed instinctively straightened his posture.

"I want you to immediately assign people in the domain to care for these eggs. Ensure every one of them hatches and grows."

"I need to see the first batch of ’Illusory Scale Powder’ harvested in the shortest time possible!" Raylo said.

"Yes, My Lord!" Ed replied firmly.

"One more thing," Raylo said.

"Take the Griffin Knights and the Pegasus Knights and return to that valley."

"What?"

Ed froze.

"My Lord, that place..."

Raylo waved a hand, cutting him off before he could continue. "This time, your mission isn’t to fight, but to search."

"Bring back every Illusory Butterfly Egg you can find in the valley."

"As for the Domain Level Demon Serpent guarding the valley..."

A cold smile touched the corner of Raylo’s lips.

"The Sun will protect you."

’The Sun!’

Ed’s heart settled. With the Sun protecting them, what was a mere Domain Level Demon Serpent?

"Yes, My Lord!"

The fire of battle rekindled in Ed’s eyes.

Clutching the wooden box to his chest, he turned and strode briskly away.