With both crystals laid in front of him, a material far more advanced and powerful than the mimicry created by Mala to contain a mere fragment of the transparent flame, he truly considered if the eternal suddenly became a helpful race to do this.
These were two grade 0 materials by the dragons’ standards. Two flames of such immense value that just a single one could guarantee his safety in these lands for thousands of years with untold materials to enhance him to cornem tier at the lowest! And this eternal just handed both over without even a hint of disrespect!
Suspicions remained steadfast, and Icy still could not figure out what this eternal desired. So, he chose the obvious thing and asked them, “What could I possibly offer you to get a deal like this?”
“Leave us alone in the war. We have no intention of purging the continent, just killing the strong, and once we finish, you and your friends may live wherever you please. If you want a palace, we can gladly give you any you’d like. Or build one for your group specially,” they spoke routinely without any pauses or speed-ups, already granting huge benefits in the very first line. Rather than a negotiation, it was like they prepared a huge batch of gifts so long as he accepted.
However, Icy scoffed after a few seconds of thought. The terms missed out on so many important things that only an innocent fool might agree, he replied sternly, “I can’t accept that. Not after what you’ve put us through, and how one of our own died in the process. Even if the demon elves were directly unrelated… Her death is on your kind. Besides, Raccelline could never accept such a thing.”
“My mistake. We will gladly hand over her father’s body in a year, whether we win or lose, the universal contract I bring is signed by a number of our upper echelons.” Icy nodded slowly with that notion, at least satisfied that one part of their group will have satisfied demands. In fact, their greatest goal would be completed with this alone… However, he knew it was horribly conceited for him, at best, to decide whether the group could enter this war.
Their families remained, some less so than others, but none of them would lie down and let so many die like this.
But the shadow opened its mouth to speak once more, “Furthermore, we only ask that you personally not participate. If your friends agree to stand down, we will gladly provide all the materials they require to advance to Cornem rank and their equivalents. The cost of funding a single Primordius if they lack talent could bankrupt a smaller nation.” Icy’s eyes only now widened in unprecedented surprise at what they offered, such materials far from small or miniscule.
However, even he could tell why exactly they feared him over the others so much. With his divinity, and rapid growth speed which they likely discovered, in the next 5 years he might be able to kill Starlite and Cornem ranks with ease.
To force him away from this battle, even after so many losses, they didn’t just fear him, but the actions other dragons might take if they launched any attack on the Dragonlands. Certainly, no one wanted to fight against a clan lord…
Those monstrous dragons ripped demigods to shreds, like hell a Great sage stood any chance!
Before making a decision, Icy hastily packed away the two crystals and dispersed the great runes within his body from the rose’s leaf he consumed prior. A minute passed in silence as he not only felt less stuffed, but realised that power stiffened his joints an almost imperceptible amount. Now came the decision, although he wondered if this was truly enough for everything the eternals had done. Certainly, it resolved all their problems, even if humans lost their grip over this world, their people wouldn’t all die out.
Although… they might end up as second-class citizens in front of eternals, likely slaves given how power-oriented the eternals were. He never analysed their society, but the massive society obtained its manpower by dominating other races in the underground world, the losers enslaved and turned into cheap labour. In a strange twist, slave markets didn’t exist though, as their society viewed ownership of others as a right of the powerful. Only those with political or personal strengths received slaves, an incredibly depressing situation for many of those underground races. And just to further how odd such a social dynamic is, slaves freely trained with access to moderately useful techniques, and they either usurped their owners or escaped if powerful enough. This happened so often that most eternals treated slaves in brutal manners for even the smallest mistake or step out of line. Often crippling those deemed dangerous.
“Also, we have heard you possess a power-absorbing bloodline. Even if the effects are weak, we can provide the bodies of powerful creatures for you. I refuse to believe you aren’t tempted by our deal,” the eternal threw in another item just to sweeten the deal further. All of this just to resolve their hatred and stop Icy from fighting in their war.
Was it even a choice at this point? Only a complete idiot refused such an offer!
However, before he could answer, space behind him violently tore apart and he felt two small arms wrap halfway around his full-sized neck. Along with it came an energetic voice, “You’re alright!? Nothing bad inside? Who’s that, too?”
While Raccelline held tightly, her gaze of caution and suspicion already rose up. From behind, four more humans appeared and took on similarly wary eyes.
With that appearance, the shadow raised its arms with a shrug and said, “It seems we have visitors, take your time to think about it. I’m sure you’ll know what to say when we next meet.” The wispy shadow figure completely dispersed like a ball of fog, at first dense as it seeped outwards by in seconds nothing more than an illusion. Just like that, Icy felt a stone in his throat as though a perfect opportunity slipped away… Hopefully the offer returned.
Looking down at the group which teleported in for some reason, he wondered what led them here. However, four adult gazes all focused on Raccelline without a single word spoken, who realised the situation and said, “The necklace felt funny. Like it was mad about something.”
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It silently confirmed that Manus saw everything which happened, and likely pushed Raccelline to come and stop any chances of a deal. He didn’t blame the god’s decision, but it quickly allowed Icy to re-evaluate his exact worth in this game.
At first, he barely possessed the right to transport Raccelline away to safety, but in just a few years, both sides fought for his actions in this war. A messy situation he found himself in.
Laid against the ground in his exhaustion, the group helped collect Lostradus’ body, and then they teleported out of the sub-plane.
Name
Icryladrom (Icy)
Title
Nexus Aid Bonus III
Magic Primary II
Spellcaster 3
Maestro’s Touch
Species
Dragon
Bloodline
Undying Body Ice-cream
HP
44%
MP
100%
Level
71
EXP
63%
Unallocated Stat Points: 12
Strength
0
Luck
13
Agility
48
Growth
20
Magic
105
Mutation Rate
15
Amazingly even with all the damage inflicted by both sides, the only true effects on the blackened earth was a small patch of earth which completely disappeared after contact with the void flames. Those golden flames utterly baked the air and ground, but such distance dispersed its concentrated heat far too much. While a bit specific too, the ground’s material only underwent physical change when presented with heat in the tens of thousands of degrees.
Impressiveness aside, and the fact Icy’s body appeared completely stable outside of extreme exhaustion, when they returned to the central mountain, what awaited them was neither applause nor ridicule, just pure shock and awe.
Many of the master tiers looked away, fully unable and unwilling to accept that Lostradus’ flames at the end could have killed them all with ease. Meanwhile, even the stronger cornem tiers stared in confusion as they too, lost their sight in front of Icy’s solution to those frightening flames. Only the supreme tier dragons reacted more intensely, but with age came a far better ability to hide these emotions. Not to mention, those top tier dragons composed a tiny fraction of all in the Dragonlands, they never even paid Icy any mind till now. The petty disputes between weaker adult dragons and this mishap brought a huff of hot air at most.
And so, they easily returned to the cave without any interruptions. Giving time for Icy to go over exactly what happened… And then explain who that shadowy figure was.
None of them really reacted to the information regarding phoenix flames or how they merged with a transparent flame to create golden ones. They saw Icy achieve similar effects with Origin Force all the time. At this point, Mala already affirmed it into her knowledge of colour theory. Thankfully, the universe’s laws made sense, what she learnt simply contained holes and mistakes.
Furthermore, the wealth of information on Exeters all entered her library immediately. What amounted to a few pages of knowledge ended up boosting the maximum enhancement by about 10%. Nothing serious, but this came from a minutia of knowledge on the topic.
Icy finally reached the final portion, unveiling the shadow’s identity and the exact offer made. It didn’t take long for him to shrink back from Mala’s gaze. Not to mention the disappointment crossed with understanding looks from everyone else.
“You have no right to make that decision for us,” she said, the words gravely enunciated even as she tried to hide the anger she felt. But he didn’t come up with a reply to it, just looking towards the ground without any real response. Her words continued, “If you want to stay out of this, then by all means stay. We’re not going to abandon a continent to stay safe.”
He frowned, meeting her eyes with confusion abound, and said, “When did you want to be some sort of hero? I thought our goal was always her safety and later saving her father.” Icy’s head tipped towards Raccelline who still tightly gripped him, both distressed by these events but more than slightly happy he survived with no real injuries.
“Yes, by ourselves. Not by accepting the very hand which has wanted her for years, and tried to kill you not too long ago! It’s not about being heroes, but doing what we can to not betray our own kind.”
He didn’t get to reply as Jaren piped up with a rather specific question. Saying painfully, “Weren’t you annoyed that they gained favour with Lostradus and his master? Or that they paid off those elven Great sages?” An important and useful question to this conversation, just not for his stance.
“I know. But you’re asking me to pick between confidence in myself against what we’ve even been travelling for!”
“Icy… Really?” She looked at him with disappointment, an explanation hardly necessary but that didn’t stop her. Mala continued, “Is that really all this is?” He didn’t answer though, mostly because he physically couldn’t. Any answer caught in his throat as constant fear overwhelmed him.
He really didn’t want to regret whatever he said next.
“My dad wouldn’t want to be helped like this… He’d be upset with me too,” Raccelline’s voice shot out in the cave, not sad but absent-minded as though other thoughts consumed her at the time. She momentarily glanced over to Mala, turning away just as their eyes locked, and moved closer to Icy’s head before whispering, “Kind of like she is.”
He truly couldn’t fathom an answer, but instead came up with a question to ask instead. His voice cracked as he spoke, “What should I have done then Mala? And all of you?”
“That’s not a decision for you to make,” she now spoke warmly, crouching down to hold the shrunken dragon’s head.
Sometimes the coddling really did help, he grew to prefer the contact Raccelline offered at most times, and Icy calmed down from the sincerity. Mala ended the conversation with a single insight, allowing him to rest and recover as they settled it. She told him, “If we were asked the same thing but it resulted in the deaths of so many dragons, that decision would be on you, not us. But Icy, do try to remember that forsaking your kind is never so black or white… Even if you would do it to save us.”
Though, perhaps it wasn’t the insight Mala intended to give him.