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Chapter 512: Ares
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If it was to be explained in few words, the place is an open area, trees everywhere, lands are fertile, large Dragonkins kilometers in size far away like a moving mountain, and then there’s the group of people in front of them —tall, large, and sturdy, and the women, sexy, too much skin visible, and giving out too much exotic sex appeal for normal guys to resist not looking.
Exotic… that was the word to describe their first impression image to Siva. He remembered before that in the past, the Saipan Dragon Clan is always one to have a deep system of belief about their cultures. To them, clothes were worn to hide your muscles and because of the natural bulky bodies of men and sexier and more appealing bodies of their women, the Saipan Dragon Clan chose to be more eccentric than the rest, exposing more skin, showing off their assets, being proud of what they are rather than hiding it.
Siva felt some respect to them regarding this.
Tattoos of differing size and shapes, but had the same colors, were etched on their skins. Some of the older men wore rings on their noses and their ears had ‘tunnels’ and horn piercing through it.
But the women wasn’t that too far away from their male counterparts, with the difference being that a lot of women wore far lesser tattoos and lesser piercings, yet wore a more seductive type of dress accentuating all their delicious curves and long brown or black, or khaki-colored flowing hair.
Every one of them was tall.
Every one of them was athletic… or bulky. No one was disproportionate to their height with a lot of excess weight. Even the men, with all their bodily muscles and bulky frames, don’t look chubby or fat at all but rather even scarier because of their tattoos, oily skin, and chiseled frames.
In general, the Saipan Clan’s people wore light and thin fur-clothes, with the Dragon King even bare top, and the lady beside him only wearing a fur cloth to cover the vital parts of being a woman.
Unlike the demure and elegant typical-ness of the Vajra Clan, the Saipan Clan, Dragons of the Earth Elemental Attribute, were “people” who loved to be as close to the land as possible and so wearing clothes, to them, was just a little fashion… nothing else, nothing more.
What they treated as luxurious clothing, however, were their tattoos symbolizing their totems —the present and past Dragon Kings of their Clan.
Perhaps the Saipan was the most unique Dragon Clan in the Seven Dragon Clans of Laurasia when it comes to this type of racial characteristic.
Siva even noted that unlike when he met the Elf, Dwarf, and Noah Tribes, there didn’t seem to be a notification window showing that the Dragon Clan is one of the races that can be chosen.
Although he already felt like so when there was no system announcement with the Vajra Clan, he thought that perhaps they were meant to be just a bunch of NPCs for the [Players] to exploit.
—isn’t that tragic?
He took note of this deeply in his heart.
Unlike the other six, they are the only ones who had adhered to their ancient rites and traditions while the others evolved and copied the Terrans; they now wear clothes according to their own set cultures unlike the Saipan who were traditional and full of respect and reverence to their land.
Perhaps that’s why, of the traitors that defected to the Bloody Church, they have the fewest number for they are more culturally emotional than they’re devout worshipers of another God than their own Clan Leader, a Dragon King.
Perhaps, Siva thought, Kyle’s circumstances was even unique amongst the unique cases…
At this time, Siva was standing face to face with the Dragon King who sat on his throne with his primary wife sitting on his right, leaning at his arm.
There were his sons, twenty in all, divided into all his other women standing behind the throne.
All of them were lovely —the trait of Dragons— as Mana was their lifeblood and it molded their outer appearances as perfect as it can.
“You are Siva, I’d presume?” the King’s voice was as deep and masculine as it can get.
Siva looked at him with a bit of wariness.
If they fight a “non-killing fight”, he was sure to be defeated because all of his abilities are for killing and Siva’s actual fighting capability was only as good as his own stats.
“I am.” He answered still.
He was shaking but he was worried because if the Dragon King flips out, then perhaps he could fight for his life but if the Dragon King was just testing him, then he’s truly in for a losing fight and even if it hardly affects his plans, it will affect his own self esteem as well as the possibility of his message not being heard by the Saipan Dragon King.
As such, Siva chose to set the pace according to his own beat and the memory of the nature of the Saipan Clan he could recall of them in the past.
“I heard you wanted to have a duel with me. Can you tell me why?”
Many of his sons standing around the throne felt frowning at Siva. Is it because he was talking like they were equals with their great father?
Siva thought, if I was in my peak, you’d be the ones trembling on your knees wanting to make me forget that you actually challenged me!
Alas, he wasn’t the Siva of the past and was just a mere Mortal so he had to be careful every step of the way and not to start unnecessary antagonism.
The Saipan Dragon King glanced over Siva’s right, greeting the subservient Mohindra, Clan Leader of the Vajra Clan.
“It’s always a pleasure to look at you, Mohindra.”
The Dragon King’s unbridledness and love of all beautiful women were known in Laurasia and Siva had also heard from Mohindra that she had always been being invited by the Seven Dragon Clans to join their effort in fighting against the Terrans.
All these years, it was always the Saipan Dragon King who always extends an olive branch for the Clan Leader of the Vajras.
One of his reasons were clear: he wanted her so much he would never antagonize her.
The Saipan Dragon King spoke with his clear intentions but even if the words felt wrong and the way he speaks of it was blatantly vulgar, the man still sounded dignified as if being unbridled and arrogantly condescending to everything that’s not on his level was just natural, given his status.
After all, in the eyes of the Terrans, he was [God].
“Thank you for your words, Dragon King.”
Mohindra spoke with flattened respect but the Dragon King didn’t get offended by her palpable rejection of his intentions…. again.
“Hahahaha… it has been a few years, if I’m not mistaken, since the last time we saw each other face to face. The Terrans’ activities died down at the emergence of the Bloody Church. I heard that you also killed a Bishop when you defended your territory from an invasion. Well done. Although I wanted to help you out but we, too, are suffering the attacks and aggression of the Bloody Church so I have to apologize.”
“It’s alright, Dragon King. We perfectly understand the universal threat of the Bloody Church. And in speaking of this topic, our visit today is connected to that attack you spoke of just now.”
“Hoh?” the Dragon King nodded and his eyes of clear disregard looked over at Siva, where he bid him a cock of his head and said, “I do indeed want to have a duel with you. You killed my son, Kyle, who was the weakest of my sons. You should know that we Dragons are a lot stronger than the Terrans in every regard and yet my agents in the Terran Territories had seen your fight with him, and even beating him alone without outnumbering him with a lot of attackers. That, in full honesty, is the first time a Terran actually won against one of the Seven Dragon Clans’ people in a duel. Thus, I wanted to try the strength that defeated him. After all, no matter what, he was still my son, a Saipan, and he carried my Martial Arts with him along with his bloodline. You killing him alone is trampling on my pride.”
The deep voice of the Dragon King spoke in a free and unrestrained manner. He met Siva’s red eyes that didn’t show any fear and smiled with a glint of provocation.
He knew that although Siva wasn’t scared, he still had many reservations.
Nevertheless, Siva still detected that there was no malice on the Dragon King’s voice. If he could put a label on it, he was just like Cramer who loved an exciting battle that could make their blood boil.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
He secretly thought that, perhaps, it would have been better to bring the guy here because both of them had the same mentality, not to mention they both had large body frames.
“He’s a member of the Bloody Church.” Siva said, staring back. “They’re all my enemies and I will not show them any mercy, even if they are the son of heaven or the son of hell.”
Siva talked while not taking away his eyes away from the Dragon King. Then he added, “Are you going to be my enemy as well?”
The atmosphere became heavier and all of the young Dragons around the throne released their hostility towards Siva, threatening to pressure him into submission.
“Watch your mouth, Terran!” shouted who seems to be the oldest King Child. “You are in front of a Dragon King!”
Siva was still a former God and he took pride in it despite not wanting it before. As such, the one talking right now was his pride as a God and as an Immortal who spread the Path of Immortality to the endless stars back then. He may be weak now but he still had a spine!
He stared at the one who spoke and his Killing Zone concentrated on his body. The reduced defense bore a pressure to the man.
Shocked, the King Child released his aura as well to meet with Siva’s spiritual suppression.
At this time, Mohindra mediated, “Your Highness, Dragon King Ares, please tell your son to show his appropriate respect in front of His Excellency, Siva, the King of Asgard, Protector of the Stars, and the Immortal of Destr—”
There was clear anger on Mohindra’s voice and her eyes spoke of rebuke as he stared at the very surprised King Child.
Mohindra, in spite of not being a Dragon King, is still the Clan Leader of the Vajras, their Matriarch, and with the culture and upbringing of the Saipan Clan, he still felt pressure and fear when talking to someone of a “leader” status like his father.
But midway through her sentence, Siva raised a hand and she abruptly stopped. This action made everyone around them surprised and their eyes went wide as they looked at how respectfully she bowed her head and stepped back behind Siva.
—all aside from the Ares.
Looking at him, the Dragon King didn’t have any change in his expression while his eldest son took a step back, not daring to even look at Mohindra.
After a few seconds, Areas rested his back to the seat and asked, “Do you think that he is strong?”
Though subtle, there was a slight change on the man’s tone when talking to Siva.
Clearly, although Mohindra stopped in time, she still spoke the word “Immortal” and addressed Siva as “His Excellency” —a clear sign that for the woman he was chasing after, and in general had the same status like him, Siva’s status’ identity and his prompt for her to stop indicated of his higher standing than a ‘Clan Leader’ of a Dragon Clan.
To these Saipan, to their culture, this was also an equivalent of Siva being a “Dragon King” of one of the Dragon Clans.
He had to take Siva seriously.
This was also the pride and etiquette of a King.
“Who? Kyle?” Siva was confused. Why are you asking me this kind of thing? “Yes.” he said. “He is many times stronger than me, at least. I won because I used tactics and not pure strength. He was too strong for me to fight head on so I used his rage and his attitude to lead him to a trap using all my trump cards. Then I won.”
The King nodded as if acknowledging the fact that Siva did indeed admitted he was weaker. He won by utilizing all his cards and in a battlefield, being a stubborn prick insisting on a fair fight is one of the deadliest mistakes one can make.
“Good!” The Dragon King praised and he clapped his hands in delight.
Then, his sharp eyes radiating his battle intent bid a scan of Siva and declared, “Well then… I won’t waste my time on an empty chatter so let us get straight to the point. Me against you, skills and all… I want to see the true strength of the person hailed as the scourge of the Surface Continents!”
Siva was surprised, since when did I become the scourge of the surface continents?!!
Cortana was always scanning news about him and for all kinds of relevant information about his goals but there was never news of him being a scourge of the surface continents.
—is this how they see me as?
Siva wanted to say no but if he does, then Ares might not take him seriously immediately. He may even get driven away from Genoa.
Thankfully, Siva’s active scan was always active and he determined that this place is at least one of the [Neutral Zones] of Laurasia because there are many people going about their usual lives not too far away from them.
“Alright.” Siva said. “But we should set an oath to never deal a killing blow. After all, there is still the important reason why we went to travel this long distance just to meet you.”
The Dragon King paused and gave a nod. “Alright, it’s a deal. But if I am not satisfied with the power you’re going to show me then I could only shake my head and kill you for killing my son.”
Siva felt the pressure became heavier and just as Mohindra was about to speak another word, Siva agreed to him, “Deal.”
If it was a fight to defend his life, then he could unleash his strength while not holding back.
It was after all for making the Saipan Dragon King accepting his strength and his existence.
Siva pulled out a contract and then gave Ares the copy with the details. After reading it, Ares gave the contract back to Siva with a silent frown.
“What?” Siva said. “Are there things here that are not agreeable with you?” Siva took the contract on his hand a scan check but the contents were okay and nothing seems wrong.
He wanted to say something to Ares when the Dragon King coughed once and spoke:
“I can’t read Terran Alphabet.”
“…..”
“I didn’t have the patience to study it.”
“……….”
Siva wanted to face palm himself at this moment.
It was said that the Saipan Dragon King was the 3rd strongest Dragon King of this generation next to the Fire Dragon King, and is obsessed with the path of the strong.
Thinking about the disposition of this Dragon King that Mohindra told him, he really palmed his face at this mistake.
He forgot.
The reason why he could talk to them right now is because he was wearing the Beast Blood Pendant that Janus gave him. Dragon Tongue, after all, is a completely different system of language.
*****
Meanwhile, in Jeremiah…
The Warehouse District, Central Region
Zelga was holding a paper with the seal of Blue Draco in it. It was a secret missive that only the two of them knew.
Reading it for the umpteenth time, Zelga couldn’t help but feel a little alarmed.
On the paper, it says that the Council Head of the Council of Elders had just finished a meeting with the so called [Terran Alliance]. And in it he faintly implied that Siva was going to do something big again and this time, everyone will be involved.
—just what is he going to do?
Zelga was concerned because his instincts were telling him that when Draco said “everyone will be involved”, it also meant that they and their plans will indeed be involved.
At the same time…
THUD!!
A young-looking knight knelt down in front of him.
“What is it?” he asked in a distracted manner.
“I’ve confirmed, Your Highness, the Enchantment Temple is indeed moving their forces and they’re planning on something big.”
Zelga was seated on his “throne” when this report came to his ears. As a King Candidate, of course he would always be wary of the movements of his competition.
“Oh really now...”
Right after Longyun and Tabata became second to him only after a simple act of twisting one or two things about Siva’s actions, he became wary of the other King Candidates’ actions because, in just one or two simple moves, his position as the number one could be shaken unexpectedly.
Zelga couldn’t afford to be complacent.
As such, he planted spies on the rest of the King Candidates’ factions.
One of them, right now, proved his suspicions.
Lady Brea from the same faction as him, the Wall of Jeremiah Knight Order, subordinate institute of the Bright Light Sword Faction of the Nine Noble Factions aiming for the throne of Jeremiah, was actually the disciple of the grand Elder Mage of the Enchantment Temple.
Known only to a select few, Zelga felt that it was not Longyun or Tabata, not Voltaire or anybody else, was his greatest enemy for the title and right for the throne.
It was Lady Brea from the same faction as him.
It’s simply because of the fact that, according to Blue Draco, she was doted on by the Grand Elder Mage of the Enchantment Temple, Pistareen, an acquaintance of him.
This, alone, was an even bigger obstacle than any his other competition could actually come up with.
When Zelga heard the report, he couldn’t help but feel anger in his heart. He then swiped the air and sent a message from one of his Royal Guards.
After a while, a man ran up towards him and then knelt in front and spoke, “What is your command, My Prince?”
This man was one of his real world subjects.
After he discovered how to exploit how to get the Unique Abilities just like Siva, he had painstakingly recruited so many people to work for him —all with Unique Abilities as well.
From the original 40 he first had, these past few days, he already got at least 150 people and 30 of them were all real-world subordinates of their real world kingdom… thus it was easy for him to pull them into working for his cause.
Categorizing the abilities he retrieved, Zelga had assigned different roles according to their Unique Abilities and so his small group of Royal Guards became an entire elite group of strong individuals; especially so when they were baptized with True Dragon Blood and given weapons and equipment made of True Dragon Materials.
“I want you to listen to the Enchantment Temples’ conversation and broadcast them here.” As Zelga spoke, two people also walked forward and bent their knees beside the first. Zelga finished, “You will work with these two to establish the real-time spying imagery of the Enchantment Temple HQ office where the Grand Elder Mage should be located. I am sure he will be here.”
After he spoke, Zelga swiped the air and spread out a map of the Enchantment Temple’s territory within Jeremiah and point a finger to a location.
“Go now.” he ordered.
And as the three took a step back, one of the two later worked with the first man. Real-time imaging of Grand Elder Mage’s office appeared in front of their group. One could only say that in terms of the utilization of Unique Abilities, Zelga was leaps and bounds ahead of Siva.
The third person within this group of three had a Unique Ability that ‘materialized’ other abilities that he’d targeted this [Ability] into, converting it/them into something perceptible by other people.
If used by itself, this was an ability that can reveal other people’s ability when they used it on you, as it’s most useful as an anti-spying ability.
But Zelga thought otherwise. What if this ability is used in conjunction with other people’s abilities?
Zelga had the advantage of numbers and his army has people using [Unique Abilities]. He just needs one more person and Zelga could have the initial foundations to build an empire on his own.
Unique Ability: Support Type = Ampterialization
Unique Ability: Utility Type = Sounddescry
Unique Ability: Utility Type = Prospicience
Combining the three, they became a really scary combination that could spy at about anywhere the man watching the trio targeted their ability into.
Grey smoke materialization of the [Sounddescry Ability] appeared in the midst of the trio —this is its ‘materialized’ aspect of its effect. With the 2nd guy’s [Prospicience Ability], rainbow colored lights began to morph in the surface of the grey smoke and images began to display on the smoke as if it was some plasma holographic projector. This was the exact scene happening in the office right now.
With Pistareen’s office being spied upon without his knowing since this wasn’t Magic they’re using but their [Abilities], he didn’t know that everything he’s been doing, saying, and orders he’s been giving away were all being spied upon by Zelga.
The [Ampterialization Ability] user drank Blue Pots one after another as this “Support Type” ability of his consumed Mana by the seconds as long as it’s active, just like Siva’s Killing Zone Ability.
Maintained this way, Zelga finally ‘found’ the Intel he was looking for 15 minutes later. Yet the things he discovered made him seethe with boiling rage and all the more, it was deeply connected to the piece of paper he crumpled in his left hand.
“I want the Royal Guards here in five minutes!!!”
He ordered.
They must move fast.
He didn’t have time.
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What did he discover…?
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Next Chapter: changes in the situation…