Chapter 373: The Dragons’ Tacit Permission
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Pranav
A Slime Calamity the likes of which had never been seen before didn’t last for a week as promised. Instead, it lasted for a full month!
If it weren’t for the fact that the dragons grew impatient and forcefully located the me who had gotten lost in the joys of experimentation, then this ancient city might have been destroyed for such a ridiculous reason.
Even so, I succeeded in giving the Bardi Empire and the dragons a good lesson by doing what I pleased, not caring about the consequences. I taught them what a living Calamity was.
Once the Slimes’ experimental numbers reached three digits, Slime Kings and Hallucination Slimes started to appear—now even Young Dragons or Silver-ranked knights couldn’t deal with them.
Slime Kings were the amalgamation of countless Slimes, and their self-destruction capabilities were capable of instantly clearing out all the... clothes within a radius of five kilometers. Yes—only clothes, as the Slime King only focused on making people naked.
Hallucination Slimes, on the other hand, had seventeen different magical properties, including but not limited to: bondage, hallucinations, and lust-filled dreams. Those who fell victim to it went through untold hardship and suffered in indescribable ways. What happened on the streets could be depicted on mosaics, passed down for posterity.
There was a particular Immemorial Blue Dragon, whose abbreviated name—yep, abbreviated name—was Helatefenderonkasoswener. He, however, went by the shortened “Halos” to more conveniently communicate with other species. Halos was one of the main leaders of Dragon City and was proficient in ancient curses. He possessed authority and strength equivalent to that of a Great Immemorial ranked dragon despite being only at the Immemorial Level.
There were seventeen dragon leaders around Halos’ level in strength in Dragon World. Of course, with their personalities less than half of the dragons would listen to Halos’ commands even though he was a leader of Dragon City. Currently, this Halos was appointed to be their intermediary with Roland.
The dragons were indeed in quite a hurry to get the Mage Country to come to their aid. However, the ancient dragons had many eras of experience and knew that this was an excellent excuse for us to make many demands. The dragons also understood that in negotiation, whoever could remain more patient would have the advantage. Originally, the dragons had intended to simply stand by and watch this Slime Calamity that was obviously just an upgraded prank.
The dragons had thought that since both sides were eventually going to meet, how could the short-lived humans possibly compare to themselves in patience and cunning? Yet they discovered that the envoys acted as if they had entirely forgotten about the dragons’ invitation. Unable to withstand their boredom and the change in the situation, the dragons finally set out to find Roland.
Looking at this from a bystander’s viewpoint, neither side was at all the reliable type. The dragons and Orloss had invited the Mage Country to help them resolve the problem of the Titan Giants in Dragon World by using the threat of a ticking time bomb. Basically, if the Mage Country didn’t help, the end result would be “Hey, you’ll suffer too if the Titan Giants are released.” But the mages ended up tossing this responsibility over to the even more unreliable Roland. Meanwhile, just as everyone who knew him expected, Roland unhesitatingly tossed this duty of his aside. Although this job did seem like one where he would “save the world,” in truth it was more like he was “helping the dragons wipe their own asses.”
“Every minute is critical. Yet he actually wasted a month? Does he intend to do his job at all? Why was someone like him chosen to be the negotiator with us dragons?”
“...Like I said, the threat of the Titan Giants is useless against him. Even if the Titan Giants revive, they won’t cause any damage to the Mage Country for some time, but Dragon World will be devastated. It may be a danger for them, but it’s even worse for us.”
Yet it could be so that from the Mage Country’s standpoint, Roland was actually the best candidate. Considering the relationship between the dragons and the mages, no other mage would likely be capable of acting as shamelessly as Roland.
Halos wasn’t here to negotiate with Roland by himself—he was accompanied by Halent. Since Halent was personally responsible for bringing this Calamity to the Bardi capital, he was recently having a hard time by being pressured by both the royalty and the dragons.
“Are those two Immemorial Red Dragons still in the city?”
“Yeah.”
“Ignore them. Tell your Dragon Knights to pretend not to see them.”
From a certain standpoint, “pretending not to see them” was a type of attitude. Some Red Dragons and Black Dragons had already appeared on the surface for a period of time, and East Mist even had a small mercenary dragon squad. If Dragon City wanted to intervene, they would have done so long ago.
Also, sending a Blue Dragon leader to be the emissary to negotiate with Roland was also the dragons’ way of displaying their friendly attitude—Blue Dragons, after all, were Elemental Dragons or, if you would, Color Dragons.
“It’s impossible to think about rescinding the ban on the Red and Black Dragons returning to the surface. Although none in our generation have memories of that internal conflict, some ancient artifacts among us still adhere too strongly to tradition. We can only pretend not to see them.”
From a certain standpoint, the method by which the surface dragons displayed their attitude was seen when Little Red and Halos met—they saw each other but didn’t say anything. However, this attitude was enough to make the Underground Dragon City delighted as this meant Red and Black Dragons would be able to freely roam about on the surface without worrying about other dragons hunting them down.
As for whether the dragons would be able to directly ignore any Red or Black Dragons right before them... actually, I had an idea about this before we reached Bardi.
“Let’s just rename the Red Dragons to Fire Dragons or Crimson Dragons. Yep, so we’ll have Male and Female Fire Dragons. As for the Black Dragons, how about changing their names to Gray Dragons or Colorless Dragons? Right, their triangular bony heads resemble dog heads, and they’re also poisonous. How about just changing their name to Poison Dog Dragon? See? Easy!”
In a way, this was a very shameless move, but as long as the Red and Black Dragons changed their names both sides could avoid great amounts of awkwardness. Little Red even seriously considered the possibility of changing her species name to “Fire Dragon.” Nevertheless, a decision to change the name of her entire species would require her to consult with the other leading Red Dragons of her tribe.
“...Poison Dog Dragon isn’t even worth considering. Just hearing this suggestion will make all Black Dragons want to kill you. As for being a Female Fire Dragon, although I mysteriously feel like you have some evil joke in mind, I suppose I could try that name.”
In the end, Little Red decided to later return and convene a meeting to decide the issue of renaming the Red and Black Dragons. Perhaps Red and Black Dragons would no longer exist in the future, with Dog Dragons, Female Fire Dragons, and other possible evolutionary paths giving the dragons new methods to abuse others...
Without a doubt, the Underground dragons were tacitly permitted to return to the surface, and this was a compromise from the surface Dragon City. Compromise was a very rare thing for the prideful and traditional dragons.
The final result wasn’t because the dragons cared about their close relatives—no, no, it was the opposite. Actually, in their private meetings, the Gold and Silver Dragons were loudly clamoring to kill off all these evil Underground dragons. However, their council of elders came to the decision to allow them to return, mostly a result of the current situation the dragons were in.
If I compared the current world with the game history, then the biggest difference in the Underground World would be how they were now currently united. And their combat strength and threat level had far surpassed what it was at the same moment of time in the game history. Even two mega empires together would be unable to deal with them if the entire Underground moved in unison. Also, not only was Little Red the Underground Dragon Queen, she was also an Underground Lord who represented the entire strength of the Underworld.
If you ignored these outside factors of status, Ein Mezus had been able to reach the Immemorial Dragon rank despite her young age. And her reputation was excellent by Red Dragons’ standards.
Previously, Little Red had joined the campaign against Yongye. She had defeated the demons’ and devils’ evil schemes and was known to be anti-war after becoming the Dragon Queen. Plus, her actions proved she had good intentions, making her a rare figure among Red Dragons: she didn’t have much ambition. Of course, such a Dragon Queen was perfect for the surface Dragon City as most Red Dragons would have far more ambition than power.
As for whether or not the Red and Black Dragons would attack humans after returning to the surface... Unless some high-ranked dragon restrained them, this was almost certain to occur. However, the dragons tacitly decided to ignore this matter. Not a single dragon even thought of this as an important point of the negotiations.
The reason for this? Actually, the Green, Blue and White dragons on the surface commonly attacked humans. Even the so-called “good dragons” from legendary stories, the Gold and Bronze Dragons, would wake up several million gold coins richer after taking a nap. All dragons viewed humans as monkeys with strong reproductive abilities who wouldn’t go extinct regardless of what they did to them. Only the Silver Dragons, considered an anomaly amongst the other dragons, would work hard to obtain benefits for humans and even voluntarily went to live in human society.
In the legends, Silver Dragons preferred to appear as beautiful, silver-haired female elves. In one story, a Silver Dragon even fell in love with a human musician. Actually, this story wasn’t completely fiction. Silver Dragons were considered as artists among the other dragons and indeed adored human and elven creativity and artistry. But for this same reason, Silver Dragons often fought against their Color Dragon relatives, giving them a bad reputation within the dragon tribe.
Of the seventeen Dragon World leaders, only two were Silver Dragons despite the fact that they were the second strongest dragon species, only weaker than Gold Dragons. This was evidence of the status problem they had despite their great power. Also, it should be mentioned that Silver Dragons preferred to establish their nests near volcanos, just like Red Dragons, making them enemies with each other ever since the immemorial generations. This made it so that any Silver Dragon opposition would be viewed as a personal grudge.
On the surface, Little Red’s visit was for her Red Dragon species’ benefit. However, the surface Dragon City also saw the three other factions she represented: the Ayer Faction, the Mist Alliance, and the Underground World. The fact that Roland accompanied her and represented the Mage Country meant that the dragons’ typical traditional habits lost out to pragmatism.
The Holy War was under way. Dragon World, their little paradise, was facing a problem, and they needed the mages’ assistance to solve it. Tacitly giving permission to the Red and Black Dragons would help gain the friendship of so many factions. Not only that, but adding two more dragon species to their overall strength would be useful in any future battles. It would be an excellent deal even if it caused them to slightly lose face. The dragons had analyzed this quite deeply.
And that was how Roland’s plan to shake the dragons for what they were worth succeeded. With so many influencing factors, the seventeen Dragon World leaders cast their votes and decided upon tacitly allowing Underground dragons to return. With a vote of seven to five, with another five abstaining, the surface dragons formally agreed to tacitly allow the Underground dragons to return. As Dragon World was one of the three locations where the greatest number of dragons gathered, their decision was no different to one made by the entire dragon species.
Whether or not a new position for a “Fire Dragon” species would be added to the leadership council of Dragon World was practically a done deal since the Red and Black Dragons were now confirmed to be returning.
Of course, none of this would be stated out loud. That was why Halent became the dragons’ best messenger. He transmitted Little Red’s intentions to the dragons as well as told her the dragons’ intentions. But on the surface, it only appeared that Little Red came over, circled around, and then the dragons tacitly permitted her to stay.
After the dragons came to such a conclusion, it was obvious that this was a compromise. Naturally, Roland wasn’t supposed to procrastinate any longer. At least, Little Red didn’t want to see him acting ridiculously for any longer... but the problem was that Little Red would first have to find him!
Since I knew that I made many people suffer this time, especially that I accidentally angered Little Red yet again when she was in a foul mood, I unhesitatingly escaped. In order to obtain plenty of experimental materials, Olivia, Harloys, and I directly took over the laboratory of some random unlucky Bardi royal alchemist and made him into our puppet to obtain resources for us while we hid behind the scenes. But if that was all there was to it, the dragons would have found me much sooner.
In order to increase the degree and rate of the Slimes’ mutations, I actually moved the experimental laboratory into my Frigidwinter Earth. All that remained in the mortal plane was an exit and a biological laboratory. And so my Slime army naturally became more and more ridiculous thanks to my power of Creation supporting them. I was also immune to all sorts of prophecy magic to begin with, and hopping back and forth between the mortal plane and my world made it impossible for the dragons to locate me.
I was finally discovered because Olivia, who had re-entered the mortal plane to record the situation and toss out more experimental subject Slimes, was tracked down by the dragons. Although her creations were ridiculously amazing, she was still limited in power by her young age and mana limit. How could an alchemist like her, who just entered the Gold rank, possibly escape from the dragons’ tracking capabilities?
But Halos and Halent were dumbfounded when they finally arrived in front of me.
Our alchemist’s experimental laboratory had been completely hollowed out. It was filled stacked up boxes of Slimes of differing colors. Let’s not mention how there was a huge number of Pudding Slimes on the table, waiting to be eaten. There were also dark red Slimes even larger than the average dragon, which were currently eating the stone walls and expanding the experimental laboratory’s size.
When the Blue Dragon Halos discovered us three passionate researchers, we were in the midst of researching edible Pudding Slimes and Stone-Eating Slimes capable of digging through the earth. The Pudding Slime would perhaps become one of the new main household foods in East Mist, while the Stone-Eating Slime was an invention which helped me climb the Calamity Rankings. Halos took a very long time before he understood the connection between these two different types of Slimes and why they were being researched together.
But now wasn’t the time to think so much into things. Halent recalled what that powerful dragon had told him and hesitated for a moment before speaking. On the side, Halos looked at him with an expression indicating he should speak.
“Your Highness Roland, do you happen to remember Lady Evelyn? She requests for you to meet her.”
“What? Who’s that?”
“...She said that if you forgot her, she’ll truly come out and kill you.”
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