"Tinia?"
Cassius turned his head and noticed the white dragon entering the palace hall.
Tinia trotted over in haste.
She bowed her head submissively before the red dragon. Following the court etiquette she had learned, she said softly, "Master, you are awake. You... you have grown even more powerful."
Tinia's slit pupils brimmed with adoration and fanaticism.
Cassius watched the white dragon before him and nodded slightly in mild surprise.
He had not expected Trump to carry out the task so well. This "genius" of a white dragon had actually learned speech and basic manners in just three short years.
Prone on the ground, Olivia forced her eyes open. Catching sight of the arriving white dragon, she sneered weakly:
"Hah... Consorting with a 'white beast.' Truly birds of a feather among chromatic dragons."
Those words struck a nerve with Tinia. She spread her wings, arched her back, and let out a hiss from the back of her throat.
"Awoo—!"
"Master, let me bite this damned silver dragon to death!"
Just as Tinia leaped forward, Cassius caught her by the scruff of her neck and effortlessly hoisted her back.
"Tinia, don't act rashly. This silver dragon is still useful to me."
"B-But Master, why? She dared speak insolently to you!
"Aroo! Let me tear her to shreds!"
Even dangling in midair by the neck, the white dragon continued to flail her limbs and claws, desperate to tear the silver dragon apart until not an inch of whole skin remained.
Cassius was somewhat speechless. It seemed that even with careful education, her true nature had barely changed.
In the end, the old methods worked best.
He tossed the white dragon onto the ground and said coldly, "Obey my orders."
Tinia tumbled across the floor several times before slowly scrambling up. She obediently stood behind the red dragon, looking begrudging, yet a secret, perverse delight was already creeping onto her face.
She continued to glare venomously at the silver dragon—if looks could kill, Olivia would have been sliced into a thousand pieces several times over.
"Ugh..."
Olivia twisted her body once more, slightly spreading her wings in an attempt to break free from the magic circle.
Yet it was entirely in vain; it served only to add a few more scorched wounds across her scales.
Cassius looked down upon her, his tone aloof. "Silver dragon, cease your desperate struggling. Unless your life tier reaches that of an ancient dragon, all resistance is futile. Submission is your only shortcut.
"The kingdom requires high-tier spellcasters like you. Rather than your pointless crusades to eradicate evil, your magic could make a far greater contribution. Think about it. You should have already seen those mechanized factories. Using magical effects to boost productivity and keep the people fed—that is what true justice looks like to the vast majority.
"Of course, I only care about my own interests. But such a noble title seems quite important to rigid metallic dragons like you."
He let out a faint scoff.
"Though, if you prefer, you can spend another eight hundred years lying here. Perhaps then you might break free."
Reminded of her own century-long imprisonment, Tinia puffed up behind the red dragon and sneered triumphantly, "Vile silver dragon, that's what you get for opposing Master! You're never getting out!"
She acted every bit the fox borrowing the tiger's might.
Under the insatiable siphoning of the array, Olivia's life force had dwindled to a thread.
Yet resolve still flickered in her eyes, showing no hint of yielding. It was impossible to tell what secret strength kept this young silver dragon enduring.
"N-Never..."
"You're... delusional..."
Cassius seemed to have anticipated this. He spared her only a glance before turning to leave.
He left behind a single remark:
"Then let us wait and see."
Vagnerd's Dragon-Binding Circle was the crowning achievement of that Dragon-Mad Black Wizard's life. It was a sinister and vicious spell capable of voraciously leeching a dragon's life force to replenish its own mana, keeping the bound dragon perpetually suspended at the brink of survival without allowing them to fully perish.
Under the array's suppressive grip, Olivia was unable to move a muscle. Paralyzed from head to tail, she remained pinned flat against the stone floor.
With all actions sealed, thinking was the only thing left to her.
Tears welled in Olivia's eyes once more, tracing paths down her silver cheeks before dripping onto the ground.
She did not know how she had reached this point, nor how she had endured until now; even she was astonished by her own inexplicable resilience.
Yet now, she was truly trapped in an impasse.
It was all too late.
Olivia could not help but recall her debates with Cassius.
She analyzed every word over and over, desperately trying to find a flaw in his arguments, only to realize with dawning horror that the red dragon had likely not lied to her at all.
His words contradicted everything she had been taught since childhood, yet they were logically coherent, forming a self-contained truth.
The only thing she could sense from his speech was sincerity.
Yes, sincerity.
Olivia found herself bewildered by this revelation.
The red dragon seemed above deigning to deceive her. He almost never preached vague, lofty ideals, nor did he employ cunning sophistry or sweet talk. He simply laid the cold, unvarnished reality bare upon the table.
And that alone was enough to leave Olivia entirely speechless.
*Perhaps... he truly is right.*
Such a thought frequently surfaced in Olivia's mind, only to be hastily suppressed.
After all, she had personally witnessed the prosperity of Northwind Keep. She knew full well the darkness of Lakeman's bloody rule, and had even felt the newborn hope of that emancipated serf. It was just that her instincts recoiled from acknowledging it.
If what Cassius said was true—
Then what had Anhel's death been? A farce?
And what was her own willingness to risk her life to fulfill his dying wish? A childish, unreasonable tantrum?
Olivia knew that the moment she admitted it, everything she had clung to would dissolve into nothingness, plunging her headlong into an abyss of nihilism.
That "Lord of Cinders" was indeed not as irredeemable as she had imagined.
He did not seem like a typical, muscle-brained, brutal red dragon, nor was he a mindless tyrant. In fact, he was far more rational than most Northlands nobles she had encountered. Every action of his possessed a sensible explanation and sufficient motive.
His sole fault was his identity: a red dragon, the foremost among the inherently evil chromatic dragons.
*No, he might be harboring an even grander ambition.*
*He could bring about a disaster that sweeps across the entire continent, and I must stop him.*
Olivia subconsciously tried to shake her head, only to find her neck firmly pinned by chains of force, leaving her unable to budge.
*Yet... am I not just making excuses for myself? Assuming the worst out of malice?*
*Anhel, what on earth am I supposed to do?*
Olivia gave a bitter smile and slowly closed her exhausted eyes.
Chapter 247