Before long, at the red dragon's command, those so-called "allies" were ushered into the hall one by one.
Cassius was certain he had never met them before.
At their head was a noblewoman appearing to be in her twenties. Her raven hair fell like a waterfall, crowned by a silver headdress, and she wore a sumptuous silk robe that left a generous expanse of snow-white skin bared across her chest.
She stepped gracefully over the threshold, holding a black silk fan that coyly masked half of her lovely face. The corners of her eyes bore a faint bluish tint, perhaps merely the touch of cosmetics.
Yet Cassius's keen senses immediately caught what lay beneath: the headdress subtly framed pale blue horns, her smooth skin held faint traces of scales, and beneath those lashes rested vertical slit pupils. The subtle, dry scent of the desert clinging to her confirmed his suspicion beyond doubt.
Without hesitation, he spoke:
"A blue dragon?"
The noblewoman looked up at the red dragon lounging across the throne. Her mouth parted slightly, her eyes flooding with shock and delightful surprise.
She hastily raised her fan to cover her mouth, casting a deliberately flirtatious glance before pinching her skirts with one hand in a curtsy. "Greetings, Your Highness, the 'Dragon Prince.' Your magnificent form truly fills me with... boundless awe.
"And you guessed correctly. I am Christina Farias, a blue dragon from the Brendan Desert."
Christina inclined her head with polite deference, yet she could not resist stealing another sidelong glance at the red dragon atop the throne, her breathing growing noticeably ragged.
*By Tiamat, he's even more colossal and powerful than the rumors claimed.*
*And to think he is only a young dragon.*
Her heart pounded with wild excitement at the thought.
Ever since the destruction of Dragonshadow City, this dragon had gained no small amount of fame across the Material Plane. Word had spread far and wide that a formidable red dragon inhabited the barren wastes of Anzeta.
Rumor held that the blood of Tiamat Herself flowed through his veins, giving him a size comparable to an ancient dragon while still only in his youth. Because of this, certain draconic scholars had begun calling him the "Dragon Prince," though others remained skeptical.
Yet now, beholding the red dragon in the flesh, any lingering doubt Christina harbored vanished into thin air. Even with her expectations set exceedingly high, the beast before her was grander than anything she had imagined. The oppressive aura radiating from the depths of his bloodline could never be faked, to say nothing of the mountain-like body that stretched over thirty meters long before her very eyes.
*It truly is the grace of Lady Tiamat... He is meant to be my future mate.*
*Only a being like him is worthy of me.*
Christina thought rapturously, admiring his muscular physique with barely any attempt at concealment.
Her journey to Anzeta was not merely to carry out the Dragon Queen's mission—it was also to claim Her reward.
Perhaps as a reward for the Farias clan's long years of devoted service, Tiamat had personally promised to bestow the bloodline of a progenitor dragon upon them, granting their lineage far mightier descendants. And the method of receiving this boon was to dispatch their finest young female to mate with the legendary Dragon Prince and bear offspring carrying divine blood.
Upon receiving the divine oracle, the entire Farias clan had been ecstatic. It was as though the sun had risen in the west—none of them had dreamed that the notoriously covetous Dragon Queen would ever bestow such "grace."
High upon his throne, however, Cassius was simply bewildered. He had no inkling that Tiamat had treated him as a piece of bounty.
*Why does this female blue dragon keep zoning out?*
*What is she actually here for?*
*And who on earth came up with this ridiculous 'Dragon Prince' nickname? If I ever track them down, they're going to pay for it. What an atrocious moniker.*
Cassius made a mental note of the grievance, fully intending to settle the score once he turned his gaze southward.
Still, judging by the display, he could make an educated guess about her intentions.
All evil dragons revered Tiamat. But unlike red dragons, who routinely ignored orders when it suited them, blue dragons possessed a deeply ingrained sense of order. They were glad to acknowledge Her supreme sovereignty and willingly obeyed most of Her reasonable commands.
This blue dragon was almost certainly a handful of "sand" Tiamat was trying to slip into his gears.
After a moment's consideration, Cassius slightly flexed his wings and probed further:
"The Dragon Queen sent you, didn't She?"
"Correct once more. Yet even without Her Majesty's decree, I would have been overjoyed to make the acquaintance of a dragon as peerless and powerful as you. Your name has long reached my ears through the songs and tales spreading across the land."
"Songs?"
"You mean that 'Song of Cinders' penned by that blasted bard?"
Cassius chuckled dryly. That rumor-mongering bard had long since been captured by Nocturne and was currently spending the rest of his days rotting in a dungeon. It was just a pity that his ridiculous verses had already spread far beyond the Northlands.
"The opinions of mortals hold no weight before noble dragons, do they? Those crude rhymes could not capture a fraction of a percent of your true majesty," Christina replied with a flattering smile.
Cassius merely watched her without an ounce of expression, offering no response to her painstakingly crafted flattery.
The polite pleasantries swiftly wound down. Sensing his growing impatience, Christina's demeanor turned serious.
"Prince Cassius, I come bearing a decree from the Dragon Queen."
"I know. Speak," Cassius said evenly, entirely unruffled.
Christina stole a glance at him, noting the absolute indifference in his eyes, and marveled inwardly. As expected of the Dragon Prince, he treated an oracle directly handed down by the Dragon Queen as nothing more than an everyday occurrence.
"The elder of the Melvold clan, Oszedro—the 'Wings of Silver,' who recently ascended to the rank of wyrm silver dragon—has arrived in the Great Anzetta Waste.
"He is an insufferable meddler who has repeatedly thwarted the Dragon Queen's grand designs. Worse, the old fossil is an eccentric spell-hoarder whose magic rivals that of an archmage. You must exercise extreme caution."
"Oszedro..."
*He came so quickly.*
Cassius had already received intelligence on this matter from the Harpers, so the news hardly came as a shock. He simply stroked his chin, lost in thought.
After a brief pause, he asked again:
"So you came all this way just to deliver this news?"
"Naturally not, Prince Cassius. I have also brought the goodwill of the Farias family. Should that old silver dragon make a move, it would mean metallic dragons interfering with the expansion of our chromatic kin. We will not concede a single inch of living space. That is the shared will of all chromatic dragons."
Cassius looked beyond the grand hall. His gaze pierced through hundreds of meters of distance to see twelve blue dragons in human guise waiting in silence outside.
Nearly all of them were adults or mature adults, and there was even one old blue dragon among their ranks. In a place like Anzeta, such a force constituted formidable reinforcements; a strike by this flight of dragons would suffice to wipe out an ordinary principality.
Outwardly, the red dragon remained impassive, but a cold sneer rose in his heart.
*Heh. Tiamat never misses a trick. Smoothly twisting 'the kingdom's territory' into 'living space for all chromatic dragons,' and generously sending over so many loyal blue dragons of Farias... She's already positioning her influence to seep into my realm.*
*Then again... does She truly think I'll let her have her way so easily?*
Chapter 303