Sure enough, Tiamat intensely coveted his bloodline now. She had gone so far as to dispense divine favor, prompting the chromatic dragons across Feanso to swarm into the empire under the banner of Her divine oracle.
It was a blatant, inescapable gambit.
If even a single female dragon succeeded, Tiamat would secure his bloodline without lifting a finger.
Even if none succeeded, an influx of chromatic dragons would bring immense disruption, crippling the empire's production and handing Tiamat a pretext to stir up conflict. He could not afford to simply ignore it.
Did this mean Cassius had to handle it personally?
What an infuriating nuisance.
After a moment of thought, Cassius commanded, "Intercept them first. Find a desolate place to herd these chromatic dragons together so they don't cause destruction across the empire. Tell them... this is my will."
"Understood, Master," Trump readily agreed before asking, "And what if they refuse to obey?"
Cassius gave a cold snort. "Then show no mercy.
"Have the Machine Cult deploy their aerial battleships. If any refuse to fall in line, blast them out of the sky with elemental heavy cannons calibrated to their draconic affinity."
"Yes, Master."
"In that case, I will guide them toward the Lake Tewar region in Thrace. It remains undeveloped, sparsely populated, and isolated from the world. It should easily accommodate over a hundred dragons."
Trump bowed and scraped, respectfully taking his leave, and his grotesque face vanished from the scrying mirror.
Cassius cast Cataclysmic Dragon Eye, willing it across space. In an instant, his vision crossed thousands of miles to behold the scene at the imperial frontier.
The roars of true dragons, the shrieks of wyverns, and the deafening rumble of helicopter engines tangled across the sky.
Along the southeastern border of the Cinder Empire, an imperial aerial squadron hovered in a tense standoff against several dragons. Armored wyverns and gunships blotted out the sky in a dense, dark canopy—a grand and imposing spectacle.
"You have entered imperial airspace. Leave immediately!"
"Repeat: you have entered imperial airspace. This is an offense against the Cinder Emperor. Leave immediately!" a booming voice broadcast from a magical loudspeaker, echoing through the sky.
*Roar—!*
The female dragons beat their wings, unleashing aggressive, menacing roars that sounded like gale-force winds howling from the depths of an ancient forest, chilling to the bone.
These female dragons were entirely a deep, forest green. A crest began near their eyes and swept down across most of their spines, and their bodies gave off the sharp, pungent stench of chlorine.
They were green dragons, reputed to be the most cunning and treacherous of all chromatic dragons, infamous for using deceit and misdirection to strip their foes to the bone.
"Out of the way, you wretched inferior creatures!"
"Do you honestly think a few ridiculous tin toys and lowborn two-legged mongrels can stand in the way of the mighty, wise Vesuvilla?"
The largest green dragon sneered, spreading her broad draconic wings to display a frame formidable enough to make mere mortals tremble.
"We come by the divine oracle of the great Queen of Chromatic Dragons, the Mother of Evil Dragons, to mate with His Highness Prince Cassius and bring forth flawless offspring!
"Whoever dares bar our path commits blasphemy against the divine and brings ruin upon your master! I am his honored guest!"
A suffocating aura of draconic fear rolled outward. The green dragon simultaneously wove innate magic like Suggestion and Dominate Person, compelling the listeners to believe her words.
"Could she be telling the truth?"
"Th-this is His Majesty Cassius's guest. We can't..."
Under this crushing pressure, the patrol soldiers riding the foremost wyverns actually began parting to either side, opening a path.
Behind them, however, the Redscale Conquerors and gunships remained suspended in midair, unmoving, their machine guns and autocannons trained squarely on the green dragon ahead.
"Get out of my way!"
Infuriated, the green dragon let out a savage roar. "Inferior creatures! Have you gone deaf? I am Vesuvilla of the Arden Forest, the honored guest of His Highness Cassius!!"
Yet the loudspeaker boomed once more: "Green dragon, we have received no notice from the Ministry of War, nor any decree from His Majesty. We cannot verify your claims.
"This is your final warning. Vacate imperial airspace immediately, or we will employ coercive force!!"
Before the words had even faded, the autocannons and machine guns clicked, fully armed.
*Bang! Bang!*
Deafening gunfire shattered the air as fierce muzzle flashes burst outward, sending several rounds whizzing past the green dragon's flank—the imperial military's final warning shots.
The next step was war.
"Curse you, worthless vermin! Once I become the empress here, I will lock you all in cages and subject you to the most agonizing torment..."
Vesuvilla ground her teeth, her expression dark with venomous curses, yet she was astute enough not to advance another inch.
Ever since the fall of the Kingdom of Thrace, the Cinder Empire's military had gained widespread renown across the Feanso Continent. Even a green dragon secluded in her forest had heard the tales and dared not take them lightly.
Right then, a slightly hesitant voice crackled through the loudspeaker: "Lady Vesuvilla, we have received orders from above. Please proceed to the Lake Tewar region—this is by order of His Majesty Cassius."
Hearing this, Vesuvilla was overjoyed. She promptly wheeled around in the air, flying toward the Lake Tewar region along the empire's eastern border.
The other female green dragons hastily fell into formation behind her, tailing her closely.
Cassius shifted his scrying gaze to other border zones. Substantial numbers of chromatic dragons had gathered in those areas as well, and upon hearing Cassius's "invitation," they scrambled toward Lake Tewar in an eager rush.
Yet exceptions inevitably arose. In Khalifa Canyon, tucked away in the southwestern corner of Thrace, a red dragon had already broken out into violent conflict with imperial forces.
*Roar—!*
"You filthy mongrels! Who gave you the audacity to stand before the great Ignaria?! I will burn you all to ash!!"
The dragon's roar shook heaven and earth, a guttural rasp mingling with sharp hisses before being drowned beneath a storm of gunfire and artillery.
"She's gone stark raving mad! Open fire! Shoot her down!"
"B-but sir, she's a red dragon. I'm worried..."
"Idiot! You think a wild beast like this can be compared to His Majesty?" the imperial officer barked. "Report to command at once! Emergency on the line: a frenzied giant dragon has launched an attack on imperial troops, and we are returning fire in self-defense!
"Fire! If anything goes wrong, I'll take full responsibility!"
*Rat-tat-tat-tat—!*
*Boom!*
The reckless female red dragon snapped her wings and unleashed a torrent of searing dragonfire. Several wyverns shrieked in agony as the flames engulfed them, and an armed helicopter spiraled downward, trailing thick black smoke.
Over a dozen heavy machine guns opened fire simultaneously. Bullets inscribed with magical runes converged like a furious squall, tearing through the red dragon's wing membranes in an instant and showering the sky with warm dragon blood.
*Awooh—!*
The female red dragon threw her head back in a howl of pain and fury, only to descend deeper into madness. Eyes blazing with wrath, she rammed wildly through the airspace.
Suddenly, anti-air cannons on the ground launched a volley of specialized stun shells. Amidst bursts of blinding light, the dragon wobbled erratically through the sky, robbed of her bearings, until she slammed headfirst into the ground.
Earth and stone showered outward as dust billowed into the air. The female red dragon gouged a massive crater into the soil, crushing an entire fortification bunker to rubble beneath her bulk.
"You lowborn... mongrels! I won't let you off! You have provoked the great Ignaria, the Volcano's Calamity!"
A raspy roar tore through the dust. The female red dragon slowly hauled herself up from the wreckage, her voice thick with suppressed fury, lunacy, and hatred.
"What is that?"
"Thank the gods, reinforcements from command!"
"Cassius above... that thing is massive... unbelievable."
*Huuuum—*
Accompanied by a deep, reverberating hum, an immense shadow fell across the sky, completely engulfing the red dragon below.
Even this muscle-brained brute instinctively looked up, her blood-stained maw dropping open.
As the dust gradually settled, an aerial battleship nearly a hundred meters long emerged in the sky above. Several thick cannon barrels pivoted in unison, their dark muzzles locked onto the female red dragon.
Ignaria sensed imminent disaster. With a desperate roar, she twisted her body and flapped her lacerated wings, frantic to flee.
It was too late.
*Boom!*
Several beams of pale-blue light lanced outward, intersecting midair as they radiated bone-chilling frost and crashed straight into the female red dragon.
In a breath, a thick layer of rime coated her muscular frame. Even the blood circulating through her veins ground to a halt, slowly freezing solid.
The red dragon struggled and snarled, but her movements grew sluggish and her roars dwindled to faint rasps.
At last, Ignaria, the self-proclaimed Volcano's Calamity, was reduced to a frozen statue, locked in a permanent posture of desperate struggle.
The aerial battleship descended gently, and two Machine Cult players clad in magitech armor walked down the gangway.
"Holy crap, a real red dragon! Every bit of this thing is prime material. If we broke her down into parts, think of how much top-tier gear we could craft!"
"Dream on. You really think you can go around slaying dragons inside the Cinder Empire?"
"Command gave explicit instructions: she has to be kept alive. At most, we can draw a few blood samples, pluck a couple scales, and then turn her loose."
The two players lashed the red dragon securely with specialized bindings. A massive mechanical arm extended from the aerial vessel, hoisting the heavy frozen red dragon into a cold-storage compartment...
Among the dragons probing the borders, seven or eight had engaged in violent clashes with imperial forces. More than half were red dragons, and their fates had been remarkably similar—flash-frozen by the imperial air squadron and ferried off to nearby beast containment facilities.
"These 'relatives' of mine really don't possess an ounce of brains." Cassius withdrew his gaze, his expression sour.
Fortunately, the Cinder Empire was at the peak of its martial might. An army of hundreds of thousands stationed along the frontiers was more than enough to intimidate the chromatic dragons and keep them from acting recklessly.
Arrogant and evil though chromatic dragons were, they were also remarkably cunning. None would risk being slaughtered just to force their way into the empire. As the ancient saying from his past life went: *Vile dragons fear raw might, yet know no gratitude for grace.*
Even if a few brainless fools dared attack, the imperial army would swiftly subdue them.
Had this happened back during the Kingdom of Cinders era, when the army was green and comprehensive anti-air defenses were nonexistent, over a hundred chromatic dragons would have wrought a devastating dragon calamity.
Cassius pondered for a moment, then looked up, an idea taking shape.
"Heh... since Tiamat started this mess, let's keep it strictly within the chromatic dragon race.
"Tinia, come to Dragonblood Mountain to see me."
He initiated the telepathic link.
Within minutes, a spatial portal tore open in the sky.
A high-pitched, ecstatic roar echoed as the white dragon scrambled eagerly out of the rift. She darted forward like a sudden gust of wind, flopping down flat before Cassius.
Her thick, plump tail wagged incessantly, and strings of drool nearly dribbled onto the red dragon's scales.
"Master, you finally remembered me! You've grown even stronger, hehehe..."
Cassius cast her a flat look.
Sensing his gaze, Tinia immediately remembered herself. She coughed twice and scrambled to her feet, bending her forelimbs and tucking her wings close in an elegant half-kneel.
"Good day, my beloved Master, noble Emperor. Duchess Tinia presents her greetings."
Only then did Cassius nod in approval.
Well, it seemed Trump's etiquette lessons hadn't been entirely useless. At the very least, they could pull this white dragon out of her husky-like state.
He then looked Tinia up and down with an appraising eye.
Having not seen her for a while, this atavistic white dragon had grown considerably. Likely influenced by Cassius's own bloodline, her body length had reached twenty-six or twenty-seven meters—already on par with an ancient white dragon.
Even after a thousand years of life, an ordinary white dragon would struggle to achieve such proportions, yet Tinia was merely a "young dragon" under two centuries old.
Tinia was white from head to tail, though not purely white; faint blue scales were interspersed throughout her hide.
Typical white dragons had cheeks cluttered with jagged, disorderly scales, spiky dewlaps, and teeth protruding awkwardly even with their mouths closed, perpetually dripping with slime.
Compared to those "white beasts," Tinia's facial scales were far smoother and neater. Her massive draconic frame possessed sleek, athletic lines, carrying a certain solemn and sacred grace.
Furthermore, an abundant reservoir of ice magic swirled within her, ready to unleash a freezing breath weapon at any moment to turn prey into blocks of ice.
*By my estimate, her current strength is probably greater than that of an ordinary elder white dragon. She might just be able to take on those female dragons...*
With that in mind, Cassius turned to the white dragon and asked calmly, "Tinia, did you receive that divine oracle from the Dragon Queen as well?"
Tinia nodded. "I'm not Her worshiper, but I did receive the oracle. It just sounded like too much of a hassle, so I shelved it without looking at it..."
Cassius sighed internally. As expected, when an intellect was lacking enough, not even a divine oracle could reach it.
The white dragon focused her mind, examining the divine decree that had materialized in her thoughts. Gradually, her expression turned strange, and a distinct flush seemed to rise on her cheeks.
"Wait... Master, are you finally going to... with me...?"
Tinia's voice trembled with unprecedented excitement.
Her earlier decorum evaporated into thin air. Her tail whipped back and forth violently once more, drool pooling at her maw, her squirming body inching closer and closer to rub against the red dragon.
*Wham!*
*Awoo—!*
Tinia went flying thirty meters through the air, rolling over a dozen times across the ground while letting out a painful yet oddly blissed-out whimper.
Cassius brushed off his claw, his muzzle twitching slightly. No matter how much she was educated, this white dragon's deviant nature remained entirely unchanged.
Chapter 743