As he watched the Extreme Cold Crystals vanish, pulled away by a surge of divine power, a slight expression of pain crossed the Cold Goddess's face. For a moment, she was unsure whether siding with the Eternal Dragon of Time as her pillar of support was a good or bad idea, but with things having reached this point, she had no better options.
"Now that you've come to the Howling Abyss, why not stay in my Winter Realm for a while?" she suggested. "I would serve you well."
The Winter Realm, situated within the domain of the Hall of Winter, was a divine space independent of but reliant on the Howling Abyss.
Divine Garon shook his head, declining the Cold Goddess's invitation.
"Remember what I said: leave the Gods of Fury as soon as possible and return to the giant god system," he emphasized.
For Divine Garon, if the Cold Goddess could successfully infiltrate the giant god system without harboring ulterior motives, she could serve as a valuable undercover agent. Even if she turned against him again, it would cause him no loss.
The most significant damage to the dragon race in the ancient Dragonfall War came from giants and elves. Initially, the dragon civil war had weakened them significantly. The giants seized this opportunity, rallying many races subjugated by dragons to start an uprising, sounding the horn for the Dragonfall War. This cross-plane, cross-world war was even more extensive than the recent War of Glory.
After the civil war, the dragons barely managed to defeat the combined forces of the giants.
Then, the elves, who had remained neutral, backstabbed the dragons at their weakest, leading to the dragons' fall from their dominant position in the multiverse.
With such historical grievances, an irreconcilable rift existed between dragons, giants, and elves.
Now that the War of Glory was over, with the dragons victorious and the elves defeated, hiding in their realms to lick their wounds, some of the old grudges were settled, but the giants remained untouched.
However, they weren't doing so well either.
Divine Garon could imagine that after the dragons' victory in the War of Glory, the giants, who considered dragons their archenemies, must be in a state of unease.
The higher the dragons' esteem, the less peace the giants would feel.
In the endless planes of existence, all races understood an unchangeable fact: if the dragons ever had the power and the opportunity, they would certainly not spare their giant foes.
Similarly, the giants felt the same about the dragons.
In essence, having a divine-level spy within the giant god system could prove useful sooner or later, perhaps in unexpected ways.
After discussing some precautions with the Cold Goddess,
Divine Garon awakened the consciousness of the white dragon Eli and left the dragon's body.
As the extraordinary divine power and divine will withdrew, the silver dragon's form slowly shifted back to that of a white dragon. The once scar-riddled body was now completely healed and full of vitality.
White dragon Eli had never felt such vigor.
It felt as though both its body and spirit had been purified and elevated, transformed from before.
For a follower, having a deity incarnate using their body as a vessel is a rare and glorious blessing, a gift.
Even a slight influence of extraordinary divine power could significantly enhance the potential of the vessel, offering benefits beyond what ordinary beings could imagine.
"Great Eternal and Time Dragon,"
"God who sees the past, present, and future,"
"From now on, your faithful follower will dedicate all to worship you, serve you, please you, spread your teachings, and heed your lessons."
White dragon Eli looked up at the sky with an expression of devotion and excitement, praying softly.
Having experienced this divine descent, the once casual believer, white dragon Eli, now possessed an extremely fervent level of faith.
On the second layer of Mount Heaven, in the Golden Heaven at Bahamut's Palace,
Bathed in endless golden radiance, the Metal Dragon God showed an intrigued expression. "So, Olur intends to use our dragon god system to escape Talos's control."
"One must admit, this goddess has good ideas and vision."
Looking at Divine Garon, the Metal Dragon God chuckled mischievously. "Garon, you're quite the hot commodity now."
"Aren't you even a little interested in Olur?"
"Forget everything else; her beauty stands out among all goddesses."
Divine Garon shook his head, "You know I already have a partner."
Hearing Divine Garon's words, the Metal Dragon God playfully tapped Garon's shoulder. "Oh? You're mistaken."
"It's your original form that has a partner."
"Being a dragon should be about being carefree. I believe even your original form wouldn't mind if one of its incarnations found another, or even several partners."
Thinking it over, it seemed to make sense.
Divine
Garon pondered deeply.
He shared the same soul as his original form and knew instantly that his original self didn't mind and was somewhat supportive.
"Think it over."
"To make Olur more dedicated to your cause, promising her a subordinate god position but not giving her any real perks might make her likely to turn against you, given her character," the Metal Dragon God persuaded. "As a dragon god, for the future of the dragon race, shouldn't you make some sacrifices?"
Divine Garon blinked.
He felt the Metal Dragon God made a good point.
As a newly risen dragon god, heeding the advice of an ancient dragon god couldn't be too wrong.
"I'll consider it further."
Back in the Dragon Court's Eternal Hall,
The silver dragon opened his eyes, pondered for a while, and couldn't help but shake his head.
He was fully aware of what was happening with Divine Garon.
He couldn't criticize Divine Garon because, fundamentally, Divine Garon's thoughts were his own. If placed in the same situation, Garon's decisions would mirror Divine Garon's.
"I have Yuna, but Divine Garon is indeed alone; having a few goddess companions wouldn't be bad."
Garon thought internally.
"Cough, besides, as the Metal Dragon God said, it's also about appeasing Olur, for the future of the dragon race, not purely because of personal desires."
Garon rationalized for his incarnation.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Why does your expression seem a bit odd?"
The young dragon girl, her head emerging from a pile of gold and gems, looked at Garon and asked.
Garon quickly shook his head, straightening his expression. "Thinking about some things regarding Divine Garon."
After hesitating, Garon shared Divine Garon's romantically inclined matters with Yuna.
"Oh, oh, oh, that's it?"
"Divine Garon is all alone, envious that you have a perfect partner like me, so it's only natural he wants to find a goddess companion."
Yuna swayed her tail understandingly, complimenting herself in the process.
"Is the Cold Goddess pretty? Let me see."
Yuna inquired.
Hearing Yuna's question, Garon's eyes brightened as he accurately depicted the Ice Maiden's appearance using elemental energy.
Instantly, the young dragon girl glowed faintly.
Under the soft light, the figure of 'Ice Maiden Olur' with a beautiful maiden-like face and innocent, pitiful eyes, appeared in the dragon's lair.
This 'Olur' was over seventy meters tall, akin to a female giant, not a typical human form.
'Olur' half-kneeled, half-sat on the ground, also looking up at the silver dragon, extending her arms to gently touch the dragon's facial armor.
"How may I please you, my lord god?" she whispered.
Inside, Garon's heart was even more stirred than Divine Garon's.
Meanwhile,
Divine Garon's saintly avatar descended once more, reaching the first layer of the Howling Abyss and voluntarily entering the Cold Goddess's divine realm.
A bit restless, that's all for today.
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