The Metal Dragon God did not stay in the Eternal Divine Realm. After intimidating the third-generation Magic Goddess and forcing her to leave, and briefly discussing the Queen of the Air Elementals with Garon, he returned to his own nearby realm, the North Wind Divine Kingdom.
At this time, the silver dragon looked down upon the female spellcaster in his own sleeping chamber. The spellcaster, under the shadow of the immense dragon, trembled and kept her gaze on the mithril-cast floor, unable to meet the deity's eyes. Even as a spellcaster nearing legendary status, she was nearly overwhelmed by the combined divine and draconic presences, her mind a blank slate.
Typically, a follower used as a vessel for a deity's will cannot control their own body or speech, but they can hear and see how their deity uses their body. However, this time, due to matters concerning her sovereignty, the third-generation Magic Goddess blocked her follower's thoughts.
Therefore, the spellcaster was unaware of why she was here or why her revered goddess had left her behind. Suddenly appearing in the realm of a dragon god, she had no idea what was to come, and her usual rationality and calm had evaporated in the face of the dragon god.
Seeing her behaving like an ostrich, burying her head and shivering, unwilling to face reality, Divine Garon softened his divine and draconic auras and spoke gently, "Mortal, perhaps you do not understand what has happened, but I can tell you, your god has abandoned you."
The spellcaster's body shook violently.
She lifted her head, confused and disoriented, and stammered, "I do not believe it. The great Magic Goddess would not abandon her followers."
Divine Garon, somewhat mockingly, replied, "Oh? Then why are you here? Do you think the Magic Goddess would come to oppose me if I decided to kill you? Pray to her if you do not believe."
The words of the dragon god pierced the spellcaster's heart like a sword.
"Great Magic Goddess, Mother of All Magic, your humble servant, your loyal follower, prays for your response."
Following the dragon god's suggestion, the spellcaster began to pray with hope to the third-generation Magic Goddess.
There was no response.
Unwilling to accept this reality, she prayed again and again.
Time silently passed, and Divine Garon watched the poor spellcaster who had been abandoned by her god, allowing her to continue her fruitless prayers.
Eventually, after countless unanswered prayers, the spellcaster's expression turned ashen, as if she had become a lifeless puppet. Being a vessel for a god usually indicates a high level of devotion; being abandoned by one's deity is an unbearable disaster for such followers.
However, in such cases, some followers might instead develop resentment.
"I revered you, believed in you, prayed to you at every sunrise and every sunset, and heeded your teachings," she murmured with a voice tinged with bitter tears, her face pale. "Yet why have you abandoned me? Did I do something wrong, incite your anger, and bring about divine punishment? No, everything I did was in accordance with your teachings, diligently, without ever violating them. So why? Why is this happening!"
From questioning to anger, and then to hatred, it seemed as if dark mists emerged from the spellcaster's body, swirling around her, devouring what was left of her piety.
Seeing this, Divine Garon was intrigued.
"Interesting, this scene of a faithful follower falling from grace is quite rare."
Due to severe emotional shock causing rapid changes in personality, beliefs, and faith, falling from a devoted follower to a faithless or even god-despising individual is something Garon had heard of but never witnessed.
"Mortal, leave now. Go and do what you desire."
With a thought, Divine Garon opened the gate of the divine realm, swallowing up the spellcaster.
In the next second, she found herself back in her spell tower by the Silver Sea. She silently conjured a portal to a familiar material world where she planned her next steps.
Garon could foresee what she might do next. Based on similar past events, she would likely spread slanderous and blasphemous statements about the third-generation Magic Goddess. More vengefully, she might become a dark avenger, aligning with deities completely hostile to the Magic Goddess, using their power to target the followers and churches of the Magic Goddess.
Out of curiosity, Divine Garon cast a glance at the spellcaster.
Meanwhile, Garon closed his eyes slightly, focusing more on absorbing the faith accumulated in his divine realm, then letting out divine power suffused with the essence of time and destiny, sweeping like a storm across various material worlds, brushing past true dragons.
Every true dragon touched by the divine power of the Dragon God received his decree:
"All my kin, without need for faith or cost, may use themselves as a node to unlock the privileges of the Dragon Mage Network."
The Dragon Mage Network, based on the true dragons themselves.
The more true dragons willing to use the Dragon Mage Network, the better its coverage and effectiveness.
As Garon's divine power continuously burst forth, more and more true dragons in the material worlds heard the Dragon God's decree and, after a moment's consideration, tried to connect to the Dragon Mage Network.
As time passed, in the dark expanse of Garon's vision, more and more stars lit up, then he expended divine power, stretching threads from independent points of light to connect with others, weaving a three-dimensional network.
The material worlds were countless.
The true dragon kin spread across these worlds were vast like smoke.
Even as Divine Garon nearly depleted the faith stored within his divine realm and exhausted his divine power, the vast darkness in his vision remained profound, the network of light resembling the stars in the universe.
With a long exhale, Garon's breath grew fainter.
In a vast desert on a material world, hot, dry winds carrying sand swept across the sky, and the scorching sun twisted the air with its heat.
A twenty-meter-long adult silver dragon spread its wings, gliding over the desert, its gaze alertly scanning the sandy ground.
Suddenly, right beneath it, the sand whirled into a vortex as a thirty-two-meter-long, bloated, dark-armored antlion with terrifying mandibles burst from the earth.
This was no ordinary giant antlion but a Destructor Insect, an ancient and powerful species devoid of intelligence and keen on destroying all life in sight.
Most Destructor Insects could reach legendary status when fully mature.
The silver dragon faced a Destructor Insect that had yet to reach its full potential.
With several small nations in the desert destroyed by the Destructor Insects, the justice-minded silver dragon sought to slay this particular one, having chased and held it at bay for several days.
Controlled by the Destructor Insect, a sandstorm rose, swirling towards the silver dragon.
The dragon agilely soared through the storm, breathing icy blasts directly at the Destructor Insect.
As the Destructor dove back into the desert, disappearing from the spot, the dragon's breath hit the dry sand, creating a forest of intersecting ice crystals, not achieving the effect the dragon had hoped for.
The vortex reappeared, and the Destructor Insect's shell opened to reveal a pair of translucent membrane-like wings, buzzing at high frequency as it soared into the storm, its terrifying jaws snapping at the dragon.
The dragon dodged alertly and, as it brushed past the insect, smacked its claw onto the Destructor's shell.
With a crackle, the hard shell tore, leaving claw marks.
At the same time, thick green insect blood touched the dragon's claws, hissing as it corroded the scales and even the flesh beneath, causing intense pain to the dragon.
"Damned bug."
The dragon cast a healing spell to stop the damage to its claw.
The Destructor Insect landed back on the ground, sucking up countless sandstorms and rapidly healing its cracked shell.
After a long struggle, the silver dragon felt fatigue setting in. It knew the insect was also in poor condition, but this stalemate meant that even if it could eventually win, it would sustain serious injuries.
"Forget it, I'll let you go this time."
The dragon planned to leave temporarily and return later, either stronger or with metallic dragon allies to gang up on the Destructor Insect.
Just then, the divine decree of the Eternal and Temporal Dragon reached it from the distant Heaven Mountain.
"Hmm?"
"What's this Dragon Mage Network?"
The silver dragon paused, and upon understanding the Dragon Mage Network's benefits through the Dragon God's message, its eyes lit up. It intertwined its own magic with the divine power that swept by, connecting to the Dragon Mage Network.
In an instant.
It felt a surge of new strength. The elemental energies around it became more orderly and easier to manipulate.
Looking at the oblivious Destructor Insect, the dragon showed an eager expression.
Wings spread, magic surged.
The silver dragon chanted its highest-tier spell, and as it built the spell, it found that with the boost from the Dragon Mage Network, its magic consumption indeed decreased, and while using magic, there was a slight feedback of magical energy, enhancing the sustainability of its casting.
Freeze the Ground!
The spell was successfully constructed.
Centered on the Destructor Insect, a burst of frigid air froze the nearby sand, rapidly lowering the temperature around it.
Ice rapidly spread, encasing the insect's limbs and restricting its movements.
Unperturbed, the Destructor Insect spat acid at the dragon while casually breaking free from the ice, causing it to crack and splinter.
This spell wasn't the first time the dragon had used it.
But because of the high magic consumption, it couldn't use it continuously and couldn't completely freeze
the Destructor Insect before it broke free.
The dragon dodged the acid and watched as the insect began casting again.
Freeze the Ground!
Freeze the Ground!
Freeze the Ground!
The dragon continuously cast the same spell, finding it easier and quicker to perform under the Dragon Mage Network's enhancement, with lower costs and slightly increased power.
The suddenly strengthened spell caught the Destructor Insect off guard.
It struggled violently but was powerless to stop the spreading frost from freezing it completely, and the surrounding sandy ground turned into an icy forest, making it difficult to burrow and flee.
Soon.
Looking at the now spherical, incapacitated Destructor Insect, the dragon seriously pondered the performance of its spells, an expression of surprise on its face.
"The Dragon Mage Network is incredibly useful."
"Even just with the most basic access, I got such a boost, allowing me to defeat what was originally an evenly matched Destructor Insect."
The dragon swished its tail, beginning to re-examine the information about the Dragon Mage Network that had appeared in its heritage.
"Oh, faith in the Dragon God can increase my access to the Dragon Mage Network."
"That makes sense."
"Should I give it a try?"
The dragon looked hesitant.
Considering the protective prowess of the dragon gods during the War of Glory and the allure of higher access to the Dragon Mage Network, it was swayed.
It already had a favorable impression of the dragon gods, and after some thought, it decided to try worshipping one.
"Which Dragon God should I believe in?"
"Believing in any dragon god can grant access; there are no restrictions."
"Dragon of Judgment, Dragon of Justice"
Names and deeds of various dragon gods flashed through the silver dragon's mind.
After some hesitation, it decided, "Let's start by worshipping the esteemed Eternal and Temporal Dragon."
After all, the creator of the Dragon Mage Network was the Eternal and Temporal Dragon. Although it didn't require worship, when a true dragon first considers worshipping a dragon god, they are likely to think of the Eternal and Temporal Dragon first. Of course, it's normal to choose another if one feels a stronger affection for them.
"Great Eternal and Temporal Dragon, protector of the dragon race, the Dragon God of Time and Destiny."
"Please hear my prayer and accept my faith."
The weakest level of faith emerged, appearing as a tiny light point in the eyes of a deity, crossing vast distances to enter the Eternal Divine Realm.
The same scene occurred in many places.
Now, these points of light were like countless stars, gathering from various material worlds into the Eternal Divine Realm.
Having nearly exhausted his divine power to build the Dragon Mage Network, Divine Garon's eyes brightened, showing a joyful expression.
Countless new faith powers flowed continuously into Divine Garon's immense body, rapidly replenishing his depleted divine power.
Ding!
Simultaneously, a sound like the crack of dawn echoed in Garon's mind, resonating.
Divine Garon's expression turned solemn.
A triangular crystal emerged from the center of the silver dragon's forehead.
This was the core of Divine Garon.
The divine rank.
The divine rank was irregular, each side representing a type of authority, and the stronger the authority, the brighter and more divine the corresponding side.
Divine Garon's three-sided divine rank represented his three types of authority:
Time.
Fate.
Dragon.
These weren't unique, as other deities also possessed similar authorities.
However, in the dragon deity spectrum, the authorities of time and fate were unique to Divine Garon.
As for the authority of the dragon, it was possessed by all dragon gods and was the crucial link between the dragon gods and their kin, similar to how giant deities hold the giant authority, and elven deities hold the elven authority.
As Divine Garon watched with joy, the three-sided divine rank absorbed the faith of many dragons, connecting to the Dragon Mage Network and undergoing a peculiar transformation.
The crystalline material multiplied and evolved.
After absorbing enough faith power, the three-sided divine rank became a four-sided divine rank.
The newly born fourth side of the divine rank was currently the dimmest, but its potential was significant, representing the Dragon Mage Network that Divine Garon had just created.
Originally, Divine Garon's divine power had reached a bottleneck.
But the moment the fourth side of the divine rank appeared, this bottleneck naturally disappeared as faith power continuously flowed into Divine Garon's body, turning into divine power.
Now.
Divine Garon's divine rank was still ten.
But he had a feeling that it wouldn't be long before his divine power, once refilled to its former peak, could continue to grow until it broke through the limit of lesser divine power and advanced further to intermediate divine power. At that time, his divine rank would also break through, stepping into the threshold of intermediate divine power, surpassing many dragon gods in terms of divine rank, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Metal Dragon God and the Immortal Dragon
Queen.
However, Divine Garon's combat power still couldn't truly compare to the other dragon gods.
In terms of age, Divine Garon was far too young; he didn't have the terrifying growth rate of the original Garon.
Even so, it was enough to bring joy to Divine Garon.
At the same time, various dragon gods conveyed their thanks to Divine Garon through the dragon authority.
The rules for accessing the Dragon Mage Network benefited the other dragon gods as well, although not as much as Divine Garon, the creator, but the faith they received increased slightly.
And this was just the beginning.
In the future, it could be foreseen that more true dragons would embrace the dragon gods.
After all, the dragon race wasn't entirely harmonious, and the dragon gods encouraged and supported moderate conflict among true dragons.
When a true dragon defeats an opponent who was originally evenly matched or even stronger due to higher access to the Dragon Mage Network, there's a good chance the opponent, in order to regain face, will try worshipping a dragon god to gain higher access.
In the most ideal scenario, if this could create a kind of internal competition trend, even true dragons who were originally reluctant might gradually change their views and try worshipping a dragon god to obtain higher access.
If so, the dragon gods would no longer worry about faith.
Of course, this was an ideal scenario and hard to achieve, but regardless, the existence of the Dragon Mage Network was beneficial to all dragon gods, which was why the Metal Dragon God supported Divine Garon without hesitation and didn't give face to the third-generation Magic Goddess.
"This new authority is called the Dragon Mage Network, not a mage network."
"It really won't weaken the Magic Goddess's power; she must be relieved now."
Watching his four-sided divine rank, Divine Garon thought silently.
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