"Garon, my dear son, are you alright? You haven't really suffered a stealth injury as the rumors say, have you?"
Inside the Eternal Hall, the white dragon mother, whom Garon hadn't seen for a long while, was in Garon's dragon nest, her tone slightly anxious as she asked. However, as soon as she finished speaking, her gaze was drawn to the gold and jewels in Garon's nest. Her eyes glazed over, drool flowing, and she sneakily began stuffing a few gems under her scales.
"Sulia."
Garon spoke out calmly, calling the white dragon mother by her name.
Under the gaze of the silver dragon, Sulia froze in her actions, gave a sheepish smile, and then acted as if nothing had happened, carefully putting the gems back where she found them.
"Don't misunderstand, I was just admiring your wealth."
"Admiring, just admiring. As a proud dragon, I, Sulia, definitely didn't intend to steal."
Under a guilty conscience, Sulia emphasized repeatedly.
Garon knew her nature all too well and naturally couldn't be bothered to argue with the white dragon mother.
Speaking of which, it had been a long time since Garon had last seen Sulia.
Now over 160 years old, nearing the prime of her life, Sulia was only about 23 meters long, which made her appear very small in front of Garon.
Although they both resided in the Dragon Court, Garon usually stayed in the Eternal Hall. As the main dwelling of the Dragon Court's ruler and a place for major council meetings, ordinary dragons did not enter here.
Surrounded by legendary dragons of ancient and even primordial tiers, a weak adult dragon like Sulia wouldn't normally venture here either.
However, this time, after learning about Garon's ambush and sneak attack, Sulia braved the oppressive presence of the ancient and primordial dragons, trembling with fear as she entered the Eternal Hall.
"Garon, this Eternal Hall of yours isn't very secure."
"When I came in, I didn't see a single guard, nor was I stopped."
"If an enemy sneaks in while you're away, wouldn't your treasures be stolen?"
Sulia muttered, her eyes darting around as if plotting something.
The perimeter of the Eternal Hall was indeed under the vigilant watch of powerful true dragon guards, but since no explicit order from Garon was given, they did not stop the oblivious little white dragon. Sulia, unable to detect the guards, thus felt that there were no precautions here.
"No matter, if a petty thief does manage to sneak in while I'm away..."
"...then there will be a good show. The Eternal Hall itself is an artifact and is not merciful to those who sneak in."
Garon spoke unhurriedly.
He always saw through Sulia's little schemes.
In the presence of the towering silver dragon, the tiny white dragon Sulia shuddered.
"What if I sneak in improperly, or if a thief sneaks in? What would happen then?"
Sulia looked up at the immense Garon, her eyes wide as she quietly inquired.
Hearing this, the silver dragon swished its tail, smiling, "I'm not a devil. Just flaying and drawing out their soul for eternal torment is all."
"Right, Harris?"
At Garon's call, Harris, the spirit of the Eternal Hall, appeared.
The semi-ethereal skull phantom spun around and then cackled ominously, solemnly saying, "I will strictly adhere to your will, master."
Sulia shrank back, her voice trembling, "That's, that's too terrifying."
Garon's expression turned serious, "For a thief, no measure is too cruel."
He paused, the silver dragon looked skeptical, its head, half the size of Sulia's body, came close, inspecting her with an oppressive closeness, "Empathizing with a thief is not our dragon nature. Are you trying to say you're the petty thief planning to sneak into the Eternal Hall while I'm away?"
Sulia's head shook like a bobblehead.
"How could that be? Would I, Sulia, be that kind of dragon?"
"Garon, you don't trust me. I'm so heartbroken."
Watching Sulia tremble with fright yet still making excuses, Garon laughed heartily, his deep voice echoing in the dragon nest.
After laughing, Garon exposed Sulia's little scheme directly, "I'm glad you came to the Eternal Hall to see me, but I don't appreciate you trying to steal my things."
Hearing Garon's words, Sulia's voice softened significantly, "You won't even listen to my defense?"
Garon shook his head, "No, I won't."
Seeing Sulia's eager look, Garon decided not to tease her further, "In the last encounter with the giant deity,
I did indeed suffer a stealth injury, and I fear I may never advance beyond my current level."
Only the gods within the dragon clan were aware of his feigned injury.
He chose not to tell Sulia for simple reasons: not only had she always been an unreliable dragon, but she might also inadvertently leak information to other gods with ulterior motives, as had happened before.
Meanwhile.
Under Garon's gaze, Sulia paused briefly, then relaxed, shaking her tail.
"So it's just that you won't advance further. You're already very powerful, that's enough."
"I thought you were about to die, so I came to see you."
Garon: .
"You could just not say anything."
The silver dragon rolled its eyes dramatically, not hiding its annoyance.
"Now that you're alright, I'm relieved."
"You stay here and heal; I'm going back to sleep."
After a sporadic chat with Sulia in the dragon nest, Sulia said goodbye to Garon, fluttering her small wings, turning to leave, and as she took off, her claws involuntarily clenched.
Garon, this time, appeared not to notice Sulia's little act.
Quickly, Sulia left the Eternal Hall and returned to her own dragon nest located in a glacial mountain range suspended in the Dragon Court dimension.
Standing atop an iceberg, bathed in the chilling wind and snow, Sulia revealed a triumphant smile, whispering jubilantly, "Hehe, I still managed to steal your treasure, lalala, stealing from a dragon god's nest, I, Sulia, am truly amazing."
Looking down at her dragon claws, however...
"Huh?"
The few top-grade magic gems she had initially sneaked away had somehow turned into stones engraved with low-level Fireball spell runes.
Boom!
Several bursts of flame exploded suddenly, emitting thick black smoke that enveloped Sulia's head.
At the same time, Sulia's coughing came through the smoke; she exhaled forcefully, dispersing the flames and smoke to reveal her scorched dragon face.
"Ah, my gems."
"Garon, it must have been you."
"Give me my gems back."
After a mournful cry, Sulia flapped her wings, braving the cold wind towards the Eternal Hall, but just a few seconds into her flight, she turned back grumpily.
"Forget it, forget it, Sulia, going there would just mean a beating."
Realizing this harsh reality, Sulia returned to her nest between the glaciers, consoling her wounded spirit with sleep.
"Truly incorrigible, such boldness."
"Or is it spoiled indulgence? Knowing I won't really punish her, so she acts without fear."
Inside the Eternal Hall, the silver dragon sensed the explosion of the Fireball Stones and mused silently.
As Sulia left, he had swapped the stolen gems with the Fireball Stones using time-stop, teaching her a small lesson.
After this little episode, Garon's gaze dropped to the bottom of the dragon nest.
The aura of the dragon maiden was increasingly stable, though she still needed more time to awaken.
"Perfect timing, just in time for the war with the giant god clan."
According to the plans of the dragon gods, if they couldn't find an opportunity to ambush a giant deity, they would start the war in no more than three years.
But now, the opportunity was right before the dragon gods.
After learning of Solem's interest in the Frozen Wastes from the Chaos After, Garon and Eur had deep discussions, confirming the truth of the Chaos After's words. The god of the frost giants, Solem, was indeed coveting the Frozen Wastes.
Thinking it through, the reasons were clear.
The Angry Lord had not always been a giant god, but rather a fairly powerful frost giant.
However, because he was among the first to settle in the Abyss and became a frost giant lord of an Abyssal layer, gaining recognition and worship from many frost giants, he ascended to a lesser godly power and tirelessly competed with Solem for the worship of frost giants.
While despising Koschei, Solem also wanted the Frozen Wastes.
He wished to inherit Koschei's legacy to advance his long-stagnant divine rank.
Reaching a greater divine power was a pipe dream, but even a slight advancement in divine rank was a tempting prospect for Solem.
As the god of frost giants, and like the Angry Lord, a frost giant within the same godly pantheon, Solem had a legitimate claim to compete with Garon for the Frozen Wastes without causing too much trouble.
From Eur, it was learned that Solem was hesitating, very tempted.
Garon then gave Eur a task to encourage Solem by any means to strive for the Frozen Wastes.
If successful, Eur would no longer have to deal deceitfully with giants and would later be protected by the dragon god clan, becoming one of its subordinate gods.
Now,
Eur was carrying out this task.
Within Solem's divine realm.
Endless glaciers stretched across the horizon, and the perpetual blizzard seemed eternal. Ordinary beings would freeze to death in seconds here, but those who lived here were mainly frost giants loyal to Solem.
The frost giant worshipers were distributed across the divine land in the form of tribes or cities, basking in divine grace amidst the cold and snow.
At the very center of the divine realm stood a towering iceberg, its peak reaching into the clouds, invisible from the ground.
Solem's palace was built atop this highest point of the iceberg, from where he could look down and take in the vast icy landscape of his divine realm.
"Solem, what are you still thinking about?"
"Hurry up and make a decision. Take the Frozen Wastes for us; I want to move to a new place, I'm tired of the scenery here."
Eur looked impatiently at a giant, saying.
This giant had ice-blue skin, rugged and ugly features, and eyes like the hardest ice crystals. When he breathed, the entire divine realm's endless snow seemed to pulse with his rhythm, as if born from him. The endless cold emanated from him, making it difficult for any deity not of the same attribute to adapt to his surroundings.
This was Solem, the mid-tier god of frost giants.
Facing the brutal giant god, Eur's tone was quite impatient, completely different from her interactions with Garon.
"My love, I also want the Frozen Wastes, it's just that..."
Solem, now a hundred meters tall, held Eur, who had the physique of an ordinary human, in his palm, his tone soft as he explained.
Eur frowned, interrupting Solem, "Then why haven't you acted yet? The Eternal and Time Dragon of the dragon god clan, according to rumors, have been severely injured but recently left their divine realm and descended into the Frozen Wastes."
In the Frozen Wastes, it was Garon.
Not long had passed since Garon settled in the Frozen Wastes and declared himself the lord of the Frozen Wastes.
"People aren't scared, so what are you afraid of?"
Solem gave a helpless smile, "It's not a matter of fear."
"The war between giants and dragons will probably start soon."
"The Storm Lord has issued orders for us to be careful during this time and not act rashly."
"Like us, the gods of the dragon god clan have also been very vigilant recently. Aside from the Eternal and Time Dragon, there's been no news of any other dragon gods taking rash actions."
Like the dragon gods, if the giant god clan found an opportunity, they would also try to eliminate a dragon god before the full-scale war erupted.
"Storm Lord, Storm Lord."
"Solem, are you so afraid of the Storm Lord? Whatever he says goes?"
"Is it because he dared to patricide, and you're scared he'll kill you too?"
Eur stamped her foot in Solem's palm, annoyed.
Eur was an ambitious goddess.
In her mind, although weak, as long as she attached herself to a powerful deity, she too would share in their glory and gain the respect and fear of other gods.
Solem was never Eur's ideal partner.
The reason she agreed to be with Solem was because of his intense pursuit of her, the goddess of cold, even willing to share his worship with her, making him very accommodating to Eur.
Eur merely used Solem as a tool, which is why she betrayed Solem and attached herself to the powerful god of storm and destruction, Talos.
After being betrayed, Solem didn't lash out; the only response was to take back the worship he had shared with Eur.
Later, when Eur said she realized her mistake and returned to Solem's side, the god of frost giants agreed almost without hesitation.
Solem was a brutal frost giant.
However, he reserved all his tenderness for Eur.
But the more he did so, the less he could win Eur's true heart.
Eur's cold heart was more easily captured by domineering gods, not the gentle Solem.
In front of Garon, Eur always behaved like a meek lamb, but in front of Solem... she showed a second, colder face.
Solem's expression turned serious, his voice deep, "My love, don't speak like that."
The divine aura of a mid-tier god instinctively gathered, making Eur gasp for breath, her heart stopping momentarily.
Seeing Eur's pale face, Solem immediately showed a remorseful expression, retracting his divine aura, and spoke softly, "Sorry, that was an accident. The Storm Lord is now our chief god, you can speak about anyone, but do not slander the Storm Lord."
"It's also for your safety."
Eur regained her composure, unafraid of the powerful Solem, displeased, "You lost your composure, it shows you really are afraid of the
Storm Lord."
"Solem, can't you be a bit more ambitious and driven?"
"The Storm Lord is your brother, but he dared to commit patricide to seek the position of chief god. And you, with such a good opportunity now, are too scared to even seize a layer of the Abyss you've long coveted."
"How can you provide the future I want?"
"You were just furious and wanted to strike me, I'm very disappointed."
Solem struggled to explain, "It's not that I'm afraid, the Eternal and Time Dragon just ascended to mid-tier divine power not long ago, and they're injured now, so they're unlikely to be my match, but the situation right now..."
Eur turned her head away, and layers of ice extended, completely encasing herself, indicating she was completely ignoring Solem's words.
Solem looked helpless, his expression troubled.
The divine realm's cold wind howled, and time ticked by.
After a long hesitation, Solem bit his lip and said, "Alright, alright, as you wish. I will seize the Frozen Wastes and then build a magnificent palace there as a gift for you."
The ice melted, and Eur, having accomplished her task, revealed a genuine smile.
Because it was heartfelt, her smiling face was radiant, causing Solem to pause briefly.
Solem's expression turned serious, his eyes full of indulgence as he looked at Eur, his voice deep, "My love, it's been a long time since I've seen you smile so happily."
"Don't worry, I'll personally take action to win the Frozen Wastes for you, to see you smile."
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