The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

The landmass was too vast, making the dissemination of information inconvenient.

Piero Grey Iron's capture and the Grey Iron Dragon becoming Liszt's mount had not yet spread. In fact, the results of the dragon-slaying battle had just begun to ferment among the high ranks of the Duchy of Sapphire and the Eagle Kingdom. Of course, the rats of various kingdoms and grand duchies were already carrying the news to their respective nations.

It wouldn't be long before the entire northeastern corner of the Legendary Continent would be boiling over.

Some felt like they had a sword hanging over their heads, some listened as if it were a story, others worshiped with a mad fervor, and some were enviously puzzled—all typical reactions. However, Liszt was destined to add another log to the fire.

The reason was simple.

He himself was quite low-key, but the Smoke Mission, after completing the traitor's punishment, issued a rather high-profile new mission:

"Mission: The Duchy of Sapphire has begun to sing your name, and the high echelons of the Eagle Kingdom are plotting to contain your growth, but a true man fears no sordid machinations in the dark. It is time to mount the Grey Iron Dragon and visit Blue Dragon Island, to enable the Sapphire Family to make the right choice. Reward: The first vassal state to surrender."

It was evident, the Sapphire Duke was still hesitant.

This was to be expected, as Liszt's ancestors had been followers of the Sapphire Family—their roles reversed one day, with the Sapphire Family now to become followers of Liszt. Indeed, from the perspective of interests, having numerous dragons and archmages, Liszt possessed the qualifications of a king.

It was only natural for a grand duchy to seek allegiance to a kingdom, especially those located on the great seas.

However, on an emotional level, there were considerable difficulties. Moreover, the Sapphire Family still held hopes for the Steel Ridge Royal Family, wishing to draw benefits from both the Steel Ridge Kingdom and the prospective Flame Kingdom, unwilling to easily switch allegiances.

"The Sapphire Duke's thought process is not unreasonable... Although he belongs to the treacherous party in the alliance of offense and defense, he has after all been the landlord whom the Tulip Family has followed for generations; being overly harsh wouldn't be good for the family's reputation."

In sentiment and reason,

The Sapphire Family was the old master of the Tulip Family; their lord-vassal relationship was amicable. The Tulip Family hadn't betrayed, nor was the Sapphire Family ever harsh.

This friendship needed to be considered.

Otherwise, Liszt's reputation after his rise would suffer—the reputation mostly served as icing on the cake, but as part of the noble class and the top Dragon Rearing Family, they ultimately relied on the knight system for governance, and a good reputation was still required.

"Then mount the Grey Iron Dragon Ornn and pay a visit to Blue Dragon Island. Let the Sapphire Duke weigh the situation himself," he decided, looking at the Smoke Mission.

After completing the food transport, he directly traversed through space, arriving at Mind Island.

Ornn, the Grey Iron Dragon nursing his wounds, had mostly healed. It hadn't suffered the grave injuries that the Light Green Gemstone Dragon did; these were mostly external wounds. Thus, with the dragon's powerful regenerative abilities, he quickly returned to his original state. Only the depleted Dragon's Superior Magic needed more time to replenish.

Normal riding and fighting were no longer an issue.

"Roar!"

Ornn held no good feelings towards Liszt—after all, submission had been forced through a Mind Battle—but after erasing the Mind Branding of the First Dragon Knight, Ornn accepted Liszt as his Dragon Knight, united in soul.

"Bard, you carry Ach, while I will ride Ornn!" Liszt quickly arranged the mounts.

"Woo yee ya!" Bard did not refuse Ach's riding—naturally, the Dragon Tooth Platform was reserved for Liszt alone; even if Bard favored Ach, he would not allow Ach to sit there.

Just as the Grey Iron Dragon had protected Piero, the Dragon Tooth Platform was not a place for him to sit.

And so,

One man and one dragon flew towards Blue Dragon Island, with the Magic Form of Little Fire Dragon Leo at Liszt's chest. Since he was going to demonstrate his authority on Blue Dragon Island this time, he might as well reveal his full hand; if it weren't for the Light Green Gemstone Dragon still being on Flame Island, he would have brought all four dragons with him.

The situation was set, and he did not mind being exposed to the gaze of various kingdoms on the Legendary Continent.

While the Formless Dragon's combat ability was not particularly remarkable, its capacity for Space Shuttle was incredibly strong, enough to ensure his escape from any dangerous situation.

The Smoke Mission mentioned that the Eagle Kingdom was contemplating a plot to restrain Liszt.

Other kingdoms on the continent, upon learning of Liszt's rise and his possession of a Sacred Dragon like the Formless Dragon, would certainly weave their own schemes. However, these stratagems boil down to either dragon-slaying battles or economic sanctions—no one can tackle a fleeing Formless Dragon in battle, and economic sanctions are even less effective.

If Liszt couldn't do business, he could simply resort to robbery.

Robbing Hot Spring Island once fattened him up, and if he were to rob a few Marquises from the Continental Kingdom, wouldn't he become a big, fat pig?

He could even rob Dragon Knights.

A lone Dragon Knight was no match for him, not with his luxurious lineup that included himself, Bard, Leo, and Ach - slaughtering a solitary Dragon Knight was too easy—if it weren't for the fear of pushing the Continental Kingdom too hard, leading these kingdoms to reach an agreement and deploy all their Dragon Knights to capture him, Liszt would have adopted this tactic long ago.

"Besides, I have the Smoke Mission for early warnings..."

He had a clear understanding of the situation on the continent. With the Eagle Kingdom failing twice in dragon-slaying battles, the other kingdoms would likely try to court him instead.

Perhaps a King would even offer his daughter's hand in marriage.

Of course.

The notion of marrying a princess from some kingdom did not particularly appeal to him. What he now coveted most was not the submission of the Grand Duchy of Sapphire but the reward from the previous Smoke Mission.

"Complete the mission, reward: one Man-Eating Tree Dragon Sprite."

This was the prompt in Serpent Script when he completed the Punish the Traitor mission. While transporting food to Flame City, he directly sought out Emily, who was overseeing road construction, to inquire about his Man-Eating Tree Dragon Sprite.

He had already heard about it through messages sent by the Magic Platform.

Emily had been investigating the man-eating ogre incidents, the reward from the mission three Smoke Missions ago called "Trace of the Man-Eating Ogre"; they ultimately found the true culprit behind the man-eating ogress, the reward from the second to last Smoke Mission "Man-Eating Tree Cluster"; and finally, the third part of the man-eating ogre series of missions granted him the desired "Man-Eating Tree Dragon Sprite" from the previous mission.

Dragon Sprite!

A Dragon Sprite!

Although this reward fell short of that of a dragon, it was still staggeringly alluring to Liszt, who harbored an extraordinary desire for sprites.

He had long yearned for a Dragon Sprite.

After all, a Dragon Rearing Family without a Dragon Sprite would seem embarrassingly poor.

He had assumed that Dragon Sprites would scarcely appear in the wild, given the harsh evolutionary conditions for sprites; a Greater Elf evolving into a Dragon Sprite would need to spend an extended time in the company of dragons. Dragons themselves were exceedingly rare, and those that fell into the wild were mostly evil dragons with malevolent temperaments—unwilling to tolerate a Greater Elf's proximity.

Hence, he had little hope for wild Dragon Sprites and deemed stealing one unrealistic; his only option was to cultivate one himself—the Greater Elf Annie, who loved to touch the Little Fire Dragon, was the Dragon Sprite he was eagerly anticipating.

As time went by, Annie kept touching but did not evolve.

Then, unexpectedly.

A Chain Mission, which he didn't pay much attention to due to a dragon-slaying battle, suddenly rewarded him with a Dragon Sprite, much to his surprise and delight.

Regrettably, Emily and the others had spent a long time tracking the Man-Eating Tree but had not found the Dragon Sprite. According to Emily's conjecture, the Man-Eating Tree could burrow into the ground—the Dragon Sprite might be hiding underground. After Liszt himself fruitlessly searched the forest three or four times, he instructed Emily to continue the search.

He was determined to find this Dragon Sprite, even if it meant digging three feet into the ground.

What was destined to come could not escape.

He decided to relax a bit and made his way to Blue Dragon Island first—eager for another encounter with the Sapphire Duke.