At Indigon’s appearance, every dragon except Garn, Isena, and Tario sprang from their seats, their bodies taut with tension.
“Tario does not appear to be wrong, does he? I cannot speak for the others, but we—the children of those created by the Primordial God—have personally seen the World Tree that Hairi guarded, which contains incomparably more mana than any of us. Is your plan not to absorb the World Tree’s mana alone and kill all of us who constrain you?”
Rising from his seat, Rerian muttered as his hands and feet trembled.
“I… Indigon…”
Indigon stroked Rerian’s head as though dealing with a child and whispered into his ear.
“Good. If you dare rise against me, you will die by my hand just as your mother did.”
As though fear rather than vengeance had been seared into his mind, Rerian trembled like an aspen and could not offer a single word of protest.
Garn looked toward the source of Indigon’s sensual yet sinister voice and muttered, brimming with murderous intent.
“Indigon…”
CLACK. CLACK.
Ignoring the suffocating atmosphere created by Garn’s murderous intent, Indigon strode toward him without hesitation.
“I am opposed as well. You do know that Shavron still opposes it too, do you not? Now that Tario has also opposed it, the pact will remain in effect. Besides, no one but Shavron can enter the barrier anyway.”
“Even if we cannot break the barrier, there are still ways to enter it.”
Indigon looked up at Garn, who sat higher than everyone else. With an irritated expression, he lightly swept the edge of his left hand through the air.
SWOOOOSH—!
Garn hastily dodged Indigon’s attack and leaped away from his chair.
“What… is the meaning of this outrage?!”
CLACK. CLACK.
Indigon clicked his tongue, then snickered as he stopped directly before Garn.
“My neck was getting stiff from looking up… In any case, the pact has expired, so I came to propose it again.”
Indigon turned his head and looked down at the other dragons.
“Now that the Flower of Death has bloomed, you should all prepare to welcome the Father of us all, should you not?”
Isena shot to her feet and glared at Indigon.
“The Flower of Death is mine. Touch it, and you die, Indigon!”
Hahahaha—!
At his laughter, even the air in the meeting chamber grew so cold that it stung.
Indigon lowered his gaze and looked at the seated Isena.
“You… would kill me?”
Isena swallowed hard and released her murderous intent.
“Even if I’m weaker than you, I’ll inflict a mortal wound on you before I die!”
Indigon slowly ran the tip of his index finger down Isena’s neck, where the veins bulged, and spoke while glaring at her as though he would kill her.
“I have waited thousands of years for this day… If the Flower of Death disappears or withers before I find every last piece of Father’s body…”
Indigon glanced at Garn and Isena before turning and slowly surveying the other dragons. He spoke in a low voice.
“You will all die…”
CLACK. CLACK.
As Indigon walked out of the meeting chamber, he continued.
“There are no stupid bastards here who would ignore Tario’s prophecy, are there? History repeats itself, after all. We will prepare once more to become gods greater than the Primordial God. Would that not be possible if Father bestowed his Authority upon us?”
Tario looked at Indigon and spoke cautiously.
“Indigon, that is not what I meant.”
As Indigon stepped through the meeting chamber’s doors, he said.
“Dragonia needs better management. It is filthy… Tsk, tsk. Father must return and reign as Lord.”
“Indigon!!”
Garn glared murderously at the doorway through which Indigon had departed. He let out a sharp breath and continued.
“Once I absorb the mana dwelling within the World Tree, that bastard will be the first one I tear apart and kill.”
The person who had been standing beside Garn and conducting the meeting looked from side to side, gauging the atmosphere, before speaking quietly to Garn.
“Lord… the meeting… Eek! I apologize!”
***
Elder Philn slowly spoke in a voice lower than usual as he struggled to overcome his grief.
“With this, we conclude the funeral rites.”
WAAAAAH!
“If even you leave me, what am I supposed to do now?!”
SOB! SOB!
As the solemn funeral ended, those nearby finally poured the sorrow they had been suppressing out through their mouths and into the sky.
It was my first time experiencing their funeral customs, so rather than feeling sorrow, I had been tense with concern that I might make a mistake. Rokiyan whispered into my ear in a troubled voice unlike his usual one.
“You have been through a great deal, Your Highness.”
I had been staring at the coffins covered in flowers. When I saw how swollen his eyes were, I gave a slight nod. Unlike me, who had witnessed countless deaths within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the elves’ hearts were as delicate as flowers scattered upon the wind.
‘The fact that their deaths are mourned must mean they lived good lives.’
“Have you eaten, Your Highness? Once you return home, I will prepare a meal for you first.”
“Ah, Rokiyan.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“I would like to hear the rest of what you were saying earlier. Are Shavron and Indigon the ones keeping Dragon Lord Garn’s faction in check?”
“According to what the Special Operations Unit uncovered, yes.”
I could not be certain, but was this not similar to what the Martial Alliance had experienced?
Those who followed the Martial Alliance Leader.
Those who refused to recognize the Martial Alliance Leader.
And those who threatened the Martial Alliance Leader.
Thanks to the Martial Alliance’s internal strife, we had been able to plant several of the cult’s spies within it…
If the dragon factions were also embroiled in conflict, perhaps I could exploit it to weaken the dragon bastards’ forces.
“Regardless of differences in era or culture, whether unfortunately or fortunately, it seems society never changes.”
“What do you mean?”
“It is nothing. In any case, is the information reliable?”
Rokiyan hesitated before answering.
“It was relayed by the Special Operations Unit, so it should be accurate…”
Rokiyan appeared unsure of how to answer my question.
I had heard that the Special Operations Unit was an organization responsible for gathering information about the dragons. However, among those who had summoned the dragons today through the wondrous formation called Subspace, there had been a retired former member of the Special Operations Unit. That must have been why he was reacting this way.
Before dealing with external threats, I first had to deal with the spies who had infiltrated us.
I could not be certain, but from everything I had learned so far, dragons and elves—races different from humans—did not seem all that different from humans.
‘I can’t repeat the mistakes I made in the cult. I must clean up our internal affairs even more thoroughly than when I quelled the rebellion within the cult.’
While I was lost in thought, I heard the sound of footsteps running toward me from behind.
When I turned my head, the Elders approached with Elder Philn at the head of the group. They respectfully bowed their heads to me.
“Thank you for attending the funeral despite your exhaustion, Your Highness.”
“Not at all. Was it not only natural that I attend?”
“Your Highness, the King summons you.”
I nodded calmly and made my way toward the meeting chamber.
“Let us go.”
“Understood.”
KNOCK. KNOCK.
“Enter.”
I opened the door and approached King Hellorn. After kneeling on one knee and offering a formal greeting, I looked up to find King Hellorn forcing a bright smile as he stared at me.
“My son, I am grateful, and I am sorry.”
He was not my biological father, yet every time I spoke with King Hellorn, I felt a peculiar sense of paternal affection from him. King Hellorn looked at the Elders behind me, then weakly lowered himself into his seat.
“You have all worked hard. Take your seats.”
THUD. FLOP.
Everyone was utterly exhausted after stopping the dragons’ invasion and immediately proceeding with the funeral. Elder Philn glanced sharply at the other Elders, cleared his throat twice, and spoke.
“We will begin the meeting. Elder McGill?”
Elder McGill rose from the seat, took a sheet of paper in hand, and began reading.
“……That concludes the list of those who summoned the dragon bastards from Subspace this time.”
King Hellorn placed a hand upon his head and let out a deep sigh.
“Did they truly… truly attempt to sell out their own country?!”
“They did.”
“I firmly believed the Investigation Unit members summoned for the regular meetings would never betray us, as every one of them was an officer in their respective organization…”
“Even among the trusted officers, there were traitors. Would there not be even more traitors among the ordinary members?”
For a moment, nothing but deep sighs could be heard throughout the meeting chamber. I carefully observed them as I became lost in thought.
Finding traitors was difficult. Once a rebellion had ended, many people would keep their heads down, making it even harder to find the remaining traitors.
At that moment, Elder Yorite, who sat beside Elder Philn, broke the silence.
“Should we not first summon everyone currently outside back here and conduct a comprehensive investigation?”
“Are you suggesting that we summon every member currently operating outside through Subspace?”
“If we Elders personally gather them here through Subspace, it will take the other traitors longer to inform the dragon bastards. It does not seem like a bad idea.”
It might have seemed like a sound idea, but whatever else we did, we absolutely could not summon them directly to the capital before identifying even a few of the spies.
To suppress the rebellion within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, I had issued an order for everyone stationed at every branch to return to the cult immediately. However, within days of everyone’s return, the second rebellion had begun.
Furthermore, unlike the first rebellion, the second had involved an overwhelming number of spies, making it extremely difficult to suppress.
The second rebellion had fanned the embers of revolt within the cult into an even greater blaze, and the Heavenly Demon had recklessly ordered preparations for war in the Central Plains to wash away the humiliation.
“My son, what are you thinking about?”
I immediately looked at King Hellorn. He stared intently at me and forced another bright smile.
“If you were the King, what would you say during this meeting?”
Elder Philn urgently called out in surprise.
“Spirit King!”
“Elder Philn, it is all right. Even so…”
King Hellorn tightly clasped my hand.
“Did Kellick not show us hope? He killed one of the dragon bastards, our sworn enemies, for the first time.”
Elder McGill appeared deeply moved, eyes reddening as the Elder spoke.
“We could barely even hold them back… But was this not the first time? Your Highness showed us that we can fight them as well. I would have no regrets even if I died!”
The solemn and gloomy atmosphere brightened somewhat. The Elders and King within the meeting chamber looked at me with eyes brimming with anticipation.
It was entirely different from my days as Nameless, when even sound advice had been met with cold and guarded stares.
I had forgotten.
I wanted to become someone who stepped forward rather than someone who remained behind.
Not merely a tool, but someone everyone looked to with expectation and reverence.
I wanted to become the Heavenly Demon.
I looked at them and spoke.
“First, it appears that every organization except the Guardian Unit urgently requires personnel restructuring.”
There were too few elves for them to build an organizational structure as intricate as that of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, but there was still a way.
I looked at the map upon the meeting table, where the main bases of each organization were marked, and considered the situation.
Garn ruled Dragonia, which humans called a sanctuary.
Shavron ruled the Lumiara Holy Empire.
Tario ruled the Kroso Empire.
Isena ruled the Vindora Empire.
With the exception of Indigon, each of them reigned as a god over an empire, and the citizens of those empires worshiped them as gods.
According to Rokiyan, there had originally been thirteen dragons created directly by the Primordial God.
Of their next generation, these five were the only ones who remained, while fifty dragons had been created as the Primordial God vanished.
Including their children, approximately one hundred and twenty dragons currently existed throughout the continent.
What was peculiar was that the bloodlines of the dragons directly created by the Primordial God were called the Direct Line, while the bloodlines of the dragons born as the Primordial God vanished were called the Collateral Line.
In the kingdoms that were not empires, dragons of the Collateral Line reigned as gods. However, by my understanding, I could not see why they divided their bloodlines into the Direct Line and the Collateral Line.
“Is there a need for the Supply Unit, Special Operations Unit, and Covert Operations Unit to operate while scattered throughout the capitals of the different empires?”
“Those who reign as gods in the empires belong to the First Direct Generation descended from the dragons created personally by the Primordial God. They possess overwhelming power compared to the other dragons, so must we not continuously monitor their movements, the atmosphere surrounding them, and any rumors?”
I pointed at a region beside the Ellar Kingdom on the map, where a drawing of a tree appeared to mark the World Tree.
“If they remain scattered, communication will undoubtedly be difficult. First, we need branches.”
“Branches?”
“Your Highness, what do you mean by branches?”
I placed my hand upon the map and looked at the Elders and King Hellorn. In a low voice that made it clear I was proposing a secret plan, I spoke.
“Establishing branches and operating them in secret is my area of expertise. Would you care to hear my plan?”