Chapter 354: Unexpected Guest

Under the scorching sun, the White Dragon Lord, the gold dragon, and Gurgalu stood with the other commanders atop Blackrock Fortress's towering walls, watching Master Owen fly into the heart of the Alliance Territory.

With the White Castle Army officially taking over the fortress, Master Owen's duties were finished. He was bound for Alliance Headquarters to give his final report and end his term. After that, he was free to go wherever he pleased.

His soldiers had already departed through the Portal ahead of him.

Once the mage vanished over the horizon, the White Dragon Lord led everyone back inside, where they gathered around the hall's central round table.

Only five people were present: the White Dragon Lord, Amos Aldrich; the gold dragon, Leopold Chodmartin; the two-headed ogre chieftain and legion commander, Gurgalu Skull-Crusher; the gnoll army commander, Sman Wolfheart; and the Harpy commander, Lomana Ironfeather.

These five formed the current high command of Blackrock Fortress.

"All right, everyone. The previous era of Blackrock Fortress is over. Now, it is our turn to take the stage!"

After this brief opening, the White Dragon Lord directly handed out their assignments.

"Gurgalu, from now on, you will handle the administrative management of Blackrock Fortress."

"Yes!"

"Sman, you are in charge of city defense and security."

"As you command! Hahaha, the residents of this city will 'love' the gnolls."

"Lomana, your duty is to ensure the fortress suffers no surprise attacks from Demons. I am leaving intelligence and daily reconnaissance to you."

The Afiaiv Kingdom's only legendary Harpy, Lomana Ironfeather, nodded in agreement.

Just like that, the White Dragon Lord delegated all the daily operations of the fortress to his subordinates.

As for the White Dragon Lord and the gold dragon, as the city's highest leaders and supreme combatants, the two dragons were free to do as they pleased, provided they ensured Blackrock Fortress wasn't breached by Demons.

The White Dragon Lord then turned to the only woman in their high command.

"Lomana, your task will likely be the heaviest. The major Demon cities were attacked a while ago, and the Demon lords have been nursing their fury. Now that the guard rotation is ending and the outgoing city lords will soon finish their handover, it's highly likely the Demons will provoke a war the moment they are gone."

"Understood. I will organize my kin to set up warning magic in the wilderness beyond the fortress. I guarantee no Demon will sneak across our perimeter."

The White Dragon Lord nodded in satisfaction.

It was now the forty-eighth year of the White Tower Calendar. The education program for professionals that he had aggressively promoted long before the kingdom's founding was finally bearing fruit.

Over the past few decades, the number of legendary powerhouses in the Afiaiv Kingdom had multiplied to thirty-two. Twenty-eight of them had joined White Castle, and their ranks were only continuing to expand.

Sman Wolfheart and Lomana Ironfeather were prime examples of this new generation of legendary powerhouses. Lomana was also the only legendary Harpy under his command.

Having grown up during the White Castle era, these subordinates had received systematic education. Their strength, loyalty, competence, and vision were all trustworthy, allowing the White Dragon Lord to confidently leave the daily management of Blackrock Fortress in their hands.

After discussing the current state of the fortress and its defensive deployments for a while, the White Dragon Lord and the gold dragon left for the White Tower.

"It really makes a dragon envious, Amos. Your subordinates are all so outstanding."

The White Dragon Lord smiled at the lone wolf gold dragon's sour lament.

"If you are envious, Leopold, why not claim a territory of your own and raise some subordinates?"

"I'll pass. When I first reached adulthood, I did play with the idea of being a lord. But watching those cunning merchants snatch my gold coins away one by one, my heart just..."

"Hahaha! I completely understand your pain!"

Unlike the Chromatic Dragons, who used violence to subjugate subordinates and conquer lands, the Metallic Dragons preferred to rely on personal charisma to attract followers and used their own hoards to build up their territories. However, the cost of development was staggering. The gold dragon had never managed to get past the hurdle of parting with his gold.

"So, you later came to the Blood War Battlefield. Come to think of it, you haven't talked about your experiences here yet. Let's hear it."

"Well, it was nothing much. After giving up on building a territory, I lived in Nordhill for a time. My days were incredibly dull, so I answered the Council's call and came to the Blood War Battlefield. Though, back then, I arrived as an adventurer."

The gold dragon wore a nostalgic expression.

"My first stop here was Forest Fortress, behind Riverrun. I met a very interesting group of friends there and joined their adventuring party. I traveled to many places with them. We even made several trips to other planes of the Abyss to hunt Legendary Demons. And not just the Abyss—we also visited the Star Realm and the Fire Elemental Plane. Looking back, those were happy, thrilling times."

"What about your friends? Why not invite them to move their headquarters to Blackrock Fortress? I can't guarantee much else, but we could exempt them from taxes during our tenure."

"I'm afraid they don't have that honor. Almost all of them are dead. Those who survived were left disheartened and returned home."

The gold dragon's tone was desolate, tinged with bitter resentment.

"Because of those damned Titans! They ambushed us while our adventuring party was fighting the Demons."

"Ah, sorry to dredge up painful memories."

"It's fine, it's all in the past. To be honest, I should probably thank them. If not for that incident, I wouldn't have broken through to High-Tier Legend so early."

The gold dragon's smile was somewhat forced; the White Dragon Lord quickly changed the subject.

"Let's go. Never mind the past. I'll take you to see my Sky and Earth Twin Dragon Legion."

"Sky and Earth Twin Dragons? That's an interesting name."

"Wyverns fly in the sky, and Land Dragons run on the earth. Therefore, I called them the Sky and Earth Twin Dragons. It fits perfectly!"

The White Dragon Lord led the way, with the gold dragon following close behind.

Soon, the two dragons arrived at the housing area for the Land Dragons and Wyverns: the second floor of the White Tower.

Following its upgrades to a Floating Tower, spatial folding runes had been carved into the White Tower. This expanded its already massive interior space by twofold, making it perfect for accommodating the three hundred Wyverns and five hundred Land Dragons.

When the two dragons stepped onto the second floor, they found the White Tower's housekeeper, Heloise, arguing with the two great Wyvern commanders, Ala and Scarlett, as well as the Earth Dragon King, Kemosg.

"How many times have I told you?! Manage your subordinates and make them use the designated areas to relieve themselves!"

"Madam Housekeeper, I don't think you can hold them to the strict standards of Elves. After all, their intelligence..."

"Enough! Their intelligence might be low, but shouldn't you commanders be teaching them?! Not only do they relieve themselves everywhere, they even chewed up several magical cleaning servants. If this keeps up, this place is going to turn into a..."

Catching sight of the White Dragon Lord and the gold dragon entering, Heloise hastily bowed.

"Master. Lord Leopold."

"What are you all arguing about?"

The three sub-dragon commanders lowered their heads in shame. Ala, who was most familiar with the White Dragon Lord, spoke first.

"It's like this, Master. The children have some intellectual barriers and can't follow orders perfectly like soldiers. They soiled your Magic Tower, and the housekeeper is very angry..."

Smelling the stench of sub-dragon waste lingering in the air, the White Dragon Lord frowned. No one wanted their home smelling of excrement.

Blackrock Fortress lacked a suitable place to house the Land Dragons and Wyverns, which was why he had moved them to the tower's second floor. He hadn't expected it to result in this mess.

Soon, his frown smoothed out.

Ordinary Wyverns and Land Dragons had the intelligence of common beasts, but even wild beasts could be trained to perform circus acts. The White Dragon Lord figured that with a period of training, the Sky and Earth Twin Dragons would soon adapt to life in the White Tower.

"Let's do this. From now on, you three will be solely responsible for cleaning the second floor. Heloise will no longer handle it. Once you've trained your subordinates to obey, the magical servants can take over again."

The White Dragon Lord turned to the three sub-dragon commanders.

"You don't want to live in excrement either, do you?!"

The three sub-dragon commanders nodded fervently.

Having settled his subordinates' cleaning dispute, the White Dragon Lord and the gold dragon looked over the Wyverns and Land Dragons occupying the floor.

The White Dragon Lord had deliberately cleared out the White Tower's second floor to welcome the Sky and Earth Twin Dragon Legion's arrival, yet three hundred Wyverns and five hundred Land Dragons only took up a third of the space.

Sensing the bloodline suppression radiating from the two superior dragons, the sub-dragons all flattened themselves submissively against the floor.

Scanning the group for a moment, the White Dragon Lord noted that the Wyverns were generally at Creature Level 17, while the Land Dragons sat at Level 13. Compared to their wild counterparts, the Sky and Earth Twin Dragon Legion was a tier stronger.

"Excellent! Excellent! The sub-dragons here actually have a bit of our Dragon Race's aura. Amos, how did you raise them?"

"Elena designed their rearing methods using druid knowledge, so I don't know the exact details. Aside from plentiful food, high exercise loads, and combat training, I believe they are fed fodder made from Magical Plants."

After observing the Sky and Earth Twin Dragon Legion, the White Dragon Lord and the gold dragon parted ways.

The gold dragon retired directly to the room prepared for him in the tower, while the White Dragon Lord headed to the magic laboratory. Even while participating in the garrison rotation, the White Dragon Lord would continue his magical research.

...

"What? Willy broke through?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. His Highness Willy broke through to become a Legendary Rank Warrior last night."

"Fantastic!"

The White Dragon Lord looked in pleasant surprise at the gnoll standing in the center of the hall. It was a messenger from the Afiaiv Kingdom tasked with maintaining daily communications with Blackrock Fortress. After all, the Alliance Headquarters held a monopoly on cross-planar communication technology, and the equipment was far too complex for widespread use.

Because of this, the White Dragon Lord could only open the Portal once a week for the messenger to deliver news. He never expected the messenger's very first visit to bring such wonderful news.

Overjoyed, the White Dragon Lord drew a magical longsword and passed it to the gnoll messenger using Mage Hand.

"This is a reward for you."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After years of hard work, Willy had finally broken through as a Legendary Rank Warrior, becoming yet another dual-class legend.

At one hundred and thirty years old, Willy was neither young nor too late compared to the age humans reached High-Tier Legend, but among long-lived species, his speed was top-tier. After all, long-lived races shared a common bad habit: they rarely took time seriously.

After rewarding the messenger who brought the good news, the White Dragon Lord returned to the laboratory.

Willy's breakthrough was certainly worth celebrating, but the White Dragon Lord could not return to Nordhill.

Not long after, the White Dragon Lord felt fluctuations from the Portal in the plaza.

'The messenger had just arrived. Why was the Portal opening again?'

The White Dragon Lord found it strange. The Abyss Teleportation Portal didn't stay open all the time. Opening it required a massive amount of energy, and sustaining it drained even more. It was only kept active for a brief moment when the messenger arrived—just long enough for the kingdom's messenger to step through to Blackrock Fortress and the fortress's outbound messenger to return to the kingdom. The Portal would shut down immediately after the two messengers crossed.

Through the White Tower's god's-eye view, the White Dragon Lord spotted a familiar figure in front of the Portal. It was Felicia.

After a brief thought, the White Dragon Lord understood why Felicia had come.

Like most long-lived creatures, Felicia had little concept of time. She treated her priest training casually and had been stuck at Level 19 alongside Willy for years.

Now that Willy's Warrior class had broken through to Legendary Rank, she was the only one of the four dragons who wasn't a dual-class legend. Felicia had likely been spurred into action by the news.

Seeing the Dragon Sister's arrival, the White Dragon Lord walked out of the White Tower to greet her.

"Welcome, my dear sister."

"Oh, Amos."

The two dragons walked into the White Tower together. After a brief chat, Felicia stated her purpose.

"Brother, I want to join the army and temper myself in battle."

"Well... my dear sister, if your goal is purely to temper yourself, the army might not be your best choice. Being an adventurer is."

"Armies deal with large-scale group warfare, where your talents as a priest would play a vital role. No legion commander would ever let you stand on the front lines. Furthermore, I don't know when a war will break out. It could be tomorrow, or it could be decades from now."

"But as an adventurer, you can actively seek out battles. It's just that adventuring is an incredibly high-risk profession..."

"Of course, the choice is yours. Whatever path you take, I will support you."

Having analyzed the pros and cons of both options, the White Dragon Lord left the decision in Felicia's hands.

"Thank you, brother."

Felicia lowered her head in thought.

After a long pause, she looked back up.

"I have decided. I will become an adventurer."

"All right, I knew this would happen."

The White Dragon Lord shrugged.

"It's just that my knowledge of the adventuring industry is limited, hmm... so we need to consult a professional."