Chapter 376: Willy's Mission

The White Dragon Lord surveyed his surroundings. Seeing both the True Dragons and the dragon beasts listening to him with rapt attention, he felt a deep sense of satisfaction toward the Dragon Beast Academy's educational achievements. However, now was not the time for praise.

"Because the mortal enemies of the Dragon Race have appeared—the Titans!"

The crowd of dragons instantly erupted into an uproar. True Dragons possessed the complete dragon inheritance, making their hatred for the Titans innate. Even the dragon beasts, who lacked the dragon inheritance, had been taught by their instructors to harbor a deep hostility toward the Titans.

"Tear them to shreds!"

"Let the Titans turn to ash under the Dragon Race's wrath!"

"..."

The crowd seethed with indignation. The White Dragon Lord waited until the dragons had vented the brunt of their shock and fury.

"Silence."

His majestic voice immediately quieted the more than seven hundred dragons in the area. All eyes focused on the White Dragon Lord.

"Soon, White Castle will dispatch an army to attack the plane where the Titans reside, and you will become the ace unit in this unstoppable army. The Dragon Race is invincible!"

"The Dragon Race is invincible!"

"The Dragon Race is invincible!"

"..."

Their majestic, unified roar pierced the clouds. Across Dragon Peak, the Very Young Dragons put down whatever they were doing and looked toward the summit in curiosity. In the primitive forest at the foot of Dragon Peak, the various fierce beasts—intentionally preserved for training purposes—were so frightened they fled back to their burrows, trembling in fear that the Dragon Race would come knocking on their doors.

...

Three days later.

Willy, currently in his dragon-kin form, arrived at Ancient Raven Castle as an envoy of White Castle. He reported to the Speaker of the Raven Council, who was dressed in a black robe—Grimos Raven.

Grimos Raven sensed the aura radiating from Willy and felt a surge of admiration. The combat power of a dual-class legend was far more than simply one plus one. If the two powers were used properly, the individual was practically invincible within the same Tier; only the top-tier special classes could rival a dual-class legend. The black raven perched on Grimos Raven's shoulder flapped its wings, its sharp beak opening and closing.

"Caw, caw, caw! Letting his own younger brother act as the vanguard—it seems Sir Amos has sent a sufficiently weighty representative."

Facing a powerhouse renowned throughout the planes, Willy didn't dare act arrogantly. He bowed respectfully.

"I am extremely honored to be called 'sufficiently weighty' by you."

Grimos Raven nodded, growing even more satisfied with Willy. He casually sent out a magical message. Before long, a mage dressed identically to Grimos Raven entered the room.

He wore the same black robe, the same hood obscuring the upper half of his face, and the same type of raven perched on his shoulder. The only difference was that his aura was vastly inferior to Grimos Raven's, indicating he had only recently advanced to the Legendary Rank.

"This is my youngest disciple. You can call him Hardison. Going forward, the two of you will form a team. You will travel to the Muxinge Plane, make contact with the local natives, and work together to complete the mission of installing the Portal."

The dragon and the human exchanged greetings for their first meeting, and Grimos Raven stood up.

"I will go prepare the teleportation array now. You have about ten minutes to get to know each other."

Grimos teleported away, vanishing from sight. As the host, Hardison took the initiative to approach Willy.

"Caw, caw! A pleasure to meet you! Lord Willy of the Afiaiv Kingdom! I've looked forward to meeting you for a long time!"

Over the past few decades, the White Dragon Lord had been preparing for the blood war, rarely venturing out unless necessary. Elena was busy purifying the Necromantic Plane, and there was no need to even mention Felicia, the eternal shut-in. Among the four dragons, the most active in the outside world was actually the youngest, Willy.

Looking at Hardison's extended hand, Willy was just about to shake it.

"Lord Willy, do you happen to have any Dried Small Cuttlefish from Laplace Coral Island on you? Caw, caw!"

Willy was slightly taken aback, but seeing Hardison's body suddenly stiffen, he understood that the raven was asking for food on its own accord.

A minute later, Willy and Hardison sat in their chairs, chatting. As Hardison spoke with Willy, he took out some flat Dried Small Cuttlefish from a packaging bag and fed them to the raven on his shoulder.

The raven swallowed the Dried Small Cuttlefish whole, cawing excitedly and dancing on its feet.

"Caw, caw, caw! This is absolutely delicious! A supreme delicacy of the mortal realm! Caw, caw!"

Hardison's mouth twitched; he wished he could throw this embarrassing familiar right off his shoulder. Willy, however, wore a faint smile.

"Mage Hardison, this familiar of yours is quite interesting. Where did you happen to find it?"

"Caw! You're making fun of me, Lord Willy. This embarrassing creature was a gift from my teacher. It's actually a descendant of my teacher's own familiar."

As he spoke, Hardison offered another piece of cuttlefish jerky to the raven on his shoulder, but the raven didn't eat it.

"Caw! Hardison, how dare you call me an embarrassing creature! I'm going to crap right on your—"

Before the raven could finish, Hardison swiftly shoved the cuttlefish jerky into its constantly opening and closing beak.

The raven swallowed the jerky while using its sharp beak to peck at its master's ear, leaving a cluster of little red dots. Hardison scrambled to block the assault while fighting back.

Watching this comical scene unfold, Willy couldn't help but smile.

Of course, Willy wasn't naive enough to think Hardison actually couldn't control his rebellious familiar. On the contrary, this merely showed how excellent the relationship between master and servant was. This unrestrained bickering and mindset of equality would only make their bond closer, allowing them to coordinate even better in combat.

Even without seeing Hardison fight, Willy could tell that this Legendary Mage was far from simple. He was very satisfied with the partner Grimos Raven had assigned him.

Not long after, Willy in his dragon-kin form and Hardison stood on the Teleportation Platform. Grimos Raven stood before the departing human and dragon, his raven cawing in that strange tone.

"Caw! Your mission is to make contact with the Resistance Army and find a specific location to set up the Portal. Remember! The mission is your absolute priority, so do not let the Titans discover you! Caw, caw, caw! If you're ready, depart now."

Willy replied, "I'm ready, sir."

Hardison nodded slightly, and the raven on his shoulder lifted a wing, forming an incredibly human-like "OK" gesture.

Surging magic poured into the Teleportation Platform. Brilliant light flared, and the human and dragon vanished from the platform.

High above a remote mountain forest in the Muxinge Plane.

Willy and Mage Hardison abruptly appeared amid brilliant red sunset clouds. Without a receiving Teleportation Platform to anchor them, the sensation of cross-plane teleportation was like being shoved into a high-speed washing machine. Willy felt slightly dizzy and disoriented.

After taking a short moment to recover, Willy shook off the cross-plane teleportation's aftereffects and immediately began surveying his surroundings with vigilance.

This was a world ruled by the Titans, after all!

Willy found that he and Hardison were hovering over a lush mountain forest. The emerald-green mountains rose and fell, stretching all the way to the horizon, where the bottom half of a fading sun was slowly sinking.

"Lord Willy, this is the Grey Wolf Mountain Range in the northern part of the Muxinge Plane. It covers a vast area, is completely devoid of human habitation, and is very far from the Titans' Magic Towers. It is a teleportation destination meticulously chosen by my teacher."

Willy nodded. Just as White Castle and the Holy Sanctuary had done after occupying the Rodoro Plane, the Lord of Red Lotus had constructed numerous Magic Towers within the Muxinge Plane to monitor it after his conquest.

"Lord Grimos truly put a lot of thought into this. Let's hide for now."

The human and dragon descended toward the earth, slipping into the dense woods. Using the thick canopy as cover, they fled into the distance.

Not long after, a Titan leading several giants flew across the sky, arriving at the exact location where the human and dragon had teleported in. After a fruitless search, they left.

In the distance, Willy and Hardison witnessed everything from their hiding spot in the thicket.

"I suppose we've passed the first hurdle. Next, we need to find the Resistance Army's location."

"Mage Hardison, do you know the exact location of the Resistance Army?"

"I don't."

Hardison shook his head.

"The Resistance Army constantly faces the risk of being surrounded and wiped out by the Titans, so they won't stay in one place for too long. However, my teacher made arrangements in advance. There is a small village on the edge of the Grey Wolf Mountain Range where our people are hiding. We'll rendezvous with them tonight."

Since the Raven Council had already prepared everything, Willy was happy to take things easy. The human and dragon simply stayed put, waiting for night to fall.

Time passed quickly. A silver moon rose, coating the land in a layer of white frost. The dragon and human flew low, hugging the forest. Their speed was somewhat hindered, but the cost was well worth it to keep their movements hidden.

As the silver moon slanted westward, their hard work paid off, and the human and dragon finally located their target.

Standing on a mountain peak, Willy observed the target village. It wasn't very large, consisting of only twenty-something houses clustered on the flatland within the valley. The village was surrounded by terraced fields cultivated by the villagers.

Only a small fraction of the crops planted in the terraces were food; the vast majority were medicinal herbs and other plants with low edible value. Willy recalled the intelligence the White Dragon Lord had shared.

"After conquering the Muxinge Plane, the Titans established a puppet regime—the Kemal Dynasty. They use this puppet dynasty to squeeze every drop of resources from the plane, including precious magical ores, plane-exclusive medicinal herbs, and so on."

"By utilizing magical technology, the Titans managed to artificially cultivate some of the Muxinge Plane's unique magical materials. This marked the beginning of a nightmare for the natives of the Muxinge Plane."

Willy gazed at the village. Most of the villagers were using the moonlight to process the harvested magical materials. These ordinary folks knew nothing of grand matters like an alien race ruling their world; they only knew that these inedible plants were treasures demanded by the emperor, and if they failed to hand them over, they would be punished.

Time slipped by. The moon eventually sank beneath the horizon, plunging the world into a darkness where nothing could be seen. Dragging their exhausted bodies, the villagers headed back to their homes.

"Caw! Caw!"

Up on a tree branch, a raven stood in a nest, cawing loudly. Its grating cries were enough to make anyone's skin crawl.

"Wasn't that nest empty? Where did this raven come from?!"

Although they really wanted to shoo the annoying raven away, the villagers, worn out from a full day's labor, simply didn't have the idle energy for it. They still had to work tomorrow.

A married couple heard the raven's cawing carrying a certain rhythm. Their eyes gleamed, but like everyone else, they stepped inside their dilapidated thatched cottage.

Not long after, the sounds of deep snoring began to rise and fall throughout the village.

Creak—!

The battered wooden door was pushed open from the inside. Two stealthy figures slipped out of the house, crept under the tree where the raven had claimed the nest, and lightly knocked a few times.

Feeling the tree vibrate, the startled raven took flight. Staying just a few meters off the ground, it flew toward the distant woods.

The couple hurriedly followed. They sprinted as fast as lightning, dashing across the village's dirt paths under the cover of night.

If any of their acquaintances had seen this, their jaws would have dropped in shock. After all, only professionals could run at such speeds. And professionals were considered big shots even in the cities, let alone in this isolated little mountain village.

The two followed the raven all the way into the woods, just in time to see it land on Mage Hardison's shoulder. Hardison pulled out a piece of Dried Small Cuttlefish and offered it to the raven as it preened its feathers. The bird swallowed its reward in a single gulp.

Willy cast a glance at the two people rushing over and noted that they were Advanced Class professionals. The couple halted right in front of Mage Hardison.

"White Raven Exploration Corps 19th Squad, Heipi and Red Feather, greet Milord!"

"Caw! I need the latest intelligence on the Resistance Army! Specifically their exact location, if possible."

"Yes, sir! Our last contact with the Resistance Army was three days ago. They are currently stationed in the Valink Forest in Oke Province."

Saying that, the man codenamed Heipi pulled out a map, unrolled it, and pointed to a specific spot.

"Right here."

Hardison nodded in satisfaction and took the map.

"You've done well. Now go back and remain in hiding. It won't be long before the sky in this world changes entirely."

Thrilled that their undercover lives—working day in and day out like labor machines—were finally coming to an end, the two couldn't contain their joy.

"Understood!"

Willy and Mage Hardison watched the two run back toward the village.

"Lord Willy, let us depart as well."

Having obtained the intel they needed, Willy and Mage Hardison took to the sky. It took them a day of flying to reach the Valink Forest, where they soon spotted clues left behind by the Resistance Army.

The human and dragon traced the melon to touch the vine, following the trail right to the resistance camp, where they found the leader of the Resistance Army—Dumahado.

"You're finally here!"

To Dumahado, the arrival of Willy and Mage Hardison was the long-awaited light of dawn. This man of iron, who led those yearning for freedom in a rebellion against tyranny, could hardly control his emotions.

After a brief exchange, the two humans and one dragon cut straight to the chase.

"Sir Dumahado, we need a sufficiently large and hidden space to construct the Interplanar Portal."

Mage Hardison was worried that the natives of this backwards plane might not understand the significance of an Interplanar Portal.

"This Interplanar Portal is of the utmost importance. Only through it can we continuously deploy troops to the Muxinge Plane to fight alongside you and drive out the Titans. Furthermore, the Portal is best built in an area rich with elemental energy, ideally an elemental node, a ley line..."

After some explanation, Dumahado grasped the Portal's strategic value and the conditions required to build it.

"Not a problem. When it comes to fighting, I might not match you knowledgeable outworlders, but when it comes to knowing the Muxinge Plane and how to hide within it, you absolutely can't compare to me."

"As far as I know, there are three locations that meet the requirements for constructing the Interplanar Portal. One is Red Leaf Valley, deep within the Grey Wolf Mountain Range. Another is at the peak of the Sudar Mountain Range. And the last one is underground."