Chapter 397: Tiamat Descends

"How did the titans find us so quickly?!"

"Do they have some special tracking method we don't know about?"

"Impossible. If they did, they would have used it ten days ago. This incident is definitely a coincidence!"

"..."

The high-tier legendary dragons split into two camps—coincidence versus premeditation—arguing endlessly inside the White Tower over how the titans had tracked them so fast.

Amid the clamor, the White Dragon Lord thought calmly but still couldn't figure it out. There just wasn't enough information.

"Stop arguing!"

The dragons looked at the White Dragon Lord.

"Whether it's a coincidence or the titans have some method we're unaware of, we'll know once we test it."

"Test it how?"

"Fly in a few more circles and see if they can still find us."

Acting immediately, the White Dragon Lord gripped the White Tower Control Core. He steered the tower, changing directions at will. After flying blindly for a while, he activated the invisibility magic array and hovered in place.

Hmph! Right now, even I don't know where I am! Let's see how you find me!

With that thought, the White Dragon Lord and the other dragons waited quietly.

A minute passed...

Nothing happened.

Ten minutes passed...

The Tower Spirit's warning blared once more.

"Warning! An unknown high-energy object is approaching! Speed: over a thousand meters per second! Estimated time of arrival at the White Tower: one minute and twenty seconds!"

"Damn it!"

Now the dragons were certain the titans possessed a special tracking method.

Even if the titans could track them, the Mother of Lightning's floating tower was far slower than the White Tower—a fatal flaw. Relying on the White Tower's superior performance, the White Dragon Lord shook off the titans once again.

He switched to autopilot, letting the Tower Spirit fly the White Tower at high speeds. The White Dragon Lord then gathered with the numerous high-tier legendary dragons; a silence so absolute that a dropped needle could be heard fell over the space.

As the master of the White Tower and the leader of this operation, the White Dragon Lord broke the silence first.

"Everyone! It's time to make a choice! Do we quit while we're ahead, or do we fight the titans head-on?!"

Just as the White Dragon Lord had said, their original plan to lay waste to the world through guerrilla warfare was ruined now that the titans could track them. Only two paths lay before the dragons: retreat with their rich spoils, or clash head-on with the enraged titans.

The White Dragon Lord leaned toward retreating. After all, the dragons and titans were evenly matched right now. An all-out war would only end in mutual destruction. It was better to quit while they were ahead and leave the furious titans with nowhere to vent their rage.

After giving the dragons a moment to think, the White Dragon Lord clapped his claws together to draw their attention.

"Everyone, let's vote. Raise a claw if you support going to war."

Aside from a few violent extremists and dying dragons like the Black King, the vast majority kept their claws down.

"Twelve votes for war. Next, raise a claw if you support retreating."

He counted. Twenty-seven high-tier legendary dragons voted to retreat. A few hadn't raised their claws at all, which counted as abstaining.

"The results are clear. We'll proceed with the pre-arranged retreat plan. Next..."

"Wait!"

The Matron of Venom suddenly stood up, interrupting the White Dragon Lord.

"Everyone, Her Majesty the Dragon Queen has new instructions."

The dragons, including the White Dragon Lord, turned to her, but the Matron of Venom looked hesitant.

"Her Majesty requires us... us..."

Flame of the Molten Mountain grew impatient with her stammering.

"Us! Us! Us what?! Spit it out!"

The Matron of Venom gritted her teeth.

"Her Majesty the Dragon Queen demands we extract the Heart of the Plane from the Sincaro Titan World!"

An uproar erupted among the dragons. The White Dragon Lord raised an eyebrow.

Tiamat is truly ruthless!

The Heart of the Plane was as vital to a plane as a heart was to a human. Losing it would drain the Sincaro Titan World of its elements, collapse its matter, and ultimately shatter it into fragments adrift in the endless void.

"That's impossible! Not even a dragon god has the right to demand this of us!"

"Right! Exactly!"

"..."

Most of the dragons reacted fiercely, visibly enraged.

Extracting a Heart of the Plane was a wildly dangerous task. Not just anyone could withstand a dying plane's violent backlash.

Moreover, the Sincaro Titan World was a medium-sized material plane. Its backlash alone could exact a terrible price from an Abomination Rank powerhouse, let alone the high-tier legendary dragons—whoever touched it would die.

Unless...

The White Dragon Lord looked at the Black King and Breath of Extinction, the two ancient dragons nearing the end of their lifespans. He understood Tiamat's scheme.

But even if he didn't have to extract the Heart of the Plane himself, the White Dragon Lord wasn't willing to risk his life fighting titans for Tiamat. The vast majority of the high-tier legendary dragons shared that sentiment.

The White Dragon Lord might be bossing the dragons around right now, but that was only because of the White Tower and their shared interests. The dragons only followed his orders for the sake of spoils and profit.

If Tiamat wanted to use her status as a dragon god to make them work for free, the dragons would answer with a single phrase: Dream on!

As the White Dragon Lord figured this out, some of the older, craftier dragons realized it too. They looked at the Matron of Venom with cold sneers.

Tiamat wasn't the only dragon god. At worst, they could just pledge their allegiance to the Platinum Dragon God after death. This was exactly what many of the dragons were thinking.

Facing their hostile glares, the Matron of Venom felt aggrieved, but who told her to be Tiamat's speaker? Having accepted Tiamat's power and benefits, she had to do her bidding.

"Everyone, this is a great opportunity to serve Her Majesty the Dragon Queen. After death..."

Crimson Flame Streamer interrupted, "Lady Gelina, my faith lies with His Majesty the Platinum Dragon God. Naturally, I also respect Her Majesty the Five-Headed Dragon Queen. But my respect isn't enough to make me risk my life fighting titans. If they find out our target is the Heart of the Plane, the supreme existences among the titans might take the field themselves."

The Heart of a medium-sized material plane was a heavy temptation even for a deity. The three titan gods really might intervene directly. After all, rather than let Tiamat profit, they would prefer to benefit themselves.

The high-tier legendary dragons nodded in agreement. Crimson Flame Streamer had spoken for all of them. No one was foolish enough to take on massive risks for zero reward.

The Matron of Venom opened her mouth but had nothing left to say. Deep down, even she understood their logic.

Suddenly, her body stiffened. A beam of nearly tangible divine light shot from her eyes. Her entire aura underwent an earth-shattering transformation, and a faint but unfathomably pure dragon might blanketed the room.

The dragons' expressions froze. Tiamat had descended personally!

More accurately, Tiamat's will had descended.

"You unworthy descendants! You cower at the thought of retrieving a single Heart of the Plane for me! How can I ever expect you to shoulder the burden of reviving the Dragon Race?!"

The Matron of Venom—or rather, Tiamat—swept her furious gaze over the dragons. None dared meet her eyes.

The God of Evil Dragons—Tiamat—had built her prestige over countless years, and no one dared challenge it. Even the most arrogant, hard-headed dragons knew that offending Tiamat meant fleeing to other planes, hiding forever in some minor world where her reach couldn't extend.

The Mother of Evil Dragons eventually fixed her gaze on the White Dragon Lord.

His heart skipped a beat.

With so many dragons here, why are you staring solely at me?!

Following Tiamat's stare, more and more dragons turned their attention to the White Dragon Lord.

He knew she was forcing his hand, demanding he take the lead and agree to seize the Heart of the Plane for her.

But if the White Dragon Lord bowed to Tiamat's despotic might, he would never be able to hold his head high among the dragons again. Yet refusing outright would undoubtedly provoke her wrath.

Thoughts racing like lightning, the White Dragon Lord formed a plan. The only thing that could counter a dragon god was another dragon god.

"Respected Majesty, the Dragon Queen. If His Majesty Bahamut asked for your help to retrieve a treasure, but offered no compensation, would you agree or not?"

Hearing him invoke Bahamut's divine name directly, Tiamat felt a surge of irritation mixed with faint praise.

What a cunning slippery fellow!

Precisely because the White Dragon Lord invoked his divine name, the Platinum Dragon God—Bahamut—noticed the anomaly here and was now observing the situation through the eyes of his Metallic Dragon believers.

Under the gaze of a fellow dragon god, Tiamat could no longer shamelessly exploit her juniors. She had her own face to save, after all.

Do not assume immortal deities care nothing for pride. For the gods, face was second only to life itself. The older and more accomplished a being became, the more they valued their dignity—and this truth applied perfectly to deities.

Tiamat knew her plan to wring free labor out of the dragons was ruined. However, always one to plot ahead, she had prepared for this very outcome.

"Fine! You little whelps have done well in this plane! You've given me fresh ammunition to mock that old mongrel in the Gloomy Sanctuary. I shall reward you."

The projections of three crystals materialized before her. Sealed within each was a single thread radiating a milky white glow. Even though they were mere projections, the dragons' breathing inevitably grew heavy and erratic.

Divinity!!!

"However, there are only three rewards. With so many of you, I find myself in a difficult position. Let us treat the capture of the Heart of the Plane as a test. Whoever performs best will claim the prize."

"To serve Her Majesty the Dragon Queen is my absolute duty! I will forge ahead without hesitation!"

The White Dragon Lord's impassioned declaration snapped the others out of their daze. Cursing his shamelessness in their hearts, they frantically scrambled to profess their own loyalty and devotion to Tiamat.

Flame of the Molten Mountain wiped a bead of drool from his jaw, finally tearing his eyes away from the three projected crystals.

"It is my, Flame of the Molten Mountain's, honor to serve Her Majesty the Dragon Queen!"

"Crush the titans! Seize the Heart of the Plane for the Dragon Queen!"

"..."

Watching the highly motivated dragons, Tiamat nodded in satisfaction. The three crystal projections vanished.

"I eagerly await your performance."

The moment the words left her mouth, that pure, ancient dragon might evaporated.

Looking at the wildly excited dragons, the White Dragon Lord sighed internally. Age truly bred cunning.

Three wisps of Divinity in exchange for a medium-sized Heart of the Plane—Tiamat was making a massive profit, yet the dragons were now throwing themselves eagerly into her service.

The White Dragon Lord glanced at the black dragon—the Black King—and the green dragon—Breath of Extinction. Barring any surprises, those two were the ones Tiamat had assigned to actually extract the Heart of the Plane.

"Everyone, His Majesty the Dragon God of the North Wind asked me to pass along a message."

The dragons turned toward the speaker, Crimson Flame Streamer, who was visibly thrilled.

"Go forth boldly and without worry. Should the supreme existences among the titans discover us, the three Dragon Kings will intercept them."

"Praise His Majesty the Dragon God of the North Wind!"

"..."

Joy erupted among the dragons. Their last shred of hesitation melted away.

Breath of Extinction stepped up to the White Dragon Lord.

"Lord Amos, I need to borrow your Teleportation Chamber. I have personal matters to attend to."

"No problem."

Breath of Extinction was returning to settle his final affairs. The White Dragon Lord naturally wouldn't stop him. He then looked at the Black King.

"Don't look at me. I sorted my affairs out a long time ago."

By doing so, Breath of Extinction and the Black King had indirectly admitted that they accepted Tiamat's conditions and assumed the task of extracting the Heart of the Plane for her.

After seeing off Breath of Extinction, the White Dragon Lord convened a meeting.

"Everyone, the plan has changed. We need to strategize carefully to secure the Heart of the Plane for Her Majesty the Dragon Queen."

The White Dragon Lord recalled the Nordhill Guardian Council's records regarding the capture of a Heart of the Plane.

"The Heart of the Plane is generally located deep within a plane's crust. Finding its position alone will take a tremendous amount of time. Once we find it, we still have to break through the heavy layers of laws protecting its periphery."

"The task of searching for the Heart of the Plane is manageable—it just takes a bit more time and energy. I will dispatch my murloc powerhouses to assist Senior Black King and Senior Breath of Extinction. The rest of us will lead the Titan Floating Towers in circles, leaving the titans with no time to consider anything else."

"But the moment the laws protecting the Heart are breached, the entire plane will experience anomalies. We can't hide a disturbance that massive from the titans. That is when we must intercept them, and it will be an incredibly brutal battle."

The dragons looked thoughtful. Barring the unexpected, this battle would be Tiamat's primary metric for choosing the winners.

Realizing this, they eyed each other like rivals. The White Dragon Lord felt a headache coming on.

"Everyone, let's stay united and locate the Heart of the Plane first before we consider the rewards."

He turned to the Black King.

"Senior, the task of finding the Heart of the Plane will fall solely to you and Senior Breath of Extinction."

The Black King nodded.

"Just ensure the titans are too busy to disturb us."

"I will."

The White Dragon Lord took out the Four-Dragon Ring Badge, the symbol of the Afiaiv Kingdom's royal family.

"This is my token. You can use it to command the murlocs in the ocean."

The Black King took the token. It was undeniable—the White Dragon Lord's New Murlocs were a fine force in the ocean, boasting vast numbers and strict training.

With everything settled, the White Dragon Lord picked a random target and steered the White Tower toward it.

Now, he had to make absolutely certain the titans didn't realize the dragons' strategic objective had shifted.