"Are these your subordinates?" Bernard, who had grown to fifteen meters in height due to his continuous eating, looked at the cloud giants descending from the sky with a complex expression.
Although he had already suspected it, seeing his suspicions become reality was still shocking. After all, some suspicions remain just that, with the possibility of being wrong.
"What else did you expect?" Muria glanced at this country bumpkin. His ignorance made Muria feel a bit embarrassed. Taking him out and claiming he was his follower would be shameful. Bernard had actually considered Titans to be mythological and fictional beings, which left Muria speechless due to his lack of knowledge.
"Next, focus on adapting to the power in my blood. You haven't yet reached your complete form," Muria instructed. "In time, your power will grow stronger. If you can calm down and accumulate strength, it's not impossible to break through to the Legendary level with my help."
"I understand." Hearing that the breakthrough to Legendary, which he had longed for, was possible in the short term, Bernard didn't feel overly joyful. This was, after all, the price he paid for becoming a servant.
Afterward, Bernard handed over his territory to Muria without much hesitation. His only task was to send his officials to reassure the populace as the giants took over the city.
Fortunately, his previous actions had made the human populace in his territory quite accepting of intelligent beings other than humans, so there was little unrest when Muria took over the Thorn Territory.
With that, Synaps' control over the Wyrm Peninsula doubled in size almost instantly. This was one of the advantages of conquering an already established territory—once the highest leader was subdued, the entire land was in hand, saving time and effort.
However, there was no second land like the Thorn Territory on the Wyrm Peninsula. The rest of the land would have to be conquered inch by inch by Synaps' giants, and the further they advanced, the harder it would become.
In the initial stages of conquest, many intelligent beasts fled at the sight of the giant army. But as they ran out of places to flee, they began to gather and resist.
In fact, the giant army was no longer finding the conquest as easy as before. The resistance was growing stronger, but so far, there had been no casualties. After all, Synaps' forces were far superior to the native inhabitants of the Wyrm Peninsula in terms of individual strength, numbers, and equipment.
In every aspect, Synaps had an overwhelming advantage over the peninsula's natives. Muria couldn't imagine a scenario where he could lose. With such an overwhelming force, how could he fail? Conquering the Wyrm Peninsula was just a matter of time. The only question was how much it would cost him.
"Tell me about your family," Muria said, approaching Bernard, who was gorging himself and had begun to grow a tail and two bulges on his back after just taking over the Thorn Territory.
"I was born into an ordinary noble family, and I'm the second son, which put me in a rather awkward position," Bernard explained, sharing his background.
"No, no, you've misunderstood me. I'm not interested in your rise to power. I only want to know about your family's status in your country and the resources they control," Muria interrupted, uninterested in hearing a rags-to-riches story. Given Bernard's current status, Muria didn't need to guess to know that he was likely the head of his family.
"My family is now one of the top aristocratic families in the Sapphire Duchy, one of the seven marquess families," Bernard said proudly. Before his birth, his family had struggled for generations just to earn an earl's title.
But after his birth, he had elevated his family to the ranks of the high nobility, becoming a living legend in the Sapphire Duchy—a dream lover for countless noblewomen.
However, Muria clearly wasn't interested in his personal story. Upon hearing about his family's status, Muria's face showed obvious disdain. "Only a marquess?"
According to the unwritten rules of human nations, the highest title a Soul Intent-level individual could obtain was marquess, while a Legendary individual had the right to establish a duchy. If they didn't want to establish their own country, even joining an empire would only earn them an honorary duke title.
"You..." Bernard felt both ashamed and angry at Muria's reaction. He wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. It was only natural for someone with legendary blood to look down on a mere human marquess.
"Fine, you'll do for now," Muria sighed in resignation. He still hadn't found the chromatic dragons that had been exiled to this continent. These dragons weren't on the Wyrm Peninsula.
He had sent his storm giants to scour the entire peninsula, but they hadn't found any trace of the exiled chromatic dragons. Since they weren't on the peninsula, they had to be on the mainland.
Now that the situation on the Wyrm Peninsula was stable, Muria's thoughts began to wander. He wanted to use the Thorn Territory as a channel to enter the mainland and search for those dragons.
Muria also believed that they wouldn't be insignificant after all these years. They must have made a name for themselves. With a bit of investigation, he should be able to find some information about them.
"Inform your family to make arrangements for my arrival. As for my identity, decide for yourself. You can make up a story or tell the truth; it's up to you," Muria instructed Bernard flatly as he glanced at him devouring his meal.
Muria had no interest in Bernard's feelings. Now that Bernard was his servant, his life was in Muria's hands. A servant should behave like one and follow orders. Why should Muria care about his servant's thoughts? Who was the master, and who was the servant here?
...
A fleet sailed across the boundless ocean, cutting through the waves. Muria stood on the central ship with a heroic young woman, facing the wind.
In the sky, some storm giants riding giant eagles were hidden in the clouds. Around the fleet, countless long, dark shadows lurked in the water, occasionally breaking through the surface and revealing parts of their bodies under the sunlight, causing the sailors on the ships to tremble with fear.
"How many undead did you kill this time?" On the wooden flagship, Muria looked lovingly at his fiancée.
Synaps had already left the Orbisto Subcontinent, but a teleportation array connected it to the peninsula, making it easy for Mikaela to frequently lead her angel army, formed from the converted Watchers, to wage wars in the Undead Catacombs, purifying vast numbers of undead. This was something she enjoyed and something her Watchers had desired in their previous lives.
Muria wasn't worried about her bold actions because he had already bought off one of the old monsters in the Undead Catacombs, the ghost captain Barbossa.
The information for each of Mikaela's expeditions came from Barbossa, a traitor. There were no major issues because Muria had warned him that if anything happened to Mikaela, a Seraph would come looking for him. So, he didn't dare to provide false information.
As a lich who had lived for thousands of years, Barbossa knew every undead stronghold in the catacombs that had been around for a while. Now, all these strongholds had been sold to Muria as information. He didn't care about the purified undead.
It's worth mentioning that Barbossa was the one who had suggested this information trade. He had openly admitted that his motive was to gain the resources left behind after the undead were cleared out. After all, angels didn't need these resources, so it was a mutually beneficial arrangement—a blatant but effective strategy.
...
While Muria and Mikaela sailed across the ocean, Bernard activated the communication array and contacted his father.
"Father!" The moment the communication array opened, Bernard, who had begun adapting to the power of dragon blood and returned to his human form, called out with a complicated expression as he looked at the middle-aged man projected by the array. His mind was filled with memories of the nightmarish events he had recently experienced.
"My son, the pride of the Tulip family, what new achievements have you made recently?" The Tulip Marquess sat behind his desk, sipping his tea. Since his son had risen to prominence, he had continuously brought him great surprises, shocking his nerves time and time again. By now, he had grown accustomed to it and was ready for another shock. After all, he no longer lost his composure and spilled his tea as he had before.
"No achievements, I've lost the Thorn Territory instead," Bernard said in a daze.
"Uh!" The Tulip Marquess's hand paused slightly, causing the tea to spill onto the table. His expression stiffened. He looked at the image projected by the communication array and forced a laugh. "My son, you must be joking, right?"
"I'm not joking, Father," Bernard replied after a moment of thought, deciding to come clean with his father. There was no point in hiding it. He was already Muria's servant; could his family possibly escape?
"What happened?" The Tulip Marquess asked seriously.
"The Thorn Territory is no longer ours, and I have become someone else's servant," Bernard said sadly as he raised his hand. In the shocked gaze of the Tulip Marquess, golden scales began to appear on his hand, transforming his arm into a dragon's claw.
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