-----
-----
On the throne sat a large, powerful man. Slowly, he opened his golden eyes, as if peering through countless barriers to see something far away.
"Lord Artosh, we've detected a strong energy surge! It's just slightly weaker than when you destroyed the End Dragon!"At that moment, a young Skywing girl rushed in, knelt respectfully, and reported with shock in her voice.
She had long, emerald-green hair, a single horn on her head—very unusual for a Skywing—and mismatched eyes: one blue, one golden. A pair of wings was folded tightly at her waist.
"I felt it too," Artosh replied calmly, looking at the girl—Azril, his top commander, and the very first Skywing he ever created.
"That energy came from that Chrono guy. He fought someone... and lost," Artosh said slowly. A flicker of interest sparked in his golden eyes."Someone actually beat Chrono... looks like the world just got itself another powerhouse."
"Chrono... lost?"Azril froze, completely stunned. Chrono was one of the three Dragon Kings. Even though he wasn't as strong as her creator, he was still at the top tier of existence. Even most gods wouldn't dare mess with him.
But he actually lost?
"Was it another god species?" Azril asked.
"No... I didn't sense any divine presence. Doesn't seem like a high-level race either. Heh... interesting."Artosh chuckled.
When you're the strongest, it's hard to find anything that interests you. But this mysterious figure who defeated Chrono? That caught his attention.
"No way..."Azril was even more shocked. Not a high-tier race? Since when could a lower species pull that off?
Even so, she didn't feel threatened. As long as Lord Artosh was around, nothing in this world could harm them. Compared to him, everyone else was like ants.
"By the way, where's that one—Jibril, the [special case]?"Artosh suddenly asked, as if something had just occurred to him.
His golden eyes sparkled with power. Even without using any pressure, Azril still felt the overwhelming weight of his presence.
"Little Jib? I think she's still out hunting the Forestkin. She hasn't returned yet," Azril answered respectfully.
"Really now?"Artosh said, voice full of meaning."My connection with Jibril's been cut off."
"What?!"Azril's eyes flew wide open, her face full of disbelief.
Jibril, being a special case among the Skywing, often acted unpredictably. Even though Skywing's individual combat power wasn't as high as the Dragonkin's, she kept challenging that super-powerful Dragonkin again and again, always coming back injured.
Still, she never seemed to fear death. That alone made the others completely baffled by her behavior.
Even more surprising, she sometimes behaved rudely toward their own god and creator, Lord Artosh himself.
No one could understand her. But since she was the last creation of their war god and basically the baby sister of the whole Skywing race, everyone doted on her—especially Azril, who spoiled her like crazy.
Now hearing that their connection was severed—how could Azril not be shocked or furious?
"Damn it! Did that Dragonkin kill Little Jib? My Lord, please allow me to lead the army to wipe them out!"Azril's killing intent flared.
"Jibril isn't dead. The connection break has nothing to do with the Dragonkin. If anything, it's connected to the one who fought Chrono."Artosh shook his head slightly and replied calmly.
"...!"Azril was stunned again.
"My Lord, please allow me to take a rescue force to bring Jibril back," she said seriously.
From her point of view, Jibril must've lost and become a prisoner. Considering how strong the enemy must be to beat Chrono, it was totally possible.
"Granted."Artosh nodded without hesitation.
"Thank you, Lord Artosh. Please wait for our good news."Azril looked pleased and quickly left the hall.
"Whoever you are... will you come here and show me what being the strongest really means?"Artosh closed his glowing golden eyes again and gave a small shake of his head.
Ever since his battle with the End Dragon, he'd been searching for the true meaning of being the strongest... but still hadn't found an answer.
That's why Jibril always said her creator-god was boring.
Meanwhile, back on the other side—
After finalizing the alliance with the Dragonkin, Riku scanned the group thoughtfully.
He was considering something:Should I form a contract with a Dragonkin?
Once a contract is made, he could gain one ability from the contracted being.
The Dragonkin's powers were all impressive. Whether it was their Word Magic or their Time Compression skills, both were very tempting.
If he could get Time Compression, opening the Eight Gates in battle would be like child's play—no more worrying about side effects.
But the tricky part was: who to form the contract with?
He had to be careful with their pride. Ideally, he'd pick Chrono. The guy was insanely strong and could become a solid partner.
But… Chrono was a Dragon King. It didn't seem likely he'd agree to be someone's underling.
And Riku wasn't close with the others...
That's when his gaze landed on Zhuyue. She wasn't a bad choice. They had a decent relationship, too.
"Riku, why are you looking at me like that?"Zhuyue asked, confused by his weird stare.
Jibril and the other Dragonkin also turned their curious eyes on him. By now, they all genuinely admired Riku—for both his strength and his intelligence.
"Hey, Zhuyue... how about becoming the ambassador between the Dragonkin and humans—and forming a contract with me?"Riku said with a grin, finally revealing his intentions.
"Huh?!"Zhuyue was stunned. The other Dragonkin also froze in surprise.
"Ehehe~ Is Master planning to build a harem across all the races now? Too bad Dragonkin can't transform into humans, you know~"Jibril chimed in at just the right moment, wearing a mischievous smile.
"..."