For a monarch with an extremely strong desire for control, investigating whether a subordinate with the power to rebel is loyal has no meaning. The key is not whether he is loyal, but whether he has the capability to rebel.
The same principle applies to the divine. To them, any ascender that might threaten their divine position domain is an unending divine enemy, regardless of stance, faction, or ideology, simply because it threatens their fundamental interests as a divine.
Even if this ascender comes from the Dragon Clan, even if many Dragon Gods have proven that a dragon ascender will never occupy a significant divine position, much less infinitely increase divine status and power like most deities.
But all this is of no use. Even if this Dragon Clan repeatedly declares never to ascend, it cannot dispel the enmity of the divine. Even if this divine is truly magnanimous, his followers and devotees will take action.
"Brother, I’ve already tracked the trail of an elder matriarch Zor, why did you summon me back so urgently?"
The Mechanical Warlord Terramus, returning from the Dark Territory underground, complained to his brother with mild dissatisfaction on his face.
If initially, it was just to maintain his father’s prestige by hunting down the rebellious Dark Race, now, having slain to his heart’s content in the Dark Territory, Terramus treats it as a legitimate reason to act therein.
As a Golden Dragon who wields the Undead Black Scripture, there is no place more suitable than the Dark Territory underground, because almost no clan surviving there meets the moral standards of a Golden Dragon, so Terramus has no psychological burden no matter what means he uses.
Whether it’s the fallen Dark Zor from elves or the spirit-sucking monsters that reproduce by parasitizing other humanoid races, even compared to their ocean kin, they are worse, especially the Kuo-Toas.
Even if he slaughters all these underground clans, there would be no trouble because the underground follows the law of the jungle. Getting killed means only blaming one’s lack of strength, there’s nothing to say, and the same goes for the dark gods these races worship.
This is completely different from when he assists his brother Iliad on the Alviss Continent. On the surface, there are too many eyes on him, especially due to his identity as a Holy Dragon Descendant, forcing him, with his father’s support, to collaborate with goblins to conduct research, creating mechanical undead that look devoid of any evil aura.
Even so, each time he deploys the mechanical army, he is cautious, ensuring each move aims directly for victory and that after every campaign, all debris remnants are taken away, leaving no trace.
But there aren’t as many restrictions underground. Even if these dark creatures discover his identity as the Undead Sovereign, so what?
Would anyone believe these guys if they ran to the surface to accuse a Holy Dragon Descendant? Moreover, almost no underground creature can escape alive after witnessing the true form of a mechanical undead.
Terramus can hardly keep track of the lives and souls he has harvested over the years in the Dark Territory. Although his own power hasn’t changed significantly over these years, the expansion speed of his army has indeed been astonishing.
This is much faster than normal army building. Although traditional necromancers have an extremely tedious process to create a powerful undead, he has his nephew’s help, simplifying production through the Great Graveyard, reducing conversion time.
Even if it eventually requires enhancement in the Giant God Workshop, and the process remains very cumbersome, the entire operation can run like an assembly line.
So long as his later investments keep up, he can see new mechanical undead walk off the Giant God Workshop’s assembly line every day.
This is the driving force behind Terramus’s relentless slaughter in the Dark Territory. As long as he keeps killing, he witnesses the continuous growth of his army every day.
In this situation, the dragon species’ greed and hunting instinct, combined with the sense of justice inherent in the Metallic Dragon Race, are enough for Terramus to perpetuate this war, as he continuously reaps the spoils of warfare.
"Rumors are spreading outside that our father is going to ascend to godhood. Why do you think I called you back?"
Originally calm-natured, Iliad now appeared worried, and a look of obvious restlessness could be seen as he handed a thick stack of information and a series of recording crystals to his brother.
He’s calm-natured but not dull. When rumors of the Eternal Golden Land spread widely in the Holy Dragon Land and even to outsiders, he sensed something was off and perceived danger.
Yet he can’t stop such news because every Holy Dragon citizen can be a disseminator, making it impossible to eradicate. Almost all Dragon-men are eager to participate by describing the greatness and mercy of the Holy Dragon to those unaware.
Even being the Holy Dragon’s eldest son, he can’t issue administrative orders preventing the populace in his territory from discussing the grandness of the Holy Dragon or depicting their father’s greatness to outsiders. He’d undoubtedly be branded an unfilial son.
"Father wants to ascend to godhood? Didn’t he say he wasn’t interested in becoming a Dragon God?" Chapters first released on novel(ꜰ)ire.net