Beneath the Red Dragon

In the vast King’s Castle, the dome seemed infinitely distant.

High above on the enormous throne, a young man whose true face could never be clearly seen sat quietly, bowing his head in contemplation.

Rumor had it that the Emperor of the Golden Empire, Karon Gogomola, the Dragon King and Emperor of Dragons, rarely wished to reveal his humanoid form to the public due to his own excessively handsome appearance and the innate pride of the Giant Dragon.

Only in the Dragon King Court, the Imperial National Library, or the Giant Dragon National Academy, these sacred places, would this Dragon King, whose appearance could rival even the Angels of the Celestial Realm, maintain a friendly visage in human form.

Of course, the creators of these rumors were unaware that the humanoid form of the Red Dragon, when appearing in his private lab, wasn’t exactly an indication of amiability.

Currently, in the Abyssal Hell, there are already small regions spreading images of the Red Dragon’s humanoid visage and related coordinates used in the past for summons on the Prime Material Plane.

Rumors also warned all Demons and Devils not to respond recklessly to summoning from the Material Plane in the near future, lest they depart and never return.

This situation also led to Karon himself and his team of Casters needing to heavily conceal and redirect the true coordinates of the plane they were on whenever they wanted to summon creatures from other planes.

However, due to this situation, some ’hacker’ Mages started to emerge within the empire, specializing in such operations.

Even the Dragon Group, those with some understanding of Karon’s abilities, wouldn’t realize that Karon’s reluctance wasn’t from the typical disdain of most Red Dragons to transform into weak bipedal beings; to Karon, every form was a manifestation of himself.

Nor was it because an overly handsome appearance was not quite fitting for an Emperor of the Imperial.

It was because Karon discovered that his visage transformation was gradually evolving; when his human face appeared, his humanity occupied a majority, and his way of thinking leaned more towards human perspectives.

At the same time, he sensed that his visage transformation, after starting to take form, was nurtured by the entanglement of the Power of Faith and his own Heart Energy to develop abilities unique to each visage.

Although the abilities have yet to take shape, not even considered a seed, Karon speculated about his visage transformation abilities. Perhaps, akin to the abilities and Divine Positions of those Divine Spirits who Ascended to Divinity through faith, each of his visage adaptations derived their abilities from unique visage origins.

These thoughts flashed through Karon’s mind as he still sat on the throne, looking at the silent hall of the Royal Court. This was now one of his rare moments of solitude.

With the empire’s early establishment, no matter how adept the Dragon Emperor was at passing the buck and shirking responsibility, he became embroiled in cumbersome imperial duties. Numerous commands awaited his issuance, documents awaited his review, and important members awaited his audience.

The endless tasks seemed to have no end. Only then did Karon truly empathize when Blue Dragon Doss often ran into the court during lazy times to complain to him, about how even dragons, a species known for their good sleep, could be awakened by nightmares.

Moreover, it wasn’t just imperial duties; Karon’s own plans couldn’t be delayed for too long either.

Now, the biggest issue for Karon was not how to grow to a higher level; instead, he needed to pay special attention to his growth, ensuring he didn’t allow himself to grow wildly without purpose.

If one day, upon waking up, he found he had crossed the Legendary Stage, then it would be a great tragedy, as he would have missed the best opportunity to solidify his foundation.

Fortunately, the Dragon Race differs from these weaker species of humans. Even if Karon’s life rank hasn’t crossed the Legendary Stage, his pure strength can still grow until reaching some insurmountable boundary, though unable to spark certain qualitative changes.

However, now the busy affairs finally reached a pause, and the Royal Court became empty, settling into complete silence, only occasionally pierced by the ringing bell that echoed in the court, like the final note of a song after a party has ended.

The quietly standing Chief Maid, Charlize, used her peripheral vision to sneak a glance at the monarch, eyes slightly closed, head bowed in thought. The contours resembling jade carvings and iron chiseled features did not impress Charlize as much as the slight furrow in Karon’s brow.

”The rule over the empire is one of the great supports of the master, but it is also the shackle binding the master to the throne,” Charlize thought, ”Every dragon is born with wings to soar in the skies, and no dragon should be confined to the throne.”

This silent master and servant remained until noon arrived. The maids in the castle rang the bell and started bustling between the corridors and castle, while the Half-Elf chefs began preparing the Emperor’s lunch.

This signified the designated meal and rest time.

As long-lived beings, dragons, including Karon, have never had a precise concept of time. Even Karon, after living almost a mortal’s first half of life, gradually blurred his sense of time.

These dragons habitually arrange their activities according to their preferences and inclinations, free and unrestrained, never considering time.

In the views of the Dragon Race, paying attention to time is considered a lowly notion, simply a necessary measure for those short-lived species with fleeting lifespans.