Beneath the Red Dragon

And the innocent Achilles had also become quite familiar friends with these undead.

However, when Achilles crossed the Forest of Sin and began the arduous climb up the thousand-meter-high peaks, two familiar figures appeared before him.

”Brother Gabriel, Asis, why are you here again? Are you coming to pick me up again?”

The small face of Achilles, covered with light golden fur, suddenly broke into a joyful smile. He quickly leaped up the steps, which would be challenging for adult humans, and approached the two familiar figures.

With long red hair, dark golden eyes, and a face and figure more dazzling than the elves in the Empire, the dragon-blooded Angel of the Empire smiled.

And the tall, silent figure following behind Gabriel also nodded friendly at Achilles.

The enormous one-eyed gaze emitted a pure white blaze, unlike any creature in the mortal world.

”We are here to pick you up, yes, but also to say goodbye.”

Holding a dragon-faced golden helmet, Gabriel squatted down, looked at the somewhat dejected little Achilles, a gleam flickering in his pupils, and asked softly, ”Are those little dragons bullying you again?”

Little Achilles nodded. In front of his brother, he had no need to hide his feelings.

”I might really be very stupid. They aren’t really bullying me. They’re just mocking me, and I can’t refute them.”

Gabriel patted Achilles’ little furry head and said softly, ”They’re not actually mocking you; they’re jealous of you.”

”You may not have the title of the Emperor’s adopted son, but you are in fact an adopted son. They can’t understand why they, as giant dragons, can’t get as much of father’s love as you do.”

Little Achilles was greatly surprised, and said, ”Does father really love me? Whenever I go to see him, I’m always crushed by his tail or his legs—I almost get squashed to death by father several times.”

Gabriel’s face showed an indescribable expression. He sighed helplessly and said, ”That’s unavoidable. In times of danger, father is the most solid shelter, but normally, he’s the most dangerous one.”

Little Achilles nodded in bewilderment, both happy and confused, ”Oh.”

Gabriel shook his head, watching this confused little guy, and said earnestly, ”Achilles, this time I’m going away for a long time, to a far place, maybe for several months. If you get bullied again, I won’t be here to counsel you.”

”So next time those little dragonlings dare to ridicule you, you should be brave, beat them up instead of enduring it quietly, doubting yourself.”

Little Achilles raised his head in surprise, ”But, but they’re all the Empire’s true dragons, the rulers like father. I’m not a giant dragon, I have no scales, no horns, not even wings.”

Gabriel shook his head and said patiently, ”It’s not certain whether they’ll become the Empire’s true dragons. Besides, even if they do, can’t you also be the Empire’s Behemoth?”

”Father understands that in any world, any civilization, there will always be a handful of creatures standing at the top. Instead of letting those creatures get mixed among countless species, hard to distinguish, it’s better to position those giant dragons at the peak of the hierarchy.”

”That way it would be easy for father to target some unruly ones in the future,”

Gabriel said meaningfully, ”True dragons are not distinguished by race and bloodline; this is father’s holy word. Outside may think this only refers to giant dragons, but just being a giant dragon is not enough to earn the Emperor’s approval!”

”You may be a Behemoth, but you can become another kind of true dragon.”

Achilles frowned and said sheepishly, ”But I also want a pair of beautiful dragon horns, a body full of beautiful dragon scales. I see those Storm Giants already growing dragon scales, why can’t I?”

”Your bloodline is very precious, a rarity in the world, even rarer than the dragon bloodline. It’s cherished for protection, um, ensuring pure blood to better serve as a research mater... uh, undertake the duty of racial propagation.”

Gabriel explained awkwardly, ”You just need to grow up quickly, then produce a brood of Behemoths. That’s when you can grow a beautiful pair of dragon horns.”

Little Achilles was overjoyed, his light golden fur standing on end, and he shouted, ”Really, is that so?”

”In that case, I can give those little dragons a good beating,” Achilles soon frowned again, embarrassed, ”But, I feel I can’t beat them. They all have the giant dragon heritage, and I have nothing. They say my inheritance is sealed.”

”No worries,” Gabriel displayed a smile that was particularly familiar to the One-eyed Giant Asis.

”I know father has been organizing his knowledge recently, and much of the magic knowledge mastered by father has been forged into magic treasures with unique and powerful effects,”

Gabriel whispered in Achilles’ ear, ”Right at the corner of the doorframe at his castle’s study entrance, there’s a little bell hanging there, a magic treasure forged from a powerful Group Transformation Skill. Just ask father to let you play with it for a couple of days, and you can thoroughly thrash those little dragons.”

Achilles was overjoyed, quickly bid farewell to Gabriel and Asis, and then excitedly bounded away in a three-step-two-run leap.

”Aren’t you afraid of committing the sin of blasphemy by misinterpreting His Majesty’s intentions like this?” The silent One-eyed Giant Asis finally spoke then.

Gabriel stood up, shrugged indifferently, and said, ”Everyone has their own interpretation, that’s mine. How could it be called a misinterpretation?”

”Besides, for children, it’s a crucial time for growth, instilling some positive notions is very necessary, especially since the Emperor of the Empire likes to treat all subjects as if raised in a large pen.”

”Let’s go, Asis. This time we’re going to another world to help some of the Emperor’s loyal warriors and bring back something big! Thought Machine, I’m also curious about the ultimate creation of another civilization.”