Beneath the Red Dragon

Boom,

An endless shadow crashed down, Ragnar roared towards the sky, the battleaxe in his hand radiating with fierce light, blocking horizontally.

Bang,

The metal column crashed down with unparalleled violence, driving Ragnar’s feet a few inches into the ground, cold blue blood beginning to flow from his nose and mouth.

But Karon Gogomola did not stop, this increasingly frenzied Red Dragon lifted the metal pillar and smashed it down upon the Frost Giant’s head time and time again.

The reverberating clangs of steel echoed across the mountain top, even causing the hundreds of watching Magma Giants to inadvertently show expressions of pity.

In the sky, Pik Elf Riven called out anxiously, ”Karon, stop, if you keep going, that big guy will be beaten to death by you...”

The Ancestral Red Dragon ignored the Little Elf’s cry, busy embedding the tens of meters tall Frost Giant inch by inch into the solid ground, leaving only his chest and head exposed.

Crack, crack,

The earth split like spider webs spreading, but under the claws of the Ancestral Red Dragon, these cracks sealed as soon as they appeared, trapping the Frost Giant firmly beneath the ground.

Yet the sounds continued incessantly, and on Ragnar’s arm, which held up the Legendary Battleaxe, the ice-blue armor cracked like the solid earth, spreading swiftly like a web.

Eventually shattering into cold fragments scattered across the ground.

Thud! The enormous metal pillar was driven into the earth by the Ancestral Red Dragon, who paced forward, standing over Ragnar whose arms trembled slightly, looking down at the Frost Giant.

”Why aren’t you resisting?” Karon stared at the Frost Giant King, boredom showing on his face.

”Does it make a difference?” Ragnar coughed, ice-blue blood flowing from his mouth like an icy spring.

Karon’s massive head slightly shook, a deep Dragon Language resonated, ”Ragnar, climbing a mountain is like Ascending to Divinity, I thought you might gain some insight upon reaching the peak, but you veered off the right path.”

”Cough, cough,” Ragnar met the Ancestral Red Dragon’s gaze, noticing the Red Dragon wasn’t as ferocious as during battle, and finally asked, ”Your right path may not be right for me.”

Karon’s crimson eyes showed admiration, he laughed, ”True, but all paths lead to the same destination, you don’t need to replicate but can draw inspiration.”

”To me, most beings blindly pursuing power represent weakness. They pursue power blindly to gain more, but because they desire too much, they fear sacrifice.”

”Yet some forsake everything for great power, which I also see as the wrong path.”

Karon squatted before Ragnar, beginning to entice him, injecting his own thoughts and will into the Frost Giant.

”You possess a flexible yet strong will, willing to sacrifice something for your kin but unwilling to abandon your people, obscuring the truth of the mountain.”

”Without a strong will, where’s the strong wisdom? You’ll doubt and deny yourself, and fail with the first wind and rain.”

”Without a flexible will, where’s the right wisdom? Once you step onto the wrong path, you won’t change, just reach a wrong end.”

Karon chuckled, baring long fangs,

”I see potential in you, Ragnar. You persist but also let go of what must be let go.”

”Embrace wisdom, and you’ll achieve far more than blind worshipers of power!”

The Ancestral Red Dragon gazed at the starry sky, speaking softly, ”Those mortal beings and Legends gaze at the stars for answers and hope,”

”Why such powerful beings can manipulate stars with small bodies, play with Plane Worlds like toys?”

”It’s due to the power of wisdom, not brute force.”

”For pure power, to play with the Icaria World, you’d need force larger than the world’s mass and energy.”

”If you exhaust the Icaria World’s energy, you can’t become such an existence, understand?”

Ragnar thought deeply, then asked, ”You want to recruit me? Yet instead of demanding submission, you use thoughts to persuade?”

”Recruiting you doesn’t fulfill my goals, nor do I mind ruling your Frost Giant Race,” Karon said blandly, ”But letting you develop suits my interests better.”

”Though the Golden Empire is diverse, it can’t encompass all civilizations’ traits, even incorporating you Frost Giants would just be a branch under my will.”

”Also a sign of rigid thinking and perspective,” Karon noted, ”Though you’re a level-headed and wise potential King, so an Imperial ally candidate.”

The Frost Giant King frowned, pondering, then asked, ”An ally candidate? What about others not Empire-friendly nations?”

The Ancestral Red Dragon lifted his head, smiling at the distance.

”Unpromising or uncollaborative nations must be swept away, occupying resources and annoying my sight!”

Ragnar didn’t see arrogance in the Red Dragon’s words, having visited this nation, knowing its potential.

Though its citizens lived more peacefully and happily than other realms, their martial nature wasn’t diminished, it hid in scabbards waiting to reveal deadly fangs.

Breaking nobility and casters’ knowledge monopoly, the Golden Empire held immense war potential.

Ragnar felt even in the Empire, a stone thrown might have a one in ten chance of hitting a Transcendent or knowledgeable person.

Powers Ragnar feared to probe also lurked in this realm.

”Fortunately, the Frost Giants aren’t the Empire’s enemy,” Ragnar sighed, asking, ”What should we do? Who’s our enemy then?”

”In ten years, maybe decades, I’ll convene the Northern Land Kings, hunt the Northern Border South countries!” Karon smiled, ”Then you’ll see!”