"Muria, what brings you here?" Claudia's dragon eyes, frosty white with a faint golden glow, focused on the Titan entering the grand hall.
"Claudia, are you ready? It's time to prepare for the expansion war. I can't stay in Deprosen forever." When the two-year period ended, Muria arrived at the Ice Palace as promised and looked at the white dragon coiled on the Ice Throne.
"You still have time to help me?" Frost Queen Claudia looked at Muria in surprise. "Aren't you fighting a Seraphim every day?"
"Where did you hear that?" Muria raised his eyebrows slightly.
"You've fought on my territory; how could I not know?" The white dragon lifted a small claw and scratched her chin.
In her domain, there was a range of mountains leveled by Muria and Ilvestar's battles. Claudia recognized Muria from the recording crystal she obtained.
"Don't worry about that. Just gather your army and prepare to deploy." Muria smirked. In the past two years, his battles with Ilvestar had indeed become more frequent. The mountains, originally averaging over ten thousand meters in altitude, were reduced to a plateau filled with craters, almost flattened by half.
However, there was an unexpected surprise in the process. The frequent legendary battles had destroyed many mountains, revealing a super-sized mixed extraordinary metal ore vein hidden underground.
Muria spotted various mid- and low-grade extraordinary metals like black steel, blue-silver copper, and red-patterned gold just by visual inspection. Such a massive vein must contain strategic-level high-grade extraordinary metals.
Muria immediately notified Synapse, asking Mia to send some mountain dwarves to survey the vein. Mining was another issue, though. The vein's exposure resulted from Muria and Ilvestar's battles, so ownership was highly contested. Despite Ilvestar not lacking resources, he was unwilling to give up such a vast vein.
After a brief dispute, Muria secured 95% of the mining rights while Ilvestar got only 5%. Muria simply asked Ilvestar one question: "Do you have angels willing to mine?"
Holy angels, untouched by dust, couldn't possibly engage in the dirty and exhausting work of mining. Muria, however, had no shortage of such labor, from mountain dwarves drinking high-proof spirits and wearing specially made cold-proof clothing to human criminals and villains reduced to lower-level slaves. These individuals were destined to die from exhaustion in labor. Muria didn't consider himself cruel; this was their deserved fate. Death in labor was their only way to atone.
Thus, Muria obtained most of the mining rights, while Ilvestar had to be content with waiting for his share without deploying any angels.
Muria felt he was generous, but Ilvestar was unhappy with the distribution, though he had no choice, as none of his subordinates were willing to enter the mine. The Seraphim's metal resources came from the tributes of dependent races, so they couldn't produce hardworking angels.
After discovering the super mine, Muria and Ilvestar had to change their battle location. They chose uninhabited icy wastelands, plentiful in Deprosen.
These wastelands, devastated by Muria and Ilvestar's battles, generally turned into cratered plains or basins.
With so many battles, one might have taken place in Claudia's territory, benefiting her by increasing habitable land. In a way, Muria and Ilvestar's battles were actually benefiting the humans of Deprosen.
"I'm ready," Claudia said, staring at Muria. "But what about you? I'm planning to conquer all the human countries in the North. Can you support me in such an intense war?"
"There are still fifteen duchies in the North! Are you sure you want to conquer them all at once?" Muria's tone showed surprise at the ambitious white dragon's boldness.
A duchy had at least one legend, but some had more. The fifteen duchies in the North together had at least thirty legends, a staggering number.
"Of course, the fifteen northern duchies combined have only thirty-seven human legends. Why fear?" Claudia waved her dragon claws confidently.
"I've investigated. The strongest among these human duchies is only at the seventh legend rank. Such a human can be dealt with by either you or me. So why not conquer all fifteen duchies in one go and unify the North? Like those silver dragons in the Thiago Kingdom, I'll establish a unified northern kingdom."
"That's ambitious, Claudia. But can you defend it?" Muria asked. "You're an evil dragon. An evil dragon-ruled kingdom will be frequently attacked. Even strong good-aligned beings from other continents might come to defeat you. You might withstand the first and second waves, but can you endure the hundredth?"
"I'm already trying to establish contact with the Thiago Kingdom! Once I formally establish my kingdom, I'll establish diplomatic relations with them, gaining their recognition and shedding the evil dragon label."
"That's one way, but it's not enough. Besides good-aligned forces, there are dragon-hunting groups that hunt any dragon. A ruler dragon of only first rank legend is an enticing prey for them."
"My white dragon army is expanding, reaching three thousand dragons. When I command this army, their combined power will protect me, even from legendary dragon-hunting groups. Like nine years ago, I can easily counter them."
"But that means you must keep the white dragon army with you at all times. Any separation could endanger your life."
"I'm prepared to keep this army with me for the next five hundred years."
"The next five hundred years!" Muria twitched his mouth. "You've lived less than a hundred years so far."
"I'm mentally prepared. I have this resolve."
"You're too hasty. This isn't the mindset of a dragon. As long-lived beings, we should look centuries ahead. When you reach high legend rank, ruling this icy land will be a natural outcome."
"So you're advising me to give up this expansion?" Claudia looked at Muria oddly.
"What nonsense. If I weren't here to help, I'd have already left for another continent," Muria took a step forward, appearing before Claudia's ice throne, and lifted her relatively "petite" dragon body. Then he sat on her ice throne, holding the cold, jade-like white dragon in his arms.
"Is this really appropriate?" Claudia, trying to struggle free but unable to, asked while held by Muria. She still couldn't get over her previous defeat.
"What's wrong? You've lived with me since you were little," Muria knocked her head to stop her stray thoughts.
"Aren't you afraid the Seraphim will find out?"
"Don't worry. Even if she knows, she won't mind," Muria said confidently, smiling. "What? According to you, once I'm engaged, I can't touch any other females? Would that be unfaithful?"
"Pretty much," Claudia thought for a moment and nodded heavily.
"Then your future dragon mate can't interact with any other females besides you," Muria teased.
"First, I've never thought about finding a mate," Claudia glanced at Muria and then looked away. "Second, if I did find a mate and saw him touching another female, I'd turn him into a neuter dragon."
"Does that include female bugs?"
"..." Claudia nodded firmly. "Yes!"
"Poor guy!" Muria clicked his tongue.
The large-scale mobilization of troops couldn't be hidden. When Claudia began gathering her monster army, the entire North panicked.
Due to Claudia's lenient policy towards humans in her territory, her lands were filled with spies from other duchies. Any major movement would be known by other duchies.
But this was a grand strategy, so leaking it didn't matter. With absolute power, they could sweep through.
The fifteen northern duchies quickly formed the Northern Alliance under Claudia's pressure. Soon, a thrilling piece of news reached the newly formed alliance: three legendary frost giants with an army of 100,000 frost giants entered the White Dragon Duchy.
Originally, these humans were overjoyed, thinking the frost giants would conflict with the Frost Queen. But when they coexisted peacefully, the humans realized the frost giants were targeting them too.
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