Draco smiled as he walked towards the Aether Hall with Hikari trailing behind him. Her changed demeanor startled Vitae, who knew of her former nature. Her eyes had become sharper and her general disposition was less benevolent, rather being nobler.
Before, Hikari had looked like an innocent Goddess, or more like a naive Saintess in her human form. Now, she looked like a wise and beautiful young queen who was unbreakable.
How could a person change so much in just about a day? Exactly what had Draco put her through to evolve her like this?
Vitae didn't have the chance to ask as one of the youths with the indigenes shouted at Draco.
"You thief! Did you ask us for permission before you began to build? How dare you steal our land to build your own territory?"
The fellow was an averagely handsome guy who looked slightly younger than Draco. His hair was black and styled into a fade while his eyes were dark brown. He looked quite well-built and wore a colorful wax print outfit that looked swanky.
All of the indigenes here wore a variety of this same outfit, which was quite a strange sight to see in a medieval world.
Draco smiled at them genially and spoke lightly: "The natives of the Paradise Lands are welcome to my City State. If you wanted an audience, you only needed to send a request and I could see to you."
Draco's polite words were veiled with undertones that sharp minds could dissect. This made the natives naturally unhappy, so it was no surprise that the same youth from earlier erupted again.
"How dare you! If you acknowledge we are the natives of this land, then tear down your offensive buildings at once and kneel for forgiveness!"
The indigenes with him seemed supportive of this, but no one else spoke out.
After all, they understood the underlying circ.u.mstances, so they felt it was better that this fellow played the role of the indignant youth.
What they didn't expect was that the fellow's head would be directly chopped off in one swing the very next moment!
All eyes turned to his body's location, but what chilled the onlookers was that there wasn't anyone there.
No one had seen or sensed any life near his position before he died, as most of them were looking at Draco to see his reaction, not at the youth who was killed.
Suddenly, beside Draco appeared the form of a woman in a tight leather outfit with a hood that covered her face. She wielded two blades with amazing designs, one that was black as night and one that was a white as milk.
On the black sword, a trail of blood dripped down, which was flicked away by this woman who had suddenly appeared from nowhere.
How could the natives not understand who had killed their fellow?
"IMPUDENT!"
"ATROCIOUS!"
"UNFORGIVABLE!"
They all roared out with anger as they prepared to fight, yet Draco had no plans to engage them. After all, among their party were some Rank 3 entities who could kill him unless he used one of his life-saving cards.
However, one should not forget where they were!
"How dare you try to attack the Hall Master!" Vitae growled with anger as the ambient Worldly Energy of the land was pulled to the hall in torrents.
Everyone came to a stop when they felt the energy being sucked away like a whale had opened its mouth. Then, the Aether Hall gathered this energy before it in the form of…
A Dragon!
Well, Vitae was the avatar of the Aether Hall and he had used Draco's pureblood to create himself. It was natural that he would form an attachment to the big mighty serpents like Draco.
Of course, the Energy lifeform Dragon that was crafted with Worldly Energy wasn't anything close to the real deal. It was a lifeless puppet that had to be directed to do anything, and its Rank was tied to the Aether Energy concentration levels, which meant it was currently capped at Rank 4.
However, this was more than enough to deal with the indigenes who had come here. All of them shivered in fear when they saw the Dragon come into being and hover over them with malicious intent.
｢Name: Energy Dragon (Fake) – Rank 4 Dragon Emperor
Level: 175
HP: 500,000/500,000｣
It was classified as an NPC rather than a monster, which was normal for Dragonkin. Its health compared to its Rank was abysmal though, but then again it didn't have a true physical form, to begin with.
It was a given that it had sharp and amazing attack power though, so there was that. The indigenes were directly suppressed in a way Draco didn't dare to use against the Hidden Powers and it felt good.
Draco stepped forward and bowed courteously to the indigenes. "If my fellow brothers and sisters have calmed down, feel free to follow me into the Aether Hall where we may find some redress for your concerns."
The indigenes realized that the tide had turned against them and they were in a severely disadvantageous position. With the Hidden Powers indirectly behind Draco coupled with this Aether Hall, it was impossible to use force or coercion to achieve the result they wanted.
As such, they would have to rely on negotiation.
They sucked it up and entered the Aether Hall with Draco, Riveting Night and Hikari, who were idly chatting like the other group weren't even there.
Draco summarized his trip to the Land of Riches to Riveting Night and the madwoman was ecstatic to hear that he had seeded Hikari as well. Riveting Night burned with curiosity to know just what kind of child Hikari would give birth to.
Hikari felt extremely close to Riveting Night in a way like never before. Now that she was more than likely pregnant with his child, she was in the same boat as Riveting Night and Roma.
She was even more affectionate towards Riveting Night because they had both developed an obsession towards Draco's existence, where his life was the reason for them trying to better themselves so that could become even more useful to him.
Draco led the group into the throne room and sat down on his throne with a lazy posture. Riveting Night and Hikari sat in their respective thrones, which hadn't changed from the shape they took when the Hidden Powers were here.
The Indigenes were angry when they realized that there was no seating for them. Still, even the Hidden Powers hadn't been given seating, but they hadn't been interested in that.
They had come seeking the benefits of the City State, while these fellows probably wanted it gone, or at least, wanted some share in it.
As such, they had expected to be received properly, but that wasn't so. As they stood there in the middle of the room with impotent rage, Draco smirked and placed his fist against his cheek.
"Guests from afar, you are in the presence of the King of Vita Capital City. You've been granted an audience and may now plead your concerns after which I shall attempt to redress them as I see fit."
Riveting Night almost burst out into laughter when she heard Draco's words, while Hikari actually did so, but covered her mouth quickly.
What he said wasn't funny per se, but it was the way it was utilized at this precise time and in such circ.u.mstances that made it funny to the two women. Even Vitae chuckled lightly, nodding his head agreeing that this was how it should be.
The Indigenes trembled with anger, but they could only swallow it since they were in the den of the lion.
How ignorant… thinking this was merely the den of a lion…
They were currently trapped in the castle of a Dragon!
One of the oldest fellows among them stood forth and bowed lightly. Draco had taken note of him because he was hiding his true Rank from everyone in the room.
"My name is Anan and I represent this diplomatic party of the Nshaw Tribe. Might I ask His Majesty to grant us a more suitable reception for a diplomatic party?"
(Author's Note: 'Nshaw' is pronounced as 'Inshore')
Draco's eyes narrowed. He called up the fellow's true name tag.
｢Name: Anan – Rank 4 Assassin Emperor
Level: 192
HP: 1,350,000/1,350,000｣
To send a Rank 4 Assassin to a diplomatic talk with him… this Nshaw Tribe were quite insidious. Did they not realize that he was an Immortal Adventurer?
No, they must naturally be aware of that. They, more than anyone, would investigate everything they could about Draco.
If they failed in their attempt, it would only result in a massive falling out with him, which would not be in their benefit.
After all, Draco led a guild of Immortal Adventurers.
While Immortal Adventurers were still considered weak at the moment, only at the level to provide some growth of their youths, their inability to stay dead and their ever-increasing numbers gave the NPCs who weren't affiliated with them a massive headache.
If they were going to strike at Draco, they would make sure that they had a 100% success rate to rid themselves of him. This meant that they had something that could function like Omega and delete his account.
After all, the NPCs had no way of knowing that players could just create new accounts.
According to their sense of logic, it was already a heaven-defying thing to be able to come back after death, yet it was what the almighty Gods had blessed these newcomers with, but they figured once an Immortal Spirit was destroyed, that should be it.
Problem was, unless the AI specifically banned a player from rejoining the game, they could come back endlessly.
Yes, they would have to start over from the very beginning, but with enough time they could reach and surpass their previous level. With the help of their brethren, it could even happen way quicker than the first time.
What was even worse was that Draco had the Seal of Camelot.
The Isle of Avalon passive skill negated all punishments from death unless it originated from something of the Divine Rank (i.e failing a Divine Quest, getting hit with something like the real Omega, being smashed into paste by True Gods, etc).
So, whatever it was they had planned, it would unmistakably fail. Draco decided to maintain the status quo and allow them to 'accomplish' exactly what they had in mind.
He waved his hands to Vitae, who created a table and seats for the 'diplomatic party' of the Nshaw Tribe. Some of the younger ones thought Draco was intimidated by Anan, who was shown to be a Rank 3.
They huffed and crossed their arms, smiling provocatively towards Draco. However, their faces became pale when they saw Riveting Night 'look' in their direction.
They immediately sat properly when they remembered the death of one of their own just a few minutes ago.
Anan ignored this and observed Draco quietly. He was the best Assassin of the Nshaw tribe that ruled the underground world of the Paradise Lands. His insight and ability to judge people, as well as situations, were unparalleled.
He had already seen Riveting Night when she had snuck up behind the young fellow and lopped off his head. Not only him, but many of the other Rank 3's and some more powerful Rank 2's among them also noticed this yet they pretended to be angry on Anan's instruction.
He wanted to use the death of that fellow as legitimization for killing Draco, but no one could have predicted that this bizarre building could spawn a Rank 4 Dragon. Even though the Dragon was fake, it would be hard to kill.
He could naturally kill it, but that would be at the cost of all his followers here and there was no guarantee he would not take at least some long-lasting damage himself. It was completely foolish to enter fisticuffs at that time.
As such, his task now was to lead the negotiations and lower the guard of Draco until an opportunity presented itself to complete his mission.
Anan couldn't see it, but Riveting Night was sneering at him under her hood. A mere Rank 4 Assassin Emperor tried to act all high and mighty simply because he saw through her stealth?
It was only because she was Rank 1, so the techniques she could use were limited. In her prime, she had been a Rank 6 Assassin Godling. Rank 4 idiots like him had been killed by her until there was a depressing deficit of them.
Not to mention that Eva's stealth was mixed with her bloodline techniques. She hadn't wanted to waste BP on a simple maneuver, or he would have been as clueless about the killer as the unlucky fellow.
Riveting Night knew that Anan was secretly Rank 4 because Draco informed her through PMs.
Hikari was paying attention to what was going on. During the verbal battle with the Hidden Powers, she had been only half paying attention and found everything boring.
She didn't even stay to listen to Draco's battle against the Merchants, but rather went off to play with the Aether Conversion Orb.
After experiencing her growth, as well as the change in her view of the world, Hikari felt like she could learn a lot from how Draco handled this matter to help him out in the future. As such, this time around, she paid extremely close attention to everything.
Draco himself found all of this to be funny. He flitted through the surface memories of the few Rank 1 members of the group, as he couldn't read into the minds of those Ranked higher than him.
Not mention that the State of Being of the natives was so far below his own that it was comical.
Through this process, he learned a lot about the Nshaw Tribe and what existed below the Paradise Lands. Compared to his last life he felt like he had been a frog in a well.
Of course, he couldn't see it all thanks to his Divine Eyes granting him the True Sight ability, which was only as efficient at reading memories as a telepath was.
Anan finally spoke after some silent observation.
"Your Majesty Draco, you built a settlement on land belonging to the Nshaw Tribe with the permission of an invading force. While I recognize your power, I have to say, it is a bitter pill to swallow to recognize your sovereignty."
"This land has been owned and occupied by my Tribe for generations upon generations. We originally existed on the surface, but had been forced to develop under the earth as many invaders sought to swallow our home."
"After centuries of development and battle, we finally managed to push back all invading parties. We didn't return to the surface because we had developed a strong ecosystem below the earth, so we sought to allow our land above the earth to regain its lushness after all that fighting."
"Ever since the War of the Gods, the world changed and many new powers came into play, while many old ones disappeared. New Kingdoms, new guilds, new empires, new factions."
"All of them sought to claim this land in one way or another, but we were able to repel them all."
"The most recent offender was the Adventurer's Guild, who built outposts in order to conquer the land. Their armies were repelled at the cost of many of the lives of our youth."
Anan's eyes suddenly sharpened. "Why even recently, an outpost was completely razed to the ground and one of the people in charge was kidnapped. A girl called Zaine, I believe."
"I'm quite sure I have heard of her presence here from some of the workers in the City State. From what we've gathered, you have claimed her as your own."
Judging by the genuine reactions of the other members of the Nshaw Tribe, they had been unaware of this until a moment ago. They were initially shocked then enraged. The death of a whole outpost was something that had shaken the whole Tribe greatly, especially the manner in which it had happened.
To hear that it was done by the fellow sitting before them was painful! This was because he had used the favor gained from killing their people to build right on their land.
Who could swallow such an insult?
Draco's eyes became darker as he gazed at Anan. Truly, the fellow was skilled in the art of wordplay, as well as verbal contests. They really sent in someone prepared.
However…
"That's right, it was I who killed those youths. I also took away Zaine as my spoil of war, since her w.o.m.b should suit the purposes of my expansion."
Draco's casually admittance of the fact brought a violent tension to the room as all the Nshaw Tribe members except Anan stood up and placed their hands on their weapons, looking ready to fight to the death to right this injustice, Dragon or whatnot be damned.
The only thing stopping them was Anan, who held them back with a raised hand. His dark black eyes that seemed to see through everything were trying to analyze every aspect of Draco.
"So, you actually admit to killing our people as well as kidnapping one of our own?"
Draco smiled at that question. "Something like that."
Anan rose to his feet and his dark black hair which was styled in a warrior's locks began to sway with his movement. He looked like a viper about to strike.
"Then I hope His Majesty doesn't blame me for seeking redress for my people."
Anan, immediately rushed at Draco with such speed that it looked like he teleported. Vitae responded quickly by summoning the Fake Dragon as a form of defense, but Anan had already accounted for that after coming to know of its existence.
As such, he split into two copies, each one possessing half of his health and firepower. He believed that even 50% of his self was enough to cull Draco.
The thing was, he was right.
Anan reached the bottom of the dais around the throne, throwing out two items. One was a knife that was aiming for Draco's head and another was an unseemly little pill that looked harmless.
Anan even grimaced, as if he didn't mean to throw that out. Anyone who looked at this scene would think that Draco should concentrate on that incoming knife, but the true danger lay with the pill.
Draco used the Eyes of Caelo on it.
｢Evil Bead – Consumable
Rank: Epic (50% effectiveness)
Effect: Destroy the Immortal Spirit of any entity below Rank 3.｣
Draco was amazed. Since when did the Nshaw Tribe have Evil Beads and why so early? Why was its form also vastly different from what Draco remembered?
However, he just boredly watched as the two items came at him. Anan hadn't fired the knife with any skill or technique in mind, as it was a distraction.
Draco simply tilted his head to one side as the knife plunged itself into his throne.
Anan didn't care about whatever theatrics Draco performed, he only wanted to see that Evil Bead connect, then his mission would be complete.
The moment it hit Draco, a black and destructive energy swallowed him up. Anan couldn't help but smirk.
'Truly foolish arrogance. Now, to deal with the other two before leaving.'
However, he froze when he heard a satisfied sigh. His mind shook when he saw Draco still in the same position, but his face was ruddy and filled with vigor.
Draco laughed happily as he waved at Anan in a genial manner.
"I thank Brother Anan for the hearty meal! I had no idea processed Destruction Energy tasted this good! Allow me to show you my gratitude!"