Book 7 - Fleeting Glory Chapter 164
The Dragons' Troubles
All of the one-time random portals set up in Blackrose had already been used up; that was how eager the legends were to rush to the Dragon Plane. Richard hadn't expected the rush at all, to the point that the large amount of magic materials he had stored in the castle were completely used up.
It had ended up in an awkward situation where there wasn't enough to teleport everyone. Thankfully, the Celestial Sage had changed his mind last minute and decided to go through Faelor.
When Richard returned to Faelor, he received news that Ruben had already headed through the portal and was now in the Dragon Plane. The long-distance portal from Bluewater to Dragon Valley had yet to be completed, which meant the Celestial Sage had travelled over 10,000 kilometres in less than a day.
Oftentimes, speed was a good measure of strength. In terms of speed alone, Ruben wasn't much different with Sharon. Richard's fastest way to get to Dragon Valley was the array of cloned brains, but even that took three to four days. He could only sigh at the enormous gap, contacting the nearest drone to relay his orders.
Not long afterwards, the orders reached the Thinker who spent a few minutes making sure he understood them before beginning operations. He was still in Dragon Valley, but the entire process took less than an hour before Richard's giant machine started to move.
A short while later, the Iron Triangle Empire's treasury was opened up as carpets, equipment, and luxury items were taken out for delivery. Construction materials were transferred to pick-up points all over the Empire, a flying chrysalide quickly making its way over to transport it all to Dragon Valley. Thousands of worker drones had already been mobilised, and would take a day's time to completely restructure the environment around Dragon Valley.
A third of Rosie's factory was suddenly dispatched to the valley, where a new workshop was already being built to handle creation and repair of some basic runes. The Dragon Valley was like a magnet that pulled half of the west's items, wealth, and talent to provide for the powerful beings that would soon be walking through.
Getting onto a cloned brain, Richard rushed towards the valley as well. The place was far too important, and at least at the beginning he would need to supervise himself. Thankfully, the travel time wasn't much of a waste anymore. With the pocket lab, he could even run some tests and study Midren's design.
......
The Dragon Plane suddenly noticed a spike in the number of incursions, but when people were dispatched to take a look they could only find some chaotic energy left behind by portals. It was impossible to tell what races the invaders were, how powerful they were, or even where they'd gone. Dragons were natural predators; if they couldn't find any clues at all, that meant these invaders were both sly and powerful.
However, the abundance of energy on the plane attracted beings from everywhere like it was a slab of sparkling meat. There were incursions nearly everyday, but most were adventurers without much strength and would soon become snacks. This was likely just an aberration.
If one were to link all of the powerful invasions, they would find that more than twenty incursions had occurred. This was enough to shock even the Five-Coloured Dragon, but everyone who encountered such issues thought they were individual problems and just warned their friends to take care of their nests. Nobody really paid any mind, instead gossiping about the battle a few days prior between Bahamut and the Dragon Slaver. They also talked about the plight of the poor golden dragon, Kralkalor.
......
The days passed by dully until the arrival of the Celestial Sage, Ruben.
Kralkalor had remained in front of the portal all this while, not moving a muscle. Even the ripples on the portal didn't bring any life to his eyes. It had been days since anyone walked out, but the damage from Sharon had left him numb to it all. The other dragons had learnt their lessons and moved kilometres away, being prepared to run if someone truly frightening walked out.
There were only a hundred or so dragons surrounding the portal now, but their overall power in battle had actually risen substantially. Most of them were elite subordinates of Bahamut, while a small portion were left behind by those dragons who had territory nearby. The battle with Sharon had been earth-shattering, and the deaths of seven dragons with the capture of five had warned them clearly that this was a huge threat.
Most of the weaker dragons had fled after that day, returning to their daily routines, but even they didn't bring up the idea of just giving up on Faelor. These dragons were just far too proud to admit such defeat.
The portal was thus watched at all times, with the dragons having sent their strongest fighters for the defense. Bahamut himself was nowhere to be seen, likely having gone to the Five-Coloured Dragon to ask for reinforcements.
Kralkalor was the only one with no subordinates around. With the incident regarding Paero as well as the fact that the gold dragon had no way to repay his debt to Bahamut, those under him had all jumped ship. Mesmerwing had been the first to flee.
When another familiar figure walked through the portal, Kralkalor continued to just lie on his belly dispiritedly while the other dragons exchanged glances. Everyone knew the Celestial Sage, but was this one real or fake? Sharon had only appeared a few days ago, it made no logical sense for Ruben to be here as well. Faelor was only a secondary plane; for two epic beings to be nearby was unfathomable.
Just like Sharon, Ruben was also someone who preferred blue. Starlight glittered all around his blue robes, while his long blue hair was one of his most distinctive features. When he walked out of the gates, an expression of surprise flashed across his face. None of the dragons had broken into an uproar or fled upon his arrival, but their defences were far from enough.
"Are they new to the myriad planes?" he muttered to himself. Only a plane that had just broken through its crystal sphere wouldn't recognise him; in the depths of the void, his fame was far beyond his strength. But that conjecture didn't make sense either; this plane was clearly of a high level.
The Celestial Sage's face lit up in joy; strange incidents like this were a chance for a great discovery. However, he finally noticed a familiar figure that he had instinctively ignored because of its listlessness, his delight being tempered somewhat, "Kralkalor? So this is the Five-Coloured Dragon's territory?"
Kralkalor jumped in shock, finally understanding that this was the real deal. Glaring at the Celestial Sage, he slowly started to retreat.
Ruben facepalmed, "Ah right, I think I invited you to my lab once but you didn't agree. How about now? I'm sure you'd be willing to."
However, Kralkalor didn't flee as expected, instead roaring to the skies before turning around to attack. Ruben froze up for a moment as he saw dozens of dragons following right behind, unable to help but scratch his head. Had he been so peaceful in recent years that nobody feared him anymore? He certainly wasn't the most powerful epic being, but that was only relative to those like Philip.
......
By the time Richard made it to Dragon Valley, the Celestial Sage was already walking back through the portal. The old man who had lived for untold centuries pulled a dragon through just like Sharon, and his first words upon seeing Richard were, "Kralkalor managed to escape again." Richard actually had no idea who Kralkalor was, only managing to understand after a description.
The Celestial Sage was always elegant and wise. His blue robes hadn't been seen torn in over a century, and this time was no exception. It was impossible to tell how intense the battle at the other side had been. However, Richard was certain that the Dragon Plane had to have set up a powerful guarding force if they didn't destroy the other end of the portal; to be able to go through that and return peacefully with a dragon in tow definitely showed his experience and might.