The Rise of the Titan

"Mother!" Claudia, the white dragon, lowered her head slightly in respect as she gazed upon the crystal dragon, Philomena, who had suddenly appeared beside her. Although Philomena was not her biological mother, Claudia felt she had cared for her more than her real mother ever did.

Claudia owed her dragon life to two beings. The first was Muria, who had adopted her and generously imparted knowledge, altering her fate from becoming one of the barbaric and ignorant white dragons of the great glaciers and providing the foundation for her current achievements.

The second was the crystal dragon, Philomena, who had taken Claudia under her wing when she was exiled to the Deproson Subcontinent. Without Philomena's protection, Claudia's bold nature would have likely led her to be killed by dragon hunters or frost giants long before she reached her legendary status.

"Lord Frostwing!" Following Claudia's bow, the white dragons accompanying her also paid their respects to the most powerful being in their Frost Palace, Philomena, the Frostwing.

"Hmm!" Philomena felt a surge of satisfaction as she watched the white dragons pay homage to her. Though white dragons were often considered the weakest, they were still dragons.

"Mother, I just awoke from my slumber and am gathering everyone to discuss the next steps for the Frost Palace," Claudia explained.

"Are you planning to strike against the large frost giant tribes to the southeast, or are you setting your sights on the human kingdoms to the northwest?" Philomena asked with keen interest. She would support her daughter's decision regardless of the target, whether the filthy frost giants or the unruly humans.

"The human kingdoms!" After a brief hesitation, Claudia gave her answer. While she was eager to conquer the frost giant tribes, they were formidable adversaries. Even if she managed to defeat one, her Frost Palace would suffer significant losses.

In the early stages of building her power, Claudia had no choice but to engage smaller frost giant tribes to secure territory for herself and her followers. Now, for further expansion, humans were a more viable target. Despite the harsh environment making the humans of this continent more fierce and wild, they were still easier to conquer compared to frost giants. Subduing their strongest leaders would make it relatively easy to enslave the lower classes, unlike the difficult task of dominating the frost giants.

Additionally, the benefits of enslaving the frost giants were limited. They were only useful for menial labor, like mining, unlike the versatile cloud giants, who were proficient in numerous tasks.

In contrast, enslaving humans offered much more. Humans had a wide range of talents. Even if some refused to serve her due to her identity, Claudia could train them herself over ten to twenty years. Given humans' ability to learn, this was a highly feasible strategy.

She had already begun this process long ago. After establishing her palace on the boundless glacier, she started consciously recruiting, capturing, and buying humans, educating and training them.

Based on her current psychic scan, the number of humans residing in the Frost Palace was enough to form an army of nearly ten thousand. Thanks to the indoctrination by her white dragon followers, these humans would likely only break at a casualty rate exceeding thirty percent.

"Attacking human nations will brand you as an evil dragon. Your reputation in this subcontinent will plummet, and followers of good deities, along with justice organizations like the Harpers and the Scales of Order, will continually launch crusades against you until they succeed in slaying you. You need to be aware of this," Philomena warned.

"Destroying a frost giant tribe would bring similar consequences. Any large frost giant tribe with leaders above the Soul Intent level is backed by deities. Without divine support, these blue-skinned brutes couldn't break their bloodline shackles and produce legendary beings. The ice and snow gods might ignore the destruction of smaller tribes, but conquering a large frost giant tribe would make their patron god my mortal enemy," Claudia countered.

"You have a better option: reveal your other identity as the Titan's lover!" Philomena suggested teasingly. "With that, you could attack either the frost giants or the humans without worry. In fact, you might even attract a band of frost giants to serve you just by touring their tribes under that guise."

"Mother, please don't entertain such wild thoughts. Muria and I do not have that kind of relationship," Claudia insisted, maintaining a serious demeanor.

"You're being foolish. Such a powerful identity should not be hidden. Do you realize how much easier it would make your life? It could save you at least five hundred years of effort," Philomena lamented, shaking her head in genuine regret.

"I've told you, I don't have that kind of relationship with Muria. Strictly speaking, I was just his pet," Claudia replied, her tone indifferent.

"Pet? Nonsense! Stop belittling yourself. Do you think I know nothing? I've already inquired through the dragon network. You slept with him as a child, even when he went to the legendary world enclave, the Titan's domain, he took you with him, and you lived together."

"He brought over a hundred dragons with him, and I wasn't the only one who stayed with him," Claudia explained wearily, casting a cold glance at the six white dragons nearest to her.

"But you were the most special. He would agree to any condition you set," Philomena said with a knowing smile. "Don't you think that the half-blood Titan has a special interest in you? I've heard that his other half-blood lineage is from dragonkind."

"You're overthinking. He has a romantic interest in someone else, Mikaela, the most gifted Seraph of the Celestial Realm," Claudia stated firmly.

"Mikaela, the Brilliance of Heaven. Yes, I've heard of her. She is quite extraordinary, and indeed, you might not compare to her, but that doesn't rule out the possibility of you being his lover."

"That will never happen," Claudia denied resolutely. She didn't want to be associated with Muria. She sought to break free from the influence of the Titan and the Dragon's Son and establish her independence. She had her own ambitions.

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