The Rise of the Titan

"What do you plan to do with them?" Claudia, the white dragon, arrived beside Muria with seven large ice crystals, each containing a sealed legendary figure. Her dragon eyes, gleaming with divine brilliance, scrutinized Muria intently.

"Your Highness!" Seeing the enormous, pure ice blocks placed in front of them, Hesser, the silver moon elf, rushed forward after lowering her hood. She looked tearfully at Muria, then back at the frozen elf inside one of the ice crystals. "Muria, can you release her?"

Elves, as a race known for their striking beauty, often became targets of other humanoid species with less than honorable intentions. Their low reproductive rate further rendered them scarce compared to other races, making them tightly knit and highly protective of each other. Thus, even though she had never met the imprisoned elf before, Hesser was willing to risk angering Muria to plead for her release.

"Hmm..." Muria frowned and thought for a moment, his mind racing. He was aware that the Eternal Island had sent a legion of thirty thousand elves to serve him, which was essentially an investment—a way to curry favor with the Titans.

Despite understanding that these elves were helping him to gain favor, Muria's principle was simple: if someone extended kindness to him, he should reciprocate in kind to maintain a positive and enduring relationship. 

"Claudia," Muria turned to the majestic and elegant legendary white dragon before him, "release the seal on this elf."

"If you wanted her released, you should have let me let her go directly instead of capturing her alive. What a hassle!" Claudia extended her dragon claw and struck the ice crystal sealing the legendary elf archer. Countless branch-like cracks spread across its surface, and with a resounding "crack," it shattered into countless shards of white light that dispersed into the wind.

"Let go? After attacking my dragon, you think you can just leave without paying any price? That's not how things work." Muria's tone was calm as he observed the newly freed legendary elf, now being held by Hesser.

"What do you want me to pay?" The legendary archer, Kalirida, with her hair shining like the silver moon in the night sky, looked at Muria. It was clear that she identified him as the true master behind the Frost Queen, whom they had just fought against.

"Considering you're an elf, serve me for three hundred years," Muria said lightly.

"Impossible. I will never submit to evil," Kalirida replied firmly, stepping forward to shield Hesser, indicating her unyielding stance. To her, Muria, who commanded the Frost Queen, must be an even greater evil, and Hesser, being a captured elf princess, had likely charmed Muria with her celestial beauty to secure her temporary freedom.

"Me?" Muria looked around and then pointed at himself. "Evil? You must be joking."

"No matter what you do to me, I will never bow to you," declared Kalirida with the resolute demeanor of someone ready to die for justice.

"Muria is not evil, Your Highness. You have misunderstood," Hesser quickly interjected upon seeing Muria's raised eyebrow. She didn't want her fellow elf to clash with Muria, as she knew Kalirida would definitely come out worse for wear.

"Princess, don't be deceived by his words. You may have been enchanted, but fear not. As long as I live, I will not allow him to harm you again," Kalirida insisted, her preconceptions blinding her to Hesser's explanations.

"You are the first elf I've met with such a vivid imagination," Muria sighed. Behind him, a towering golden dragon's phantom emerged, filling Kalirida's view.

"A fallen golden dragon!" Despite seeing Muria's dragon form, Kalirida's misunderstanding remained. She firmly believed Muria was evil, deeming him a powerful malevolent force.

"Ryan," Muria called, suppressing his urge to vent his frustration by slamming the obstinate elf into the ground. "Give me your armor. Let this stubborn long-eared creature see for herself."

Ryan, the demon-hunting knight, stepped forward, and his presence began to shake Kalirida's conviction. She started to suspect that she might indeed have misunderstood. "You aren't truly evil?"

"If I were evil, do you think you'd still be standing here, having a calm conversation with me?"

Kalirida fell silent, then looked at her frozen companions. "If you aren't evil, then please release my comrades."

"What does one have to do with the other? Does refusing to release them make me evil?" Muria asked with a smile. "Is your definition of goodness based on taking hits without retaliation? Is retaliating considered evil?"

"Of course not, but..." Kalirida's words were cut short as Muria interrupted.

"Elf, understand your current position. You are nothing more than a prisoner of war. You have no right to make demands of me. If not for your race, do you think you'd be released? Judging a dragon's morality based on distorted facts is ridiculous and something only someone with your rich imagination could do. Having made a mistake, you must bear the consequences."

"What do you intend to do with my comrades?"

"Don't worry," Hesser reassured, "Muria won't harm them. But it's impossible for him to let them go right now. We need to discuss and find a solution calmly. Don't rush things."

Muria turned to Claudia. "What do you say about me taking charge of these legends?"

"If you want them, take them," Claudia replied indifferently. Compared to the divine essence containing the law of frost that Muria's mother had given her, these legends, who she had planned to kill anyway, were of little importance.

"Then I won't be polite." Muria opened a portal to his demi-plane and stored the six ice crystals containing the sealed legends. He then looked at Kalirida, "I'll give you three days to consider serving me for three hundred years. Go inside and think about it."

"Now we can have a private conversation." With the other individuals, except for Claudia and himself, secured in his demi-plane, Muria reverted to his golden dragon form and addressed Claudia.

"So, you've reached the legendary level after all. Here I was, fantasizing that maybe I had surpassed you, but it seems I'm still beneath you," Claudia said, looking up at Muria's enormous dragon form, almost twice her size. It was her first time seeing such a large dragon.

"Just a lucky break," Muria shook his head. His lifespan was naturally long, and under normal circumstances, it would take at least two hundred years to reach the legendary level, like a typical dragon. However, by consuming various rare items and diligently training, he had significantly shortened this time. "What about you? You're younger than me. How did you achieve legendary status so early?"

"It was your mother's doing," Claudia replied, her tone flat now that she knew the truth. After realizing that her rise was orchestrated by a higher dragon, she no longer felt any sense of personal accomplishment.

"Uh... she did that..." Muria started to say, but Claudia interrupted.

"It's actually quite nice. For a small white dragon like me to reach such heights is almost unheard of," Claudia said, lifting her head slightly to gaze at Muria's massive form. "What are you planning to do next?"

"My initial plan was to find you and take you away," Muria said, surveying the vast area around them. "But now that you've established such a large territory here on this subcontinent, it would be a shame to abandon it. I plan to explore Depreson Subcontinent a bit, take a look around, and then move on to the next subcontinent."

"Sounds leisurely."

"It's about gaining experience."

"Are you interested in taking a test with me?" Claudia suddenly proposed, "If successful, it might keep you here on this continent for a long time."

"What kind of test?" Muria asked, intrigued.

"Follow me." Claudia's claw twisted the space, creating a massive passageway leading to an unknown location.

As they emerged from the spatial tunnel, Muria heard the distinct sound of metal striking rock—mining. They stood above a vast mining site.

"Frost giants!" Muria's brow furrowed as he looked down at the miners. The massive open-pit mine was filled with frost giants, shackled and wielding pickaxes, laboring under the watchful eyes of white dragons.

"Queen Claudia!" Several white dragon overseers flew over as they noticed Claudia's presence.

"Reveal your Titan form. Let's see if the giants of this land still remember the Titans," Claudia said, ignoring the white dragons and turning her gaze to Muria.

"Alright, but you'll need to disappear for a moment." Muria understood Claudia's intent.

"Understood." In an instant, Claudia and all the supervising white dragons vanished from sight, hiding their presence.

"Nice invisibility spell." Muria glanced at the void around him and praised. Then, golden lightning erupted from his enormous dragon form, and a hurricane swept outward from him.

A pressure that the frost giants had never experienced but was deeply familiar to their bloodline descended upon them.

The giants, previously dulled and resigned to their fate, suddenly reacted. Their pickaxes fell from their hands, and they looked up at the sky. There, they saw the ultimate symbol of all giants' faith.

"Titan!"

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