Chapter 224: The Doomed Lich
"After becoming a lich, Bertelain received an invitation from the Necromantic Council and joined them, then completely vanished from Elrasia.
Only three hundred years later did he reappear in the world as a legendary lich.
But even as a legend, he didn't change his obsession with our dragon race. However, he was no longer fixated on taming living dragons but became enamored with bone dragons and ghost dragons, considering them the pinnacle of undead art.
Thus, as soon as he achieved legendary status, Bertelain began slaughtering chromatic dragons scattered around the world to gather materials for bone dragons. After killing the less powerful chromatic dragons, he imprisoned their souls to create ghost dragons.
His mass slaughter alerted Tiamat, the Mother of Evil Dragons, in the Abyss. Enraged, she issued a divine decree ordering her followers to kill Bertelain and even sent an ancient red dragon to hunt him.
Perhaps knowing he was outmatched, or more likely because he had enough materials to create bone and ghost dragons, Bertelain vanished again, leaving Tiamat's wrath unquenched.
When he reappeared, he was on a mission from the Necromantic Council to annihilate four duchies. Survivors described a legendary lich in a black robe leading hundreds of bone dragons and dozens of ghost dragons, overseeing the undead scourge and crushing the resistance of the four duchies.
Due to his distinctive control over the undead dragon army, he was titled the 'Death Dragonrider.'
Having slaughtered chromatic dragons to create hundreds of bone dragons and dozens of ghost dragons, Bertelain incurred the wrath of both the chromatic dragons and Tiamat. Because of his shared dragon heritage and lich status, he was also despised by the metallic and gem dragons.
But since all his victims were chromatic dragons, the metallic and gem dragons had little interest in pursuing the so-called 'Death Dragonrider.'
"So, how did Bertelain anger the Platinum Dragon God and the three Dragon Kings?" Muria asked curiously.
"Our guess is that Bertelain became arrogant at the time. His undead dragon army gave him an opportunity to enter the core of the Necromantic Council.
Plus, after participating in an annihilation mission, he saw the immeasurable depth of the Necromantic Council. So, he felt he didn't need to be cautious about many beings.
Thus, he set his greedy sights on our metallic and gem dragon races. He wasn't satisfied with hunting chromatic dragons for materials to create bone and ghost dragons.
He wanted more diverse dragon corpses. Therefore, Bertelain began hunting metallic and gem dragons."
"Idiot!" Muria shook his head, thinking how foolish it was to offend the chromatic dragon race and then provoke the metallic and gem dragons.
The chromatic dragons, due to their greedy and brutal nature, didn't have a good reputation in Elrasia. Killing many of them wouldn't have serious consequences if one was strong enough and had solid backing.
Due to their selfish nature, even if one killed their direct kin, they'd be angry, but without sufficient incentives, they wouldn't actively seek revenge.
Moreover, except for blue, green, and some white dragons, the rest were mostly solitary dragons, so killing them didn't matter much.
Even if Tiamat was angered, it didn't matter. As a dragon god, her power in the material world was limited to legendary peak. A divine decree? No fear, because not many dragons would obey her, unless she offered attractive benefits.
Tiamat's control over her created species was very low. Almost no red or black dragons worshipped her, which was quite sad. (The metallic dragons created by the Platinum Dragon God weren't much better, but many still obeyed and executed His decrees).
Blue and green dragons indeed worshipped Tiamat the most among chromatic dragons, but considering the fifteen green dragons planning to follow Muria and readily abandoning their faith, one could see how shallow their devotion to Tiamat was.
So, as a legendary lich who joined the Necromantic Council, Bertelain's provocation of the chromatic dragons wasn't a big deal.
But provoking the metallic and gem dragons was different; angering one meant offending a group.
Typically, attacking a younger one would bring out an elder. Even if one was strong enough to deal with the elder, another older one would appear... generation after generation, endless.
Among legendary liches, Bertelain was definitely one of the strongest, able to provoke both the Platinum Dragon God and the three Dragon Kings and still be alive to show his strength.
"Finally, the Platinum Dragon God issued a divine decree, and the three Dragon Kings issued a warrant. Countless powerful ancient dragons responded to the call, hunting Bertelain across the world.
In the end, under the siege of seven legendary ancient dragons, Bertelain's undead dragon army, which had grown to nearly three hundred, was completely destroyed, and his lich body was shattered on the spot.
Now, it seems Bertelain has resurrected, but it's unknown how much of his power has been restored."
"A lich targeted for extermination by the Dragon God and Dragon Kings reappearing." Muria ended his mental communication with Kasrana, muttering to himself, "No wonder Kasrana's grandfather reacted like this."
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