The Epic Dragon Titan

"Gladly."

"Stop it, both of you," Mikaela said, showing a helpless expression. Ever since her engagement, her fiancé and brother had been at odds, and there was no sign of reconciliation. "This is the Necromancer's Catacombs, not a place for your brawls. There are many adventurers below. Do you want to get them killed?"

"Let's settle this outside," Muria snorted. "I'll show you the consequences of meddling in others' affairs. You have no right to control me."

"I'm preventing you from corrupting Mikaela." Ilvester glared coldly at Muria. The more he learned about Muria, the more suspicious he became. Muria was unlike either Titans or Golden Dragons. Just looking at his subordinates revealed this difference.

Muria had gathered giants discarded by Titans and kept hundreds of chromatic dragons, enemies of the metallic dragons. Ilvester had even found traces of devils in Synapse and discovered a monument named Broken Horn dedicated to a Balor demon.

All these were signs of Muria's uniqueness and potential for corruption. Yet Muria's other actions puzzled Ilvester. For instance, Muria was unexpectedly kind to human prisoners. He exploited them mercilessly, which Ilvester saw as kindness since merely surviving was a blessing for mortals.

Recently, Muria had hired six Grand Druids to cultivate high-yield crops that could grow in icy lands. These were of no use to beings of their level but purely benefited ordinary humans. 

Moreover, on the continent of Deprosen, Muria unified the frost giants, established a council-based kingdom for them, and left a wealth of skills and knowledge, training many frost giants in various fields. He even set up a permanent portal allowing the best frost giants to come to Synapse for advanced studies.

Ilvester couldn't understand why Muria did all this. If he merely wanted the frost giants to serve him, unifying them would suffice. There was no need to teach them so much. But Muria did, giving the frost giants a chance to develop their civilization. For Ilvester, it would have been easier to control ignorant frost giants.

For the future frost giants, Muria was a sage; for the present ones, he was a demon, forcing them to learn language, architecture, design, and combat, making their previously wild existence miserable. 

Thus, Ilvester found it hard to judge Muria's morality. If Muria knew Ilvester's thoughts, he would mock him. Muria's principle was simple: do what benefits him and aligns with his values, and destroy what harms him. Everything centered around him.

Muria had his standards. For example, despite his strength, he wouldn't steal or rob, as it would make him uneasy and violate his principles. He had a conscience. Enslaving a lich to create value for him was ideal, and anyone blocking him was an enemy.

"Be careful. Have you all covered yourselves in necrotic corpse fluid? Don't let any living aura leak out, or we'll be detected and become undead ourselves."

"We're all covered. Don't worry, boss. We've done this before."

"Don't be foolish. Sneaking into a high-level undead's lair to gather herbs might succeed a thousand times, but one mistake and we're dead."

The leader of the necrotic herb gatherers glared at his two companions. In Orbisro, sneaking into high-level undead lairs to steal herbs was a unique thief variant. Some high-level undead near the surface were deliberately left by human strongmen to foster needed herbs with their aura. The gatherers didn't know this high-level information.

"Get ready... everyone down, there's an emergency." Just as he was about to give the order, the leader noticed changes in the patrolling undead. He hurriedly led his team to crouch down and blend in with the stone wall.

They watched as a large number of skeleton soldiers and translucent wraiths poured out of a bone-constructed small castle, targeting three young people who seemed to be out for a stroll. These youths emanated strong spiritual energy, crushing any low-level skeletons that approached them.

"Big shots are here for fun," the leader thought, feeling heavy-hearted. Their hard-found herb garden was about to be destroyed, and the rare herbs nurtured by high-level undead would be unattainable for a long time. They'd have to find a new undead lair or go deeper underground, both riskier options.

"Let's go. These are just low-level undead. We need to find that lich castle."

"Why rush?" The black-haired youth waved dismissively. "We're here for fun and to catch some liches. We're not in a hurry. Don't you find these undead interesting?"

"What nonsense. Just purify them all." Ilvester didn't understand Muria. What's so interesting about undead? Just eliminate them.

"Look at the variety among the low-level skeletons: melee fighters with bone swords, shield-bearers for defense, and archers," Muria said with a smile. "And over there, a skeleton with a bone staff."

"That's a skeleton mage, the most likely to evolve into a lich," Ilvester explained to his sister.

"Powerful beings, leave. This is my territory. You are not welcome." As Muria and Mikaela chatted, a skeletal knight on a flaming skeletal horse emerged from the castle, a mix of anger and fear in its soul wave.

"Your territory?" Muria chuckled. "When I stand here, this territory is mine."

Muria pointed, and a golden lightning bolt shot from his fingertip, obliterating the skeletal knight and its followers without a trace.

"Let's go." Muria pulled Mikaela towards a deeper underground passage. Before leaving, he gave the hiding herb gatherers a meaningful look, making them shudder.

"The big guy noticed us," the leader said, drenched in sweat. "Probably thought we were too weak to bother with."

"So strong. That golden lightning obliterated a skeletal knight. Is this the legendary soul level?"

"It doesn't matter if it's golden or soul level. It makes no difference to us. But we're in luck now. Didn't you see? They ignored the treasures collected by that knight. We're rich!"

"No need to be told twice." The herb gatherers rushed into the skeletal knight's castle.

"I told you, there's no lich here, just a bunch of high-level undead."

In the ruins of a collapsed castle, Ilvester spoke to the stone-faced Muria, while Mikaela seemed to be sensing something.

"I'm just here to look around." Muria surveyed the rubble, filled with undead crushed by his hands. The strongest was a soul-level large skeleton, which Muria had dismantled. Its crystal-clear skeleton had become part of his collection.

"Stop arguing, you two."

"Did you sense something?" Seeing Mikaela's expression, Muria curiously looked over. Compared to him, the Seraphim with innate purification powers had a stronger sense for undead. If they wanted to find a lich, they could only rely on Mikaela, not Ilvester.

"Found it. A spiritual power filled with deathly aura. If there's no mistake, it's what you're looking for."

"Where?" Muria's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Follow me." Mikaela summoned a pillar of flame, burning through a stone wall to create a passage. This was how the strong made their way, and the map was no longer useful.

"Who's there?" As Mikaela led Muria into a large underground cavity, a soul storm filled with anger and surprise erupted in Muria's ears.

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