The Rise of the Titan

"Is it this guy? He looks pretty good. I heard he's a bloodline-degraded royal."

"Even his golden eyes have degraded to the point where they can't be seen. What kind of royalty is that? He's just a commoner."

"I heard that a month ago, this guy rode the princess's carriage into her mansion."

"This kid looks just like an ordinary person, nothing special. How did he gain the favor of the princess?"

"Looking like an ordinary person already makes him special. How could someone favored by Princess Gladys be an ordinary person?"

"Maybe he's just good at concealing his presence."

Various voices from all directions reached Muria's ears, mostly discussing him, filled with envy and jealousy. However, Muria's expression remained unchanged in the face of the malice coming from all sides. He could easily crush a bunch of these guys with one slap, so why should he be moved by them?

Muria walked around the outdoor banquet with a wine glass in hand, occasionally picking up some delicately designed pastries and putting them in his mouth, looking relaxed and natural. He ignored the nobles dressed in armor with swords at their waists around him.

"Brother, what's your name? I'm Klein." A noble in light armor approached Muria, who was tasting the food, and asked curiously and amicably, making it hard to dislike him.

"Muria." Muria glanced at the guy in the gaudy purple armor. The armor, regardless of practicality, was extremely ornate, making him look like a peacock spreading its tail.

Of course, even this flashy noble wasn't eye-catching at this outdoor banquet, as almost all the nobles were dressed similarly, each one's armor more elaborate than the next, giving Muria a sense of ostentation.

Although his Holy Radiance was also very majestic and beautiful, it was beautified based on ensuring defense, whereas these guys' armor sacrificed functionality for aesthetics.

"Muria, you don't seem to be from the capital. Where did you live before?"

"Overseas."

"Overseas?" Klein, the young noble in the flashy purple armor, was slightly taken aback. The empire's territory was vast, and even though he was of noble birth, he had never set foot outside the Uranus Empire. There was no opportunity because they were restricted from traveling until they reached a certain level of strength. "Brother Muria, your background is quite special! Did you grow up at sea?"

"I'm not a marine creature. I grew up on islands." Muria replied while enjoying the food. He didn't sense any malice from this flamboyant noble, so he didn't mind chatting with him.

"I've heard that in the deep sea, there are huge sea monsters that look like small mountains when they surface. Brother, have you ever seen such a sea monster?"

"I've eaten them. The meat is very chewy." Muria placed his wine glass aside and picked up a dessert similar to ice cream, "But it's not as tasty as these pastries."

Muria's response made Klein and some nearby eavesdropping noble youths pause and exchange puzzled glances.

Klein forced a smile, unable to judge the truth of Muria's words. If true, it was quite astonishing. "Haha, if it's tasty, brother Muria, then have more."

Muria's gluttonous behavior caused some nobles around to look down on him, labeling him as a country bumpkin, even though his manners were impeccable.

This was just a preparatory banquet before the hunt, mainly to wait for the Dragon Princess of the Orlando Empire, not a real eating and drinking event.

However, no matter what they thought, without knowing Muria's background, these nobles didn't show any emotion on their faces. When Muria looked at them, they all smiled amicably.

If not for Muria's keen senses detecting their malice, he might have believed them. But Muria didn't say anything. As Klein chatted with Muria, these nobles joined in, and Muria responded occasionally. Social niceties were something everyone could manage.

Just as Muria was chatting with the nobles, a massive teleportation array with a diameter of nearly a hundred meters lit up at the banquet site, accompanied by continuous dragon roars.

"Strange, why didn't the Orlando Empire's princess enter the Uranus Empire by flying through the sky instead of using a teleportation array?"

"Muria, you might not know this, but the ten major empires have developed intricate protocols over the ages. If the Dragon Princess were to participate in the hunt through formal diplomatic means, the welcoming ceremony alone could take three days."

"So, for private invitations between royals, they usually use teleportation arrays to avoid the formal diplomatic rituals, which are exhausting and time-consuming, purely torturous."

"Got it." Muria nodded, watching the teleportation array in the courtyard's center from which numerous dragons emerged, his gaze deepening. "Dragon Princess indeed."

Bronze Dragons, Copper Dragons, Amethyst Dragons, Yellow Dragons, Emerald Dragons, Blue Dragons, Green Dragons... The three dragon clans were well-represented, even including Golden Dragons and Red Dragons. Over a hundred dragons flew above the banquet, stunning many nobles.

"Golden Dragons!" Muria's gaze darkened slightly as he looked at the two golden-scaled dragons in the large group. "They seem to be male dragons. Hmph, the Dragon Princess really has skills to tame two Golden Dragons."

Already disliking the Dragon Princess, Muria felt even more aversion at that moment. The black-haired, black-eyed youth looked at a blue-scaled giant dragon emerging from the teleportation array. Its scales were crystalline and transparent, shining brilliantly in the sunlight. It was a blue sapphire dragon, and a legendary ancient dragon at that.

"Such a powerful dragon bloodline!" Muria looked at the blue-haired girl standing atop the blue sapphire dragon, his eyes narrowing. "An ancient dragon bloodline from the primordial era, the Blue Diamond Dragon!"

"Eh?" As Muria gazed up, the Dragon Princess Felicia, who had just arrived through the teleportation array, also sensed something, looking around suspiciously. "I can feel it. The unique dragon my mother mentioned is hidden below."

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