"This sounds like something a bard would make up, but to think it actually happened to you—how interesting!" Muria remarked with a slight sigh after listening to Aeolos recount his story atop the towering mountain surrounded by vast seas of clouds.
"Alright, you don't need to worry about what happens next. I'll take care of it. You just continue with your unfinished journey."
With that, Muria turned to his son with a smile. Under Aeolos' bewildered gaze, who had just poured out his "tragic" story, a temporary teleportation array formed at Muria's feet. Without giving Aeolos a chance to resist, space enveloped him, dragging him away.
"You think you can return home without becoming a legend first?" Muria snorted after Aeolos disappeared, knowing full well that he was preparing to step down and hand over the responsibilities on his shoulders to his son.
...
"Muria, someone's here at the Titan Isles looking for you. Can you come over?" Shortly after returning to Synapse, Muria received a message from the Titan lands. Puzzled but with a faint sense of what was coming, he set off for the Titan homeland.
"Where's the person who's looking for me?" Muria asked Cassio upon arriving at his ancient courtyard in the Titan lands.
"He's in the arena."
"What's going on? Didn't he specifically ask for me? How did he end up in the arena?" Muria frowned, clearly confused.
"He said he wanted to reason with the Titans, so…" Cassio chuckled, leaving the rest unsaid.
"So is he dead yet?" Muria massaged his temples, feeling somewhat troubled.
"Since he's here for you, the Titan fighting him naturally wouldn't kill him."
"Sigh… fine. Which arena is he in? Send me there to take a look!" Muria sighed. The reputation of the Titan Isles as a forbidden zone wasn't without reason.
Ordinary humans who stumbled onto the Titan Isles might have a slim chance of surviving if they could avoid the sea beasts and the marine creatures that guarded the island's perimeter. However, if someone came to the isles under their own power, thinking they could just walk away without battling a Titan, they were surely dreaming.
When Muria arrived at the spacious arena, he saw a blue-scaled dragon fiercely fighting a Titan. Although they appeared evenly matched at a glance, Muria immediately noticed that the dragon was being beaten from start to finish. The dragon's seemingly intact body was only maintained by burning through his own life force.
Splatter!
Muria stood watching for only a short while when a gruesome scene unfolded. The Titan ripped the dragon's head off. Even after decapitating the dragon, the Titan didn't relax, stepping forward to stomp on the dragon's chest. Blood and shattered bones flew in all directions, and the dragon's chest was crushed almost entirely.
"That's enough! Stop! His bloodline may be decent, but he's been pampered and isn't skilled in combat." Muria hurriedly intervened, stopping the brutal beating. After all, the man had once been an emperor, so it wouldn't hurt to leave him a bit of dignity.
"As expected, Titans live up to their reputation!" The blue-scaled dragon, now breathing a sigh of relief, quickly began to heal as the Titan stepped back. His body, which had been battered beyond recognition, began to recover as if time was rewinding. However, his form soon started shrinking—he could no longer maintain his draconic shape.
He only possessed a portion of Abhorrent Dragon blood, so being able to hold a dragon form for even a short time was impressive. Of course, in comparison to a true Abhorrent Dragon, his strength was barely a tenth.
"Who are you? Why are you looking for me?" Muria sized up the man who had just been thoroughly beaten by the Titans. Amusement flickered in his eyes. Truthfully, besides the Sword Saint who had challenged the Titans during Muria's youth, he hadn't heard of or seen anyone else coming to the Titan Isles for a beating.
"I'm Felicia's father," the pale, blood-depleted former emperor replied weakly.
He had been utterly tormented by the Titans. He had come to reason with them, but the first Titan he encountered, upon hearing he wanted to "reason," dragged him straight to the arena for a fight.
"Hmm, so why are you looking for me?" Muria scanned the man's aura and could barely suppress a laugh. Luckily, the man had some Abhorrent Dragon blood. Otherwise… well, at least he wouldn't have been beaten quite so badly.
"I wanted to discuss my daughter with you."
"I'm already aware of the situation. From what I've gathered, it seems your daughter made the first move. My son was simply the passive party."
Muria's tone was calm. Among the Titans, Seraphim, and Dragons, men and women held equal status. There was no inherent superiority or inferiority between the sexes.
In fact, in many dragon species, the females often held more power than the males. A prime example was the Green Dragons among the Chromatic Dragons, where traditional Green Dragon tribes were matriarchal.
"But…"
...
"Mikaela, I need to discuss something with you!" After negotiating with the former emperor of Orlando, Muria returned to Titan territory and sought out Mikaela.
"What is it?" Mikaela, now strong enough that few opponents could match her, had recently taken up gardening like her sister-in-law as a way to cultivate her inner peace.
"It's about Aeolos' marital situation. During his travels, he had an incident with an Orlando Empire princess that led to complications."
"Hold on! Before you say anything else, explain exactly how Aeolos ended up involved with an empire princess!" Mikaela interrupted, clearly wanting clarity.
"Alright, I'll explain it all!" Muria sat down beside her, picking up a pair of rune-engraved shears and starting to prune the garden plants.
"So what you're saying is that this princess, who's even older than you, tried to pursue you in the past, and now she's gone and taken advantage of our son?" Mikaela asked after hearing Muria's brief summary. "Can I understand this as her getting revenge?"
"You're reading too much into it. She's just a pampered princess. She might have had thoughts of revenge, but she wouldn't go so far as to sacrifice herself. She's not that pathetic!" Muria shook his head, correcting Mikaela's assumptions. "The whole situation is a bit more complicated."
"It's like something out of a bard's tale or a play about heroism. Her power went out of control, and through a series of coincidences, she ended up having a very close encounter with Aeolos."
"So you're saying it wasn't intentional on her part, but rather an accident, right?" Mikaela asked.
"Correct."
"Then why are you defending her like this?"
"Her father came to see me. Technically, his daughter suffered a loss, while Aeolos benefitted. So he's looking for a title for his daughter."
"A title? For a human with diluted Abhorrent Dragon blood? What kind of title does he expect?" Mikaela scoffed.
"He wants Aeolos to marry his daughter with his true identity."
"What? Does he expect her to become the empress of their empire?" Mikaela's face darkened. As a mother, she was naturally opposed to the idea. The thought of a woman older than both her and Muria becoming her daughter-in-law made her uncomfortable.
"He did make that request, but I turned him down," Muria quickly added, noticing Mikaela's growing displeasure. "With my current status, there's no need to use our children's marriages to secure benefits."
"Then just refuse them. There's no reason to agree, especially since Aeolos wasn't the one who initiated it."
"That's what I thought too. But things seem to have taken a rather unexpected turn, and we may need to give her some sort of status."
"What? What happened?"
"The princess… she's pregnant."
"..." Mikaela stared at Muria, scrutinizing his expression. "Are you joking? How could she be pregnant in such a short time? Have you forgotten how long it took for us to have Aeolos?"
"I know, but Aeolos hasn't yet reached the level of a legend, and although the princess has, her bloodline is mostly human. Plus, her situation is somewhat unique. So, the possibility of a 'one-shot success' is there. It's a matter of probability, and while unlikely, it's not impossible."
"So, what are you planning to do?"
"Here's what I'm thinking, Mikaela. Just calm down and don't make any rash moves. Let me finish first."
"Go ahead!"
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