Chapter 148 | Born as a Dragon, Sorry About That?

‘The savior... sent by the heavens?’

Subconsciously repeating Fido's words in her mind, Irene seemed to realize something, and her gaze suddenly became vacant.

She no longer showed even the slightest reaction, completely ignoring Fido as he continued his endless stream of declarations of loyalty to the death and various flattering remarks.

Her bright golden eyes gradually grew unfocused.

Her thoughts drifted elsewhere.

‘Yes, everything seems to have been arranged by the heavens. Why didn't I ever notice this before?’

Irene suddenly realized something.

Under the constant threat of survival, she had always subconsciously ignored these details.

But now that she gave it some careful thought, she realized there were far too many coincidences and unanswered questions.

For starters, how had a mere fragment of her soul managed to survive after she had slain a deity at the cost of her own life?

It had been over ten thousand years since she and the deities had perished together.

She hadn't resurrected at any point during those ten millennia. Yet now, at this exact moment when the gods had vanished for some unknown reason, she had suddenly been reborn into a second life.

Furthermore, why had she resurrected on the Material Plane of all places, rather than some other realm?

The place where she had originally perished was at the very edge of the Astral Realm.

It was separated from the Material Plane by the vast expanse of the entire Astral Realm.

Even if she could explain this by claiming her soul fragment had traced the path back to her homeland, slowly drifting back over ten thousand years...

Why hadn't she resurrected on any of the other continents? Why did it have to be the Great Gana Forest right next to the God-Forsaken Land? And why as a chromatic dragon who would be kicked out of her nest and forced to find a safe territory to survive her hatchling period?

Given her circumstances at the time, her best option had been... the God-Forsaken Land!

This allowed her to cross paths with the descendants of the beastkin and half-beastkin who had once formed the core of the expeditionary force.

And according to Fido, ruins of the ancient Human Empire were incredibly rare in the God-Forsaken Land; he had spent fifty years and only managed to find a single one...

Yet Daviel had somehow stumbled upon an already excavated spaceship wreck by pure coincidence.

This, in turn, had prompted her to redevelop technology and follow the exact developmental path of the ancient Human Empire.

And... why had the gods vanished in the first place?

Why...

At this moment, Irene suddenly realized that from the moment she hatched as a black dragon, every single one of her experiences had been an uncanny string of coincidences.

It was as if an invisible hand was constantly pushing her forward, step by step.

Almost as if...

“Your Grace?”

“Are you alright?”

A puzzled voice suddenly called out, snapping her out of the vortex of her thoughts.

Coming to her senses, Irene realized that Fido was still kneeling on one knee, watching her closely.

It seemed he had finished his flattery and, seeing no reaction from his Grace, had spoken up to check on her.

“I'm fine.”

Irene waved her hand dismissively, pinching the bridge of her nose to quickly clear her mind.

Whether this was all a series of wild coincidences or the work of a mastermind pulling the strings, it was not something she could investigate at her current level.

She was still far too weak.

If she wanted to break free from a predetermined fate and uncover the truth, the only path forward was to become stronger.

Much stronger.

Only with sufficient power would she earn the right to uncover the truth.

Otherwise, she would just be swept along by the tides, powerless to resist.

Having quickly made her decision, Irene let out a soft sigh, lowered her hand, and asked Fido, who had already stood up, “Where is Daviel? Is he still in his deep sleep?”

“Well...” Fido hesitated, his brow furrowing as he struggled to find the right words.

“Allow me to explain,”

Arthas suddenly interjected. “His Grace Daviel is currently hunting down an elven mage.”

“An elven mage?”

Irene frowned slightly and glanced at Arthas, who continued, “Yes. A female elven mage of the Gold Rank.”

“Yes! That's right!”

Fido, having finally organized his thoughts, chimed in to elaborate. “That elven mage is incredibly skilled at stealth and evasion. We still haven't figured out exactly when she managed to infiltrate the Empire.”

“It was all thanks to Arthas. Upon his return from the Eastern Kingdoms, he keenly detected her trail, preventing the Empire from suffering any potential damage.”

As he spoke, Fido turned to look at Arthas. His red-and-gold heterochromatic eyes held no appreciation, but were instead filled with burning competitiveness.

He clearly viewed Arthas as his chief rival.

Arthas, however, seemed entirely oblivious to this. He kept his focus on Irene, reporting calmly, “When I first discovered her, she was lurking outside your palace, acting highly suspicious. The moment she realized she had been spotted, she fled immediately.”

“Although we immediately attempted to intercept and pursue her, she still managed to escape the city.”

“His Grace Daviel happened to be nearby at the time, and he volunteered to give chase.”

After a brief pause, Arthas added, “It has been two hundred and forty-six days since His Grace Daviel set off in pursuit.”

“Nearly a year?”

Irene raised an eyebrow, calculating the timeframe. She couldn't help but wonder if Daviel had chased the mage all the way to another continent.

But Arthas's next words dispelled that theory. “However, for some unknown reason, despite constantly hiding and running, that elven mage has not left the God-Forsaken Land.”

‘Unwilling to leave the God-Forsaken Land... Is she a spy sent by the Eastern Kingdoms to gather intelligence?’ Irene pondered silently, but aloud, she asked, “How is Daviel doing now?”

She did feel a degree of affection for her silly dragon brother. After all, they had lived together for years and shared countless hardships and triumphs.

By her estimates, Daviel was currently only a young adult dragon—at most a Silver Rank. Against a Gold Rank mage, his chances of winning shouldn't be very high.

Mages were different from other classes; they typically possessed a vast array of hidden trump cards and methods, and their destructive potential was immense.

Even though she had slain several Gold Rank mages herself, she had mostly relied on trickery and alternative tactics to win, rather than overpowering them in direct combat.

“Your Grace, you don't need to worry about that at all,”

Gar, who hadn't been able to get a word in the entire time, suddenly piped up. But under the intense, simultaneous stares of Fido and Arthas, he shrank back, his voice instantly dropping to a mosquito-like whisper. “His Grace Daviel broke through to the Gold Rank long ago...”

“Huh?”

Hearing this, Irene's dragon brain actually stalled for half a second. An absolutely absurd thought popped into her mind:

‘Could my brother Daviel... actually have the potential to become a Dragon God?’

According to standard dragon growth rates, both chromatic and metallic dragons generally had to reach their adult stage—at least a hundred years old—before they could naturally break through to the Gold Rank.

Even if Daviel had developed a thick hide from his frequent beatings, he still shouldn't have broken through to the Gold Rank this quickly, right?

“Your Grace, it happened like this,” Fido explained. “During the second year of your slumber, His Grace Daviel also entered a prolonged deep sleep. That hibernation lasted for nineteen years.”

“When His Grace Daviel finally woke up, he had already stepped into the Gold Rank.”

“And that's not all. The circumstances surrounding his awakening were... somewhat unusual,” Arthas added, completely ignoring the glare Fido was shooting him.

“According to the Imperial Guards stationed at the dragon nest, the moment His Grace Daviel woke up, he sat cross-legged. He pointed one claw toward the heavens and the other toward the earth, shouting at the top of his lungs: ‘Above the heavens and below the earth, I alone am honored! Today, I, Emperor Daviel, shall achieve the Immortal Holy Body!’”