Looking at the youth before her who wore a faint smile, Stella stood frozen, unable to recover her senses for a long while. When she finally snapped out of it and realized she had been staring intently at his face, her fair cheeks flushed a mysterious shade of red, and her words became hesitant and stuttering.
"Who—who wants to find a place to stay with you!"
That reaction was already a bit excessive.
"If not, then what?" Leon shrugged and said, "Where else can you go?"
Stella instantly bit her lip.
Indeed, where else could she go? In this era, there was nowhere for her to go.
"—Can you help me find the Dragon God?"
Likely thinking of something, Stella suddenly made this request.
"Dragon God?" Leon furrowed his brows and said, "You mean Great Red, right?"
"—That's right." Stella was silent for a moment before saying, "I want to meet that Dragon God."
In truth, during the era when Stella was alive, no one knew the name "Great Red." Although the Vermillion Kingdom worshipped the Dragon God, they did not know the true name of the god they enshrined, nor were they aware of the title "True Red Dragon God Emperor."
However, being unaware of the title was quite normal. Both "True Red Dragon God Emperor" and "Infinite Dragon God" were titles bestowed by later generations; those two Dragon Gods had never referred to themselves as such.
As for true names, in the ancient times when the Vermillion Kingdom still stood, the legends left behind by the two Dragon Gods were few. They were not the type of personalities to go around announcing their true names. In fact, unless there was a specific reason, they would only stay within the dimensional gap and never appear in the living world. Thus, those who knew the Dragon Gods' true names in that era were very, few—at least the names "Ophis" and "Great Red" had not spread.
Therefore, even for a land blessed by the Dragon God like the Vermillion Kingdom, the people's understanding and naming of Great Red were limited to "The Crimson True Dragon," "The Dragon of Dragons," "The God among Dragons," and so on. They had no inkling that he was the "True Red Dragon God Emperor" Great Red, so famous in this era.
The members of the royal family, including Stella, simply referred to him as the Dragon God. It was only today, when Leon and Ophis broke into the throne room and shattered her seal, that Stella learned the true name and title of her Dragon God.
To be honest, when Stella learned that Ophis was also a Dragon God, an existence of the same status as the god she worshipped, she was quite shocked. In her previous understanding—or rather, in the era of her past life—the entire Vermillion Kingdom only knew of one Dragon God, Great Red; they had no idea that another Dragon God even existed in this world. Moreover, this Dragon God seemingly shared a hostile relationship with the god they enshrined, which shocked Stella beyond measure.
Had Ophis not already departed, Stella certainly would not have been able to maintain her composure.
And facing Leon, who could talk directly to a Dragon God and seemingly even had the most direct contact with one, Stella inevitably began to harbor some hopes.
One must understand that after the fall of the Vermillion Kingdom, they had used the strength of the entire nation to seal their final dragon lineage and dragon treasure within the royal capital. They then sent the entire city into the dimensional gap, all for the hope of seeing the Dragon God again and obtaining his aid. They hoped that the Dragon God, upon noticing Stella's existence, would descend in person, undo her seal, and assist her in returning to the living world to restore the nation and bring back the glory of the Vermillion Kingdom.
Unfortunately, Great Red had not noticed at all that his former blessed followers had appeared in his territory—or perhaps he had noticed but had not reached out a helping hand as the people of the Vermillion Kingdom had hoped.
Admittedly, Great Red had once been attracted by the dream of the first King of the Vermillion Kingdom and had descended into the living world, but the only thing that attracted him was the first King himself. The rest of the people in the kingdom lacked the ability to catch his interest. Failing to attract Great Red, he naturally paid them no special attention and never intended to treat them as subjects who worshipped him.
Rather, Great Red, as a Dragon God, did not follow the path of faith at all; he had no need for others to believe in or offer sacrifices to him. In other words, after bestowing the dragon lineage and dragon treasure, Great Red had completed his task and retired, having absolutely no interest in the Vermillion Kingdom itself.
In a way, Great Red and Ophis shared a very simple and pure personality. They would be interested in dreams that could attract them and harbor curiosity toward the owners of such dreams, and for that, they could directly grant assistance. Just like the protagonist of the original story—he once attracted Great Red, leading the dragon to provide his own flesh and blood to reconstruct the youth's physical body. Great Red even took him into the Underworld, merged with him to defeat the rampaging Super Beast, and then left leisurely while singing a song, showing no interest in staying to clean up the aftermath.
Toward those subjects who did not interest him, Great Red adopted an attitude of complete indifference. Even if someone pointed a blade at his neck, he would only wobble and fly over their heads like an old man out for a casual stroll. How could someone like that restore a nation for a group of whimsical royals?
Don't forget that the Vermillion Kingdom had later relied on the dragon lineage and treasure to continuously expand its territory, immersing itself in violence, which ultimately led to the joint siege by major forces and the eventual destruction of the nation. For a group of people who acted recklessly with the power he had bestowed, even if they had later repented, how could they still possess a dream capable of attracting Great Red?
It was only natural that Great Red would ignore Stella's existence and this castle. From the very beginning, the Vermillion Kingdom had miscalculated, resulting in their princess sleeping for countless years in this sunless castle until even her life force began to wither.
Had she not met Leon—had Leon not happened to want to take her as a peerage member and used the Evil Pieces to perform a reincarnation ceremony that resurrected her—Stella would have slept here for eternity.
Leon did not know if Stella understood this point. But Stella indeed wanted to see Great Red, to see the Dragon God the Vermillion Kingdom had always worshipped. This was the only thing she still had a connection to.
"Do you truly want Great Red to help you restore your country?" Leon asked directly, his brows furrowing deeper.
"—This is the mission my ancestors left for me." Stella was silent for a long time before she spoke.
"This mission is incredibly unrealistic," Leon said bluntly. "I can tell you with full certainty that Great Red will not help you restore your country."
Hearing this, Stella became somewhat agitated.
"How would we know without trying—?!"
Because of her intense emotions, Stella could barely control her own power, causing lotus-like flames to ignite slightly around her.
"This is the only thing I can do, and it is the great mission entrusted to me by my ancestors, my family, and my people. No matter what, I must try—!"
At this moment, what flowed in Stella's eyes was no longer wariness toward this strange era, but a heavy, obsessive persistence. In her ears, those voices seemed to still be ringing—
"You are our final hope! Stella!"
"Go! Go and welcome back our noble Lord Dragon God!"
"Whether the glory of the Vermillion Kingdom can continue to shine upon this world depends on whether you can succeed!"
"We cannot let this great nation perish in our hands. You must bear the responsibility of a royal and revive the country!"
These were the words her father, mother, brothers, and sisters had been repeating before Stella was sealed and fell into a deep sleep. Remembering these words, recalling the hope in their eyes and faces, the fire in Stella's heart burned along with them.
That's right, the Vermillion Kingdom should not be destroyed in her hands. She was the last princess of the Vermillion Kingdom, the Crimson Lotus Princess who carried the purest dragon bloodline. She had a responsibility to revive the nation and restore the glory of the kingdom. To that end, seeking help from the Lord Dragon God was a necessity.
"You—"
Leon saw Stella's agitated state and was about to say something when he suddenly raised his head to look upward.
Thump, thump.
At the same time, the dragon treasure thrust into the ground beside Stella suddenly vibrated, emitting a pulsation like a heartbeat. Stella also felt the dragon blood within her body boiling, burning, cheering, and jumping for joy, like a lost child seeing its mother.
Following a spiritual intuition, Stella also raised her head to look at the sky above the castle. In the next second, both Leon and Stella saw it.
BOOM—
Amidst a movement that made the very atmosphere tremble, a massive dark shadow appeared without any warning. A colossal dragon, over a hundred meters in length, covered in crimson scales and possessing a fierce and terrifying appearance, appeared above the castle, flying slowly out from the distorted dimensional gap.
It did not release a terrifying aura, yet it made no effort to hide its fearsome presence. It did not emit any roar, yet everywhere it passed seemed to vibrate as if prostrating before it; the commotion was by no means small.
"Great Red—"
Leon's heart suddenly began to race. Why would he appear here? Was he attracted by the dragon bloodline and treasure on Stella?
No, that wasn't it. Leon immediately realized that the reason Great Red had appeared here was likely because Ophis's lingering aura had finally been captured by him, so he came to investigate. Thinking of this, Leon immediately threw the Evil Piece containing Ophis's "snake" back into his storage space, his heart pounding.
On the other hand, upon seeing Great Red, Stella became more excited than she had ever been before.
"Lord Dragon God! The Lord Dragon God has descended!"
Ignoring the tattered remnants of the single garment covering her, Stella leapt to her feet, shouting toward the sky with immense excitement.
"Great True Dragon! Great True God! Are you finally willing to turn your gaze toward your subject?"
Stella's impassioned shouting, however, did not earn any response from Great Red. The massive red dragon first flew slowly over the castle. Then, it wasn't as if his gaze didn't drop down, but he stared neither at Stella nor Leon; instead, he looked at the black, vortex-like entrance that was still open and had not yet vanished.
He looked down upon that black vortex for a moment, seemingly sensing Ophis's power from it. But after confirming that Ophis was not there and had merely opened a path to the living world, he paid it no further attention.
"Hum, hum, hum~~~ (🎵)"
Humming some sort of song that sounded like a triumphal victory, Great Red seemed to have confirmed he had driven away his arch-rival. In a pleasant mood, he wobbled and flew off into the distance. As for Leon, Stella, and everything existing within this castle—including the dragon bloodline and treasure so closely related to himself—Great Red ultimately chose to ignore them all, as if he had seen nothing.
"Lord Dragon God! Lord Dragon God!"
Seeing this, Stella suddenly panicked. "Please, listen to my plea!"
Stella shouted with all her might toward Great Red. Unfortunately, no matter how she cried out, Great Red never turned back to look at her. Stella immediately unfolded dragon wings made of fire behind her back. Her entire being turned into a streak of flame, soaring into the sky to chase after Great Red.
"Please, listen to me! I beg of you!"
As she chased, Stella continued to shout, so fast that Leon didn't even have time to stop her. Great Red still paid no mind to the girl behind him. He appeared to be flying leisurely, but in reality, his speed was far greater than Stella's. The distance between them did not decrease; instead, it grew wider and wider.
Before long, Great Red's massive silhouette vanished into the depths of the dimensional gap, never to be seen again.
"..."
Stella stopped, staring blankly at the scene, no longer moving.
"Sigh—"
Witnessing this, Leon didn't know if he should breathe a sigh of relief or feel sorrow for his new peerage member. Clearly, Great Red had never intended to respond to the plea of this final princess of the Vermillion Kingdom.
As said before, perhaps he hadn't failed to notice the existence of Stella and this castle, but he ultimately chose to ignore them. That figure, completely disregarding Stella's presence and going about his own leisurely way, already explained everything.
"This is a god."
A god is merciful, yet also heartless. Even a Dragon God with a simple and pure personality was still a god. Stella's desire for Great Red to help her was an unrealistic thought from the very beginning.
"Compared to Great Red, Ophis actually has a bit more human touch, doesn't she?" At least, that was the case for Leon.
Remembering his promise to the other, a wave of emotion rose in Leon's heart. Perhaps it really was time to think about what to do—
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