Chapter: Chapter 471
C cautiously landing far from the dragon guards, Laetitia activated her invisibility magic and stepped into the range of the yellow lights.
As expected, the moment she entered the influence of the lights, she felt her magic consumption accelerate rapidly. Her previously perfect invisibility was becoming difficult to maintain. These lights did indeed possess the ability to reveal hidden targets.
However, the level of this revealing ability was not particularly high. When faced with the advanced invisibility technique that Laetitia possessed, it seemed somewhat insufficient, unable to completely force her out of her invisible state.
“Charging in like this seems to have a high chance of being discovered. I need to find a way to divert the guards’ attention.” Confirming her invisibility, Laetitia left the stone path, planning to get closer before making her next move.
Standing in the range of these lights for extended periods was quite taxing. It wasn’t just her mana that was being consumed; the streetlights themselves were also being depleted. In the short time she had been standing there, one of the streetlights had already become dimmer.
If she stood there any longer, the streetlight would likely extinguish due to insufficient energy. Such an abrupt event would surely draw the attention of the guards.
“While causing the streetlights to go out is a good way to divert their attention, wouldn’t that directly inform them that someone has infiltrated?” Laetitia thought to herself. She intended to sneak in stealthily, not announce an invasion to the guards.
So, what could divert the guards’ attention without arousing suspicion?
Hiss… This is a bit difficult.
Would hypnotizing all the guards by charging at them work? Laetitia seriously considered the feasibility of this option. As long as she wasn’t discovered, it would be fine.
However, she was slightly worried about encountering the same situation as when she hypnotized the merchant before, where her action would cause them to self-detonate. Now, there would be no need to conceal her identity because no one would be able to see her.
And then, tomorrow, she would have to face the wrath of the entire dragon race.
Although she wasn’t afraid of the entire dragon race combined, losing these allies would be a significant loss.
So, should she meet that mysterious voice or not? It seemed like not meeting wouldn’t be a major issue. Laetitia seriously weighed the pros and cons within her heart.
The dragon race was friendly, and they were also somewhat moved by Linglong’s suggestion: letting the younger generation, who lived in comfort, gain experience outside might foster more talented dragons to take over leadership roles.
Look at Linglong; she could transform into a dragon at such a young age. This was definitely due to her struggles in the outside world. Everyone understood the principle that adversity breeds success, and comfort breeds decay.
The dragon race was currently suffering from too much comfort.
Roar… A faint dragon’s roar reached Laetitia’s ears.
It was still an invitation, but this time the intention within the voice seemed even clearer.
The entity on the mountain wanted her to drop her disguise and ascend the stone path openly.
Would this really be okay? Laetitia blinked her eyes, feeling a bit incredulous. However, she obediently went to a distance, dispelled her invisibility spell, and began walking up the mountain step by step along the stone path.
As she approached the dragon guards, Laetitia curiously glanced at them, “You… won’t you say anything?”
But the guards kept their eyes tightly shut, displaying an expression of “I saw nothing, I know nothing.” “Hurry inside, hurry inside. We know nothing.”
Well, it seemed these people could also hear the dragon roars coming from the mountain.
With light steps, Laetitia skipped up the mountain on the stone slabs. As her footsteps gradually disappeared into the distance, the dragon guards, who had kept their eyes closed, finally dared to open them.
“That voice just now, it must have been our deity, right?”
“Definitely!”
“Such a majestic and dignified voice, who else could it be but our deity?”
“Then, the one invited up the mountain by our deity…”
“Don’t ask too many questions!”
“Alright, alright. I understand.”
The dragon guards exchanged glances and simultaneously decided to bury this matter in their hearts forever. After all, this was the command of that deity, and they had to obey it unconditionally.
Meanwhile, Laetitia had already reached the mountainside. Here lay several dilapidated small temples. It was faintly discernible that these temples should have previously enshrined a deity in the form of a dragon.
“This place has been abandoned for many years. Even I have forgotten how long it has been since any dragon came here to worship.” A much clearer voice than before sounded in Laetitia’s ear.
In the dark jungle, golden light spots, like fireflies, flew down from the mountain and formed a somewhat ethereal humanoid shape in front of Laetitia.
This person was about half a head taller than Laetitia. If the dragon horn-like object on top of her head was included, she would be a full head taller. She seemed to be wearing a gorgeous long dress, but Laetitia just couldn’t get a clear look at her features.
It was impossible. The humanoid shape formed by these light spots was merely a human shape. It was difficult even to discern that she was human, let alone see the specific characteristics of her attire.
“You are the one who invited me… no, the deity?” Laetitia asked.
“That’s right. I thought the first of my kin to arrive here would be Huang, or perhaps a few others. But I never imagined the first one to arrive would be you, Meng.”
“Uh, I have a name. I’m Laetitia Infino.” Laetitia coughed lightly. Could this dragon deity possibly know the deceased God of Dreams?
However, the dragon deity’s reaction dispelled Laetitia’s suspicion. The golden phantom shook its head and replied softly, “It’s just a codename. I can see that you are a deity who wields the authority of dreams, which is why I call you Meng.”
“You can tell that? How come I don’t have that ability?”
“This is part of the privilege of being an elder. After all, in terms of age, I am older than the vast majority of my kin.” The golden dragon deity smiled gently, her voice incredibly pleasant. “I can also smell the traces of many deities on you. You have good relationships with most deities, which is quite rare.”
It was precisely because of the complex divine aura emanating from Laetitia that the Dragon Deity had proactively invited her here for a meeting. “With these auras surrounding you, I am certain that you are a deity with a purely benevolent nature.”
“I think you’re probably mistaken. I’m quite wicked!”
Laetitia could guarantee that she wasn’t a good person in the traditional sense. She had killed many, tricked many, and as for kindness, she had none of it.
From any perspective, Laetitia could at best be considered a rather bad normal person. In the eyes of most, Laetitia was an absolute scoundrel.
And now, this resplendent deity claimed Laetitia had a purely benevolent nature. Was this a joke? Laetitia thought to herself.
“Looking at your expression, you don’t seem to believe what I’m saying.” The Dragon Deity floated up slightly, her voice carrying a hint of amusement. “There’s nothing much to see here. Let’s go to the mountain peak. The environment there is much better than here.”
“In your current state, are you dead or alive?” Laetitia asked curiously as she followed the golden phantom.
This question was somewhat rude, but the golden phantom didn’t get angry. She shook her head, her voice conveying a sense of helplessness. “I have completely died. Even deities die. It’s just that the difficulty of making us truly die is very high.”
In a battle countless years ago, she and Huang had fought fiercely. That world-ending battle severely damaged their origins, and their injuries were so severe that they could never recover.
“After that battle, I returned here and created a small space for my followers, hiding them inside. After doing all this, I could no longer hold on…” The golden phantom stood with her hands behind her back, her voice melancholic. “But I am ultimately a deity, and some of my consciousness could be preserved. However, this small amount of consciousness couldn’t achieve much. Only dragons with exceptional talent could hear my voice nearby.”
“So, the dragons have been hiding here all along by your command? You are dead, and that bird must be dead too. Why are you preventing your followers from going out?” Laetitia was puzzled. According to the Dragon Deity, that battle should have been a mutual destruction; the Dragon Deity died here, but could that bird deity of a god have fared any better?
She was likely dead too. In such a situation, why would the Dragon Deity make her followers hide?
“Huang was only one of my enemies. When I fought fiercely with her, there were quite a few of my own kin watching. To protect my followers from being slaughtered by those kin after my demise, I had no choice but to do this.”
At that time, there were not only the Dragon Deity and the bird deity in the world. Although the strength of the other deities was weaker than these two, once these two perished together, wouldn’t those deities grow stronger?
Without divine protection, if the dragons dared to act as openly as before, they would be courting death.
“I don’t know what happened afterward. I only know that an exceptionally terrifying existence brought an end to the era of deities. All deities fell into dormancy. I was terrified then and only dared to let some powerful members of my clan leave the dragon domain to look around outside…” The golden phantom led Laetitia to the mountain peak, where a small shrine stood. In front of the shrine was a miniature dragon statue. “But after they went out, they never returned. So, I sealed the dragon domain again until this world regenerated.”
“Perhaps it’s because they’ve been at ease for too long, but the dragons living in the dragon domain have become weaker and weaker compared to the powerful dragons of the past… Alas.”
With a sigh, the golden phantom transformed back into a cluster of golden light spots. They flew into the shrine. “Come in. We have plenty of time to chat.”
Following the golden light spots into the small shrine, the first thing Laetitia saw was a statue. The statue depicted a young girl with golden hair and golden eyes. She wore an extremely luxurious golden dragon robe and had a pair of slightly cute, small dragon horns on her head.
As expected, deities are all beautiful girls.
Although most deities had unfavorable personalities, when it came to appearance, they were all quite outstanding.
“Is this what you look like?” Laetitia asked.
“Not much different, but I’m even more beautiful than the statue,” the Dragon Deity’s gentle voice came from within the shrine.
Laetitia walked around the statue and arrived at the rear hall of the shrine. In this spacious hall, a golden-haired dragon girl was kneeling. She looked exactly like the statue in front, but the statue lacked her noble aura.
This must be the Dragon Deity, Laetitia thought.
“I can only make my appearance clearer here.” The Dragon Deity extended a finger and poked towards Laetitia’s face. “But as you’ve seen, I am ultimately just a residual will.”
Her finger, like an onion, did not touch Laetitia’s skin but passed right through.
A faint, colorful mist began to spread in the small room. Laetitia looked at the golden deity in front of her and couldn’t help but say, “Your condition isn’t very good, is it?”
She hadn’t felt it at first, but now, using the authority of the God of Dreams, she finally detected a hint of something. The mental reactions of this Dragon Deity were extremely weak. It was likely that not much time would pass before this deity truly disappeared from the world.
“I died long ago. For this shred of will to persist for so long is enough to surprise me. What surprises me even more is that before I vanished, I was able to meet a friendly deity like you.” The Dragon Deity displayed a look of acceptance.
Laetitia could see that this deity truly had no fear of death.
“Your authority doesn’t have very strong combat capabilities, and you must be quite troubled by this matter, right?”
“That’s true. My power leans more towards utility; direct combat is not my strong suit.” Laetitia didn’t know why the deity had suddenly shifted the conversation to their abilities, but since she had brought it up, Laetitia decided to respond.
Her intuition told her that this long-dead deity might say something world-shattering next.
“I want to ask you to take care of the dragon race until the next Dragon Deity is born.”
“To be honest, I really want to refuse you.” Laetitia spread her hands. “Your enemy is about to be resurrected. I value my life very much and don’t want to have a direct conflict with someone like that.”
“Haha, I’m much more at ease with your answer.” But the Dragon Deity laughed heartily, seemingly satisfied with Laetitia’s response.
