Chapter 272: Silver Flower Castle (2)

Louis blinked in surprise at the unexpected turn of the conversation.

”…The secret of Silver Flower Castle?”

He had assumed they had summoned him to offer him the position of Elder. But now, out of nowhere, they were talking about the castle’s secret?

Why bring this up so suddenly?

Louis fell into deep thought.

Come to think of it… what exactly is Silver Flower Castle?

Even in the original work, the castle wasn’t explored in detail. It was simply described as a fortress resembling a silver flower, earning its name as a sacred site for dragons. Little concrete information was known about its history or purpose.

This lack of context only deepened his suspicion.

Something about this feels off…

His instincts were screaming at him. Learning this secret would inevitably entangle him in something complicated and dangerous. This was the kind of premonition only someone as genuinely devoted to self-preservation as Louis could sense.

Trusting his instincts, Louis took a step back and spoke.

”…Do I really have to hear this?”

”…”

A brief silence followed Louis’s question.

Then, Elder Sandra smiled and replied, “Of course, you don’t have to.”

As she spoke, a burst of light filled the air, and where the Ancient Dragon had been lying, an elderly woman appeared.

She was the very image of someone who had aged gracefully. Her white hair was neatly styled, and delicate wrinkles framed her eyes and mouth. Her back was surprisingly straight for someone her age. She looked nothing like what one would expect of the longest-lived Elder among all dragons.

Sandra walked toward Louis. “Whether you choose to hear our story is entirely up to you.”

“Really?”

“Indeed.”

”…By any chance, what choices have other Zero Rank Dragons summoned here made?”

“They all chose to listen,” the old woman said, giving Louis a benevolent smile.

Louis flinched slightly.

He paused and glanced at the other Elders behind Sandra:

Elder Yosef of the Earth Attribute.

Elder Odilia of the Mental Attribute.

Elder Matthias of the fire attribute.

Where had the other Elders gone? Why were only these three left?

And what about the secret of Silver Flower Castle?

Louis’s unease blossomed into full-blown suspicion.

So that’s how it is?

Having made up his mind, Louis smiled at the Elders. “Ah, really? Then I won’t listen.”

”…”

“May I take my leave now?”

Louis turned as if to actually walk away.

Just then, Elder Odilia of the Mental Attribute called out, “Wait! Just a moment!”

A booming voice stopped Louis in his tracks.

At the same moment, a sly grin curled the corner of his lips.

So, there was something after all.

But as he turned back, his expression vanished without a trace.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hey, you said it was my choice, right? So I don’t have to listen if I don’t want to, do I?”

Odilia’s flustered expression was plain for all to see. Louis couldn’t hide his amusement.

In that instant, the Elders realized they had been drawn into a trap.

A brief silence hung in the air.

Then Sandra, who had been wearing a benevolent expression, suddenly snapped.

“Tch, this is why I hate clever little brats.”

Moments ago, she had been gentle and benevolent, but now she stood defiant, her eyes burning with fury.

Behind her, the other Ancient Dragons raised their voices in protest.

Matthias flinched, his wings twitching under Odilia’s fiery glare.

Louis chuckled, watching the Ancient Dragons raise their voices.

He finally understood what had been bothering him.

By nature, dragons are notoriously capricious.

Of course, there are exceptions, but the fundamental truth remains: dragons are inherently temperamental creatures.

A dragon, especially one that had lived for thousands of years, being benevolent and kind?

They must have cooked up some scheme to trap him.

Chuckling to himself, Louis called out to the Elders still locked in battle:

“Ah, I’ll be going now. You can continue your little squabble.”

He waved dismissively and turned to leave when Sandra’s voice stopped him.

“Hold it right there.”

This time, Sandra was the one who grabbed Louis’s attention.

As Louis’s gaze shifted to her, Sandra sighed and asked, “What do you want?”

A blunt question, cutting straight to the chase.

Their plan had failed, and now they were offering a deal.

“Hmm…”

Louis pondered the situation.

He didn’t want to be needlessly led around by the nose. After a moment’s hesitation, Louis smiled and said, “Give me a choice.”

”…A choice?”

“After hearing everything the Elder Lords have to say… I want the right to decide for myself what happens next, without being forced into anything.”

Louis’s bold request left the Elder Lords in silence.

Finally, Sandra sighed deeply and spoke. “I’ve always felt there was something about you that didn’t quite match your age.”

Louis merely smiled at Sandra’s grumbling, offering no further comment.

With another sigh, she nodded. “Very well. Do as you wish.”

“Thank you.”

“What’s with the formalities now?”

With a dismissive wave of her hand, Sandra called out to the Elders, “I’ll take him.”

As the Elders granted their approval, Sandra slowly began to walk away. “Follow me,” she instructed.

Louis trailed behind her, his face alight with curiosity.

They walked in silence, their footsteps echoing through Silver Flower Castle: tap… tap…

How long had they been walking? When the journey showed no sign of ending, Louis finally asked, “Where exactly are we going?”

In response, Sandra posed an unexpected question of her own: “Have you ever heard of the Light Race?”

“Huh?” Louis tilted his head, his expression slightly stiffening. ”…I think I have.”

“Oh? Really? That’s not a name one hears every day.”

“It just happened…”

“Then you know about the War of Light and Dark?”

”…”

Louis’s brow furrowed slightly at the sudden shift in topic. Why ask about the War of Light and Dark when I’m trying to figure out where we’re going? Still, Sandra wouldn’t bring it up for no reason.

He searched his memories. The War of Light and Dark… also known as the War of Immortals.

Truthfully, Louis didn’t know much about it. All he knew came from the records left behind by Hero King Valencia. So he answered honestly:

“Not much. Just that the Light Race and the Demon Race fought over the Current World, and our dragons led the other races to drive them both out. That’s all I know.”

“Where did you hear that?” Sandra asked.

“I saw it in records left by humans who lived during the Great War of the Immortals and Demons Era.”

“Such records still exist in the Current World?” Sandra asked, a hint of surprise in her voice.

As Sandra, who was leading the way, slowed her pace, Louis naturally adjusted his stride to match.

“So, the dragons led the races of the Current World and drove out the Light Race and the Demon Race…” Sandra murmured to herself, a bitter smile playing on her lips.

Noticing her expression, Louis asked with genuine confusion, “Isn’t that the truth?”

Sandra shook her head. “No, it’s correct. Our dragons did lead the Current World and drive out those two races.”

“Then why…?”

Sandra’s bitter smile deepened.

“Child…”

“Yes?”

“It’s not as simple as one group making a mess and another cleaning it up,” Sandra said.

”…?”

“Back then, our dragons stood at the forefront of the battle against the Light Race and the Demon Race. But the truth is… it was we dragons who unleashed those two races upon the Current World in the first place.”

”…?!”

Louis’s eyes widened in disbelief. He had never even imagined such a thing.

Startled, Louis stopped in his tracks, and Sandra paused as well, her expression understanding his shock.

“The dragons released the Light Race and the Demon Race into the Current World?” Louis asked.

Sandra resumed walking. Clack. Clack. Louis silently followed behind her.

“Yes, that’s what happened,” Sandra began, launching into her tale.

It was a story from a distant past, so ancient that no records remained.

This is a story the dragons have kept hidden since those ancient times.

“It was all Lotberia’s fault,” Sandra began.

Lotberia, the worst of all dragons.

His birth predated even the earliest recorded histories of the dragons. Legend has it that he lived during the reign of Kaiders, the first Dragon Lord.

Kaiders, born with three attributes—space, light, and darkness—was hailed as the most powerful dragon. Lotberia, likewise possessing a rare triple affinity for time, fire, and darkness, was his contemporary.

Until Louis’s birth, no other triple-attribute dragons had appeared in dragon history. Yet here were two born in the same era, a phenomenon that wouldn’t be repeated for millennia.

Moreover, Lotberia wasn’t initially known as the worst of dragons. Blessed with his rare triple attributes, he was once considered the perfect candidate to succeed Kaiders as Dragon King.

But Lotberia began to stray from the path when a single question took root in his mind:

Why must we dragons, with such immense power, remain idle and do nothing?

At the time, dragons were aloof observers of the Current World, refraining from interfering in its affairs. This was the will of Kaiders, the reigning Dragon King, but Lotberia deeply resented Kaiders’ passive approach.

Driven by his discontent, he resolved:

I refuse to grow old and die like this. If we possess the power to rule the world… shouldn’t we claim our rightful place?!

He openly defied Kaiders’ authority.

This world rightfully belongs to the dragons!

From that moment onward, Lotberia slowly, meticulously, concealed his true intentions while cultivating his strength.

Although Lotberia was also a triple-attribute dragon, he knew he stood no chance against Kaiders, who had already ascended to the ranks of the Ancient Dragons.

After a long passage of time, Lotberia, having raised all three of his attributes to Zero’s Domain, declared, “The time has come.”

Together with a few like-minded dragons, he began to take decisive action. They conquered nations of various races, including humans, and slaughtered anyone who opposed their will. Thus began his reign of terror, forcing the world to submit to his power.

In mere days, the entire continent was stained crimson with blood, and the world rapidly crumbled under Lotberia’s relentless assault. This marked the birth of Lotberia’s infamy, the moment he became known as the most malevolent dragon to ever exist.