After watching the figure of the Golden Dragon Lady disappear from his sight, Muria turned his gaze to the basin that had been bombarded into a landscape full of craters. This area had been utterly devastated and would not recover under normal circumstances without decades of restoration.
However, Muria wasn't particularly concerned about this place, as it was a desolate area he had deliberately chosen. The only thing of value here was some sparse vegetation.
What truly concerned Muria were the void warships trapped in the craters. Most of these ships were eerily silent, with only a few showing signs of life as some dragons and giants began to emerge from them.
"Terence!" Muria descended into the largest crater, where a massive warship, over five thousand meters long, lay. This was the flagship of the Void Fleet, the Hydra-class light battleship.
At the landing bay of this battleship, a purple-haired giant, already standing sixty meters tall, was crawling out. His purple hair hung loose, but his eyes shone a brilliant gold. Upon seeing Muria, the giant immediately bowed his head respectfully. "Lord Muria!"
"What's going on? Do you feel unwell?" Muria asked with concern as he looked at his most powerful subordinate, noticing that the Storm Giant, whose bloodline had undergone significant mutation, appeared uncomfortable.
"My Lord, I feel as though my power is being suppressed, as if I'm bound by several chains. It's extremely uncomfortable," Terence described his feelings to Muria.
"It's normal for one's strength to be suppressed when entering a different world," Muria said with a reassuring smile upon hearing Terence's concerns.
"Why are you the only one here? Where are the other giants?"
"My Lord, I'm the only one who can move freely right now. The other giants can barely move; they don't have the strength to leave the ship."
Hearing this, Terence's expression eased slightly. This was his first time entering another world; Muria hadn't brought him along during the previous expedition to the Locust World. Once he calmed down a bit, Terence couldn't help but express his amazement to Muria.
"No wonder only the most powerful forces in the empire dare to conquer other worlds. The suppression in another world is so severe that even ancient dragons can't move."
"An ancient dragon? Unable to move?" Muria was stunned upon hearing this. He had never heard of any world with suppression so intense that it rendered an ancient dragon immobile.
Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Muria finally understood why, after talking with the Golden Dragon Lady for so long, only Terence had managed to leave the ship. Something was indeed wrong.
"Where is the ancient dragon you mentioned? Take me to see it."
Soon, under the stumbling guidance of Terence, Muria arrived at a cabin where he found an ancient golden dragon lying on the ground, limp as if it had no bones.
"Giovanni?" Muria was surprised upon recognizing this ancient golden dragon. He remembered this dragon as one of the few whom he had invited to teach at the Dragon Academy through peaceful means.
However, there was a slight blemish on Giovanni's record. Although he hadn't done anything wrong personally, one of his direct descendants had been the first dragon student to skip classes at the academy.
"Lord Muria!" Noticing Muria's arrival, the scholarly-looking ancient golden dragon raised his head with difficulty, visibly relieved to see him.
"Why aren't you at the academy teaching? What are you doing here?" Muria questioned Giovanni's dereliction of duty rather than his current state.
"My Lord, I've lived for so long without ever leaving Erathia. When I heard you were venturing into another world with such a fleet, I followed out of curiosity. But I didn't expect the suppression in this world to be so severe. I can barely fly now," Giovanni said with a bitter smile in response to Muria's questioning.
"As for teaching, you needn't worry. I've asked an old friend of mine to cover for me, so the academy's courses won't be affected."
"That's good to hear." Muria's expression softened slightly upon learning that Giovanni had arranged a substitute teacher. He then inquired about Giovanni's condition. "How are you feeling now?"
"Terrible. I can only use my physical strength, and it feels like the elements around me are hostile," Giovanni explained in detail, hoping to find a solution.
"That shouldn't be the case! As an outsider, your strength should be suppressed, but not to this extent. How could you be so weakened that you can't even fly? Try casting a spell for me."
Upon Muria's request, Giovanni extended a claw, conjuring a fireball no larger than his claw. But after just a few seconds, the fireball began to tremble violently before exploding into flames and dissipating into the air.
"Was that a Fireball Spell? A low-level spell like that can't even be sustained? The world's suppression is indeed severe," Muria said with a serious expression.
"My Lord, that was a Maximized Meteor Swarm, a ninth-circle spell!" Giovanni's tone was cold as he corrected Muria.
"Uh, that's impossible! Even in a completely foreign world, your power shouldn't be suppressed to this extent," Muria muttered, scratching his head. The power of a ninth-circle spell being reduced to the level of a third or fourth circle, and then failing to sustain itself after just a few seconds? This level of suppression was excessive.
"Try using your breath," Muria suggested, seeing that Giovanni couldn't cast spells properly.
"I'll try," Giovanni reluctantly agreed. Metallic dragons, especially ancient ones like him, preferred spellcasting over using their natural breath weapon, which they considered too barbaric.
With a gentle exhalation, a stream of scorching flames shot out from Giovanni's mouth, covering a fan-shaped area in front of his head.
"Even my breath is suppressed," Giovanni concluded after using his breath weapon. He could now only exert the power of a gold-level dragon, a fraction of his full strength.
"I've never seen suppression like this before," Muria muttered, deep in thought. He needed to find out why Giovanni was so severely suppressed and find a solution. Otherwise, the fleet the Golden Dragon Lady had brought would be rendered useless.
"My Lord, your strength doesn't seem to be suppressed," Giovanni noted, sensing a difference between Muria and himself.
"Of course not. This world was conquered by the Titans. My power won't be suppressed," Muria said matter-of-factly. After all, this world had already seen the rule of two Titans. Muria naturally expected to retain his full power here.
"A world ruled by Titans? Then, is my current state because of the Titans?" Giovanni asked, his tone growing more serious.
"Uh!" Muria fell into deep thought upon hearing Giovanni's speculation. It seemed possible. Normally, a world wouldn't suppress an ancient dragon to this degree, reducing it to a gold-level dragon, practically rendering it helpless.
"I've heard that Titans are extremely domineering," Giovanni continued, looking intently at Muria. He had quickly agreed to teach at the academy to avoid a beating, thanks to a friend who had warned him in advance about Muria's temperament.
"The suppression in this world feels similar to the Titans' style—any non-Titan creature entering would be suppressed. Terence can move because of the drop of blood you gave him!"
"Could it be that extreme? Directly altering the world's rules?" Muria wondered aloud, recalling his conversations with the spirit of the Dominance Hall.
The spirit had once told him that no race dared to enter a world marked by the Titans. Now, Muria was beginning to understand the true meaning behind that statement. In a world under Titan rule, anyone who dared to enter would be crushed like a dog; entering meant certain death.
Under these circumstances, it made sense that no race would dare to step into a Titan's world. Even without Titans guarding it, no one would dare to occupy their territory.
"If this is the Titans' doing, then you must have a solution," Giovanni said, his eyes fixed on Muria. Since Muria had brought his subordinates here, he must have a way to resolve this issue.
"A solution…" Muria pulled out the Nine Phoenix Divine Axe, the world credential given to him by the spirit of the Dominance Hall. He had thought this item was useless after conquering the world.
But recalling the Golden Dragon Lady's words before she left, there was no doubt that the solution to liberating the suppressed dragons and giants lay with the Nine Phoenix Battle Axe.
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