Published at 21st of June 2024 8:57 am

Chapter 1731 Race [1]

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It was indeed a mechanism to protect the geniuses.

Damien revisited Zenith when the invasion began. During their first meeting, they'd already planned the race for the crown. At that time, Damien hadn't scanned the world so he didn't know about the forsaken dragon clans or Rose yet. Still, he knew that there would be a massive change soon.

After all, he was the one who asked Serena for help with the time array. Though he couldn't tell exactly what they were doing, he could feel the changes in the world. Arulion was just as affected as other places. In order to include the secluded plane without alerting its people, the array lines were run through the Western Region itself and connected to the hidden realm through more esoteric means.

When Damien felt their presence and inspected their mechanisms, he learned of the mana vacuum concept that Serena used to power them. The Dragon Emperor's message was originally planned to air right after the wave, pushing the geniuses into a sudden race for the throne.

However, when the forsaken dragon clans were brought into the picture, everything changed.

Zenith knew well that Damien was unwilling to help unless the situation became too extreme.

It was hard to call him indifferent to suffering, but he definitely had the demeanor of a Supreme.

The Dragon Kingdom's issues were for the dragons to solve. He would not step in and alter their fates unless he was left with no other option.

Damien stood too high above the clouds. To him, it was not his right to change such large events. He was not a person to take sides based on good or evil because his opinion of evil had changed.

His scale of thinking had become disconnected from the reality that others lived in.

Was it a good thing or a bad thing…? That was up for debate. Regardless, it remained true that if he wasn't dealing with matters that were of his caliber or entertaining to him, then he would only intervene with worldly affairs for the sake of his family.

The greatest evil, the person who was willing and able to turn entire cosmos worth of people into his slaves and destroy any other cosmos that stood in his way…no, the man who toyed with other cosmos for fun and saw others as nothing more than playthings who existed to cure his boredom, that was the man Damien saw as evil.

His scale of thinking had become disconnected from the reality that others lived in.

Was it a good thing or a bad thing…? That was up for debate. Regardless, it remained true that if he wasn't dealing with matters that were of his caliber or entertaining to him, then he would only intervene with worldly affairs for the sake of his family.

Damien was currently acting as August's helper. He was shaping the world so it would be ready for him when he became the Emperor, but unless August was truly in an unavoidable situation, he was not going to help his son.

This journey belonged to August. The happenings in Arulion were his to solve as long as he was enough to solve them.

And to Damien, August's strength wasn't an issue. The forsaken dragon clan was a threat that he could absolutely handle if he played his cards right.

Nevertheless, the race for the crown was a perfect way to provide August with a chance. At the same time, with the geniuses finding their way to the crown, they would move further away from the conflict.

Zenith wanted to protect the younger generation as much as possible, and this was the best way he could think of. Only, Damien did not agree.

If Zenith's goal was to help the largest number of people, then creating a competition that only involved a group of ten or twenty geniuses was no longer the right move.

Wasn't this a message better presented to the entire kingdom as a whole? If even enemies found themselves blinded by greed and aiming for the crown, then wouldn't fewer people be killed on a minute-to-minute basis?

Only the geniuses had compasses leading them to the right location. The general public did not need to know that information.

So, perhaps property would suffer as people ransacked every possible location in search of the treasure, but the people would stop killing each other to focus on greater things.

Damien told Zenith his idea and let the old Dragon Emperor decide what he wanted to do. It was his kingdom, after all.

His choice was clear, yet it did not leave him untroubled.

In that way, he was similar to a certain genius who would later be placed in a similar situation.

A choice with a clear answer that may not have been the right one…

August was facing one too.

***

Right, it was a matter related to what kind of ruler he wanted to be.

The choice was obvious in his mind, but he didn't like it at all.

'I have to aim for the crown.'

There currently wasn't a way for him to reliably deal with the forsaken dragon clan without incurring losses that invalidated his efforts. For him to properly face the threat with his measly strength, then he needed surety that he could control those stronger than him.

The position of Dragon Emperor was an empty one. It was a shell of what it was meant to be. All of the Holy Clan geniuses who aimed for the crown knew this and were only trying to take the position into their clan's grasp. If one looked at who was in the competition that actually had the goal of becoming Emperor and changing Arulion, there was only August. Perhaps the crown would not give August control over the Holy Clans. Perhaps his holding it would only create a bigger grudge between them, putting him in an extremely difficult situation.

But, at the very least, August was sure that the current Dragon Emperor's people would listen to him. The powerful people who had only ever been known as the "tournament administration" would be there to help him fight against the ongoing threat.

And, more importantly, the people would see the crowning of their next Emperor. They who still filled the title with value would heed his call and raise their arms.

Commoners usually didn't have much power, but it wasn't rare for them to reach at least 3rd class for the purpose of living longer. Those people had enough mana in their bodies. As long as August could equip them with the tools to use power above their means, he was confident that they'd gain enough fighting spirit to defend their homes.

It was a good plan in August's eyes, but looking for the crown was a time-consuming task. They couldn't just blindly follow their compasses until they found it, as they'd never reach before others.

To first triangulate its location, then find the fastest path to that general area, then enter the race to find it, and finally fight it out with the others to claim it would take far too long.

Too many people would die in that time. It didn't sit right in August's heart to just leave them to fate before he got a hold of the crown.

'A way to do both…'

It existed.

'But I'll need a lot of help to pull it off.'

He chose not to make a choice between the throne or the people.

Because, at the end of the day, they were one and the same.

August steeled himself. He had big dreams, and he didn't plan to give up on them.

The connections he'd made, the friends he'd made, even the enemies that he didn't find so unappealing anymore…

…he needed to call as many of them as possible to put together the wild scheme that was brewing in his mind.

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