Golden Dragon: Six Thousand Years of Empire

The position of the Lord of a Billion Undead sounds rather tempting, but to Terramus, the Holy Dragon's Son, it doesn't hold much allure. He chose to leave this decision for his future self to resolve.

"Alright, I'll ask you for an answer when you become an adult."

Wayne was surprised by the response from the dragon uncle before him, but he added a sentence,

"If by then, I still haven't found an inheritor."

"That's fine, but I want to go back now."

When Noah saw his own child again, the youngster seemed to be in much higher spirits and appeared to get along very well with his grandnephew.

"Father, can we go home now?"

"Of course."

Just like when Noah came, he led his child back smoothly.

"Oh, by the way, I need to remind you of something."

Upon reaching the surface, a polar storm happened to sweep by with a howl, as Noah looked seriously at Terramus, who was a bit unaccustomed to the extreme cold.

"What is it?"

The young dragon instinctively retracted his dragon wings to shield his coiled dragon body from the storm's chill.

"I recently carried out a cross-plane support mission. The ones we helped were your grandparents. They were engaged in a tough war. To persuade them to return, I informed them of your and your brother's existence."

"So, because Grandfather and Grandmother want to see me and my brother, you brought me out of the Underground Maze?"

"Mm-hmm, undeniably, that's part of the reason. The other part, well, your mother and I happened to miss you a bit."

Noah hummed softly, offering a mild defense.

"I believe my mother would miss me, but would you really miss me? For the past eleven years, I haven't even seen you until today."

"You haven't seen me, but how do you know I haven't been to see you?"

"Father."

Terramus paused, but this young dragon did not react as Noah expected, instead showing a look of sudden realization,

"So every time I felt life getting harder, it was because you'd come to visit, wasn't it?"

"Well, we should head home now. Your grandfather and grandmother are injured, so they're not in the best shape. You should know what to say and what not to without me having to remind you too much, right?"

Noah shifted the topic, avoiding a direct answer.

"Father, you haven't answered me yet."

Faced with the relentless questioning of his little offspring, Noah's response was simple. He tore open space and tossed the inquisitive young one inside.

When Terramus, dizzy and disoriented, fell from the spatial rift back into the material world, he was too confused to speak.

Ugh—

The young dragon dry-heaved a few times, unable to throw up anything as he hadn't had a proper meat meal in eleven years, surviving mostly on gemstones.

"Adjust your state; later, I'll take you to visit your grandfather and grandmother."

Noah appeared behind the not-so-gently handled young one, reminding him,

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you, the suggestion to send you to the Undead Kingdom for training came from an elder of mine. She'll be there, so watch your words."

"Who is it?"

Having gagged a few times and calmed himself, the young dragon instinctively inquired.

"You'll find out then."

It's undeniable that Terramus had a slight urge to complain, after all, which young dragon would endure such hardships under the care of their parents?

Compared to the abandoned Colorful Dragons, the only advantage he had was assured life; besides that, the poor living conditions wouldn't even appeal to Kobolds.

However, when Terramus followed his father into the palace gathering many blood relatives, he quickly quashed the idea of complaining.

The situation was clear; excluding his mother and maternal grandparents, there were two Golden Dragons in poor condition, whose power, not to mention compared to his father, was even inferior to the sole human Mage present.

The elder his father referred to was clear; the strongest alliance in the palace, of a person and a dragon, were responsible for his tragic childhood, and his intended appeals wouldn't find justice here.

"Mother, I'm back!"

When his biological mother, Agnes, approached him, Terramus had already decided to hide all his experiences in the Undead Dungeon.

Even if he did recount them, it wouldn't solve anything but distress these genuinely caring elders, most importantly, risking the comfort of his future days.

As a dragon, one must look beyond immediate life and consider the future.

"Your father said you went for special training; is everything okay? Are you hurt? Let me see!"

Agnes, now a mature dragon, inspected every inch of her child's dragon body. She sensed something amiss, but supporting her partner's decisions left her no grounds to object due to her lack of strength.

"What injury could he have? Look, not a single Shattered Scale on him."

Noah interjected at this opportune moment.

It must be said, dragons raised on gemstones are different; though the scales appeared dim, they possessed a texture ordinary Golden Dragon Scales did not.

"This is our grandson?"

"Yes, Terramus, quickly come and meet your grandparents."

With Agnes finding no problems, she guided the child to pay respects to the elders.

"Grandmother!"

"Grandfather!"

"Good child, you must have had a hard time!"

As a mature dragon long active on the battlefield, Orsya spotted the issue with her grandson. It was an aura only warriors seasoned in fierce battles could have.

"Grandmother!"

The sudden concern made Terramus's nose tingle. Seeing the gentle young human woman before him, warmth surged in his heart, feeling true familial love for the first time.

Yet because of this, Terramus chose to argue,

"I've been doing well during this time."

"Only certain aspects are well, like you had very good treatment in terms of food and lodging, but other conditions were extremely harsh."

As a Golden Dragon, Orsya evidently knew of the Golden Dragon's talent for half-truths,

"Aside from your age and size still being juvenile, your aura isn't at all, more like a warrior, a commander. What exactly have you experienced to cultivate such presence?"

"I already mentioned sending him to a Secret Realm for training. If he still ends up like those pampered young ones, wouldn't that be wasted effort."

Noah interjected again.

"Good child, don't mind your father. Come, tell your grandmother what you've experienced during this time?"

Orsya glared at Noah and then turned to comfort her grandson. She desperately wanted to know what kind of disgraceful things her son had done to cultivate a commander aura in such a young dragon.

"Yes, tell us. There's no need to hold back."

"I've been through many battles and, in those battles, began using spells to enslave enemy soldiers and turned them against invading foes..."

Terramus glanced at his father, who was looking up at the ceiling frescoes, and began narrating his experience, albeit a summarized version, carefully omitting the undead.