CHAPTER 400: CHAPTER 247: BANNED (2)

This is seriously like dismantling an entire Spirit Sucker nest and bringing it back home? It’s not like just moving a beehive!

"Just the two of us?" Attilicia asked, his voice laced with disbelief.

The difficulty of this is completely on par with raiding a Blue Dragon’s Dragon Nest and making off with all their Dragon Eggs. No, that’s not quite right. My son has already effectively hollowed out the entire Blue Dragon Nest of its prime members without them noticing. Especially since the rise of the Montero mines brought the nest a cash flow far exceeding previous times. Plus, he’d previously disguised himself as an ancient dragon to fool the legendary Blue Dragon, Patrice, using a mix of carrot and stick.

David, however, matter-of-factly began to plan, "Of course, we’ll have to go recruit some dragons. I especially need to convince that old Dwarf, Bergin, to take another trip to the Gloomy Region with me. After all, a Spirit Sucker capital city will conservatively have at least one Spirit Sucker Governor. When the time comes, we’ll be relying on the old master and ’Ancestor’ Christoph to take them head-on."

Upon hearing that David was serious, Attilicia truly began to panic. It was uncertain whether his past experiences had cast a psychological shadow over him regarding the Gloomy Region.

Those are Spirit Suckers we’re talking about! If things go wrong, even dying might become a luxury... We’d likely be brainwashed and enslaved by those Spirit Suckers until death. No! Even worse, we could be forcibly transformed into humanoid shapes, then have a Spirit Sucker tadpole implanted into our skulls by a Governor, only for it to devour our brains and take over!

"Or... how about we reconsider and find a more suitable ’mastermind’ candidate?" Attilicia suggested nervously.

The main issue is that both that Rune Lord Dwarf and the old Red Dragon David mentioned sound like complete meatheads. If they get mind-controlled by the Spirit Suckers and we end up fighting each other, it’ll be a disaster, not a laughing matter.

"Tsk, what are you afraid of? I wasn’t planning on a frontal assault anyway. Don’t you have a demiplane? I’ll figure out a way to lure their Governor away, then use your demiplane to—SNAP!—shove their mastermind inside, and we bail. Simple as that." David spread his claws.

Arrogance

SNAP your sister! Do you think this is like snapping corn cobs?! Attilicia felt himself going mad!

What infuriated him even more was that he was being looked down upon by his own son?! That was utterly unacceptable! He didn’t know what came over him, but his mind went blank, he steeled his heart, and concocted a grand-sounding excuse to convince himself:

"Fine! Let’s just say it’s to contribute to the peace of Elariya."

But for safety’s sake, and to buy some extra preparation time, he imposed some conditions on David’s trip. "But a Spirit Sucker capital city with a mastermind surely has more than one Governor. If you insist on executing this risky plan, then besides Bergin and that still-hypothetical Red Dragon Ancestor of yours, you need to find at least one more legendary figure. Otherwise, I’m out! If someone gets controlled, the whole situation will collapse immediately, and we’ll have absolutely no way to solve it!"

He absolutely did not want to re-experience the humiliation and terror of having his freedom controlled by another.

"Alright, just one more legend, then." David flicked his tail, seemingly unconcerned. He almost instantly thought of a backup dragon candidate and even had the presence of mind to joke, "Actually, Bergin and that old dragon Christoph are perfectly sufficient. Our objective is just to snatch the mastermind, not to actually fight the Spirit Suckers to the death."

Attilicia was close to rolling his eyes.

You’re planning to raid their main nest! How is that not a fight to the death? Others might, at most, desecrate ancestral graves for some loot. You’re planning to carry off their entire nursery combined with their ’ancestral urn’! It’d be a miracle if they didn’t come after you with everything they have! One must understand, the mastermind isn’t just for incubating new tadpoles. Every Spirit Sucker who dies will also have their kin try to bring back their head, so their brain can be re-merged with the mastermind. He even suspected their enemies would pursue them across multiple planes in Snail Shell Ships!

However, Attilicia had an unparalleled obsession with the Tokamak project.

And so, it was decided.

The rest was just about making preparations. One task was the bulk procurement of ’anti-psionic enslavement amulets’ or charms. Given their potential adversaries were Spirit Suckers, one could never be too prepared with such items. After all, if they were going to lure out the Spirit Suckers from the main city, the commotion had to be significant.

By Attilicia’s estimation, it would have to be a commotion on the scale of a war that concerned the entire future of the Spirit Sucker capital. Or perhaps... a ’slave rebellion’ massive enough to overturn their dominion?

Indeed, Attilicia, this Silver Dragon who had thoroughly lost his way, was now so fixated on his goal that his mind was already scheming to use a war as cover. Anyway, in the eyes of this shameless, self-righteous hypocrite (as David saw him), there were hardly any good folk in the Gloomy Region; any number of them dying would be a contribution to the world’s equilibrium.

Meanwhile, as these preparations for the premeditated strike against the Spirit Suckers were underway, a fleet of ships flying the banner of a magical sect forcibly beached themselves on the western coast of the Kutaro Desert.

When David, who was playing with dragon whelps in Port Wallens on the New Continent, received a message from his ’Dragon Dad’ Attilicia, he was startled and had to rush back immediately via a Teleportation Gate.

But he had a pretty good idea what it was about. It was most likely related to the Magical Net he had melted down.

That day, David and his father, Attilicia, received these dust-covered followers of the magical sect in the outer city of Tokamak Fortress. When the elderly Pastoral Head saw the two great dragons—David, the red one, and a blue one—he showed not the slightest surprise. He took a deep look at David, who was apparently the ’chief culprit,’ and then delivered a divine oracle, his voice grave, "Mr. David Uthos, according to the oracle bestowed by my Lord Mistral, She wishes for you to cease the magical experiment that may threaten to overturn all of Elariya."

There was no reprimand, no order, no warning. Only a surprisingly gentle piece of persuasion.

Mistral? But isn’t the second Magic Goddess rumored to have perished in the Winner’s Calamity?

David, who had his doubts, exchanged a worried glance with his father, but the former firmly shook his head and smiled, "Sorry, this concerns the legendary path I will follow. You should understand what it means for both of us if you try to obstruct my path."

At this, David steeled himself for a fierce battle, even preparing for the possibility of the Magic Goddess descending in her avatar form.

Yet, as if expecting this, the Pastoral Head stood up and nodded, "I understand. I shall convey your will to my Lord. Since you are determined to embark on this path that threatens the Magical Net, you must also be prepared to be rejected by it."

"May my Lord’s blessings be eternal; magic is supreme."

Without any further needless or harsh words, nor any attempt to press the issue, the Pastoral Head departed from the ancient, mottled city with his silent retinue of magic believers. This left David no chance to deliver a classic ’don’t underestimate the young and downtrodden, for fortunes change’ speech, much to his regret.

Then again, it’s not like he had a marriage contract with the Magic Goddess...

However, it took less than a week for David and his father to realize what ’rejection by the Magical Net’ meant. Including him, his father Attilicia, and those three thousand Neisser scholars—all became unable to connect to the Magical Net...

"Damn it, so if you can’t beat ’em, you just ban their accounts, huh!" David immediately started swearing.

Wrath

But he wasn’t too bothered; thanks to his Authority, he could still cast spells without relying on the Magical Net. Only his father, Attilicia, looked up at the void with a long sigh. This old Mage, who had studied the Magical Net his entire life, had his magical tools outright confiscated... it was as if his direct network administrator had personally banned his account.

And to think, soon he’d have to venture down into the treacherous Gloomy Region... It looked like he was in for another round of torment. Truly, utterly miserable.

Seeing this, David felt somewhat helpless, and all his attempts at comfort turned into a reassuring pat on the shoulder, "Father, my condolences."

Attilicia promptly swatted David with his tail, irritated, "...To hell with that! My parents are still very much alive, and I was planning to take you to Dragon Island to meet them soon."

Oh... David thought. After all these years, he had almost believed himself to be an orphan.