"The giants led you to defeat in war, countless deaths, and ultimately abandoned you. But I, will lead you to be invincible in battle, victorious in glory, and reborn in honor."
Saga declared.
After a brief silence,
The remaining monsters knelt down in droves, pledging their submission and loyalty.
The war was now over, and it was time to clean up the aftermath. Saga's gaze swept over the crowd of monsters, finally resting on a wolf Giant.
As a type of Subgiant, the wolf Giants who followed the Storm Giants were much more loyal than other monsters. In the final stages of the war, the majority chose to fight to the death and were killed in a siege by the traitorous monsters and the True Dragon's kin.
But not all wolf Giants were willing to give their lives for the Storm Giants.
A small number of them remained.
Moreover, as Subgiants comparable to Subdragons, wolf Giants were easier to subdue than true Giants. Aside from some young White Dragons, Giants couldn't tame True Dragons, so sometimes they would tame Subdragons to fulfill their fantasies.
Saga's gaze lingered on the bloodied wolf Giant, sizing him up.
This wolf Giant was an elite among his kind, towering over five meters tall, with huge, slender limbs and arms ending in sharp claws that nearly touched his knees. His ferocious wolf head and the dagger-like fangs in his gaping maw added to his vicious appearance.
Before the battle turned clear,
Countless Dragon Kind had fallen to the claws and fangs of this wolf Giant.
Among the average fourth-tier wolf Giants, this one could be considered their leader.
Noticing Saga's gaze, the wolf Giant bowed his head in submission.
"You, and you, and you,"
Saga picked out the elite warriors from each species among the surviving monsters and said, "You few will act as the leaders of your tribes. Lead your people to choose a suitable place to gather and bury the bodies. Before that, don't forget to strip them of their weapons and armor and keep them."
The monster leaders were momentarily stunned, then gladly accepted the command.
For these monsters, serving Giants or Dragons made little difference; both were powerful superior species. They were willing to serve the victors, not stubbornly follow the losers to death.
"The quality of these monsters is much stronger than my kin in Moon Bay, but their loyalty is lower, only faithful to the victor."
Saga pondered thoughtfully.
"No matter, I am a Mind Warlock. What kind of Mind Warlock would I be if I couldn't manipulate minds? Give me some time to gradually influence and brainwash them, and I can make these monsters follow me wholeheartedly, ready to lay down their lives without hesitation."
These monsters were Sapient Beings, though not particularly intelligent.
Their intelligence didn't even match that of the lanternfish-men. After all, creatures like ogres, trolls, and minotaurs were known for their brawn over brains, and indeed, that was the case. Although there were exceptions with high intelligence, such individuals were rare.
"In the future, I'll select some suitable targets for Dragon Vein transformation, and with continuous mental influence, they won't be hard to subdue."
The sea breeze was gentle, the sunlight warm.
The monsters began to move.
Under the leadership of their respective leaders, the ogres, minotaurs, and others, towering and broad, as if their brains were also made of muscle, started to clean up the battlefield.
A gust of wind approached.
The Blue Dragon Glorithia, with her wings flapping, flew over.
"You could have easily dealt with these Storm Giants, yet you chose to hide your strength and play around. What a nasty sense of humor."
The Blue Dragon inwardly sneered, but outwardly she spared no praise, saying to Saga, "Incredible! You killed a high-ranking Storm Giant with a single blow. Wow, it's unbelievable! Which other dragon could claim the fierce achievement of killing a high-ranking Storm Giant during their Young Dragon stage?"
This two-faced creature.
Saga glanced at the Blue Dragon, slightly enjoying her flattery.
Although the main reason he could kill the high-ranking Storm Giant was that the Giant was not at its peak and mostly focused on the Topaz Dragon Lord, regardless of the circumstances, a high-ranking Storm Giant in its prime had indeed died under Saga's breath.
It was a remarkable feat.
"You did well too, holding off a sixth-tier Storm Giant for so long."
Saga offered a simple compliment to the Blue Dragon.
In this war, the Blue Dragon had also contributed significantly, with serious injuries visible on her body, extensive scale armor shattered, and bloodstained.
Meanwhile, having received Saga's recognition,
The Blue Dragon lifted her head, showing a smug expression, though she humbly said, "Just average performance, definitely not as good as you."
After a pause, Glorithia's gaze swept over the rugged islands, curiously asking:
"Do you plan to move your territory here?"
Saga nodded, calmly responding, "Moon Bay is too small and remote. I want to move the focus of my territory to the Grayrock Archipelago, but I won't give up on Moon Bay."
There was a Magic Gem mine on Moon Bay.
Although it was only a tiny Magic Gem mine with not many ready-made Magic Gems, the value of a Magic Gem vein was more than that.
Placing ordinary gems in a Magic Gem mine,
Nourished by the magic energy running through the vein, over time, ordinary gems would turn into new Magic Gems. Thus, as long as the mine wasn't overexploited and the Magic Gems weren't all harvested at once, but rather ordinary gems were continuously nourished, it could produce gems endlessly.
Although the efficiency of a tiny gem mine to nourish Magic Gems was low and required a long time, the cumulative amount was considerable.
After some thought, Saga mused:
"You stay here in the Grayrock Archipelago and guard Grayrock Isle for me. If you encounter anyone coveting this territory and you can't handle it yourself, seek help from the Topaz Dragon first, and inform me at the same time."
It would be possible for Saga to stay on Grayrock Isle and have the Blue Dragon convey his thoughts to Moon Bay.
However, with the gem mine on Moon Bay, Saga wasn't sure if the Blue Dragon could restrain her greed when he wasn't there.
After a pause, Saga extended his dragon claw.
The Blue Dragon nodded and curiously watched Saga's action.
A humming sound emerged as a pearlescent psychic glow appeared on Saga's dragon claw, gathering into a diamond shape and gradually forming the outline of a crystal.
"You can use this Psychic Crystal to contact me."
This was a simple level-one psychic ability.
After the war with the Storm Giants ended and the dust settled, the Topaz Dragon Lord, as agreed, passed on the knowledge of psychic abilities related to the mind to Saga.
The Gemstone Dragon's psychic ability heritage was indeed rich.
The ability to create Psychic Guards that Saga initially wanted was just a trivial part of it.
This level-one ability to create a psychic communication crystal was also not in Saga's heritage before.
"Psychic Crystal. Are you a Mind Warlock?"
It was only now that Glorithia realized that the 'Diamond Dragon' in front of her wasn't like most dragons, who practiced both magic and physical prowess, but had embarked on the path of a Mind Warlock.
Mind Warlock, terrible!
The Blue Dragon was shocked inside.
She realized a critical point.
If he was a Mind Warlock, didn't that mean he could hear all the unguarded thoughts she had in his presence?
"Um, do you, do you know what I'm thinking?"
The Blue Dragon looked at Saga, not speaking out loud but thinking it in her mind.
"What do you think?"
A slow, deliberate whisper echoed in her mind.
The voice was like a hammer blow, making the Blue Dragon's head reel.
"This, this…"
She looked left and right, then lowered her head to stare at the tip of her drooping tail, her eyes blank with confusion, and chose to remain silent, not knowing what to say.
"Enough."
Saga tossed the Psychic Crystal to the Blue Dragon.
She caught it reflexively and closed her babbling mouth.
"Guard Grayrock Isle well; that's your task now, understand?"
"As for what happened before, let bygones be bygones."
Saga said with a teasing smile, adding, "In the future, when you indulge in wild thoughts, you'd better first consider whether the target in front of you can hear your mind."
The Blue Dragon hung her head dejectedly, saying listlessly,
"I remember."
After instructing the Blue Dragon on some matters, Saga took to the skies, first visiting Goldsand Isle, and likewise gave the Topaz Dragon and Brass Dragon there a Psychic Crystal.
"If you're going to travel frequently between Moon Bay and the Grayrock Archipelago, I suggest you set up a teleportation array. It could save you the time and effort of traveling."
The Topaz Dragon suggested.
"A high-ranking Wind Mage named Lefelienxia should have the ability to construct a fixed teleportation array. She seems to want to strike a deal with our Dragon Kind. You can propose this condition to her when the time comes."
Saga thought for a moment and said,
"There are also psychic abilities that create teleportation arrays or enable long-distance space teleportation. I'll see if I can master them in time. If not, I can try trading with the high-ranking Wind Mage."
Level-seven psychic teleportation ability—Long-Distance Psychic Teleportation—could easily span thousands of kilometers.
In fact, Saga could already learn teleportation-related psychic abilities, with a level-four ability called Anywhere Door that had a teleportation effect, but it could only transport over a short distance.
"I definitely can't learn a level-seven ability right now."
"However, maybe I can amplify the Anywhere Door by manipulating electromagnetic forces, similar to how I improved the psychic thrall mark, to gain an enhanced effect."
Saga thought this way.
After a brief exchange with the Brass Dragon and Topaz Dragon on Goldsand Isle, Saga left and soared into the sky, flying towards Moon Bay as the sun gradually sank towards the sea level.
Proofreader & Editor: Lotas