Legacy of the Dark Sage

The largest place inside the main palace was called the Tempest Hall. It could hold about ten thousand dragons, of course, in their human form while having enough space for everyone to move around. Because of its sheer size, they only used it during large banquets, and the last time they had such an event was more than a hundred years ago when Aillos reached the peak level of an Overlord.

After a long time, the Tempest Hall was once again ready to host a grand event. The anticipation was palpable as representatives from every dragon tribe, one after another, stepped into the majestic hall.

Almost everyone wore formal wear, a special suit with colors and emblems that represented their tribes.

Aillos was from the Sky Dragon Tribe, and their clothes were primarily associated with golden silver, silver, and platinum, along with the emblem of a Sky Dragon's profile.

The Water Dragon Tribe representatives' formal wear used light blue and green colors with a little touch of silver to give tribute to the Sky Dragon Tribe. Their emblem depicted the large waves of the sea.

The Golden Dragon Tribe used hues of gold with a tinge of silver, and their emblem was that of drawn dragon claws.

The Flame Dragon Tribe's formal attire was a striking combination of red, orange, and silver, mirroring the colors of a blazing fire. Their emblem, a roaring dragon spitting swirling flames, was a testament to their fierce nature.

Then, there was formal wear using the color combination of light brown and silver, a combination of light yellow and silver, another with dark green and silver, dark blue and silver, and so on...

All dragon tribes added different shades of silver to their formal wear to pay tribute to the Sky Dragon Tribe. Most of the dragons wore light-toned formal wear, except for the Venom Dragon Tribe and the Night Dragon Tribe, because of the color of their innate magic.

The Tempest Hall was now a living, breathing canvas, each stroke a unique combination of colors. The diverse formal wear of the dragon tribes had transformed the grand hall into a vibrant spectacle.

Aillos watched the scene below the Tempest Hall through a floor-to-ceiling window in one of the rooms on the fourth level. The window was actually a two-way mirror, so no one could see inside the room while those inside could freely watch what was happening behind it.

Behind Aillos stood all eight of his aides: Aella, Attor, Celestine, Ducal, Eissen, Nithe, Nothum, and Veles. They were waiting for Aillos to go down the hall. Stay connected through empire

"How much time do we have before everyone is expected to come?" Aillos asked while observing which tribe had already entered the hall.

"There is still more than an hour left, Milord," Veles replied.

"Hm... no wonder I only see the second-in-commands and a lot of the young talents."

"It is likely that the patriarchs asked their second-in-commands to observe the situation in the hall and report back to them," Nothum voiced his opinion. Being the aide responsible for the Internal Affairs of the clan, his opinion was almost always correct. "And since they sent their young talents here as well, I believe your appearance in the training hall yesterday produced a good result."

Aillos smiled wryly.

The result Nothum meant was the misunderstanding Aillos wanted the other tribes to have for his unannounced appearance in the training hall. Basically, he wanted every patriarch to have the wrong impression that he was observing the young talents because he was searching for a successor.

Since the patriarchs sent their young talents way ahead of the gathering's call time, they likely wanted them to make a good impression by showing their enthusiasm and good observance of time.

They might also have instructed these young talents to mingle with any of the Sky Dragon Tribe people who would attend the gathering. Their objective was obviously to get to their good sides.

Unfortunately for them, none of the Sky Dragon Tribe would attend the gathering. Not that Aillos did not want them to come, but because he was more than enough to represent all of them. Besides, they already knew what he would do on that day.

"Their intentions are so easy to read," Aillos remarked with a bitter smile. "But I suppose I'm not one to complain since it's something I did on purpose."

He then turned to look at his aides and asked with a meaningful smile, "I trust none of you gave your tribe patriarchs a hint of what is about to happen today, right?"

Immediately, the expressions of his aides turned grim. They never expected him, of all people, to doubt their loyalty.

Suddenly, Aillos burst out in laughter and said, "You should see the look on your faces right now."

With wide eyes, they gaped at him in confusion.

Aillos smiled apologetically at them and said, "I am only trying to mess with you since you all look tense. Are you that worried about how the patriarchs would react to my announcement?"

"Because it is unprecedented, of course, we will all be worried."

The one who answered on behalf of everyone was Ducal. Unlike the other aides, who were originally members of other dragon tribes, he came from the Sky Dragon Tribe, like Aillos.

For this reason, the other aides considered Ducal their leader, even when he did not want to. Besides, he did not want them to give him special treatment just because he was from the same tribe as the Head of their Clan.

"I have put all of you in a bind because of my selfishness," Aillos started before lowering his head at them in apology. "For that, I thank you."

Nonetheless, instead of saying a word of apology, he thanked them for their loyalty and great understanding.

"You have to be careful not to show such a sight to the others, Milord," Aella could not help but point out with a bitter smile. "If word of you lowering your head before your aides get out, The Emperor and his cronies might view it as a sign of weakness."

Her advice was not that unwarranted since she was responsible for Diplomacy among the other clans in the Higher Realm. Aillos's action would truly become a huge 'scandal' if seen by the other clans.

"Luckily, I only have you guys with me as witnesses for my weak moments," Aillos chuckled and nodded to Aella. "I have nothing to worry about."

His remark lifted the tension that plagued the eight aides for the past few weeks.

In fact, they were still making sense of all the revelations they heard, starting with Ames's confession of their clan's current situation and ending with Aillos's announcement later. Nonetheless, even if they had yet to warp their heads about everything, they decided to believe in his judgment because of their unwavering trust in him.

Aillos turned his attention back to the window and observed the scene below.

Meanwhile, in another room on the same level, all the Regis representatives, including Aron, Cade, Jared, and Kyran, were also watching the hall from the window.

Kyran, in particular, was quite close to the window, and he was observing every young talent of the Dragon Clan.

Jared walked up beside Kyran and tried to trace his nephew's line of sight when he found that he was looking at a group of young talents wearing formal wear with gold, light brown, green, or blue colors; he could guess what was swirling in his head.

"I heard a few young dragons showed interest in our lovely young daughter-in-law. Are those the ones?"

Jared's intuition was quite on point because Kyran was indeed watching Ladon and Thorn, who were surrounded by other talents from the Earth Dragon Tribe, Holy Dragon Tribe, and Venom Dragon Tribe. However, Jared was also a way off his guess because Kyran only watched them because he noticed that some of the young talents around them exuded a powerful aura.

"Yes," Kyran answered without bothering to clear Jared's misunderstanding.

Jared found his nephew's bold admission of keeping a close watch on his love rivals quite admirable and cute. He chuckled, patted his nephew on the back, and said, "Don't worry. After tonight, they would no longer bother Regis's daughter-in-law."

Kyran looked at his uncle awkwardly and said, "Uncle, you know that Mother is also the Regis's daughter-in-law, right?"

"What are you saying? Rin is the Regis Family's Madam! There is a difference!"

Kyran could only sigh in resignation at his uncle's strange antics.

Cade chuckled and also stood beside Kyran. He immediately spotted the people his son was observing and said, "Those young dragons do exude powerful auras. You will have to keep an eye on them, especially those in brown clothes."

As always, Kyran was always amazed by his father's insight, which was similar to Aillos's.

"Lord Aillos warned me about the Venom Dragon Tribe, but the way I see it, the Earth Dragon Tribe might be more of a pain than them," Kyran agreed.