Such reckless behavior could very likely turn him directly into the Invincible East among dragons, leaving him devoid of all emotions and desires from then on.
The re thought of himself, a Red Dragon, using his claws to handle an "embroidery needle" and pricking little dragons every day sent a cold shiver down David's spine.
His Authority was so powerfully effective that sotis a "re thought" could lead to terrifying and unintended consequences. This text is hosted at novel{f}ire
After all, if he beca devoid of all emotions and desires, who knew if Lust would still accumulate?
And without the power of Lust, he wouldn't be able to transform back. That would lead directly to a vicious cycle.
To avoid such a dire outco, one so lacking in draconic dignity, David had to muster his spirits. He flew with his body slightly arched and his tail tucked tight. Otherwise, if his tail was raised too high, other dragons would see it and think, "Holy shit! With such a big bulge under your cloaca, were you stepped on by a female dragon in heat?"
As David approached, he discovered that the central square of Evil Scale Fortress was teeming with dragons. At a glance, it resembled a flock of pigeons at a tourist dock.
This made David, accustod to wandering the starry skies, highly uncomfortable. It wasn't social anxiety; rather, being in his mating season, he felt the urge to beat up any male dragon he saw and 'make friends' with any female. A careless move could potentially cause a draconic disaster.
Soon, David learned the reason for the dragons' gathering. They weren't in a single random crowd but clustered in various groups. He saw an extrely old female Green Dragon in one such cluster, speaking in a rcantile and inciting manner about the military task she had undertaken:
"Celebrate, my fellow children of the multicolored scales! The Sadaka Plane has been under assault for twelve years under my command, and we have conquered more than half of its territory. I swear on the na of my Duralek family that within ten years, we will completely capture the Sadaka Plane and drive away the remaining followers of the War God! Then, in accordance with the will of the supre Dragon Queen, I, Flemia, shall be the King of Sadaka! All participants will be granted their respective territories and wealth..."
Upon hearing this, David was first shocked, then he had a sudden realization.
It seed the Chromatic Dragon Queen Tiamat had indeed achieved her audacious claim: she had torn the 'War' domain from the War God Tempas.
Thus, engaging in planar wars was the way to reap the greatest benefits.
But as he listened, David couldn't help but chuckle internally. It seed this Green Dragon was trying to pull a fast one, essentially trying to get White Dragons for free—luring the crowd of dragons to her plane as unpaid labor, with no ntion of an 'employnt fee' until the plane was entirely conquered.
Perhaps this was why most of the onlookers were young dragons, not yet adults—White Dragons were especially nurous. As for other Green Dragons, not a single one was present.
David even overheard passing Black Dragons muttering:
"That shaless old Green Dragon, Flemia, is deceiving young dragons again. She said the sa thing eight years ago, and three years ago, and she still claims to have taken over half the territory. I bet it's just so destitute backwaters; none of the hard-fought war fortresses have been conquered. At this rate, forget ten years—it might not happen even in a hundred! If the War God's followers launch a major counterattack, she'll lose all her Dragon Scales. So, it's better to find a contract from a more reputable family. At least then you get a guaranteed employnt fee upon entering the plane."
"But didn't she swear on the na of the Duralek family?"
"In the entire Palace of a Thousand Hues, she's the only dragon with that surna. Get it?"
"..."
There were only two possibilities: either none of this dragon's ancestors were latent believers, or her family's presence was so insignificant that they were only fit to rest eternally in the Dragon Queen's Divine Realm, not even deed worthy of resurrection.
Hearing this, David began to understand Tiamat's model for managing planar wars. Frankly, it was all about using benefits to motivate the dragon masses.
It was a rather helpless reality.
After all, most dragons were only latent believers; who would bother without any benefits?
It was just like corporate bosses on Blue Star: if they only talked about revitalizing critical national industries, reminisced about past hardships, and painted grand pictures for the future—all while completely ignoring wages and benefits—ninety-nine percent of people would turn around and walk straight out. It would be considered decent if they didn't spit in the boss's face before leaving.
Only those who had truly endured persecution during warti, who harbored deep-seated hatred in their hearts, who knew why their hos were destroyed, why their way of life had changed, and why they had been forced to leave their holand—only they possessed the kind of faith that could make them forsake everything for their cause.
And only those dragons who had lived through the dragon madness would disregard all costs, ignore all benefits, and still seek to destroy its cause!
But now, more than twenty thousand years had passed since the scourge of dragon madness, and countless generations of dragons had co and gone.
For dragons not living on Toriel nowadays, hearing about the dragon madness disaster was like people from Blue Star hearing stories from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Even if they knew Elves had caused imasurable disaster to their kind, nearly leading to extinction, most only held a 'prejudice' against Elves. At most, they were like Green Dragons, who simply added Elves to their nu.
As for tal Dragons, they had long ago re-established diplomatic relations with the Elves, even adopting High Elf forms as one of their preferred humanoid shapes.
It was like David himself; when he received the task from the Dragon Queen, he too needed to be persuaded with reason and enticed with profit before he was moved to act.
This, he concluded, was the true nature of dragons.
David's gaze swept over the curve of the female Green Dragon's haunches and her long, powerful tail. Then, he bowed his body slightly and continued forward. He soon stopped at the periphery of the crowds, near the center of the square, which was packed with dragons. It was here he heard an Ancient Blue Dragon, who wasn't even ntioning his own accepted task, but was instead launching into a spittle-flying tirade:
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