"Truly worthy of the title Dragon Princess, commanding such a vast number of dragons," a voice full of admiration rang out just as Felicia was trying to locate the presence that had made her feel a connection.
The blue-haired princess turned towards the voice and saw a chariot being pulled by eight celestial horses. On the chariot stood a woman clad in golden armor, with unparalleled beauty, her entire body glowing with a brilliant light.
She had red lips and white teeth, an elegantly upturned nose, and a pair of majestic golden eyes. Though a woman, she exuded a heroism unmatched by men. Her long black hair flowed freely, making her look like a legendary female war deity.
"Seventh Princess, Gladys?" Seeing the extraordinary entrance of this woman, Felicia, who had initially come here with a nonchalant attitude, was slightly surprised and took her more seriously. Indeed, any royal with inheritance rights was not to be underestimated.
"Just call me Gladys." The valiant princess smiled charmingly, causing many nobles below to momentarily lose their composure. "Princess, you brought quite a number of dragons! Planning to clear out my hunting grounds?"
"Not too many. I just brought a portion; some are still sleeping in the dragon nest," the Dragon Princess smiled calmly, displaying a peerless elegance. She was tall, with long legs, a slender waist, and a full chest. Her blue hair sparkled, and her beauty was on par with Gladys.
"My dragons didn't come." Below, Muria, who had carefully observed the dragons brought by the Dragon Princess, gritted his teeth in frustration. If the six mage dragons that were forcibly taken away were here, he could find an opportunity to forcibly take them back, saving a lot of trouble.
"What a pity." Muria looked at Felicia standing atop the blue sapphire ancient dragon, clenching his fists. Klein, beside him, felt inexplicably nervous.
"Boring." Muria continued to listen for a while, realizing that Gladys and Felicia were exchanging pleasantries to ease the atmosphere.
"It seems they'll chat for a while longer." Muria rolled his eyes, holding a plate as he wandered among the nobles at the banquet, searching for various delicacies he hadn't tried yet. Tasting delicious food is one of life's greatest pleasures.
"All nobles, listen up. Each of you can bring no more than a hundred private soldiers into Princess Gladys's demi-plane for hunting. The prey you capture can be exchanged for points. The top ten scorers will receive prizes prepared by Gladys."
After Muria had nearly sampled all the food at the banquet, the two princesses from different empires finally finished their conversation. The hunt, prepared for Muria's needs, was about to begin. Katharina, clad in black heavy armor, stepped forward to announce the rules.
"I must remind you that there is an adult insect lord in this demi-plane. The entire demi-plane is considered its territory. If you encounter its minions, please try to kill them, but if you come across the insect lord itself, crush the space crystal that will be distributed to you to escape immediately."
As Katharina spoke, one maid after another handed out crystals to the nobles present, including Muria.
"Contains spatial power and inscribed with a complete teleportation array. Truly extravagant." Muria marveled as he examined the crystal in his hand.
"That's not the point, Muria," said Klein, the noble in the gaudy purple armor who had found Muria again. "There's an adult insect lord in that demi-plane!"
"Yes, I heard. No need to repeat." Muria waved his hand calmly. "It's just a legendary giant insect. With this space crystal, you won't die. What's there to fear?"
"But it's a legend!" Klein couldn't help but grit his teeth. "If we really run into the insect lord, we might not even have time to react before it kills us."
"Indeed, without preparation, you might be killed." Muria glanced at Klein.
"Aren't you afraid of encountering the insect lord?" Klein felt a chill in his teeth, realizing this guy was truly an oddity, always calm regardless of the situation. "I'm telling you, Princess Gladys has a quota for deaths. If some nobles die, she doesn't have to be responsible."
"A death quota? That's better than I imagined." Muria nodded. In the past few days, he had witnessed the empire's decadence and extravagance, but now he saw the redeeming qualities of the Uranus Empire. A recreational hunt not only included a legendary insect lord but also had a death quota, suggesting even more brutal activities.
"Brother, aren't you really afraid?"
"What should I be afraid of? If I encounter the insect lord, I'll cripple it. It should fear me, not the other way around."
"Uh!" Klein was stunned, cautiously eyeing Muria. "Brother, what's your strength?"
"Take a guess." Muria raised an eyebrow.
"Legendary?" Klein ventured, believing the youth before him must have some exceptional quality to ride in the princess's carriage.
"The space gate is open. You should gather your guards and prepare to enter the hunting grounds." Muria patted Klein on the shoulder and lightly stomped his left foot, flying towards the space gate suspended in mid-air.
At this moment, numerous nobles, surrounded by their guards, were entering the space gate, which led to a vast wilderness on the other side. They hoped to showcase their skills before the two noble princesses.
"Muria."
As Muria was about to enter the demi-plane, a cold, emotionless voice called out.
"What's up?" Muria turned to see a purple-haired girl looking at him, surrounded by a hundred knights, each wearing armor and riding warhorses, floating in the air.
"These are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Princess Gladys prepared for you."
"No need." Muria sensed their auras, finding them all around the gold level, and shook his head. He had no interest in playing with gold-level knights; he would be interested if they were soul-tier.
Ignoring the purple-haired girl's increasingly livid face, Muria turned and rushed into the space gate, disappearing. Many nobles who hadn't entered the demi-plane yet saw this and started speculating. Klein, gathering his guards, also saw this and was stunned.
"My God, what is Muria's background? What skills does he have to deserve such treatment from the princess?"
Muria, just entering the demi-plane, didn't linger. Disguised as a cloud, he crossed a series of mountain ranges and then stopped, taking out a jade plate. Infusing it with mana refined through his mental power, a half-length image of the valiant princess appeared on the plate.
"Can you hear me, Gladys?" Muria called out twice. "If you can hear me, tell me where the Dragon Princess is. I need to find her."
"I can hear you, Muria." Hearing Muria's seemingly impatient voice, Gladys, holding the reins of the celestial horses, rubbed her brow in exasperation.
"The Dragon Princess and I split up to search for the insect lord. Muria, please wait a moment. Let me negotiate with the Dragon Princess first, okay?"
"My dragons were taken. Shouldn't I negotiate?"
"If you negotiate, it will end in a fight." Gladys said bluntly. Having spent some time with Muria, she realized his negotiation skills were practically nonexistent.
"Don't you realize your way of speaking is too blunt? You have a 100% chance of offending the Dragon Princess. She's a proud princess, I can tell."
"I just like speaking the truth," Muria frowned. "And if it comes to a fight, so be it. It's only 125 dragons; I can handle them all by myself."
"My dear Muria, just wait a moment, really. If I can't resolve it, you can step in. Violence doesn't solve everything."
"That only means there isn't enough violence," Muria responded. This was the Titan way of handling things: punch first, ask questions later.
"Just enjoy my demi-plane for now!" Gladys didn't want to hear Muria anymore. "The scenery is quite nice. If I fail to negotiate, I'll let you know."
With that, the jade plate in Muria's hand returned to its original state, and no matter how he tried, it no longer responded.
"Hey, that little princess won't let me talk to the Dragon Princess. My negotiation skills are strong, you know?"
Muria grumbled, looking at the black lion with bat wings and a scorpion tail lying at his feet, shivering.
"Don't you think so?" Muria nudged the giant scorpion lion, which seemed big enough to swat him with a paw.
"Y-yes," the gold-level scorpion lion stammered in draconic, looking at the black mamba snake under Muria's foot.
"See, this little black cat is pretty obedient," Muria muttered, dissatisfied, watching the trembling, shedding scorpion lion. "My negotiation skills are obviously strong!"
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