Game World: I Can Share Talents-Chapter 40: You Seem a Bit Too Extreme

"I will be taking control of all legions and facilities on the Kepal Plain. I hope that as the local Lord, you, Scorching Wings, will hand over command of the territory to me before you leave. This isn’t an attempt to seize your power, but to ensure our resources are utilized more appropriately."

Reiya said, her head held high.

"Take control of the forces under my command?"

Scorching Wings said in a deep voice, "Her Highness Reiya, forgive my bluntness, but if we’re preparing for war, my Execution Officers are far more familiar with the territory. If you need anything, you just have to let them know."

"Are you sure? Then why was I ambushed in your territory, yet you, the local Lord, knew nothing about it?"

Reiya pressed on, her tone sharp. "If even the slightest thing had gone wrong, you’d be looking at my corpse right now. My death would be a small matter, but if the enemy used the Kepal Plain as a breakthrough point, then even a named True Dragon like you couldn’t atone for it with ten thousand deaths!"

"Guh..."

Scorching Wings looked mortified at the Silver-haired Dragon Lady’s accusation.

He turned to look at Tudor, who was prostrated nearby, his eyes demanding an explanation.

The Giant Dragon Execution Officer was instantly drenched in a cold sweat:

"M-Master, those people... it was as if they appeared out of thin air. We couldn’t find any trace of them."

"Appeared out of thin air? Are you making a fool of me?"

Scorching Wings sneered, "Anything that exists must leave a trace. I ordered you to patrol the territory. Is this how you complete your mission?!"

"Enough, Lord Scorching Wings. You don’t need to be overly harsh on your subordinates and servants. This isn’t a mistake you made alone. In fact, nearly all Lords are the same. Your management of your territories is simply too lax, which has given the Celestial Vault Kingdom an opening."

Reiya continued, exchanging a subtle glance with Westheid before getting to the heart of the matter:

"Do you have any idea how many spies and agents from the Celestial Vault Kingdom are in your territory? Do you know their numbers? Their organization? Aside from the locations of your few towers, I doubt you spare a second glance for anywhere else. And it is in those places that our enemies are quietly growing stronger. Just recently, all the spies from the Celestial Vault Kingdom have become active. They, too, are preparing for war."

Scorching Wings clicked his tongue. "No wonder... Starting the day before yesterday, I’ve been receiving sporadic reports of strange skirmishes. So it was the riffraff from the Celestial Vault Kingdom causing trouble."

The Legendary Dragon’s crimson eyes flashed, and he declared decisively:

"In that case, we’ll raze all the towns to the ground! Burn them to ash!"

The Legendary True Dragon’s solution was as simple as it was brutal—and perfectly in character for the Dragon Race.

The logic was simple: what do you do if there are spies in your territory? Just slaughter everyone. No more people, no more spies.

"That’s... arguably a bit extreme."

Westheid said, looking like he was breaking out in a sweat, "Even if you don’t care about the lives of mortal slaves, they are a quality labor force and will be at least somewhat useful in the coming war. What’s more, don’t forget we have a quota for the blood sacrifice. A random massacre won’t meet its requirements."

"Blood sacrifice... Speaking of which, why are we suddenly holding a blood sacrifice ritual? Her Highness Reiya, do you have any idea?"

Scorching Wings couldn’t help but ask at the mention of the blood sacrifice.

The so-called blood sacrifice ritual was a large-scale Technique that used the souls and flesh of mortals as a substitute for precious Extraordinary Materials.

This utterly evil act was absolutely forbidden in the future Realm of Order, but it wasn’t considered taboo in this lawless ancient era. The flesh and souls of mortals were simply fuel for Powerhouses to squander as they pleased, with no concept of human rights to speak of.

However, preparing for a blood sacrifice was incredibly troublesome and highly inefficient. It was often easier to just search for the proper materials than to go to the trouble of collecting mortal souls and flesh. Only for exceptionally large-scale Techniques that consumed vast resources was a blood sacrifice considered cost-effective.

"It’s to heal Her Highness Reiya’s injuries."

Westheid lied without batting an eye. "Her Highness’s internal injuries are too severe. And right now, the Divine Ancestor is busy dealing with the Venerable Master of the Azure Heaven and has no time to attend to the Mortal World. Therefore, a blood sacrifice is needed to bolster her. Even if it can’t completely purge the residual Divine Energy, it can at least restore a good deal of her power."

"So that’s how it is. I understand."

Although holding a blood sacrifice for this reason seemed like overkill, Scorching Wings had complete faith in Reiya’s identity and didn’t press the point any further.

’Perhaps Reiya’s status is even more noble than I thought?’

After a moment of thought, the Legendary True Dragon said:

"I’ll leave the blood sacrifice ritual to my Execution Officers. While I am away at Dragon’s Will Peak, I will entrust the territory to Her Highness Reiya."

"Mmm, you should leave soon. Fighting could break out at Dragon’s Will Peak at any moment."

Reiya said, waving her hand.

Scorching Wings nodded gravely:

"It’s that urgent...? Then I must complete the handover quickly."

The thought of participating in a war of the century between Celestial Gods made the Legendary Dragon Species’s blood boil with both excitement and trepidation.

Over the following day, Scorching Wings summoned all of his Giant Dragon Execution Officers and ordered them to obey Reiya’s commands. He also transferred command of the Kepal Plain’s various towers and legions to the Silver-haired Dragon Lady with the utmost speed.

Having completed all this with swift efficiency, Scorching Wings departed for Dragon’s Will Peak.

The Legendary True Dragon had come and gone in a flash. With an "imminent war" to rush off to, Scorching Wings didn’t dare to delay for a moment.

After Scorching Wings left, Reiya naturally began issuing orders to Tudor and the other Giant Dragon Execution Officers:

"Compile detailed information on all strongholds, legions, and supplies on the Kepal Plain and bring it to me. Also, select elite soldiers from all the Giant Dragon legions to form a special operations unit that will answer directly to me."

"Yes! As you command!"

The Giant Dragon Execution Officers received their orders and dispersed, with only Tudor remaining in the High Court, ready to be dispatched by Reiya at a moment’s notice.

As evening fell, Westheid and the other two returned to their room.

"We succeeded."

Reiya said, letting out a soft sigh of relief.

Confronting a Legendary True Dragon... Although the Silver-haired Princess had no fear of a powerful enemy, she had still been worried that a poor performance on her part could have caused them to lose everything in the Secret Realm Trial.

Westheid clapped his hands in excitement. "Yes, you did an excellent job, Reiya. It went even more smoothly than our best-case scenario."

"Brother, did we really just usurp the highest authority on the Kepal Plain that easily?"

Yolanda could finally vent now that they were in private. "I know the key to lying is to mix nine truths with one lie, or to be selective with the truth, but there wasn’t a single true word in what you said. It was all utter nonsense."

"But it worked, didn’t it?"

Westheid waved his hand dismissively. "Even if everything we said was a lie, Scorching Wings believed it. So, until the lie is exposed, it remains effective."

Under normal circumstances, tricking a Legendary True Dragon would be incredibly difficult. The Dragon Race are by no means muscle-headed brutes; they are more suspicious than anyone. Unless presented with irrefutable facts, they would never so easily relinquish their power.

The script Westheid had devised actually had a fatal flaw. If the message sent from Dragon’s Will Peak to Scorching Wings had contained just one extra sentence, their cover would have been blown on the spot.

But it didn’t matter. The information gap secured an instant win!

Westheid didn’t just know his own hand; he knew his opponent’s as well. It’s easy when you’re the only one who can see the other’s cards.

Reiya said calmly, "Scorching Wings will find out the truth when he reaches Dragon’s Will Peak."

Westheid nodded. "Exactly. So we have to make full use of this time. There’s no time to celebrate. Let’s decide what to do next. Reiya, do you have anything to say?"

He noticed the Silver-haired Dragon Lady was staring at him.

"The bounty..."

"Hm?"

Reiya looked at Westheid with one of her magnificent azure eyes and said in a chilling voice, "There’s still a bounty on us. No matter what, we have to kill all the hostile Trial Takers first."

Westheid said with surprise, "Tsk, you really hold a grudge, don’t you?"

Reiya shook her head. "I don’t hold any grudge against them at all. But as long as they’re in this Trial, they are enemies who want nothing more than to kill me... I want to win. I want to win very badly. So, even the most insignificant element of instability must be eliminated."

’Holy hell, what a tryhard!’

Westheid’s own attitude towards the Secret Realm Trial was more relaxed—he was all about having fun and messing around. But after entering the Trial, Reiya had become incredibly serious. Her entire demeanor showed she was fully committed.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand Reiya’s thinking; the Silver-haired Dragon Lady clearly saw the Secret Realm Trial as a life-changing opportunity.

What could he do? He could only go along with her:

"Fine. We’ll travel across the entire Kepal Plain. When we see other Trial Takers, if any of them rub you the wrong way, we’ll just kill them."