Chapter 338: What To Do
Listening to his question, Aurora paused for a few seconds, recalling her lessons about the history of races. Remembering the information, she looked at him and responded,
"No, Master. From what I remember, they had always been a great race... if I remember correctly, Pyra had only recently become the phoenix queen about a decade or two ago."
"Before her, the progenitor of the phoenixes was ’Aurelia’," Aurora muttered, recalling the name of the last Phoenix Queen.
"Huhhh! If she was the progenitor, then how did Pyra get the title, and what happened to Aurelia?" Dhruv inquired.
"I don’t know, Master... to be exact, nobody knows what happened to her. Some suspect that she eventually reached Tier X and went into hiding, but this theory was eventually disregarded after learning that Pyra had been granted the title of progenitor."
"Why did they think she died?" Dhruv asked, not understanding the reason behind the conclusion.
"It’s simple, Master. Some titles are designed in a way that there can’t be two holders at the same time, especially the title of progenitor for any specific race," Aurora explained.
Dhruv was about to argue back but stopped, not finding any reason to disprove this.
Observing her master’s reaction, Aurora thought for a few seconds as something clicked inside her mind. Looking at Dhruv, she continued, "If I remember correctly, the same thing had happened with the last progenitor of the dragons as well."
’Hmmm! Both of their progenitors vanished all of a sudden, leaving the current heir their title... now this is a little shady.’
Looking at Aurora, Dhruv couldn’t help but whisper, "Don’t you think something is fishy here?"
"No, I don’t think so, Master. The reason is that after reaching Tier IX, monsters begin to seek a way to reach Tier X, the epitome of evolution, and in doing so, they challenge and undertake things they shouldn’t."
"Considering all these factors, it isn’t uncommon to find that someone at Tier IX has disappeared without leaving a trail," Aurora explained.
"Hmmm! That makes sense.." Nodding his head, Dhruv told her to continue explaining how the war started.
"So, as I’ve mentioned, dragons destroyed their planet, but for some reason, they have also provided an explanation for that..."
"The explanation the dragons give is that a member of their race with an affinity to space was evolving to Tier VIII and randomly teleported to the core of the planet and later his awakening must have subsequently destroyed the core..."
"What kind of bullshit explanation is this..." Dhruv couldn’t help but almost mock the one who came up with this idea... but after remembering that their plan was to fight all along, he couldn’t help but fall silent.
"That’s exactly what the phoenixes say... there’s even a wild theory that the dragons purposely did that to provoke the phoenixes and push them into an all-out war," Aurora explained, revealing the real purpose behind the absurd explanation.
’Woahh! Woahh! No kidding... these cunning bastards...’ Dhruv quickly saw the advisor in a new light.
After these words, Aurora explained all the information she knew about the war and then fell silent.
Listening to all this, Dhruv couldn’t help but feel a little sympathy. Even though he felt that way, he didn’t know what he, a mere Tier IV Asteri, could do to help win the war.
’Two damn great races are at war... and the queen wants my help... can I even be of assistance?’
Dhruv pondered, considering distancing himself from Pyra as much as possible. Yet, he couldn’t help but look at Aurora and ask, "Aurora, is it true that there is some sort of protection placed on this planet because of the quest?"
Before making any final decisions, he wanted to be completely certain that what Pyra had said was true and that she wasn’t manipulating words to make her offer more favorable.
"Yes, Master, it is true that there is a protective barrier surrounding the entire solar system which prevents anyone else from entering this planet by any means. There is a clear reason for this as well..."
"A reason!?"
"Yes, and a very good one too... you see, when the cosmic evolution reaches a new solar system, the spawn rate of monsters increases exponentially there, and if one were to fully utilize monster hunting, they could reach Tier VIII without any problem..."
"...And so, the cosmos has implemented this barrier to prevent the monsters outside of that solar system from taking advantage of this spawn rate."
’Sigh! Nothing is simple in the Cosmos, I guess...’ Dhruv sighed, understanding everything.
"So, that means even after the end of evolution, monsters will come trying to hunt down whatever is left and hoping to make a profit?" Dhruv asked, looking at Aurora.
"Exactly, Master... and I think Pyra is referring to this as well. If she were to declare her protection over this solar system, then nobody would dare to attack it... except-"
"Dragons..." Dhruv finished her sentence.
"Yes, Master, being such prideful creatures they are. There’s a very slim chance they would attempt to attack a planet the phoenixes have shown they care for," Aurora affirmed, confirming Dhruv’s concern.
’Sigh! Great race... my ass...’ Dhruv cursed the dragons as he glanced at others who had been silent all this time.
"So, what do you all think... should we consider accepting the offer or should we forget about it?" Dhruv asked, looking at his guardians.
Azarex and Grec shook their heads, unsure of how to respond. On the other hand, Alaric voiced his opinion,
"I think we shouldn’t accept the offer, Master..."
"Any particular reason."
Nodding his head Alaric continued, " There’s a chance monsters might attack us after the quest. But if they find out we’ve completed the quest, I don’t think really high-tier monsters would really bother us. By then, I believe we should be strong enough to handle the lower-tier ones."
"Make sense.." Saying Dhruv looked at Vexar.
"Though I don’t like that lady, Master... I think we should accept the offer and defeat the dragons for attacking the phoenixes just because they want the title,"
Vexar said, displeased by the idea of dragons attacking phoenixes simply because they desired their title.
’Despite how terrifying he looks, the demon still has kindness in his heart...’ Dhruv thought, observing Aurora’s reaction.
"There’s nothing to gain from either accepting or declining the proposal, Master. I think you should at least meet with her... as Vexar already mentioned, she can’t harm you, so there’s no harm in doing this after meeting with her, you can decide whether it’s worth the trouble or not," Aurora answered after weighing everything.
Hearing this, Dhruv nodded his head, knowing this was the best course of action he could take.
