Chapter 27: The Legendary Mage's Demiplane

Atop the crystal castle, Lady Artelis, the golden dragon mother, stood on an empty platform, overlooking the training ground below that seemed as small as the palm of her hand.

Despite the distance, with the eyesight of a dragon, she could see everything clearly: "The number of giants below could flatten a duchy on the continent with ease."

"Lady Artelis," Sophia, the head maid, approached the human-formed golden dragon mother, "All the cloud giants in the castle have left. As per your instructions, any cloud giant who came to resign was not seen but directly released from their contract and allowed to leave."

"Sophia, do you think I appear distressed now?" The beautiful girl slightly turned her head, presenting her perfect profile to the head maid, "Those cloud giants would rather break their contract and not follow me, a legendary golden dragon, but instead kneel before my son."

The head maid Sophia's heart raced and her cheeks flushed slightly as she saw her mistress's profile. She lowered her head upon hearing Lady Artelis's words:

"Lady Artelis, the cloud giants' willingness to follow Master Muria is due to the Titan blood flowing in him, not his strength. This only shows the power of the Titan bloodline and its unparalleled influence over the giants, not a diminishment of your majesty."

"I know, the significance of Titans to giants. But, looking at my now empty castle, I'm still somewhat displeased," Lady Artelis expressed unhappily.

"Lady Artelis, all the dragon-blooded maids are guarding the castle for you," the head maid Sophia stated calmly.

"And me, Lady Artelis, your servant Bart, who is willing to follow you until the end of life," from the sky, a piercing sound of air being torn apart was heard, and a huge golden dragonic beast landed on the castle's platform. It was Bart, the leader of the golden wyverns.

"Ha!" The fierce wind brought by the wyvern leader's rapid descent was immediately suppressed by an invisible force, turning into a gentle breeze that felt extremely comfortable.

"Bart, Sophia, I am aware of your loyalty," the golden dragon mother was still looking below at Muria, who was sitting on the stone throne and swishing his tail. She didn't turn around but a smile appeared on her face, "Bart, next time you land, try not to be so hasty."

"My apologies, Lady Artelis, for disturbing you due to my negligence," the golden wyvern lay prostrate on the ground, its face filled with shame.

"Be more careful next time," Lady Artelis said lightly.

"Lady Artelis," the head maid Sophia followed the golden dragon mother's gaze, seeing the vast and majestic training ground, though she couldn't make out the giants inside. "Isn't it too early for Master Muria to live independently, away from your protection?"

"Too early?" Lady Artelis turned her head towards Sophia with a smile that wasn't quite a smile, "Sophia, the reason young dragons shouldn't live independently too soon is that the world is too dangerous and they aren't strong enough to protect themselves.

But here, no matter where little Muria wants to go in the Thunderstorm Ocean, he won't be in danger. All intelligent beings here will protect him.

Because he is the son of a Titan, and this sea is Titan territory. Even gods wouldn't dare cause trouble here. For little Muria, this is the safest place in the whole world."

"I understand now. Lady Artelis, you have considered everything," Sophia realized.

"Ha ha, Sophia, I bet you didn't expect this, but you must be reluctant to part with my little Muria. After all, you've watched him grow up," Lady Artelis teased the head maid.

"You jest," Sophia said, lowering her head in embarrassment.

"Ah, they are leaving. Everyone has gathered!" Below, the situation at the training ground changed, and Lady Artelis's attention returned to it. Though she didn't say it, she still cared deeply for her son.

At the training ground, Muria received a report from eighteen cloud giant leaders that all cloud giants on the island, regardless of age or gender, had gathered near the training ground, waiting for his command.

"All the cloud giants have assembled?" Muria looked towards the loosely formed ranks of cloud giants outside the training ground, knowing by their numbers that probably all the island's cloud giants had come to him.

"So, my mother's castle is now without giant guards?" Muria stared at the cloud giant leaders in front of him.

"Prince Muria, we have already resigned to Lady Artelis. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see her, but Miss Sophia, on behalf of Lady Artelis, has agreed to our request."

"Is that so?" Muria murmured, stroking his chin, "If the cloud giants are all following me, doesn't that leave my golden dragon mother quite pitiable? Ha ha, that'll teach her for kicking me out!"

As Muria muttered in a voice he thought only he could hear, a faint "Heh" sounded in his ear... Muria got goosebumps, sensing something was not right.

Lady Artelis, who had been closely monitoring the situation below from the castle platform, suddenly let out a cold laugh, puzzling both Sophia and Bart behind her.

"Underestimated by my own son, huh? Heh, little Muria, today I'll let you witness what a legend's foundation truly is!"

Lady Artelis's eyebrows raised, and golden luminescence burst from her slender body, turning into a towering column that shattered the clouds above the castle, creating a huge hole in the sky revealing the deep blue.

On the throne at the training ground, Muria, sensing something, looked up towards the crystal castle. The golden luminescence column lasted only a few seconds before collapsing, and then

Roar—

A majestic golden dragon appeared above the crystal castle. Its slender body covered in golden dragon scales radiated an ultimate beauty. Its wide golden wings spread as if to envelop the entire castle.

Visible to the naked eye, a faint golden dragon's might spread from the dragon, covering the thousands of square kilometers of the island. The giants' ferocious wolves, eagles, griffins, and other creatures were pressed to the ground by the dragon's might, trembling, some even uncontrollably releasing waste.

"Is this my mother's true form?" Muria, seeing the golden dragon perched above the castle, was dazzled. At this moment, he realized that he had only seen his mother in her reduced size or human form, never witnessing her true dragon form within the castle.

Because Lady Artelis was too large, even the castle's largest hall could barely accommodate her true form, so Muria generally saw her in human form within the castle.

Now, Muria truly saw his mother's real form, a golden dragon nearly two hundred meters long from head to tail, excluding her nearly hundred-meter-long slender tail, putting her true size at over a hundred meters. When Lady Artelis spread her wide golden wings, she appeared even larger.

"The books say that ancestral golden dragons are no less than Titans." Muria now understood what that meant. Whether in size or spell-like

 abilities, ancestral dragons could stand shoulder to shoulder with Titans.

Atop the crystal castle, Lady Artelis in her true form glanced lightly at Muria, then a violent power fluctuation emanated from her, creating a huge spatial rift parallel to the ground below her feet.

Through the rift, Muria saw a wild and primal jungle. Though the trees were not as tall as those on the Titan Islands, they were equally vibrant with life.

"Roar!" "Roar!"

Two loud dragon roars came through the rift, and two red dragons Muria was very familiar with flew out from the rift, circled in the air, and then obediently prostrated themselves at Lady Artelis's feet. These were the parents of the six young dragons Muria had been raising, the unfortunate red dragon couple.

"Roar!" "Roar!" "Hiss!"—

Following the red dragon couple, a continuous golden wave of two-legged wyverns flew out from above the spatial rift, darkening the sky...

Below were herds of draconic creatures: the powerful hind-legged and small-armed Tyrannosaurs, the Triceratops with their triangular bone plates on their heads and relatively smaller and agile Velociraptors, and the fierce-looking Allosaurs...

Regardless of the type, these draconic creatures shared one common trait: their scales and bone plates were all golden, a symbol of being tainted by Lady Artelis's power.

The golden "tidal wave" started from the spatial rift at Lady Artelis's feet and gradually spread to the entire island, occupying the space already vacated...

"The Golden Dragonic Beast Legion, is this my mother's true retinue?" Muria, looking at the continuously emerging spatial rift with envy, wished for such a legion.

"Only legendary mages can create such demiplane spaces. As long as the space is large enough, it's akin to carrying a small world with you," Muria, envious, looked at the rift, aware of this mage knowledge.

"Little Muria, hurry up and take your followers away. It's just in time to make room for my retinue," a gentle female voice sounded in Muria's ear, Lady Artelis's voice. He was now certain that the "Heh" he had heard was not an illusion.

With mixed emotions, Muria commanded the nearly assembled giants: "Set off, find us an island ten times larger than this one to settle."

Then Muria spread his dragon wings, embraced his personal maid Mia, and soared into the sky, followed by the six young dragons who reluctantly glanced at the crystal castle one last time. As for their parents, they too saw them, but no dragon wanted to acknowledge them, too embarrassing for dragon pride.

Below, one after another, cloud giants used levitation to fly, following Muria. Mountain giants, tide giants, and storm giants ran or strode towards Muria's direction.

At sea, storm giants walked on water, tide giants dived into the sea, and mountain giants, uncomfortable, mounted giant sea creatures provided by sea races.

For a moment, the sky was filled with cloud giants swirling in mist, the sea surface with the tall and burly storm giants and mountain giants on sea creature mounts, and beneath the water, tide giants stealthily moved. Among the giants were countless sea races, naga, sirens, mermaids... creating a majestic and spectacular scene.

"The sea races are hard to define; I hadn't thought of many. Not enough research time. Will add more later."