Extraordinary Rise: Starting Contract with the Silver Dragon Countess

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Time seemed to stand still; only the bottomless scorch mark in the center of the arena and the scorching heat in the air proved what had just happened.

A million eyes in the audience, filled with shock, fear, and disbelief, were fixed on the only young figure standing there—Cohen Corleone.

"It's time to announce the winner..."

A trembling voice broke the silence.

It wasn't until a deputy referee whispered a reminder that the referee, who had been standing there in a daze for a long time, finally snapped out of his daze.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm his deafening heartbeat, and slowly began to speak:
"The victor is King Alfion, Cohen Corleone!"

The moment the words fell, the entire continent watched this scene through a giant magical projection screen or communication crystal.

A tsunami of noise and discussion erupted instantly.

On the grand viewing platform, which was reserved exclusively for the royal family of the Central Empire and floated in mid-air like a crystal palace, Xenia breathed a sigh of relief without making a sound.

But what followed was a surge of emotions within me.

How did Cohen manage to withstand a full-force attack from a legendary-level superhuman without sustaining any damage?
The fact that the referee did not stop the match indicates that Cohen did not use any illegal magical equipment.

In other words, this man, who had just entered the Gold rank, withstood the full force of the legendary dragon's attack purely with his own strength!
Her Majesty the Empress's gaze was drawn by invisible threads, fixed firmly on the man who was slowly walking from the center of the chaotic arena toward the contestants' passage.

Cohen's steps were steady as ever, his back as firm as a mountain, and his black cloak fluttered slowly, like an invincible flag.

From the moment he participated in the Noble Martial Arts Festival to the moment he announced his participation in the Gold Division competition, he defeated his opponents with such ease, no matter what kind of opponent he encountered!
Shanis felt as if her heart was being gripped tightly by an invisible hand, only to be violently released again.

A surge of heat welled up uncontrollably from the deepest part of my heart and spread rapidly.

Her exquisitely beautiful face still maintained the elegance and composure of royalty.

However, deep within those deep blue eyes, something seemed to be quietly melting and burning.

Finally, a radiance emerged that even she herself hadn't noticed—

It was a kind of worship that transcended intimacy and appreciation, a pure, slightly awe-inspiring reverence, like gazing at the stars.

That man, so extraordinary and powerful, as if he stepped out of an ancient myth, is my fiancé!

This fact repeatedly shook Shanis's usually calm and composed mind.

At this moment, the top nobles who truly held power in the Central Empire were paying the utmost attention to Cohen.

Their eyes, filled with an almost greedy delight, were fixed intently on Cohen.

It's like looking at some rare treasure!
They understood that no matter how the various forces within the country clashed and fought, the overall goal was to ensure that the Central Empire would forever remain at the top of the continent and continue to develop.

What are the foundations of an empire?
It lies within an unparalleled barrier of power!
Only when the central empire stands atop the continent can the glory and interests of their respective families remain as enduring as the setting sun, and their power and status be eternal.

Now, the Emperor's consort, whom Her Majesty the Empress has been searching for, has given them boundless hope and possibilities.

A royal consort who, at the age of twenty, crushed his way to the title of "Strongest Silver"!

A royal consort who had already grasped the power of the domain and begun to touch the rules of the world at the Silver rank!

A royal consort who swept aside all the geniuses in the entire Gold rank the moment he stepped into the Gold rank!

A royal consort who was able to withstand a full-force attack from a legendary dragon at the seventh rank without sustaining any damage!

A royal consort with an infinitely visible potential to reach the realm of gods!
what does this mean?
This means that in the not-too-distant future, the Central Empire will have the supreme and genuine protection of a deity!

This is the cornerstone that can rewrite the continental landscape and lay the foundation for an everlasting hegemony!

At this moment, whether in the Imperial Arena at the heart of the Empire, in front of the Magic Crystal at a border outpost, or in the noisy crowd at a small tavern on the other side of the continent.

All those who witnessed or heard of this miracle—nobles, merchants, adventurers, farmers…

They all, without prior agreement, deeply imprinted this young king from a remote place in the northwest continent into the depths of their souls.

It wasn't because of his title as the Empress Consort of the Central Empire, nor because of his status as the husband of the Golden Winged Daughter, or the husband of the most beautiful woman on the continent.

It was the man who could stand against a legendary dragon!

That man who won the title of "Strongest Gold" at the seventh rank!

He is the dawn of the empire's rise, and a force that shakes the entire continent of the Demon Tide!
The meaning of his name has transformed from that of a powerful king into that of a living legend!
……

With Cohen's victory, the finals of the Gold Group were once again dominated by players from the country of Effie.

The magical light above the arena shifted and changed, announcing the arrival of the Gold Group finals.

However, the arena, which had previously been buzzing with excitement because of Cohen's tough fight against the legendary dragon, was now filled with an indescribable and strange atmosphere.

When Cohen Corleone reappeared in the center of the arena, the millions of eyes in the stands were still focused on him, but the desire for a fierce battle had diminished.

They seemed to be able to foresee what was about to happen.

"Tsk, the final is another internal battle."

"It's their family's 'internal affair'!"

"I reckon this Viscount Rose is one of His Majesty Corleone's many lovers!"
This is truly a real household chore!

Whispers rose like a low tide throughout the venue.

The same was true for the Bronze Group, the same for the Silver Group, and now it's the Gold Group's turn, and the result is as expected.

After the match was announced to begin, Melantha conceded defeat almost immediately after they had barely exchanged blows.

This is unprecedented in the history of the Noble Martial Arts Festival.

The finals, which should have been the most competitive of the three groups, all proceeded without any major incidents.

With Melantha's surrender, Cohen officially declared himself the "Strongest Gold"!
The next moment, the magic crystal tablet used by the Noble Martial Arts Festival to record events burst forth with dazzling light, announcing an unprecedented record.

The people of the Central Empire naturally spared no effort in promoting their imperial consort—

A grand declaration resounded through the sky:

"Record updated!"

"The first person to reach the 'Strongest Gold' rank with a seventh-tier body has been born in the All Nations Nobles Martial Arts Tournament!"

"The youngest 'Strongest Gold' Crowned Lord of the All Nations Nobles Martial Arts Tournament has been born!"
Age: Twenty years old!

"The first person to win both crowns in the All Nations Nobles Martial Arts Tournament has been born!"
Achievements: Double champion of 'Strongest Silver' and 'Strongest Gold'!

—On the crystal monument, the phantom images of the silver crown and the gold crown reflected each other, eventually merging into one and coalescing above Cohen's name.

The entire continent was shaken!
This immense upheaval in the mortal world even penetrated the boundary between reality and the divine realm.

It reached the realm of gods, which is beyond the reach of mortals!
……

The Realm of the Gods!
This eternal kingdom, suspended in the cracks of the multiverse and constructed of pure laws and boundless energy, is now shrouded in an ominous gloom.

The sacred energy river that once flowed like liquid gold has become stagnant and thin.

An indescribable sense of oppression filled the air, as if countless invisible giant nets were gradually tightening.

On the magnificent barrier that guards the boundary of the divine realm and is able to isolate the endless void from erosion, fine, dark cracks, like living worms, appear and disappear intermittently.

They clung tightly to the runic veins on the inner side of the barrier, emitting a sharp, rustling hiss that sent chills down one's spine.

These void creatures are visible to the naked eye, greedily devouring the divine foundation that forms the barrier.

Beyond the barrier lies an endless, churning chaotic void.

Every so often, an indescribable, colossal shadow from the endless void would suddenly envelop a part of the divine realm.

Even with the weakening effect of layers of laws, the aura of pure malice, chaos, and destruction still made the weak divine beings on the outskirts of the divine realm tremble.

At the very top of the realm of the gods, a colossal, eternally flowing Möbius strip-shaped structure, large enough to allow stars to orbit within its rings, floats suspended in mid-air—

This is the power hub at the core of the multiverse: the location of the Council of Gods.

The parliament hall, towering into the starry sky, was more crowded than ever before.

Not only are towering figures, either physical or luminous, projected onto the thrones of most of the main gods.

On the light staircases extending to both sides, representatives of gods of all ranks from various factions, including lawful, neutral, and chaotic, are projected.

Dozens of figures, each with a different form and an imposing aura, stood there.

The arguments echoed in the hall like countless thunderclaps.

They were clearly having a heated conversation about something.

One of the seven elemental gods, Sirova Roar, the God of Sky and Storms, sat at the front of the hall.

His body was made of constantly compressing and expanding storm clouds, with blue arcs of electricity leaping across it.

Silova withdrew his divine sense, turned his gaze to the silver-white deity on the main throne, and spoke:

"The cracks are widening, and the hissing of those 'Void Worms' is consuming the core of the barrier every moment."

I think it might be necessary to announce the alliance agreement in advance.
Let those human kingdoms fight and vie for power sooner, so that we can buy time to relocate to God's kingdom!

Void creatures have been gradually encroaching on the divine realm for the past ten years.

Once the magnificent barrier enveloping the divine realm collapses, the divine realm will be exposed to the torrent of void.

Even the kingdom of the supreme god will be easily washed away and destroyed like a sandcastle, disappearing into eternal chaos.

The only way to survive is to place the divine kingdom on the fertile land of life—the continent of the Demon Tide, which is dominated by humans and still possesses a solid material foundation and a cycle of faith.

To use human kingdoms to house one's divine kingdom.

However, every inch of land, every mineral vein, and every wisp of magical tide on the continent of the Demon Tide has its limits in terms of the divine radiance it can bear.

It simply cannot support such a huge number of gods.

According to the calculations of the gods, the entire main plane, including the four regions of the Central Continent, the Land of Dragons, the Northwest Continent, and the Endless Sea, can only accommodate a divine kingdom of up to one hundred deities.

Once this limit is exceeded, the world's rules will collapse due to the overload of divine power, and all the gods, along with mortals, will be reduced to ashes.

After a long period of discussion, the gods finally reached a consensus and established a covenant.

The alliance will be officially announced in two years.

After the announcement, all gods have the right to choose a human kingdom on the continent of Demon Tide as the foundation for the descent of their divine kingdom.

Once selected, it is bound and cannot be changed.

The choice rests with the gods, but the stability of the foundation depends on the nation's faith, strength, and fortune. The nation is the foundation, the gods are the spirit!
Subsequently, the continent of Demon Tide will launch a dimensional elimination tournament—the era of 'Battle of Nations' has arrived!
War will no longer be confined to mortals; every battle, every conquest, and every upheaval will be a direct extension of the will of the gods.

The mainland will be transformed into a raging furnace, where the flames of war will mercilessly devour weak nations and weak gods.

Conquest, annexation, alliance, destruction!
All means are permitted until the mainland map is reshaped and a new, stable mainland order is formed!

Only those nations that have endured countless calamities and ultimately stood firm in the new world order.

Only the gods they worship—whether powerful or weak—have the right to continue the divine fire and the divine kingdom on this last fertile land of life.

This is the only 'ticket' to the future!
And those gods whose vassal states were crushed and swallowed up in the struggle for supremacy...

They can either return to the collapsing divine realm to be buried with it, or be stripped of their divine kingdom and transformed into lonely gods and ghosts wandering in the endless void, forever corrupted by chaos... until they are completely annihilated!
This covenant is sworn upon the core essence of the divine kingdoms of the gods. If any act violates the covenant, the divine kingdoms will collapse and be destroyed!

This is "The Covenant of the Gods," a divine pact forged from despair, selfishness, and the instinct for survival.

It forces those high and mighty gods to abandon their age-old pride and personally become players in the mortal realm's struggle for supremacy.

This will plunge the fate of the main plane and billions of lives into a bloody and grand elimination round directed by the gods.

Once the horn of the Warring States begins to sound, the continent of Demon Tide will be ushered in a terrifying era that will completely change the course of history and be soaked in the blood of gods and the tears of mortals!
Before the silver-white deity on the main throne could speak, a massive fireball projection beside him, with a core as white as the sun and an outer layer flowing with viscous golden-red lava, erupted with a roar.

This is Fjørn Fiery, the god of fire and magma, also one of the seven elemental gods:

"The opinions within the gods are not yet unified, especially among the main gods of the chaotic faction, whose opposition is still quite strong!"

Sirova snorted coldly:
"Ridiculous, I think they'd love for the human continent to be plunged into war."

Their current stubborn refusal to budge is simply a way to buy them more time to establish their presence on the mainland.

In a corner of the hall, from a deep shadow that twisted and writhed, constantly devouring the surrounding light, came a laugh as cold as that of an ancient, frozen cave.

The voice of Erebus, the God of Darkness, one of the seven elemental gods, slowly resounded:

"Yes, not every god is like you."

Everyone knows that the Wind Breath Kingdom is your headquarters, Lord Wind God.

Even without any prior planning, your investments in the Windrise Kingdom over the years have been enough to give you a firm advantage in the early stages of the war.

Therefore, the sooner the alliance is announced, the more advantageous it will be for you.

Choosing a country is not an easy task.

On the surface, it seems like the goal is to choose the strongest country, but that's not the case at all.

In this life-or-death competition, the stronger a country is, the more likely it is to be targeted.

The five great empires, in particular, were easily besieged.

Furthermore, it's not as simple as choosing whichever country you want; the most important thing is to gain the approval of that country's monarch.

This point is also written in the covenant of the gods.

Silovana's face, formed from storm clouds, instantly turned grim and menacing, as the storm swirled violently within his divine body.

Erebus!
You old codger who's been scheming in the shadows for tens of thousands of years!
Dare you say that all these years you haven't used the guise of searching for that elf to secretly sow seeds of darkness across the Demon Tide Continent?

Can a demigod slip away right under your nose for thousands of years?

"What a joke! That's enough time for you to create several more clones!"

The shadow cast by Erebus suddenly expanded and exploded, countless twisted black claw phantoms baring their fangs, and the temperature in the hall plummeted as if plunging into an abyss:
"That was the first queen of the Elven race!"
You think he's just an ordinary demigod?

Besides, if it weren't for those elven deities constantly interfering, would I have been able to find it?

"enough!"

A clear, calm, yet powerfully authoritative hoarse voice came from the highest seat of the council.

All the noise froze instantly.

"You've already started fighting amongst yourselves before the alliance has even been announced."

I'm truly worried that once the war on the mainland escalates to a fever pitch, we'll all end up fighting each other sooner or later!

As soon as the words were spoken, the main hall of the Divine Council fell silent.

The Prophet Madora, the God of Prophecy, sits atop a throne woven from flowing star trails.

He slowly opened his eyes, which were pure, silvery-white eyes without pupils, as if reflecting the trajectory of billions of rivers of destiny.

His gaze swept over the storm god Silova:
"The time is set and will not be changed."

The divine barrier can hold for at least ten years, and the alliance will be announced two years later.

The human continent has ample time to determine the ultimate victor.

Then he addressed the gods:

"There's no need for pessimism, everyone. Although I can't see which direction the future will take, I still see a glimmer of hope."

The multiverse will not perish in our hands.

The gods were silent.

This prophecy offered little comfort.

They are not worried about the destruction of the multiverse, but only about their own safety.

Few of the gods present were the original gods at the beginning of creation.

They all ascended to godhood through hard work and countless hardships and trials, despite being mortals.

Their divinity was forged through faith, law, and endless years.

No one wants to perish in the waves of the void and become a wandering ghost in the kingdom of gods!

Even if the Demon Tide Continent is vast, it's not enough to house so many gods in their divine kingdoms.

Even if there were gods or powerful deities among them, they were not confident that the country they had chosen would survive to the end.

After a moment of silence, Ares Beacon, the God of Battle and War, suddenly spoke:
"Isn't the Demon Tide Continent currently holding a Noble Martial Arts Festival?"

Should we take this opportunity to see which country has the most potential?

Upon hearing this, the phantom images of the gods rippled slightly, their intentions clearly revealed.

However, since the ban on blocking the passage established by the Council of the Supreme Gods was still in effect, the gods all turned their gazes toward Madora on the throne, with scrutiny and probing.

To prevent any deity from secretly doing anything underhanded on the Demon Tide Continent before the announcement of the Covenant of the Gods.

After the alliance was established, the main gods joined forces to seal the passage from the divine realm to the Demon Tide Continent.

Aside from some powerful deities, it is difficult for ordinary deities to communicate with the human continent.

Even for these supreme gods, communicating with the human continent requires a considerable amount of divine power.

If this goes on for too long, it may even provoke a reaction from the Council of the Supreme God.

Vulcan said:
"This isn't right. Isn't this a blatant violation of the Council of Gods' decision?"

Ares, the God of War, smiled faintly:

"I was just saying that casually; if you don't want to, then forget it."

However, I can remind you all that not long ago, I sensed unusual activity in the Ice God Plane and the Light Plane.

These two goddesses are quite mischievous!

The gods' expressions changed slightly.

Ice god?

Goddess of light!

A low gasp of surprise exploded in the consciousness of the gods.

These two goddesses are among the top beings in the main gods, and their power is unfathomable.

If they really do intervene in the mortal realm first and make their moves before the alliance is announced... then what chance do they have!
The reason for this covenant of the gods is to counterbalance these powerful deities.

Without an alliance, these powerful deities would certainly be the first to descend upon the human continent should a crisis arise.

Upon hearing that these two had secretly contacted the human continent, the gods could no longer remain silent.

Madora, the god of prophecy, said calmly:
"They haven't contacted the human continent; I can vouch for that."

If you don't believe me, you can ask them yourselves.

As he spoke, he gave the gods a look that said, "Do as you please."

Should we go find the Ice God and the Goddess of Light?
The air in the entire main council hall seemed to have been sucked out instantly.

The divine aura emanating from the projections of the gods all rippled in unison.

Even the gods, including Erebus, the god of darkness, couldn't help but shudder.

These two goddesses, one is eternal ice, and she can freeze gods into ice sculptures at the drop of a hat; there's absolutely no reasoning with her.

The other one, [Goddess of Light] Aetheril Dawn, the goddess who caused the death of her man, is even more formidable.

Normally, people would avoid this path.

However, just as the gods were about to give up this tempting idea, suddenly, a message from the Demon Tide Continent caused a stir in the world of gods!

Although the Council of the Supreme Gods has severed the relationship between the gods and humans, some important messages still need to be delivered on time.

For example, the champion of the most important noble martial arts festival.

The champion of each Noble Martial Arts Festival is blessed by the gods, usually by several chief deities in turn.

Of course, this year is different because it involves the covenant of the gods two years from now, so everyone is paying extra attention to this year's event.

Therefore, after each group's competition ends, the Council of Gods will send the most neutral [God of Contracts and Fairness] Cavendish Libra to gather information.

Now, Cavendish, having just gathered the information, looked blankly at Madora, the god of prophecy, seated in the main seat.

The gazes of all the gods instantly focused.

what happened?
What could cause the God of Contracts, known for his absolute rationality and adherence to rules, to lose his composure like this?
(End of this chapter)