Extraordinary Rise: Starting Contract with the Silver Dragon Countess

After resolving the matter of the Eternal Tombstone, Cohen did not linger.

Leaving the desolate and oppressive environment of the Bone Wasteland with Belmody and Freya marked the official end of Cohen's journey deep into the Dragon Plane.

Looking back on this journey to another dimension that lasted more than twenty days, although the time was short, the gains were undoubtedly extremely rich.

Not only did they successfully forge a solid and far-reaching secret alliance with the Shadow Dragonborn and the Mourning Dragonborn, two of the six major dragonborn races, but they also laid a solid strategic foundation for the future complete integration and even conquest of the entire Dragon Plane.

This includes a clear action plan for the next step. Of course, these grand plans and subsequent specific implementations will need to be handed over to Isabella for execution and advancement after he returns to the main plane.

After solemnly bidding farewell to Elder Ferguson and Chief Dickinson who came to see them off, Cohen, Belmody, and Freya took out the Dragon Soul Crystals that had been issued by the House of Nobles for emergency evacuation and location purposes.

Without much hesitation, Cohen decisively crushed the crystal.

A strong spatial fluctuation instantly enveloped the three of them, and their figures quickly faded and disappeared under the dark red and dim yellow sky unique to the Demon Dragon Plane.

After a brief but familiar dizziness and weightlessness, accompanied by a soft flash of light, the three found themselves back in the secret stone chamber where they had started.

The air was filled with the stable magical energy unique to the Prime Material Plane, a stark contrast to the chaotic and turbulent energy environment of the Dragon Plane.

Almost immediately after the spatial fluctuations subsided, the heavy stone door of the secret chamber was quickly pushed open from the outside.

Clearly, the House of Nobles had extremely tight surveillance over this place and noticed their return immediately.

Not long after, a steady yet slightly hurried sound of footsteps approached from afar.

Soon, the familiar figure of Heisenberg, the chief of the Imperial House of Nobles, appeared at the door of the secret room.

He stepped into the secret room, his gaze immediately falling on Cohen. He seemed to be secretly using some kind of perception technique, subtly scanning Cohen's aura as if confirming something, or perhaps assessing his physical condition and energy levels from the trip.

Then, Heisenberg slowly began to speak:
"It hasn't even been 30 days yet, why did Your Highness come out ahead of schedule? Did you encounter some emergency?"

When questioned by Heisenberg, Cohen remained calm, revealing little emotion.

He nodded slowly, his tone steady, and replied:
"Your Excellency is right."

Indeed, we encountered some unexpected situations in the Dragon Plane.

He paused slightly, his gaze sweeping over Heisenberg, and continued:

"Let's wait until His Majesty arrives before giving a detailed report."

Shanis received the news quickly, appearing in the secret chamber less than five minutes after Heisenberg arrived.
Her beautiful eyes immediately fell on Cohen. After carefully examining him and confirming that he was safe and sound and had not suffered any obvious injuries, the barely perceptible worry in the depths of her eyes quietly disappeared, and she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

For her, Cohen's safety was far more important than the mission itself.

Seeing that the Empress and the Chief, the two highest decision-makers in the empire, were already present, Cohen cleared his throat and began to recount his carefully prepared and embellished "experience" with a solemn expression:
"According to the information and map provided by the Chief, the area we arrived at through the passage of the Noble Academy should be the territory ruled by the 'Molten Dragonborn' among the six great dragonborns—the Lava Sea."

The first few days were relatively peaceful, except for the need to adapt to the extremely harsh environment there.

Besides the omnipresent high temperatures, poisonous gases, and violent energy turbulence, they also encountered mostly native creatures from the Dragon Plane. Although they were fierce, their levels were generally not high, and they could be dealt with easily.

Occasionally, we can also see the silhouettes of a few giant dragons flying across the distant horizon.

With the aim of exploration and attempt to make contact, we tried several times to get closer, to say hello, or at least to make some observations from a distance.

Strangely, once these dragons discovered our presence, they showed absolutely no intention of communicating. They would immediately fly away at incredible speed, as if avoiding a plague, giving us absolutely no chance to communicate.

Heisenberg remained expressionless upon hearing this, but a sense of understanding dawned on him.

He naturally knew the reason: due to the harassment from the Noble Academy over the years, the Molten Dragonborn had long been accustomed to the presence of humans.

They can't beat them, and they can't drive them away, so they can only accept their existence and not communicate with them at all.

Cohen continued:

"Later, we unfortunately encountered several extremely large 'chaotic storms'."

The power of this natural disaster was indeed far beyond our imagination. In order to avoid the sweeping storm, we had to deviate from our planned exploration route and hastily flee in the chaos.

As a result, they accidentally lost their way completely.

After the storm subsided and we repositioned ourselves, we realized that we had unknowingly stumbled into a region completely different from the lava sea environment.

At this point, his tone became even heavier:
"Based on our subsequent encounters and the terrain features, we have unfortunately stumbled into the territory of the Thunder Dragonborn, who are widely recognized as the strongest and most domineering of the six dragonborn!"

There was absolutely no possibility of communication or interaction there.

Once they discover us 'intruders,' they will immediately launch a relentless and ruthless pursuit.

At first, with the help of the Jade Grand Duke, we could barely hold on. But later, they actually deployed a Saint-level dragon. Faced with an existence of that level, we had absolutely no chance of resisting.

In order to save their lives, they had no choice but to use the Dragon Soul Crystal to evacuate the Demon Dragon Plane ahead of schedule.

This expedition had to be prematurely terminated.

This statement is a mixture of truth and falsehood, yet its logic is self-consistent.

It not only points out the danger and xenophobia of the Dragon Plane, but also attributes the deviation from the route to the uncontrollable natural disaster "Chaos Storm".

This perfectly concealed the core truth of a secret alliance with the Shadows and the Mourning Dragonborn.

After listening, Heisenberg frowned, seemingly assessing the veracity of these words.

His gaze lingered on Cohen's calm face for a few seconds, as if carefully scrutinizing every detail.

Ultimately, he seemed to find no obvious logical flaws or suspicious points, and his tense expression relaxed imperceptibly as he followed Cohen's words:

"It was indeed a close call."

The Thunder Dragonborn are indeed the most domineering, unreasonable, and hostile to outsiders among the six major races of the Dragon Plane.

In the Empire's previous campaigns against the Dragon Plane, our vanguard legions suffered heavy losses on numerous occasions.

"Your Highness was fortunate enough to escape safely from the pursuit of that Saint-level dragon."

The success of the mission is important, but Your Highness's safety is the Empire's primary concern.

Cohen smiled and said:

"Thank you for your concern, Chief."

Heisenberg carefully reviewed Cohen's words in his mind, combining his understanding of the Dragon Plane with the apparent strength composition of the three Cohens (one Legendary, one Gold, and one Bronze).

He really didn't think such a small team could pull off anything in that kind of place, much less be able to reach any secret agreement with those cunning and powerful dragonborn.

The most likely scenario is indeed as Cohen described: he unfortunately encountered a natural disaster, then ran into the worst enemy he could afford to offend, and finally fled back in a sorry state.

With this in mind, his doubts largely dissipated.

Since the reasons for the mission's failure were clear and reasonable, there was no need for him to stay any longer.

He then bowed respectfully to Empress Xenias, exchanged a few pleasantries, and turned to leave the secret chamber, clearly to report the results of the exploration to the others in the House of Nobles.

Shanis knew, of course, that what Cohen had just said was not the whole truth, and that most of it might even have been carefully embellished.

Putting aside everything else, the sacred belt she gave Cohen, which contained her immense power, was enough to give Cohen and his companions the ability to protect themselves and even fight back when facing ordinary dragons.

It's impossible that they were chased so desperately, let alone need to use the Dragon Soul Crystal to escape in advance.

She wanted to ask more questions to find out what Cohen had experienced in the Dragon Plane and what he had actually brought back.

However, before she could speak, Cohen stepped forward and spoke first:

"Your Majesty, I will report to you after I have finished arranging things here."

Shanis said nothing more, gave Cohen a deep look, and gracefully left the secret room, leaving the space to Cohen and his two female companions.

Cohen also took Belmody and Freya back to the state guesthouse.

At this moment, only Nefertis remained at the state guesthouse.

The sorceress had obviously been waiting there. When she saw Cohen and the other two appear before her unharmed, her tense expression visibly relaxed, and she let out a long sigh of relief.

She hurried forward, her voice tinged with relief:
"You're finally back."

When you were in the Dragon Plane, the older sisters were unaware of your specific situation and dared not rashly use powerful communication methods that might attract attention, for fear of interfering with your actions or exposing your location.

They try to find out information from me indirectly every few days, which puts a lot of pressure on me.

"Sir, now that you've returned safely, please contact them yourself to let them know you're safe and sound, so they can be completely at ease." Upon hearing this, Cohen felt a surge of warmth in his heart.

He knew, of course, that the girls had been worried about him while he was venturing into dangerous territory.

After taking out the communication stone and reporting that everyone was safe, he began to discuss the next steps:

"Sister Bei, are you going back to the Lost Lands?"

When Belmody heard Cohen's question, her purple eyes flickered slightly as she glanced at Freya and Nephthys beside her.

She seemed a little embarrassed to show too much intimacy with Cohen in front of the two of them, maintaining her usual slightly aloof expression, and gently nodding her chin:
"We've been away for so long, we should go back and visit."

Cohen nodded, his expression turning serious:
"Alright, after you go back, you need to pay close attention to the overall situation in the Chaotic Demon Continent."

Based on the previously overheard conversation between the Demon Lord and the Pillar Demon God Valak.

Thrall, the Demon Lord of Chaos Continent, and the Alchemist Baron of the Mechanical Continent, may join forces to try to establish a unified and more threatening new kingdom.

If they do choose to join forces and expand outwards, then the 'Mysterious Continent' and the 'Endless Alliance' located around them will inevitably become their primary targets for annexation.

My main focus and resources must now be placed on stabilizing and integrating the situation in the Northwest Continent.

Therefore, in the Lost Lands, you'll need to support yourself and handle things cautiously on your own for now.

Report any developments promptly and try to avoid direct confrontation with them initially.

Cohen's strategic focus at this moment is very clear: he must first concentrate his efforts to completely control the northwestern continent of the human prime plane—his primary goal is to completely take over the Kingdom of Ceylon, and then unite with the Kingdom of Windbreak to deal with the Kingdom of Serene, which is controlled by the "Black Tomb" organization.

Only by consolidating his base can he have enough power and resources to intervene in affairs elsewhere.

Therefore, he currently does not have the extra energy and resources to provide support to the Lost Lands, and can only rely on Belmotti's own strength and wisdom to maintain the situation and prioritize stability.

Vermouth listened quietly to Cohen's analysis and instructions, then nodded slightly, her tone calm:
"Don't worry, I'm well aware of the situation and potential risks over there."

I know what to do.

Cohen then turned his gaze to Freya beside him and slowed his speech:
"Freya, I will temporarily entrust the Book of Time and Space to Bayonetta for safekeeping. She will activate the teleportation to escort you back to the Kingdom of Ceylon."

The overall situation in Ceylon is currently developing in a direction that is increasingly favorable to us.

Just a few days ago, Herman sent over some important intelligence.

The Seven Cities Alliance, which has long maintained neutrality and wields considerable influence in central Ceylon, and the Crown Thorn Society, the most symbolic resistance organization composed of former royal family members and descendants.

They have all secretly sent representatives to contact our Military Intelligence Bureau, clearly expressing their desire to surrender and submit.

Overall, the situation is getting better, but we must be highly vigilant against the Gaius regime's frantic counterattack before its downfall.

Especially your personal safety.

Despite the holy prohibitions of the five great empires, these prohibitions have no effect on Gaius when he goes berserk.

I've already spoken to Saint Jialin beforehand; she'll go to Guimian City to protect you.

Freya carefully wrote down each point, and after listening, she raised her eyes, her gaze filled with determination:
"Rest assured, sir, when you and Sister Nephthys return, you will surely see a Ceylon Kingdom that has swept away all obstacles, is completely unified, and is ready to welcome a new era."

Upon hearing Freya's firm and confident promise, Cohen smiled with satisfaction.

"Very well, I will personally crown you then and witness you become the true Queen of Ceylon!"

Freya's eyes sparkled with a captivating light; what she was thinking about went far beyond simply having Cohen personally place the crown on her head.

That coronation ceremony may have already been imbued with more, more private, and more important symbolic meaning in her heart.

What she wanted was not just the crown, but a deeper bond with the man before her after the coronation.

Cohen's original plan was for Belmody and Freya to set off today, one returning to the Lost Lands to oversee things, and the other returning to Ceylon to take charge.

However, after glancing at Belmody's seemingly casual gaze, Cohen's mind stirred, and he temporarily changed his mind:
"Everyone has just gotten back, so let's rest for the night and get our energy back."

Let's arrange everything and set off tomorrow.

After taking care of the three girls, Cohen set off for the palace as agreed with Empress Shanis, ready to give her a detailed report on the true situation and amazing gains of his trip to the Dragon Plane.

When Cohen arrived at the palace, it was during the evening banquet.

Shanis had clearly come prepared, having meticulously prepared a sumptuous and exquisite dinner in a more private and cozy side hall, and was waiting alone for Cohen's arrival.

The two sat facing each other, enjoying their food and beginning their conversation.

Cohen calmly recounted his real experiences in the Dragon Plane over the past few days—especially the process and details of how he forged a deep secret alliance with the Shadow Dragonborn and the Mourning Dragonborn.

Despite having always had great confidence and expectations for Cohen's abilities, Xenise was still surprised to hear that he had managed to persuade and bind two powerful dragonborn clans in such a short time with his Gold-rank strength, almost as if he had gotten something for nothing.

They were even plotting a grand blueprint to seize the lich godhood and unify the entire dragon plane.

Even as an empress who had seen it all, she was genuinely shocked by the astonishing scale and efficiency of this undertaking.

As Cohen savored the fine wine, he basked in the Empress's gaze, a mixture of shock, disbelief, admiration, and even a hint of barely perceptible worship. His vanity and sense of accomplishment surged, making all the adventures and schemes worthwhile.

Shanis knew very well what Cohen's actions meant: if Cohen's plan succeeded, he would truly bring the Dragon Plane under his control.

Therefore, the Central Empire, or rather, Shanis herself, possessed a super army composed of powerful dragons that was virtually inexhaustible.

This force was powerful enough to sweep across the land, greatly consolidating and strengthening her imperial power and the hegemony of the empire.

This undoubtedly greatly enhanced her imperial power.

However, amidst the immense excitement and anticipation, Shanis couldn't help but sigh softly to herself.

Looking at the man before her, who was increasingly displaying astonishing energy and unfathomable potential, she felt both proud of him and a subtle sense of pressure.

If he can already influence the Dragonborn race, how big will his stage be in the future?

Can I always keep up with him and keep him by my side?
Cohen keenly caught the fleeting, complex emotion in Shanis's eyes.

He gently took Shanis's soft yet slightly cool hands, and with a little force, he gently pulled her elegant and noble body into his arms.

He lowered his head, his warm breath brushing against Shanis's sensitive earlobe, and in a magnetic voice only the two of them could hear, he whispered a solemn promise in her ear:
"Your Majesty need not worry. No matter how far I go in the future, or what power I gain."

I will always be your most loyal knight; my sword and my heart will forever be wielded for you.

This straightforward and heartfelt vow instantly touched the softest chord in Shanis's heart.

Her delicate body trembled slightly as she raised her eyes to look at Cohen. Her originally wise and dignified gaze gradually became misty, tinged with a layer of emotional tears.

Sensing the empress's tacit consent and affection in his arms, Cohen no longer hesitated, lowered his head slightly, and kissed her deeply.

At the same time, his hands did not stop moving; his nimble fingers began to unbutton one by one the buttons on Shanies's elaborately crafted, magnificent palace dress, a symbol of supreme royal power.

Shanis struggled slightly, then succumbed to the dizzying intimacy and Cohen's fiery breath, letting him do as he pleased.

As all the buttons gradually fell off, the magnificent palace dress opened slightly, revealing a glimpse of fair and shimmering light, accompanied by soft and alluring curves, which caught Cohen's eye and was incredibly captivating.

The atmosphere in the room gradually became ambiguous. Just as Cohen was about to take the final step and completely possess this noble empress, Shanis seemed to suddenly wake up from a dream. Her relaxed body tensed up instantly, and her slender legs closed tightly as if she were startled.

Her voice, tinged with panic, shame, and a sliver of remaining reason, pleaded haltingly:

"No, it's too...too fast, we're not married yet..."

Deeply ingrained royal upbringing and the Empress's composure triumphed over the torrent of passion at this moment.

Cohen abruptly stopped.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the raging desire surging within him, a bitter smile of helplessness and indulgence flashing in his eyes.

He knew that for Shanies, certain boundaries did indeed require a grand ceremony to cross.

He reluctantly gave that alluring, snow-white softness a gentle pat, eliciting a suppressed gasp from Shanis, who then released her as instructed.

As soon as she was free, Shanis turned around in a flustered manner.

She didn't dare look back at Cohen, but simply extended a slightly trembling finger, indicating that he should perhaps leave first tonight.

Cohen gave a helpless, bitter smile, knowing that tonight had to end here.

He considerately said nothing more, simply gently tucking a stray strand of her golden hair behind her ear before leaving the palace. (End of Chapter)