Start in Terra, immortal

The capital of the Perus Empire, in the year 151 of the Arad calendar.

"Have you heard? His Majesty the Emperor said that soon he will send General Kazan and the Great Mage Ozma to subdue the mad dragon Hess, which appeared in the Empire decades ago."

"Can they do it? Didn't they say before that they were sent to capture the Yordles who appeared on the border, and they came back empty-handed? His Majesty the Emperor even offered a reward for their capture."

"You're quite ignorant. According to the soldiers who were with them at the time, those short Yordles were accompanied by powerful figures who easily defeated Kazan and Ozma. Who would dare to touch them?"

......

At this moment, Kazan and Ozma, who were being questioned, sat expressionless next to the chattering passersby, as if they were not the protagonists of those idle gossips.

"Haha, did you hear that? The Empire's strongest mage, they're talking about you!" Kazan couldn't hold back and laughed. Only with his close friends could he be so uninhibited.

"Stop joking. Others may not know, but don't you?" Ozma picked up his glass and took a big gulp. "Faced with that kind of being, we were powerless to resist in a single encounter. What kind of strongest is that?"

Before that day, Ozma believed he deserved the title of the strongest.

Since being adopted by the elves at a young age, he has possessed an exceptional understanding and affinity for elven magic applied to daily life. Many of the powerful and destructive spells currently existing in the empire were gleaned from his knowledge and subsequently submitted to the emperor.

It can be said that Ozma was the founder of offensive magic in the Perus Empire. Most importantly, he was still very young.

That day, the spirited Ozma was personally assigned a mission by His Majesty the Emperor: to bring back the legendary Yordles.

He had heard the legends of the Yodals when he was very young.

Some say they are nocturnal, often emitting eerie laughs from places unseen; others say they are destructive, turning places upside down with deafening roars; still others say they are mysterious and unpredictable, using unknown magic to turn people into animals.

In short, the reasons are numerous. However, one thing is universally agreed upon: they do not kill. Over the years, not a single person has died a direct death at the hands of a Yordle.

Ozma was quite curious about these Yordles, so he accepted the task.

After visiting and tracing the locations where the Yordles had once roamed, Ozma finally encountered them on the other side of the Empire's border.

However, among those Yordles, there were two figures who did not conform to the legendary image of Yordles.

One of the figures, radiating golden light, wielded what appeared to be a spear. With a casual swing, Ozma swayed precariously. Before collapsing, a voice whispered in his ear: "This is merely a small warning. The matter of the Yordles ends here. If you persist in pursuing it, the next 'reminder' will not be so gentle."

When he woke up, Kazan was still unconscious beside him, and his accompanying soldiers lay collapsed behind him.

Upon returning to the imperial capital, he explained the entire incident to the emperor, emphasizing the mysterious man's warning. Unfortunately, it seemed only he had heard those words; one person's words alone were insufficient to change the emperor's mind, and the emperor even issued a bounty.

Pulling himself out of his reverie, Ozma remembered that he would be assigned to fight the mad dragon Hess. He prepared to discuss the itinerary with Kazan and make more preparations to avoid failing like last time.

That strike shattered all the arrogance of this young magical genius.

"What do you think of that dragon? Could it be that there's a powerful being behind it that we can't even dream of reaching?" Ozma asked, setting down his nearly empty cup, his voice tinged with uncertainty.

"The situation of the Mad Dragon Hess is so similar to that of the Yordles. Both have never been seen before, both appeared out of thin air. In the vast territory of the Empire, no similar race has been seen again. So, it is very likely that someone deliberately put that dragon into the Empire." When talking about this, Kazan's expression also became solemn.

"However, since His Majesty the Emperor wants us to launch a campaign, then let us go. I have no other use for my strength than to serve the Empire."

Preparations for the expedition were not quick. After nearly a year of investigation and planning, the Perus Empire's Mad Dragon Hess Expeditionary Force finally embarked on its journey.

In the same month, the expeditionary force arrived at the mountain occupied by the mad dragon Hess.

"Roar!" The rather robust dragon roared repeatedly. The roar contained energy that could tear the earth apart, causing clear cracks to appear in the land around it.

"Kazan, for so many years, its only means of attack has been its roar and its body. If you can hold it off for a while and prevent it from taking flight, I will have a way to cut it down." To guard against the roar of the mad dragon, the entire expedition team protected their ears with magical equipment, so Ozma had to approach Kazan in the combat zone and tell him his plan in a very loud voice.

Upon hearing this, Kazan nodded, his sword and axe flashing as he slashed at the dragon's solid scales.

Even the extremely strong dragon body gradually developed cracks under Kazan's high-frequency attacks, with dragon scales shattering and flying everywhere.

The roar grew louder and louder. The rest of the expedition team was already struggling to stand due to the earth-shaking tremors caused by the dragon's attack, let alone be of any help to Kazan and Ozma.

In the entire area, only Kazan, who was facing off against the mad dragon, and Ozma, who was charging up his magic, remained standing.

Time passed slowly, and Kazan's wounds multiplied, the overflowing blood turning him into a blood-soaked figure. An ordinary person, injured to this extent, would be utterly incapable of dying from such injuries, and certainly no longer able to fight the Mad Dragon.

But Kazan was different. The more severe the injury, the more it fueled his fighting spirit, and his hands wielded the axe and sword faster. But correspondingly, his reason seemed to gradually disappear.

At first, Kazan knew not to confront the mad dragon head-on, but now he's even deliberately colliding with it. With each collision, another gash appears on Kazan's body.

Ozma was extremely anxious about the situation, but he could do nothing but continue to build up his strength.

Humans are humans after all; no matter how powerful they are, there is always a limit. Kazan could no longer wield his weapon and fell straight to the ground stained with blood. Out of the body's instinct for self-preservation, Kazan's subconscious forced him into a deep sleep before his body collapsed.

Without Kazan's suppression, the mad dragon Hess flapped his wings, intending to let the ants in front of him feel the power descending from the sky.

Just as the mad dragon lifted off the ground, Ozma's charge was finally complete.

A dazzling magical spear shot out from Ozma's hand, piercing straight at the dragon's head at a speed the dragon couldn't react to.

"It worked!" Ozma was secretly delighted. He had this premonition the moment the magic left his hand.

The spear of light did indeed pierce through Hess, but unfortunately, at the moment he sensed the fatal danger, Hess used his forepaws and wings to protect his vitals.

The spear of light pierced through the wings, damaged the forelimbs, and when it struck the dragon's head, it only severed Hess's pair of horns.

Even so, Hess was quite frightened. It never expected that an ant could injure it to such an extent.

Not knowing if there were still such people, and remembering the task given to him by the Dragon King, Hess decisively soared into the sky and fled at high speed, dragging his mangled body.

That direction leads to the celestial realm.

"We won! We won!"

Only after the mad dragon disappeared from sight did the expedition team react, cheering loudly and surrounding Ozma.

"The Empire's Strongest Mage!"

The praises were constant, but Ozma had no time to pay attention to them.

"Kazan! Kazan!"

Kazan ultimately survived. His unique constitution kept him alive until the expeditionary force treated him.

The mad dragon Hess, who had plagued the Perus Empire for decades, was successfully defeated.

Kazan and Ozma became household names and legends throughout the Empire.