Raise Joan of Arc to be an empress, then discard her.

“I know you don’t believe me, but these are all true.”

Aaron flipped open his wrist and showed Herbert the scales on his hand.

"What is that?" Herbert's tone remained cold, but his curiosity was genuinely piqued.

"Why don't we get closer and take a look, or even touch it?" Aaron said casually, his tone carrying an inexplicable air of authority.

Herbert put down his teacup, slowly approached Aaron, and gently placed his finger on the scale. He saw the strange symbol that seemed to devour the entire world.

Logically speaking, a superhuman being of Herbert's caliber would be extremely difficult to be affected by a pattern, yet the moment he saw that pattern, Herbert felt as if he were being swallowed by an abyss.

But Aaron's goal is not just that.

When Herbert placed his finger on the scales, he activated some kind of ability.

In an instant, Herbert felt the world around him flash by, and then he felt as if the world had changed color and become extremely dark. When he looked up again, he suddenly felt many memories that did not belong to him flooding into his mind.

He saw a scene of yellow sand filling the sky. The scene was so realistic that Herbert couldn't help but doubt whether it was real. When he looked around, he found that Aaron and everything around him had disappeared. He saw an even more terrifying sight.

Giant dragons with outstretched wings descended from the sky, all of them equipped with iron armor. Trains hundreds of meters long sped across the battlefield. He saw countless humans and superhumans battling on the sand. In the brutal and resolute charge, the two sides clashed, and lightning occasionally roared in the sky.

Is this a scene of war? Is this a scene of war from a certain period of time?

Herbert, being knowledgeable and observant, quickly realized that this war must be not far removed from the present era, given the presence of trains on the battlefield. He then observed the clothing of the soldiers on the battlefield and discovered that clothing from various countries was present, as if soldiers from the entire New World had gathered there. This was a war that occurred within humanity itself, drawing all of humanity into it.

At that moment, Herbert witnessed an incredible sight: he saw Aaron, or rather, someone who looked very much like Aaron.

In fact, not only Herbert, but when that happened, all eyes on the battlefield were on him. He saw Aaron wielding two swords, charging towards the giant dragon that was tens of meters tall. Then Aaron leaped high into the air and jumped onto the top of the dragon's head. And then, as if struck by lightning, he jumped up again. Herbert then witnessed an unbelievable scene.

A massive black light shone from the dragon's head. Its terrifying power made even Herbert, who was watching the battle, feel terrified. He could hardly believe that it was the work of a human. When the terrifying spiritual storm subsided and the sandstorm cleared, he looked back and saw that the towering dragon had fallen, and the figure of the man stood on the dragon's head.

The dragon slayer—at this moment, the word that held two completely opposite meanings for humanity entered Herbert's mind.

"wrong……"

But after the initial shock, Herbert quickly became aware of more information.

He was indeed a dragon who had seen much of the human world. He had learned a lot of human knowledge, including human vocabulary. He knew that in one country, blessings were mostly manifested in the form of certain objects, and what Aaron had just held in his hand was such an object.

Omniscient Blessing? How could he possibly possess omniscient blessing?

The thought had just crossed Herbert's mind when he sensed an aura completely different from the Omniscient Blessing.

To be precise, it wasn't just him who felt it, but he felt that the entire earth, the entire sky, and even the entire world were filled with that thing, as if all the human soldiers were standing on the sea, and beneath the sea, undercurrents were surging, with waves or terrifying shadows flowing beneath their feet.

Herbert subconsciously looked at his feet and realized that he was standing on sand, so why did he feel a surging current?

Chapter 226 The Deal is Made

But this feeling was not an illusion; there really was something terrifying flowing below. Even the well-informed Herbert felt a sense of unease and danger from this terrifying feeling, as if there were eyes outside of human history, observing in the dark. Those terrifying eyes were like those of a higher-dimensional being, who had been observing human history and even personally manipulating it. And the only thing in the world that could give Herbert this feeling was God. Only a god could do such a thing.

A god? Herbert suppressed his fear and tried to sense the power. Which god was it? Although he had been staying in the Kingdom of Dok, he had sensed the power of gods from various countries. When he encountered an enemy, he could usually see through their blessing at a glance.

However, this dark power felt very strange to him. He kept sensing it, comparing it, sensing it again, and comparing it again, but no matter how he compared it, this dark power was different from the power and blessings of the various gods he knew. It was as if this power belonged to a completely different kind of god.

Could it be other gods? This possibility alone shocked Herbert. Besides the seven gods and the dragon god who was not recognized as a god, could there be other gods in this world?

Then, the scene before his eyes continued to change. He saw that the war on the battlefield had entered a white-hot stage. The powerful superhumans of the seven kingdoms seemed to be besieging a knight. They went through a great battle, and the besieged knight fell. But at this moment, a new knight joined the battlefield. He actually defeated all the knights by himself.

Before Herbert could fully process the information, while he was staring intently at the person who looked remarkably like Aaron, he suddenly noticed that the other person's gaze was directed upwards, towards the sky.

Herbert followed Aaron's gaze upwards and saw a huge figure appear in the sky, followed by countless humans without parachutes descending from the sky.

The next moment, the scene before him flashed and disappeared. Herbert instinctively shielded his eyes with his arm, but the light representing immense spiritual power vanished quickly. Herbert knew that an explosion had occurred.

Just as Herbert was wondering how things would unfold next, he saw that terrifying dark force again.

That dark power seemed to have reached its peak. It was no longer dormant, but burst out of the ground like a hunter. At this moment, Herbert was as shocked as a human who had always lived in the ordinary world to see a dragon suddenly emerge from the water. And the instant he saw that thing, Herbert thought of that terrifying symbol that seemed to want to devour the whole world.

"The God of Darkness..."

It was as if someone was whispering in his ear, or as if the word appeared in his mind automatically.

Just then, Herbert felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around abruptly and saw "Aaron" standing behind him.

"You are... Aaron?" Herbert asked in surprise after seeing the other person's face clearly.

"I am the messenger of the god of darkness."

“What is that?” Herbert said coldly.

Before he could finish speaking, he felt a terrifying dark aura appear before him. He instinctively stepped back, both surprised and terrified. He was terrified because he could sense that this power was extraordinary, and surprised because he believed that someone of Aaron's caliber could not possibly put on such a show.

“I have no intention of offending you, but I am not afraid of you either,” Herbert said fiercely, shaking his hand.

“You are not afraid of us, after all, you have been fighting against the goddess of nature for thousands of years,” Aaron said.

Herbert stared at him coldly, without saying a word.

"In Lodoron, you have always wanted to find a way to revive the dragon race and find a way out for them. You wanted to learn from humans to revive the dragon race, but you discovered that human methods are not suitable for the dragon race. What humans can do, the dragon race cannot do."

“Dragons are indeed unable to bow down to the Seven Gods like humans do,” Herbert said.

"That's true. The dragons could say that a hundred years ago, but what about now? Haven't the dragons already submitted to Castleland and gone to war for Castleland? Even you, as a representative of the Chaos faction, have compromised with the Goddess of Nature. Sending envoys is actually a sign of submission. Even on Lucert's side, Queen Lucert has enslaved the dragons' corpses. Apart from not 'bowing down and submitting,' what else haven't you done?"

After hearing Aaron's words, Herbert's eyes flashed with a molten light, but he did not fly into a rage, or rather, he controlled his emotions very well, after all, he was a dragon who had lived for hundreds of years.

What do you want to say?

"But now there is an opportunity, and He wants to help you."

“They just want us to submit again,” Herbert said coldly.

"He will not ask you to submit, but hopes to cooperate with you."

"cooperate?"

"Yes, if you're willing, we can become partners."

"Cooperate with God?" Herbert's voice finally showed some emotion.

"When we reappear on the earth, the world will be shrouded in darkness once more. I hope that the dragons will dance with us then," Aaron said.

How can I trust you?

“When you choose to cooperate, I can bless you,” Aaron said.

“Blessing?” Herbert exclaimed in surprise. “You mean blessing, the blessing of the God of Darkness?”

""

"Of course, all seven gods have blessings, and the God of Darkness is no exception. The difference is that when you choose the blessing of the other seven gods, it means you choose to submit. But we are different. Giving you blessings only means that we have a cooperative relationship."

"Can blessings be bestowed upon any race other than humans?" Herbert asked.

"Of course, the other seven gods chose to bestow their blessings upon humankind rather than other races simply because they were unwilling to do so."

"Okay, I believe you, but what do you hope to gain?"

"We hope to secure investment."

“Investment?” Herbert seemed surprised that the word would come from the hands of a messenger of God.

"Yes, since you've chosen to cooperate with us, you need to show sincerity. One of the conditions is that we hope to have the strongest natural sequence emerge, and you must provide assistance unconditionally."

Herbert looked at Aaron, "You want me to give you dragon scales?"

“No.” Aaron shook his head.

"no?"

“Not just dragon scales, I want everything the natural sequence needs, including dragon scales, dragon bones, and dragon wings. As I just said, I want to create the strongest being in the natural sequence, and everything he needs must be the best. You are the race that can provide assistance.”

"The strongest in the sequence?"

"Don't you believe me?" Aaron stretched out his body, behind him was a vast and boundless ancient battlefield. The battle between the strongest warriors of the seven kingdoms still lingered on the land, and anyone who had witnessed that battle would surely remember the man who had galloped across the battlefield.

"He is me, and I am him. If I were to return to the top, do you believe we could change the world?"

“Alright, I promise I can give you the dragon scales, but I have one condition,” Herbert said.

"What conditions?"

"If it is true, as you say, that you can stand at the very top of the world, then there will be a time limit. Within that time limit, I can lend you the dragon scales."

“Borrow? Do you think I can return this to you?” Aaron said.

"Of course you can. The dragon scales need to be implanted into your body. If you want to get them back, you can just take them off your body."

"You mean kill me?"

"Even if you remove the dragon scales, the human won't die; at most, he won't be able to use supernatural powers for the rest of his life."

"What's the difference between that and death? Besides, your dragon race has already waited for a thousand years, are you not even willing to wait a little longer?"

“We’ve been waiting for too long, so I’m getting a little impatient. However,” Herbert looked at Aaron, “humans are different from dragons. Human strength doesn’t increase with age; on the contrary, humans may become weaker as they get older. And based on my understanding of human history, humans often reach their peak very quickly. Therefore, I will give you a deadline.”

"how long?"

"Two years."

"Two years?" Aaron couldn't help but laugh. "Do you know what two years means? I'm only at the ninth rank now. You mean I have to advance eight ranks in two years, which is equivalent to stepping into a new rank every two months."

“I can prepare everything you need, and it’s all the best from the dragon race. I’d be happy to provide it to you within two months, as long as you can do it.”

"If I fail, you'll take everything back. The dragon scales alone will cause me to lose my supernatural power. What if you add other things to that? I'll die then, won't I?"

"What? You don't dare? People who want to change the world shouldn't lack even this much courage."

“How could that be?” Aaron said softly. “In fact, two years is too long.”

*

As the surrounding fog gradually dissipated, Herbert found that they had returned to the real world. The vast battlefield had disappeared, replaced by their home.

Just then, he heard Neve's strange voice coming from outside the door.

"Are you from the Church of Judgment? What brings you here?"

"I came because I heard there might be some kind of big battle today. What happened? Did we miss it?" the voice outside replied.

Herbert looked towards the door: "Any new guests?"

"This is my first time visiting Dragon's House. I wonder what it's like." Footsteps came from outside the door. The person seemed not to have heard Herbert's greeting and spoke as he walked.

“Didn’t we come here before? To Neve’s house? We even said we’d spend money to help them rebuild it,” another voice replied.