The Scales of Justice, Landis, after much deliberation, ultimately agreed to David’s somewhat audacious request. However, regarding this slave abolition bill that had touched upon the interests of the Metal Dragons and was bound to provoke widespread public opinion, this ‘just’ Metal Dragon King still had a reservation: Since David was so determined to build a city for the Elves, he would have to figure out his own way to accomplish it. Funding, manpower, strategic planning, implementation—each step would demand enormous time, energy, and financial resources. By the time David resolved all these issues and the city was built, decades, perhaps even a century, might have passed. By then, even if some dragons still objected, the opposition and prevailing sentiments would likely have shifted.

But while Landis and his wife, as well as the ancient dragons of the Senate, entertained this conventional thinking, they still greatly underestimated David’s resolve in pushing this decision forward.

Having received the official promise from the Royal Court, David went to Mountaintop Plaza that very day. There, he announced the slave abolition decree—a decree so new that even the North Wind Dragon Court hadn’t fully processed it. Amidst the astonished gazes of dragons and Elves, who looked at him as if he were mad, he declared,

“For the freedom of Elves!

“For the advancement of law and civilization!

“For the creation of this City of Light!

“I, Ximor Krupskaya, am willing to donate all my personal treasures! Let today’s oath bear witness: all my future earnings, until this city-state is complete, shall be devoted to it!”

Upon these words, some Elves, yearning for freedom, were moved to tears and knelt on the spot. In their eyes, David was like a Holy Dragon incarnate, far more compassionate than their indifferent elven gods.

Even the assembled dragons, including Dragon King Landis, were stunned.

To execute this ‘merciful’ act by sacrificing all one’s personal treasure—such formidable determination, such noble character! Just this act of conquering Greed was enough to set one on the path of a Deification Dragon! And it even included all future income!

But David alone knew that these treasures were, in fact, of little use to him. Ultimately, he had to return to his own world by igniting the divine fire. Such external wealth could neither be brought at birth nor taken at death. What use was there in keeping it?

Yet, no matter his thoughts, others could only see his actions.

For a time, word spread like wildfire, and many flocked to his cause. Many lost and bewildered Elves saw him as their savior.

And just as David had anticipated, quite a few Metal Dragons, for their own various reasons, were the first to respond to the call, granting freedom to the Elves under their command. But to donate treasures like David… that was out of the question. Offering a little help was, in their minds, already noble enough.

Thus, David’s Walled City Project moved from proposal to reality, even breaking ground, all within a single day. The efficiency of its implementation and the decisiveness of its execution made some female dragons’ hind legs go weak, their restless tails flicking like tiny windmills. Had David not been a young dragon, he might well have received some rather suggestive invitations.

Of course, where interests were entangled, there was bound to be duality; for all the support, there was even more opposition.

However, what David had not expected was that the first group to collectively jump out in opposition were not the Metal Dragons who kept large numbers of private elven slaves.

It was… the Elves themselves…

Indeed, some Elves had barely begun to celebrate their impending freedom when others started to panic.

David was startled by this news at first, but he quickly understood the reason. It was a simple truth: they had knelt for so long they had grown accustomed to it, even finding it rather agreeable to continue fawning and groveling. Such phenomena and groups are not uncommon in any world. Just like on Blue Star before David’s transmigration; long after the Qing Dynasty had fallen, some still kept their queues. And even among those who had cut theirs, the queue remained in their hearts. Servility, too, possesses inertia and requires time to change.

Elves had arrived and integrated into this world more than four millennia ago. Many Elves had served dragons since their ancestors’ time, some perhaps for seven or eight generations. If an Elf was fortunate enough to serve a sufficiently noble dragon clan, they often held relatively higher status and power over their own kind.

And once the Dragon Royal Court, as David demanded, granted every Elf freedom… it also meant that all Elves would once again become ‘equal.’

How could this be? Wouldn’t that mean reverting to their status before immigration?! How could they continue to be ‘superior to other Elves, yet subordinate to dragons’—the ‘elite’ among their kind?

David, naturally, couldn’t be bothered with such contemptible individuals. After all, it was all part of Tiamat’s mission. As long as the Dragonfall War was successfully postponed and the Elves obediently entered the Walled City, what did the rest matter to him?

David could ignore other Elves, but there was one he simply couldn’t.

That day, upon returning to his lair, David saw Elistrida kneeling there.

“Your Highness…”

“The Dragon Royal Court has issued the decree, Elistrida. You are free now.”

Faced with David’s tactful dismissal, the elven princess neither complied nor openly resisted. Only when she lifted her delicate chin to look up at him, her eyes were already brimming with hot tears.

“Your Highness, did Elistrida not perform well enough?”

At that time, Elistrida was far from the strong, independent Lady of Gloom who, in later times, would lead a group of Drow in pursuit of light and freedom. She was merely a pawn, cast aside by her callous father and neurotic mother. Had he not appeared in this world, she would most likely have repeated her mother Arlosh’s fate: becoming embroiled in the elven rebellion and ultimately being banished with her to the Gloomy Region.

Thinking of this, David smiled, gently lifted the tip of his tail, and patted her on the head.

“No, you’ve done very well.”

But just as a sliver of hope began to shine in Elistrida’s eyes, David’s next words mercilessly shattered it.

“But you must understand that every being is born with their own trials to face and destiny to fulfill. I am already walking my own path. Elistrida, one day, you too will find yours.”

A path of redemption, navigating the treacherous currents between the elven pantheon and the Spider Queen. To become the Lady of Gloom worshipped by the Drow group of sister Hiatt and brother Kraidian. But… that is ultimately another timeline. If the destiny of this world is successfully rewritten by him… she might never get the chance to ‘evolve’ to that stage. It’s cruel, but it’s also reality.

Thinking this, David sighed at the elven girl’s weeping.

“Elistrida, you must leave. I am the dragon who initiated this abolition bill. If you remain by my side like a slave, this entire movement will become a complete joke.”

“But… but…” The elven girl was by now so choked with sobs she could barely speak.

David changed his tone, “However… if you miss me, you are always welcome to visit, as a friend.”

“Friend?” Elistrida asked, her eyes blurred with tears.

It seemed that to this princess of the elven deities, the word “friend” was utterly foreign. Due to her exalted birthright, she was fated never to have true friends. Even her brother Velan, the only one she could play with in her youth, his gaze, as she matured, gradually grew unfamiliar and covetous, frightening her. On the contrary, when, in her Despair, her father sent her to the Dragon Royal Court as a slave and hostage, she unexpectedly… saw a light. A light that re-illuminated her shadowed life. And she, like a moth to a flame, wanted only to pursue it without reservation.

“Yes. Rather than looking up, it is better to stand shoulder to shoulder, isn’t it? My friend, Miss Elistrida,” David said with a gentle smile, but his eyes held only an almost dispassionate rationality.

He had come to realize that in any world, Elves were not a monolithic bloc. More often, they were collectively bound to the war chariots by the will of their superiors and even their gods. Since he had the conditions and opportunity to sow division, David didn’t mind giving it a push. Seeing his own daughter and followers draw their swords against him, Corellon’s expression would surely be a sight to behold.

However, Elistrida, still oblivious to David’s formidable calculations, was immersed in indescribable joy and emotion. She hugged his tail, rubbing her cheek against it.

“Yes, friend… Thank you, my dearest friend, Prince Ximor… Ah…”

By the time she came to her senses, she found herself already dangled outside the lair by David’s tail…

While Elistrida stood there, utterly bewildered, another small package was tossed out; it was her pitifully few belongings, saved up during her time with David.

“Hurry along, I’m about to go into slumber,” David’s voice urged from inside the lair, his tone resonant with the sentiment that ‘a mind free of distractions achieves mastery,’ clearly indicating his desire for solitude.

“Oh…” Elistrida then clutched her small package. Pouting, looking pitiable, she descended the mountain, glancing back every few steps.

And just as this future Lady of Gloom, belongings in hand and a bewildered expression on her face, arrived at the nascent Elf City at the foot of the mountains, where construction had just begun, dire news arrived. A dragon brought it from afar:

In the territories of the Chromatic Dragons, Tiamat had ordered the mass arrest of Elves, their concentration into camps, and attacks on free elven settlements in the wilderness.

Vast numbers of elven slaves and refugees were fleeing towards the territories of the Metal Dragons.

Instantly, throughout the lands governed by the North Wind Dragon Court, all Elves—those who supported the bill and those who opposed it—were in an uproar.

The pro-freedom faction became even more fervent in their desire to build their own city-state. The opposing faction, however, grew increasingly terrified of this abruptly granted ‘freedom.’

They didn’t need this freedom; they only wanted to cling desperately to the mighty thighs of their Metal Dragon masters! It seemed only thus could they find a measure of solace amidst the catastrophe that plunged all Elves into terror.

Yet, regardless of how vehemently each faction defended its views, even to the point of open conflict, they all reached a bizarre consensus.

Compared to the Chromatic Dragon Queen Tiamat, who wouldn’t hesitate to unleash Death’s scythe at the slightest provocation, Prince Ximor… was practically a Holy Dragon walking the mortal realm!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep