From Baron to Lord

Legend.

What is a legend?

It is being able to do what the masses cannot, possessing strength unmatched by the "910" of the masses, a being whose power has reached the pinnacle of humanity.

Superhumans at this level already possess the power of those legendary heroes.

Their strength is terrifying.

Even for the Empire, there are definitely not many powerhouses of this level.

The Twelve Pillars, the Twelve Archdukes, hailed as the Empire's highest combat power, are only at this level.

Harry really couldn't believe that Allen actually possessed top-tier strength of this level.

Is this a Grand Duke of a principality?

Harry felt like ten thousand mythical beasts were galloping through his heart.

Damn it, what did I just say?

Did I just imply some kind of threat or coercion?

No, I must be dreaming.

Harry silently told himself, he closed his eyes, meditated for a moment, and then opened them. "...Is it real?!"

Harry directly knelt down in front of Allen.

Previously, Harry had always thought that Allen was only a Saint-level powerhouse, and even as a Dragon Knight, he only needed to give enough respect.

Kneeling was something he had never considered.

After all, no normal person could imagine that the ruler of a small border country would actually be a legendary powerhouse.

Damn it, is this lord playing with me?

In an instant, all sorts of thoughts popped up in Harry's mind.

"Don't be nervous, Marquis Harry."

Allen waved his hand and slowly stood up from his seat: "I'll say it again, I can build railways and iron carriages for you, but I won't reveal the core technology, or you can research the iron carriages yourself."

Harry nodded tremblingly: "I understand, Your Excellency."

Allen shook his head. In fact, he preferred chatting with Harry like before.

"Marquis Harry, get up, I have no malice towards you."

Allen had Harry stand up: "Let's go for a walk. Now that I've revealed some of my strength, I also want to know some things. I originally thought I wouldn't need to expose my strength, but it doesn't matter now."

Allen shrugged slightly. He was still very confident in his own power.

"Yes, your power is enough for the Empire to hold you in sufficient respect."

Harry was extremely respectful at this moment, not even daring to raise his head.

He silently stood up, followed Allen, and walked out of here.

As for his students, he didn't have time to care about them now.

Allen led Harry from the hall to a secluded corner of the palace.

There weren't many people here, and there were some fountains and gardens, making it a comfortable place to chat.

"Now that you know my strength, I won't hide anything."

Allen casually sat on a chair in a small pavilion: "I want to know, what exactly is the enemy that the Empire is facing?"

Allen was very curious about this. He had already exposed his strength, and if he didn't want to provoke a conflict with the Empire, he definitely couldn't attack Harry.

As for some magic, he was only a Saint-level Archmage. His magical attainments were not as high as Harry's, who was also a Saint-level Archmage.

If he used memory magic, it might leave some hidden dangers.

In addition, Allen possessed the power of mind and dreams, which could do some incredible things, but this would easily expose the fact that he possessed a Mind Dragon.

Who knew how many capable people and strange talents there were in the Empire? Allen didn't want to gamble, and he was too lazy to gamble.

Now he could completely choose another way to communicate with the Empire.

After all, he already possessed the strength to communicate.

"...This concerns the Empire's secrets, but you are indeed qualified to know."

Harry was silent for a while after hearing this, and then he spoke.

"Our enemies have never been the other races on the continent, nor the other empires, but the threat from underground, or rather, the threat from another world." Harry sighed slightly: "Your Excellency, at your level, you should have heard more or less about the theory of planes, some news about space."

Allen nodded. He didn't interrupt Harry, but just sat there silently...

"Time and space, from the distant ancient times to the present, have always been the ultimate magical mysteries in magic. In ancient times, brilliant civilizations once studied these two types of magic."

"And they succeeded. Because of this, humanity achieved a great leap forward. After generations of development and research, one day, they finally broke the space barrier and explored other worlds."

"But you also know that there is never an eternal empire on the continent. Even the current empire has only been established for a few thousand years."

"And that era, the era that opened the space channel, was a radiant era. Powerful superhumans led their subordinates to constantly plunder and invade other worlds. They reveled and indulged."

Harry's eyes flashed with a trace of sadness as he said this: "Everything should have gone smoothly, but they forgot the heart of awe. They had indeed reached the limit of human power and had developed human civilization to its peak, but when their opponents were not humans, but powerful races that far surpassed human power, talent, and potential, everything was being rewritten."

"Our predecessors researched space magic, but they didn't understand the rules of survival. They only knew that there were abundant resources and endless land in the unknown world, but they didn't realize that the unknown equals terror. Their behavior was like lighting a torch in the darkness, so that everyone could see them, including those powerful and terrifying races."

"1.7 So they were utterly defeated."

Allen roughly understood what Harry was saying.

The ancient civilization suffered a crushing defeat, and it seems they survived only by paying a tremendous price. The problems they left behind are likely the ones the Empire faces now.

Enemies from another world.

No wonder I've rarely heard of wars breaking out between empires all these years. It seems they simply don't have the energy for it.

Allen was speechless, feeling a headache coming on. This is the third time he's heard about humanity provoking other opponents after expanding, only to be soundly thrashed.

"Our enemies come from underground, or more precisely, from underground space passages that connect two worlds. That world is called the Source World, and the species that rules it is the Primordial Kindred."

Harry spoke quickly, his words causing Allen to pause. Primordial Kindred... the name sounded familiar.

Chapter 380: Exchanging the Secret Art of Cultivating Dragons, the Valkyrie

Primordial Kindred... Allen had that species in his system, a species from another world that he unlocked using the Heart of a Demigod.

Allen hadn't paid much attention to it until now, but it seems this species has brought immense pressure to the continent.

"So, all four major empires on the continent are facing the same problem?"

Allen asked with some curiosity.

"Yes."

Harry sighed: "The Source World is a very powerful world. Not long ago, a great war broke out in the Source World, with losses on all sides. That's why His Royal Highness feels short-handed."

Allen nodded: "I understand roughly. So, the current Radiant Empire, including the other empires, are remnants of the power left behind by that previous civilization?"

Harry nodded in response: "Yes, after the fall of the ancient empire, it fragmented into many empires. After countless years of changes, we have the four major empires of today."

Allen roughly sorted things out.

This continent is too vast, and its history is too long. The three periods of history he knows are all ancient history, but it's clear that these are not events from the same era.

The history closest to Allen's era is that of the Atyas Empire, an empire that attempted to interfere with divine authority, starting roughly five or six thousand years ago and ending one thousand eight or nine hundred years ago.

This empire was once very powerful, but unfortunately, it fell.

And it caused a portion of the continent's land to sink permanently.

This is the first period, and also the period of history closest to Allen.

After that came the Alchemic Empire and another magical civilization empire.

It's hard to say which of these two came first.

However, Allen felt that the Alchemic Empire, the Odin Augustus Empire, should be even older.

According to Harry's words, Allen could roughly estimate that the current four major empires have existed for a considerable time. They might even be behemoths from the same era as Atyas, but it's clear that they weren't as crazy as Atyas. Perhaps the pressure from the Source World had already made them lose the desire to interfere with divine authority.

It seems this world is much more dangerous than he imagined.

Allen felt speechless. With the prying eyes of the gods, the invasion of another world, and all sorts of other problems, Allen discovered that so-called peace was just a false facade.

"You want to build a railway in the Source World?"

Allen thought for a moment and then spoke.

"Yes, the Source World and our world have been entangled for thousands of years. It's time to put an end to it."

A glint of light flashed in Harry's eyes.

"Oh? A single iron train can change the battle situation?"

Allen smiled, completely disbelieving.

"Of course not. The iron train can give us some advantages, but changing the battle situation still requires absolute strength." Harry revealed a smile: "Your Excellency, I can guarantee that the Source World will definitely be destroyed within a few years."

Harry's confidence made Allen raise his eyebrows slightly. It seems that the long-term war of attrition has allowed the four major empires to slowly gain the upper hand.

"Your Excellency, if possible, I hope you can join the Radiant Empire. I believe His Majesty the Emperor will definitely grant you the title of Marquis." Harry said respectfully. For a legendary powerhouse like this, it's impossible for a Purgatory Marquis to win him over.

Only the Emperor of the Empire has enough ability to win him over.

Allen neither agreed nor refused.

"We'll see. I think it's quite good here right now." Allen said calmly. Without sufficient benefits, he would rather develop quietly in the Duchy. Joining the Empire would indeed provide enough resources, but it would also come with responsibilities. At the very least, fighting in the Source World would be unavoidable.

Now that he has iron train technology, he can completely exchange it for the Empire's secret methods to continue strengthening dragons.

Of course, he doesn't want to hand over the core technology, but he still has some defective technology that Allen is prepared to provide to other duchies.

The core of these iron train technologies has been modified, and they are not iron trains based on high-purity energy blocks.

Instead, they use a magic stone-based power system. Compared to energy blocks, this system is definitely far inferior.

Magic stones are essentially elemental stone blocks formed after the condensation of magical elements. To use them as energy, they must undergo several layers of conversion.

The core requires several processes, which is very troublesome. This also makes the starting, acceleration, and so on of the iron train become delayed.

After all, these are not energy blocks that can be used directly.

"Then, Your Excellency, the problem of the iron train..." Harry rubbed his hands together.

"I can consider giving you the technology for the iron train problem, but I need the secret method to cultivate dragons." Allen thought for a moment and then said.

"This..."