Chapter 16: Five Million Years of Empire
The journey back from the Planet of Souls was immediately followed by **Charles's mandatory funeral** on Pandora. **Damien** spoke with genuine grief, honoring Charles's technological feats—specifically his advancements in **lightning-based energy systems**—and his 3,000} years of life, ensuring no one forgot the fallen twin. Valerian stood stiffly next to **Serafina** and Marcellus, a perfect mask of sorrow barely containing the raging storm of Charles's grief and fury within his mind.
**Marcellus's** attention was already elsewhere, focused entirely on the imminent conquest of the universe. The Drakain had abandoned Europa entirely, moving all their forces to **Pandora's five central continents**, leaving the remaining 45 continents to the mages and humans, whom **Damien** correctly believed they would need to collaborate with.
The day after the funeral, the grand strategy meeting commenced. **Marcellus** paced in his 6 ft 10 scaled form and leather coat, internally seething because he still couldn't assume his 6'2 human form. His children's power, for reasons he called the **"First Stage Paradox,"** surpassed his own in this single, frustrating aspect. He shrugged off the puzzle, assuming Zoth's intentions would become clear later. With the combined might of Serafina's fierce loyalty, Damien's impeccable military strategy, and the technological power inherited from the twins' forces, they launched their grand campaign.
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### The Zenith of the Drakain
**Five million years passed.**
The Drakain had not merely conquered the universe; they had absorbed it. Every magical galaxy was now under their black banner, and the Drakain force had swelled to approximately **2 billion**. The **four true dragons**—Marcellus, Valerian, Serafina, and Damien—were eternal pillars of this empire.
Over the millennia, the hybrids had continued to evolve. The strongest among them could reach the **Fourth Stage**—a powerful, albeit weaker, **Titan stage** that measured hundreds of meters long, mirroring the terror of the True Dragons but never approaching their cosmic scale. These supreme hybrids could live for a **million years**, a testament to the strength of the Drakain bloodline.
Marcellus remained deeply envious of his children's ability to assume the **First Stage**—a regular human form that showed no sign of being Drakain beyond their tough skin. This "First Stage Paradox" was the one puzzle he couldn't solve, the one piece of power his children held that he did not.
This era of success was largely defined by **Valerian**, the **Good Dragon**. He poured his mind into science and medicine, revolutionizing the medical field and advancing human and hybrid magical theories. His gentle face, in a rare human portrait, hung on the wall of every academy, representing the pinnacle of scholarly achievement. The two continents ruled by his descendants (and Charles's) were technologically advanced, eco-friendly, and surprisingly kinder **"free countries,"** serving as a stark contrast to the militaristic zones of their siblings.
**Serafina**, however, was seething with ambition. The kingdom was vast, but her role felt small. She now possessed the power to **lay eggs** herself but craved a space to build her own legacy. She had finally laid her eyes on a distant target: a **magic-less planet** teeming with dinosaurs and mammals. Her sinister plan to transform these primal beings into something dark—a project she named **"Dark Genesis"**—began to unfold.
Valerian, the **Mind Dragon**, was fully aware. He kept **spies** around Serafina at all times—a seamless network powered by the latent energy and paranoia of **Charles's fused soul**. He was intimately aware of how low his sister would stoop for their father's attention.