Chapter 140: Chapter 140: Another Guest

“How can I set you free? Are you not just a spirit now?” he asked.

“It is simple, Your Excellency. Please give me a place to stay within your soul. Once I find a worthy vessel for soul transplantation, I will leave.”

Vexa’s spirit form appeared instantly, her tiny hands on her hips, her face forming an expression of pure annoyance.

“Master’s body is mine alone. You cannot stay here, you big pretty lizard,” Vexa said.

Tiamat glanced at the little purple flame spirit with quiet curiosity.

“Such a strange little lifeform. Is it your Sword Soul, Your Excellency?” she asked, completely ignoring Vexa’s protest.

“Hey, hey! I was talking to you, rude old lizard!”

Adonis placed a finger on Vexa’s lips, quickly silencing her.

He then looked at Tiamat. “You may take shelter inside. However, you must never peek outside or emerge without my permission. Understood?”

“I understand.”

She sounded genuinely happy.

She quickly shrank into a small white dragon equal in size to Vexa, then dove inside his body.

Vexa fumed angrily, then hurried back inside as well, wary of having her favorite space taken.

Adonis took one last glance at the underground chamber and was about to leave when Tiamat’s voice rang out again.

“Allfather, I forgot to mention something. There is an Ether Vein beneath your feet. You may need it to increase your Ether reserves. You can also take my old bones, since they are still valuable for crafting treasures and weapons. I would not mind.”

Adonis had not forgotten about the bones. The skeleton was so massive that placing it inside his inventory would require a considerable amount of time, needing to be dismantled into multiple parts first.

With her reminder, he began working in earnest.

First he dug the Ether Vein out of the ground, then slowly disassembled the entire skeletal structure into multiple parts and stored them carefully inside his inventory.

Tiamat did not mind. Not when she was already busy fighting with Vexa over living space inside his soul.

Hours passed.

Adonis emerged the following day.

Once he arrived outside, he was met with the sight of Thrax standing upright with a healthy physique.

Although his wings were still cut off.

Nevertheless, he immediately bowed his dragon head the moment he saw Adonis arriving.

“My King, you have finally come out. We were worried about you.”

“Stand up,” Adonis ordered with a straight face.

“I have witnessed your loyalty and sacrifice for Dragonia, Thrax. For this, I have decided to reward you.”

“A reward? I did not do this for a reward, Your Majesty. I simply wished to see the Dragon Race grow strong,” Thrax replied.

“I know. But a strong race is built from its people. With my blood, your bloodline shall be upgraded to Royal Grade. You will serve the Royal House for decades to come. And with the service of dragons like you, the Dragon Race will stand strong.”

Thrax’s face turned resolute.

“I understand. I am prepared.”

Adonis made a cut on his wrist, allowing the blood to spill freely onto the ground.

Thrax wasted not a single drop.

And soon, the transformation took root.

Another Fire Dragon, ferocious in nature and with loyalty woven into his very bones, was born.

While the transformation was still ongoing, the Dragon Palace received news of his overwhelming victory at the border.

The whole palace buzzed with activity born from excitement and other emotions.

In the training grounds, where three thousand newly enlisted recruits had paused their drills to exchange the news:

“Did you hear? The King went alone to the northern border.”

“Alone? Against the Sky Serpent Clan?”

“Yes. There were 300 of them in number, apparently.”

The dragon who said it held up three fingers for emphasis, as though the number needed visual confirmation to be believed.

“Three hundred? And he went alone?”

“Haha, yes. And he came back the next day without a scratch.”

Most were in awe, others in disbelief.

“What happened to those three hundred Serpents?”

“Hehe, what do you think happened to them?”

The silence said everything they need to know.

The youngest recruit looked down at his training weapon, then back up at the sky.

“I need to train harder,” he said quietly.

“We all do,” said the one beside him.

—

In the palace kitchen, where the head maid had already begun pulling out the largest preparation vessels:

“Head maid, the king single-handedly wiped out the entire Sky Serpent invasion force.”

“Oh, how long did it take?”

“I do not know the exact time. But Captain Thax said our king wiped them out singlehandedly.”

The head maid’s cutlery fell flat on the floor.

“Alone!!? Agaist three hundred Sky Serpents?!” she muttered with her mouth agape.

“Yes. That is what the garrison reported.”

She picked the pot back up without another word and began filling it.

“Should we prepare a feast?”

“Already started, madam.”

—

Mariana stood at the balcony of her room with Claudia beside her, both looking out at the valley below where the news was still spreading from settlement to settlement like fire through dry grass.

“Have you heard Claudia? My hubby went alone and won!” Maria said, eyes shining.

“Yes,” Claudia said.

“He fought against three hundred Sky Serpents and won when none were to stop them. He is so domineering!”

“Sigh.”

“And you are not even surprised, Claudia.”

“No,” Claudia said, eyes glassy. “It sounds just like something only Adonis was capable of doing.”

Mariana considered this for a moment, her pink hair stirring in the morning breeze.

“Neither am I honestly.”

“Maybe it’s time we talk about your crush on our husband, Claudia. What do you think?”

Claudia blushed red.

—

Millia sat on the outer steps of the guest wing, cleaning her dagger with the methodical calm she applied to everything.

Valentina leaned against the wall beside her, examining her nails with theatrical disinterest.

“Three hundred,” Millia said.

“Alone,” Valentina added.

“Naturally.”

“You do not seem surprised either, Millia. Why is that?”

She replied quietly:

“He once told me he would become the strongest. I believed him then, when he had nothing and no one and every reason in the world to be ordinary.”

“Now I simply wait for everyone else to catch up to what I already knew.”

Valentina looked at her, impressed.

She said nothing, though.

Because sometimes nothing was the right answer.

—

Sapphira stood in her study with Orvyn, the morning light falling through the colonnade across the maps and documents spread across her table. She had not looked at any of them since the report arrived.

“I heard Husband had wiped out the entire force alone,” she said to Orvyn.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Orvyn replied, hands clasped behind his white robes.

“Did he really spend the night underground in the mine?”

“Also yes.”

“Can you tell me what he found in there?” she asked, combing her long hair.

Orvyn smiled,

“Perhaps you should ask him that, my queen. I am sure he wouldn’t deny it in respect for your growing relationship.”

“True,” she smiled. “I have married the best man there is, after all. And within time, he will wipe out all of humanity for me.”

Her eyes turned cold at once. She was definitely not joking around.

Meanwhile, the Sky Serpents Clan, situated high above the clouds, was in an uproar.

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