~ Chapter 74: Alas, the years had passed! ~

[Feryumstark’s point of view]

 “You will die HERE!” growled the Skeletal Wyrm, but I ignored his worthless threat.

Razor-sharp bone spikes detached from its back and pointed their tips at me. In but a blink of an eye they hissed through the air, aiming for my heart.

The bone spears the monster threw at me were so slow I could easily change their path with a single nudge from my sword.

Upon hitting the ground around me, they rose a cloud of dust into the air. I jumped forward and slashed diagonally. The Skeletal Wyrm, which was only a gigantic animated spiky snake skeleton, did not have enough time to avoid my strike.

My blade cut through his enchanted bones. Several of his ribs were cut clean and flew in the air.

He hissed and growled, trying to hit me with his tail. The whip-like motion was avoided, and I landed several meters away from the beast.

With a loud hiss, he lifted his enormous body off the ground and stared right into my eyes with those empty sockets of his skull, where only faint glitters of undead yellow light could be seen.

“You foolisssh dragon, do you really think you have what it takesss to defeat the Great He?!” he asked.

“Yes, and I alone am all it will take!” I declared as I pointed the tip of my blade at him.

My spell was charging up while the monster talked.

“You and what army? My lovely minionsss have already began their march towardsss thisss place. Sssoon, you will be surrounded by countlesss undead, and you will be forcesssd to sssubmit your body to me! Yesss, a fine addition to my collection you shall be!” he threatened.

“What army? You idiotic undead lizard.” I punched my chest and shouted in a strong tone of voice, releasing an authority spell meant to cause the moral of my troops to rise and that of my enemy to fall. “I am Feryumstark Seyendraugher! The King with the Gold Scales, Ruler over all the lands of Albeyater!”

The pressure of my presence was released, pushing back the monster and slowing down its movements.

It was similar to the roar released by Alkelios three years ago on the battlefield of Pustia Town, but its range was only of about 200 meters around me. The more Magic Energy I fed to this spell, the wider its range. For fighting against this monster, it was enough.

“While I stand here, ready to take your head, my army lies at the entrance to this cave, defending it from your minions.” I told him as I took a stance and prepared myself to attack.

“What?!” the wyrm growled.

I smirked.

The battle was intense, but few were those against I could go full-out. As for this giant skeleton, it was barely worth the effort.

Unleashing my Magic Energy and letting it flow through my Awakened body, I dashed towards the Skeletal Wyrm. I leaped in the air. A magic platform formed to my right, and I stepped on it, pushing my body to the left. Another platform was created and then another and another. I jumped on them, circling the giant Skeletal Wyrm at a speed no ordinary creature could catch up with.

“STOP MOVING AROUND!” the beast growled in anger.

Now. I thought as I began to use those platforms to perform high speed attacks.

“GUHAAA!” the wyrm cried out.

His bones flew left and right as they were cut to pieces by my sword’s blade. It began to lose its Magic Energy fast, trying to regenerate and cope with my attacks, but I had more where this came from. The aim was the big sphere of white energy in the middle of its body not that far away from its skull. It was in the location where a flesh and blood wyrm would have had his heart.

When all the bones around the white orb of energy were cut off, I stopped in front of it and then focused Authority Magic in a simple [Ice Spear].

“Die.” I told him again.

“NOOO!!!” he screamed, but in that very moment, a gold spear of ice formed in front of me and then flew off at a speed faster than that of sound straight towards that orb of light.

It passed through and shattered it completely. The undead yellow light vanished from the sockets of his skull, letting me know that the battle was over.

In the absence of the Magic Energy source that kept it together, the giant skeleton fell before me. All those bones dropped to the ground, scattering about like the pieces of giant puzzle. Unlike regular snakes, the wyrms had more horns and spikes on its body to offer it substantial protection as well as more dangerous ways to attack.

A live wyrm was already an extremely dangerous creature, but an undead one was a terrifying opponent for most adventurers. Among them, the Skeletal Wyrm was known to be the most dangerous one of them all. Wielding powerful magic and capable of remote-controlling its bone spikes, this being was so dangerous that it was nearly impossible to take down without the help of Breakthrough-er.

This being said, the Skeletal Wyrm was far from being considered a worthy opponent for me.

Walking up to its skull, I saw the three horns which needed to be grounded into a fine powder in order to make my wife’s cure. Instead of ripping them out, I stored the whole skull together with its bones in a special [Purse] ring which would continue to preserve the wyrm’s remains in this exact condition.

“It’s done.” I said and looked around the big cavern one last time before I headed out.

There were a bunch of stuff that could be looted from here, things like minerals and the items of the monster’s previous victims. I planned on giving an order to my subordinates to go in and clean it up before we headed back to Albeyater.

As I walked out of the cavern, I saw the remains of the wyrm’s undead army as it laid on the ground completely destroyed.

“Your Majesty!” captain Algadarn said as he saluted me.

“At ease, captain.” I said.

He nodded and relaxed his stance a little.

“Report.” I told him.

“Two of our men are injured, but they are being healed as we speak. The enemy lies in pieces on the ground. Your Majesty, what happened to the Skeletal Wyrm?” he asked.

“It’s been dealt with. Take a rest and then proceed into the cavern to recover anything of value from there.” I told him.

“As you wish.” he bowed.

“Good. Any news from Davarin Kingdom’s royal family?” I asked him.

The Skeletal Wyrm was located within the borders of their kingdom, and to get here, not only did I have to pay my respect in gold to the Solustia Kingdom, but I also had to ensure neither Davarin nor Solustia planned on interfering with my mission here. As the King of Albeyater, I was a very appetizing target to them, but neither of those royal fools had the courage to attack me directly. Even so, I could not let my guard down within their territory.

If it were not for the successful return of both Kataryna Greorg and Seryanna Draketerus from their own missions within the relliar, elf, and dwarf territories, I wouldn’t have even bothered thinking about flying all the way over here, at the edge of the Dragon Continent.

“No, your Majesty. They seem to be keeping their word about not interfering in exchange for the promised gifts.” captain Algadarn said.

“That’s good.” I nodded.

Looking up at the clear sky, I thought back at my wife and wondered what she was doing now. After all, it was a race against time to get the cure to heal her, and without Alkelios around, we were stretching it thin.

[Elliessara’s point of view]

 The scenery was absolutely beautiful out here, far away from the capital and the busy life of the nobles. Ever since last year, I have been living here, away from the stress and the troubles my life as a Queen would usually bring me.

If it were not for this curse, I wouldn’t have even thought about spending my time like this. After the war against the traitorous Draejan Andrakaryus Doesya, the economic and political matters of the Albeyater Kingdom were in a terrible state. Together with my son, Elovius, who also acted as a Prime Minister, and my daughter, Elleyzabelle, I worked almost every day and night to restore things as they were. Unfortunately, the recent assassinations caused many positions within the Royal Palace to be left open, and besides experience there was also the matter of trust.

Those who had been killed could be considered as part of the main pylons of power within the Kingdom. Replacing them required both delicacy and time, both of which I could not afford given my current circumstances. My best bet for now was to keep a close eye on them until I could ask for a specialized team to investigate them further.

“My Queen, I’ve brought you your tea.” said Kleo as she had her familiar bring me a tray.

“Thank you.” I replied with a gentle smile on my lips.

The familiar in question was a monster of pure shadow, with red eyes and bone spikes coming out of its back. In a word, it was frightening, but I was assured that among her familiars, this one was probably the most harmless of them all. Besides, it could easily detect poison.

This whole mansion retreat was being guarded by Kleo’s familiars. Countless shadow creatures laid in wait at every turn. A normal visitor could not see them, but they were there, watching their every step and making sure they were not a threat to me.

After I picked up my cup of tea, I leaned back on the chair and watched the calm and peacefully scenery nature had to offer me here.

This place was located on the shore of a small lake not far from the capital. It was built by my husband, the King of Albeyater, at my request to have a place to retreat to in the unfortunate event that the cure will not be made in time.

Alkelios told me this Cure-All Leaf Tea was going to help slow down the effects of the [God’s Demise Poison], but I did not know how effective it was. Last time he checked, he told me I still had another four years and several months to live, this being before the battle at Pustia began. If the tea had no effect, then at that time, I should have had just a little over two years left to live not four. This being said, I didn’t know if I had more than a year now or I was getting close to my final days.

“I do wish he will show up soon.” I said as I let out another sigh.

“Who, my Queen?” asked Kleo, who was sitting not that far away from me.

By now, this dragoness had become a perfect maid and a reliable guard. Kataryna Greorg made sure to train her in the art of combat and my head maid taught her in the way to take care of royalty.

“Alkelios, our friend.” I replied.

“Soon, I hope... And when he does, I’ll give him a beating for making us wait for so long.” she said with a gentle smile on her lips.

“I guess we all do.” I chuckled.

“In any case, we all wish for his safe return...” she said.

“Indeed, we do.” I nodded.

[Alkelios’ point of view]

 “ACHOO!” I sneezed.

Well, it was a bit chilly up here.

I was currently standing on top of a cliff and looking down at the village at the border of this forest. Far behind me was the place I landed not that long ago, the thing was that I was still unsure if I wanted to go down there and meet the locals or not.

Not that long ago, I was in a battle of life and death with Kronius. Although it was considered my win, I came to learn that my wife had killed him. It did not bother me as much as I thought, which in a way was scary. Even now, when I thought about killing the people down there in the village, I did not think it was impossible if I was given the reason to do so, but I still found it odd that killing dragons came easier to me than killing humans.

Maybe dragons show their killing intent better than humans do? Or maybe it’s because I met them first? I thought, but there was another possibility.

If [Dragon Tamer] made dragons I could become friends with more amiable towards me, it was possible that it made me indifferent when killing those who couldn’t become my friends. If this was true, then this skill was quite cruel.

The adrenaline from before, the rush I felt... it is still here... I thought as I looked down at my hands.

It was said that many warriors would need either days or even weeks to calm down after being in a life and death battle, while some never recovered.

My hands are not those of an innocent... I have killed, and I’ll probably kill more... I thought as I clenched my hands into fists The only difference now will be the fact that I won’t kill dragons but... humans. I thought.

Yet, despite these feelings of mine, what worried me the most was the fact that I could accidentally kill innocents. After all, if this place was a Beginner Town by game standards, then I was something akin to a final boss. If I poked the monster here, it would die. I was that ridiculously overpowered.

Then again, this was probably the reason I got tossed into this place. To learn this difference in power and how to control it?

There were many things that bothered or worried me. Killing others by accident or when they didn’t deserve it was among them. One thing was killing someone in self-defense on a battlefield during a war, and another was to slaughter them in cold blood in the middle of their humble village in front of their family.

Letting out a sigh, I leaned on the ground and looked up at the sky and thought back at the Queen.

The Cure-All Leaf Tea is supposed to help slow down the effects of the poison. I forgot about that for a moment, but I guess this was the reason why the God-like told me to take it easy on my way back. Then... if it’s not a rush to go and cure her, then it’s possible that my friends already gathered the majority of the ingredients. The Orange and Human Royal Blood ones are probably the hardest to acquire... I thought and then let out another sigh. “If I were to guess, then she has more than a year left before the poison kills her.” I said.

Closing my eyes, I reviewed in my mind everything I could do right now from conquering this country to enjoying some free time as a wandering adventurer. If I went on the path of war, however, chances were I would make a lot of enemies. Besides, what if the current rulers were kind and peaceful ones? With this sort of individuals, I could negotiate rather than fight.

“Unlike a true dragon, in this form I have no scales or anything to show that I’m not a human.” I said and opened my eyes. “Then... I guess it’s better to go around traveling like an adventurer and maybe somehow reach a position from which I can peacefully negotiate with them?” I wondered.

Getting up, I looked towards the village and nodded once.

I came to a decision, at least for now.

“I wish to find an orange from which I can extract the Orange Juice required for Queen Elliessara’s cure. I wish to find a peaceful way to acquire Human Royal Blood, and I wish I could do something to improve the relationship between this Kingdom and Albeyater or in general between Humans and Dragons.” I thought and then reviewed the wishes in my mind again. “I think that should work. If anything, I’ll re-calibrate them later.” I said and nodded.

I had the maximum amount of Luck allowed in this world, so it was certain that by making these wishes, the Universe will work its magic in a way to make them come true.

With this, there was only one last thing I had to do.

Opening my Status Menu, I looked at the details regarding my [Dragon Tamer] skill.

[Dragon Tamer] [Level 5]: This is a passive, buff type skill. When a Hero develops any sort of friendly or intimate relationship with someone of a Dragon origin, this skill will allow the creation of a special bond between the two of them. The bond is indestructible by any other skill unless the Hero wills it. The Hero has his species permanently changed from Human to Half-Human Half-Draconian. The Variant of Draconian is chosen depending on one’s personality and skills. This change makes the Hero immune to any other FORCED species or variant changes. The Hero gains respective variant’s special traits as well as all Draconian species traits and retains his Human species traits. The Hero gains 30% of the Dragon’s Stats, and the Dragon will gain the ability to level up 10X faster wherever the Hero might be. The Dragon will gain the equivalent of 10% of the overall buffed stats of the Hero when they are within 100 meters of them.

Advancement I]: The Hero can sense the direction in which he can find his [Selected] Dragon friend. Number of Dragons that can be sensed at the same time: 5. Current targets: Seryanna; Kataryna; Thraherkleyoseya; Brekkar; Elliessara.

[Advancement II]: All Dragons gain 10 stat points upon level up and every 10 levels gained in the presence of the Hero allows the Dragons to gain a random improvement in any of their skills. The Hero can choose where to add the stat points at any given time. If the bond is broken before applying them, they will be added automatically to the stat with the highest value. [Apply Stat Points]

[Advancement III]: The Hero may choose to share a part of his own gained XP with up to 3 selected Dragon Friends. Current selected Dragons: Seryanna; Kataryna; Kleo.

[Advancement IV]: Allows one Dragon friend to know the Hero’s current location and general direction. Current Selected Dragon: Seryanna. [Send Location].

From it, I selected the fourth advancement and activated the option: [Send Location].

“That should do it.” I said with a smile.

[Seryanna’s point of view]

 The Knights belonging to the Order of the Searing Blades were going through their usual training course on the training grounds of the Palace in Drakaria. They moved without delay at every order I gave them and pushed their bodies to their limits when I asked them to do so. Nobody stepped out of line or spoke without being spoken to at first.

Although a recently established one, the Order of the Searing Blades quickly grew in fame thanks to their rapid response and strict discipline. At the beginning, there were ten times more dragons than those present here, but only this bunch managed to survive my training.

“Change formation. Arrow!” I ordered them and immediately obeyed.

“Drop on the ground and do ten push-ups.” I ordered and began to circle them like a hawk, trying to spot their weakness and flaws. “Brygon! Too slow! Darius! Too high! Lenna! Stop staring at Margun’s tail!”

“Yes, mam!”

After they finished this round of warm-up exercises, I ordered them to have mock battles with the practice swords. The first one was tournament based 1v1, then it would be a 2-man team tournament and lastly a battle between squads of five. If they did not tire enough by the end, I was going to make them do a Battle Royal.

While I was watching them fight, I sat on the side and thought back at Alkelios. Not a day would pass by without me wishing for his safe return. By now, it has been three years since the battle at Pustia. A lot of things happened during this time. I traveled to a lot of places and met a lot of people. For my success, I even received the esteemed rank of Knight Commander, which allowed me to establish my own Order. This was the highest reward the King could offer me besides appointing me as a General, but for that role, I was both too weak and too inexperienced. In due time, I was certain to step into my grandfather’s shoes and lead an army of my own.

Even so, I held the title of a Duchess, and with Princess Elleyzabelle as my sister-wife, I held enough political and military power to make a lot of the influential dragonesses in this Kingdom think twice before stepping on my tail. Few tried and all of them failed, especially those who were aiming at making me forget about Alkelios and pick one of their puppets as my new husband.

What a joke... I thought.

Looking up at the sky, I did wonder where my beloved could be. Where he was wandering about... and around which woman’s skirt he was wagging his tail. But I was certain he would never dare try something so utterly foolish.

As I was thinking about him and the past three years that went by so slowly for me, I spotted Kataryna, my dear friend, together with her protege and Knight: Tanarotte Narnyessal.

“Seryanna, how was your day?” she asked me with a smile.

“Same as usual. Are you up for a little spar later this evening?” I asked.

“Yes, of course!” she nodded.

“Lady Kataryna sparring... Ah~ That will be wonderful to see~” Tanarotte said with a rather weird look in her eyes.

“Tanarotte... you’re drooling.” Kataryna gave her a cold stare.

“Pardon me, Lady Kataryna!” she quickly wiped her drool and then bowed several times like a broken puppet.

“What are you going to do with her?” I asked.

“I’m debating between a new ice sculpture at the bottom of the ocean or a meat shield during the next war.” she replied with a smile.

“For Lady Kataryna, anything!” the dragoness with silver scales, red eyes, and purple hair with silver strands mixed within spoke like an obedient soldier.

“If only my men were so loyal.” I let out a sigh.

“She’s TOO loyal! Even now I’m not used to this...” Kataryna let out a sigh.

“At least she’s not trying anymore to steal your undergarments or pieces of your armor to worship them.” I said with a wry smile.

There was a limit to admiring someone, but this woman passed that limit a long long time ago.

“Why are you looking away?” Kataryna questioned the silver-scaled dragoness.

She was pretending not to hear.

Cracking her knuckles, Kataryna grabbed her by the back of her neck.

“Eep!” she let out a cute sound and looked like a relliar cub who got picked up by her angry parent.

Kataryna smiled and then dropped her in a nearby barrel filled with water.

“Cool your head.” she told her.

I giggled.

These two were a bit like a comedy duo, but now it was far better than how she was back then when we started traveling.

I wonder what Alkelios would think about her? I thought and went to give some orders to my knights.

[Kataryna’s point of view]

Three years was a long time for anyone, be them human or dragon.

With the Queen’s current condition, we often felt pressured by time. Not knowing how much more she had left was far more frightening than knowing.

By now, the King probably found the Skeletal Wyrm for whom he made a special quest at the Adventurers Guild back when he first found out what the cure needed. The goal of that mission, however, was not to obtain the horns but to report the location. That beast was not something any non-Breakthrough-er could handle.

If I were to put down a bet, I would say that me and Seryanna had more trouble with obtaining our items than the King did. The other ingredients were more a thing of luck. As for the Orange Juice and the Royal Human Blood, we would most likely have to organize a Breakthrough-er party to attack a nearby human Kingdom to obtain them. The Kingdom of Ten Swords was a good candidate for a quick assassination mission.

These past few years, ever since I had met Alkelios, there had been nothing but one adventure after another. They were my most active years in my life, and I had enough time to think about what I wanted from him and from my own future as well.

Unfortunately, during my journey, I managed to pick up a stray pest called Tanarotte Narnyessal. She was an Awakened dragoness of the Lightning Element who was simply fascinated by my prowess. This dragoness adored me and wanted to be like me, and the things she tried in order to become my knight were crazy enough to fill a madman’s journal. And the worst was that I couldn’t just kill her off. She was not doing this out of some weird evil perverted intent, but rather out of pure admiration. How could I kill someone who simply admired me?!

Leaving this matter aside...

“Mam! I.... Blurgha! Can’t... gasp... breath!”

“Hm... Did I hear something?” I said as I kept pushing the lid of the barrel down.

“Just leave her be. You’re grinning.” Seryanna told me after she returned from giving her orders to her knights.

Reluctantly, I let go of the lid and the pest jumped out, taking in a big breath.

“Air! Sweet, sweet air!” she said.

“Tch!” I clicked my tongue.

“Hm?”

All of a sudden, Seryanna stopped in her tracks and looked into open air.

Furrowing my brow, I asked her “Is something the matter?”

She did not reply, but tears gathered in the corners of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

“Seryanna?” I asked.

As if all the energy was drained from her body, the red-scaled dragoness fell on her knees and looked up at the same spot in the middle of the air.

“T-This... it’s...” she said.

“What is it?” I asked worried.

Without being able to control them, Seryanna’s tears flowed down her cheeks, and she tried to wipe them, but they simply did not stop.

“What’s happening? Seryanna, speak to me!” I asked.

“Kataryna... this...” she looked into my eyes while crying, but those were all tears of happiness “He’s back... My husband is back...” she said.

“What?” I blinked surprised.

“ALKELIOS IS BACK!” she shouted out of joy.

It was loud enough for everyone in the palace to hear us, and probably farther than that as well.

Later, after she calmed down, she told me about the strange message she saw appear in front of her eyes like a floating letter.

The message was the following:

[Location Sent] Owner: Alkelios Yatagai Draketerus

In the direction of the Gold Arrow: 5785 kilometers