The moment I saw him charging at me through the air, I used Hell and Heaven to block his attack. Sparks flew as the three swords collided, and I was pushed back at a great force. His blow was heavier than that of all the previous dragons I fought against so far, forcing me to strain myself so I could resist it.

“HAAA!!!” Draejan shouted as he pushed all his magic into his sword.

When the Alkelios’ dragon roar spread through the entire battlefield, I felt a surge of energy rushing through me. Any fear and doubt I had about this upcoming battle vanished completely.

Iolaus took my hand and showed a reassuring smile.

In this war, we could fight together only thanks to our friend, Alkelios. He brought us together when we thought we were sworn enemies. He helped us grow and showed us that even opposing elements could love each other.

“That’s a lot of them...” said Kataryna.

Draejan’s army was advancing with roaring dragons soaring through the skies and soldiers numbering in the hundreds of thousands marching towards us in their half-beast forms. They were all roaring for victory, making me feel a pressure on my shoulders and soul.

We can’t win this... I was led to think, but I refused to let this false thought take hold of me.

My wife had me by my side, and in her eyes, I saw the burning will to fight and push back this invading force. Next to her was Kleo, and although Iolaus was holding her hand, I could see the determination and desire in them to fight together and not let the enemy separate them.

Looking at this battlefield where the smoke trails of those fires rose up high into the sky made me wonder just how long had it been since I last found myself pointing my blade at an army?

Around me, I had allies and friends, in front of me, I had an enemy I could freely strike down. They were all dragons who maybe had families somewhere, who were maybe kind and honest, who had dreams and felt the world like I did, but in a war, they were just slabs of meat who wouldn’t hesitate to kill me if I didn’t kill them first.

Did I have to feel bothered by this or worried or sick?

Flying up in the sky, I laid my gaze upon the battlefield stretching between Pustia town and Elden’bar city. The once beautiful fields of ripe cereals had been scorched and turned to ash. The dragons on our side struggled to keep to the flames contained while countless others put them out. The animals that once lurked around underground or above it have been turned to charcoal alongside a woods up north.

This wasn’t my doing or that of any dragon on our side. It was the act of the enemy. Their cheers for victory reached all the way up into the sky and across the plains to our side.

Ever since Alkelios returned from the Seculiar Forest, I have been more active and so has my wife, the Queen. From just occasionally visiting the throne when there was only something important that need to be solved to spending at least one hour per day here listening to various complaints and proposals of respectable nobles.

In short, our lives as King and Queen of Albeyater Kingdom were returning to how it was so many years ago before that accursed event took place.

At my wedding, I had the pleasure of being introduced to several nobles who were on good terms with the Draketerus family as well as with their Majesties, the King and Queen of Albeyater. Among them was a certain Viscountess named Allevania Reyazes, she was a beautiful dragoness with silver scales like Kataryna, but of a faded dull color when compared to hers, blond curly hair, and a bit chubby when it came to her figure. The territory she managed was to the south of Drakaria and had as a capital the town of Ruyzar. Unlike other such settlements in the Albeyater Kingdom, this one was focused on the trade of paper and writing tools.

Two months have passed since my wedding with Alkelios, and as Knight in the service of her Highness, Third Princess Elleyzabelle Seyendraugher, I had the responsibility of standing by her side, ready to obey her orders and march into battle the very moment she ordered me to do so. At the same time, I was to protect her and keep her safe. My duty also included patrolling Drakaria or some other settlement and maintaining the law and order there. It was mandatory of me to keep up with my training and if needed be I had the obligation of taking a Squire under my wing and giving them the basic Knight training before they themselves were going to pledge their loyalty to the crown an become respectable Knights.

It has been over a month since my wedding ceremony with Seryanna, and Drakaria was preparing for the beginning of the Grand Tournament of Strength and Honor, which was initiated by Draejan and now reorganized by Queen Elliessara. My friends and I didn’t really care about it. We all had more important things to deal with right now. Besides, I was already told that I won’t be participating in it. I was far too strong for the possible contestants and pinning them against me would have been completely unfair for them. But this didn’t mean that I wasn’t to have a part in it. There was going to be an exhibition match to start the tournament, through which the Queen hoped to raise the spirits of both those who were watching and those participating.

The wedding ceremony was amazing, and just by looking at the ring that now signified the fact that I was a married man made me feel like I was soaring through the sky. No longer was I a simple bachelor, I had a wife and a new family. I had finally taken one of the biggest steps a man can take in his entire life... accept the fact that he loves so much a woman that he wants to stand right there beside her for the rest of his days.

While true that I would have wanted for my human family to be here as well, I had a feeling mother would have freaked out when she saw how my beautiful bride looked like. Leaving aside the fact that she was a bit taller than me, but she had wings, a tail, and scales... Not exactly normal for an average Romanian family.

One week after my meeting with Queen Elliessara Seyendraugher of the Albeyater Kingdom, I found myself once again waiting in front of the large doors that led towards the Throne Room. The dragons managed to fix them up nicely, and no signs of my forced entry could be seen anywhere. Well, given the importance of this room and also the fact that dragons had access to magic, it was highly unlikely that it was going to stay broken for too long. It was unaesthetic first of all, and second of all, the wrath of the Seyendraugher King and that of his Prime Minister wasn’t something a worker would have wanted to bring upon himself.

Three days... Three very long and sleep deprived days... That was how long Seryanna kept me inside her room.

Although, I wasn’t one who would complain about all the passionate tumbling we did, but I was glad at least one of us knew a spell for soundproofing the room. It wasn’t the same as the barrier around the forge here, but it did the job. The spell was called [Silence] and belonged to the Darkness element. What it did was absorb all the sounds that touched the coated walls, but unfortunately it also covered the whole room in a pitch-black mantle, forcing us to use a light spell in order to see... erm details.

Draejan was left knocked out on the ground with his armor and weapon shattered to bits. It was a humiliating defeat for him because he wasn’t able to do anything to me, not even lay a single scratch on my armor. Two of his soldiers took him away after the King announced my victory.

Stretching my wings a bit, I returned Chaos to its individual components: Heaven and Hell. With my weapons sheathed and a smirk on my scaly face, I walked up to where the King and the others were.

“I guess there’s no problem now with me taking Seryanna as my wife?” I asked as I placed my hands on my hips.

The last time I stepped on these training grounds was when I had my first duel with Sir Draejan. Back then, because of my immaturity and lack of skill, I found myself disgraced and humiliated despite my high Luck and outstanding stats. It didn’t really matter that I could summon a level 999 Phoenix or that I was friends with Kataryna Greorg. What mattered was my ability to fight using everything I had up to the last drop of strength I could muster.

Regarding this humiliation I suffered, I was in a way thankful towards Sir Draejan because it made me realize that just having power was meaningless if you were unable to use it properly. Kataryna also helped me a lot to understand and accept this fact.

Thus, I stood before the one named and respected as the strongest dragon in the Albeyater Kingdom, the King of Albeyater, Feryumstark Seyendraugher.

His presence was not one to be underestimated. Even now, I could feel he wasn’t going to let me make any mistake. I was strong now, true, but he far surpassed me, yet now I stood in front of him threatening everything he held dear and with one single thought, I could eradicate everything he held dear and had fought for all of these past centuries.

I was currently standing in the middle of the throne room of the king of Albeyater Kingdom, holding a nuclear bomb above my head and threatening to wipe out the entire capital alongside my fiancée and friends.

Was I insane?

That was a mild way of putting it.

This whole charade started back when I met the dragon sitting on the throne in front of me for the first time nine months ago...

I arrived at the castle’s gates while calmly munching down on my apple. Instead of seeing two Royal Guards like before, there were six now. All of them looked rather fierce and wore powerful-looking armors. As weapons, two of them carried spears and shields, while the other swords and shields. It was an interesting combination, but I would have added a pair of archers behind the gates as well. This way, the enemy would need to dodge arrows while making sure not to get poked by spears or get cut by the swords.

“G’morning!” I said with a cheerful expression on my face.

Flying through the open sky was the best!

I could feel the air as it flowed around my wings; with each beat, giving me the power to conquer the sky. The sensation of flying so freely and unchained, without the fear of falling and with the power to control my direction at the tip of my tail and wings was absolutely exhilarating.

Although a dragon was not the most aerodynamic species of them all, having a lot of Magic Energy to help sustain their mass was an important factor in keeping them up in the air. In my case, despite having a pair of powerful wings, my weight left much to be desired when compared to a simple bird, but with the help of a large pool Magic Energy, I had nothing to worry about.

Now, when the time for my beloved Alkelios to return was just around the corner, I found myself holding Collentra’s hand while witnessing one of the many miracles of life in this world.

“Come on, just push a little more, and the egg will come out! You can do it!” Kataryna cheered as she was holding a clean towel in her hand.

“I don’t know if I should be amazed or terrified...” Kleo remarked.

“Don’t be rude, little sister. Giving birth is no easy matter for any dragoness!” I tossed a glare at her.

It was 38 years ago when I first saw Brekkar’s bright and cheerful granddaughter step up in the arena to prove her worth as a Knight.

Just like all the other Knight Masters back then, I too found the young lass who had yet to Awaken to be rather strange in the head for attempting to take on the responsibility of such a heavy role and join one of our Orders.

The reason behind this shared opinion was the simple fact that Seryanna Draketerus had yet to mature, to turn from a child into a full-fledged adult. Us dragons grew both in strength and wisdom when we Awakened, but most importantly, we knew the color of our scales and the elements best suited for us.