Chapter 14: The Stories I Like
"The Light of Aio, one of the most valuable trophies my ancestors obtained from the Orc Great Khan, is part of the Diamond Royal Family's illustrious war achievements. It symbolizes royal majesty and imperial military might, which is why it was displayed in the Hall of Holy Emblems."
After learning that his own Fusion Core Heart had already exploded, Israel's expression turned somber. "Even if Eagle sent the Life God's proxy to perform a Divine Healing Ritual for me, I had only lent it out."
Knowing that he was indeed in the wrong, Joshua remained cautiously silent at this moment, saying nothing. After a brief sigh of emotion, the Emperor also returned to his usual demeanor.
"Even so, I know myself that when something like this is lent out, it's almost impossible to get it back intact."
Israel shook his head and spoke in a tone of great regret. "But if the Church of the Seven Gods had damaged it, I would have had an excuse to demand more compensation. As it turned out, you blew it up to save your life... Well, so be it."
The Emperor knew that facing the almost endless army of Mad Blood Dragons crossing over from beyond, the group in the Abyss didn't have many choices. Detonating the Fusion Core Star was inevitable. As the ruler of the Empire, Israel's pride wasn't so petty as to feel displeasure over a mere external possession. His earlier lament, aside from a sliver of genuine regret for this historically significant heirloom, was mostly a gesture.
Joshua had earned that right.
Since the matter was settled, there was no need to say more. After confirming that the warrior was in good condition, Israel prepared to leave the underground fortress. The Mad Dragon army had not yet retreated. He now had to return to the center of the Holy Mountain to continue confronting the three Legendary Dragons alongside Eagle and the Nature Mentor. Although the enemy had lost the deadly weapon of the Ember Earth Longsword, they remained extremely dangerous.
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right, there's this too."
Holding his lance in one hand, Israel tore through space with the other. Fragments of the shattered world swirled around his arm as he pulled something from the other side of space and tossed it in front of Joshua and the others. A hint of peculiarity crossed Israel's face. "This should be your war trophy. Although he came to the Holy Mountain on his own, both Eagle and I feel it's better for you to decide how to handle him."
With that, the Legendary warrior strode away. The surrounding space shattered, and a deep blue Space-Time portal opened, swallowing him from sight.
Joshua withdrew his gaze from the Emperor's carefree departing figure, looked down, and focused on the ground.
A pale-faced 'elf' with blue hair was slowly rising to his feet. His expression was initially somewhat bewildered, but he had now grasped his current situation.
Like all elves, this elf had delicate, handsome features, and his light cyan eyes were like the sky. But upon closer inspection, one could see they were the vertical pupils of a dragon. He looked up at the warrior, forced a smile onto his face, and nodded softly. "Ah, hello..."
It sounded as if he was about to cry.
"Oh, isn't this the blue dragon we nearly chopped in half?"
"Yeah, sister. He's still alive?"
The Divine Mechanism siblings whispered to each other upon seeing him, but their voices were so clear that even Hei looked up at the blue dragon, his gaze full of curiosity.
"Hello, Surarno." The warrior nodded as well, patting the heads of Ying and Lin beside him to quiet them down. "So, you've surrendered completely?"
With a single glance, Joshua could discern the aura and characteristics on the other party. This blue-haired elf was clearly the human form of the blue dragon Surarno from before. Even Ying and Lin could tell. Joshua had seen this a few times in his past life. Blue dragons, who loved freedom, would occasionally descend from the sky for certain reasons, take human form, and travel across the continent. Their favorite form was this kind of elven bard, singing about their experiences in the sky before an audience.
Surarno had naturally surrendered completely. Because of Ying and Lin, he bore an incurable severe wound. The Mad Dragon Legion had no one capable of performing healing abilities at the level of a Holy Rite. To avoid dying so unjustly, the blue dragon had no choice but to proactively approach the temple on the Holy Mountain's front line, reveal his identity, and surrender.
Surarno's name was somewhat known in the Holy Mountain. After several Ultimate-rank experts subdued him and imprisoned him in an underground cell, the clergy confirmed that he had been wounded by Joshua and had no choice but to surrender. They stopped the bleeding on the blue dragon's wound and held him in the cell, awaiting orders from higher up. After all, he was an Ultimate-rank dragon. Whether to execute him or convert him into a combatant on their side was not a decision for those at their level.
Now, it seemed, the decision had been handed over to Joshua.
So he sized up the blue dragon. His calm, unwavering gaze made the other party tremble all over.
Surarno's surrender was not surprising. Aside from his injuries, his act of betrayal meant he could never return to the Five-Colored Dragon camp. Although the blue dragon truly did not know Evian's location, all dragons would believe that he had leaked the red dragon's identity, location, and mission. Otherwise, how could Joshua have so directly tracked him down and driven Evian to his death?
In a sense, from the dragons' perspective, Surarno had ruined the entire Five-Colored Dragon Legion's plan and was the greatest traitor among dragons.
The Legendary Dragon Rethia would be the first to hunt him down. At that point, though the continent was vast, there would be no place for Surarno to fly.
After confirming that the other party indeed harbored no hostility, Joshua nodded. He waved for Ying and Lin to go sit and rest, then pondered for a moment. "Surarno, you can no longer return to the dragon camp, nor can you walk freely. So, do you intend to stay at the Holy Mountain, or return to the Empire with me after the war ends?"
The warrior was always this direct. Having lived for so many years, the blue dragon had encountered similar types before, so he immediately replied, "Return to the Empire with you."
The reply was simple and firm, as if he had long made up his mind. Surarno knew that no matter how thoroughly he surrendered, the Holy Mountain, which had already suffered a Mad Dragon attack, would never truly accept a dragon that had once invaded them. On Joshua's side, however, the blue dragon had barely caused any damage before being beaten half to death by the warrior. As long as he showed his sincerity and loyalty, he would not face discrimination in the Empire.
In Joshua's eyes, the blue dragon's specific information began to surface, but the warrior didn't look closely. After roughly confirming that the other party's alignment had shifted from hostile to neutral, and even a recruitable option had appeared, he nodded. "Alright. My territory just happens to have a group of young dragons that need care. I do need an adult dragon."
Saying this, Joshua turned his head and looked at the black dragon girl still lying by the bedside. His expression stiffened involuntarily, and he sighed. "I was overthinking things before... I can't count on her to do anything."
Upon hearing this, Surarno's expression also stiffened. He asked cautiously, "May I ask, Lord Count, how many young dragons are there?"
"Probably... a dozen or twenty." Joshua thought for a moment, unable to determine the exact number of young dragons. He shrugged. "Besides that, there should be some magical beast mounts. They'll all be your work then."
Twenty young dragons? Those terrifying creatures that could destroy an entire nest with just two, and in large numbers could drive a dragon nest master to a nervous breakdown? Where did Joshua, a dragon slayer, find twenty young dragons?!
Surarno's face was full of shock and disbelief. Since birth, he had been flying and traveling all over the world. He had never even encountered a female dragon, let alone cared for young dragons. He had zero experience. The blue dragon originally intended to refuse this task, which was far too difficult for him. But after considering his current situation and the warrior's combat prowess before him, he could only accept with a bitter expression. "Alright."
Two words, spoken with a bitter tone.
A few days later, on the other side of the world.
The Northern Empire.
The latest battle reports from the Far South Mad Dragon War had already spread throughout the Southern Fortress, the Imperial Capital, the Northern Lands, and any noble territory with even a modicum of power.
The news of Israel's intervention in the Dragon Calamity had long been circulating in secret, known to many nobles. So no one was surprised by the Emperor's appearance. However, while praising the Emperor's invincibility, showing that even Legendary dragons were no match for him, many sharp-eyed individuals also noticed another Imperial name on the battle report.
And this name was very prominent, even rivaling Israel's.
Joshua van Radcliffe.
Any noble with even a shred of ambition, rather than wallowing in their territory in a drunken stupor, knew this name. As the youngest Ultimate-rank expert in history, many regarded him as a benchmark for educating their clan's younger generation. The phrase "Lord Radcliffe was an Ultimate-rank expert at twenty-three, and you haven't even touched the Gold barrier yet?" had long become a model sentence, used by the vast majority of nobles when reprimanding their descendants.
Delving into the deep abyss, fighting head-on against the Mad Dragon Legion—the Seven Sacred Mountains had not concealed a single one of the warrior's achievements. They recorded them all and spread them. Now, some busybodies were even calculating, in amazement, just how many dragons Joshua had killed at the Holy Mountain. The result was that if all the wyverns and dragons caught in the shockwaves were counted as the warrior's kills, he was the undisputed strongest dragon slayer in history.
Over a hundred dragons, tens of thousands of black dragons, two Ultimate-rank black dragons, one Ultimate-rank red dragon, and the capture of an Ultimate-rank blue dragon... Such achievements had no equal in the thousand-year history of the four major human settlements. Even the Sky Dragon Rider Israel and the ancestors of the Diamond Royal Family had only tamed dragons when they were weak and then trained them to Legendary rank.
The most famous dragon slayer of the Holy Mountain, Saint George, had only killed an Ultimate-rank dragon in his youth, then defeated a Legendary dragon head-on, forcing it to flee into the Void, never daring to return to the Mycroft World.
Although the news spread quickly, the time was too short for the consequences to fully ferment. But there was no doubt that Joshua had indeed spread his fame across the entire Mycroft Continent. Apart from the Northern Empire, the many sorcerer kingdoms of the Western Mountain, the various mage organizations and city-states of the Eastern Plains had also learned of this news. For this warrior, who was almost certain to advance to Legendary rank, every faction spared no effort, sending people to investigate and analyze him. Some factions and organizations secretly targeting the Northern Empire felt as if a thorn was in their backs, unsure whether to strike now or continue lying low, waiting for the right moment.
Meanwhile, in the main city of Moldavia, a winged girl with deep blue hair sat on a soft velvet cushion in the Lord's Mansion. She held a book in her hands, telling a story to the two little girls before her.
Unit 3 was wearing a white gauze dress, revealing her slender arms and calves. She read the contents of the book in a gentle voice, her eyes bright like blue stars.
Before her, Verdani and Brandon's two daughters were hugging pillows and cushions, listening with great interest to the story the elder sister was telling.
"...Ereda knew that this war was over, at least for him. But for some, it was just beginning."
Letting out a breath, the Artificial Intelligence closed the book. After spending three entire afternoons, she had finally finished telling this long war memoir. The protagonist, a half-elf named Erem who loved freedom and life, left his hometown and threw himself into the battlefield of the southern swamps against the lizardmen. While fighting against the brutal enemy, the half-elf gradually uncovered the conspiracy behind the war... In short, this was an exceptionally obscure novel in the form of a memoir. Even Unit 3 found it somewhat difficult to understand. It was strange why these two little girls liked such a story.
"Huh, that's it?" A girl with long golden hair beside her complained loudly. "Didn't you say it was just beginning?"
"Furan, Sister Unit 3 said 'for some, it was just beginning,' not 'just beginning.'" Beside the golden-haired girl, a girl with short violet hair, who looked older, spoke with authority. "You have to listen carefully when someone tells a story... Ah! What are you doing!"
The Artificial Intelligence girl watched the little girls tumbling into a scuffle before her and let out a very human-like sigh.
Due to rumors of prehistoric ruins appearing in the Moldova Territory, spellcasters and explorers from all over the northern Empire came in an endless stream. Among them were powerful mercenaries and unidentified individuals from other countries with hidden ulterior motives. For the safety of the two sisters, the couple had sent them back to Moldavia, entrusting them to Nostradamus and Unit 3's care.
The elder sister, Leah, and the younger sister, Furan, had very different personalities. One was calm, the other lively. But for some reason, they both loved stories about war and combat. Whether it was memoirs or adventure diaries, they listened with great relish. It made one wonder if these two lonely little ones were listening to the story or simply enjoying the atmosphere of someone telling them a story.
"Speaking of which."
The two sisters, who had been tussling, had now returned to their seats, tidying their disheveled clothes. The golden-haired girl tightened her headband and asked Unit 3 curiously, "Sister, what kind of stories do you like?"
"Me?" The Artificial Intelligence girl wasn't surprised by the question. Little girls' curiosity was always like this. She thought for a moment, then replied with a smile, "I like all human stories... But my favorite are adventure stories."
"What kind of adventure stories?"
This time, it was the elder sister who asked. The two sisters sat down beside Unit 3 together. Unit 3 gently spread her mana field and used her projected arms to 'hug' them both. "I like all kinds of adventures... Especially..."
Especially, the adventure stories that happened to someone very, very far away.