"How does this body feel? Keeping part of your mind occupied for so long must be troublesome, not to mention having to weaken your own power."
The corner of Nolan's mouth lifted slightly as he looked at Millicent with a faint smile, completely ignoring her little gestures.
It did not matter how they teased each other in private, but right now, so many people were watching.
In public, how could a dignified lord be frightened by a subject's annoyance? That would be far too embarrassing.
"Our consciousness is shared, but we can also think independently, just like Morgott and Margit, so it won't cause any trouble in normal movement."
Millicent explained without changing expression, glancing calmly at the man in front of her.
"And I only have a small part of the main body's power. In a battle against Morgott, this amount of power is dispensable. It won't affect the battle at all."
"Demigods really do have vast resources. Splitting off a hero-level avatar, and you say it so casually." Nolan chuckled and teased her.
"Margit's power is above that of a Demigod like me."
"So that child really is impressive." Nolan nodded in agreement.
"You really do think of yourself as an elder?" Millicent curled her lips, revealing a trace of disdain. "Not every Demigod likes acknowledging a thief as their father."
Her voice dropped very low. "Brother Messmer... is merely an exception."
"A subject slandering her ruler? Where has the etiquette between ruler and subject gone? How heartbreaking. Besides, if I'm a thief, doesn't that make you the bandit chief's wife?"
There was teasing in Nolan's voice. As he spoke, he slowly leaned closer to Millicent until their heads were nearly touching, then whispered by her ear.
Millicent's face instantly turned bright red. She abruptly stepped back and said angrily, "If we're talking about the bandit chief's wife, that should be my sister."
Nolan paused slightly. Although she was an avatar, Millicent seemed somewhat different from Malenia.
Beneath Malenia's cold exterior, her inner feelings were undoubtedly burning hot, but most of the time she was used to staying silent.
She preferred to show her attitude through action. She rarely bickered with him like this, let alone joked about Trina.
"How nice," Nolan said softly.
"What?" Millicent looked at him in confusion.
"To see Millicent. To see a different Malenia." Nolan's gaze was gentle and deep, as if it could pierce through the female knight's armor and soul.
Millicent, or rather Malenia, suddenly fell silent. Although they were in different bodies, in essence, they were still the same person.
She realized that she might have gotten a little carried away just now. Perhaps because she had changed into another body to express herself, she had actually forgotten to maintain the sharpness and edge she ought to show before this man.
A rumbling roar came from directly overhead, as if some enormous object was rapidly approaching.
Nolan and Millicent raised their heads at the same time. Above them, in the clouds, a massive shadow more than twenty meters long was rapidly drawing near.
In an instant, the sky changed. The originally warm air was suddenly replaced by a cold current, and raging wind tore through the leaves with a deafening sound like thunder.
A huge Flying Dragon appeared in everyone's sight. It held a fat, monstrous creature in its mouth as it slowly descended onto the outer wall of Elphael.
"It's finally here. That really is a big guy." Nolan raised his head and looked at the enormous earth dragon.
The earth dragon's body was extraordinarily bloated, covered all over in fierce, sturdy scales.
But compared with its swollen body, its limbs and the pair of dragon wings on its back looked somewhat short and ridiculous. Clearly, they could no longer support it in leaving the ground and soaring through the sky.
"Is this Borealis's offering to you? I heard there truly is a great earth dragon on the Consecrated Snowfield, transformed from the former dragon-slaying hero, the mountain troll Theodorix," Millicent said.
"An ancient mountain troll bearing a hero's name." Nolan sighed. "But now, it is only a monster driven by beastly instinct."
"Does Your Majesty Nolan think the Dragon Communion ritual is wrong?" Florissax walked up the stone steps and slowly stopped beside Nolan. Its wild posture still carried unmistakable elegance.
"To gain power, one must always pay a price. Sweat, life, even the self. They knew the outcome and still walked that path." Nolan shook his head. "That was their own choice."
"Your Majesty, Borealis requests an audience!" the messenger reported.
"Let it come," Nolan said.
The four of them looked along the stone wall at the edge of the rampart as the Flying Dragon rose from the high wall.
It felt like a fighter jet taking off from a runway, except this fighter was not made of steel, but was a living, breathing giant.
If he had ridden such a huge creature around in his first life, Nolan was sure he would have been the coolest guy on the street.
The Flying Dragon gently beat its great wings, not daring to act as wildly as it did in the sky. Its movements were soft, as if it feared scattering the wind. One had to sigh that worldly wisdom truly was a subject no intelligent being could escape.
This was probably a sight the world had never seen before. A Demigod-level Flying Dragon, so careful and humble before a human.
The Flying Dragon's feet touched the ground first, making only a faint sound. Only then did it fold its wings and crouch low, and even the wind it sent out was gentle.
The Drake Knights hovered above the clouds, and the Flying Dragons from the snowy mountains stretched their necks downward to look.
Although they had long known that the old leader they had followed for many years had submitted to this human, they had never imagined they would see such a scene.
Borealis did not care what they thought. It had to show respect, because it had already offered its loyalty to the true dragon hidden beneath that human skin.
A familiar dragon roar echoed beside his ears.
"So it really is Theodorix? You don't like it? Then put it down. I permit it," Nolan said.
He walked to the earth dragon's side and could hear a faint dragon roar, but he could not understand its meaning.
It was not only because this huge creature was already breathing its last, making its words unclear.
It was also because its roar was chaotic and disorderly. This was nothing but a mad beast.
Earth dragons had once been heroes. They performed Dragon Communion to obtain the power of Flying Dragons, and this crawling form was the consequence.
"I know you really want to bite through its throat," Nolan said with a nod. "Holding back the whole way must have been hard. Not bad, not bad."
"Why do I feel like we're raising a pet?" Millicent said, looking at the Flying Dragon with its head lowered.
"Flying Dragons were never very intelligent to begin with. Just treat them like the rare beasts those nobles in the Royal Capital enjoy, only far more dangerous," Messmer answered from beside her.
Borealis seemed to hear their conversation. Its massive body trembled slightly, then it snorted two cold breaths from its nose.
Those two breaths were like icy wind, making people shiver despite themselves.
A few seconds later, a dull, heavy crash suddenly came from ahead, as if something massive had slammed hard onto the ground.
It was an enormous earth dragon head. Through the blood, one could see the relief in its eyes.
For these once-heroes, becoming monsters had perhaps always been the greatest humiliation.
Borealis's offering was clearly only at the level of a hero. Otherwise, it would not have been caught so easily.
Demigod-level combat power was rare after all. In this era, it was enough to be called a Lord.
Nolan did not feel disappointed because of this, because his current target had never been Theodorix.
***
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
[email protected]/PinkSnake (50 Chapters Ahead).
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.
***