CHAPTER 53: THIS IS BEING FREE!

A whole week had passed. One Mountain was now completely empty. Only Shenhal and his master Luke remained on the mountain.

Luke had spent a long time trying to get used to Shenhal and even practised riding the back of the enormous Ancient Dragon.

He had failed.

The Ancient Dragon was too big.

Luke, however, refused to give up, trying again and again. Shenhal, unable to endure any longer, had shrunk himself using the magic in his body in a way Luke could never have imagined.

Simply so that Luke could ride on his back.

Even though Shenhal still had his old appearance, with this transformation spell, he had shrunk from a length of 100 metres to about 60 metres, and his width had also decreased significantly.

Luke, on the other hand, had gathered the miraculous plants on One Mountain and gotten used to his Ancient Dragon, and everything was now in perfect order.

Shenhal, the Ancient Ice Dragon, bowed for the first time to his master, Luke Ibn Alphonsine Hiera, who was driving him towards the horizon.

Luke mounted the dragon’s back directly. The area he mounted was between the Ancient Dragon’s neck and back, but it could be considered the back area.

Luke finally gave the order.

"Shenhal, head northwest. Fly towards the Great City, Selene."

The Ancient Dragon Shenhal flapped its enormous wings the moment it heard the command. It took off and began flying at an incredible speed toward the northwest, the region Luke had come from, carrying its sole master Luke through the snow-covered sky.

Kilometres of distance were covered in mere minutes.

Within just five minutes, the Tholien Mountains were crossed, the Dark Elf village was bypassed, and the journey continued onward.

Despite the cold snowflakes and icy air hitting his face as harshly as stones, Luke did not feel sad or angry in the slightest.

His heart was pounding, and to be honest, his smile of excitement did not fade for even a second.

"WOOOOOHOOOOO!!!"

He couldn’t help but shout. Being the only person in the sky, the arrival of the Ancient Dragon Shenhal’s master was announced to the entire city from hundreds of kilometres away, and the Ancient Dragon’s roar sent the ice in the sea and the snow on the mountains crashing down to the earth like an avalanche...

Luke knew what these feelings were...

[Power.]

And more...

[Freedom.]

It had taken an hour, just one hour. Luke could now clearly see Great City, Selene, on the horizon.

Many people had gathered directly around the city. The city had managed to evacuate within minutes, as if to protect those inside from any danger.

Thirty thousand people had left Great City, Selene.

Everyone was aware that a dragon was coming towards them. From children to young people, from young people to the elderly, everyone could see it.

This dragon was not normal.

Its roar was louder than that of a typical dragon. It was a roar of greater strength, greater majesty, and purer power:

"SKRYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Every decibel, every note of the roar seemed to declare the Ancient Dragon’s dominion over the sky and the earth.

Everyone understood that this dragon was one of the legendary monsters. Each of them had seen the Phoenixes and Dragons flying over the city, heading directly towards the capital.

This dragon, however, was different from all the others.

Its scales were whiter, its crimson eyes were deeper, and the whiteness within its eyes was much purer.

It was the very species referred to in many societies, cultures, and history books as [the offspring of Death, Life, and Holiness.]

An Ancient Dragon.

Luke Great City had circled Selene a few times, then landed on the city’s massive walls, on the wall above the city’s entrance, alongside the Ancient Dragon.

When Luke jumped from the Ancient Dragon’s back onto the walls, he could easily see Callum, Kevin, and Zoey at the city’s entrance, staring directly at the walls.

Each of them was looking at him with wide eyes and beginning to sweat from fear.

At that moment, Luke turned to his Ancient Dragon Shenhal and immediately uttered the word:

"Grow."

The moment he spoke those words, everyone standing around the city, especially at the entrance, knelt down. This included every Dark Elf who had already arrived in the city, two powerful men like Callum and Kevin, and a powerful woman like Zoe.

As Luke tried to figure out what was happening, the Ancient Dragon Shenhal had returned to its natural size—100 metres long, 15 metres wide, and with wingspans of 40 metres each.

At that moment, the Ancient Dragon looked at its master.

Luke had immediately understood what it was trying to say.

Without realising it, Luke had spoken the Ancient Dragon’s language. He had done so during his time at One Mountain, when Shenhal was Usur, and now.

Without realising it.

Without thinking for even a second.

Without even knowing the language fully.

The moment he came to his senses, he said, "Get up," as if he had relearned their common language. The last thing he wanted to do was to make Zoey, the other half of his heart, kneel before him. He had done it without really knowing it.

Zoey stood up, but the others were still kneeling.

Luke reached out his hand to Zoey from the wall he was standing on, and when the Ancient Dragon Shenhal saw this, he turned directly to the side, brought his wing down to the ground at the base of the wall, and helped Zoey climb up.

Zoey smiled with excitement and pride as she climbed onto the Ancient Dragon’s enormous wing and looked at Luke Ibn Alphonsine Hiera, standing beside him in the place that was rightfully hers as his other half.

"I told you I was a Hiera," Luke said calmly.

When Luke spoke these words, Zoey’s pupils seemed to take the shape of hearts, and then the young woman spoke these words:

"Well, don’t get used to it."