Lu Qiuchen was searching through the Dragon Clan’s ancestral memories when he suddenly discovered a little-known race—the Gray Dwarves.
As a race also driven out by the Dwarves, perhaps out of shared hardship, the Gray Dwarves once maintained a fairly good relationship with the Drow Elves.
Their forging skills were also exceptionally exquisite, capable of crafting the plate armor and weapons Zhang Cheng needed.
The Gray Dwarves had once lived in the vast underground world beneath the Northern Continent.
But later, after angering the surface-dwelling Golden Dwarves, their homeland was attacked.
This war destroyed their home, forcing the entire tribe to relocate to a small island at the far north of the Northern Continent, severing contact with the Drow Elves.
However, this was all a thousand years ago, so it was natural that Lai Ti, born much later, was unaware of this race.
“Let’s go to the Northern Continent and find the Gray Dwarves!” Lu Qiuchen said.
With their destination decided, the three climbed onto the dragon’s back. The silver dragon took flight, heading north.
This was Zhang Cheng’s first time flying on a giant dragon.
Used to the cramped space on a bipedal wyvern’s back, he found the wide back of the great dragon incredibly novel.
If he were to become a Dragon Knight someday, would he need a saddle-like apparatus installed on the dragon’s back?
But that wouldn’t even be a saddle—it was more like a parking lot spacious enough to hold several cars.
With so much room, where exactly should he sit? Zhang Cheng pondered, noticing that Dragon Knights seemed to stand rather than sit.
Thinking about Dragon Knights, the first image that came to mind was always the giant dragon, with the tiny human figure barely noticeable on its back.
In battles, the dragon’s power alone seemed enough to fell enemies en masse; the rider seemed almost insignificant.
Zhang Cheng was lost in thought, wondering whether his future lay in a position of authority or as a subordinate.
Meanwhile, Lai Ti listened intently as Lu Qiuchen explained the relationship between the Gray Dwarves and the Drow.
As Lu Qiuchen shared what he knew, he suddenly discovered a place that inexplicably drew his attention.
There was mythril there—and of very high purity!
Lu Qiuchen’s internal mythril radar vibrated strongly, alerting him.
Curious, he decided to investigate. After landing, the three activated teleportation and moved to the location indicated by the mythril radar.
*****
Inside the castle, Delong ignored the two people beside him.
Seeing the figure in the middle shocked him deeply.
Lu Qiuchen noticed the mythril armor being held in someone’s hands, and only then realized there was another person standing there.
She casually glanced at the person before her, digging through her somewhat distant memories to recall his identity.
“Delong?” Lu Qiuchen was surprised to encounter a familiar face here, and even more so that this armor belonged to him.
She glanced at Zhang Cheng, realizing that Delong was the lord he had mentioned earlier.
Zhang Cheng returned an awkward smile.
He had deliberately kept Delong’s identity a secret from Lu Qiuchen.
He had heard Lu Qiuchen talk about the adventures in the Londo Ruins—although not in detail—and combined with Delong’s memories, he could roughly piece together the events.
On one hand, he worried that if she met Delong, it might trigger old memories and affect her mentally.
He couldn’t tell whether this change would be positive or negative, so he decided to keep it from her.
On the other hand, he sensed complicated feelings hidden behind Delong’s secretive behavior—something like… admiration?
Though unsure if that admiration was for Lu Qiuchen, Zhang Cheng had already claimed her as his own and remained extremely wary of any potential rival.
But he hadn’t expected Lu Qiuchen to suddenly bring him back to the castle halfway through their journey, unintentionally exposing his cautiousness.
He wasn’t sure if Lu Qiuchen had noticed.
When Delong saw the familiar figure earlier, he had guessed her identity but hesitated to confirm due to her changed appearance.
Only when she directly called his name did he dare to be certain she was Cecilia.
Zhang Cheng’s speculation was accurate.
Delong had indeed harbored some special feelings toward his savior, but he understood that she had only saved him casually, and their social statuses made any relationship impossible.
So, he suppressed those feelings and now only felt gratitude toward Lu Qiuchen.
“You… know each other?” Delong came back to his senses, finally noticing the other two people beside Lu Qiuchen.
Seeing Lai Ti and Zhang Cheng, he was even more surprised.
‘This is bad! I falsely accused them earlier—this is going to be even harder to deal with now!’
Lu Qiuchen nodded and asked Delong, “Is this your armor? Can I take a look?”
Delong hurriedly confirmed, handing over the armor.
But inwardly, he grew uneasy.
They had clearly come for the mythril.
Setting aside their strength, if she intended to use her debt of gratitude to take the armor from him, should he agree?
On one side was repaying a life-saving debt, on the other was the dream equipment of his life.
The righteous knight was torn.
Lu Qiuchen, of course, had no idea what Delong was thinking—and she had no interest in such matters.
Judging by the mythril and adamantine reserves alone, she might now be the greatest in the Eternal World.
The mythril and adamantine in her innate space far exceeded that of this breastplate.
She carefully examined the armor.
Human craftsmanship was no match for her own people’s exquisite work—there were impurities in the mythril, so the equipment was naturally inferior.
Seeing Zhang Cheng’s intense curiosity about the armor, Lu Qiuchen handed it over for him to examine.
Suddenly, she sensed several familiar yet unfamiliar auras rapidly approaching outside the castle.
Tryst and the others had searched fruitlessly around the area and were now dejectedly returning to the castle.
Because Lu Qiuchen had not deliberately hidden her aura, they detected it immediately upon entering the castle.
Their spirits lifted, and they hurried toward the source of the aura.
Soon, they found it was in the very room the three were in.
They pushed open the door and saw four people inside.
“Cecilia! So it’s you!”
Tryst’s emotions flared as he quickly confronted her, “Why did you slaughter the Druids?”
Lu Qiuchen was already very shocked at seeing them.
Now, hearing Tryst’s accusation, memories of her past misdeeds surfaced, filling her with guilt.
She knew she was in the wrong and remained silent.
“Tryst! Calm down!” York, understanding Tryst’s pain, was surprised by his intensity.
Along with Solin, he grabbed Tryst’s shoulders, trying to calm him.
“Let’s hear what Cecilia has to say first. I think there must be some misunderstanding…”
“Misunderstanding my ass!”
Tryst shook off their hands, glaring furiously at the silent Lu Qiuchen, and cursed wildly.
“A misunderstanding? Then why doesn’t this bitch say a word?”
His eyes burned with uncontrollable rage.
Ignoring the vast difference in strength between them, he swiftly drew an arrow and released a beam of light at Lu Qiuchen.
The entire sequence happened so fast that York, another archer, didn’t even react in time.
Others were caught off guard too, but Zhang Cheng had been watching Tryst since he started insulting Lu Qiuchen.
He frowned, feeling unease, and raised his guard.
Seeing the arrow shoot out, he instinctively pulled the armor to shield Lu Qiuchen.
Bang!
The magical arrow struck the armor and was blocked, leaving them unharmed.
Tryst was restrained by his teammates but continued to curse.
The attack snapped Lu Qiuchen out of her daze.
She instinctively defended herself, “No! I didn’t!”
“I was controlled back then…”
“Pathetic lies! Do you really believe a dragon could be controlled by a cursed tribe?”
Tryst’s anger only intensified upon hearing her defense.
In his—and practically every resident of Tara Kingdom’s—mind, dragons were the most powerful creatures.
Even the demon clan, masters of mental magic, couldn’t easily control a dragon.
But Lu Qiuchen’s rampage hadn’t been due to demon control—it was triggered by rapid aging.
This was extremely rare even among dragons, and even if she explained, no one would believe her.
Tryst’s disbelief was understandable.
Zhang Cheng tossed the armor back to a dazed Delong, listening to Tryst’s curses with a pained expression as he looked at Lu Qiuchen.
Though her face was expressionless, Zhang Cheng sensed a growing fury within her.
Worried that Lu Qiuchen, whose mindset was shifting toward that of the Dragon Clan, might kill everyone here in a fit of rage, he quickly covered her ears and whispered telepathically,
“Even if no one understands you, I’ll stay by your side! Ignore them. There’s nothing to see here anymore. Let’s go!”
Startled by Zhang Cheng’s sudden gesture, Lu Qiuchen noticed the genuine concern in his eyes.
Her heart warmed.
She nodded slightly and took Lai Ti’s hand.
In a flash of white light, the three disappeared from the room.
Without a target to attack, Tryst’s curses ended, and he collapsed to the ground, drained of energy.
His teammates hurried to support him, their expressions full of concern.
“Haha!”
Tryst laughed nervously a few times before breaking down in tears.
One by one, they comforted him and helped him to another room to rest.
Then they gathered to discuss what to do next.
“As the captain, I failed to notice his abnormalities. That’s my negligence,” York said, bowing his head in guilt.
“Hey! You can’t blame yourself. I didn’t notice anything either. Tryst seemed fine before, but this blow has hit him hard. If he keeps sinking into despair, he might be done for…”
The party’s assassin assessed the situation.
Simon, skilled in reading people, hadn’t seen any sign of this coming, which showed how deeply Tryst had hidden his emotions.
The guardian knight Solin smiled bitterly, “We can’t let Tryst keep moping. We need to find something to keep him busy…”
“But look at him now—he’s barely got any spirit left. That’s going to be hard,” said Delong.
Though not part of the adventuring party, he was a friend and had been listening in.
Phyllis comforted York and suddenly had an idea.
This was a risky matter, and she didn’t agree with Tryst’s views, but to help him regain his spirit, she spoke up, “What if we form an ‘Anti-Calamity Dragon’ alliance?”
Seeing the others turn to her, Phyllis blushed a little.
“This alliance can just be a front, something to give him an interest. Setting aside whether Cecilia was controlled back then or acted on her own, given the power difference, how could we ever defeat a dragon?”
Everyone thought it over and nodded unanimously.
They had seen Lu Qiuchen in action and understood the dragon’s strength.
They saw the idea of challenging a dragon as a joke, but it might just spark Tryst’s fighting spirit.
“Let’s give it a try for now!”