Chapter 33: Inheritance

What Lu Qiuchen didn’t know was that everything that had just happened near her was being broadcast to all the citizens attending the banquet in the royal capital.

That massive mirror that had been brought onto the stage earlier had, from the moment it began showing the beautiful silver dragon and the destroyed palace, continuously elicited gasps of astonishment from the crowd. As the silver dragon fought the Shadow Fiend, was ambushed by it, and the king leapt in to save her only to be killed by the dragon’s fury—every moment had been displayed through the mirror.

The crowd’s emotions rose and fell with the unfolding scene, ultimately turning to outrage.

“The silver dragon’s about to be killed by that ugly monster!”

“I always thought the king was just an incompetent fool, but the way he rushed forward without hesitation… it’s changed how I see him.”

“Gods! The silver dragon actually killed the king! This can’t be real!”

“What’s so shocking about killing that foolish king? If it weren’t for the greedy dragons we have to support every year, they would’ve wiped us out long ago!”

“Exactly! It’s all because of the dragons! Without them, we wouldn’t have to pay such high taxes!”

Lurking among the crowd, the Nightmare demons were fanning the flames of negativity, subtly manipulating thoughts to steer public sentiment toward hatred of the dragonkind. As more and more voices condemned the dragons, the people’s anger reached a boiling point. Some radicals even began charging toward the royal palace.

Dark emotions surged uncontrollably in the hearts of the citizens. In the end, the negativity almost congealed into thick black smoke, which floated up from their bodies, gathered in the sky into a massive sphere, and was then absorbed into the void.

No one noticed what was happening above them, nor did they sense anything off about their mental state. Right now, they had only one desire—to storm the palace and tear that wretched dragon to shreds.

Though the foolish king had long burdened them with heavy taxes, leaving them gasping for breath, it was all to fund the dragons’ tributes year after year. It was the dragons who were the true culprits behind their suffering. The dragons were more detestable.

Gradually, the entire crowd was swept up in the frenzy. They shoved and jostled forward toward the palace. Some unfortunate souls were knocked to the ground by the pressure behind them. With no space to rise, they were trampled underfoot, leaving behind only agonized cries.

Grand Duke Cessis stood atop a tall platform within the palace, gazing at the distant torchlit streets. Watching the flood of people surge toward the palace, the expression on his face was a strange mix of sorrow and satisfaction.

“We’ve fulfilled our end of the deal. This transaction is complete.”
A sultry voice rang out behind him. The Grand Duke turned to see the succubus from the banquet hall sauntering toward him.

The succubus stopped before him and asked, “You personally threw your kingdom into civil unrest by working with us. Was it really worth it?”

“My kingdom? Hah, I’m just a failure.”
The Grand Duke let out a mocking laugh as he turned to the succubus. “My plan is complete. The rest will proceed on its own. As for you all… you’d best worry about yourselves. If you can survive the wrath of the dragon, then we can talk about other matters.”

The succubus wasn’t angered by his words. Raising an eyebrow, she put on an exaggerated look of surprise.
“Oh? Then it seems your goal wasn’t just to revive the kingdom?”

Seeing her smug face, the Grand Duke snorted coldly.
“My goal has never changed. Unless the kingdom is freed from the shackles of that pact, how can the nobles and citizens truly develop a sense of crisis?”

The succubus pretended to suddenly understand.
“So that’s why you summoned us—to lure out the dragons.”
She clapped her hands and smiled brightly.
“A clever plan, truly. But it’s a shame you don’t know us well enough.”

The succubus stepped closer, sharp fingernails trailing across the Grand Duke’s cheek. She leaned in, lips brushing his ear, and whispered:

“What we’ve done isn’t just because of our deal with you. Besides… I quite like your clever little mind. Charming middle-aged men are very popular among succubi. Now then, let’s get to know each other a little more intimately~”

The Grand Duke stood frozen. At some point, his body had stopped responding. He could only watch helplessly as the succubus had her way with him.

“Come now~ Once I’ve made you feel real good, you’ll understand what our real goal is~”

Lu Qiuchen spread her wings and soared into the sky. The pressure from her wings stirred up a violent wind, scattering the already-ruined estate into further disarray. There were no more lights around—only the blood-red moon above cast a dim glow over the land.

Beams of white light shot at her from the side, but Lu Qiuchen dodged them with ease. She turned her gaze to the ground and saw crowds of people swarming around the outer edge of the royal palace. Some ranged-class fighters had taken up elevated positions and were launching attacks at her.

That puzzled her. This wasn’t something she had encountered before in the human world. Could it be that the casualties within the palace had been so severe that the Adventurer’s Guild had organized a punitive expedition against her? But even from a logical or temporal standpoint, that didn’t quite add up.

Looking closer, Lu Qiuchen noticed that something seemed off about these people. It was as if they were being controlled—their eyes were dull, lifeless, completely vacant.

But she didn’t have the energy to dwell on it. She could feel her condition worsening. The wounds on her left forearm and chest were beginning to go numb, affecting her movement. Perhaps the Shadow Fiend had unleashed some kind of final counterattack before dying.

Lu Qiuchen climbed higher into the sky, but suddenly, a flash of light streaked across the heavens. It was so fast that she couldn’t react in time—a blazing bolt struck her squarely on the back.

A sixth-tier lightning spell! And not just from anyone—it had to be cast by a top-tier Epic-ranked mage at the very least. Though silver dragons, like black dragons, had exceptional resistance to magic, a sixth-tier spell was still deadly to a wyrmling like her.

She let out a howl of pain in midair. The nerves at the base of her wings had been damaged—she could no longer fly. Struggling to maintain a gliding posture, she crash-landed in a meadow not far west of the royal palace.

She pushed herself up off the ground, now covered in additional scrapes and bruises. Her injured left forepaw made movement even more difficult.

She tried to teleport, only to find that the surrounding space was still sealed. Left with no choice, she reverted to human form and ran. But even in her human form, she moved sluggishly. Though her left arm and chest appeared intact, waves of phantom pain pulsed from deep within, drastically slowing her down.

The sound of wind rushing behind her—when she looked back, those same seemingly controlled adventurers were in pursuit. Lu Qiuchen didn’t want to waste time fighting them, so she fired off a few instant-cast spells to delay them.

Still, they inevitably slowed her down. She realized more and more enemies were closing in, until eventually she found herself completely surrounded. If she wanted to break through, she’d have to use offensive magic.

She hesitated for a moment, but when they launched another attack at her, she no longer held back. A sheet of ice formed beneath her feet, rapidly spreading in all directions.

The mind-controlled adventurers made no attempt to dodge it. They simply stood there as the frost engulfed their legs, freezing them into ice sculptures.

Lu Qiuchen silently apologized to them in her heart and pressed on. But by now, her movements had become extremely sluggish—the numbness had crept up to her upper body.

From then on, she didn’t hesitate anymore. Anyone who seemed controlled, she immobilized by freezing their ankles. Any threatening ranged attackers—she killed them outright.

After once again fending off the pursuers behind her, Lu Qiuchen realized that her body was rapidly deteriorating. Her legs had grown weak and numb, unable to support her properly.

She attempted to teleport again—still no success.

Sighing, she realized escape was no longer an option. Instead, she cast a defensive spell and sealed herself within a thick layer of ice.

Through the translucent ice, she watched as the crowd surged in from the direction of the capital. Lu Qiuchen had never felt so helpless. She was like a crab in a pot, soaking in water, waiting for the temperature to rise—waiting for the end.

Her legs had lost all strength. She slumped sideways onto the grass, supporting herself with her still-sensate right hand as she took out the teleportation magic stone Audi had given her. Pouring mana into it, she was met with the same result as before—it merely trembled and glowed faintly, unable to open a portal.

The only small “silver lining” was that the strongest adventurers had come after her first and had already been frozen into statues. The ones arriving now were no stronger than high-rankers, and her defensive magic could withstand them for quite a while.

Before long, even the civilians had caught up. The crowd gathered around the area, watching as the ranged-class fighters attacked the crystal. In their red-tinged eyes flickered both fear and excitement. Too afraid to approach, they simply stayed at a distance, hurling insults at the dragon, at the silver dragon.

Lu Qiuchen’s consciousness had begun to fade. The surrounding noise grew faint, her mind drifting deeper inward, losing all sense of the world around her.

After a long period of disorientation, Lu Qiuchen gradually began to feel control over her body returning. With a shift of thought, she realized she had entered a white space. Her body, too, had turned into a glowing, white silhouette, with a soft light radiating from its surface.

Confused, Lu Qiuchen couldn’t tell where she was or why she’d taken on this form. Surrounded by pure white, she cautiously stepped forward.

But after only a few steps, everything around her changed. The white space was replaced by a dark crimson one, though when she looked down, her body remained a glowing white.

In the center of the crimson space, a massive heart throbbed rhythmically.

The moment she laid eyes on it, Lu Qiuchen instinctively understood—without anyone needing to explain—that this massive heart was the dragon “Inheritance” hidden deep within her mind.

Seeing this, Lu Qiuchen guessed that she must be inside her inner world, and this glowing white form was a representation of her consciousness—or perhaps her soul.

Before she could take a closer look at the space, the scene shifted abruptly. Blackness overtook the crimson, and a shadowy figure appeared in front of the heart. As soon as she laid eyes on it, a complex voice, neither male nor female, echoed within her mind.

“Do you want to know the truth about this world?”

“Do you want to understand why you came to this world?”

“Do you want to return to the world you came from?”

The voice was full of temptation, and Lu Qiuchen stood frozen for a moment. Then she snapped back to her senses and spoke urgently, “Who are you? What do you know? Tell me!”

The blurry figure shifted slightly, but just as the voice began to respond, the scene flickered—returning to the crimson world. The shadowy figure had vanished, and the massive heart was now pulsing even more fiercely than before.

“The demons…” The shadow’s last words still echoed in her mind. Lu Qiuchen mulled over that final phrase, her thoughts tangled and racing.

Then she felt the heart calling to her. The call was so overwhelming that she couldn’t muster a trace of resistance. Stepping forward, she gently placed her palm against it.

A vast consciousness enveloped her. Lu Qiuchen felt her thoughts accelerating wildly as an enormous flood of knowledge surged from the “Inheritance” into her mind. Her awareness expanded to the point it was nearly impossible to think—until, finally, her consciousness sank into darkness.