Chapter 446: “Controlled by Emotion”
The Ice Dragon that had swallowed George had now undergone a dramatic transformation.
More horns protruded from its head, more savage in appearance. Its gaze grew increasingly violent, and the scales across its body turned coarse, as if some force was forcibly stretching them open, causing its body to swell to over twice its original size.
At the base of its wings, fleshy bulges expanded, and then suddenly extended forward two limbs, slightly shorter than its hind legs.
If one could once again pry open the Giant Dragon Mountain and unearth the skeleton of that Fantasy Species dragon, they would see that this dragon had already begun to resemble its prototype.
Seemingly unaccustomed to the newly grown forelimbs, it moved them slightly, then turned its eyes toward the deeper darkness, as though communicating with certain existences.
Moments later, it turned its body around, flapping the fleshy wings that had nearly doubled in size, and dove toward the ground.
Descending, descending——
Suddenly!
As if it had crossed some boundary, the flying body of the Ice Dragon came to an abrupt halt.
Its violent gaze now filled with terror, it looked down to see a streak of radiance suddenly burst forth.
It was the same radiance that had previously struck down the gods, now surging and piercing straight into the Ice Dragon’s body. Then it shot out again, tracing an arc across the sky, returning to the place from which it had been launched.
After the radiance departed, the Ice Dragon’s body groaned and burst into a spray of blood midair.
Dragon scales and flesh flew in all directions. In just an instant, its body reverted to its original size.
Tattered scales were stained with blood. Its once-violent gaze now filled with fear. Sensing a near-bloodline-level connection, it descended rapidly.
On the ground, when the Ice Dragon flew skyward with George in its maw, Aen emerged from a nearby cave not far from Olivia.
He had already reverted to his human form, his body covered in blood, as though he had been flayed.
Bursting out of the cave, he exhaled heavily. His weary eyes fixed on Olivia, who lay motionless on the ground.
“I’m very sorry,” said Aen.
Anger had controlled his body, forcing him to fight Olivia. But a part of him still retained consciousness, allowing him to perceive the changes occurring in her.
While possessed by rage, he had killed Olivia’s Golden Lion—and also the powerful existence hidden within Olivia’s body.
Though Aen didn’t know who that existence was to Olivia, he was certain someone as strong as her wouldn’t react in such a way merely due to the death of a pet like the Golden Lion.
“I lost,” Olivia’s voice was calm.
“That wasn’t truly my power. There was interference from outside forces,” Aen said.
“That doesn’t matter. A win is a win. A loss is a loss. That is the result.”
Aen fell silent.
He could clearly feel that the power he’d unleashed had come from the version of himself consumed by rage—yet it was also a power that rightfully belonged to him. And the more he realized that, the more wrong it all felt.
Aen couldn’t explain the sense of wrongness in words, but he understood: he was not a warrior by origin. No matter the situation, he could never truly wield his full strength like a true warrior.
Moreover, his connection with the Will of the Northland was, theoretically, reasonable.
After Hode took away the former Will that interfered with the North’s development, a new Will naturally emerged within the Northland.
But rather than actively interfering, this newborn Will simply existed.
As the King of the North, Aen could easily touch this Will, even command it, thereby drawing on the power of the entire Northland.
Yet Aen had never attempted such a thing—until now, when he had to protect his two dragons. He gave it a try.
And that first attempt had gone flawlessly, fully unleashing the power—that alone felt too suspicious.
Even with all these doubts, Aen could sense from Olivia’s tone that she, too, had noticed something was amiss—but she simply didn’t care.
As Olivia said: a win is a win, a loss is a loss. The rest doesn’t matter.
And as Olivia had done, she paid no mind to being besieged by Aen and his two dragons.
“State the blessing you wish for,” Olivia’s voice rang out.
Aen remained silent for a moment before replying.
He looked westward across the Northland—that was its core, where Platinum City stood.
The devastation caused by three Tier Six existences and two False Tier Seven beings in full battle was immense. One-third of the entire eastern Northland had been reduced to their battlefield, ravaged by their power.
And this had only been a short battle. It had not lasted day and night until the last drop of willpower faded.
Aen no longer even bothered to consider how many had died in the crossfire.
He could feel it: his own vitality had been burned away like fuel to feed the fire of rage, nearly exhausted.
Perhaps in five years? A year? Maybe just a few days—his life would likely come to an end.
And after his death? Could Zeke carry the Northland’s future alone?
Perhaps Zeke would need more help.
Aen said, “I want to send a group of people to Greenwood to study.”
“You may send five people every three years to Greenwood for study,” Olivia replied. “Whether they wish to learn governance, explore power, or simply acquire more knowledge—I shall grant it.”
“Thank you for your generosity.” Aen lowered his head.
“This is the reward due to the victor.”
A slight relief welled up in Aen’s heart, but soon, his expression changed drastically as he looked up to the sky.
He sensed the Ice Dragon’s will—fear, terror, trembling—as it soared toward the heavens.
In that instant, Aen understood what had happened. His own heart filled with the same fear and dread.
Saint Knight George had been swallowed by the dragon!
Saint Knight George was dead!
Aen couldn’t begin to imagine how the Church of the Sanctuary would react to this—or how that existence would rage.
And beyond that, there was still the unknown darkness beyond the heavens—and the unknown beings within that unknown darkness.
They had actually caused the Ice Dragon to undergo atavism, gaining a trace of the power of a Fantasy Species.
That was a Fantasy Species—an existence on par with the gods.
And then, thinking back to the subtle changes during his own battle…
Everything had unfolded so naturally—so naturally that only after it ended did he realize something was off.
“George was someone recognized by my father. Someone my father valued. He has a mission awaiting him in the future, so he won’t die here,” Olivia suddenly said.
Aen was stunned, looking at her.
She still lay on her back, her ruby eyes dull, staring up at the sky.
Aen suddenly felt a deep fatigue.
There was too much unknown in this world. Even as the King of the Northland, who seemed supreme in the North, he still faced a world filled with uncertainties.
Even the Ice Dragon falling from the sky—he could sense it only due to their special bond. But Olivia, lying there, seemed able to see everything with her own eyes.
Amid all these unknowns, could the North truly escape its past suffering?
Aen didn’t know. After all, he was just a merchant by origin. Even further back, he had been nothing more than a servant in some gentry manor.
The world was too vast. His heart no longer seemed able to contain it all.
He lifted his head, gazing at the peaceful night sky like Olivia.
In his vision, countless pieces of the dragon’s flesh and scales—mixed with shards of ice—fell with a dim gleam. Among them, the Ice Dragon accelerated its dive.
Even an ordinary person could clearly sense the fear in the dragon’s posture.
Yet, as it dove, the Ice Dragon suddenly stalled, its body flailing and twisting midair. Its abdomen looked as if it had been torn open, a trace of Holy Light seeping through.
That Holy Light slowly expanded—then a pair of hands emerged from it, gripping the dragon’s belly.
The Ice Dragon howled, a layer of frost covering its body, squeezing tightly to close the wound.
On the ground, Aen’s hand trembled, but he still issued a command to the Ice Dragon.
The frost on the dragon’s body melted away. The hands suddenly pulled with force, tearing open its abdomen, and the naked body of George emerged from within.
The pain made even flapping his wings difficult. In the end, he simply folded them and fell naturally.
George, fully naked and still stained with blood, adjusted his posture midair, the brilliant gold in his eyes dazzling.
Looking down upon the falling dragon, he extended a hand. Slowly, a pure spear of Holy Light formed in his grasp.
Though golden in color, this was not his magic power—but the power of faith and Holy Light.
Raising the spear high, he hurled it fiercely at the falling Ice Dragon.
A beam of golden light streaked across the sky, about to pierce the descending beast.
But in the instant before impact, the Fire Dragon—its chest and abdomen already healed—suddenly appeared, slamming into the Ice Dragon to knock it aside, narrowly avoiding the Holy Light Spear. But its left wing was pierced by the spear.
In that moment, more than half of the flesh on the wing was consumed by the Holy Light, dissipating into radiance. Only the wing root remained attached to its body.
Wailing, the two dragons crashed to the ground.
Seeing the Holy Light Spear slowly forming again in George’s hand, Aen couldn’t help but shout, “Sir George, please cease! Before killing them, I hope you notice that something is amiss!”
“An unknown anger caused us to lose reason, to fight recklessly. That anger was not overt, merely magnifying our emotions endlessly—until it ruled us. That’s why the battle spiraled out of control!”
As if hearing Aen’s words, the Holy Light in George’s hand faded. The golden gleam in his eyes receded, and a simple hemp garment formed over his body.
With a heavy thud, George landed.
“Perhaps it’s not just anger,” George said, his eyes still fixed on the two moaning dragons. “The moment I saw them, I was simply awed by their strength. But soon after, I believed their power posed a threat to this world, and I became obsessed with killing them.”
“Even now, with your warning and my resistance confirming they are not yet capable of threatening the world, the urge to kill them still gnaws at me.”