Chapter 734: The Dragon’s Shadow in Winter

Melita had left.

Her massive form was concealed by a refraction field, and suddenly, a gust of wind swept across the sky above Cecil City. Amid the clouds and shifting sunlight, faint ripples of distortion flickered briefly—yet, except for a handful of powerful individuals and specialized watchtowers designed to detect magical invisibility, no one knew that a great dragon had visited the city.

Gawain stood before the gates of the Arcane Technology Research Institute, gazing upward in the direction Melita had flown. After a long moment, he lowered his eyes.

The Inverse Tide Empire… the Ultimate Tome… knowledge stolen from the satellite array…

He mulled over the newly gathered intelligence, sketching in his mind the outlines of gods and ancient history. After a long period of reflection, he shook his head with a smile and turned back toward the institute.

Hundreds, even thousands, of researchers bustled within this facility. Dozens of laboratories and project teams operated here. In the neural network, the Origin Lab ran hundreds of simulation experiments daily. In the mechanical workshop, gears and levers clashed ceaselessly. In Saint Suniel, in Luan City, within the Mage and Scholar Associations, countless brilliant minds gathered to reclaim the scattered fragments of profound knowledge embedded in human society, to redraw the shattered blueprints of ancient technology…

All of this was driven by thousands of people, propelled by the entire society of Cecil. It was born from humanity, for humanity—not some alien relic unearthed from a distant world, not a blueprint conjured out of thin air by any lord of the realm, not a miracle, not a divine gift.

…

The great dragon soared across the vast winter sky. The refraction field gradually faded, and the interplay of clouds and sunlight cast mottled shadows over her shimmering blue scales. The wildlands and hills reflected in her crystalline eyes. The mighty sky sovereign circled twice before lowering her head, then plunged earthward like a falling meteor.

After a near-daring glide and rapid deceleration, the blue dragon collided with a century-old giant tree, snapping the towering trunk in half. Her unbalanced body crashed forward amid a tremor of earth-shaking impacts and rolls. Thunderous roars echoed as countless trees and solid rocks shattered beneath her, and the ground was gouged with a deep furrow nearly half a kilometer long.

At last, the blue dragon came to rest beneath a cliff. After half a minute of heavy breathing, she struggled to lift her head. Dirt, stones, and branches cascaded from her body, and from several terrible wounds oozed glowing, searing blood.

The implanted devices and modified glands within her body immediately activated, beginning repairs on her powerful, resilient frame. Melita tilted her head back, and the scales around her neck opened like cooling vents, revealing metallic inner linings and glowing conduits and ports beneath. Hot steam hissed from the seams of the implants, prompting the blue dragon to emit a low groan.

“Damn it… I hate enhancers… but the auxiliary heart I’m using now is a limited edition…”

Melita muttered in a rumbling voice, then produced a massive syringe from somewhere unknown. Gripping it with her foreclaw, she plunged the needle deep into the gap between her neck scales. With a hiss of pressure release, a liter of potent composite enhancer and an equal amount of regenerative serum were injected into her bloodstream. The two auxiliary hearts, on the verge of rupture, finally steadied.

The three extra hearts and subdermal bionic pumps granted dragons tremendous endurance and survivability for long journeys. But no matter what, discussing the Black Trap with aliens and hinting at forbidden knowledge about the gods was still too much of a shock.

Melita breathed heavily, calming the side effects of the overdose—though some dragons actually enjoyed the sensation, even becoming addicted to enhancers, she simply couldn’t get used to it.

Once she felt a bit better, she closed the scales around her neck, concealing the implants once more.

In the dragon society of Talrond, implants and enhancers had long been part of life. Hatchlings underwent their first implantation surgery within their first decade—embedding a resonance core inside the skull. This core established a connection between the user and “Omega,” a powerful AI that educated and guided young dragons. Thus, every normal Talrond dragon citizen had implants within their body.

Some dragons preferred to expose their implants openly, like Speaker Andar; others, like Melita Pernia, favored hidden modifications.

After resting for several more minutes, Melita stood. The bleeding wounds had been urgently sealed, and she was ready to take off—though she wished she could rest longer, she knew her colleagues monitoring from behind were probably in chaos by now.

The blue dragon ascended swiftly, reaching an altitude that allowed direct communication with Talrond.

Though communication was possible from the surface, all transmissions at that height were overheard by the Dragon Gods. Only near the edge of the sky, close to the “Voyager” legacy, could messages be sent without divine eavesdropping.

Even if the recipient stood on the ground, right at the gates of a god’s palace—it made no difference. Millions of years had passed, yet the Voyager’s lingering power remained.

A pale golden communication interface appeared before Melita. Maintaining her altitude, she called out to the Mithril Treasury headquarters in the distance: “Melita Pernia calling support team, Melita Pernia calling support team… Pick up, damn it! I’m up here in the stratosphere with level ten injuries—can you hear me?!”

At last, a somewhat nervous, flustered voice responded: “Melita! This is Noretta—what’s your status? Your implants suddenly reported two of your four hearts exploded! And you injected yourself with triple the enhancer dose!”

Melita took a deep breath. “Hah… they didn’t explode. I stabilized them with regenerative serum, but the sensors must be broken… It’s fine, I can still feel them beating.”

Hearing Melita’s relatively steady voice, Noretta, far away in Talrond, finally relaxed and even joked: “How did it get this bad—did a legendary powerhouse catch you stealing client freebies and beat you up?”

“I had a chat with Gawain Cecil about the Black Trap and the Inverse Tide Empire,” Melita said calmly. “I accidentally said a few too many things.”

As expected, Melita heard the sound of things dropping and several startled exclamations over the comm.

The chaos she’d caused made the corner of her mouth twitch into a faint smile.

From the golden interface came a friend’s shocked cry: “Melita! Are you crazy?! You don’t want to live?!”

“I’m still alive, aren’t I?”

“What happened exactly?” Noretta seemed to regain composure, sensing something unusual in Melita’s tone. “You can speak freely—Omega has intervened, and Speaker Andar is on the line.”

“Gawain Cecil got hold of a damaged Ultimate Tome made by the Inverse Tide Empire,” Melita said evenly. “And without me guiding him, he’s already summarized one of the core principles of ‘defiance.’”

A long silence followed on the other end before a voice finally asked, “Which one?”

“Man seizes divine power with mortal wisdom,” Melita replied. “A baby crawling out of its cradle must use its own hands and feet…”

Speaker Andar’s authoritative, steady voice cut in: “Enough. No need to say more.”

Even here, near the Voyager legacy, far from the gods’ ears, some taboos still demanded caution.

Melita dropped the dangerous topic. Under Noretta and Andar’s questioning, she carefully recounted the details of her meeting with Gawain Cecil.

When she finished, she heard a long, heavy sigh from Speaker Andar.

It was a sigh of relief.

The ancient dragon elder’s voice was grave: “Melita, in your view, where do the ordinary people of the Cecil Empire stand?”

Melita answered bluntly: “Most remain ignorant and backward, controlled in body and mind by old royal and divine authority. They mechanically obey the Bureau’s orders rather than truly awakening their intellect or acting independently. Though Gawain Cecil has been pushing education desperately, it’s clear this isn’t something solved in four or five years.”

Andar’s voice deepened: “…Yes, that’s true. This isn’t a problem fixed in a few years…”

“But we can’t ignore the changes already underway,” Melita continued. “Indeed, most people’s transformation takes time, but various sprouts of change have already appeared on this land. Or rather, the land itself has reached a critical mass. Gawain Cecil’s emergence only accelerated this process, gathering these sprouts effectively and preventing them from fading into darkness—sprouts including doubt of divine authority, pursuit of reason, and recognition of natural laws. Now, Gawain is harnessing them properly, so the pace of Cecil’s social transformation may be faster than we expect.”

After a brief silence, Andar’s voice rumbled: “…You seem to have exceptional faith in Gawain Cecil and the order he’s building.”

Melita answered calmly: “I see a change unseen in a thousand years on this land.”

“…I hope your judgment is right,” Andar said solemnly.

After his words, Noretta’s voice interjected: “But no matter what, leaving the Inverse Tide Empire’s relics in human society carries risks. Melita, I think you should retrieve that book—Talrond can offer some compensation, and Gawain Cecil probably wouldn’t mind giving dragons a favor, right?”

Melita shook her head, about to reply, when Andar’s voice cut in again: “Noretta, trust Melita’s judgment on this.”

“But—”

“Noretta, young one, are you more stubborn than an old dragon like me?”

Noretta paused, then said, “…Understood, Speaker.”

The matter was finally settled, and Melita couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Today, she’d pushed the boundaries and faced shocking revelations far too many times. Looking back, it felt like she’d been teetering on the edge of sudden death for hours.

Such an intense day… dealing with Gawain Cecil was definitely not good for the heart.

Physiologically speaking, at least.

“Melita, once you finish your current task, return to Talrond immediately,” came the voice of the white dragon Noretta through the communicator. “Your implant needs repairs, and your body still needs a thorough check after the backlash.”

“I know, no need to remind me—I’m already in so much pain,” Melita gasped, drawing in a sharp breath. “I’m going to find somewhere to rest for a day or two, recover some strength, then head back to Talrond.”

“Understood. Wishing you all the best.”

“Got your well wishes loud and clear.”

The call ended, the pale golden interface of the communicator dissolving into tiny particles of light that slowly vanished into the air.

Melita took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the cold, thin air of the high altitude, then exhaled slowly.

A dull ache spread through her muscles and bones as she began to descend gradually.

The vast lands of the Cecil Empire grew clearer in the reflection of her enormous eyes.

Mountains and rivers, forests and plains, cities and villages—and countless lives thriving on this soil.

“A change unseen in a thousand years… I just hope I’m not mistaken…”

The refraction shifted across her scales, and the dragon’s massive form slowly faded into the illusion woven by magic. Her shadow slipped through the sky, and below, across the wind-swept earth, caravans laden with supplies set out, hopeful settlers made their homes, and determined troops gathered with fierce resolve…

(End of chapter)