Chapter 958: A Private Invitation
The hatchling dragons bred in the factories, their entire lives shaped by implanted modifications and addiction to performance enhancers; everything controlled by colossal artificial intelligences; the sharply divided upper and lower worlds—the temples, the undercity, the factories, the neighborhoods; the priests, the councilors, the elders, the common folk; the city running on autopilot, employees customized by corporations.
Talrond.
The “Dragon” Kingdom.
Everything about this place left a deep impression on Gawain, the impact even greater than what he had experienced when he first emerged from the tomb. In just a single day of touring and sightseeing, all his preconceived notions about the dragon realm had been completely overturned.
All the myths of dragons as mysterious, powerful, elegant, and majestic beings were shattered by reality. The world built by bards and playwrights crumbled, leaving behind only a bizarre, distorted impression—an absurd patchwork of fragments, and countless thoughts and speculations.
In the face of this Talrond, the old tales of knights slaying evil dragons with swords, dragons forging pacts with heroes, castles and kingdoms waging war against dragons suddenly seemed endearing, even glowing with a warm, nostalgic light.
Gawain suddenly understood why so many “travelers” from the Dragon Kingdom came to the human world disguised as bards, composing those strange, wildly inaccurate dragon legends. He understood why upper-class dragons like Melita would get bored enough to write a bunch of nonsensical “heroes versus dragons” novels—and even base characters on their own friends.
He had once thought these were just odd, inexplicable quirks. But now… he couldn’t help but suspect they were a form of longing—a yearning for a time when dragons lived pastoral lives free from enhancers and implants, free from AI and automated cities—or perhaps just a beautiful fantasy.
At the Extreme Arena, one of the large stadiums in Agondor, a “competitive game” that Amber and Veronica found utterly baffling was raging fiercely.
The arena was an ellipsoid, three-dimensional field—a massive “giant dome” formed from sturdy alloys and high-strength polymers. Twelve dragons fought inside this transparent dome, vying for the “Champion’s Ring,” a symbol of honor. These competing dragons had long since surpassed Gawain and the others’ image of “dragons.”
They boldly used numerous external implants—bone layered over bone, skin layered over skin. Alloy armor and turbojet thrusters made their flesh-and-blood bodies look like bizarre flying machines. Inside the dome, they grappled, fought, even killed each other—except for the prohibition on powerful dragon breath and magic attacks, this so-called “competitive game” allowed almost any form and degree of hand-to-hand combat. And dragon hand-to-hand combat… from a human perspective, was utterly devastating.
One black dragon was eliminated. Surrounded and attacked midair, after a brutal, savage fight, he was nearly torn to pieces and thrown down. Wings, limbs, torso shattered, heavy fragments crashed onto the alloy floor of the arena. The broken edges sparked with blinding arcane fire, uncontrolled frost, flame, and lightning. His chest cavity burst open, a still-beating heart fell out. The containment device failed to activate in time, and hot, faintly glowing fluid sprayed everywhere—more machine oil and enhancers than blood.
A rescue team rushed in, quickly retrieving the black dragon’s torso with his head still attached. The remaining debris was left on the field.
The crowd erupted in a massive chorus of boos, like ten thousand thunderclaps shaking the arena inside and out. The scoreboard above the dome flickered with numbers—the defeated left the competition in the form of points.
Gawain, Amber, and Veronica sat in the front row of the “premium seats” outside the arena, stunned by the spectacle. Melita and Noretta sat beside them, completely absorbed in the match. Only when the last team member successfully reached the stasis field holding the Champion’s Ring, retrieved it, and activated it did they finally exhale and return to the “real world.”
“That black dragon who got eliminated is going to be in deep trouble!” Melita said loudly. “He’ll probably have to replace almost all his parts—hope he bought good insurance.”
“He shouldn’t have tried to fight three opponents at once—being surrounded is instant death. Black dragons aren’t good at dealing with attacks from behind, especially since he had an extra joint armor layer on his spine… I don’t know what he was thinking.”
“Too many enhancers,” Melita shrugged. “Got delusions of being the best in the world.”
“…Makes sense.”
The two dragon friends discussed the just-finished match enthusiastically, but even Amber, usually the chattiest, didn’t interrupt.
After a few seconds, Melita suddenly seemed to realize something. She quickly turned her gaze toward Gawain and the others, apologetic: “Ah—sorry, we got a little too caught up…”
Gawain didn’t know how to respond. For some reason, he suddenly recalled the first time he met Melita Penita—the elegant, mysterious woman who visited under the night sky, wearing a purple gauze dress and a pale violet veil. But that image was quickly shattered by the nearly deafening roars from the arena.
Before him was just a blue dragon lady, fired up over a gladiatorial match.
“No worries,” Gawain shook his head. “It’s clear you really enjoy this.”
“Actually, I don’t like it that much—extreme competitions are a bit too rowdy for me,” Melita said with an awkward smile. “But once you get into the atmosphere, it’s hard not to get swept up by the emotions… I usually don’t watch this.”
Noretta noticed that Gawain and the others seemed uninterested in the arena: “Is this kind of competition… a bit boring for you?”
“Just a little… um, too intense,” Amber finally spoke, scratching her head with an embarrassed, somewhat impolite grin. “As a competitive game, isn’t this a bit too bloody?”
“Well, yeah, it might not really suit human tastes… that’s our mistake,” Melita said sincerely, bowing her head. “Extreme competitions have only recently become popular in Talrond. We were too eager to show you some of the ‘newer things’ here.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Gawain said casually, glancing once more toward the arena. A cleanup crew was already inside, gathering discarded parts and severed limbs, operating large machines to wash away the spilled oil and blood. Nearby, small teams guarded several exits beneath the dome. Gawain saw one team approach staff to hand over the scrapped parts and still-living biological tissue, loading them onto a vehicle. “Yeah, this place is definitely a bit too noisy.”
Under the night sky, blue and white dragons took to the air again, circling above the Extreme Arena.
From this height, Gawain saw the “giant dome” of alloy and high-strength polymer illuminated by countless lights inside and out. The steel support structures and the maze of streets around the arena intertwined like the fine branches of a nest, sprawling outward.
The roaring and rousing music faded into a distant hum. The oppressive irritation weighing on his chest gradually lifted. The arena dome even took on a certain beauty in Gawain’s eyes.
It looked like a crystal egg lit from within, quietly resting in a nest of metal and concrete, nurturing blood, oil, and steel.
Talrond had “given birth” to this egg… but what had given birth to Talrond itself? The dragons reveling around the arena—were they intoxicated by the celebration, or by the intoxication itself?
Gawain’s thoughts wandered uncontrollably until Melita’s voice suddenly rumbled like distant thunder, snapping him back: “Still thinking about the arena? Sorry… now that I think about it, Noretta and I were so focused on showing you the ‘complete Talrond’ that we didn’t consider human aesthetics and worldview. Some things that seriously don’t suit human tastes probably shouldn’t have been shown to you.”
“No, I didn’t mind,” Gawain shook his head. “I was just thinking about other things.”
“That’s good,” Melita seemed relieved, then shook her head. “Actually, Noretta and I got a bit… overexcited. Few dragons get the chance to openly show visitors like you around Talrond. We hope our eagerness to present these things didn’t leave you with a bad impression.”
Gawain smiled immediately. “Not at all. Actually, I’m quite… happy.”
He wasn’t just being polite—he genuinely found this trip to Talrond novel and interesting. Aside from the occasional deep thoughts and worries about the situation behind Talrond, this eye-opening journey was a pleasant surprise. After all, in his previous life, he never got to play CyberX 2077 before he died…
This trip was his dream come true.
Noretta, of course, had no idea what Gawain was really thinking. She clearly thought his words were mostly polite, so she responded with an awkward but courteous laugh.
The brightly lit land of Talrond quickly receded beneath the blue dragon lady’s embarrassed laughter, fading into the depths of night.
Over the next two days, Melita and Noretta became Gawain and his companions’ “personal guides.”
Under the two dragon ladies’ lead, Gawain, Amber, and Veronica explored nearly every corner of Agondor, even visiting two nearby cities and the coastal factory clusters. After the initial shock and unpreparedness of the first day, their mindset settled. They began to truly tour this bizarre world with a sightseeing spirit.
Amber seemed very happy—though she still couldn’t make sense of these dragons who were nothing like the legends, she had clearly given up trying to figure it out. Relaxed, she started to genuinely enjoy the hospitality and the pleasures of the tour.
Even Veronica, usually so reserved, allowed her curiosity to run free. She approached the journey with the mindset of both a tourist and a scholar, eagerly striking up conversations with the newly acquainted dragons, asking about Talrond’s customs and traditions. She borrowed some translated tomes from Melita—texts carefully rendered by Omega—and delved into the dragons’ cultural evolution and legendary tales. Everyone could see she was genuinely enjoying herself, no longer hiding behind her usual serene, ever-smiling mask.
But Gawain knew this “tour” was only part of his visit to Talrond. The truly important moment of this trip—the reason he was here—was still to come: his meeting with the Dragon Goddess Enya.
He didn’t have to wait long.
On the fourth day after arriving in Talrond, the high-ranking dragon priest with golden vertical pupils and a solemn demeanor appeared before him once again. At that moment, Gawain and his companions were standing atop a mountain outside Agondor, gazing out over the landscape. Under the night sky, Talrond shimmered with a blend of starlight and lantern glow, while a vast curtain of aurora borealis stretched overhead—a sight rarely seen in the human world. The dragon priest seemed to materialize directly from the night sky itself, as if by some teleportation magic.
“My lord wishes to have a private audience with you,” Hrelgor announced, conveying the will of the Dragon Goddess Enya.
“A private audience?” Amber, who had been admiring the view nearby, stepped forward in surprise. “This time, we’re not coming along?”
“Please understand,” Hrelgor said with a perfectly composed smile, the kind he maintained for everyone, and nodded politely to Amber. “This is my lord’s wish.”
Amber and Veronica, narrating from the sidelines, both furrowed their brows slightly. Gawain, however, was not surprised in the least. In fact, he had been anticipating this moment since the day before. A faint smile crossed his lips as he said to Hrelgor, “It seems the goddess finally wants to discuss something more profound with me. When shall we depart?”
“If it’s convenient for you, we can leave immediately,” Hrelgor replied promptly. “I can take you directly to the Upper Sanctuary.”
Gawain thought for a moment, then pulled out his pocket watch, flipped open the cover, and glanced at the time before closing it and nodding to Hrelgor. “I’m free—this is perfect timing.”
Hrelgor’s gaze lingered briefly on the mechanical watch, then quickly shifted away. He stepped forward, spreading his hands slightly, and a soft golden glow appeared out of nowhere, enveloping the area around Gawain completely. “Then allow me to escort you.”
In the next instant, the golden light expanded rapidly, transforming into a beam that connected earth and sky. As the light faded, Gawain and the high priest had vanished from the sight of the others.
(End of chapter)