Now his whereabouts were unknown, and his enemy was an even more mysterious existence behind the Blood Race, one that even Laura found difficult to handle, and who was also proficient in profound Space Magic…
“I…”
Kleya’s voice was filled with bitterness.
“I don’t know. About that level of Space Magic, about the secrets behind the Blood Race, I know no more than you do. Even Laura is… what can I do?”
A deep sense of frustration surged within her.
She was hailed as one of the Empire’s top mages, the Headmaster of Starlight Academy, yet at this moment she couldn’t even guarantee her own disciple’s safety, nor did she have any clue where to search for him.
This powerlessness was more suffocating than any powerful enemy.
“You all go back and rest first.”
That was all she could say in the end, her voice laced with undisguised exhaustion and guilt.
“About Yize… I will use all my connections and resources to inquire, but… don’t hold out too much hope. Some things are beyond our capabilities.”
Luke, Swan, and Emma looked at the Headmaster, who had never appeared so haggard, and all their words of doubt and entreaty got stuck in their throats.
They saluted in silence and retreated from the Headmaster’s office. Outside the corridor, the sky over Starlight Academy seemed to be shrouded in gloom.
At the same time, somewhere on the continent.
Here, the air was thick with a cloying smell of blood, the odor of old magic potions, and an even more ancient, violent draconic pressure.
The walls were embedded with countless magic crystals emitting a faint glow, illuminating two figures on the central platform.
Li En raised his head with difficulty, looking at the being who had brought him from the Betty Battlefield—Jellal.
The other had long since discarded the concealing gray robe, revealing his true form beneath:
A slender body covered in dark-gold, metallic-sheen dragon scales, with ferocious bone spurs protruding from the joints, and a pair of folded dragon wings behind his back that seemed made of shadow and bone.
His vertical pupils were the color of molten gold, cold and indifferent.
Compared to his own twisted, chaotic, monsterized form, Jellal’s dragonization was far more “perfect,” more “harmonious,” as if this form was the one he was meant to possess, carrying a cold beauty and absolute pressure.
“The resonance reaction of the Dragon Blood is clear… but Iguneel’s core remnant soul is not with you.”
Jellal’s voice echoed in the laboratory, unreadable.
He reached out a finger covered in scales, the tip entwined with subtle energies of blood and gold mingling together, and lightly traced it across Li En’s skin.
Li En immediately felt the originally violent and uncontrollable Dragon Power within him grow docile, as if meeting its sovereign, and even showed signs of being drawn out!
The shadow of death instantly gripped his heart.
“The power within you stems from a crude absorption of Dragon Blood Essence and the catalysis of negative emotions. In essence, it is an inefficient ‘burning,’ not a ‘fusion.’”
Jellal withdrew his finger, as if inspecting an unsatisfactory work.
“However, relying solely on this trace of dragon blood and your obsessive personality to reach the threshold of nearly S-rank… your body’s adaptability to Dragon Power is rather unexpected.”
Li En suppressed his fear and the instinctive trembling of his body, his mind racing.
He realized that the other party’s goal might never have been him, or at least not entirely him.
“W-Wait! Chief!”
Li En shouted urgently. Before absolute power disparity and the will to survive, he discarded all meaningless pride and resentment.
“You… what you want, I know where it is!”
“There is a human whose Dragon Power is purer and stronger than mine! That is likely what you are looking for!”
Jellal’s vertical pupils shifted slightly, landing on Li En’s face, showing a flicker of interest. “Oh? Go on.”
“His name is Swan Raymond!”
Li En betrayed the information without hesitation—this was his only bargaining chip.
“He is the sole survivor of the Raymond Family!”
“He is now a disciple of Headmaster Kleya at Starlight Academy! I can feel that although his Dragon Power is subtle, its rank is extremely high. It shares the same origin as my power, yet is more… complete!”
“The Raymond Family… there’s actually a survivor?”
A hint of understanding flashed in Jellal’s eyes.
A hundred years ago, during the Dragon Slaying Feast targeting Iguneel, the Raymond Family had been important participants and “collaborators.”
Afterward, part of Iguneel’s Dragon Soul had mysteriously disappeared, and his first suspicion had been that the Raymond Family had hidden it.
Therefore, when he launched the Erosion Plan against humanity, he had specifically instructed No.1 to “cleanse” the Raymond Family, with one of the objectives being to retrieve the Iguneel Dragon Soul.
He hadn’t expected there to be survivors, and one who was very likely the heir to the Dragon Soul!
“No.1… is indeed not thorough enough in his work.”
Jellal muttered to himself, then looked at Li En.
“This information does have some value.”
“The impure Dragon Power within you is nothing more than a drop in the bucket for my current state. Absorbing it or not makes little difference.”
He changed the subject: “You seem very dissatisfied with your current situation? Filled with resentment?”
Li En raised his head, a twisted flame rekindling in his eyes.
“Yes, Chief Jellal!”
“I want to return to the Aolai Empire! There are people there I must kill! There are things I must obtain… and destroy!”
Luke’s face humiliating him in public, Sara and the others’ cold and contemptuous gazes, and that unattainable jealousy burned in his heart.
Especially Yize… the culprit who had stolen all his glory and attention!
He recalled the scene of the black-robed man taking Yize away, and a pleased, sinister smile spread across his face.
“And I must thank you, Chief, for removing Yize, my biggest obstacle! I will never forget this great kindness!”
Upon hearing this, Jellal’s expression turned somewhat odd. “Biggest obstacle?”
Li En was taken aback. “I mean… on the Betty Battlefield, the one you took away with Space Magic…”
“Oh, him.”
A flicker of awkwardness crossed Jellal’s face.
“I didn’t kill him. I just found him a bit… troublesome, and somewhat interesting, so I casually tossed him to the other end of the continent.”
“A free city-state called Stana, tens of thousands of kilometers away.”
“What, you have a grudge against him?”
The smile on Li En’s face froze, then transformed into a deeper venom and a kind of distorted excitement.
Not dead?
Just exiled?
That meant… he still had a chance!
A chance to personally take revenge, a chance to crush everything Yize valued right in front of him!
“Yes! An irreconcilable enmity!”
Li En ground his teeth.
“I thank you, Chief, for leaving me the opportunity for personal revenge!”
Jellal looked at the dark desire barely contained in Li En’s eyes, so obvious it was almost overflowing, and the corner of his mouth curled into a barely perceptible arc.
A pawn like this, full of obsessive motivation and easy to control, might at times be more useful than those deep-thinking Blood Pillar members.
“Very well. Your hatred can become your power.”
Jellal spoke slowly.
“I can give you a chance. For now, follow me and work for me.”
“As for wanting to return to the Empire to settle personal scores… when the time is right, naturally.”
He paused and formally introduced himself for the first time.
“Are you curious about my identity?”
“It doesn’t matter if I tell you. A hundred years ago, people called me the ‘Dragon Slayer.’”
“And I was also the previous Headmaster of Starlight Academy. Jellal—that is my name.”
Li En’s pupils abruptly contracted.
The First Dragonslayer, Jellal?
The Founder of Starlight Academy?
That legendary hero who had perished together with a dragon?
He was still alive, and had turned into this form, becoming one of the masters behind the Blood Race?
The massive shock of information made Li En’s head buzz. The truth from a hundred years ago was clearly shrouded in layers of fog.
But none of that mattered to him.
What mattered was that he had found a stronger backer, someone who could grant him power and support to fulfill his vengeful desires.
“Yes, Chief Jellal! I am willing to serve you!”
Li En knelt on one knee, lowering his head, which still retained traces of draconic features.
Dignity?
Before power and revenge, it was worthless.
Jellal gave a slight nod, and an obscure mental command had already been sent.
The next moment, somewhere in the shadows of the distant Aolai Empire, the First Seat of the Blood Pillar— the most mysterious in movement and unfathomably powerful No.1— received a new order from the Master:
[Target changed. Immediately proceed to the Imperial Capital. Infiltrate Starlight Academy. Target: a human youth named Swan Raymond. Bring him back unharmed. Prioritize ensuring the integrity of the ‘Dragon Soul’ possibly contained within his body. Permission to use any necessary means.]