Vol 8. Chapter 5: The Blazing Sun

“Muse, that’s not how you draw inferences.”

Leon stood, scooping Muse into his arms as well, and began walking toward the dormitory building.

“Between good friends, you still have to say ‘thank you.’ What if suddenly, Hefei went home and told Old Constantine, ‘Father, Father, Uncle Leon’s daughter told me I love you, I love you.’ Then Old Constantine would freeze for a second, and immediately storm over to the Silver Dragon Sanctuary to demand, ‘Leon, you bastard, what on earth are you teaching my daughter?!’”

Muse half-understood, but she still nodded obediently.

“Muse remembers, Daddy.”

The couple escorted Muse back to her dormitory, where her roommate Hefei was still waiting.

After exchanging a few words, Leon and Rosvisser left.

“Leon,” Rosvisser asked with concern, “what do you plan to do next?”

Leon rubbed his chin with one hand, frowning in thought. After a moment, he replied,

“From the extent of voidification discovered in the Cave, it doesn’t seem like the Demon Sword fragments are spreading through Samael all that quickly. And Wilson and Senior Claudia both said they’ll immediately mobilize Sky City and the other dragon clans to investigate the spread. So for now, we can temporarily turn to some other matters. Mm... I think it’s about time we paid a visit to the descendants of Apollo. The Demon Sword fragments concern the Void. Even if they don’t acknowledge their heritage or Apollo’s glory, I still want to see for myself what’s going on with them.”

Rosvisser nodded.

“Alright. When do we set out?”

Leon stopped in his tracks, both hands shoved into his pockets.

Rosvisser walked a few steps ahead before noticing he hadn’t followed. She turned back.

“What is it?”

Leon chuckled.

“No time like the present, dear. Why don’t we go first thing in the morning?”

Rosvisser blinked in surprise, then smiled. Folding her arms over her chest, she said softly:

“Seems you and I interpret ‘no time like the present’ a bit differently.”

Leon arched a brow, grinning. “And how’s that?”

The words had barely left his mouth when, behind Rosvisser, a pair of silver dragon wings unfurled in an instant.

In the moonlight, the wings shimmered resplendently, radiating sanctity and majesty.

Rosvisser stretched out her hand, her pale nails catching a faint glow.

“May I invite you on a spontaneous midnight trip, husband?”

After years of marriage to Leon, Rosvisser had gradually shifted from the steady type to someone more inclined to act on impulse.

Leon smiled. Naturally, he had no reason to refuse.

After all, he had long wanted to visit the tribe of Apollo’s descendants himself. The matter of the Demon Sword fragments had only pushed the task to the very top of his list.

“So... off we go!”

The silver dragon soared skyward, her slender form vanishing into the night.

...

After several hours of flight, Leon and Rosvisser arrived outside the territory of Apollo’s winged descendants around seven in the morning.

Both were descendants of primordial gods. The Golden Eagle Clan had declined after Hera took away the Thunder Spirit Core, forced to retreat to remote lands and live quietly.

But Apollo’s descendants were far more high-profile. Their territory lay in the southern central regions of Samael. Compared to the Golden Eagles’ “backwater,” this place could only be described as prosperous.

“According to Sherry’s intelligence, Apollo’s descendants call themselves the Blazing Sun Clan. Their governing system is not quite the same as the Golden Eagles’ twin priesthood,” Rosvisser said.

“Oh? How so?”

Rosvisser explained:

“The Golden Eagles’ twin priests were relatively independent. Blessed directly by Hera, they were born through Zeus’s power itself. Both their wisdom and strength far surpassed the ordinary clansfolk. With such figures managing the tribe, no one objected. But when Apollo ignited the sun with his own body, he did not leave behind any direct offspring or ‘heirs’ to manage his people. And what he did leave—his divine relic—we mentioned it before. It carries Apollo’s immense power, power strong enough to reignite the sun itself. But for a thousand years, no one among the Blazing Sun Clan has managed to wield it. Many even lost their lives attempting it. This is one reason they refuse to acknowledge Apollo. So unlike the Golden Eagles, whose leaders were divinely chosen, the Blazing Sun Clan’s rulers are decided more like the dragon clans: every so often, they hold a trial. Whoever proves the strongest claims the throne.”

Though both the Golden Eagles and the Blazing Sun were descendants of primordial gods, their histories and internal structures had diverged drastically.

Neither could be said to be better—their different environments had simply produced different outlooks and beliefs.

“That makes sense. Setting aside the relic, the overall strength of the Blazing Sun Clan must far surpass that of the Golden Eagles.”

Leon spoke slowly:

“Their trial-based system of succession has kept them sharp for centuries. Strength not only protects themselves but their people. That’s how they’ve managed to hold territory in such a rich and resourceful region.”

Rosvisser nodded in agreement.

“But let me remind you, Leon—among races that have lived under trial and struggle for centuries, tempers are rarely mild.”

Leon blinked, shrugged, and teased:

“I know. You dragons are like that.”

“My temper’s very good.”

“Really?”

“Of course. If I weren’t, I’d have killed you back in that dungeon years ago instead of giving you a chance to speak.”

“You’re lying. You clearly praised me as handsome back then. You must have been charmed by my—”

“Shut up!”

The couple bantered as they descended slowly at the border of the Blazing Sun Clan’s ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) territory.

Rosvisser shifted back into human form, and together they walked forward.

They came to a mountainside, from where they could see the Blazing Sun Clan’s capital city several kilometers away.

“Oh... this city rivals the grandeur of your Empire.”

Rosvisser was a little taken aback.

Her surprise came from the fact that the Golden Thunder Clan had possessed nothing like this.

Compared to a true city, the Golden Thunder lived more like a tribe. They weren’t destitute barbarians, but their settlement was simple, rustic, and rough.

The Blazing Sun’s capital, by contrast, was a concrete reflection of its own development.

Without the strength of either a human empire or a powerful dragon clan, no one could have built a city-state of such scale.

As a man who had lived through it, General Leon couldn’t resist a jab.

“Then I can only hope they aren’t as unreasonable as the last generation of the Empire’s rulers.”

Rosvisser pursed her lips in a faint smile.

“We’ll see soon enough.”

“Yeah.”

With that, the couple set off toward the Blazing Sun Clan’s main city.