Chapter 145: The Fallen Desert
"Why are you not moving, Adonis? The enemies are on the way to destroy the nests of innocent dragons."
While Millia was in a state of panic, Adonis calmly looked to his right, where the broken, mangled bodies of Sky Serpents lay alongside the massive pebble which now stood like a mountain.
"What are you looking at?" Millia asked irritably, following his gaze.
As soon as her eyes landed on the destruction to her left, she was so dumbfounded that her mind shut down for a second.
Massive Sky Serpents, hundreds in number, lay crushed into bloody pulp, leaving no trace of their identities. Above all, it was the massive mountain range that had caused such a chilling annihilation.
"Y-you did this?" Millia asked, trembling.
Adonis didn’t look at her. Instead, he reached out and caught a stray leaf drifting through the air, rolling it between his thumb and forefinger.
"Yes, I did it. The nests are safe, Millia. I didn’t just kill them. I erased the very idea of their victory."
He turned his head slowly, his eyes devoid of the warmth he had shown her moments before. They were cold, vast, and terrifyingly empty.
"But you were reckless, darling. You nearly destroyed those settlements," Millia retorted, though her eyes held considerable warmth.
"Destruction is inevitable if we want to build something, my love. Anyway, why don’t you give me the location of the next battlefield? I was a little busy teaching two students how to win a war," he said evilly, glancing back at Raza and Sima.
"Since when did you take on students? That is very rare for you," she replied.
Taking the opportunity, Raza and Sima stepped forward.
"My Queen, my name is Raza, and this is my friend Sima. We were just saved by His Majesty at Aestrim Village," Raza informed her carefully, having noticed the intimacy between the two.
Millia was happy (very happy) after hearing Raza address her as Queen. She immediately reached out to the red dragon with an affectionate touch.
"You are not so bad, Raza. I think you will make a fine apprentice for Adonis. But I should tell you something," she whispered in barely perceivable voice. "He has never taken anyone as his apprentice before, so do not waste this chance."
Raza showed a wide smile. "I won’t, My Queen. Thank you."
"And you too, Sima!"
Sima nodded. "It is all due to our King’s generosity, Your Highness."
"Hm, I said they are my students, not apprentices Millia," Adonis said quickly as if afraid of responsibilities come with it.
And Millia knew it well.
"They are practically the same thing, my King," Millia added, smiling mischievously.
"Ahem, sorry to interrupt, Commander and Your Highness, but there is an urgent message from the command center. About a thousand Sky Serpents are heading for the Dragon Palace as we speak. The Queen orders us to stop them at all costs," reported one of the female shadows, Cyril.
Millia and Adonis instantly became serious.
"Cyril, did they provide the location?" Millia asked.
"Yes. They are now in the south-western direction, at the Fallen Desert."
"Quick, we need to move immediately," Millia ordered.
The Shadow Legion members swiftly went atop their partner dragons, leaving Millia and Adonis glancing at each other.
"You are coming, right?" she asked.
"Of course. But I am thinking of something else. Do you happen to know where this so-called Sky King is currently residing?"
She frowned and replied, "I heard he resides in a flying fortress called the Sky Palace. The precise location is hard to find. But you should not even think of going there, Adonis. The Sky Serpent King is a level 80 powerhouse; not even your beloved wife Sapphira managed to defeat him in a one-on-one fight."
His eyes shone with mad fervor.
"Level 80? That feels like a real challenge. But do you have any idea how much EXP I can obtain by slaughtering him?"
Looking at the excitement in his eyes, Millia wanted to cry.
"Will you never let me live in peace, Adonis? Do you know how worried I was when you headed to the Northern border?" Her eyes suddenly teared up as she became emotional.
The legion was still waiting, watching. Adonis regained his composure, then hugged her, feeling her tough persona begin to crack as her fragile side emerged.
"I am sorry, my love," he breathed in her scent. "I will go with you. Are you happy now?"
With just a single hug and a few warm words, Millia felt all her worries and anxieties swept away. She wiped her tears on his robe, once again becoming the ever-confident and determined commander of the Shadow Legion.
---
The Fallen Desert.
It was not always a wasteland of drifting sands and schorched bone. Four centuries ago, it was known as the Azure Steppes, a lush expanse of fertile plains that served as the primary hunting grounds for the dragons.
The history of its "Fall" is tied directly to the cataclysmic battle between Ancalagon the Black and the Abyssal Behemoth, a Devil Beast of such corruption that its very presence withered the grass beneath its feet.
Four centuries ago, the Devil Beast emerged from a rift in the southern crust, threatening to consume the Dragon Palace itself.
Ancalagon, then the reigning Dragon King, intercepted the beast over the Azure Steppes.
The battle lasted for seven days and seven nights.
It is said that Ancalagon’s flames were so intense that they didn’t just burn the enemy, they boiled the moisture out of the atmosphere. By the fourth day, the rivers had evaporated; by the seventh, the soil had been calcined into fine, white dust.
The climax of the war occurred when Ancalagon performed a final, desperate act to seal the beast. He unleashed a forbidden Dragon Art that pressurized the entire region’s ether. The resulting explosion obliterated the Devil Beast but also permanently altered the geography of the land.
Noticing the tens od hundreds of commander-level Sky Serpents swimming above, even the spirits of fallen held their breath, as if something unforeseen were about to happen yet again.