Chapter 183: Bound
A warm smile finally appeared on her face.
She bent down, lifted the young girl into her arms with practiced ease, and gently brushed a few strands of pale-blonde hair away from her face.
"Alright, Amelia," she said softly, her voice carrying a warmth that had been absent only moments ago. "But only for a little while. Mom has a lot of work to do today."
Amelia’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Yay!" she cheered, happily wrapping her arms around Cassie’s neck. "Just a little while is enough!"
Hearing her daughter’s innocent laughter, Cassie couldn’t help but smile a little more genuinely.
For that brief moment...
The terrifying vision, the endless black fog, and the ruined world all seemed far away.
She simply wanted to be a mother.
...
Grimwood Continent.
Several hours had passed since Asher had completed what he was trying to do.
They were no longer inside the dragon’s cave. Instead, they stood atop one of the highest peaks of the mountain, where the entire forest stretched endlessly before them.
The scenery was breathtaking.
An endless sea of emerald trees covered the land below, while crystal-clear rivers wound through the forest like silver serpents. The setting sun painted the sky in shades of orange, crimson, and gold, its warm light illuminating the mountains and forests beneath it. A cool breeze drifted across the peak, carrying with it the fresh scent of nature and the distant sound of flowing water.
Several chairs had been placed near the edge of the mountain.
Every one of Asher’s vessels sat quietly upon them, each holding a glass of fruit juice in one hand as they silently admired the sunset before them. None of them spoke. They simply enjoyed the peaceful scenery, as though moments like these were more valuable than anything else.
Standing a short distance behind them, the dragon watched the Asher vessel in silence.
His expression was unusually complicated.
One of Asher’s vessels turned toward the dragon and spoke in a calm, relaxed tone.
"Do you want some juice?" he asked, lightly swirling the glass in his hand. "It’s surprisingly good." He then looked back at the endless forest stretching beneath the mountain. "And you should take the time to enjoy this scenery once in a while. The view from here is beautiful, yet you spend all your time cooped up inside that cave of yours."
The dragon glanced at the glass before shifting his gaze back to Asher. His expression remained as indifferent as ever.
"I don’t need your juice."
His voice turned cold.
"And now that you’re done with whatever madness you were attempting, leave this place."
A faint pressure spread from his body as he continued,
"Before I lose my patience and kill every one of your vessels."
Asher’s vessels looked at one another before letting out light laughter.
One of them exaggeratedly raised both hands in surrender and said, "Oh... I’m so scared. Please don’t kill me."
The dragon’s expression darkened. He could clearly hear the mockery in Asher’s voice, and for a brief moment, a powerful aura leaked from his body. Yet, despite his growing anger, he restrained himself and didn’t lose his temper.
Seeing that reaction, Asher’s smile only widened.
He took another sip of his juice before casually continuing,
"Relax, I’ll leave soon." He gestured toward the peaceful scenery around them. "It’s not like I’m doing any harm to you."
The dragon looked at Asher in silence, his expression remaining calm, but his thoughts were anything but.
’You’re not doing any harm?’
He almost laughed at those words.
’Letting you stay here is like keeping a bomb beside me that could destroy everything around it at any moment.’
His eyes lingered on Asher for a few moments.
’If I hadn’t witnessed your consciousness with my own eyes... if I hadn’t seen what was hidden within you...’
The dragon slowly clenched his fists.
’I would have killed you a long time ago for treating me like this ’.
His gaze remained fixed on Asher’s relaxed expression.
’But not anymore.’
’Unless I want to see this entire continent become another world filled with nothing but corpses... I can’t afford to provoke you.’
Dragon found himself deliberately suppressing his own pride—not because he feared losing a battle, but because he feared what the outcome of that battle might bring to everyone else.
The dragon let out a long, weary sigh before looking directly at Asher. "Just don’t do anything here that could bring harm to the living beings of this continent," he said in a calm yet unusually serious tone. "And leave as soon as you can." He paused for a brief moment, his expression hardening as he continued, "Otherwise... I’ll have no choice but to kill you, even if it’s a decision I’ll end up regretting afterward."
Asher looked at the dragon and replied in a calm voice, "Don’t worry, I won’t. Do I really look like someone who kills for fun?" A faint smile appeared on his face. "I don’t even like killing or fighting." He took another sip of his juice before continuing, "And I’ll be leaving soon. I’m only making preparations so I can leave this place quickly, without having to spend the same amount of time returning that I spent coming here."
The dragon merely scoffed, though he didn’t argue.
Instead, a single thought surfaced in his mind.
’You don’t like killing?’
The image of the endless crimson mountain of corpses immediately appeared before his eyes.The God of Slaughter standing at its peak.The rivers of blood.The countless dead dragons, angels, demons, humans, and creatures he had never even seen before.
The dragon’s expression became increasingly complicated.
’Then what... was that mountain of corpses?’
The dragon didn’t respond. He simply gave Asher one last glance before spreading his massive wings. With a single powerful flap, he rose into the sky and flew away, disappearing beyond the distant mountains without looking back.
Asher’s vessels quietly watched the dragon’s figure grow smaller until it vanished beyond the horizon.
After a long silence, one of the vessels softly spoke,
"The strongest being in the world... almost impossible to kill, yet still bound due to his duties".
He took a slow sip of his juice before looking back at the sunset.