The stormy and calm mix of everything proved to be too uncomfortable for the knightly duo.

"It's too cold and too hot. I'll never get used to this." Yaromech sneezed, his snot hanging down before disintegrating due to the intense atmosphere.

A mountainous hollow space of stone architecture, the large gateways and sheer size made the two look like mere sand amongst a grand desert.

The dragon's lair was truly a torrential place, and not a lot of things could exist inside it.

The sheer essence pressure was so dense that it began clumping together, forming pockets of high-essence areas, but that also meant it formed negative-essence areas—places with near-zero essence.

It was like walking, but instead of a stable atmosphere, it would be like walking on the crushing depths of the ocean floor, then suddenly being transported into space with no protection.

To circumvent this, Felix and his long-term friend and teacher Yaromech formed a small bubble around them using their essence.

But it seemed that wasn't enough for Yaromech's nostrils.

"I should've switched places with Alaric, damn it," he exclaimed.

"You allowed your lust to take control of you. Do you honestly think you have a chance at courting a dragon?" Felix rebutted.

Yaromech paused in his tracks, and so did Felix.

His old teacher raised three fingers and glared at Felix. "Thrice—three times where a dragon and a lesser being paired together in harmony."

Aren't those stories from thousands of years ago? What are the chances of that happening again? Felix thought, ashamed of his respected senior.

To teach him a lesson, Felix closed his eyes as if recalling something important.

He opened them, his green eyes now becoming a sour and disgusting color instead of the vibrant, forest-like hue.

"I received a message from one of the magic towers while you were asleep. Alaric's currently meeting with the head of the Holy Knight Order.

So...

Let that fact be a lesson to you." He smirked mischievously before continuing to walk.

Yaromech gasped. "The head? You mean Vanessa? That Vanessa?"

Despite wanting to kneel in pain so badly, Yaromech dropped into a fetal position instead.

What a missed opportunity.

That sentence was written all over Yaromech's face. "Fu-...dge me..."

Yaromech almost broke his creed, but he didn't in the end which made Felix happy and proud at the sight.

Continuing further down the endless, mountain-like hallway, they were eventually greeted by an equally massive door.

This must be it... Felix admired the scale, but there was something off-putting.

This is definitely bigger than their actual bodies. Isn't this a little bit too much? Instead of feeling small in front of the gate, he felt it to be overcompensating.

Yaromech almost broke his neck trying to look up, but he wasn't that impressed by the size. "I think I can push this open," he said.

I don't think you need to... Felix observed something particular about the design.

There are two other lines beside the center line.

Felix stepped forward while his partner was still looking up. He pressed his palms on the cold, hard stone and began pushing it open. Despite the width being lowered down to human size, its height remained that of a tall spire.

The two entered an enormous cavern where the last remaining dragons slept their worries away inside their own little nests scattered across the dome-like room, like constellations.

But in the knight's own reference scale, before them was a luscious courtyard—or perhaps even a park.

A few dozen dragons in their human form roamed around, but what was most interesting was that most of them looked rather young.

This clearly represented the entire species' state, their older population was dwindling.

Before they could explore the park themselves, a colossal green dragon descended before them like a deity.

Despite the hurricane-level winds its wings created, the greenery wasn't even disturbed.

Even fauna can evolve under a stressing atmosphere where only dragons can survive.

Once the dragon made itself comfortable, it suddenly glowed into a piercing light, condensing into the shape of a respectable lady.

"Greetings, knights of prophecy." She performed a perfect mimicry of a human curtsy before them.

The two knights returned her greeting. After that, Yaromech was about to speak.

But before he could even open his mouth, the green dragon cut him off with her graceful voice.

Thankfully, Yaromech did not mind at all. There's a beautiful lady in front of him after all.

"The lord is waiting for you. Only one may come." She said.

That's right, I'm not surprised.

The spawns of that serpent aren't restricted to monster-like forms—they can also spawn as plagues.

Even dragons aren't immune to this fact, and due to the lack of dragon biology knowledge, only dragons could study them. But there were simply too few dragons specialized in that.

This place isn't their nest—it's more like their coffin.

Before Felix could step up and take the responsibility, Yaromech was already nudging him to go, bobbing his eyebrows up and down as he did so. "You do the diplomacy," he whispered.

This bastard... Felix glared at him.

"I'll go," Felix answered the call.

The lady nodded. "I'll lead the way."

As soon as the dragon said that, Yaromech suddenly became paralyzed, staying completely still as the two left him behind in the park.

***

They'd been walking for nearly an hour, most of it up a staircase—a terribly long and wide spiral that might as well have led to nowhere.

"We're here. This is as far as I'll go," the dragon said, stopping.

She pointed at a small, human-sized door. "He's waiting."

After completing her duty, the green dragon walked toward an open window that showed the desolate landscape surrounding the dragon's den.

She leapt off, and a shower of light erupted beneath the window.

Felix saw her massive silhouette in the distance, flying farther and farther away.

Once she was out of sight, Felix took a few more steps and finally reached the door.

Knocking thrice, he entered a humble and tiny reading room that looked completely different from the rest of the dragons' architecture.

It was refined to human taste, pristine wooden furniture and glossy flooring with intricate designs.

In the center was a grand desk, and of course—

The King of Dragons himself.

The Void Dragon.

Sagittarius.

A strangely young-looking king, appearing no older than a man in his late twenties, with no wings and no horns.

His hair was deeper than the void itself, and his eyes were more starry than the universe.

This was as close to a perfect being as one could get.

The king was simply reading a book about romance, ignoring the knight's presence.

But Felix didn't mind, standing straight like a stiff tree. "Lord Sagittarius, the alliance will push deeper into Serpent's Cocoon next month. We seek your aid—

"I'll lead my army personally. You have my word," the king interrupted. His voice reverberated through Felix, oddly soothing to the body.

Closing the book and setting it down, Sagittarius stood and walked toward a staircase that led even higher.

"We'll talk about the details tomorrow. I'm sure your travel was taxing, given our habitat," he said, gesturing for Felix to follow.

Felix followed behind, but the dragon didn't permit it. "The stairs are wide enough for us to walk side by side," the Void Dragon said, his tone calm but carried the weight of a star.

Felix blinked, he was surprised.

He had imagined dragons as proud tyrants portrayed by lore, not courteous people.

"Where are we going?" he asked, deliberately omitting any title to see how far he could push his luck.

"I have a balcony at the peak," the king replied. "The sunset view is magnificent. I must not miss it—

it's the only time the world above still feels alive."

For the King of Dragons, this was a bit... unexpected. Felix had braced himself for arrogance, and not whatever this was.

"Do you find me terrifying?" the Void Dragon asked, his deep voice echoing faintly off the stairwell walls.

Felix hesitated only a moment before answering. "Not anymore," he said softly.

The dragon smiled, but when that happened, Felix almost took his words back.

"I don't deserve to be the King of Dragons. I'm only the king because I'm the strongest remaining."

But all dragons are strong. This guy really is the apex, Felix thought, admiring the king's pride and humility.

"We've practically given up on finding a cure. Instead, we're prioritizing the safety of our hatchlings, our children, and those who aren't infected yet.

Don't be afraid of mingling with them. The disease only infects through dragon-to-dragon contact."

"...I'm sorry to hear that."

The Void Dragon turned to Felix. "Don't be. Even I've accepted my fate."

"You're infected?" Felix asked, his face showing concern.

"I caught it while purging the Serpent's spawn."

. . .

The two stayed silent after that, only speaking again when they reached the top and sat near a small circular table.

"Before the sun sets, I would like to ask something," Sagittarius said, looking at the knight with his starry eyes.

"Are you interested in mating with one of my subjects?"

?!?

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