Abyssal Chronicles

After leaving the central part of the Luminous Royal Academy, which was virtually defenseless and could be described as a hollow fortress, Yumo looked back thoughtfully at the majestic Forbidden Palace standing in the distance on the plains.

"That girl... is she really the Heart of the Sacred Dragon? Are these sacred objects taking on forms these days?"

Yumo muttered to herself.

Although on the surface, Yumo didn’t expose Meliora’s lie, deep down she had already realized her true identity. No matter how much Meliora tried to act cute, the immense power she initially displayed and the holy aura within her magical energy revealed her extraordinary identity.

Adding her super obvious introduction and the nervous way she talked after, Yumo got more and more suspicious. When Meliora said she wasn’t the Sacred Dragon Heart, the way her eyes darted around made Yumo even more sure.

’This goofy, cute, and clumsy little girl is actually the Heart of the Sacred Dragon’

Even within Luminous Royal Academy, not to mention others like Sebastian and Mr. Three, no one knew that the Heart of the Sacred Dragon had successfully taken form. Clearly, this was a huge secret. It made sense for Meliora to hide it. To spare the little girl’s feelings, Yumo decided not to expose her.

’After all... whether or not she is the Sacred Dragon’s heart, doesn’t really matter to me’

The reason this forbidden area is virtually ’undefended’ is probably because the academy believes Meliora is strong enough to protect herself.

The only thing that puzzled Yumo was... that dragon girl seemed pretty strong, her power apparently not inferior to that of Limo, so why did she seem so afraid of her?

"Why?"

She scratched her chin, thinking for a bit.

No matter how much she thought about it, Yumo couldn’t come up with a reasonable explanation. She had never met Meliora before, and there was no way her disguised self could be recognized by that little girl. She hadn’t even used much of her power, so why was the child so afraid of her? Even a couple of glares from her seemed to scare the girl to the point of breaking down...

’Am I that scary?’

Yumo was utterly puzzled.

"Forget it... I won’t think about this anymore... If she can get along well with Yuan’er, that’s good enough. Yuan’er has always wanted a ’peer’ to play with..."

If Yuan’er and Meliora get along well, that’s good too. If in the future there’s a need to forcibly take the Dragon Heart for Mengxi to complete her mission as the Saintess, Yuan’er could easily lure her out.

However,

’Speaking of Yuan’er...’

Thinking of her obedient and cute daughter, Yumo’s expression gradually became more serious.

Recalling Yuan’er’s behavior just now,

Although Yumo didn’t say anything, she felt something was off deep inside.

’Especially when Yuan’er was talking about Meliora, something... felt wrong...’

At that time, Yuan’er either spoke softly with her head down or seemed deliberately vacant and cute...

But in the past,

When talking to her, Yuan’er would never act like this; she would look at her with big, adorable eyes, even if she had done something wrong.

"This kid, why did she suddenly pick up this habit?"

It’s like...

She’s deliberately hiding her feelings and expressions, like she’s keeping something from me...

Come to think of it,

Before Yuan’er left the Winter Forest, she was trained for a while by Kalina, Liyu, Xiao, and Sebastian. They said it was to teach her how to hide her Shadow Power and how to live in the human world as a demon.

’Did she learn something else too?’

Remembering the weird conversation between Xiao and Elf Prince Odom, and the strange behavior of Liyu and Limo after the Sky Dome incident, some odd thoughts popped into Yumo’s head.

But very quickly,

Yumo shook her head like crazy,

"No, no, no... it must be me... overthinking..."

My,

’My Children are so well-behaved... they wouldn’t...’

...

...

--

Meanwhile,

Inside the Forbidden Palace of Luminous Royal Academy,

After watching the black-haired girl leave, Meliora, trembling all over, finally took a deep breath. She sat down on the ground as if a huge weight had been lifted, overwhelmed with relief and joy. The dragon girl couldn’t help but shed a few tears of emotion.

’Whew’

’I didn’t die...’

’I fooled her...’

’I wasn’t turned into dragon steak...’

’I survived, whew...’

...

However, after the burst of joy, Meliora quickly wiped away the tears from her eyes. A serious look appeared in her golden dragon eyes. With the life-or-death crisis over, Meliora started thinking about a very serious issue that affects the whole continent.

"That, that monster, why is she here?!!!"

For hundreds of years,

Meliora always thought that the demon-like girl would just stay quietly in the Winter Forest, especially since there had been no news about her for centuries.

And now,

This homebody demon in her mind actually showed up here at Luminous? Showed up on the continent?! What on earth is going on?!

’Is it really just to get rid of me...’

’Or is there some bigger scheme?’

’Either way,’

’This is a monster I absolutely can’t mess with...’

’If she can appear here so easily, it means her identity probably hasn’t been discovered yet, and no one has been dumb enough to attack her. So... to keep this monster quiet, I... I have to figure out a way to make sure no one provokes this ’wild beast’...’

Even though she considers herself a guardian of continental, supposed to get rid of all evil, Meliora has no plans to risk her life against this monster. In her view, making sure the monster isn’t provoked is the best way to maintain peace.

If she gets as mad as she did eight hundred years ago, Meliora doesn’t think anyone on this continent could stand against her.

But then,

Thinking about all this, Meliora felt super torn and held her head in her hands.

To keep people from messing with that demon-like girl, I feel like I should warn others, like the Red Leaf Royal Family or the people from the Church, to absolutely not go after her.

But,

Given how I am now, turning into a dragon girl at the drop of a hat, can I really convince them not to do something stupid? Those guys are all so full of themselves. What if they don’t listen to me and think they can take her down, and then go straight after her? Wouldn’t that be a disaster?

"Ah, what should I do?!"

Meliora screamed inside her head, super torn about the whole thing.

However,

Just when she was feeling all mixed up, a cute and pleasant voice slowly reached her ears:

"What’s wrong, little Meliora? Why the sad face?"

"Huh?"

Turning her head to look at the pink-haired girl poking her own face, Meliora’s expression became complicated.

"I..."

’Dang it...’

’Almost forgot’

’There’s this one too...’

Meliora felt really mixed about this demon girl called Yuan’er and wasn’t sure how to interact with her.

’I don’t know why she helped me cover up my lie earlier, but either way, if it wasn’t for her, I’d be toast. That demon-like girl seems to really like this pink-haired girl. If she’d told the truth back then, I’d be...’

Thinking this, Meliora hid her displeasure and let Yuan’er happily pinch her cheeks.

As the Dragon King, my face isn’t something people should just pinch. It’s a matter of dignity. But facing Yuan’er’s pinching, I didn’t dare resist and just lowered my head in frustration.

I know very well,

’I can’t go against this pink-haired girl right now. If she gets upset and tattles to that demon girl, I’m probably done for...’

Watching the pink-haired girl next to her, who had a mischievous and excited look on her face, Meliora had a bad feeling deep down.

’I don’t know if it’s just me’

’But it feels like’

’I’ve jumped out of the frying pan... and right into the fire...’

....

....

......…

In the western part of the Ancita continent,

Inside the mountainous region of Modor kingdom ,

A meteor glowing with red and yellow light is zooming through the storm clouds above the mountains. The powerful thunderstorm, acting like a protective barrier, keeps launching massive lightning strikes at the intruding meteor.

However, the lightning, strong enough to obliterate a level-six warrior, can’t even touch the red-yellow meteor. It’s shattered by the terrifying magical power surrounding the meteor and dissipates into the air. The meteor keeps speeding into the storm clouds.

After a mad dash,

The thick clouds suddenly clear,

And as the clouds and dark mist disperse, the world ahead suddenly feels open and clear.

The next moment,

A towering, majestic tower made of red crystals, filled with an ancient and solemn atmosphere, appears right in front of the red-yellow meteor. Anyone into magic would recognize this special building in a heartbeat.

It’s one of the Twin Towers on the continent, a sacred place for mages.

The Red Moon Tower.

As it gets closer to this epic red crystal tower, the red-yellow meteor slows down. After passing through an identity check around the tower, it goes straight through a portal and enters the Red Moon Tower.

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