Chapter 49
"Depends on the situation."
"Then I refuse! I’m afraid of blood! Anything else, but drawing blood from my body is absolutely out of the question!"
Soren stared at it.
"You’re refusing me?" His grip tightened on the Heavenly Resentment Demonic Sword, one more word of backtalk and the sword was going in.
The dragon turned to stone, this person is simply a devil! Tears swam in its eyes.
It clamped a claw over its own mouth and shook its head hard, no objections, none, it would listen to Soren.
"At least you know what’s good for you, saved yourself another sword."
He cut his finger, forced out a drop of blood essence, shaped it into his blood contract totem, and drove it into the dragon’s body with one palm.
A faint blood mark surfaced between its brows, it shuddered, face contorting, as if it had parted ways with its dignity forever.
The dragon whined, dabbing at nonexistent tears with a claw. "Heavens above, earth below, what sin did I ever commit? All I did was get a tiny bit greedy and swallow a tiny, tiny billion Spirit people."
"Did I really deserve to be sealed in this pit for so long, only to end up as somebody’s mount?"
"Out of the wolf’s den and straight into the tiger’s jaws, that’s me!"
"You’re the first person ever to form a blood contract with me..."
"By the way, I still don’t know your name."
The dragon seemed possessed by the spirit of a drama queen, rubbing its enormous head against Soren’s arm, the atmosphere turned deeply strange.
Lysara rolled her eyes.
She was getting suspicious too, is this goofy thing really the legendary Ancestor-realm expert? How is it more spineless than me? Subdued by Soren just like that.
She didn’t know the dragon’s nature was to worship the strong, nor that the surest way to conquer it was to beat it until it folded, its lightning-fast surrender made no sense to her.
If Soren told her plainly that she was the same breed, that the more he intimidated her the more loyal and fond of him she became, she would stand there thunderstruck, naturally, he told his secrets to no one.
"Soren."
"Starting today, I am your master."
The dragon nodded. "This ancestor... ah, no, this little dragon, Orathis, is from today onward the follower at Master’s side."
A pretty stylish name, honestly, spirit dragons came in several breeds, and for this kind of Heaven-Robbing Black Dragon, winged across the back yet striding the ground on great claws, Soren could see why the full title ran long.
"What kind of ridiculous name is that..." Lysara muttered.
"Hey, hey, hey, why are you insulting a dragon?" Orathis had lost its Dragon Pearl, but it still held Middle-Tier Spirit Emperor strength, her mutter rang in its ear like a megaphone.
It grunted and swung its huge head around, looking her up and down. "What’s your status?"
"What’s your name?"
"I..." Lysara froze, arguing would be pointless and might sour Soren’s mood, so she gave a light harrumph.
"You can call me Lysara."
"As for what I am..." What am I, exactly... The question tangled her up.
"I’m about the same as you."
She meant they were both subordinates, Orathis’s innocent, bewildered response spun it into a spectacular misunderstanding.
"What? You’re a mount too? You’re human, you can’t transform, how does Master ride you?"
"On your back? That’s absurd."
"Oh, I see, he must stand on you!"
Orathis pictured it, high in the boundless sky, Soren touring the world standing on Lysara, people would talk wherever they went.
Other Demon Emperors rode demonic birds, beasts, or if truly impressive, Beast Emperors and transformed Spirits, Soren, standing on a woman!?
"Stupid pig!" Lysara’s mouth twitched twice before she fired back.
"Hey, why are you scolding a dragon?"
"Little brat, I might not beat Master, but you think I can’t beat you?" Orathis rolled up imaginary sleeves along its massive forelegs.
"Get along peacefully."
"Hey, yes sir." Orathis snapped to attention, Lysara nodded too.
"Yes."
"Your eye’s fine, I take it?" Soren asked, eyeing the huge pupil he’d carved open.
"A little scratch like that won’t affect me, though this little dragon might need to eat a few Spirit people for nutrition, so it heals faster." Orathis swallowed hard, the gulp sounded like a waterfall.
"You’re a Spirit yourself, why do you like eating Spirits?"
"Spirit blood is delicious, very crunchy."
Soren frowned. "And humans? Demons?"
"Demons are alright... ah, no, no, no, I have never eaten a demon!" Does that reaction sound like it’s never eaten one?
Soren nearly choked. "You don’t need to be nervous, I hold no deep feelings for the demon race, the count of demons dead by my hand is not small."
"Then I have definitely eaten a few, around a hundred thousand, maybe? Just chewing them as snacks, variety for the palate."
"What about humans?" Lysara was curious.
"Humans taste the worst, once or twice is fine, as a challenge for the taste buds, too many and the nausea sets in." Orathis raised one claw-finger and wagged it, brow furrowed, it did not appear to be lying.
Humans taste terrible! Lysara had no response to that.
"Exactly how many Spirits did you eat, to provoke that Ice Heaven Alluring Fox Ancestor into sealing you at any cost?"
Orathis spread its claws in a helpless dragon shrug. "Didn’t I say? Truly just a tiny, tiny billion."
Soren wore a half-smile. "Never mind the count, if it hadn’t sparked public outrage, you wouldn’t have ended up like this."
"Master truly understands this dragon!" Orathis gave him a big thumbs-up with one claw.
"Back in the day, I carried a resounding title."
"They called me the Heaven-Robbing Black Dragon, Bane of All Spirits!" It puffed up as it boasted.
"Any Spirit, even my own kind, unlucky enough to cross my path could only become this dragon’s rations."
"Hey, hey, hey, little girl, what’s with turning your head away? You think I’m bragging?"
"Weren’t you just beaten by Master until you rolled all over the floor..." Lysara shot back, merciless.
The sentence went into Orathis’s heart like a knife, its massive body swayed, staggering back three steps.
When had it ever eaten a defeat this total? It held its breath a long while and found nothing to say.