The Dragon Lord's Aide Wants to Quit [BL] Chapter 476: Within Reach

Surrounded by clashing bodies, furious screeching, and the stench of blood, one wouldn’t think anything good could possibly come out of a situation that practically reeked of inevitable death.

And yet, for one Ilyss Dravaryn Vathros, no opulent estate or glimmering walls could ever give her the same sense of completion that this very moment had given her.

Because on this battlefield, of all places, she’d finally managed to fulfill her life’s greatest wish.

She got to see, even if only for a little while, the two reasons she’d continued fighting to live.

Her missing mate.

And their one and only son.

Ilyss had spent so long trying to imagine what he might look like, remembering all those old speculations about who their baby would eventually take after.

Would his hair be as vibrant as fire or as fine as golden threads?

Would his little nose resemble hers? Would his lips look more like Orryn’s? What about his eyes, or the way they might slant or crinkle whenever he was happy or sad?

But in the end, they’d always circle back to wondering, and perhaps worrying, about which of their personality traits he was most likely to inherit.

Still, they’d come up with all sorts of variations over the years, imagining what their child might be like while waiting for the day he would finally hatch.

And while Ilyss had always thought every single version was perfect, apparently, all of her imagination paled in comparison to the little boy standing right before her eyes.

So unbelievably tiny.

Yet oh so preciously perfect.

"Oh, my baby..." Ilyss whispered shakily.

Without even realizing it, she completely abandoned the red dragon she’d been meaning to attack again.

Her eyes remained firmly locked on Orien as she practically stumbled in her attempt to get to him, while the golden dragonling simply sat there looking completely bewildered, holding a weapon that was somehow much taller than he was.

Orien himself jerked back in surprise when his mother suddenly started running toward him.

Ilyss didn’t care.

She just wanted to reach her baby.

And right behind her was Orryn, who made sure to breathe a massive wall of fire across the ground to deter any approaching enemies before immediately following after his wife.

Unfortunately, before any of them could actually reach each other, a disgruntled shriek suddenly echoed across the battlefield.

"Nooo! How dare you?!"

Everyone’s attention snapped toward the Piercing shriek.

Another ancient dragon had arrived alongside several others, only to be greeted by the sight of the deposed red dragon clan heir lying in a crumpled heap on the ground.

Very, broken.

Lady Seraphyne froze, her eyes widening as she recognized the battered figure as her eldest son. They’d come to Wyrmfall intending to assess the situation for themselves and reevaluate where they stood after seeing what was truly happening.

But never had she imagined she’d be greeted by something like this.

For a single beat, the head of the red dragon clan simply stood there in shock.

Then pure, unadulterated fury consumed her face.

She may have severed their ties for the sake of the clan, but there was no changing the fact that this was still a child born of her own flesh.

And to see him in this state?

Lady Seraphyne erupted in blinding rage.

Her head whipped toward the group of people who definitely had to be the reason for her son’s misfortune all this time, and a deafening war cry tore from her throat, echoing across the entire crater.

The other red dragons who’d arrived with her immediately responded.

Roars erupted one after another as their bloodlust ignited, their attention completely shifting from the strange tree as they prepared to seek bloody revenge.

Without a second of hesitation, multiple attacks were launched.

And they targeted both the more vulnerable Ilyss and Orien at the exact same time.

Razor-sharp mana claws sliced through the air like enormous blades, hurtling toward the mother and son from different angles.

It was a vicious tactic.

The kind that forced someone to choose who to save if two people were drowning at once.

Ilyss, already severely weakened and having depended almost entirely on the residual effects of the Primordial Dragon’s blood to inflict that much damage on the deposed red dragon heir, was in absolutely no condition to defend herself.

But as she saw those attacks coming, her own safety never even crossed her mind.

Her eyes immediately snapped toward Orien.

Her baby.

A youngling who hadn’t even reached a hundred years old yet!

Orryn, on the other hand, knew exactly who was standing beside his son.

And if there was anyone he could trust to protect Orien right now, it was Thyrran.

So instead of hesitating between them, the red dragon pushed his body to its limit.

Orryn, in his mature dragon form, surged forward and threw himself directly in front of Ilyss, shielding his mate with his own massive body.

The attacks collided with a deafening crash.

Dust and debris exploded across the newly formed craters, temporarily swallowing everyone from view.

By the time the thick cloud finally began to settle, the already decrepit ground had gained several more deep scars from the deflected strikes.

And standing amidst all that destruction were several extremely infuriated beings on the ground.

Along with one even angrier ancient guardian.

As everyone hurriedly readjusted themselves, the extremely resentful Lady Seraphyne released another deafening bellow, ordering the red dragons to attack again.

Except before they could...

The ancient serpent carrying four beings on his back suddenly began to glow.

"?!"

The light became so blinding that practically everyone across the battlefield was forced to turn their heads away.

It happened far too quickly.

Far too unexpectedly.

No one had enough time to prepare for it.

And in the next instant, Thyrran vanished completely.

The four passengers who’d been sitting on his back dropped the short distance onto the ground, barely managing to land firmly before the light around them disappeared.

But before anyone could even comprehend what the hell had just happened, almost all light suddenly receded like a rushing tide.

It pulled away from the battlefield and surged straight toward the enormous tree, disappearing into the point where the formation connected to the ground.

Right where the glowing bloom had been cocooning Riley and Kael.

Then...

An immense burst of mana erupted.

"!!!"

The resulting shockwave was so overwhelming that anyone who failed to duck and dig their claws into the earth was immediately sent flying backward through the air.

Several screams were swallowed by the deafening pressure, yet none of the chaos seemed to affect the source of that immense surge of mana.

Because right at the center of it all, the towering bloom had finally begun to unravel.

One glowing strand pulled away.

Then another.

The mana threads were far too bright to look at directly, but they continued peeling away from the enormous bloom until the entire formation slowly opened.

Everyone could only shield their eyes and wait.

Then, as the blinding glare finally began to fade, those who managed to open their eyes stared toward the center.

Only to find it completely empty.

"...?"

A split second later, two deafening roars tore through the clouds.

High above Wyrmfall, two colossal dragons burst through the fading brilliance of the vast formation.

One blazed gold, magnificent wings spreading wide across the heavens.

Intertwined with that brilliant golden form was another dragon, the pair circling each other in midair as though they’d emerged from the heavens as one.

And the other was black.

Completely, unmistakably black.

Pitch-black scales gleamed like polished obsidian beneath the dying light, revealing a color that hadn’t soared freely through Eryndra’s skies in far, far too long.

Together, the two dragons swept through the clouds, gold and black twisting around one another as powerful wings sent violent currents rolling across the heavens.

Their presence alone seemed to dominate the sky, making the battlefield below feel almost insignificant in comparison.

And burning proudly through both of them was the unmistakable power of the Primordial Dragon.