Chapter 585 - 581 – THE AWAKENING OF THE TWO GREAT DRAGONS AND THE FLIGHT TOWARD THE SOUTH

Several days after the official decree was issued by the Emperor, the private residence of the First Princess, Hua Zhaoyue, had transformed into the busiest and most chaotic area in the Upper District. Hundreds of palace servants ran back and forth carrying thick wooden crates, jewelry cases, marble furniture, and even large wardrobes.

Zhaoyue, the First Princess of the Tianhua Kingdom, stood in the middle of the marble courtyard of her residence with an extremely anxious and confused expression. Around her, luggage had piled up like a small hill. There were hundreds of wooden crates filled with Cloud Silk and Night Silk gowns she had bought together with Sylvia at the Aura Celestia Boutique in the Zenith District, sets of marble teacups, alchemy equipment, exotic food supplies, and more than a dozen crates containing armor and weapons for her female guards.

The main problem was extremely crucial: throughout the entire Tianhua Kingdom at present, there were no spatial rings or any kind of dimensional storage tools whatsoever. Space magic was a rare type of magic on this continent, and spatial storage technology had never been successfully created by human mages. Until now, the entire process of goods delivery in the kingdom even for the royal family level had to be carried out manually using covered carts, baggage train processions pulled by mutant beasts, or large-scale aerial transport ships.

"This is truly a logistical disaster..." Zhaoyue muttered while massaging her throbbing temples. "If we have to hire dozens of land baggage trains to carry these goods 10,000 kilometers to the south, we will need hundreds of additional guards. That journey could take months crossing rugged terrain, and these goods are extremely vulnerable to being attacked by monster packs along the way!"

Sylvia, who was sitting leisurely on a marble garden bench while sipping warm herbal tea and cradling Sol in its golden cat form, only laughed lightly at the panic of her friend.

With an extremely graceful motion, Sylvia stood from her chair. Her casual gown fluttered gently as she walked closer to the mountain of luggage piled in the courtyard.

"Step back a little, Zhaoyue," Sylvia said casually.

Zhaoyue blinked, taking several steps backward with a puzzled expression. "Sylvia? What’s going on?"

Sylvia did not answer with words. She merely raised her smooth right hand into the air. Without chanting any magic spell, without using a staff or any mana-focusing medium at all, Sylvia activated her personal System Storage, a virtual spatial storage space belonging to her system that possessed unlimited capacity and an absolute time-stasis feature.

Wuuusshhh!

A calmly curved blackish-blue dimensional rift opened in the air right in front of Sylvia’s hand. The rift radiated a soft gravitational aura. In the blink of an eye, dozens of wooden crates filled with clothing, marble furniture wardrobes, jewelry cases, and even the mountain of food supplies seemed to be sucked in by an invisible vortex. Those gigantic items floated into Sylvia’s dimensional rift and completely vanished from the courtyard.

In less than five seconds, the marble courtyard that had previously been extremely crowded and full of logistical piles had become completely empty and clean without leaving even a single speck of dust!

Witnessing the miraculous scene that defied every magical law of the Tianhua Kingdom, Zhaoyue’s eyes widened. Her pretty mouth slowly opened until it formed a perfect ’O’. She stood rigid like a statue, staring at the suddenly empty courtyard, then shifted her gaze to Sylvia’s hand.

For a princess from a civilization that possessed absolutely no spatial ring technology or dimensional storage bags, the phenomenon of hundreds of tons of goods vanishing into empty space in the air was a miracle that was extremely, extremely unreasonable!

"Wh-Where... wh-where did all my things go?" Zhaoyue asked in a stammering, heavily trembling voice, her eyes still perfectly round. "Did... did you just erase them into another dimension?!"

Sylvia laughed brightly at the stunned reaction of her extremely adorable friend. "Of course they weren’t erased. That is my space magic. Everything is safely stored inside my storage space. Those items will not be damaged, rot, or gather dust no matter how long they remain there."

Sylvia casually waved her hand, flashing a thin, confident smile. "Come on, pile up and bring all the things you want to take, Zhaoyue! Whether it’s a dozen clothing wardrobes, your palace furniture, or even a year’s supply of food, I can carry everything without leaving a single scrap behind!"

Hearing those words, the shock on Zhaoyue’s face instantly transformed into an exploding flash of enthusiasm. The heavy burden on her shoulders evaporated completely. Her face sparkled like a child who had just been given the key to the world’s largest toy store.

"Is it true?! You can carry everything?!" Zhaoyue exclaimed in a joyful tone. Without wasting time, she turned and shouted to her servants. "All of you, hurry back into the castle! Bring out ten wardrobes of my shoe collection! Take all the Cloud Silk blankets from my room! Also bring the marble dressing table, the alchemy perfume collection, and my favorite tea set! Bring everything outside!"

The servants who had also been gaping at Sylvia’s space magic hurriedly ran back into the castle. Over the next two hours, Zhaoyue truly took full advantage of Sylvia’s kindness. Various luxurious furniture, personal items, and even exotic spice supplies that she had previously intended to leave behind because of transportation problems were now gathered in the courtyard. And every time those items piled up, Sylvia only needed to wave her hand, sucking everything into her System Inventory without showing the slightest fatigue.

After all the logistical preparations were complete and the courtyard was truly clean, Zhaoyue gathered twenty elite female knights who had been specially selected to become her personal guards. Yet the moment she stepped outside the main gate of the residence, the princess once again halted her steps. Her brow furrowed with anxiety as she realized one other crucial problem.

"All our things are already neatly stored in your magic space, Sylvia," Zhaoyue said while gazing at the marble street outside. "But... now the question is, what are we going to ride to the Southern Star Territory?"

"Why not use the palace’s Magical Jet aircraft?" suggested one of the female knights standing behind Zhaoyue.

Zhaoyue shook her head with a rather pale expression. "VIP Magical Jets require a flat, modern landing pad. The Southern Star Territory is 10,000 kilometers from here, located in a still-wild border region filled with monster nests. There is not yet a proper airport or runway suitable for landing an aircraft of that size."

"What about using Anti-Gravity cars?" asked another knight.

Zhaoyue held her own stomach, imagining a land journey. "Anti-gravity cars only float smoothly over the smooth marble streets of the capital. The land terrain toward the southern territory is extremely rugged, crossing rocky hills and steep cliffs. Honestly... I get motion sickness very easily if I have to ride a car over severely shaking terrain for a long period."

Hearing her friend’s transportation dilemma, Sylvia stepped forward to the front of the line. She crossed both arms in front of her chest that was wrapped in her beautiful gown, slightly raised her chin, and assumed a body posture that was extremely arrogant yet radiated absolute elegance.

"Who said we need a fragile aircraft or a car that makes you nauseous?" Sylvia smiled dismissively. "Follow me. Let’s go to the most spacious place in this city."

Zhaoyue blinked in confusion, yet she and her twenty guards still followed Sylvia’s steps without protest. The most spacious place in the entire Upper District of the Holy Capital of Tianhua was clearly the Old International Airport Remains that had now been renovated to serve aircraft traffic.

The old airport area stretched extremely wide, open, and relatively quiet from ordinary citizen crowds. The evening wind blew strongly, sweeping the surface of the magical metal floor beneath their feet.

The moment they arrived in the middle of that extremely open runway, Sylvia halted her steps. Near her feet, Sol (the golden-furred cat) and Noir (the pitch-black cat) walked casually while looking up at their master.

Sylvia turned her body, regarding Zhaoyue and the twenty female knight guards with a deep and sharp gaze.

"Zhaoyue, we are heading toward a new territory of power 10,000 kilometers to the south," Sylvia spoke in a calm yet strategically calculated tone. "When we land there, your arrival as the new leader will certainly provoke many rejections from various parties. Local mage factions and their border city rulers will surely try to test or underestimate the leadership of a young princess."

Sylvia narrowed her eyes, radiating a fragment of the majesty of the Queen of Death. "The best way to silence all ill intentions and ensure absolute obedience from the very first second we arrive is by displaying unmatched power. Fear is the most effective means of diplomacy in this cruel world."

Sylvia then looked down, regarding the two cats at her feet, and gave the order in a cold tone. "Sol, Noir. Return to your true dragon forms. Full size."

Hearing the command from Sylvia, Sol and Noir nodded slowly. The two great beings stepped away from each other in opposite directions across the mithril runway, creating a distance of dozens of meters between them.

Then the terrifying and soul-shaking miracle erupted.

WUUUUUUSSSHHH!

The tiny body of Sol that had previously been in golden-cat form suddenly radiated a sacred divine light so blinding that it refracted the evening sunlight. A wave of shining golden mana exploded from its body. The sound of gigantic bones stretching and growing echoed powerfully. Its body elongated, expanded, and enlarged at an insane speed! Pure glowing golden dragon scales emerged to cover its entire body. In a matter of seconds, the tiny golden cat had fully transformed into the Pure Golden Dragon with a body length reaching 50 meters! Its gigantic wings spread wide, radiating a divine aura that pressed the air around it.

Yet Noir’s transformation was far more terrifying and oppressive.

A blackish-purple death-miasma mist exploded violently from the black cat’s body. The evening sky above the airport instantly dimmed and turned as dark as night. Noir, the true Black Dragon of the death element that had once been a Rank 7 Zombie Dragon, tore through its disguise without a trace. Its body expanded extremely, crushing the air pressure around it, until it reached an absurdly gigantic size: 70 meters long! Its purple eyes glowed sharply behind the rolling black smoke, and every breath that exited its gigantic muzzle made the airport runway floor tremble and crack finely under the weight of its aura.

The presence of two great dragons measuring 50 meters and 70 meters in the middle of the airport runway released a natural-disaster-level domination aura.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Muted hysterical sounds were heard as the twenty elite female knights escorting Zhaoyue simultaneously lost all strength in their knees. They fell into sitting and kneeling positions on the asphalt with bodies trembling violently and uncontrollably. Magical weapons and spears in their hands slipped free, bouncing onto the ground. Their faces turned deathly pale like corpses without a single drop of blood. Their survival instincts as humans screamed hysterically, realizing that the two gigantic monsters before them were capable of reducing the entire Holy Capital of Tianhua to dust in a matter of minutes.

Even Zhaoyue herself, who was a First Princess and had undergone various palace mental trainings, now stood frozen with legs trembling hard. Her beautiful lips quivered, and she swallowed with extreme difficulty. Knowing from stories and witnessing firsthand a 70-meter-long gigantic monster standing before her eyes were two completely different things!

Seeing her friend standing frozen in fear, Sylvia smiled gently. She walked closer to Zhaoyue, then stretched out her hand to pat the top of the princess’s head with full affection.

"Come on up," Sylvia said in a soft, casual voice, as if she had just invited Zhaoyue to ride a flower carriage. "Choose, do you want to ride Sol or Noir?"

Zhaoyue swallowed again with a stammer. She glanced toward Noir who was surrounded by dense black death mist, then shifted her gaze to Sol who radiated a warm golden glow. Her instincts quickly chose the option that looked far safer for her soul.

"S-Sol... I’ll ride Sol..." Zhaoyue whispered in an extremely soft and trembling voice.

Sylvia nodded in understanding. Without warning, Sylvia scooped up and carried Zhaoyue’s body in a bridal style with her extraordinary physical strength. Zhaoyue shrieked in surprise and reflexively hugged Sylvia’s neck tightly as her body was carried in a light leap dozens of meters into the air!

Tuk.

They landed extremely smoothly and stably on the broad back of Sol the Golden Dragon. The dragon’s back was so vast and covered by gigantic golden scales that felt warm.

Even though she was already on Sol’s back, Zhaoyue’s body was still trembling. Her hands tightly gripped the folds of Sylvia’s gown.

Sylvia lowered her head, gazing into Zhaoyue’s eyes that were glistening with panic, then whispered in an extremely soothing tone. "Relax, Zhaoyue. It’s still the same Sol. The lazy golden cat that was forced to carry more than a dozen of your shopping bags in the Zenith District the other day. There’s nothing to fear from him."

Hearing the description "shopping-bag-carrying cat," Sol beneath them let out a soft snort through its nose, puffing out a little warm, shining golden smoke. The funny memory of the gown-and-shoe shopping incident from a few days earlier immediately appeared in Zhaoyue’s mind, gradually eroding the fear in her heart. The princess’s heartbeat began to slow, and the warmth from Sol’s scales began to channel comfort.

"Y-Yes... the scales feel extremely warm..." Zhaoyue murmured, slowly releasing her panicked grip and stroking the surface of the golden scales beneath her.

After ensuring Zhaoyue already felt calm, Sylvia leapt down to the runway to deal with the twenty female knight guards who were still weak on the floor.

"Ten of you, climb onto Sol’s back and accompany Princess Zhaoyue. The remaining ten, come with me onto Noir’s back," Sylvia commanded in an absolute tone that accepted no argument.

With the help of a light wind magic blown by Sylvia, the bodies of the twenty still deathly pale and trembling female knights were lifted floating into the air, divided evenly onto the backs of the two gigantic dragons. The ten female knights placed on Noir’s back the 70-meter Black Dragon radiating dense death aura continued chanting prayers and tightly closing their eyes because they felt they were riding the Angel of Death itself.

Sylvia leapt and landed gracefully right atop Noir’s head. Seeing all the guards curling up in fear while imagining the strong wind blast in the sky, Sylvia slowly shook her head. She snapped her fingers into the air.

Ting!

A transparent pale-blue protective magic formation curved into existence at the front of Sol’s and Noir’s bodies. This protective magic layer would resist air friction, block strong wind blasts, and keep the temperature on the dragons’ backs comfortable for the human passengers during the flight.

"Hold on tightly!" Sylvia shouted from atop Noir’s head, her long black hair fluttering in the evening wind. "Let’s fly!"

ROAAARRRRRRRRR!

Sol and Noir simultaneously raised their gigantic necks toward the sky and released a thundering dragon roar! The roar of the two disaster-level dragons echoed powerfully, shaking the marble pillars throughout every corner of the Holy Capital of Tianhua.

BWUUUSSHHH!

The two gigantic dragons flapped their enormous wings hard, creating a local windstorm in the airport area, then shot through the cloud layers toward the upper sky at extraordinary speed! In a matter of seconds, their gigantic shadows had already flown across the capital’s sky, streaking rapidly toward the south.

At the same time, in the Holy Palace of Tianhua.

The impact of Sol’s and Noir’s powerful roars was felt all the way to the main rooms of the royal palace. On one of the highest balconies of the palace, Emperor Hua Chen and the First Prince, Hua Tianyu, stood watching a scene that made their breath catch in their throats.

Seeing the two silhouettes of gigantic dragons 50 meters and 70 meters long suddenly appear and fly splitting the sky above their capital, the First Prince, a Rank 6 mage, initially reflexively gripped the hilt of his sword with a tense expression.

Yet the sharp vision of Emperor Hua Chen, a Rank 8 mage, immediately caught the figure of Princess Zhaoyue standing gracefully atop the golden dragon, as well as the figure of the black-haired girl in a silver gown standing atop the head of the black dragon.

The tension on the Emperor’s face instantly melted, replaced by a deeply relieved smile and a long exhalation full of gratitude.

"So those are the pet monsters and mounts belonging to Miss Sylvia..." Emperor Hua Chen said in a voice filled with profound admiration. "An expert capable of controlling disaster-level gigantic dragons as her mounts... Zhaoyue has truly found the strongest protector in this world. With Miss Sylvia at her side, I can ensure one hundred percent that Zhaoyue’s safety in the Southern Star Territory is absolutely guaranteed."

The First Prince nodded in agreement, his chest filled with calm. "My younger sister will become an extremely safe and strong ruler there, Father."

Yet a completely opposite reaction occurred at the noble faction residences in the Upper District.

The Second Prince (Hua Tianming), who was still being treated from his father’s slap, the Third Prince, as well as Elder Lin and more than a dozen elite members of the Main Noble Council, were standing in the courtyard of their residence. When they gazed at the two gigantic dragons flying above their heads, the faces of those people instantly became as pale as paper without a single drop of blood. Their knees trembled violently until several among them fell into a sitting position on the ground.

In their hearts, the entire opposition camp screamed in fear and half-died in gratitude to their ancestors.

Thank goodness... thank goodness at the palace banquet last night we did not take any actions that crossed the line against Sylvia and Princess Zhaoyue!

They realized with absolute horror that if last night they had recklessly forced troops to attack Sylvia, not only would their lives have been lost, but those two 70-meter-long gigantic dragons would certainly have already reduced the entire complex of their noble residences to a field of ash with just a single dragon’s breath.

From that second onward, the Main Noble Council officially and absolutely struck the Southern Star Territory from the list of regions they dared to interfere with or disturb in the future.