Chapter 497: The Dragon Castle

He paused. “But only if you allow me, Lady Morgana.”

Morgana’s expression hardened. “Distance yourself from that impossible attempt, Izzgur.”

Bella turned toward Morgana and gave her a pointed look.

Morgana noticed it and frowned. “Oh, come on, Mistress. There is no way I’m allowing him inside my mind.”

“You agreed to work with us, Morgana.” Bella reminded her

Morgana clicked her tongue. A devious glare settled across her face as she stared directly at Nathan.

Of all the concessions she had expected to make after agreeing to aid them, allowing Izzgur access to her mind certainly had not been one of them.

And she did not like the idea in the slightest.

——

Meanwhile, on the Dragon Continent…

Under the Dragon Emperor’s palace where Irene remained on her knees.

More than a decade had passed, and almost nothing about her imprisonment had changed.

The same circular platform of rock was isolated in the middle of an enormous cavern, surrounded on all sides by a churning lake of molten lava.

Heat rose from the lava in thick waves, distorting the air around the platform and casting a reddish glow across the cavern walls.

Her long red hair hung messily around her pale face, dampened by sweat. Her wrists were bound behind her by thick chains, while an enormous slab of rock remained suspended several meters above her back.

The slab never touched her, but a constant crushing force descended from it, bearing down upon Irene every second of every day and forcing her body to remain in that kneeling position.

Even breathing was an ordeal.

Beyond the surrounding lava, the enormous dragons tasked with guarding her remained positioned around the platform.

Then Irene felt something touch her. A hand had reached beneath her jaw.

Its skin was covered in mottled brown scales, rough and uneven across the fingers.

The hand slowly raised Irene’s head.

Her eyes barely opened as her pale, exhausted face was lifted until she found herself staring into the eyes of Yvnil, the Meteor Dragon.

Yvnil regarded her for several seconds. Disgust gradually crept across the dragoness’s face.

“The Emperor should have left you for dead,” she said venomously before shoving Irene’s face away.

Irene’s head dropped again. There was no reaction or fight in her anymore. She was too exhausted to give one.

Yvnil stared at her for another moment before turning her attention toward the chains restraining Irene’s wrists.

She extended her right hand towards them and cracks began spreading across the chains.

Thin glowing lines ran through the metal as its edges turned molten, and a moment later, the restraints split apart.

Irene’s arms fell limply. The moment the chains released her, whatever little strength had kept her conscious seemed to disappear with them.

Her eyes closed completely as her body slumped forward.

Yvnil made movements with her hand again, and the stone beneath Irene began to crack.

A circular section carved itself away from the surrounding platform before slowly rising into the air, carrying Irene’s unconscious body with it.

Yvnil turned and began walking away.

The floating section of rock followed behind her, carrying Irene several feet above the ground.

Around them, the dragons that had spent years guarding the prisoner began to stir.

Wings adjusted against scaled backs as massive heads lifted, their slit eyes following Yvnil and the unconscious woman being carried behind her.

None had stopped them because the Meteor Dragon had been ordered to bring Irene before the Emperor.

And after more than a decade spent chained to that platform, Irene was finally being taken out of the dungeon.

–

Yvnil continued through the passageways beneath the Dragon Emperor’s palace.

The deeper they traveled, the more apparent the sheer scale of the palace became.

These were not corridors designed for humans.

The passageways were enormous, wide enough for several fully grown dragons to walk alongside one another.

Their ceilings rose hundreds of meters overhead, supported by gigantic pillars carved directly from the dark stone of the floating island.

Ancient markings covered sections of the walls.

There were no ordinary torches. Instead, large crystalline formations protruded from the walls at intervals, glowing with different colors and illuminating the passageways beneath them.

Yvnil walked past one archway after another.

Occasionally, another dragon passed through an adjoining passage.

Some were in their humanoid forms, and some were not.

One large dragon crawled through an opening far above them, its claws digging into the stone as its body disappeared into another section of the palace.

None paid much attention to Yvnil, but several looked toward Irene.

The floating slab continued carrying her unconscious body behind the Meteor Dragon as they traveled further into the Emperor’s domain.

Eventually, the architecture began to disappear.

The carefully shaped walls gradually became rougher until the enormous passageway resembled a natural cavern more than any constructed part of the palace.

The temperature here was also different. There was warm moisture in the air which came from the steam drifting through the passage ahead.

Yvnil continued forward until she came to place where the walls stretched so far apart that the opposite ends were partially concealed by darkness.

Massive formations of black rock rose throughout the cavern, while the ceiling disappeared completely into the darkness above.

There was no telling how high it went.

On one part was a water fall, dropping to connect into the stream that ran between the enormous rock formations, converging into a vast body of steaming water.

Dense white steam rose from it in enormous clouds, spreading throughout the cavern and obscuring whatever lay beyond.

Yvnil stopped some meters before the steam cloud. There was a noticeable tension in her posture.

The floating slab carrying Irene also came to a halt behind her.

Then Yvnil lowered herself onto one knee ans bowed her head. “Emperor, I have brought her to you.”

For several seconds, there was no response.

Only the constant sound of flowing water could be heard.

Then the steam moved. There was something ginormous behind it.

A silhouette gradually appeared through the thick white mist.

At first, there was only darkness. Then its shape became clearer, the darkness gradually forming the outline of a head.

An impossibly gigantic dragon’s head slowly rose behind the veil of steam.

Only part of its outline could be seen, but even that was enough to dwarf Yvnil completely.

Two colossal horns curved from its skull and disappeared into the mist above, while several smaller protrusions extended along the sides of its head.

The rest of its body was not outlined within the veil.

Then two glowing red eyes opened through the steam.

The Dragon Emperor’s voice thundered through the cavern. “You dare bring her before me looking sullied?”

Yvnil’s eyes widened as her entire body stiffened.

Then she began trembling. “F-Forgive me, Emperor.”

She immediately lowered herself further, almost pressing her forehead on the ground. “I only thought you wished to see her as soon as possible.”

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