SHK CH 669 (Patreon)

Two days later after deciding Echidna’s fate, Sol stood in the clearing of Babel Tower alongside a few of his confidantes.

In the distance, he could see maids and knights working in preparing Christmas decorations. Over the years, Sol had gotten used to all those strange holidays thanks to his predecessors.

However they could have at least changed the names to fit them better with this world.

“Something on your mind?” Lilith asked as she approached him. She was wearing a pair of tight leather pants and a shirt with her sword at her hips. This was nothing but a basic sword. Theresa had recently decided to work on the equipment everyone was using.

She said that now that she was a King, she could create weapons more powerful. Sol dreaded the kind of horrors the diminutive dwarf was about to unleash on the world. She had been asking for more mana stones lately. At this rate, Lustburg would lose a few mines.

“No, I am just thinking if I should create a special holiday myself. It seems like fun.” He smiled at Lilith. She had been avoiding him in the past. But it seemed like, after their short date in the park, she was more open. Sol knew that it was now just a question of time before she fully opened her heart to him.

“Holiday, huh? You already made one for the war. I guess we could make a great special date for the day you become emperor.” She teased him and patted his shoulder. Now that Sol was far taller than her, it felt quite strange but he did not stop her.

“Well, becoming an emperor will definitely be an interesting experience.” He was tired of fighting the inevitable. Becoming Emperor was a huge responsibility but in the current situation, once he made an alliance with Southern Pride, only Envilya, Greed Dike, Gluttony Foss, and Slothein would be officially outside his control.

This situation would not last long either. The situation in Gluttony Foss and Envilya was not completely settled but he already had them more or less under his control thanks to Pandora and Echidna.

“Only the dwarves and the angels are left really.” He clenched his fingers slightly. It would be a lie to say he wasn’t feeling stressed. But he knew that he had enough firepower to conquer any country. Once the witches worked on their aerial defense and Theresa created enough mass-produced weapons to match the firepower of the angels, then they would have nothing to fear.

A hand covered his one, conveying support and gentleness, “Do not worry. We just have to walk steadily toward our objectives.” Camelia smiled at him. Her eyes were empty but her smile was warm.

Sol took her hands and squeezed back. “You are right. Now we just need to focus on the elves.”

This trip was only necessary to establish their alliance so Sol was sure it would be a short one. He would let things to more skilled people for the actual discussion and treaties that would follow.

Now calm, Sol took a look at the people who were going to follow him. Setsuna was still in Wratharis and Lilin had recently left to go train in the Eternal Fortress. She planned to make some inspection on the frontier between them and the demons.

Isis refused to follow him, saying that she didn’t want to take his time away from Nefertiti. Milia meanwhile was too busy running things in Lustburg alongside Clara and Athena. Finally, Lilith was tasked with observing the witches. Sol trusted the witches. But he could not blindly trust an entire group just because he was marrying their leader.

In the end, as previously discussed. Persephone, Pandora, and Camelia would be the ones to follow him.

He wondered if bringing Persephone was a smart move. After all, from what he knew, Persephone broke Satella’s path of power. Still, it was necessary to have a representative of the witches with him and Persephone was the only one he could use.

Medea and Freya were busy taking care of the wedding and Kali would follow Lilith to supervise the witches. It was also obviously impossible to ask Ambrosia to follow him.

“Everyone ready?” He asked one last time. They were all wearing clothes suited for adventure in the forest. Even Camelia for once was not wearing her usual robe. It felt quite refreshing watching the three of them in those attires. Even more so since the leather had an interesting way of hugging the form of those women.

They had no luggage on them thanks to Sol’s dimension serving as storage. He had given them special accessories so they could open the portal themselves and take what they needed.

“This reminds me of our past adventure. Though noticeably much easier.” Pandora giggled. Her pointed tail swished behind her in excitement.

“I have prepared everything I need and what I don’t have, nature will give.” Persephone had her usual mysterious smile full of hidden meaning.

“I will be counting on you, dear.” Meanwhile, Camelia seemed more relaxed and she simply hugged his arm.

Sol was relieved. He feared that after what happened last time, they would be more distant and colder toward him. Something he would have perfectly understood. But it looked like they were more understanding than he gave them credit for.

In the distance, Sol could see Clara and Milia waiting for his departure. He had asked Clara if she missed home and wished to come with him but she simply laughed and told him that if she dared to come home and let the work he gave her, her own mother would wipe her butt.

“Well…Since everyone is ready. Let’s go.” Sol grinned.

All this time, he had been wondering what would be the best way to go to Southern Pride. Carriage teleportation circles or even using his dimension were all possible options.

But this one would be more interesting than this one and he really wanted to show off a little. “Take some distance girls.” A rumble sounded from his chest. His heartbeats increased in strength, becoming so incredibly loud some of the knights far away had to cover their ears.

The ground under his feet started cracking, as his weight became too high for it to bear then the transformation began.

Scales covered his body and soon a blinding light forced many people to squint as he started to grow taller and bigger.

A few seconds later, a roar filled the sky as a tall and beautiful silver-white dragon stood proudly in front of them.

Despite his imposing size and powerful aura, those who were watching him felt no fear. Only a deep feeling of veneration. As if they were standing in front of an absolute entity that could never be crossed.

Even the girls who knew him were not indifferent. Milia was already trying to help Clara as the poor girl had completely fainted after witnessing his transformation.

Looking at the world from a different perspective, with his silver scales glittering under the light of the sun, Sol felt relaxed like nothing before.

His body was smaller than what he had shown during his fight against the Great Sages but this was more of a choice than anything else. His full size had more than doubled. As for his scales, there was nothing he could do about them.

He could hide his divinity and changes in human form but it was harder to do so in his dragon form. Thankfully, it would be impossible for anyone to guess that the change in color was caused by divinity.

“Girls you can climb.” His voice came out like a rumble. But his words were clear enough for everyone to hear.

“Are you sure?” Pandora asked with trepidation, her face red. She still remembered what happened when Theresa once tried climbing on Blaze’s back.

“I am.” Sol would never let anyone who wasn’t his mate climb on his back. Thankfully, this was the case for Camelia, Pandora and Persephone.

Pandora laughed and immediately helped Camelia up. “Theresa is going to be so jealous when she hears this.”

Persephone laughed as she heard Pandora’s words. But it wasn’t as if she was indifferent. Sol may have not been raised by a dragon but his innate pride was not that different from theirs. Allowing them to climb on his back and ride him was an incredible show of trust.

More importantly, “I believe we will be greeted by a very funny sight in Southern Pride.”

If the reaction of Clara was any proof of what was awaiting them, it was definitely going to be a story worth remembering.

Sol grinned. Though in his current form, his grin looked more threatening than friendly and once all the girls finally climbed on him –He took off. His powerful wings were nothing but decoration as there was no way they could lift a body of his weight. Yet they moved powerfully, creating gusts of wind and dust as he flew high in the sky.

Pandora let out a scream of excitement and soon even Persephone and Camelia joined her.

Below him, all citizens lifted their heads and pointed at the sky in awe. As they watched him leave.

It was finally time for him to meet the Prideful elves.