CHAPTER 619: CHAPTER 415: THE LEGEND OF THE SUN ELDER SON

Hawkwood left with such determination, as if he had never been attached to anything.

Not only did Selene not expect this turn of events, but even the Ancient Flying Dragon could not have foreseen it.

After Discouragement Brother disappeared, one person and one dragon stared at each other for a long time.

"Haaah!"

Selene suddenly shouted and charged towards the Ancient Flying Dragon, leaping onto its head and fiercely plunging her weapon into the wound Hawkwood had previously inflicted.

Wasn’t he demonstrating the correct way to fight earlier?

The Ancient Flying Dragon’s weakness must be its head, right? If I can attack here, maybe I can win!

However, when she thrust her weapon into the wound, she discovered something that made her face turn into an expression of awkwardness.

That is, her weapon... was not as long as the Fran Greatsword.

Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t deepen the existing wound.

Even abandoning the wound to attack other parts of the dragon’s head, stabbing continuously only barely pierced its scales, causing a slight bleeding injury.

"How can there be such a vast difference between people?"

Selene’s face showed an expression of dejection, and the Ancient Flying Dragon under her suddenly let out a long note from its throat, as if mocking her.

Then the Ancient Flying Dragon flapped its wings, carrying the princess straight into the sky. She could only hope to stab her weapon into the dragon’s head and cling to it as much as possible to avoid falling, but the turbulent air currents at high altitude kept battering her body, making her hands and feet numb with cold.

Just then, the dragon’s ascent suddenly stopped.

The Ancient Flying Dragon casually shook its head, and a small black dot flew off its head and hurtled towards the ground — undoubtedly Selene.

Like flicking away a piece of dandruff, she was flung out.

Death!

A moment later, gradually waking from the feeling of weightlessness brought by plummeting to her death, Selene found herself completely at a loss.

Originally, she thought she could rely on Hawkwood to win effortlessly, just like borrowing Solar to conquer the Royal City duo, but Hawkwood left halfway through?

Could it be he was just demonstrating the most effective way to fight the Ancient Flying Dragon so that after successfully landing a hit, he left? Was it with the purpose of leaving the Ancient Flying Dragon for me to deal with?

No, no, the way he looked at me before leaving was very evident; it was pure disdain!

Selene’s face turned grim; she felt the correct answer was that Hawkwood did not want someone as weak as her picking up scraps from behind. Considering his experiences, something must have happened between his constant discouraging words and his arrival at the Ancient Dragon Peak that inspired him, making him have no fondness for those lacking strength.

After all, judging by the conversations in the Painting World, he is thoroughly a strength supremacist.

If it hadn’t been me fighting alongside Hawkwood earlier, but Fingerley and the others, perhaps he wouldn’t have left halfway?

Ultimately, it’s just that I’m too weak!

Selene had a clear understanding of herself; she could make efforts not to be a burden but couldn’t exert any positive influence. Whether in adventures or in the Royal Palace, she couldn’t defeat elites alone nor escape Eliphas’s control to govern the country.

"...Sigh, I wish I could be of some use too."

With a sigh, she once again left the bonfire and headed towards the Ancient Flying Dragon’s Fog Gate.

But she wasn’t foolish enough to want to challenge the Flying Dragon again.

Instead, she stealthily approached the Fog Gate, summoned Hawkwood, and waited for him to take out all the Snake-men. Just as he was about to enter the Fog Gate, Selene stopped him.

"Please wait, Mr. Hawkwood, I have some questions I’d like to ask you, if you don’t mind?"

Though unable to defeat the Ancient Flying Dragon, Selene wanted to be of some help, so she decided to gather more information to serve Fingerley or other adventurers later on!

This was the way she, with insufficient strength, thought she could contribute to the adventure!

Hawkwood’s pace halted for a moment, but then he continued toward the Fog Gate, no longer interested in talking to someone without enough strength.

Selene quickly thought and said:

"Actually, I’m a big fan of the Fran Undead Team, and I have some questions I’d like to ask!"

This finally made Hawkwood turn around, instantly bringing him in front of the princess, his speed startling her.

"What do you want to ask?"

Talking about the Fran Undead Team really got him going...

Selene thought she had finally grasped what Hawkwood cared about and began by asking a few questions about the Fran Undead Team.

For example, "How are the relationships between Undead Team members," "What are the daily activities of the Undead Team," along with a series of topics leaning more towards daily life, avoiding any mention of battles or heavy topics.

Since in the Painting World, Hawkwood seemed happy in the Undead Team, talking about these should remind him of the past little by little, gradually relaxing him, according to Selene’s scheme. Long-term oppression in the Royal Palace had gradually honed her skill in judging people’s thoughts.

As she guessed, Hawkwood’s cold face indeed "thawed" after chatting about the Undead Team for a while, even looking at her with some admiration, as if to say: "Liking the Undead Team so much, you have good taste."

It felt like Hawkwood would be even happier if Dal and the Fran Guards showed up.

Selene worked hard to read the atmosphere, appropriately ending the Undead Team-related topic, and casually asked the question she cared most about.

"Excuse me, is there any legend about the peak of this Ancient Dragon? Why are you here? Ah, I accidentally stumbled in, so I know nothing about it all."

Hawkwood frowned but still said:

"Since you stumbled in, I suggest you leave as soon as possible. This place is where those who seek the Ancient Dragon Path undergo trials. Passing the trials allows one to obtain the power of the Ancient Dragon, but without determination to face death and sufficient strength, rashly entering here will only lead to an unclear death."

As expected, those Little Dragon People meditating at the peak are seekers of the Ancient Dragon’s power. Does everyone who embarks on the Ancient Dragon Path end up like that?

"Why do Path Seekers come here? Does this mountain have anything peculiar?"

It feels like there’s nothing but an Ancient Flying Dragon and a bunch of Snake-men here.

"It’s not just the Ancient Flying Dragon. This place is a gathering of dragon kind, where you can closely interact with dragons and gain a deeper understanding of the Ancient Dragon Path. But more intriguing is... there’s also a Nameless King here."

"Nameless King?" Selene thought the name sounded impressive.

Hawkwood suddenly showed a hint of longing and said, "Do you know the Sun Elder Son?"

Selene nodded. People knew of the Sun Elder Son, the eldest son of the Gwyn Family, but there hasn’t been any significant information so far.

Someone once used the Magic [Restore to Original]—a Repair Skill learned from the Reyalucaria Magic Academy—on the damaged statue beside the Sun Warrior Oath Altar. It turned out that the statue wasn’t Gwyn but a young man with a strong resemblance to him, holding a long spear.

This image was recognized in the [Golden Stone Oath], as the Sun Elder Son!

The counterpart of the Sun Warrior Oath turns out to be the Sun Elder Son? This caused a bit of trouble for the Starfire Church, but considering the Sun Elder Son is also of the Gwyn Family, it wasn’t much of a problem.

But no information was gained on where this Sun Elder Son went afterward.

Why did Hawkwood mention him here, wait a minute, does that mean—

"The Sun Elder Son is hailed as the Dragon Hunting War God, having great achievements in the war against the Ancient Dragon, with power equal to Gwyn."

Hawkwood spoke slowly:

"But, for some reason, after the war ended, he suddenly stopped hunting dragons, even befriending them, which greatly angered Gwyn, who banished him."

Selene suddenly realized, no wonder the statue of the Sun Elder Son at the Sun Altar was broken!

"After being banished, the Sun Elder Son left the public eye with the dragons he considered companions. It’s rumored that he and the dragons came to the peak of the Ancient Dragon to cultivate the Ancient Dragon Path."

"Why would such a formidable person seek the power of the Ancient Dragon?" Selene asked, confused.

Hawkwood shook his head, how could he possibly know.

"Then, how can it be determined the Nameless King is the Sun Elder Son?" the princess pressed on.

Hawkwood showed a trace of impatience and said, "Ring the bell at the peak of the Ancient Dragon, and you will meet the Nameless King. If you have questions, you can ask him yourself."

"Ring the bell..."

Selene looked towards the sky, where, on the highest peak not far away, a large bell stood, surrounded by swirling clouds, appearing very mysterious.

The conversation had lasted long enough. If it continued, Hawkwood would get impatient, and it seemed no more information could be gathered.

She was ready to die again, but just then, a call came from not far away.

"Princess? Are you here?"

Upon hearing Fingerley’s voice, Selene was overjoyed and quickly ran back, shouting, "I’m here, don’t light the bonfire yet!"

Finally seeing her "bodyguard," she couldn’t be happier, especially since she had just acquired information enough to defeat the enemy, now she could truly demonstrate her value!

"What is this place, just assuming the meditative posture of the Dragon People brings you here. By the way, are you alright, Princess, do you feel unwell anywhere?"

Selene explained to the puzzled Fingerley what transpired here, also introducing Hawkwood who stood beside her.

After hearing it all, the look in Fingerley’s eyes towards the princess changed.

Despite thinking the princess was a bit high-spirited and inevitably spoiled, it was unexpected she had overcome the fear of death to grasp the enemy’s weakness and even uncovered some information.

It made them see her in a new light.

"You haven’t touched the bonfire here, right? Good, if you die now, you should be able to go back to Yilushier. Quickly tell the other two about this and have them come here too."

Thoughtful as ever, Fingerley indeed returned to Yilushier, and soon, the three figures of the Hasavi Team arrived at the peak of the Ancient Dragon.

When Selene recounted what she had seen and heard here, Hawkwood, who was beside them, had already become impatient.

"Let’s go slay the Ancient Flying Dragon. When we return, I will award you Dragon Slayer Medals!"

Facing the bright-eyed princess, everyone exchanged glances and nodded.

Adventurers had seen dragons in the Forest Area, and dragons like the Female Fire Dragon and Blast Scale Dragon were somewhat known.

But they looked quite different from the legendary dragons of this world, which made people feel odd, eventually identifying them as another type of monster unique to Sain.

And the Ancient Flying Dragon as described by Selene finally matched the conventional image of what dragons should be!

"Let’s set out to slay the Ancient Flying Dragon!"