SON OF THE HERO KING

Kiyohime had expected and already anticipated many things when coming down to the Mortal Realm. This was not her first rodeo; she already had a clear idea about what could happen when she descended among the elves.

The thin mana in the air that made her breathless, the feeling of being imprisoned by space itself, and the lack of powerhouses in the surroundings were nothing new for her. The only advantage the Mortal Realm had, if it could be called such, was its incredible resilience.

After all, for all its downsides, it was still one of the major planes of their universe. However, for Divine Beasts like them, the Mortal Realm was only an inferior backwater place. A glorified sand castle, or the back alleys and slums, so to speak.

Another thing she expected was the worship she would receive as she came down. Elves were an interesting race in many ways. Though dragons could copulate and procreate with literally all races, Elves had the highest compatibility with them after the humans.

When the elves kneeled in her presence, it did not come as a surprise. It was all within her expectations. It was just another normal day on this plane for her, being amongst the elves.

However, to her surprise, there was not just one but two anomalies she could detect.

Firstly, the mana in the air was not as thin as she was used to down here. It was still far from the level of the Astral Realm but for some reason, the overall level of mana in the Mortal Realm had more than doubled since the last time she had ventured its lands.

The abundance of mana in the air was very important as with more pure mana, more powerhouses could be born.

This was a crucial discovery. However, Kiyohime was more focused on the second aspect which was beyond her expectations.

The current form and color were different from what she had seen in the recording orb. But though the external appearance was different, the aura was unmistakable.

What a handsome dragon.

Those clean glistening scales, the long-curved horns, the muscular and heavy body, and the aura of undeniable, absolute power he was emanating. In terms of pure size, the dragon was even slightly larger than Fafnir.

“Sol…” She growled slightly. She could feel the blood in her veins boil in his presence. In the past, Sol was definitely relatively handsome. But this did little for her as his appearance did not perfectly suit her taste.

Things became better when he started embracing his hybrid nature more.

But now… this appearance. This power. She had a feeling that if Sol were to step into the Dragon Realm now, he would be pounced upon by all available females of age.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

A new growl rolled out, becoming louder and louder. She ignored the words of the elves below her and focused entirely on Sol. Instincts she had never felt until now had started to awaken at his mere sight. But she did not reject them.

Her eyes flashed and she flew like an arrow toward Sol. Ready to tear him apart if he was not able to resist. Her maw opened wide, gathering water and light.

***

Sol had been more than a bit surprised to see Kiyohime come down from the Astral Realm just as he appeared. However, he did not feel like complaining. After all, their double entrances were definitely more than enough to leave a long-lasting impression on the Elves.

“Hum… Sol… I think there is a problem.” On his back, Pandora talked hesitantly, causing Sol to look away from the kneeling crowd and the unwilling queen to focus on Kiyohime.

“Huh…” He looked bewildered as mana started to focus around her and soon, a droplet of light formed in front of her maw.

This was an attack he recognized. This was the same attack she had used the first time he met her. When she sank a few pirates with it.

Dragon’s Roar.

The world around Sol started to slow down as he increased his cognitive function. Why was Kiyohime attacking him so suddenly? Did the goddesses finally decide to cut the bridge with him and send her as a vanguard?n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

No, that was entirely unlikely. He did not feel any killing intent coming from her. In fact, what he felt was… Desire?

No sooner did he realize that Kiyohime fired a scathing beam of aquatic might aimed at him. Steam formed in the air as her beam rushed through the space, almost making it vibrate.

On his back, Sol could feel the girls shift, clearly ready to intercept the attack, but Sol rumbled.

“Don’t.” He stopped them from acting. He needed to do this alone.

When the light finally reached a certain distance from them. It collided against a mana shield. The shield cracked, clearly unable to completely stop the beam. But a second shield appeared just behind it. Then a third and a fourth.

The beam penetrated all his defense. But in the end, it lost all its momentum and vanished.

“What do we do? I did not expect to fight a dragon as soon as we entered Southern Pride.” Pandora muttered with worry. Persephone meanwhile was more than a little excited. She once again realized that going outside with Sol was the best way to witness the most interesting events.

She had witnessed more interesting sights in the last few months than she had in nearly a thousand years.

“Girls, take Camelia down with you and search for Nefertiti. She should not be hard to find.” After effortlessly blocking the beam attack. Kiyohime started circling around him before ascending higher.

He understood that this was a challenge. She wished for them to fight high enough that their fight would not affect the others.

“Will you be alright? This sounds dangerous.” Camelia placed a hand on his soft scaled back and caressed it gently.

“Don’t worry. To be honest, I was actually feeling quite itchy. Been some time since I had a good fight without any bullshit.”

He was not completely well-versed in dragon psychology. But his instincts were telling him.

He needed to fight her alone and only with his mana and body. He had already speculated about the true nature of Kiyohime’s actions.

Something similar did happen not long ago when he fought Setsuna in the arena back then after all.

Once the girls jumped down, Sol sighed and started ascending toward Kiyohime. If he was right about his hunch, he would truly have to ask the goddesses why so many of the species’ mating rituals needed violence and submission.

Now though, it did matter.

It was time for him to make Kiyohime his in all the senses of the word.