Reasons

“Old dragon, in your eyes, I might indeed be an ant, but I am still me.”

His hoarse voice seemed to be torn from his throat. On his haggard face, only his eyes were clear and bright, transparent as gemstones.

As he spoke, the man tore off a piece of tattered cloth from the corner of his clothing and stuffed it into his mouth.

At the same time, his gaze hardened, and with his right hand clutching the Mist Saber, he unhesitatingly chopped at the connection between his left shoulder and the golden arm.

In an instant, accompanied by the mournful whine of metal snapping and fresh blood, the golden arm, rendered useless from overload, detached from the man’s body.

But because the golden arm was directly implanted into his shoulder, even severing it with a saber brought away a good deal of flesh and blood.

Gazing at the man’s bloody wound, and his mercilessly decisive methods, General Hadian’s eyes held even more admiration.

Among the tens of thousands of enemies he had fought against, this man might not be the strongest, but he was definitely the most troublesome. With a broken body, he forced Hadian to unleash his domain. Though human, he deserved the highest respect.

“Is such a great price truly worth it? Just for a young dragon you don’t even know?”

Gazing at the small, trembling figure behind the boulder within his domain, Hadian sighed and asked.

“You are merely a phantom thief, not a bounty hunter. Why go to such lengths?”

The man repeated the phrase, laughing self-deprecatingly.

“You’re right, I’m just a thief, not a bounty hunter. To have protected that girl to this point, even if I give up or am defeated, my conscience is clear.”

Conde endured the scorching heat of the Dragon Soul flames within the domain, while tearing off cloth from his remaining tattered clothes to quickly and crudely bandage the wound on his stump.

“If I were escorting someone else this time, perhaps I would consider running away, but for her, it simply reminds me too much of my past self…”

He struggled to his feet from the crater, using his dwindling strength to straighten his back. Facing the night wind, he looked emaciated and wretched, but not a trace of fear showed in his eyes.

He was like an old man who had seen through life and death.

Facing death, he calmly spoke of reasons unrelated to the Grim Reaper. Perhaps the scythe of death was unstoppable and would eventually fall, but before that, the curved saber in the man’s hand would surely let out a defiant clang.

“Hey, do you know, old dragon?”

“Last night by the campfire, that girl fell asleep by the fire. I was keeping watch alone. Halfway through, I heard crying. Even though I had covered her with the only blanket I had, that girl curled up as if extremely afraid of the cold, clutching the blanket tightly around her whole body…”

“She kept sobbing in her dreams, her tears even soaking the grass mat beneath her. She cried and called for Mama, her whimpering like a small abandoned beast.”

Wiping away the wet bloodstains, the gleaming blade reflected the man’s face. He looked at himself in the blade, a helpless, bitter smile on his face.

“That girl is too much like my past self. No name of her own, no parents of her own, no one’s protection. Death is something that can come at any moment, and a weak life can only beg for the pity of a miracle through crying.”

The white dragon’s eyes watched the man. He seemed able to visualize that scene from the other’s words.

“Fortunately, fate isn’t entirely cruel. I was saved, saved by an old friend. He raised me to adulthood, taught me all his skills, and prevented me from becoming an unlucky wretch that people would say had a life but no one to raise him.”

The scorching heat of the Dragon Soul flames made his breathing more and more rapid.

Even if the giant dragon before him hadn’t attacked, his own blood energy and spirit were being consumed at double the rate.

“This is one of the few times in my life I felt kindness. Although that old man was a drunkard, to me, he was like a father, the first sun that rose in my eyes.”

At this point, Conde’s eyes showed a hint of carefree detachment and nostalgia. Though the old man had died, he wasn’t sad, for he knew that living was a torment for the old drunkard.

“If that is truly the case, the old man you speak of is indeed a respectable strong individual, both in terms of strength and character.”

Hadian remained silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.

The Dragon Tribe believed in the Dragon God, but it was more accurate to say they believed in true strength.

Whosoever had the biggest fist, the dragons would willingly submit at his feet. Dignity was always exclusive to the strong.

“So that’s the reason right there…”

Conde’s pale lips curled into a carefree smile.

“For me, who wasn’t adopted by that old man, even if the sun rose, my sky remained dark. He was the first sun in my life. And for that girl, is today’s daytime not also a kind of night where she sees no light?”

“Perhaps I cannot become a sun like the old man, but I can stake this rotten life to become a matchstick, to slightly illuminate a corner of her dragon life. After all, if she were to go her entire life without feeling warmth and light, then such a child would be too tragic. I won’t allow anyone stronger than me to appear when it comes to being tragic…”

Conde spoke these words as if joking, his body’s blood energy completely depleted. He swayed, propping himself up with a hand on the ground, so as not to completely collapse.

Hadian looked at the man with complex eyes. After a long silence, he slowly spoke.

“Conde, I acknowledge that you are worthy of the title Thief Saint. The radiance of your character convinces me that you will not dishonor the title of Saint. Even if you are defeated in this final battle, I am willing to respectfully call you the strongest human I have ever fought in this life!”

Hadian spread his wings, which seemed capable of covering the sky, and with a flapping motion, they radiated light as brilliant as day. He offered the man before him the highest respect a Dragon Tribe member could show an enemy.

Conde, kneeling on the ground, let out two weak, dry laughs, merely shaking his head, and said nothing more.

“Then, please honorably accept defeat and death, admirable Thief Saint Conde!”

Hadian roared, unleashing all his power, activating the domain’s suppression to its maximum. The furiously burning Dragon Soul flames could quickly drain a person’s spirit and soul source in a short time.

In Conde’s current state, he believed that in less than ten seconds, this strong and stubborn man would completely lose his life. But leaving a complete corpse for this admirable strong individual was the most respectful way he could think of.

“No, I won’t die…”

But just as Conde was about to be crushed by the domain’s power, he lowered his head and said faintly.

“Not only will I not die, that girl won’t die either. Neither of us will die, because…”

The surging white flames gathered into an incredibly majestic dragon head, roaring and devouring towards the man. Seeing his body about to make contact with the dragon head, facing an almost certain death, a smile blossomed on his previously serious face.

Time seemed to slow infinitely at that moment. Then, accompanied by a crisp sound that echoed through the silent world, the white flames, as if encountering an insurmountable obstacle, split and flowed around the man.

“What… this?”

Seeing this scene, even the battle-hardened Hadian couldn’t help but exclaim in astonishment.

“Perhaps you’re curious why, right? Why can I still stand up? Why was your domain attack blocked by me? Why can a heaven-deficient person possess a domain?”

Conde slowly stood up with difficulty, under the dragon’s incredulous gaze. He slowly raised his hand, as if this insignificant movement blocked the Dragon Soul flames that could destroy thousands of troops.

“Because in the entire Seraphis Continent…”

The man pointed a finger at the sky, as if revealing a shocking secret.

“I am the most special one!”