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The Iron Dragonwing Palace was still silent at night, so quiet that not a hint of life could be heard. Under the powerful dragon aura, even the chirping of insects could not be heard.

Even though the Red Dragon had long awakened and there would no longer be unintentional disasters, the subordinates still dared not approach this sacred dwelling.

"Same time again."

"This must be the sixty-seventh night."

Olivia slowly opened her eyes, moonlight flooding into her blue-gray pupils and shining on her smooth scales, reflecting many specks of light on the ground like a scattering of gleaming silver coins.

Two months—such a short time for any dragon—but for the Silver Dragon trapped in the Dragon Binding Formation, time seemed infinitely stretched, every minute, every second a painful ordeal.

The scorching chains greedily drained her vitality, constantly stinging her, keeping her from any rest.

The Silver Dragon slightly fluttered her wings. With a faint rustling, the membrane of her wings shone in the moonlight, but the heavy chains sensed the movement and continued to scorch her body.

But she only bit down on her silver teeth, letting out a barely perceptible groan.

"Hmm."

Olivia endured the intense pain, struggling to turn over.

Yet, it wasn’t over; the Silver Dragon strained to raise her head.

Heavy chains were tightly coiled around her slender neck, shimmering with scorching magical light, even making crackling sounds, causing her flesh to emit wisps of white smoke and bloodstains to appear.

Finally, she gritted her teeth, raised her head, and gazed at the bright moon in the night sky, savoring the rare moonlight.

This was a kind of solace amidst suffering.

She had long since grown accustomed to such despairing days.

She had grown used to the occasional wyverns flying across the sky, the indifference and vigilance of the tiefling guards, and the stifling heat within the palace.

She had tried to send information to the outside world, sending messages to the wyverns, communicating with the tiefling guards, hoping to move the subordinates of the Ember King, but all attempts had ended in failure. The Red Dragon’s rule here was terrifyingly firm.

Despite being in this iron-forged silent hell, a faint glimmer of determination still shone in Olivia’s blue-gray eyes.

She was still quietly waiting for something.

"Angel."

"Someday, he will come to save me. He promised me."

Olivia silently thought this.

In her father’s story of the "Scales of Promise," a Silver Dragon named Dextral waited at the cave entrance for a thousand years, from a young dragon until he became an ancient dragon, until his loyalty and love moved the Platinum Dragon God Bahamut.

This god used his great divine power to resurrect the female dragon, allowing him to reunite with his partner.

The Ember King could not be defeated overnight. Olivia was prepared to be trapped here for hundreds or even thousands of years.

Despite the overwhelming power of the Red Dragon, nearly invincible, she firmly believed—that mysterious, upright Golden Dragon would rescue her from this lair.

And Olivia had sworn never to submit to the Ember King, no matter the inhuman torment, even if there was a risk of death.

"It’s really boring here..."

"If only he could visit me more often."

Olivia couldn’t help but smile foolishly, and the pain on her body seemed insignificant.

She remembered another tranquil night, when the Golden Dragon Angel risked his life to break into the palace, sincerely apologized to her, made a heartfelt promise, and shared intimate moments during their brief time together.

Those sincere and earnest words still echoed in her mind, lingering for a long time.

"Olivia, right now my power is not enough to fight this Red Dragon. He is simply too powerful. I may... still need more resources."

"Money, spell scrolls, even the assistance of other metallic dragons..."

"But no matter what, even if I exhaust everything, pour out all my treasures, I will rescue you from here. This is my promise to you."

That sense of reassurance from a glimmer of hope amidst despair, that feeling of grasping the last straw, that sense of being moved by a promise, was something she would never forget in this lifetime.

However, Olivia knew clearly that the so-called "visit" was just her unrealistic fantasy.

The place she was in was the Ember King’s palace, not some inn where one could come and go freely. Each time the Golden Dragon broke in, it was a huge risk—being discovered would mean certain death.

Olivia always prided herself on being a rational spell researcher, believing she was born to study the essence of the world. She even put aside her dragon pride to find a legendary mage as her mentor.

She never imagined she would experience the ups and downs of an adventure story or encounter a fairy tale-like romance. But it all happened naturally, despite the bumpy and even painful journey.

"How much longer must I wait here?"

"Angel, you better not let me down..."

Olivia even fantasized in her mind about the scene of being rescued in the future.

She believed it would be the most beautiful moment in the world, even surpassing any memory from her century-long life.

"We will study magic together, build a beautiful and cozy wizard tower, have our own territory and city. By then, the Melward family will also become our solid backing."

"We will travel the multiverse, follow the steps of His Majesty Bahamut, fly alongside the kind celestial beings in Celestia."

"We will roam Elysium, befriend the Ghaele and the mighty Leonal Emissaries, let the waters of the River Oceanus cleanse our souls."

"We will adventure in Ysgard, witnessing those eternal battlefields and glorious heroes."

"We will wander in Mechanus, studying the most flawless order."

Countless visions filled with beautiful fantasies flashed through Olivia’s mind, like a series of continuous picture scrolls or a carousel of images—visual depictions of her deepest yearnings.

Even the relentless pain on her body couldn’t stop her from drifting into sleep, enjoying this moment of peace.

She had been awake and waiting here for months.

She was simply too tired.

The Silver Dragon slowly closed her eyes. Her slender, graceful body was already covered in wounds, but a serene smile still graced her lips, perhaps because she was lost in a wonderful dream.

But the sleeping Olivia did not notice—

Murky, foul-smelling black energy floated above her head, greedily absorbing the light and dissipating thoughts.

It was wrong.