Chapter 122: Chapter 104 Is this possible?_1
With the death of the Evil Dragon Fafner, the crisis that this world was facing finally came to an end.
In fact, everybody was quite curious about how Duanmu Huai managed to kill Fafner. What exactly did he do?
Actually, what Duanmu Huai did wasn’t that peculiar. First, he punched a hole straight through the upper jaw into the dragon’s skull and savagely hacked away at Fafner’s grey matter. Next, Duanmu Huai severed the dragon’s central nervous hub, effectively paralyzing it. Only then did he crawl out of its brain, continue downwards, find Fafner’s magic core and shattered it, finally eliminating the notorious evil dragon.
Of course, it didn’t end there. To prevent the evil dragon from resurrecting, Fafner’s corpse was disintegrated and thoroughly destroyed. Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Manaria sent its army to reclaim Fafner’s lair and successfully seized its treasure…well, the majority of which naturally belonged to Duanmu Huai.
Or should I say, originally all the wealth in Fafner’s lair should belong to Duanmu Huai. Then again, Duanmu Huai was generous enough to contribute some towards the restoration of Manaria’s royal city. Naturally, with these treasures, Duanmu Huai’s previously empty pockets were filled once more.
Not only that, Duanmu Huai was also granted an honorary title by the Kingdom of Manaria. After all, he single-handedly slew the Evil Dragon King. Therefore, the King of Manaria conferred upon Duanmu Huai the title of Dragon Slaying Knight with an additional reward. Duanmu Huai also timely proposed the “Integrated Plan of Production, Education, and Research”, aiming to jointly develop the Puppet Zone of Holy City with Manaria Magic Academy, which naturally got approved by the king.
But… there were some things that were beyond Duanmu Huai’s expectations.
“….. A proposed marriage?”
Duanmu Huai looked in disbelief at the king sitting on his throne, wondering if he’d misheard.
“That’s right, Sir Knight. I hope you will be engaged to my daughter—the Princess of Manaria, Ann.”
“It’s not just about Ann.”
The King of Regnes, sitting on the other side, was also grinning at Duanmu Huai as he spoke.
“My daughter Greiya is also involved. If possible, I’d like her to be engaged to you too.”
“Wait… why?!”
Duanmu Huai looked at the two kings in a fluster, originally thinking they had some business with him. But… this was totally unexpected.
“We are getting old after all. It’s time to consider the future. I believe that entrusting the future to the hero who protected Manaria and saved our country is the best option,” the King of Manaria said, chuckling as he stroked his beard. The King of Regnes nodded slightly in agreement.
“That’s right. Regnes is also dealing with some chaos stemming from this matter. So, in order to continue our nations’ friendly treaty, we think this is a great solution.”
I see.
Listening to this, Duanmu Huai finally understood their intentions. To put it bluntly, it was a political marriage. Manaria needed him to stabilize the domestic situation, and on the other side, Regnes was clearly intimidated by him slaying the Evil Dragon King and hundreds of other dragons. From the words of the King of Regnes, it could be inferred that Regnes was currently in a state of great unrest. If not managed properly, Manaria could possibly use this opportunity to invade and eliminate Regnes.
Under such circumstances, offering their daughters’ hands in marriage was clearly a good choice.
But…
“You both agreed to this?”
Duanmu Huai looked questioningly at Ann and Greiya standing beside him. Upon hearing his question, Ann laughed awkwardly.
“Ahahaha, even though you might seem a little intimidating, Mr. Knight, I realized you’re a pretty nice person during our journey together. Besides, as the princess of Manaria, it’s my duty. Furthermore, this way I get to be with Greiya all the time, and isn’t that nice?”
That last bit is really your true aim, right?
“I, I also…”
Compared to the outspoken Ann, Greiya lowered her head, her face turning red up to her ears.
“As long as I can be with Ann, I…I don’t mind…”
Hell, you’re just using me as a tool, aren’t you?
Duanmu Huai rolled his eyes helplessly. He figured out what the two of them were thinking. As princesses of Manaria and Regnes, Ann and Greiya were not allowed to choose their own marriage partners. In any case, they would have to marry someone else due to political reasons.
If that’s the case, they would naturally want to choose someone who met their conditions.
They might have some affections for Duanmu Huai, but he thought the primary reason for their agreement was because this way they had a legitimate excuse to stick close to each other.
“So, would you agree, Sir Knight?”
“I don’t mind, just don’t regret it.”
Before Duanmu Huai crossed worlds, he had never even gone on a date, let alone get engaged. So when he was asked if he was willing to do so now, the answer was naturally yes. After all, both Ann and Greiya were beautiful with high attractiveness and pleasant personalities. How could he refuse such beauties who were throwing themselves at him?
Of course, even if Duanmu Huai agreed now, they were still only engaged. The actual marriage would only be decided after the two graduated from the Manaria Magic Academy. If anything changed during that time, the engagement would perhaps be null and void.
This interim period also served as a buffer. Although a political match was necessary in this situation, since they hadn’t spent a lot of time together, they would still need to cultivate their feelings – certainly what both kings had in mind.
But, these were issues for the future.
For Duanmu Huai, what’s more essential was the reward he got this time!
[Mission: “Save Manaria” Accomplished!]
[Mission Evaluation: Outstanding]
[You have eliminated the root of all evil in this world, bringing peace and tranquility back to this land – you are the hero who saved this world!]
[Mission Reward: Obtained a special title “Dragon Slayer” – 30% increase in offense and defense when dealing with Dragon Race]
[Extra Reward: Due to bathing in dragon blood, the Subspace Armour has gained a special effect (Immunity against Magic and Physical Attacks below level 4 / half damage taken from Spiritual Energy Attacks above level 4) and Dragon’s Might Aura (Intimidation +1)]
[Your Reputation in Soul Shard “Manaria”: Adoration]
[Permanent acquisition of the World Fragment “Manaria”]
No doubt, the rewards this time were pretty favourable. Specifically after obtaining the fragment of the Manaria continent, Duanmu Huai could merge it with the Holy City, allowing him to freely move between the two.
But………
Why did he get Intimidation again??
Looking at the system prompt before his eyes, Duanmu Huai was absolutely speechless.
His Intimidation level had already reached Lv6, at this rate, reaching the maximum level wouldn’t be a problem at all!!
Back when he was still playing games, he hardly found any skills that increased intimidation…Though saying this now wouldn’t make any difference. After all, how was it possible for the system to take the reward back once it was given? So other than silently accepting, Duanmu Huai had nothing else to say.
Further, his biggest gain was from Fafner’s dragon’s nest; surprisingly, it housed several holy artifacts!
Such as the Dragon Claw Necklace, Dragon’s Might Core, Dragon’s Jewel, Mirror of Truth, and the Stargazer Telescope.
Duanmu Huai kept the Dragon Claw Necklace, returned the Mirror of Truth to the Manaria Magic Academy, and decomposed the Dragon’s Might Core, Dragon’s Jewel, and Stargazer Telescope. This increased the level of the Tribunal Library to 5, reducing the time necessary to analyze the Antimatter Energy Core by more than half.
But now, the most important thing was to merge the two World Fragments.
Duanmu Huai returned to the space station in silence, activated the system, and the map of the Holy City soon appeared before him.
On this map, the pure white Holy City was in the center, surrounded by several towns under its jurisdiction. Further out was a dense forest and lakes – and then nothing else.
Certainly, this was from the perspective of the map. If you were to actually look at it, you would discover a dense fog at the edge of the map, similar to many sandbox games’ method of marking the boundaries.
Now… Manaria!
With an idea flashing across Duanmu Huai’s mind, the land of Manaria appeared before his eyes.
Compared to the Holy City, the map of Manaria was more than twice the size, as it not only included the Magic Kingdom Manaria, but also the Dragon Kingdom of Regnes.
However, how to place this territory required thorough thinking.
Duanmu Huai certainly didn’t want to place Regnes next to the Holy City. Knowing the character of the Dragon Race, he would have to teach them several good lessons before they would behave. So after much thought, he decided to put the area near the magic academy in Manaria adjacent to the Holy City. As such, both parties could maintain peace, making it easier for communication.
After merging the two lands, Duanmu Huai asked Lorena to inform the Archbishop, and as for the future commercial, political, and personnel exchanges between Manaria and the Holy City – that was for them to decide.
Duanmu Huai, however, returned once again to Aldorf, preparing for the next action.
After all, the celebration banquet prepared by the Great Crown Prince was happening soon.
Nevertheless, when Duanmu Huai came back to Aldorf, he learned an unexpected piece of news from General Pastte.