I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

"Xiaohua, what's wrong?"

"Go by yourself, I'll wait for you downstairs."

"You're a dragon! What are you afraid of?"

"...I'm just scared! I'll wait for you to come back in the woods next to the sacred mountain."

Mia stared at it for a few seconds, and the golden dragon, feeling somewhat uncomfortable under her gaze, urged:

"What are you waiting for? Go on!"

"Oh, okay."

Mia gripped her staff and walked step by step up the stone steps of the sacred mountain.

The sunlight poured down without any obstruction, making her silver-white full-body armor scorching hot. Fortunately, she had wind and water magic to help cool her down, so it wasn't too uncomfortable.

Pilgrims along the roadside turned to look, and someone quietly tugged at their companion's sleeve and gestured towards her.

Mia wasn't used to being watched like this, so she lowered her head and pretended to look at the texture of the steps, her pace unconsciously quickening.

"Wearing full armor to climb a mountain in the sweltering heat? Is this person out of their mind?"

"Shh! Didn't you see the S-rank badge on her waist? That makes her the youngest S-rank adventurer in the world!"

"S-rank? A mysterious armored man? Could it be the legendary Dragon Knight?"

"Who else could it be but her? Dragon Knight Mia, a figure with a name on the Adventurers' Guild headquarters. She's an S-class combatant on her own, and with her dragon, she's definitely a top-tier adventurer."

Everyone gasped.

Someone else asked:

"It's not surprising that adult dragons possess the strength of archmages, but how do you know that dragon knights are S-rank combatants?"

"Nonsense, how could someone who has tamed a dragon be weak?"

Mia's social anxiety kicked in, and she pulled her helmet down even further, trying to cover her eyes, which were the only part of her face that was exposed.

"...But I remember the previous hero burned himself to destroy the dragons."

Another voice chimed in:

"Don't talk nonsense. Dragon riders ride metal dragons, not five-colored dragons. Metal dragons and evil dragons are completely different things. Only people who can't tell the difference would confuse them."

"Exactly! And don't you guys think it's cool for a hero to ride a dragon?"

A chorus of agreement rose from the surrounding crowd.

Mia wasn't affected by what the others said, but she still remembered Xiaohua's reaction at the foot of the mountain earlier.

That golden dragon, which usually doesn't care about anything, was actually afraid when facing the sacred mountain.

Mia's gaze fell on the holy sword at the edge of her field of vision.

It stood there quietly, half of its blade submerged in the stone platform, gleaming with a warm, pale golden light in the afternoon sun.

She watched for a long time.

She wondered what would happen if she actually managed to hold it.

A voice with a mocking laugh suddenly popped into his mind: "I still remember how you used to chase after the village kids when you were little, shouting 'Take this!'"

The one speaking was naturally the evil Mia.

Mia couldn't help but frown, silently retorting, "That was when I was little."

"You think things from your childhood don't matter? What are you hesitating about? Didn't you always want to be a hero? Who was it that chased other kids at the village entrance shouting 'Take this!'? It was you! Now that you've finally made it this far, you want to back down at the last minute?"

The other kind-hearted Mia shoved the evil Mia aside and loudly retorted:

"Without Xiaohua, you'd still be saving up to buy anchoring runes. The Dragon Knight title and S-rank qualification were all given to you by Xiaohua. The holy sword you're about to pull out is something it fears. Are you sure you want Xiaohua to have a dragon-slaying sword hanging over her head every day? Don't forget your friendship with Xiaohua!"

Evil Mia kicked Good Mia away with a flying kick, and argued:

"Hypocrisy! You call it friendship, then I call it righteousness! What if the demons attack if there are no heroes in this world? How can we face the Demon King without heroes?"

Two voices argued fiercely in Mia's mind, each holding its own opinion, until she couldn't even tell which one was her true thought.

Mia only came to her senses when the group unknowingly approached the Holy Sword, and then scattered the two Mia's.

Looking up, I found myself standing in front of the sword-drawing platform, able to clearly see the patterns on the hilt of the holy sword.

"Miss Dragon Knight?" A gentle voice came from the side.

Mia turned her head and saw a middle-aged woman in a church robe standing behind the registration desk, holding a quill pen in her hand. The register in front of her was already full of names.

Her gaze lingered for a moment on the S-class badge at Mia's waist, then moved to her face, revealing a professional smile:

"Please remove your helmet and gauntlets and register your identity information."

Mia nodded, hesitated, then removed her gauntlets and helmet, tucking them into her arm.

The moment her face appeared, the church staff member on duty paused, his pen poised.

Looking at the remarkably young face before her, she couldn't help but sigh:

"...So young! She looks about the same age as my daughter."

Mia smiled shyly, took the register, and wrote her name on it. Her handwriting was neat and beautiful, just like her personality.

"Auntie."

The church staff member on duty looked up and asked with a smile, "What's wrong?"

Mia's voice carried her usual reserve when facing strangers, and she spoke cautiously:

"Excuse me... does the kingdom urgently need a hero?"

After a moment's hesitation, the person on duty spoke:

"The current Demon King can be considered a peace-loving type. The war between the demon race and the human kingdoms has been over for many years, and matters such as eliminating evil dragons are handled by S-class adventurers like you, so there's no urgent need..."

The person on duty suddenly realized they had let something slip and could easily be used against them by their colleagues, so they quickly added:

"We still need brave people, it's better to be prepared, isn't it? Nobody knows what will happen tomorrow."

Mia nodded at her with a sigh of relief.

The staff member on duty smiled and stepped aside to make way for her to reach the sword-drawing platform.

Mia walked up to the holy sword and grasped it.

It's like an acrobat who makes a mountain out of a molehill, pretending to pull out a sword with all his might, but actually not using any strength at all.

But just as she was performing, a sudden upward pulling force came from her palm through the hilt of the sword, as if the holy sword had started moving on its own.

Mia was startled and immediately pressed her hand down, pulling the sword back.

Fortunately, the upward force was not strong, and the sword sank back into the stone platform, remaining motionless.

Mia waited several more breaths to make sure the Holy Sword was no longer rising, then slowly released her grip, took a half step back, shook her head in feigned regret, and turned to walk off the sword-drawing platform.

"I failed."

The staff member on duty nodded, his tone still gentle: "It's alright, not everyone is suited for the Holy Sword. Take care."

Mia didn't linger any longer and turned to walk down the stone steps.

Little Flower lay on the edge of a sparse grove of trees at the foot of the mountain, its huge body curled up in the shadow of a few old pine trees, its molten gold vertical pupils half-closed.

Half of its body was hidden behind the tree canopy, but its tail was sticking out, its tip pounding the ground impatiently, sweeping a small patch of grass into disarray.

It raised its head just before she walked down the mountain.

Mia walked up to it, without mentioning her hesitation or the strange pull of the Holy Sword. She simply stood still and said, "Little Flower, let's go. That sword doesn't belong to me."

Little Flower stood up, shook off the pine needles and grass clippings stuck to her scales, wagged her tail from side to side, and spoke indignantly.

"That sword was blind."

……

"Xiaohua, what's wrong?"

"Don't scare me, Xiaohua! You promised to wait for me to die and inherit my estate, you can't go back on your word!"

This was the first time Mia had ever been so panicked, her hands trembling as she used Holy Light to heal Little Flower.

During the previous forbidden spell, Xiao Hua took most of the damage with her body to protect her, and even her wings were destroyed, leaving only the skeleton.

After landing, Xiaohua struggled to buy herself time to escape, but Ji Tian came to her rescue, and Xiaohua breathed a sigh of relief and fainted.

The Holy Light spell fell on Xiaohua again and again, the silvery-white light shimmering on the dark red wound, but with little effect.

The holy light that had once been so effective vanished like raindrops falling into a rift valley, swallowed up by the deep, bone-revealing wounds.

"Wake up, Xiaohua, don't scare me..."

She had never seen Xiaohua like this before.

Those vertical pupils, which were usually half-closed and impatiently surveying everything in the world, were now tightly closed. Large pieces of golden scales shattered, revealing dark red flesh beneath, and golden blood seeped from every wound.

The wings were in a terrible state; the wing membranes were torn into strips, and several wing bones protruded from the flesh, exposed to the air. Dark purple arcs of the forbidden spell's residual power remained at the broken ends.

"Potion, yes, my potion..."

Mia frantically searched her waist, but the potions she had taken out beforehand were all in a special storage bag, which had already been destroyed by the forbidden spell.

As for the spatial ring, she had already tried it, and it couldn't be opened inside the World Tree.

Let me take a look.

A gentle voice came from behind, clearly indicating that the brave Ji Tian had defeated Evan and was now standing near Mia, crouching down in front of Xiao Hua.

His gaze swept over the golden dragon's back, wings, chest, abdomen, and head, meticulously examining the distribution and severity of the wounds.

"When a dragon is severely injured, it will enter a deep hibernation state to recover after finding a relatively safe place, making it look like it is dead."

Mia stared at him, both excited and incredulous:

"How do you know? I've never heard Xiaohua mention such a thing."

"I once consulted a veteran dragon about various aspects of dragon knowledge in order to help my apprentice successfully hatch."

Although there had been some friction before this.