Ancient Dragon in Arknights

"After that, I looked forward to returning to school every single moment... I wanted to see you again. I wanted you by my side, just like I always have..."

"So, Neltharion... will you stay?"

The usually strong Rita now exposed almost all her weaknesses. Her voice was tearful and pleading, indicating that she had undergone a tremendous internal struggle without Nesario's knowledge.

Ultimately, she made this "selfish" request, hoping that Nesario would change the course of his life and move closer to her.

"Rita... I'm sorry, I can't say yes. I'm sorry..."

Chapter 153 Best Friend

Rita left in tears. After four years of being classmates, this was the first time Nesario had ever seen her cry.

He found it hard to believe... He had thought that Rita had at most a slight liking for him, but it was far from being this heartbreaking; he had thought that they could both silently accept each other's departure, and then lick their wounds for a while before starting their lives anew.

Looking back now... Nesario did something really awful, making a girl who loved him cry.

"Phew...it will all pass."

A woman's tears are indeed a powerful weapon, especially when those women who rarely cry shed tears do so; just now, Nesario even had a very dangerous idea—to use Leto as a springboard to invade the core power zone of Lontinim, and then absorb its vast energy to gain the right to be assertive in Victoria.

But he quickly suppressed this idea with reason; it was too unrealistic, lacked a sound plan, and was purely an impulse.

Therefore, in order to avoid being buried in a foreign land, Nesario chose to be ruthless to the end.

He wouldn't listen to tears or pleas; even the word "heart of stone" wouldn't do him justice at that moment.

......

Boom—patter patter.

The door was pushed open quickly, and the chaotic footsteps suggested the owner's panic.

Losley, who was waiting for good news in her dormitory, guessed the result when she heard this voice. She also sighed slightly. It seems that Rita is not good either.

Lori was doing something dangerous when Nesario told her he was leaving; Lori felt not relief, but confusion.

Over the past few years, Nesario and she have been on the same side. They initially formed an alliance because of the Duke's spy attack, and then they used each other to protect themselves.

They were supposed to be using each other... but they never actually sabotaged each other; they were more like close friends—despite both of them having incredibly sensitive identities, the spy and the "resurrected" Draco got along surprisingly harmoniously.

They gradually entered each other's lives, leaving an indelible mark.

Nesario is incredibly dependent on and trusts the "all-powerful" spy; and Lothiri also finds a sense of security in Nesario, who protects her perfectly even when she is in danger.

Now, Nesario and Lothiri have freed themselves from this predicament—Lothiri is quite popular in the military because of her intelligence gathering on Nesario, and her superiors are very satisfied with her performance during her four-year-long undercover mission; while Nesario is also very grateful to Lothiri for the various cover-ups and concealments she has provided for him.

As for stabbing her in the back at the last moment? Nesario trusted his judgment; Lothiri wouldn't do such a thing.

Lori didn't stab him in the back, because she was planning to use her beauty to seduce him.

She was well aware that Neltharion's identity was too sensitive, but Victoria had so many Grand Dukes and so many intertwined forces—among them, the Iron Duke, who was born of the Tara people, was very likely a supporter of Drak.

In her spare time, Losley read through a large amount of information and consulted many historical anecdotes, eventually learning some of the historical truth.

Historically, the Drak were divided into two factions—the Atrias line and the Gael line. The former controlled all of Victoria, while the latter established the Kingdom of Tara.

But how could a greedy king allow his own people to establish other residences on his doorstep?

Therefore, Atrias used many means, including coercion, persuasion, and war, and in the end, Tara, whose national strength was no match for Victoria, surrendered—and the Gaelic lineage of Drak was gradually assimilated and disappeared.

What followed was the familiar history: the Drak were weakened by internal strife, which allowed Aslan to take advantage of the situation and force Drak to give up half of the crown. Meanwhile, the Tara people, who were not liked by either side, were now even considered "second-class citizens," or rather, outcasts.

It was no easy feat for the Iron Duke to rise to the pinnacle of Victorian power from such a birth, and now—Losiri hopes to curry favor with him and offer protection to Neltharion. Although it is unclear which lineage of Drak Neltharion belongs to, the Iron Duke is unlikely to pass up such an advantage.

If Nesario himself knew about this idea, he'd probably spank Losilly until her bottom was red—what a terrible idea!?

Putting aside those historical issues, how could a Grand Duke truly believe in him simply because of so-called "bloodline"?

His joining the Iron Duke's ranks would ultimately lead to one of two outcomes: either he would be traded to other dukes for personal gain, or he would be used as a mascot or puppet.

If Neltharion could endure such humiliation, he might as well end it all! The dragons within him would wail in despair!

So, Lothiri drove Rita to make an attempt to keep Nesario by using a bond called love.

At that time...not only Rita, but even she...

"Rita? May I come in?"

Lori knocked on Rita's door and then waited quietly.

Soon, footsteps approached, and with the sound of the lock turning, the tightly closed door was opened.

Rita, her eyes slightly red and brimming with tears, appeared before Losili—she hadn't changed her clothes yet, and the pure white dress made her look even more pitiful. Any man would hesitate upon seeing such a sight!

'Nesario...you really are...'

“Loselli...he rejected me.”

“I know...this is indeed the choice he would make.”

Lori opened her arms and hugged Rita, hoping that her friend's embrace would make Rita feel better. Lori didn't want things to get any worse.

"Losiri...when exactly did you meet Neltharion? Why did you keep it from me?"

After a brief silence, Rita asked the question—she had been too confused to notice this detail when Lothiri brought her the news that Nesario was leaving.

In retrospect, Lothiri knew Nesario far better than she did; the two had a very close relationship.

"Earlier than all of you—before the start of the school year, even before you met and got to know him."

Now that things have come to this, there's no point in hiding it any longer. If Rita wants to investigate in the future, the Storm Commando's authority will allow her to find out many truths.

"Then why did you..."

Rita had so many questions: Why were Lothiri and Nesario acting all along? Why had they kept it from her all this time? Why... was she now choosing to back down?

"That's a bit complicated... Let me think where to begin..."

"I want him to tell me himself."

Rita's resilience is demonstrated in moments like these—after suffering a major setback, she can quickly recover and then retaliate with an even stronger stance.

Her mentor once commented, "It seems that even a storm couldn't defeat her."

Now, she at least needs to understand why Nesario made that choice—she doesn't want all the most important memories of her youth to be shrouded in mystery.

Chapter 154 I've Been Slammed

"Hey! Rita, where are you going?"

"Go find Nesario."

Having regained her confidence, Rita no longer hesitated. Her previous weak demeanor had disappeared, and now she had only one goal in mind: to hear Nesario tell her the reason in person.

"Sigh... persistent pestering isn't very popular. Oh well... it's come to this point already."

Losley felt helpless. She couldn't predict what Rita would do next, and hoped that in the end, the two of them could at least have some dignity.

Losley returned to her room and began searching through the documents. After a while, she finally found the list of "boys' dormitories" among a pile of documents.

After flipping through several pages to confirm the information was correct, Losley edited a text message and sent it to Rita. She rushed out like a truck, without even knowing which way to go.

......

Nesario carried a dozen beers back to his dorm room—he didn't drink much, firstly because he didn't like the taste, and secondly because alcohol would numb him and reduce his ability to deal with danger, making him vulnerable to being taken advantage of.

On such a dangerous day, he should have been focused on preventing potential attacks—but the frustration in his heart was unbearable, so Nesario could only resort to drinking to drown his sorrows, just like others.

"Fischer?"

I knocked on my roommate's door, but all I got was a completely empty and silent room.

He unlocked the communicator, and sure enough, Fisher left him a message: "Something important has come up. Ask for leave for me."

"That's really strange..."

Fisher was a very cautious and organized person. Except during special periods, he usually stayed at school as a good student. Even if he didn't go home at night, he would ask for leave in advance.

So Nessario has almost never asked for leave on Fisher's behalf—today is the first time he's asked Nessario to ask for leave.

It seems there's some kind of emergency or unforeseen event, so much so that even Fisher has no idea what to expect.

Hopefully it won't be anything too troublesome.

Back in his room, Nesario began to lick his wounds alone. After tomorrow, he would begin his great escape, and this was the last bit of peace he would have.

dong dong!

Just as Nesario was emo, his windowpane suddenly rattled—what was going on?!

If it were an enemy attack... they wouldn't knock on the door so politely.

He walked over and drew back the curtains—outside the transparent window stood a blonde girl in a white dress, bathed in the bright moonlight.

Rita easily broke through the floor barrier with a rope and climbed from the bottom of the dormitory to Nesario's window.

"Rita!? What's wrong with you...?"

Nesario was a little confused. Shouldn't he and Rita have already made things very clear? What was she trying to do by coming to his door again?

Although Nesario was still somewhat stunned by the surprise, he opened the window, at least to prevent Rita from hanging there any longer.

"Nesario, how many more things are you hiding from me?"

Rita neither cried nor made a fuss. As if she had seen through everything, she looked calmly and steadily into Nesario's eyes, her sharp gaze forcing Nesario to look away.

"I...don't want to involve you."

"Then why can Loser? She knows everything about you, while I know nothing. She even told me you were leaving."

Very well! Losilly, you'd better keep your distance, otherwise...

Tell me everything about yourself.

Although Rita didn't directly make a move, Nesario had a feeling that she wanted to lift him up and torture him for interrogation.

"Okay... I can't guarantee what will happen next."

Nesario immediately started taking off his shirt. Rita was initially confused until she saw Nesario's chest—a blazing fire seemed to be piercing through his chest.

Rita had known about this change for a long time. As one of the people closest to Nesario, such a significant change naturally did not escape her notice.

She asked Neltharion what was going on... Neltharion explained that it was one of their racial traits.