After I died, my personal maid rebelled.

(Belder, the dragon slayer, ultimately died at the hands of the dragons... This is your destiny, such a tragic fate.)

"Hiss...whoosh...hiss...whoosh..."

Baird lay on the charred ground, his body mangled, his eyes glazed over. His lungs were pierced by claws, and his breathing was weak and feeble, like a leaky bellows.

Not far away, the bone dragon, with its limbs broken and its skeleton loose, writhed and swayed on the ground.

It relentlessly crawled toward Baird, its body kicking up tons of dirt.

The other complete dragon was more agile; its phantom circled Baird, chattering sarcastically, as if it wanted to witness Baird's final fate.

Baird ignored the phantom; he could feel death calling him, and with each breath, blood foam spilled from the corner of his mouth.

Alistair, Alistair...

Hearing him still calling that woman's name in his heart, the dragon's phantom embraced Baird and lay down, looking bored.

It has haunted Baird for decades, witnessing scenery far more spectacular and interesting than it did in his lifetime.

Now, it's time for both the man and the dragon to leave.

The dragon looked up at the sky, sensing the life within its embrace was about to fade, and for the first time spoke words of comfort: "Don't worry, you will see her. Death is not the end. At the end of everything, your souls will meet."

is it?

That's good, that's good...

Baird finally responded to the dragon. His vision gradually blurred, and with a faint smile, he stopped breathing under the gentle caress of the wind.

The dragon remained silent; its encounter with Baird was truly uninteresting.

Dragons basically don't need to eat, have long lifespans, and spend most of their time sleeping, living a peaceful and undisturbed life.

At that time, it was just a young dragon, 1,200 years old, and it had only heard from its own people how cruel the race created by the goddess was and how it had taken away their dragons' habitat.

The dwarves are the most despicable of all.

If humans are merely expanding their territory and seizing land on the continent, then dwarves would indeed hunt dragons specifically to obtain sturdy raw materials.

The dragon was young and impetuous at the time. After hearing the story, he immediately decided to teach the dwarves a lesson. So he spread his wings and flew across the vast sea to another continent.

But it had never seen dwarves or humans before, and couldn't tell the difference between them at all.

So, after causing a ruckus in a random town, it encountered two young, powerful individuals and learned that the town it had just destroyed was a human town.

That battle was devastating; the young woman died, and it too perished under Baird's sword.

There's nothing to resent; if anyone should resent someone, it should be Baird resenting it.

It wasn't some dragon that refused to admit its mistakes; it made a mistake, and it caused the killing, which led to its own demise. It believed this was the punishment it deserved.

It wasn't a dragon afraid of death; it stayed by Baird's side simply because it was interested in humans.

The human world is complex and interesting. Its happiest day was when a group of elegantly dressed people pulled Baird along, wanting to marry their daughters to him.

Baird refused and was slapped more than a dozen times on the spot.

Seriously, humans are much more interesting than dragons. There are strong people here in a different sense, who can bully powerful beings like Baird at will.

From then on, it followed Baird on his wanderings. The once dazzling light of the dragon slayer faded, and Baird grew older year by year, missing that young woman more and more each year.

Every time Baird murmured a woman's name, it liked to come out and bother him. Actually... it just hoped that he wouldn't be so sad.

Instead of missing someone who can't come back, curse a dragon that can see and hear you.

After all, they will meet again at the end of the road.

At that time, as a responsible dragon, it will certainly endure being beaten and scolded without complaint.

Having ended its remembrance of the past, it was time to take Baird's soul away. The dragon's phantom rose, only to find that the broken bone dragon had already arrived before Baird's corpse.

The person is already dead, what's the point of coming here?

The dragon paid no heed to this incident; it now only needed to wait for Baird's soul to appear, then carry him soaring into the sky, letting him experience the feeling of riding on a dragon's back back to "heaven."

A golden phantom slowly emerged from the aged body. He was still so young. In fact, the dragon seriously suspected that the soul of all life would remain at the moment when the physical body stopped developing.

However, even more dazzling than the golden light was a dark purplish-black light emanating from the bone dragon's mouth.

What is that?

The dragon suddenly sensed a source of magic that filled the depths of its soul with terror. It wasn't just simple immortality magic; it was more like a twisted form of corruption!

What are humans researching? Are they trying to destroy the world? How can we allow such things to exist?!

The dragon grew increasingly panicked, but thankfully they were about to leave. As the old saying goes, "After I die, I don't care if the world floods," it only needed to...

"Click-clack".

One by one, the bone dragon's teeth shattered. The giant dragon looked up and was shocked to find that the bone dragon had begun to gnaw at the purplish-black magic crystal.

The magic crystal was incredibly sturdy. The bone dragon trembled and tore at it violently like a madman, even cracking its skull, but it was powerless against the magic crystal.

Just as the dragon breathed a sigh of relief, a crack in the magic crystal appeared before its eyes.

The crack appeared to have been pierced by a sharp sword, which reminded the dragon of the sword Baird had thrust into the bone dragon's forehead.

Uh, it can't be that much of a coincidence...

At the instant the teeth gripped the crack, Baird's soul finally completed its departure.

But it was too late. The skull and magic crystal shattered with a crash, and countless twisted magical energies rapidly invaded Baird's soul.

The dragon lunged forward and swallowed Baird's soul whole.

It can't affect the real world; all it can do is take on all of this for Baird.

The magic corrupted and devoured the dragon's soul, turning it like an unstoppable torrent, until it finally transformed into a golden-black spirit that sank into Baird's corpse...

The mutation began.

Beneath the battlefield ruins shrouded in rain, beside a massive dragon skeleton, a pair of scarlet eyes suddenly opened.

[Warning, host, warning]

(What warning?)

[This system does not have sufficient permissions. We only know that a major event has occurred. Host, please be vigilant; a powerful calamity may be brewing.]

[Host, don't you feel anything? Your prediction failed?]

(I don't feel anything... and even if a calamity occurs, what can my current body do?)

Oswald sighed, wondering how much more trouble this damn timeline shift would cause.

[Don't worry, host. This is just the growing pains before becoming a villain. As the saying goes, turning evil makes you three times stronger, turning good makes you three times weaker. I believe you will be able to successfully master this power.]

The villain...turns evil...

[The host's current skeletal mutation is irreversible, but it greatly strengthens the host's body. If the undying magic within the body can be suppressed and the vitality of bodily functions restored, coupled with the system's protection of the host's soul, it is believed that the host will definitely be able to become an even more powerful being.]

(Sir, I suspect you're faking it on me, but I have no proof.)

[Do not doubt this system]

(I'm not saying you're mean to me, it's just that neither of us is a chosen one, and neither of us has an omnipotent cheat code. We can't do things like... cough, you know, just to become stronger.)

[......]

[Anyway, you are not allowed to question this system.]

(Feel sorry.)

[Me too]

What?!

Oswald sighed again, but the system was ignoring him and had probably gone off to visit someone else.

That's just how systems are; at most, they might hide some ulterior motives, but their ultimate goal is always to benefit themselves.

But, can it suppress the magic of immortality?

Oswald clenched his fists tightly; he was indeed somewhat anxious, like a fighter pilot whose heart could no longer be stirred by the excitement of a roller coaster.

Even though his physical abilities are still stronger than those of an ordinary person, he still hopes to return to his peak condition.

After much deliberation, Oswald still felt that a consultation with specialists was necessary.

"Elena, go and invite Sister Jane to the Duke's mansion."

After the rain, the air in the ice city was fresh, and as the sun came out, the puddles on the ground gradually disappeared.

With the existence of the sewer system, the people of Harbin have come to enjoy rainy days. A heavy rain washes the ground clean, and people feel much more energetic walking on such roads.

In the afternoon, Oswald made a rare trip to the garden.

He discovered that people who live frugally for too long gradually lose their ability to appreciate the beauty in life.

For example, the flowers blooming in his eyes now are not vibrant and beautiful life, but a string of warm numbers.

"Does Your Highness enjoy admiring flowers? This flower is called..."

"Hmm, I'm calculating how much these plants can sell for together."

Oswald gave a casual reply, only to be met with a blank stare at Jenny's forced smile.

"Ahem, Sister, please forgive me, I'm a little out of it today."

"It's alright. Did His Excellency summon me because something is wrong with his health?" Janice observed Oswald's expression and then added, "Besides his head."

Oswald smiled sheepishly. He had come to the garden simply because he felt that seeing patients in the office was too formal and wanted to make the private conversation more relaxed.

The two walked to the pavilion in the garden, where Elena had already prepared tea to serve them. However, the sight of her personal maid taking her seat first was probably only seen in the Duke's mansion in the Northern Territory.

"It's still the same as always." Oswald invited the nun to sit down and bent down to pour tea for her and Eleanor.

"I just wanted to ask the nun, you said you had a way to suppress the immortality magic within me, but I don't know..."

"Your Grace, please rest assured, this matter is quite simple." Jenny opened her palm, and a green magical energy emerged. Almost without any guidance, the magical energy entered Oswald's body and disappeared without a trace.

"In principle, goddess magic can cancel out immortality magic. I came up with this solution after assessing the Duke's physical strength."

"The magic stone can absorb the magic elements in the space and generate magic power continuously. As long as we can engrave a magic circle on the magic stone and convert the magic power into goddess magic, we can continuously suppress the immortal magic in the Duke's body."

Elena placed her hands together on her knees, narrowed her eyes slightly, and asked softly, "Can the Duke's body truly withstand the conflict between the two magical forces?"

"Yes. However, for the best results, I suggest embedding the Philosopher's Stone inside the Duke's body." Janet's expression was serious, without a trace of joking, and she was, in fact, a serious person.

Oswald, who was stroking his chin in thought: ? ? ?

Okay, another body modification. I don't see the problem with a bunch of rocks; at least it makes things more lively…

"Where exactly is it?" Elena's eyelashes fluttered as she hurriedly asked.

"spine!"