Mr. Dragon Knight, the dragon girls are chasing you!

Just as his mentality completely collapsed, the system's notification sound suddenly rang in his mind, blunt and heartbreaking.

[Ding! Special bond triggered!]

[Eluvia - Wings of Eternal Night's favorability is nearing its critical threshold. Sensing the host's emotional fluctuations and abnormal state of mind, she has proactively broken through the barrier.]

Luo Ye: "...?"

However, what made his scalp tingle even more was—

He had just muttered to himself in the room, "I should go find Serafina first..."

Could it be that this little black dragon, whose perception is ridiculously abnormal, heard every single word?

If she heard that I had just taken advantage of her seclusion to disobey her wishes and plotted to find her mortal enemy, the Silver Dragon King...

Luo Ye dared not think any further and had already begun to formulate her last words.

The pitch-black dragon in the sky had clearly noticed him on the ground as well.

Those gilded vertical pupils narrowed slightly in the sunlight, locking onto the human boy who stood frozen in place at the entrance of the dragon's nest.

The next second, a strong wind suddenly arose!

With a sudden, powerful flap of its enormous wings, the massive dragon body, like a black meteor streaking across the sky, swept down from a height of tens of thousands of feet with a violent current and an overwhelming, terrifying dragon aura, breaking the sound barrier at a speed that was so fast that it crashed straight down in the direction of Luo Ye!

"Holy crap—"

Luo Ye's pupils dilated violently, the hair on his body stood on end, and only one thought remained in his mind:

Oh no, she heard that?

Is this some kind of setup, where they're going to run me over with their dragon head to silence me?!

He instinctively wanted to dodge, but his feet seemed to be nailed to the ground—not that he didn't want to run, but the overwhelming dragon's might was too strong, making his limbs stiff and his breathing difficult.

The dark figure rapidly grew larger in his vision, getting closer and closer—

Then, it suddenly stopped less than three feet away from him.

A violent gust of wind, carrying gravel and dust, swept past his sides, making his robes flutter and his hair fly wildly.

But the expected impact did not occur.

Luo Ye stood there, stunned, staring at the rapidly shrinking and changing black shadow in front of him.

The enormous dragon body rapidly shrank, deformed, and condensed in the dark purple light. Its wings, which could blot out the sky, transformed into slender arms, its long tail shortened into a flexible little tail, and its ferocious head transformed back into a delicate and proud little face.

In the blink of an eye, the mighty and domineering Eternal Night Dragon King transformed back into the mini black dragon form that Luo Ye was most familiar with and most helpless in.

Eluvia gracefully spun in mid-air and landed steadily on Luo Ye's shoulder. Her slender and flexible black dragon tail wrapped around his neck, the tip of which had a small, soft barb that gently hooked the edge of his collar, intimately and domineeringly encircling him.

Her gilded vertical pupils narrowed slightly, and the joy in her eyes was almost overflowing, but her expression still maintained a haughty look as if she were saying, "I'm just taking a look at you by chance."

But the slender dragon tail behind her was swaying and twitching uncontrollably, its tip brushing against the skin of his neck, causing a slight tickle, completely revealing her unconcealed joy.

"Stupid Dragon Knight—"

She tilted her small head slightly, her bright, gilded vertical pupils staring at him, her tone carrying her usual arrogant, rising tone, soft yet domineering.

"Have you missed me?"

Luo Ye stared blankly at the little black dragon perched on his shoulder, feeling the tip of her tail gently brush against the back of his neck. The heart that had been in his throat finally slowly settled back down.

All the panic, anxiety, guilt, and tension were washed away and soothed by the warm and complex emotions in my heart.

He turned his head slightly, looking at the little black dragon on his shoulder that was gently patting his shoulder with the tip of its tail, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up slightly.

"Um."

"I really, really want to."

Eluvia's swaying dragon tail suddenly stopped, and the next second, it swayed even more joyfully and enthusiastically, the small tip of the tail drawing a graceful arc in the air, her unconcealed joy exploding completely.

She deliberately raised her delicate chin, pretending to be aloof and disdainful, but the bright smile in her eyes was impossible to hide: "Hmph, that's more like it. At least you have some conscience."

However, this warm and intimate atmosphere did not last long.

Eluvia's small nostrils twitched slightly, and her keen dragon senses instantly detected the faint moonlight scent lingering on him. Although extremely weak, it did not escape her perception.

A hint of doubt and wariness flashed across her golden vertical pupils. She leaned closer to Luo Ye's neck, sniffing carefully for a moment, then looked up, her gaze fixed directly into his eyes, filled with scrutiny and inquiry.

"Hmm? Why do I feel... your heart is beating abnormally fast?"

Luo Ye's body stiffened slightly.

"And—" The dragon tail swaying merrily behind Eluvia suddenly stopped, her tone tinged with an inexplicable suspicion, her delicate perception penetrating deep into his heart through their soul connection.

"Deep down, you harbor feelings of guilt."

She stared intently into his eyes, his image clearly reflected in her golden pupils, her tone earnest yet accusatory: "Are you hiding something from me?"

Luo Ye's throat tightened slightly. He opened his mouth, his mind racing to find the perfect explanation, but before he could organize his thoughts, Eluvia's gaze had already swept over his entire body.

A bulging backpack, a short dagger at the waist, a sheepskin map peeking out from the chest, and fully armed travel attire...

Every detail was captured by her eyes.

Her eyes instantly became completely alert, her proud little face darkened slightly, and her tone lowered, filled with scrutiny and unease.

"And look at you, all armed to the bone, your backpack crammed full, with spears and daggers ready—tell me honestly, where are you planning to go?"

Luo Ye: "..."

He felt cold sweat seeping out of his back at an alarming rate.

What should he say?

"Your Majesty, I am going to Silvermoon Peak to borrow a sacred artifact from your nemesis, Serafina, to help you break the curse." — If he said this, he would probably be turned to ashes by a breath of dragon's breath on the spot.

"Your Majesty, I am preparing to go to the Abyss Rift to my death"—that doesn't seem quite right either.

"Your Majesty, I was just going out for a walk"—she would never believe it.

In a mere fraction of a second, Luo Ye's brain went through the entire process from "frantically making excuses" to "completely giving up on treatment."

In the end, he could only force out a slightly stiff smile, trying his best to appear calm, and began to fabricate a story in a serious manner.

"I'm getting ready to go to the back mountain to level up."

"While you were in seclusion healing your wounds, I went to the back mountain every day to hunt high-level magical beasts, hone my combat skills, and accumulate experience to level up. I didn't dare to slack off. Look, my level and strength have improved a lot compared to before."

As he spoke, he deliberately released a trace of his rich dark dragon power, allowing his aura to flow smoothly, so that she could sense his surging strength through the soul connection, thus proving the truth of his words.

Eluvia narrowed her gilded vertical pupils, scrutinizing his entire body from head to toe. Her nostrils twitched as she carefully sniffed his scent, discerning the truthfulness of his words.

Then, she nimbly loosened her neck with her dragon tail and slowly circled around to his front. The soft yet hard tip of her tail gently poked his chest, her tone clearly disbelieving.

"You need to bring so much stuff to level up in the back mountains? Do you think I'm not very smart? Are you trying to trick me?"