In a room in the outer castle courtyard, Russell lay in bed, unable to fall asleep.
He could not hear the whispers of phantom beasts, nor could the M-shaped Mark in his palm be used to summon them. Ever since approaching Shadowflame Volcano, it seemed that every special power not derived from the Shadowflame Dragon had been ruthlessly suppressed.
Of course.
He could still summon Sword Butterfly and Thorn. These two Amber Bugs were not afraid of the dragon's suppressive power.
But Russell could not tell whether that was because they had been born from the radiation of dragon power, or because they possessed some extraordinary special quality.
"Sword Butterfly, do you feel like you've grown a little?" Russell raised his hand and traced circles around Sword Butterfly in midair.
Sword Butterfly fluttered gracefully. It could not speak, nor could it communicate clearly and effectively through its mind.
Still, it was indeed larger than when it had first revived from amber. After all, it had followed Russell and absorbed quite a bit of swordsmanship as nourishment.
It was not only Sword Butterfly that had grown. Thorn had improved as well. The five-meter-long thorny whip could now move as nimbly as a finger, even coiling around an embroidery needle. When necessary, it was Russell's third hand.
"Go back, Sword Butterfly."
At Russell's command, Sword Butterfly silently slipped into his palm. The M-shaped Mark had vanished without a trace, leaving only the sesame-seed-sized Sword Butterfly Mark slowly revolving around the similarly sized Thorn Mark.
He withdrew his arm, turned over, and closed his eyes.
Princess Kunlaya's exquisite, fairy-like figure suddenly flashed through his mind, only to be swiftly buried beneath a jumble of other thoughts.
He did not know how long it took before he finally drifted off to sleep.
This night