Only in the Long Court of the Molten Fire Grand Duchy did Russell truly witness what it meant for an entire nation to mourn together.
Low, muffled sobs echoed throughout the Long Court from morning to night, and even the wind seemed to carry the scent of tears.
The temperature was still scorching.
Yet it no longer had that vibrant, searing heat. Instead, it felt like the limp, stifling warmth of an autumn heat wave.
White flags filled the Long Court, the mourning drapery hung only for funerals. Black banners likewise stretched across every alley, grieving for the fallen Molten Fire Dragon and Grand Duke Fritz Molten.
In the distance.
A great many wyverns circled Molten Fire Volcano, their cries as heartrending as cuckoos weeping blood.
They were wailing for their king!
Groups of ragged humans knelt at the foot of Molten Fire Volcano, worshipping as they crawled all the way up its slopes. Many knights also stood at every corner of the volcano, gazing up at the crater in silent mourning for the Molten Fire Dragon.
This extinct volcano still lived on in the hearts of humanity.
Riding Sacred Unicorn Polly, Russell slowed from Mach 3 to an ordinary speed before swiftly approaching the Long Court.
The sorrow hanging over the entire Long Court affected him somewhat as well.
He silently landed on the Long Court's arrival platform, the docking area for wyverns. The moment he touched down, guards from the Long Court came to receive him.
Polly swiftly transformed into a double-folded bolt of lightning and branded herself onto Russell's forehead.
The sight stunned the guards. They had never seen such a peculiar method of Phantom Beast fusion; a Phantom Beast Knight's Phantom Beast could only manifest as a shadow or transform into armor. Yet the unfathomable pressure