Recaps

After the Snow Demons returned, Russell and the Elder Council concluded that a new Snow Giant and Frost Troll had come to aid Frost Da, leaving the Shadowflame Grand Duchy with no solution but to await King Ares. King Ares received news of the Torrent Dragon’s predicament and went to meet the Scorching Dragon, as the dragons prepared to face the crisis.

• At the expanded Elder Council meeting, Baron Kunbif and Russell described the Torrent Dragon’s battle, and the council determined that a new Snow Giant and Frost Troll had joined the hunt.
• Russell reasoned that defeating the new Snow Giant could make the Frost Troll lose hope of evolving, but Count Merlin canceled the Demon Extermination Order and ordered the knights to remain within the country while they awaited King Ares’s reply.
• At Shadowflame Volcano, the Shadowflame Dragon refused to forgive the Torrent Dragon and said that Shadowflame, Scorching, and Torrent would handle the crisis while Ares made the right choice.
• Russell saw that Little Dream Dragon was still asleep digesting Frost Star and reflected that the era still belonged to God of War Ares.
• After reading Marquis Arno’s account of the Torrent Dragon’s encounter, King Ares armed himself and summoned the Scorching Dragon, then rose above the Blazing Sun Royal Palace to meet it.

Russell watched a meteor shower and wondered whether it had anything to do with the Frost Trolls, then discussed the stars with Mel. Meanwhile, the Torrent Dragon recovered and met King Ares and the Scorching Dragon, who headed together to visit the Shadowflame Dragon.

• Russell rushed outside after Polly alerted him to a meteor shower and wondered if the meteors were Frost Trolls passing through the Gate of Another World.
• Mel reassured Russell that he remembered seeing a meteor shower as a child, and the cousins discussed what the stars might be.
• The Torrent Dragon recovered from its injuries after two days in Swan Lake and rose above Fire Ant Swamp.
• King Ares arrived on the Scorching Dragon and greeted the Torrent Dragon before proposing they visit the Shadowflame Dragon and improve relations between their nations.
• The Sunflower Family prostrated themselves before the dragons, and Kunspe asked whether his eldest brother would soon be crowned.

King Ares’s impending visit stirred the Shadowflame Grand Duchy, while Princess Anxia feared he might take Princess Kunlaya away. Russell and the assembled nobles gathered at Shadowflame Volcano, where Ares finally approached on the Scorching Dragon.

• The Elder Council ordered a grand welcome for King Ares, and Princess Anxia agreed to receive her father despite her fear of him.
• Princess Anxia urged Princess Kunlaya to take Russell as her master so she could strengthen her Battle Aura and rely on herself.
• Russell anticipated meeting a Dragon Knight and rode Rosai to the crater with Baron Roman and the other Wyvern Knights.
• Princess Anxia and Princess Kunlaya arrived and took their places at the front of the welcoming procession.
• The Shadowflame Dragon awoke as King Ares’s smoke-trailing Scorching Dragon and a sea-blue companion appeared on the horizon.

King Ares arrived at Shadowflame Volcano with Scorching Dragon and Torrent Dragon, where Princess Anxia formally welcomed him and he discussed cooperation between the two nations. He proposed exchanging Scale Towers, but Count Merlin said he needed to consult Shadowflame Dragon, leaving Ares dissatisfied with the lack of a Dragon Knight who could decide for the duchy.

• Scorching Dragon and Torrent Dragon arrived at Shadowflame Volcano, where Shadowflame Dragon emerged to confront them.
• Princess Anxia welcomed King Ares, and Princess Kunlaya greeted him as her grandfather.
• Russell sensed the power of Ares’s Dragon Knight aura and compared it with the dragon flame of an ordinary dragon.
• King Ares discussed the Frost Troll and Snow Giant threat with Count Merlin and Marquis Arno, proposing that Scorching and Shadowflame build Scale Towers in each other’s countries.
• Count Merlin said he needed to consult Shadowflame Dragon before agreeing, and King Ares criticized the difficulty of making decisions without a Dragon Knight.

King Ares explained to Princess Anxia that he planned to annex the Shadowflame Grand Duchy to prepare for the Frost Giants, and she urged him to consider cultivating Russell instead. Ares agreed to meet Russell, who remained unaware of the king’s interest as the welcoming banquet began.

• King Ares told Princess Anxia that the Frost Giants might arrive and that annexing the Shadowflame Grand Duchy was now his simplest option.
• Princess Anxia proposed that Ares cultivate Russell and marry Kunlaya to him, and Ares agreed to meet Russell privately.
• Russell discussed King Ares’s prestige with Polly and remained wary of the Dragon Knight’s strength.
• At the banquet, Princess Anxia watched Russell, and King Ares praised him as the nobles toasted the king.

King Ares met Russell and later discussed him with Princess Anxia, cautioning her not to trust dragons too readily. The chapter ended as King Ares began formal consultations with Shadowflame Grand Duchy leaders about the two nations’ future.

• At the welcoming banquet, King Ares toasted lasting friendship between the two nations and their united fight against the Snow Demons.
• King Ares met Russell, praised his talent, renewed his offer to recruit him, and asked about his student Welim.
• After Russell left, King Ares told Princess Anxia that Russell was decent but warned her not to take the Shadowflame Dragon’s approval too seriously.
• King Ares explained that dragons could lie or betray their masters, citing the lost dragon in Song of the Volcano, and said Kunlaya did not need to rush into marriage.
• King Ares convened formal consultations with Count Merlin, Princess Anxia, and the Elder Council’s senior ministers, while Russell was not eligible to attend.

Russell reached Tier 3 and discussed his cultivation with Baron Roman while they waited for the Elder Council meeting to end. The council asked Russell to accompany Shadowflame into the Scorching Torrent Kingdom, and the Shadowflame Dragon assured him that its power would conceal Snowflake’s aura.

• Russell told Baron Roman that Polly’s concentric-circle theory had helped him balance his primal breaths and complete his contract with Ouroboros.
• Baron Roman explained how Russell could use his multiple Phantom Beasts and pseudo-dragon primal breath to develop stronger techniques.
• Count Merlin announced a formal alliance between the Shadowflame Grand Duchy and the Scorching Torrent Kingdom, including reciprocal construction of Scale Towers.
• Count Merlin proposed that Russell accompany Shadowflame to activate the towers, and Russell said he would consult Shadowflame before accepting.
• Russell asked the Shadowflame Dragon whether Snowflake’s aura would be exposed, and it promised its power would conceal the young dragon.

After King Ares departed, Russell accepted Princess Kunlaya as his student at Princess Anxia’s request. He returned to Wuyou Snake Manor and prepared for the Dragon Birth Festival, where he planned to appoint Leona as Cigar Castle’s housekeeper.

• King Ares left the Shadowflame Grand Duchy with the Scorching Dragon and Torrent Dragon, planning to return when the Scorching Scale Tower was complete.
• Princess Anxia invited Baron Roman and Russell to dinner and asked Russell to teach Princess Kunlaya Battle Aura; Russell accepted her as a student.
• Princess Kunlaya gave Russell a bag of Gold Coins as tuition, and Baron Roman reflected on Russell’s growing prominence on their journey home.
• Russell returned to Wuyou Snake Manor after agreeing to celebrate the Dragon Birth Festival at Fluorite Castle, then learned that Morris and the kitchen staff were preparing Cigar Castle for the festival banquet.
• Russell told Leona that he intended to recommend her as Cigar Castle’s housekeeper.

After awakening from its month-long sleep, Ice Cream gained the power to conceal its aura from other dragons and helped Russell bring Ouroboros into the Dark Dreamscape. The enlarged Dream family set out for the snowfields, where Ice Cream planned to hunt.

• On Dragon Birth Festival, Russell celebrated with his followers at Cigar Castle and slept there for the first time.
• Ice Cream appeared in the Dark Dreamscape and showed Russell its newly branched horns, which let it hide its aura from dragon surveillance.
• Russell rode with Ice Cream and Polly to Wuyou Snake Manor, where Ice Cream brought Ouroboros into the Dream family.
• Ice Cream breathed dragonfire over Ouroboros, strengthening her Dream Concealment magic, though she could not awaken a new tail ability.
• Russell, Ice Cream, Polly, Ouroboros, Sword Butterfly, Thorn, Tick, and Gecko set off for the snowfields to hunt.

Russell celebrated Dragon Birth Festival at Cigar Castle after Little Dream Dragon rejected Hail Beads and Ice Soul Beads and failed to find Frost Da in the Black Wave Mountain Range. He then entered the Dark Dreamscape to visit the oak forest, where his new ability, Listen to the Dark Dreamscape, let him hear the Sound of Magic Power.

• Little Dream Dragon devoured the Hail Beads and Ice Soul Beads from snow ghosts and a snow demon, then complained that they lacked flavor and asked to search for Frost Stars.
• Russell and Little Dream Dragon searched the Black Wave Mountain Range for Frost Da but found no trace of it.
• Russell celebrated Dragon Birth Festival at Cigar Castle with Leona, Ram, and Butler Morris, then gave the servants the day off.
• Russell surveyed Blackfire Land and headed to the oak forest, hoping Saiban fairy would return to the trees he had prepared for it.
• Russell used two Hail Beads to enter the Dark Dreamscape and discovered that Little Dream Dragon's new skill let him hear the Sound of Magic Power.

Russell found Saiban in the Oak Forest and spoke with the fairy during a Dark Dreamscape patrol. Saiban gave him another Lucky Four-Leaf Clover leaf, but Russell received no answer about whether he could save it for later.

• Russell spotted Saiban living in the largest oak tree and returned to the Oak Forest that night with the Dream family.
• Russell and Little Dream Dragon woke Saiban, who emerged and spoke cryptically about fate and their future as neighbors.
• Russell asked Saiban about its disappearance and whether it could help his companions advance, but Saiban refused.
• Russell asked for another Lucky Four-Leaf Clover leaf, and Saiban gave him one before vanishing into the oak tree.
• Russell called after Saiban to ask whether he could save the leaf for later, but the fairy did not reply.

Russell fed the Lucky Four-Leaf Clover leaf to Little Dream Dragon, then led the Dark Dreamscape family on a patrol and visited the place where they had been reborn. Ouroboros discovered that its tail could detect magical creations underground and led Russell to one buried nearby.

• Russell gave the Lucky Four-Leaf Clover leaf to Little Dream Dragon, which made a wish after eating it.
• Russell's group found no magical creatures while patrolling Blackfire Land and Thunder Marsh.
• Russell and his companions revisited the place where Snow Giant Da had ambushed them and discussed Polly's plans for the future.
• Ouroboros struck the ground with its tail and discovered that it could sense magical creations underground.
• Russell followed Ouroboros's directions to the buried magical creation and illuminated the area with Dream Clone.

Russell and Little Dream Dragon explored the Torrent Scale Tower in the Dark Dreamscape before discovering an unseen intruder approaching the magical creation buried underground. Little Dream Dragon began sucking the intruder’s dark blue arm into a vortex, and a frost star started to form as it was drawn toward its mouth.

• Russell and Polly examined the Torrent Dragon’s scale inside the Torrent Scale Tower and discussed how it appeared in its true form in the Dark Dreamscape.
• A dark blue glow outlined enormous footprints approaching the tower, and Russell realized a Frost Troll or Snow Giant had entered Thunder Marsh again.
• Russell and Little Dream Dragon followed the footprints to the place where Ouroboros had sensed a buried magical creation.
• The intruder transformed a glowing footprint into an arm and reached toward the ground to dig up the magical creation.
• Russell ordered Little Dream Dragon to suck in the arm, and a vortex formed around its middle finger as a frost star began moving toward Little Dream Dragon’s mouth.

Russell and Little Dream Dragon wounded Frost Da by swallowing one of its frost stars, but Frost Da escaped before the dragons could catch it. Russell then searched Thunder Marsh for Ouroboros’s underground discovery and uncovered a coffin-shaped object, which he began examining.

• Little Dream Dragon swallowed Frost Da’s middle finger, forcing Frost Da to reveal itself and flee toward the snowfield when the Torrent Dragon’s phantom appeared.
• Russell woke to the dragons’ roar, went to Thunder Marsh with Polly and Rosai, and found only the fading phantoms of the Torrent Dragon and Shadowflame Dragon.
• Russell and Rosai dug at the site where Ouroboros had found a magical construct, but marsh water and slow digging hindered them.
• Russell summoned Sword Butterfly Amber Elf to help dig, then called Harpe and Ouroboros to locate the object underground.
• Ouroboros used Earth Walk Technique to find a large rock, which Rosai pulled from the pit after Russell and Rosai dug five meters down.
• Russell noticed the mud-covered rock resembled a coffin and began inspecting it under the moonlight.

Russell found a coffin-shaped metal block engraved with Dark Age writing, which the Shadowflame Dragon identified as an article about sealing the Extreme Ice Sacred Artifact. The Shadowflame Dragon began explaining the artifact’s history, while Russell still did not know whether he had found it.

• Russell discovered that the metal block was engraved with unfamiliar writing and brought it back to Cigar Castle for study.
• Russell made rubbings of the writing and asked Black Oil Dragon Rosai to guard the metal block.
• Russell flew to Red Castle and showed the rubbings to the Shadowflame Dragon.
• The Shadowflame Dragon recognized the writing as Dark Age script and said it described the sealing of the Extreme Ice Sacred Artifact.
• The Shadowflame Dragon began recounting how blue demons had used the artifact to cover warm lands in snow and ice.

Russell and the Shadowflame Dragon opened the ancient seal and found the still-powerful Extreme Ice Sacred Artifact, along with a feather Russell believed belonged to Harpe’s ancestor Seo. Russell took the sealed artifact away and planned to decide whether to deliver it to King Ares.

• Russell asked the Shadowflame Dragon how to handle the Extreme Ice Sacred Artifact, and they agreed to inspect it inside Shadowflame Volcano.
• Russell flew back with the Metal Boulder and opened its seal before the Shadowflame Dragon.
• The Extreme Ice Sacred Artifact chilled the volcano, so the Shadowflame Dragon urged Russell to reseal it.
• Russell found a snow-white feather beside the artifact and recognized an aura connecting it to his Contract Partner, Harpy Dragon Harpe.
• Russell concluded the feather might have belonged to Seo, the companion of Ling Ke, and the Shadowflame Dragon told him to take the artifact away.
• Russell decided to bring the artifact home and consider whether to hand it to King Ares.

Russell returned with the Extreme Ice Sacred Artifact, secured it in his territory, and reviewed the work at Cigar Castle. He clarified the housekeepers’ responsibilities and urged Morris and Leona to pursue happiness, while Leona resolved to one day replace Morris.

• Russell placed the Metal Boulder atop the Dragon Coiled Pillar and told Rosai to guard it without opening it.
• Russell inspected Cigar Castle’s construction and learned that Blackfire Land’s population had grown to nearly one hundred thousand, leaving it dependent on imported grain.
• Morris asked Russell to define the division of authority between him and Leona, and Russell assigned Leona the management of the maids, spirit room, and kitchen while leaving key powers with Morris.
• Russell told Morris and Leona he did not expect them to remain unmarried in service to the castle and hoped they would find happiness.
• Morris said he intended to serve Cigar Castle for life, while Leona declared she would someday replace him as butler.

Frost Da and Ge discussed Frost Star’s invasion plans and the coming conquest of Dragon Sleep Continent. Russell took Harpe to Green Capital Snow Forest, where her ancestor’s cowlick reacted with Cold Spring Point and revealed that it held insights from the ancestor’s ascension into a Pseudo-Dragon.

• Frost Da met Ge in the snowfields and pledged to help retrieve the Extreme Ice Sacred Artifact and serve Frost Star’s plan to conquer Dragon Sleep Continent.
• Russell gave Harpe a snow-white feather he believed was her ancestor’s cowlick and told her about Seo and the inscription sealed on the Metal Boulder.
• Harpe asked Russell to take her to Green Capital Snow Forest to test the cowlick’s connection to Cold Spring Point, and Russell brought Polly and Ouroboros along.
• At Green Capital Snow Forest, the cowlick glowed near Cold Spring Point, briefly making the area feel like warm spring and causing the Owl Dragons to watch it.
• Harpe sensed that the cowlick was her ancestor’s gift and contained insights into life and death from the ancestor’s ascension into a Pseudo-Dragon.

Harpe discovered that her ancestor’s cowlick contained insights into life and death, so she stayed in Green Capital Snow Forest to study them while Russell kept watch nearby. During a night hunt, Russell and the Dream family found signs that Frost Da had sensed the Extreme Ice Sacred Artifact and was hesitating near Blackfire Land, leaving Russell to wait and use it as bait.

• Harpe confirmed that the cowlick held her ancestor’s insights into life and death and decided to remain in Green Capital Snow Forest to comprehend them.
• Russell built a cabin near Harpe and warned her to advance near Thunder Flame Territory if she approached the mystery of life and death, since the forest lay near the border.
• Russell and Polly defeated deep-blue Snow Demons, and Russell noted that Snow Demons had grown more rampant as Frost Da’s control over them weakened.
• During the Dark Dreamscape, Russell led Little Dream Dragon and the Dream family across the snowfield searching for Frost Trolls and Snow Giants, but they found none.
• Near the edge of Blackfire Land, Russell’s group spotted Frost Da’s enormous footprint glowing in the dark, and Russell inferred that Frost Da sensed the Extreme Ice Sacred Artifact but feared the Shadowflame Dragon and Torrent Dragon.
• Russell stopped Little Dream Dragon from rushing in and decided to wait, using the Extreme Ice Sacred Artifact as bait to draw out the Frost Trolls.

Russell used the Little Dream Dragon to ambush Frost Da, who escaped after losing a finger and part of a tusk. He then ordered Blackfire Land’s Phantom Beast Knights to prepare for increased Snow Demon incursions while he remained away, and Grove reminded Katie that guarding the territory was their way of fighting alongside their lord.

• Russell had the Little Dream Dragon suck a Frost Star from Frost Da’s tusk, but Frost Da escaped into the snowfields before the dragon phantoms could catch him.
• Frost Da discovered that his middle finger was missing and the tip of his left tusk had broken off, then roared in frustration.
• Russell told Eric, Grove, and Katie to organize Blackfire Land’s knights and defend the estates as Snow Demon incursions became more likely.
• Russell said Rosay would support the knights while he was away and reassured them that the territory remained secure.
• Katie worried that she and Grove could no longer fight alongside Russell, and Grove told her that protecting the territory was their way of sharing his responsibility.

Russell prepared to travel with the Shadowflame Dragon to activate the Shadowflame Scale Towers in the Scorching Torrent Kingdom, while keeping up the impression that he might become its rider. After storing the Extreme Ice Sacred Artifact at Shadowflame Volcano, Russell and the dragons departed with King Ares, crossing beyond the Shadowflame Grand Duchy into the snowfields.

• Count Merlin told Russell to accompany the Shadowflame Dragon and King Ares to activate the four Shadowflame Scale Towers, then return promptly.
• Russell and Count Merlin discussed how Russell's ability to understand the Shadowflame Dragon's Dragon Tongue could make King Ares suspect the dragon had chosen him as its rider.
• Russell told Harpe he would be away for about a week, then left a bag of roasted mouse meat for it at Green Capital Garden Cold Spring Point.
• Russell stored the Extreme Ice Sacred Artifact and the Metal Boulder at Shadowflame Volcano, explaining that he wanted to keep the artifact as bait for Frost Da and protect it while he was away.
• King Ares activated the four Scorching Scale Towers and waited at Fire Ant Swamp before flying northwest with the Shadowflame Dragon and Russell.
• Russell rode Black Oil Dragon Rosai alongside the two dragons and crossed the border into the endless snowfields.

While flying toward the Scorching Torrent Kingdom, Russell learned that the Fire Gilded Kingdom planned to use the Three-Dragon Sacrifice Method to help Crimson Fire return to antiquity. King Ares tried to persuade Russell to carry on that effort if he and Scorching failed, and Russell ended the chapter drawing confidence from his bond with Ice Cream.

• King Ares explained the eight ancient lands and described the Fire Gilded Kingdom's three dragons and its effort to help Crimson Fire return to antiquity.
• King Ares revealed that Debroglie Firelight had found the Three-Dragon Sacrifice Method, which could help one dragon return to antiquity if two others gave up their own hopes.
• King Ares told Russell that he and Scorching would attempt the perilous method and urged Russell to take responsibility if they failed.
• After King Ares flew ahead, Russell wondered whether the method could work, and Polly said she did not know what returning to antiquity meant.
• Russell's M-shaped Mark warmed, and he took heart from the thought that he and Ice Cream would face any calamity together.

Russell arrived at Cat's Eye Emerald with King Ares and the Shadowflame Dragon to oversee the Shadowflame Scale Tower ceremony, where he met Baron Boske and the kingdom's young dragon rider, Sharman. After a welcoming feast, King Ares gave Russell a parting gift that turned out to be amber containing a tiny bee.

• Baron Boske welcomed King Ares, Russell, and the two dragons to Cat's Eye Emerald.
• King Ares introduced Russell and Sharman, and the nobles compared the two young dragon riders.
• Boske hosted a welcoming feast, where Russell exchanged toasts with the nobles.
• King Ares spoke privately with Russell about wine and cigars, then gave him a small box as a gift.
• Russell opened the box after King Ares departed and discovered amber with a tiny bee sealed inside.

Russell received a Bee Amber Bug from King Ares and traveled with the Shadowflame Dragon to activate its Scale Towers across the Scorching Torrent Kingdom. After learning that his student Welim Jinnali’s Phoenix Plume Plains lay near Cold Wind Pass, Russell prepared to visit it.

• Russell bonded with the Bee Amber Bug and learned that its ability let him sense nectar from dozens of kilometers away.
• Russell and the Shadowflame Dragon activated the Scale Tower at Cat's Eye Emerald and traveled to the next Warm Enclave.
• On the third day, Russell reached Cold Wind Pass, where Earl Dickens Afurong hosted him and tried to introduce his daughter Debora Aphron.
• Russell asked Earl Dickens about his student Welim Jinnali, and Dickens explained that Phoenix Plume Plains lay north of Cold Wind Pass.
• Earl Dickens provided Russell with a map, and Russell planned to visit Phoenix Plume Plains at dawn.

Russell visited Phoenix Plume Plains, sensed the fading power of Jinnali and a deeper force tied to life and death, then completed the activation of the final Shadowflame Scale Tower in the Scorching Torrent Kingdom. At Cat's Eye Emerald, Baron Boske joked that the Castor Family's icy manner might come from castor Magic Potions.

• Russell and Polly sensed that Jinnali's power was weakening while a constant force at the heart of Phoenix Plume Plains continued to sustain warmth.
• A squad of knights recognized Russell as their Baron Lord's teacher, and Russell left without visiting the castle.
• Russell returned to Lord Shalman and traveled with him to Glacial Ravine, where Baron Yamal Castor greeted them coldly.
• The Shadowflame Dragon activated the fourth Shadowflame Scale Tower, completing Russell's task in the Scorching Torrent Kingdom.
• Russell departed for Cat's Eye Emerald while Shalman returned to the Blazing Sun Royal Palace, and Baron Boske teased the Castor Family's cold demeanor.