Chapter 43: The Dragon’s Sigh and Their Escape

With that shout, the dragon truly awakened. Its draconic eyes opened, fixing a silent gaze upon the two women.

Seeing that the flying dragon held no hostility, Elara felt hope draw a step closer.

Summoning her courage, she continued, “Do I need to take out the scales? But we can’t get out.”

Elara raised a hand, pointing to the cave entrance they had come from.

“There’s a vertical shaft outside, and neither of us can climb it. We need your help.”

She spoke deliberately, emphasizing each word. With her hands, she gestured to indicate the immense height of the shaft, then pointed to herself and Hilvyn, shaking her head vigorously to convey their helplessness, before finally gesturing towards the dragon’s wings.

She used both words and actions, pouring emotion into her plea.

The flying dragon slowly rose to its feet, a heavy, guttural sigh escaping its throat.

“Master…” Hilvyn tugged at Elara’s clothes. “Did it just sigh?”

“Ah… I think so. It was quite loud.”

But could dragons truly sigh?

It was then that she noticed the flying dragon’s remarkably gaunt belly. Its ribs stood out distinctly, clearly visible beneath its skin, a stark indication that it had not eaten in a very long time.

For some unknown reason, no magical beasts appeared in this cave, so a lack of food made perfect sense.

“Master, the dragon is so thin,” Hilvyn also observed.

“It is, isn’t it…”

‘So it was to protect the scales, barely sustaining its life, that it remained in hibernation, reducing its consumption?’

The flying dragon began to move slowly towards the cave entrance, and Elara quickly moved ahead to guide it.

It walked at a leisurely pace, yet each stride was so immense that its overall speed was not slow at all.

“Are we really going to get out?” Hilvyn still found it incredible that a dragon would help them escape. She feared it was all a dream.

“Yes, we’re going out.”

Elara looked back at the flying dragon. Each of its steps was steady, its majestic aura contrasting sharply with its emaciated frame.

The two women and one dragon continued their journey through the cave, and Elara and Hilvyn’s excitement grew with every passing moment.

“Almost there.”

A soft yellow light streamed in from the cave mouth ahead.

They were returning to the oasis once more, but this time, it might be their last.

The flying dragon halted at the edge of the dark river. Elara and Hilvyn gazed up at its towering back, exchanging bewildered glances.

It looked down at the two tiny figures, then let out another heavy sigh before slowly lowering its body to the ground.

At this, Elara was utterly convinced; it truly was sighing.

‘Ah haha… I’m sorry, I’m truly sorry for being so small and useless…’

Elara carefully climbed onto the dragon’s back, then pulled Hilvyn’s hand, helping her up as well.

“Hold onto me tightly,” Elara instructed, gripping the dragon’s neck herself.

“Okay!” Hilvyn also wrapped her arms tightly around Elara’s waist, pressing close against her back, just as she had when riding a horse.

The flying dragon felt the weight on its back. Its bony spine sank once more, and another sigh escaped it.

Elara was filled with guilt, especially since the dragon couldn’t speak. She felt as though she were bullying an honest, mute creature.

‘I’m so sorry…’

In the next instant, the flying dragon’s powerful hind legs pushed off, and its massive body abruptly ascended. Its broad wings unfurled, stirring a tempestuous gust of wind that rustled the surrounding leaves and created violent ripples on the dark river below.

Elara felt her body lighten, then a slow ascent. Her heart hammered against her throat.

The dark river, the trees, and the glowing ore below receded segment by segment with each beat of the dragon’s wings, gradually shrinking from view.

The enormous sound of its beating wings echoed off the sides of the vertical shaft, a constant roar in their ears.

The scene below gradually became a tiny speck of light. Her emotions were indescribable—they were truly flying, they were truly escaping!

The fierce wind tore at her clothes, bitterly cold, yet it could not cool her excited, fervent heart. She clung desperately to the dragon’s neck, tension and joy washing away the despair of recent days, threatening to burst forth as tears.

Hilvyn pressed tightly against her back, trembling, but not from fear. Her rapid, pounding heartbeat surely mirrored Elara’s own excitement.

Just then, a dense flapping sound came from above. It began faintly, then grew louder until it drowned out the dragon’s own wing beats, becoming ever clearer.

Elara’s heart stirred with a faint worry.

But in the next second, her apprehension vanished.

A cold glint flashed in the flying dragon’s vertical pupils.

“ROAR!”

It let out a long cry, imbued with draconic majesty and arrogance. Though impossibly thin, it remained a noble dragon; the lowly A-rank magical beasts were unworthy of blocking its path.

It opened its maw, and a blazing, pale blue flame, dotted with shimmering flecks of pale gold, erupted from its throat. It transformed into a noble dragon’s breath, cascading towards the swarm of bees and the hive behind them.

Boom!

A brilliant light exploded. Elara clearly saw the worker bees blocking their path ignite like a vast expanse of dry willow catkins, turning to ash the instant they touched the dragon’s breath.

The hive met no different fate. The moment the dragon’s breath struck it, it detonated violently, spreading rapidly like a massive dome consumed by blue flames.

The dome burned, collapsed, and disintegrated into ash.

Both Elara and Hilvyn instinctively ducked and leaned forward, fearing that the dragon’s breath might accidentally harm them.

Soon, the sensation of flight vanished, and the dragon’s back beneath them landed steadily.

Elara pulled out her glow lamp and lit it. This was precisely where they had fallen: Level 53 of the Underground City!

“We’re really… back…”

Elara and Hilvyn dismounted the dragon’s back.

The flying dragon turned, preparing to leave.

“Wait!”

Elara called out, stopping the flying dragon.

It turned its head to look at Elara, appearing even more mysterious and majestic in the glow of the lamp.

Elara rummaged in her ring, pulled out some dried meat, and held it above her head.

“You haven’t eaten in a long time, have you…”

“I can go hunt some magical beasts for you later.”

The flying dragon stared at the dried meat in her hand, unmoving. It then turned its head and walked into the vertical shaft. Soon, the colossal sound of its wings beating erupted from the shaft below, echoing through the space, leaving only a lingering resonance.

‘Is this its choice?’

‘Perhaps it guarded the scales for too long in solitude, and now that they’re gone, it has no more attachments.’

‘To starve… to death?’

Elara dared not imagine. There was a saying: better to be a gluttonous ghost than a starving one.

The feeling of starvation was truly agonizing, and how many decades had this flying dragon endured hunger down here?

Elara pushed the thought away, for she still had important matters to attend to.

“Master!” Hilvyn came over and embraced Elara. The hardships and bitterness of the past days resonated in her chest, finally becoming a murky breath that she exhaled.

“Hoo~”

“We’re out!” Hilvyn cheered joyfully, a few excited tears streaming from the corners of her eyes.

Watching her, Elara also felt a desire to cry. The days spent below had been incredibly arduous, and now, having escaped the cage, her heart was filled with a sense of immense relief.

“Yes—” Elara let out a long breath. “We really made it out.”

‘Fortunately, someone was with me the whole way, comforting and supporting me.’

She and Hilvyn stood embracing, celebrating their joy at surviving this ordeal together.