"But after living with me for so long, you should have realized that while dragons rarely care about emotions, once they establish a bond with someone, they remain devoted and unwavering."
"This applies not just to romantic relationships, but also to family and friendships."
"Like that newlywed couple we met during our vacation in the Floating Cloud Valley. Their relationship was really good."
"And—"
Rossweise, who had been speaking fluently, suddenly stopped.
Her footsteps momentarily hesitated, and a subtle change appeared in her gaze as she looked at Leon.
After locking eyes for two seconds, Rossweise averted her gaze and quickened her pace slightly.
It was quite an obvious attempt to cover up.
"Ahem, as long as you get what I mean," Rossweise realized that continuing might make things awkward, so she decisively cut off the conversation.
Leon was confused, "I don't get it. Didn't you have more to say? If you don't finish, how am I supposed to understand?"
He really didn't understand what Rossweise was trying to express.
At first, he fully comprehended her argument that "you can't judge an intelligent creature solely based on one aspect."
After all, when he was enlightening Luna as a baby dragon, he had mentioned this concept too.
Back then, his daughter had even lectured him, saying that since everything has two sides, if there were fierce and combative dragons, then there must also be dragons who long for peace.
Leon had always kept those words in mind. Not outright denying or accepting them but instead observing and experiencing things himself to find the true answer.
Now, Rossweise was saying something about how dragons, once emotionally committed, are utterly loyal. Leon had been listening attentively.
But just as she was about to say something crucial, the mother dragon abruptly stopped.
It was like reading a novel and reaching the climax, only for the damn author to drop a "Find out what happens next time."
How could he not be anxious?
However, Queen Rossweise saw Leon's curiosity as him teasing her.
'Damn annoying man.'
'He must have figured out what I was trying to say, right? He obviously knows how awkward it is for me to bring up our ambiguous relationship, yet he still pretended to be clueless!'
'Is it fun for him?'
'Is it fun?'
The queen snorted coldly, crossed her arms, flicked her tail in irritation, and strode ahead, leaving Leon behind.
Leon stood there, dumbfounded. A breeze brushed past his feet, carrying away a few leaves.
"No, wait. How did she go from fine to suddenly being mad?"
A woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea.
Even after living together for over a year, Leon still couldn't quite figure out what Rossweise was thinking.
More and more small temper tantrums.
When discussing serious matters, her emotions were always stable, maintaining her queenly dignity and elegance.
But when it came to daily life, she was like a walking pufferfish—who knew which words would trigger her and make her puff up in anger?
General Leon had spent years on the battlefield and had never encountered an enemy that gave him a headache.
Rossweise was the first.
And she was an opponent he couldn't fight, nor scold. Honestly, he just couldn't bear to.
So what could Leon do?
Just make do with it. What, was he supposed to get a divorce or something?
"Hey, wait for me!", Leon sped up, waving his hand as he ran after Rossweise.
Though Rossweise didn't look back or respond, her steps noticeably slowed down.
Leon caught up, glanced at her puffed-up, sulking face, opened his mouth, and didn't know where to start.
Rossweise peeked at him, huffed, and asked, "That human girl back in the cave—what did she call you again?"
Leon thought for a moment and realized she was referring to Rebecca.
"Uh… Captain?", he replied.
"No, not that one."
Rossweise stared at him, enunciating each word clearly, "Id-i-ot. Dense. Man."
Indeed, the gods are fair to everyone.
Leon Casmodeous was skilled in warfare, outwitting traitors, slaying dragons, raising a child, and acing homework.
But he utterly sucked at comforting his wife.
No rush.
At least Casmodeous had a legitimate excuse for his lack of experience.
"Damn it, they didn't teach this in Dragon-Slaying Academy!"
Conclusion: Leon Casmodeous is a product of rigid exam-oriented education. Tragic.
———
A week after Isa's visit, Leon still hadn't seen the legendary grandmother.
Leon thought, 'Could it be that the old Dragon King can't find her granddaughters' home and got lost?'
Rossweise said that dragons sharing the same bloodline and power could vaguely sense each other's location, so getting lost wasn't an option.
Then the Queen asked, "Why have you been bringing up my grandmother so much these past few days? Are you in a hurry to meet the parents?"
General Leon waved his hand dismissively, denying it with great skill, "I just want to see what kind of dragon could produce such a peculiar female dragon like you."
Rossweise was too lazy to argue with him.
And so, the couple waited day after day for the grandmother's visit.
In the meantime, they continued to send spies and scouts to gather intelligence in the Crimson Flame Dragon Clan's territory.
If the situation there stabilized even slightly, they would immediately set out to find Constantine's trusted aide.
Of course, Leon wasn't idle while waiting.
He started studying the "martial arts manual" his master had given him a few days ago during their information exchange.
"The Nine Hells Gate."
Leon sat cross-legged in the backyard training ground, with some pastries that Luna had just brought him placed beside him.
The little dragon girl had initially wanted to pester her dad to play with her for a while, but when she saw him seriously studying a book she couldn't understand, she left the pastries and obediently ran off to play with the maids.
His daughter was growing up day by day and becoming more sensible, which made General Leon very gratified.
He lowered his head and opened the first page of "The Nine Hells Gate." The preface described the author's inspiration for developing this body technique and the historical background.
[Legend has it that there are nine levels of Hell, each representing a different sin of humanity. Correspondingly, the enforcers of Hell have different physical punishments for each sin.]
[Only those who endure the tempering of the nine levels of Hell and complete their redemption have a chance to pass through the deepest level and return to the human world… or ascend directly to Heaven.]
[By then, those who successfully traverse the nine levels of Hell will be like phoenixes reborn in fire, becoming invincible with mere mortal flesh, undefeated in battle.]
Reading this preface, Leon curled his lips and muttered, "The title is exaggerated, and the background story is even more over the top. Basically, it's saying that as long as I master this body technique, even without magic, my physical strength can surpass human limits."
The ancestors who created various magical, illusionary, or physical techniques always liked to include some myths and legends in the preface of these ancient books.
It was their way of emphasizing how badass their techniques were.
What's worse is that this way of writing is still widely embraced today.
People love analyzing and interpreting the myths the ancestors made up. Some even took it further, developing religions and beliefs based on them.
Dragon Slayer Academy even set up an entire major just to study the myths and legends left behind in magical texts by the predecessors.
Leon had taken this elective during his studies and graduated with full marks.
The old professor in charge of the major thought Leon was a genius in this field and repeatedly urged him to stay at the academy after graduation to help interpret more myths and explore the mysteries of humanity's past, salvaging forgotten knowledge from the long river of history—blah! blah! blah!
Leon had replied, ("Uncle, are you kidding? I took this elective just to learn more different types of magic. As for those metaphors and myths you mentioned… I just casually wrote a few lines as reflections.")
("Casually wrote a few lines")
("Graduated with full marks")
If Rebecca had been in the same class as the captain back then, she probably would have realized even earlier that he was a master at flexing in the most effortless way possible.
After reading the preface, Leon flipped to the table of contents.
Just like when he taught Noah, he always checked the table of contents first. If it was knowledge he had already mastered, he marked it with a green line;
If he wasn't confident about it, he marked it with a yellow line;
If he had never encountered it before, it was marked with a red line.
He didn't know how effective this study method was for others, but for geniuses like Leon and Noah, it was highly efficient.
After scanning the table of contents from top to bottom, Leon turned to a section towards the latter half of the book.
The last sentence on this page read:
[By this point, your physical strength should meet the following criteria (meeting any one of them is sufficient):]
[Be able to maintain steady breathing for more than twelve hours even in a critically injured, near-death state;]
[Match the speed of a Dragon King in human form;]
[Demonstrate significantly improved self-healing ability compared to before training in this technique;]
[Sustain continuous combat for more than five hours.]
Leon looked at these criteria, smacked his lips, and shook his head, "Just one of these is enough? I think… I meet all of them, right?"
Three years ago, after Victor pierced his heart and the Silver Dragon Clan locked him in a dungeon, he lasted far beyond twelve hours.
Even before his body had fully recovered, he sparred with Rossweise and, despite being heavily injured, still kept up with her—a Silver Dragon, a race known for their speed.
As for self-healing, that went without saying. Back when he and Rossweise used to spar at the slightest disagreement, if she let him rest for a few days, he would bounce back strong enough to make her suffer in their next bout.
As for the last point—sustaining combat for more than five hours.
General Leon had even more authority to speak on this.
Whether it was slaying dragons or riding dragons, he could last over five hours.
The former was thanks to the good teachings of his Dragon Slayer Academy instructors;
The latter was thanks to the excellent tutelage of Teacher Melkvei.
In short, Casmodeous was a good student.
"Meeting these standards means I can officially start practicing The Nine Hells Gate."
Leon turned to the next page, which detailed the technique.
[The body technique 'The Nine Hells Gate' divides the human body into nine stages, each represented by a different 'Gate.']
"The First Gate—Steel Gate—Wait, what? Steel what?"
Leon thought he had misread. He put the book down and rubbed his eyes vigorously before looking again.
Indeed.
He hadn't misread.
"Caw~~ Caw~~"
Two crows flew overhead, their cries perfectly echoing Leon's current mental state.
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