849 Returning

The shout echoed across the hole, coming into the dragon's ears. "Ye-yes. However, due to his strength, he abandoned his element."

"Now I see." Alex nodded. "It's already incredible to not die after consuming this tree. Of course, the ones that can be consumed are those leaves. However, a Divine Tree like this is far more powerful even though it's in this state. As a result, he lost his ability to produce an heir."

[Host, you can store this tree inside the Inventory, and I will plant the tree in Eulja. I should be able to grow it to its peak sooner or later.]

"Fair enough." Alex nodded and placed his hand on the tree before it disappeared.

"Eh?!" Mithra dropped her jaw when she saw the tree disappear. "Sir Alex?"

"Don't worry. It was me. In any case, as long as I can get the other item, the Devil World will target me instead of this world. At that time, I can destroy the portal." Alex nodded.

"In that case, I shall accompany you to the next place." Mithra raised her hand.

"The problem is where…" Alex let out a long sigh. "After listening to all your legends, I can't pinpoint any location of the second item."

Mithra looked down. She hadn't thought about it because of the previous excitement, and it made her feel sad.

"Anyway, let's go first." Alex patted her head and leaped to the surface before releasing all that sand he excavated a few minutes ago.

"With this, my job has finished." The dragon king looked at Alex for a minute without saying anything.

"I know. I will surely close that portal after three months." Alex sighed. "Anyway, I need to search for another thing. I have two suspects currently, so I will just explain it to you. If you have heard something like this, please tell me."

The three nodded their heads in unison. This was the last piece he needed to save the world, so there was no way they would miss even a single word.

"The first is Heaven Night Flower. This flower can only bloom at night and release a mighty poison miasma around it. The surroundings will be pitch black because of the miasma, and all lives are taken away due to the poison.

"The second suspect is Void Flower. This flower has the ability to cause a Space Disturbance… Well, it's hard to say, but it can assimilate the Day and Night. To put it in a simple word, the flower is sucking energy from its surroundings to stay alive during the day while releasing the purified and stronger energy during the night.

"Have any of you heard about these two phenomena?" Alex asked.

"Eh?!" Alex widened his eyes.

"Why are you looking at me as if you think I won't have any answer…" Mithra pouted.

Alex smiled embarrassedly and patted her head. "Sorry, sorry. What do you know about these two?"

"I am not really sure, but back when I served the royal family, I heard a strange rumor around the castle." Mithra paused for a moment and gulped down. "They said there is a flower that turns someone into a skeleton and blooms even brighter during the night. Because of the danger, the flower was thrown away…"

"Royal Family?" Alex twitched his eyebrows. He didn't really want to have any business with them, but it seemed he needed to because the way she described it perfectly fit the description of Void Flower. This was the top of his list, so he needed to negotiate with the royal family. At the very least, he needed to know where they threw away the flower. "Such a flower is hard to be destroyed, so I think there is a chance of it having survived after getting thrown away."

'You are going there?' The dragon king asked.

'Yes. I am not a bloodthirsty person. I won't torture an innocent for information, and I mostly do trade just like how I deal with you." Alex explained, while shrugging. "By the way, the devil back then was an enemy, so I tortured him."

The dragon king closed his eyes. He had seen how Alex did the whole thing and realized he still upheld his principle. In that case, he decided. "How about this… I can bring you to that kingdom of yours. There are three kingdoms, but the only one summoning a hero should be that kingdom, right? If I am there, I should be able to easily persuade them."

"Is that so?" Alex squinted his eyes, feeling a bit reluctant to get a favor from someone.

"Don't worry. You have helped enough, so let me help you a bit." The dragon king smiled. He liked Alex's personality, ruthless to the enemy and warm to friends.

"If that were the case, then I don't have any reason to reject it." Alex nodded. "If needed, I can give them something as a payment anyway."

"Sure. I think it's better to go now." The dragon king suggested. "Since we need one week to arrive there."

"Indeed. Let's go then." Alex nodded. Considering everything, they needed more than a month to travel around the world, making Alex a bit frustrated. He wondered if he should just use his Teleportation Array, but he decided not to.

Ian could train harmonizing faster if he was distracted like flying. He needed to concentrate on two things at the same time. This was the training course Alex prepared for him.

The same applied to Mithra. She ran around Ian's body while swinging her sword according to Alex's instruction. Although it was still a rough diamond, Mithra was really talented.

If not, she wouldn't be able to reach Sword King and tried to follow Maxwell in the past. In fact, if she didn't get the cube that turned out to be her downfall, she might be able to reach a far higher level.

The journey went smoothly because they flew around the cities to avoid problems and finally reached the kingdom within seven days.

…

Just like before, the city was thrown into chaos the moment he appeared… Or at least, those who were in the city wall because they had the front view.

"Emergency!" The soldier pushed open the door and rushed in like a week ago where the king had a meeting with his ministers. However, there was no hero this time because they were training in the field nearby.

"What happened? Did the hero party encounter some problems?" The king rose and asked with a firm tone.

"No-no. I have heard they are coming back here safe and sound."

"Then what is the emergency? Are you joking with me? Know your position!"

"No. There is a huge problem outside the city." The soldier shook his head.

"Explain!"

"Why can't you say that the person his majesty talked about returned to this place?" A voice suddenly resounded from outside the room before the hero made his appearance, entering the room with hatred all over his face.

The soldier could only look down and gritted his teeth.

"We have returned to the palace because we have heard the fifth person making a ruckus outside the city." One of the females snorted.

"What is happening here?" The king narrowed his eyes and stared at the soldier.

However, the soldier couldn't answer because the hero already ran his mouth. "He is returning because he can't handle the pressure outside."

'Just stop insulting that person.' The soldier wanted to beat this hero very much because he kept spouting nonsense even though he didn't understand the whole situation.

"In that case, let's greet him here. We should be able to reach a compromise. Call him here!" The king immediately ordered the soldier.

"But Your Majesty…"

"Just shut up and call him here!"

The soldier didn't know what to do anymore and decided to follow the order while thinking, 'Ah, I am going to die today.'

The king gained his confidence again before a loud roar shook the entire capital. It was loud and clear for everyone to know whose roar was that. There was only a single creature that was capable of doing that, and they were dragons.

'What is this? Why is there a dragon? Did that person return with a dragon this time?' Doubts emerged almost immediately in the king's heart. 'But the dragon is fighting those devils in the Dragon Valley, and they are not really on friendly terms with the Phoenix. How can they come here with this timing? Is there any loose dragon around?'

The king suddenly realized why the soldier wanted to stop him earlier as his face turned pale.

He rose from his seat and ran to the balcony, finding two huge creatures hovering in the sky. They didn't fly too high, so the hero must haven't seen this with his own eyes. That was where he got his arrogance. And yet, to think for such a stupid reason he managed to make him a bit arrogant, he instantly regretted.

Without wasting a single second, the king put down his red robe and any other things that hindered his movement and leaped off his balcony. He jumped from one rooftop to another, trying to go to the city wall as quickly as possible.

When he reached the wall, he was stupefied by the sight of a dragon and a phoenix flying side by side, looking very annoyed. Alex was sitting on top of Ian's back since he was in the middle of tutoring Mithra.

It was at this moment he knew he fuck*d up.

And when he found the dragon, he seemed to recognize him, especially the pattern and the color of his scales.

Alex glanced at the king with a cold gaze before letting the dragon king do whatever he needed to do.

'O' human king, I have seen you in the past and to think you have become so arrogant to not meet this king…' The tone was full of anger as if he wanted to destroy this capital city himself. 'I have brought you a distinguished guest that can save this world, and you make him wait because of the stupidity of yours.

'Should I raze this kingdom to the ground before you realize this? Your kingdom might be strong, but if you think you can stop my Dragon Valley and the Phoenixes, you can try.'

The king didn't move nor speak as if his soul flew out of his body, but he finally opened his mouth after a minute.

"I… I AM SORRY!"