Meanwhile,
Victoria was heading in Aditya's direction as fast as she could move, when she was around a few hundred meters away, she stopped seeing a golden figure.
'Who is she?' She could tell that this being was a woman. But she couldn't tell who exactly she was. Even from a few hundred meters away, from sensing her Aura, Victoria was sure that even with her bracelets, she won't be able to beat her.
Even though both she and Victoria were Peak 5th-order cultivators, Victoria felt inferior when comparing her strength to this woman.
A second later, she disappeared. Seeing this Victoria sighed in relief. Her plan was to save Aditya. If this woman got in her way, she isn't sure if she can save Aditya in time.
'Fortunately, she did not do anything to him.' Victoria didn't want Aditya to die. Aditya was the perfect mating partner. Victoria isn't sure if she will find another Dragon with a Divine bloodline in her lifetime. Not to mention the fact that she was into young men and Aditya was only 19 years old. And after the sacrifice that she made, she didn't want her potential future mating partner to die.
Aditya raised his head sensing something heading in his direction. Releasing that it was Victoria, Aditya got ready to use Soul Blaze. Now that he has recovered some of his Mana, thanks to the healing pill and because of the Shard of Life which was a beginner 4-star artifact that he made to increase his Mana recovery speed by 30%, he had enough Mana to use Inferno Overdrive at least for 30 seconds.
Though in his current injured state using Inferno Overdrive could harm his body even further. 'Hold on...' Suddenly Aditya realized something as waited for Victoria to arrive.
'Why I didn't use teleportation or Dragon Transfer back then?' At that moment, Aditya felt like slapping his own face. Since when did he become so dumb? If he had used teleportation, then he could have returned to the Dragon Palace. Or by using Dragon Transfer, he could have switched places with another Dragonian.
'But then again, If I had used teleportation, I would have missed the chance of seeing her.' Aditya consoled his heart with this excuse.
Victoria arrived to find Aditya sitting on a rock and waiting for her. His whole body was covered in blood. Despite being seriously injured, he didn't look like he was going to die. He cautiously stared at Victoria. He looked like he can still keep on fighting.
Crack!
At the same time, the sky which had temporarily cleared up after Victoria's attack was now beginning to darken once again. The sound of Thunder reached her ears.
Victoria was very surprised to find Aditya like this. She was expecting him to be on the brink of death. But this only made her admiration and respect towards him grow even more.
Aditya noticed that the bracelets that Victoria previously wore were no longer there. As he was about to activate 'Inferno Overdrive', Victoria quickly stopped him.
"I surrender. Can we talk?"
"Huh?" Aditya was completely perplexed.
Taking advantage of the silence, Aditya silently ate a 5-star healing pill. As soon as the pill reached his stomach, his healing speed almost tripled. The wounds on his body began to heal rapidly.
"You left your sword with me." Just as Victoria was about to return to the Adamantite Doomblade, Aditya suddenly vanished and reappeared in front of Victoria. He grabbed her by the throat and raised her up in the air.
Ah.....!!!
Victoria struggled to breathe. No matter how much she struggled she was unable to free herself. Looking at Aditya, she found the Dragon King coldly staring at her. There wasn't any hint of mercy on his face. She can tell that he won't hesitate to kill her.
"What do you want?" He asked in a whispering tone.
Victoria decided to be honest with her answer. "I want you to become my mating partner and my husband."
"Woman, do you think I am joking right now?" Aditya asked as he raised his tone while tightening his grip. Victoria felt choked.
Victoria endure the pain and then replied in a sincere tone. "I wasn't trying to kill you from the beginning. Seeing your power, I had a feeling that you would be able to survive the power of my golden bracelets. I rushed after as fast as I could so that I can save your life and then take you away from here." Victoria was thinking of betraying her Empire and leaving with Aditya to another continent or to another region.
After hearing her words, Aditya loosened his grip making Victoria feel much better. But he still did not release her as he still did not trust her completely. "So what do you want now?" Aditya understood that she wanted to defeat him and then take him away while he was still weak and recovering.
Hearing his questions, her eyes sparkled as a small smile appeared on her pained face. "I wish to follow you. I know that making you my mating partner is impossible. So I want to become your subordinate and gain your trust first." The reason she wanted to follow him is because she believed that this would be the only way she can get close to him. Even though her initial plan had failed, she still hasn't given up on trying to make him her mating partner.
Aditya coldly smiled while releasing a little bit of his killing intent. "And why should I believe in your words? This whole thing could be planned by the Mystic Spring Empire. You could be a spy. I don't want any backstabbers as my subordinate. I hate backstabbers." Aditya remembered the time when an elder from the Ethereal Empire betrayed them. This had caused them to be trapped in a forest that was the home of Mutant Fire ants. Aditya in rage had killed him.
Aditya had too many secrets. Although it sounded tempting to know that a Peak 5th-order cultivator wished to serve him and follow him, he did not let greed blind his eyes. She could be a spy and this whole thing could be part of a bigger plan that the Oracle Alliance has set to learn his secret. Aditya did not trust Victoria.
Hearing Aditya's words, for a second Victoria felt helpless. She was feeling helpless seeing how cautious Aditya was.
"I have taken an Oath to never betray the Mystic Spring Empire. For 25 years, I have served the Mystic Spring Empire with my heart and soul. I have followed every command and every order that I was given by my superiors and by the Emperor. But now I want to think about myself. I have served the Mystic Spring Empire long enough. I want to work on building my own future."
Aditya reminded silent and listened to her words. Slowly the cold expression on his face was fading. "But now that Oath doesn't mean anything. Not after I have witnessed the cruel things that the Empire was doing to its own people. I don't want to serve an Emperor who makes profits from his people's suffering. I have been thinking of leaving the Mystic Spring Empire for a while and work on making my dream come true. This war gives me the perfect opportunity to leave. Since the Emperor's hand is occupied with the war, he can't send his forces to search for me."
"After seeing you, I have decided to take you as my mating partner seeing how strong and powerful you're. I was planning on capturing the Echo Dominion Emperor and handing him over to the Empire and then leaving this place with you to somewhere far."
Aditya released Victoria. He had decided to believe in her words for now. "Why would you choose me as your mating partner just because of my power?"
She smiled in response and replied. "I have been raised by an Amazonian. I may be not Amazonian but I have inherited most of their teachings. Just like any other Amazonian, I seek to get the strongest male as my partner. And that male is you." She didn't reveal the fact that she was into young men.
"Raised by Amazonian? This explains why you're like this." Hearing this she blushed.
"I don't fully trust you." Victoria bit her lips and nodded. She knew that it wouldn't be easy to gain his trust. Not when she had nearly killed him. But she still couldn't hide her disappointment.
"But if you agree to become my Dragonian, I will make you my subordinate." Even now the Istarin Empire still did not have any Peak 5th-order cultivators. Besides, Aditya who is capable of killing Peak 5th-order cultivators, the Istarin Empire really needed a few Peak 5th-order cultivators. After all, an Empire's strength is determined by the number of 5th-order cultivators the Empire has.
Aditya has strength Victoria's strength. As long as he turns her into a Dragonian, her strength would be multiplied. She would obtain a new level of power. Also letting transforming her into his Dragonian, he won't have to worry about her betraying him.
"I agree." Without any questions or without hesitation, Victoria agreed to become Aditya's Dragonian.
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