Bound To The Ice Dragon King
Chapter 136: Hurry up

Chapter 136: Hurry up

When they emerged from the portal that transported them directly to the mountainside, the moon was already shining brightly in the sky, illuminating their path.

However, as Draven continued to delay feeding on blood, he started feeling as if his mind was going mad and he couldn’t think clearly. Despite this, he resisted the urge to pin Rhea down at this moment and bite into her neck. He didn’t want to inflict more pain on her, especially after realizing that she was starting to develop feelings for him. A part of his heart was happy to see her affection, but another part of him was displeased and angry.

He didn’t want Rhea to experience the same pain of love’s betrayal he’d felt when Alina had turned against him. It hurt the most when someone you love betrays you, and if he were to hurt Rhea to take back his core, he wanted to make sure she didn’t love him. Without his core, she would only survive for a couple of days. Despite the guilt he would have to live with, he was willing to take that risk to achieve his revenge.

Love was out of the picture. Although he wouldn’t retrieve his core immediately, he planned to do so once he mended with his Dragon. After that, he intended to explain everything to her before reclaiming his core, regardless of whether she understood his situation or not. He had made up his mind.

Draven felt a sudden pain in his chest, his heart felt like it was beating inside his head. Thus, to stabilize himself, he instinctively grabbed Rhea’s hand in his, to his relief she didn’t pull back and instead moved closer, offering him support in case he stumbled. He glanced at her, but she wasn’t looking at him; her gaze was fixed on the path ahead.

Despite the fact that he’d just hurt her feelings awhile ago, she was still trying to help him. ’Just pull away and act indifferent towards me to make it easier for me when it is time, hate me before I hurt you, push away from me before I cause your death.’ He scolded internally, while still gripping her hand tightly.

One thing was certain to Draven, even if she pushed away from him, he knew he’d still be the one to go after her, even if she showed the signs of hate, he’d still try to make her like him again. That was how much of a selfish bastard he was, that was how cruel life had made him become.

If only there was another way to avoid causing her death, if only he wouldn’t be needing that thing in her body...

Draven dismissed all those thoughts. Tonight was an important night, he had to focus on getting his Dragon out of that seal first. Yes, the other matters could wait afterwards.

Rhea, attempting to disregard the scorching heat that sent a shock through her body at his simple touch, immediately sensed his hold on her hand grow stronger. She detected the tremor in his hand. He must be enduring a great deal, yet there was nothing she could do when he declined her generous gesture to quench his thirst with her blood.

However, as they approached the mountain cave that would lead to the lava where his Dragon was sealed, Rhea noticed the look in his eyes changed, his blue eyes turned murderous, his face turned cold. That look on his face was enough to send a chill down her spine.

They walked In the shadows making sure to stay hidden. Fortunately for them, there weren’t any fire controllers around, but only the soldiers protecting the borders.

Through gritted teeth, she heard Draven speak, "Kill them all!"

When Rhea heard his order fall, screams were heard from all the angles. She couldn’t see what was happening as all the dragon soldiers moved silently in the shadows and began to get rid of the human soldiers without having to transform yet.

As per their plan, once Rhea and Draven stepped into the lava cave, the dragon soldiers would all assist them from outside the cave by using their ice magic to suppress the hot lava to make it easier for Draven to get in.

When they reached the cave’s entrance, Draven finally let go of Rhea’s hand. He looked towards her face, the faint red light of the lava highlighting her delicate features in the dark. And when she turned to meet his eyes, he momentarily locked eyes with her, but quickly broke the spell and cautioned with a stern tone he’d never used on her before,

"Once we get into that place, you must ignore me and protect yourself. Don’t try to risk your life to protect me again, understood?"

Rhea suddenly felt like a child being warned by her father, as he used an expression and tone she had never witnessed before. She pressed her lips together and scoffed, "Yeah, right. As if I would ever protect you. Besides, you need my blood, and that’s why I’m here. Now, let’s get down to business and stop wasting time, making me feel like some helpless little child."

He wanted to reply by saying she did act more like a child than an adult she was, but then sealed his lips. Because it would only make them argue instead of hurrying to get on with this. Right now, he had nothing to worry about as long as she wouldn’t risk her life to save him. The core in her body would protect her from the hell of a heat they were about to experience.

Draven was the first to step into the cave, then followed by Rhea. They walked through some twists and turns before finally arriving at the lava’s location. The moment they entered, they were greeted by the pool of lava inside a humongous hole that almost ate up the entire island beside the lava hole.

Draven’s eyes were fixed on the boiling lava In the hole. The entire cave was so hot Rhea thought she’d have been toasted alive if she didn’t possess Draven’s core. She suddenly felt uneasy at the sight of it. Although, when they retrieved his essence, the cave was only blocked with a fire barrier, and when they retrieved his powers, it wasn’t sealed with anything. But this one...

There were no visible seals apart from the bubbling lava. No one would be foolish enough to enter such scorching hot liquid rock, not to mention the entire cave was filled with choking smoke that obscured everything. Additionally, every patch of ground felt like a burning hot metal surface. Rhea could barely keep her eyes open.

"So where is your dragon form sealed?" She asked curiously.

Draven looked into the middle of the bubbling lava, "It’s in there."

Rhea foolishly looked at the bubbling lava, more steams and smoke escaped as the hot liquid bobbled and popped like boiling water. "You mean inside?"

Draven nodded, "Yes, inside."

Hell and damnation! Can a person even touch that thing?!

"Heavens! Draven, is it even possible for you to enter this?" She exclaimed as the bubbling lava suddenly spewed out a blaze reaching the roof of the cave, it was like it was underlining Rhea’s uncertainty. The blaze melted the rocks of the ceiling, turning it into a lava, which fell down into the pool along with the blaze.

Although, they had prepared for this earlier on, Rhea was still reluctant and unsure about Draven entering such hot lava.

"Draven, it’s too hot," she voiced her concern, "I am already using all the core’s powers to protect my flesh from burning, I can’t go into that hot lava along with you. And..."

"It’s fine, you don’t have to anyway. I will go in by myself." Draven said, "All you are here for is to help me break the seal not go into the lava." He assured her.

Draven stared at the center of the lava pool as he spoke, and Rhea followed his line of sight and saw what he was staring at.

Although the lava pool occasionally emitted bursts of fire, there was a specific spot where a continuous column of flames burned without wavering. Earlier, the smoke and steam had obscured her vision, but now she took a closer look and noticed that within the flame column was a sword resembling a Dragonfang, radiating a red glow akin to melted gold.

The Dragonfang sword was the seal that had restrained Erebus’ dark powers for centuries, but now it was binding Draven’s dragon as Erebus’ powers were stripped away by Alina.

Rhea was stunned when she suddenly saw a ball of scorching lava hurtling towards her head. Fortunately, Draven’s reflexes were faster than the lava, and he swiftly pushed her out of harm’s way. The only sound she heard was a "thump" as the ball of lava narrowly missed her face by an inch and collided with the wall behind her, leaving a glowing red crack in its wake.

Rhea’s eyes widened in shock. If Draven hadn’t acted swiftly to save her, that could have been her head. Goodness, if that searing ball of lava had struck her head, her head would have surely explode!

This damn place was extremely dangerous than she’d thought!

Without wasting time, Rhea gathered her ice magic to protect herself. She then heard Draven warned.

"The seal knows when people step into it’s territory. It can sense us and it will do anything to kill anyone who tries to break it."

Rhea was dumbfounded, "You mean the seal is like a living person and it would kill us now that we are in to break it?!"

Draven didn’t have time to reply when another lava ball was launched towards Rhea. Acting quickly, he pulled her down to the ground, narrowly avoiding the attack once again. The impact caused a crack in the wall, melting the rock into flowing lava that dripped onto the ground.

The second attack seemed to be even more intense than the first. Rhea didn’t have the opportunity to observe the damage to the wall behind her as Draven pulled her down once more. This time, she didn’t have time to use her ice powers to protect herself. She felt the sizzling sensation as her palm made contact with the hot ground, and the smell of her own burning flesh filled the air.

"Goodness! What kind of twisted place is this?" Rhea exclaimed, hastily pulling herself up from the scorching ground. "Why does it seem like the lava is only targeting me?" She questioned Draven, frustrated by the fact that she had narrowly escaped the lava’s attacks three times now.

"It’s because you possess my core," Draven explained urgently. "The lava perceives you as an intruder, someone who desires the power of the Dragon. Stay by my side!" he instructed, and Rhea complied, quickly positioning herself behind him.

Unexpectedly, the color of the lava began to darken and the flames that were spewing out cooled down. Draven let out a sigh of relief. "The soldiers outside have managed to temporarily cool it down using their powers, but they won’t be able to hold it off for long," he warned. "We need to hurry."