Evil dragon has a warm heart
Chapter 499 - 499 498 The Swordsmanship that Illuminates the

Chapter 499: Chapter 498: The Swordsmanship that Illuminates the Dark Ages Chapter 499: Chapter 498: The Swordsmanship that Illuminates the Dark Ages “His Majesty the King’s action greatly astounded Russell!”

Facing King Ares’s congratulations, Russell was indeed overwhelmed—a monarch personally coming to give his wishes.

Just think of the prestige it brought! Who could compare to this?

In the crowd, Earl Osclo almost bugged out his eyes, never anticipating that King Ares would come in person to congratulate Russell: “Just for defeating a Frost Giant, is it really necessary, really necessary?”

Willem Ginnari, mingling in the crowd and a student of Russell’s, had originally just followed Russell for a free meal.

Seeing his own king arrive, he hurriedly ran up and knelt on one knee to pay homage, “Willem greets Your Majesty!”

“Rise,” King Ares said casually, “Follow Lord Russell and learn well; it will serve you for life.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” Willem responded emphatically.

After he got up, King Ares had already walked toward the inner chambers of the Inner Fort, flanked by Princess Anxia and Earl Merlin, along with Russell.

Russell seemed to deliberately lag a step behind to show his respect for King Ares.

However, King Ares grasped Russell’s arm, walking shoulder to shoulder with him, unconcerned with the vast difference in their statuses.

For a moment,

Willem was stupefied, and an unstoppable thought emerged in his heart: “A true man should indeed be like this!”

Thwack, someone patted his shoulder, snapping Willem out of his shock, only to see it was the portly Marquis Arno.

“Lad, you’ve followed a fine teacher,” Marquis Arno, squinting his eyes, his face more beaming with a smile, “The nobles of the kingdom used to mock you, calling you fanciful, but after today, they’ll likely all be envious of you.”

Before Willem could respond, Marquis Arno quickly caught up with the group ahead and followed King Ares and the others into the side hall.

Leaving Willem standing somewhat dumbfounded in the noisy great hall.

The day he decided to apprentice under Russell, he knew he would become a joke among the kingdom’s nobles—after all, becoming a lord of the Dragon Domain isn’t something one achieves through apprenticeship. After training to become a Phantom Beast Knight, the path requires knights to explore on their own.

Teaching is something that cannot truly be taught.

After all, the subsequent path of the Way of the Knight requires mutual adaptation between the knight and the Phantom Beast; external interference only complicates matters further.

Yet, Willem, harboring a glimmer of hope, resolutely chose to apprentice under Russell.

Now, even though the cultivation path of the Dragon Domain Lord still lacked clarity, his status seemed poised to rise along with his teacher’s ascent—advancing to a Dragon Domain Lord by apprenticing seems far-fetched, but what if he apprenticed under a Dragon Knight, a future Grand Duke?

“Teacher will become a Dragon Knight, right? Everyone in the Shadowflame Grand Duchy believes it… even His Majesty believes it, surely!”

Willem’s eyes sparkled.

At that moment, someone came by and patted him, “Willem, what are you still dazed about? Everyone has left.”

“Where have they gone?”

“The Achievement Assembly has ended, naturally, it’s time for the banquet. However, His Majesty and the lords probably won’t attend the banquet. That’s better though, with no great nobles around, it’ll be more enjoyable.”

The two young men then walked together to the location of the banquet.

On the way, Willem was still immersed in awe, remarking, “His Majesty personally congratulating my teacher, Glontan, do you realize what this means?”

Glontan Bainroot nodded, “Of course, I do.”

“Well then, tell me, what does it mean?”

“Dragon Knight!” Glontan declared confidently, “Sir will surely become a Dragon Knight, slaying the Frost Giant Ge is clear proof, a creature of the same caliber as dragons, a true invader from another world!”

“Will teacher really become a Dragon Knight?”

“Do I even need to say it? The first time I met Sir, I knew this day would come,” Glontan spoke with such conviction that he convinced himself, “Why else would I have traveled such a long distance to follow Sir, only a knight as grand as him is worth following!”

He paused.

Suddenly turning to Willem, “Willem, actually, why don’t you follow Sir as well? His Majesty certainly wouldn’t mind!”

Willem shook his head, “How could this be possible? I am a vassal of His Majesty and have pledged loyalty to him for generations.”

“But your domain will soon vanish. It’s better to follow Sir and achieve great deeds. In the future, you can continue to be a baron here!” Glontan said with a smile, “Once Sir becomes a Dragon Knight, he will surely appoint new barons!”

“No.” Willem shook his head, firmly stating, “My greatest dream is to restore my family’s territory and revive the glory of my ancestors!”

However.

Somehow, a voice seemed to be persuading him to follow Russell, “In the Scorching Torrent Kingdom, I’m just a nobody, but by following Master Russell, I can become a confidant of my teacher and establish a new Kinnaly Family!”

As soon as the voice arose.

He shook his head, suppressing the thought and stopping any wild speculations.

…

“Your Majesty, I was able to kill Shuang Ge not only because of the power of the Flying Dragon Knights and the Dragon Domain Lords but also due to my swordsmanship,” he said.

“The swordsmanship that leverages the power of the elements can be acclaimed as the best in the world,” King Ares praised, “Since becoming a Dragon Knight, I have traveled through various kingdoms and seen countless unparalleled talents, but you are the only genius I have seen in the way of the sword.”

“The swordsmanship of the Dragon Knights is also powerful; it can easily manipulate the power of the elements,” Russell said.

In the side hall, the fragrance of tea was wafting through the air.

Princess Anxia, Earl Merlin, Marquis Arno, Steward Kunbei, and others were accompanying King Ares in having tea.

However, nobody spoke; they just listened quietly to King Ares and Russell discussing swordsmanship.

“It’s not the same, the swordsmanship of a Dragon Knight involves leveraging the dragon’s power to manipulate the elements. Your swordsmanship, however, relies on your own will to manipulate the elements. Although the outcomes might be the same, the essence is vastly different,” King Ares said, somewhat regretfully, “After being promoted to a Dragon Knight, manipulating the elemental forces at will, I lost the chance to refine my swordsmanship.”

“That is also true,” Russell nodded, “Nowadays, the Way of the Knight focuses more on battling using combat energy and skills, with few studying the art of swordplay.”

“Firstly, there is a lack of talent; secondly, a lack of patience; thirdly, the results from swordsmanship are minimal,” King Ares commented, “Before leveraging the power of the elements, who would be confident enough in their sword skills to gain sufficient strength.”

Thus, the way of swordsmanship has become a minor path and gradually fell into decline.

Russell shook his head and chuckled, “It’s also a trend of the times. With the advent of Phantom Beasts, bipedal flying dragons, and dragons, there’s indeed no need to diligently delve into sword skill…and as we step out of the Dark Ages, it naturally declines.”

“Stepping out of the Dark Ages?” King Ares asked.

“I believe that during the Dark Ages, there were many Dragon Domain Lords, and humans relied on these Lords to create warm lands to survive the over five thousand years of cold,” Russell said.

“Hmm, that makes sense.”

“But just relying on the Dragon Domain Lords might not be enough to stop the invasion from the Snow Demon World, for even though there were few Snow Giants during the Dark Ages, just one was enough to destroy human civilization,” Russell said, “Thus, the humans of the Dark Ages must have had a way to kill Snow Giants.”

“So you think, swordsmanship was the means that supported humans through the Dark Ages?” King Ares asked.

“Yes.”

“Thinking about it, that really should be the case,” King Ares said. He couldn’t help but take another look at the young man in front of him.

In the Dragon Sleep Continent, sixteen was considered the age of adulthood, but in his eyes, the youthful face of Russell still belonged to a young man.

Yet, it was this young man who had achieved an incredible feat.

He had slain a Frost Giant!

Even when King Ares initially heard the news brought back by the Fiery Dragon, he was shocked for quite a while. Frost Giants, although they had only appeared in recent years, were equivalent in power to Snow Giants, and even if weakened, only dragons or Dragon Knights could defeat them.

Who would have thought that Russell would stand out, using his sharp swordsmanship to break through the barriers of power levels and create a miracle?

“Perhaps this is why humanity has never ceased to thrive,” King Ares mused inwardly.

Under the thick ice of the Dark Ages, humans illuminated the world with brilliant swordsmanship, bringing light and warmth.

Today, with the arrival of the Frost Giant, the Dragon Sleep Continent has once again produced a genius like Russell, who has picked up the brilliance of swordsmanship!

“A Knight… following one after another…”