Chapter 23

1

"Elena, tell me seriously, did you make those steel needles?"

"Why should I tell you!"

"The gods should not forge artifacts with the souls of living beings! They are innocent people!" Each of those steel needles has a soul, and whoever is pierced by them will be cursed for their entire life.

Elena suddenly sneered, sending a chill through my heart. "Qin Yang, your thoughts are ancient and ignorant! Since the war between gods and demons, the gods have been reflecting constantly. We have come to understand that there are no innocent people in this world. To be alive is to be guilty!"

"Ancient?"

"Are you a living fossil? The gods realized a long time ago that they protect humans because humans hold a reverence for the gods. They admire us, and we gain power from that admiration. So we protect them. As for innocence, everything you eat, drink, and breathe is life. Every day, you are killing. No one is innocent. They simply die as they deserve."

"This is the thinking of the demon clan!"

"No, they are freely indulging in slaughter, while we are organized and deliberate, allowing their lives to achieve the greatest value."

Elena's words shocked me. If Elena's thoughts represented the gods or even just a fraction of them, the gods were truly disappointing.

"Why... Why have I never heard you mention these thoughts of the gods before? You used to be kind and willing to protect those you wanted to protect. Why are you like this now..."

"Before? We have only met twice! If I was once what you call kind, it was only Elena, not the Dragon Maiden."

"The gods should strive to regain the faith of humans with unparalleled magical accomplishments and moral beliefs, not through fear and chaos!" I brought my dragon hand close to my forehead as the sun continued to rise, casting a radiant light from behind me. Elena narrowed her eyes as the sunlight became increasingly dazzling. The dragon contract mark, which rarely appeared on my forehead, leaped out and moved to the back of my hand!

My hand felt scorching hot, as if I were holding a miniature sun in my palm.

"Shut up, I hate your ancient and straightforward opinions. You would never agree with them even if I said them to all the gods!" Elena released the string she had been holding.

"And... You are Elena Brandt, not the Dragon Maiden anymore! You can only be yourself!" The dragon hand tightly grasped the miniature sun-like magic and charged forward.

"The Dragon Maiden is me, and I am solely devoted to the Sacred Dragon!" The three arrows intertwined in a spiral, combining into one force. Bathed in the faint light of the moon and the brilliance of the sun, they battled. Elena knew her chances of winning were slim, but she still fervently unleashed her arrows. Her determination was evident.

2

Xiao Qiong had just fallen asleep not long ago. Originally exhausted from the celestial demon's double burden of power and physical strength in the paradise, she felt the break of dawn in a daze...

"Huh~ Why is it already bright outside?" Qiong climbed out of bed, yawning repeatedly and checked her phone for the time. It was just past midnight.

"Yao, how many times have I told you not to turn on the light when you go to the bathroom at night...!"

"Sis, don't go back to sleep, come and see outside!" Xiao Yao jumped onto her sister's bed, pulling away her blanket and shouting incessantly.

"Huh? What's there to see at midnight? Those late-night shows are all hardcore stuff, stop making a fuss." Qiong's eyes were so tired that they couldn't open properly, and she strongly resented her sister's behavior, repeatedly disturbing her sleep.

"Sis, look!" Yao took Qiong's hand and made her look at the contractual mark that had inexplicably lit up.

"Qin Yang, that stupid guy, what is he up to again!"

"Bang!" Xiao Yao and her sister lived on the second floor, and it was easy to hear the sound of the door in the lobby on the first floor. But this door slam was too heavy. Then they heard Lilith's cry, which startled Qiong awake.

Downstairs, Lilith looked at Nana covered in blood and felt a wave of indescribable sadness.

"What's wrong with you..." Wenxin came downstairs and saw Nana injured at first glance, followed by Nofice carrying her on his back.

"Does she need treatment?"

"You have Light Magic, it won't work. My sister is a pure-blooded demon."

"I'll wake up Qingqing. The Flame of Hope should help!"

After a series of actions, the entire student council was awakened. Some hurried to treat Nana, while others watched the rising sun outside.

"Is that the sun of midnight, Qin Yang?" Qin Ying felt Qin Yang's presence in the sunlight shining over.

"Sister, who is it? I'll gather five hundred underworld messengers to let him know that the people of the underworld are not freeloaders!" Lilith clenched her small fists, and sparks from the underworld fire flew, feeling like two little matches.

"It's Elena!" Nofice remained calm, giving the impression that she was only an observer.

"Has the president returned?"

"Qin Ying, even if the president has returned, it may not be a good thing. Remember when she stabbed Qin Yang with two swords? It took Qin Yang three days to heal from those wounds. Just like my sister, even the Flame of Hope cannot heal her quickly." Lilith saw that Qingqing's Flame of Hope had little effect on Nana's injuries.

Qin Ying looked into the distance as the midnight sun rose higher and higher, then looked at her contract, pondered for a moment, closed her eyes, and said, "Let's go find Qin Yang immediately!"

"Alright!" Lilith was the first to respond, but Nana weakly grabbed her sleeve.

"Don't go! You haven't used the Five Contract Styles."

"Even if it doesn't work, it's better than sitting here!"

Qin Ying didn't want to listen to Nana's advice and insisted on going. The door opened, and a silver-haired woman stood in front of Qin Ying, her figure graceful like a willow. Qin Ying slightly moved to the right, but the figure blocked her path again!

"Hey!"

"She's right, you shouldn't go!" Qin Ying recognized the familiar voice, but the figure was unfamiliar.

"Principal? Your hair..."

"No time to dye, don't worry about these details... Some things need to be resolved by Qin Yang himself!" Guffy took out a magic book from her sleeve and pulled out a chapter from it. All the pages of that chapter scattered and arranged in order in front of the door.

"From midnight, the student council has a curfew. No one is allowed to leave!"

Qin Ying had no choice but to sit on the steps in front of the door, deflated like a deflated balloon.

3

"Hoo~~ hoo~~" The heavy breathing sound surrounded us. The midnight sun began to set, and apart from a motorcycle being destroyed, there was no other damage on the street.

As the two magic users were about to clash, golden belts with runes tightly wrapped around Mo Ming. Within the three square range, the magic elements were dispersed, and the two Light Magic disappeared instantly. Without magic elements, they could only use their own magic or physical strength. After transforming into a dragon's hand, Elena wouldn't have higher magic or physical strength than me.

"Let me go!" Elena shouted.

I had one arm wrapped around Elena's neck, my legs locked around her waist, and my dragon hand with its five fingers embedded in the steel-reinforced concrete floor right next to Elena's blond hair.

"I turned the night upside down for you, but... no response!" I laid my head against Elena's chest, feeling her contract, and beneath her golden-red armor, I could hear only the pounding of her heartbeat.

"You lunatic!"

"I ask... why are you so infatuated with that fake Saint Dragon, but have no feelings for me, the real Saint Dragon!" I couldn't help but choke, remembering a time when I just wanted to have my own girl, and now she was right beneath me, distance between us nonexistent, yet she no longer shared the same heart as me.

"He's real! The true Saint Dragon would never do anything for me!"

Elena spoke the most secret words of a dragoness, recalling the time with Yao Yuan, and it was true that as a Saint Dragon, I had never done anything for her. All the memories were of the dragoness doing things for me. Even when the Saint Dragon walked away, the dragoness pleaded desperately but I didn't do a thing for her. In the end, all that was left was waiting until death.

"Venice!" I pulled my dragon hand out from the floor, my azure eyes locked onto Elena's large black eyes, calling out the dragoness's name, a name forgotten for many years.

"You..."

"Elena can recognize the true Saint Dragon, but you have mistaken a substitute for reality. I am truly disappointed!"

I stood up listlessly, feeling like the entire sky was spinning. My feet were floating and weak, step by step, I wandered the street as the midnight starlight gradually returned.

By chance, I gripped a triangular shield and tore it apart.

Elena stood up inexplicably, looking at the desolate and helpless figure, feeling a slight fluctuation in her heart, as if it was fear or perhaps pity, and meaningless flickers of golden light appeared, revealing a dragon head.