### 66 Familiar Uppercut
Leon slowly opened his eyes.
Blue sky, white clouds, grass, trees, a gentle breeze—
Ssss~~
Such a familiar scripture, almost like it came from some snake-in-the-grass’s favorite old book.
He slowly propped himself up and surveyed his surroundings.
Not far away, there was what looked like a collapsed little hill, but it seemed that due to the passage of time, the shattered rocks were now covered in moss.
Further out was a dense forest with towering trees that had clearly been around for ages.
Leon took a moment to assess the situation, confirming that there was no danger around before standing up slowly.
He felt weak.
His magic was completely depleted, and a distinct pain radiated through his limbs—thanks to the side effects of the Nine Gates of Hell.
But hey, at least he could still walk.
Dragging his fatigued body toward the forest, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he recognized this place. “The border of the Silver Dragon territory…”
But there wasn’t a dragon in sight. Not even a single trace of a brawl.
“So… did I successfully stop that rift or what?”
Leon had no idea how long he had been unconscious, or if he had even been unconscious at all.
Once he stepped into that rift, he had zero awareness of the outside world.
All he knew was that he was draining his magic like a glucose meter in a candy shop; only he could end that rift.
Now, it seemed he really did… succeed.
But it looked like—he didn’t succeed completely.
Where the heck did everyone go?!
What about my wife? You know, that gorgeous, gentle, sweet, yet tsundere wife who’s as tough as steel but still makes my heart flutter?
And my kids? My eldest daughter who rolls like a boss, my adorable second daughter who’s practically a mascot, and my dream of having a scientist for a third daughter? Where’s my trio of cuteness?!
Why is it all so empty?!
Leon was perplexed as he walked into the forest, heading toward the Silver Dragon Temple, guided by his memory.
“If the rift’s been closed, then Roswiser and the others should be safe…”
“But why can’t I see them?”
“And if they aren’t safe, then why does the Silver Dragon territory look untouched?”
As he walked, Leon silently analyzed his situation.
But his mind was a jumble; he couldn’t calm down enough to think straight.
He worried about Noia, about Moon and Little Light, and of course… Roswiser.
To be honest, he regretted stepping into that rift.
Not because he feared for his life, but because he regretted not saying more to Roswiser, you know, sharing his feelings and all that mushy stuff.
His head was a fog, but he clearly remembered saying those three words to Roswiser right before stepping into the rift.
Who knows if that silly dragon heard him clearly?
Even if she didn’t, she could have read his lips, right?
“Ugh, isn’t this the confession you’ve been dreaming of? Happy now, you silly dragon?”
He muttered to himself as he continued onward.
While on the path, Leon kept an eye on his surroundings.
Given the thriving trees, it was clear that this place had been allowed to grow wild for a long time; it looked like no one had ever pruned the branches.
Logically speaking, as the first line of defense on the border, those towering trees should have been trimmed regularly to maintain visibility.
When he came here on patrol with Roswiser, the Silver Dragon soldiers were always on top of things.
But now, it was obvious that this place hadn’t been maintained in ages.
Leon silently took note of this mystery and pressed on toward the Silver Dragon Temple.
By estimating the sun’s position, he figured it was around 8 or 9 AM.
But when he entered that rift, it was nearing evening.
Even if over ten hours had passed, the environment in the forest shouldn’t have changed so drastically.
“Did I take a wrong turn?”
Leon suddenly halted.
The chance of that was slim.
But it wasn’t impossible.
After hesitating for a moment, he decided to head back the way he came and take a good look around rather than getting lost.
Just as he turned around, one step in, his foot slipped, and he fell into a shallow pit.
“d*mn it… who was the j*rk that dug a hole here…?”
That unexpected fall made his already exhausted body suffer even more.
Plopping down in the shallow pit, it took him a bit to gather himself before climbing out.
As he was about to rise, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of some bushes next to the pit.
The bushes were so dense that it was no wonder he hadn’t seen the pit at first.
“Pit and bushes…”
Leon’s mind raced as he began to clear away the outer layer of foliage, examining the signs of any disturbances.
Sure enough, at the edge of the bushes, a particularly smooth gap caught his eye.
Looking back into the pit, although most of it was buried under dirt and moss, careful observation revealed a similar smooth mark as the one around the bushes.
“It’s the spot where that sneaky scout was taken out silently by spatial magic…”
Meaning he hadn’t taken a wrong turn after all.
This was the way to the Silver Dragon Temple.
“Since the border shows no signs of battles or invasions, that means they must be safe, right?”
With that thought, Leon braced himself against the edge of the pit and sprang up.
Confirming this was indeed Silver Dragon territory, he quickened his pace toward the temple.
…
By sunset, Leon arrived at the outskirts of the temple.
But he had a bad feeling about all of this.
From the border to the temple, the road was quite long, and he hadn’t seen a single Silver Dragon.
With Roswiser’s cautious nature, there’s no way she wouldn’t have stationed at least one guard.
No time to ponder, the temple was just ahead, and Leon dragged his utterly exhausted self toward it.
However, upon reaching the temple entrance, what he saw completely stunned him.
The silver doors dangled from the stone wall, swaying perilously, overgrown weeds thrived happily at the entrance;
Inside the courtyard, flowerbeds lay in ruins, and moss covered the tiles;
What shocked Leon the most was the temple itself, with charred marks on the walls, and the entire left side of the buildings had been blown to bits.
It was a picture of decay.
His pupils dilated as he rushed into the courtyard without even feeling his pain.
“Noia!”
“Moon!”
“Little Light!”
He shouted the names of his daughters.
But all he received in response was the sound of the wind rustling through the grass.
“Roswiser! Are you all here?!”
Boom, boom—
A few rocks tumbled down from the nearby ruins.
But still, not a single soul in sight.
Fear exploded in Leon’s chest.
Didn’t he stop that rift after all?
His wife and daughters were already…
In a daze, a flash of pink darted past him.
Leon’s keen peripheral vision caught that fleeting shadow.
“Who? Who’s there? Is it someone from the Silver Dragon clan?”
With no time to care about their identity, he sprinted toward that direction.
“Hey, I saw you! Don’t hide! Tell me where the Silver Dragons have gone!”
Leon rounded the wall but found no one.
Frowning, the hope that had just ignited in his heart was extinguished again.
“Did I just imagine it…?”
He muttered in disappointment, about to turn back, when that pink figure appeared right in front of him like a ghost.
Then, Leon felt a sharp pain in his jaw.
Next, everything went black.
…
He didn’t know how long it was before Leon slowly regained consciousness.
It was now nighttime, and a campfire flickered beside him.
Looking over, he saw a girl sitting on a rock.
She was young, probably about twenty, with long pink hair and black-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, making her skin look even paler;
Her profile was so refined it looked like a finely crafted sculpture—and something about it felt familiar.
She wore a tattered white coat over a shirt and fitted pants.
The pants had some rips, with her thigh exposed in a few places.
In her hand was a skewer of grilled meat—probably her dinner for the night.
Leon gradually sat up, rubbing his still-sore jaw.
The girl noticed he was awake; surprise flickered in her pink eyes and danced across her pretty face.
The guy in front of her seemed to awaken a heavy memory.
But Leon didn’t seem to notice her shift in emotions; he licked his lips and tentatively asked, “Did… you knock me out?”
The girl blinked and nodded.
“Just one punch? And that knocked me out?”
For the first time, General Leon questioned his own durability.
Even the Dragon King couldn’t knock him out in one punch, but this girl could.
She looked at her right hand, clenched her fist, and shared Leon’s confusion, “Yeah, I don’t know why, but the moment I saw you, I couldn’t help but want to throw an uppercut.”
Leon didn’t launch into a fistfight with her right after waking up, partially because he was too weak to stand a chance anyway; and also, if she were truly an enemy, she wouldn’t be casually grilling skewers.
So that uppercut must have been a misunderstanding.
Leon glanced at the girl’s face.
So familiar.
Way too familiar.
She looked like she was carved from the same mold as that mother dragon.
“Have I seen you somewhere before?” Leon moved closer to the fire.
The girl blinked, smiled lightly, withdrew her gaze, and stared into the fire, the flames reflecting in her pink eyes like stunning gems.
“Such a terrible pickup line. How did you even win over Mom?”
That one line was enough to nearly fry Leon’s CPU.
His eyes widened as he stammered, “You, you are—”
“I’m Aurora, Aurora K. Melkway.”
She extended her skewered meat towards Leon, “And, of course, if you prefer, you can call me another name, Little Light.”
