"My purpose here is to take you away."
Upon hearing Athena's domineering words, Leon's face remained calm and nonchalant, but his heart raced, and cold sweat dripped down his forehead.
The words, "I'll take you away," brought him back to the mory of when Athena had nearly raped him in the Dragon Empire, back when he was a diplomat for the Holy Empire of Elysium.
Although that incident happened a long ti ago, and despite his current power allowing him to match or even surpass her, the trauma still lingered at the bottom of his heart.
After all, Athena had indeed left him with bad mories, and the reason he wore a mask was because of this dragon woman.
On the other hand, Liliana widened her eyes in disbelief upon hearing Athena's words.
'Taking Leon away? How dare this woman say such words in front of ? Does she want to fight to the death with right now?'
Suddenly, Liliana's gaze toward Athena was filled with intense killing intent, as if she were ready to chop her into pieces.
However, rembering the aningful glance she had exchanged with Leon earlier, Liliana quickly concealed her killing intent so well that even Athena didn't notice.
"Ahem! I'm sorry, Lady Athena. Could you explain in more detail why you want to take away and what business you have with ?" Leon quickly adjusted his emotions, adopting a more formal tone when addressing Athena.
He didn't want to prolong his interaction with her and aid to end the conversation as soon as possible.
Athena stared at Leon with a light, indifferent gaze for a few monts before finally answering, folding her arms across her huge chest: "To be honest, I have no personal business with you, but my ancestor, the first dragon, wants to see you and has asked to bring you to him."
Since she didn't want to linger any longer and was eager to return to her palace to replenish her energy by gazing at the pictures of Leon displayed in her room, she decided to be straightforward and tell him everything.
After all, her task was simply to escort him to her ancestor's palace; once that was done, her mission would be complete. If Leon had known Athena's true thoughts, he would have imdiately fled faster than the speed of light. Unfortunately, he couldn't possibly know.
anwhile, upon hearing her words, Leon widened his eyes in astonishnt and surprise, especially at the terms "Ancestor" and "First Dragon," which were completely beyond his expectations.
As an avid reader, he knew about the first dragon, also known as the ancient dragon by all the dragons in the world.
The ancient texts of dragon races revered the ancient dragon as the progenitor of all dragons, viewing it as their ancestor and a deity.
Now, Athena's revelation that her ancestor, the ancient dragon, wanted to et him naturally caught Leon by surprise.
'It seems this ancient dragon is connected to the 7,000-year plan between Demon Emperor Amon Crimson and the first Hero of Humanity, Luminus Troya. Otherwise, he wouldn't have sought out after I used my chaos power to announce my arrival to all the hidden races in the world,' Leon muttered to himself, drawing a conclusion that brought him a bit of relief.
Initially, he doubted whether the phenonon he created was significant enough to alert the hidden races to his arrival, but it seed he had succeeded. However, just to be sure, he needed to confirm it once more.
Taking a small breath, Leon looked at Athena with a softer gaze and asked, "To confirm one thing, may I ask where your ancestor has been and why he hasn't appeared for thousands of years? By the way, I apologize if my question offends you or your dragon race."
Listening to Leon's question, Athena maintained a calm expression on her alluringly beautiful face and shook her head slightly.
"My ancestor has been sleeping for thousands of years, claiming he was waiting for sothing," Athena replied in a nonchalant tone. "However, he recently woke up after seeing the purplish-black light you emitted into the sky and suddenly asked to bring you to him."
Athena took a small breath and paused, concealing her curiosity as she stared at Leon.
To be honest, she suspected that the man before her was the one her ancestor had been waiting for for thousands of years.
However, she couldn't grasp what was so extraordinary about him that her ancestor would slumber for millennia just to anticipate his arrival.
Leon, upon hearing Athena's confirmation, smiled slightly.
"Thank you for your explanation," Leon remarked softly.
Athena gave a small nod and said nonchalantly, "Then, let's go to my ancestor's palace."
Just as Athena turned around, expecting Leon's agreent, an unexpectedly indifferent reply sounded behind her.
"Sorry, I can't go with you now."
Athena's movents halted abruptly, her expression turning grim as she turned back to face Leon, her gaze chilling.
"What did you just say?" Athena inquired, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"I can't go with you," Leon reiterated firmly, shaking his head.
As he had stated before, until Miranda woke up, he had no intention of engaging with the hidden races or placing complete trust in them so readily, including Athena's ancestor, the ancient dragon.
Having been betrayed by Velix and his subordinates, Leon had learned a valuable lesson—not to trust others too easily.
Moreover, the hidden races had remained concealed from the world for 7,000 years, and Leon was uncertain of their true intentions toward his arrival.
Although, in hindsight, this caution might have been excessive, he wasn't willing to risk falling into the sa trap twice.
Moreover, he recalled that Miranda's second task for him was to swiftly resolve the 7,000-year war between the Demon race and mankind rather than to cooperate with the hidden races or others to fight against the Evil God. This directive instilled a conviction that further fortified his decision.
Slowly, Leon snapped out of his reverie and glanced at Athena, whose deanor had shifted dramatically, her eyes now filled with murderous intent, as if she wished to end his life.
Witnessing this transformation, Leon realized that Athena was on the verge of losing control and needed to intervene swiftly. Before he could utter a word, however, a fiery red aura abruptly erupted from Athena's body.
*Boom!*
The fiery-red aura soared into the sky, instantly tensing the atmosphere. Simultaneously, two red horns erged on Athena's head, and scales appeared covering her arms and legs.
Witnessing this transformation, Liliana, who had been silently observing the conversation, widened her eyes in shock.
She was about to intervene when Athena vanished from her spot, reappearing in front of Leon with a fist aid at his face.
Caught off guard, Liliana instinctively shouted, "Leon, be careful!"
*Whoosh!*
Suddenly, the fist, poised to strike Leon's face, halted just one centiter away, and the fiery-red aura surrounding Athena's body dissipated abruptly upon hearing Liliana's shout.
As Athena raised her gaze to the man in the half-face mask before her and examined him carefully, the expression of murderous intent vanished from her face, replaced by confusion.
"Leon?"
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