The Dragon Lord's Aide Wants to Quit [BL] - Chapter 198

Chapter 198: Forbidden Flames
TW: Gore

Debilitating pain.

It was what marked the beginning of what would be centuries of sharp and relentless suffering.

And it was usually the first thing Kael remembered when thinking about that day.

Pain.

It was the kind of pain that the young dragon had never known before in his short life. So how could it have been his?

He had gripped his chest, trembling as an overwhelming emotion tore through him. It was so unbearable that tears streamed down the youngling’s face before he even realized it.

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

The bond that had always pulsed faintly with warmth now felt wild and unsteady, as if it were crying out in agony.

And then, from within the nest, he saw it.

A sudden, blinding explosion.

“!!!”

The shockwave rippled across the sky. For a brief moment, Kael’s heart stopped, his small body frozen midair.

He flew higher, pushing against the mana that protected the nest until he reached the top of its barrier. From there, he could see everything.

Their home—his home—was in flames.

And in that instant, it was as if invisible shackles snapped within him.

A roar tore out of his throat, raw and filled with anguish. The sound echoed across the mountains as his small body began to change. Golden light burst from his scales, his wings widening, his frame growing larger and larger until his form was no longer that of a child.

Blue flames engulfed him.

The golden dragon was burning, his body surrounded by divine fire that shimmered with both fury and sorrow..

Down below, the dragons of the nest rushed out of the ancient buildings, eyes wide with horror. The shock of seeing the Dragon Lord’s heir engulfed in blue fire, his power tearing through the gardens and halls, sent panic rippling through the crowd.

The mana he released crackled through the air, splintering marble pillars and melting stone paths.

And then, driven by pure rage and desperation, Kael drew in a long breath.

Blue fire erupted from his mouth, striking the barrier that had trapped him inside. The flame was so intense that the barrier rippled and began to melt, with the remaining pieces splintering like shattered glass.

The air itself trembled as the young dragon roared again, forcing his way through the cracks.

But what truly pushed him to the brink of madness was not the destruction around him—it was the bond.

The pain he had felt earlier suddenly weakened, dulled, as though something had covered it. It hadn’t disappeared, but it was fading, muffled, and distant.

He couldn’t sense the direction of the egg anymore.

He couldn’t feel it.

That realization filled him with a terror deeper than anything he had ever known.

He dove through the broken barrier, wings slicing through the night air as he flew faster than he ever had before. The wind howled, but he barely noticed.

The only thought left in his mind was to reach the dragon estate.

The gates, however, refused to open. It was barred by something that hadn’t been there before. But this time, it felt as though the barrier was meant to keep everyone in instead of out.

Because after Kael slammed into it, the foreign ward cracked, caving under the force of his blue flame.

But what he found beyond them stopped his heart.

The dragon estate was burning.

The halls, the gardens, the towers—things that should have never caught fire were suddenly swallowed in a sea of flames.

But it wasn’t ordinary fire.

Even at his young age, Kael could tell something was wrong with the flames. They burned a little too dark, and yet the heat was different. It twisted the air, consuming stone and magic alike.

The dragon estate, built to withstand all elemental damage—especially fire—was actually engulfed in this strange flame.

He would only later learn that these were the Forbidden Flames, fire born from a corrupted source, capable of devouring everything it touched from the inside out.

Several massive beams had fallen; many of the walls had crumbled, and the grand roof that once reached toward the heavens was slowly collapsing inward.

Despite the heat that threatened to sear his scales, the young dragon pressed forward. He pushed through the smoke and ruin, desperate to find what was left.

He didn’t care about the danger.

He didn’t care about the pain.

All he wanted was to find the egg—his mate.

__

It became a battle of flames.

Kael’s blue fire clashed with the cursed fire that had devoured the estate, two forces colliding in a storm of heat and chaos. He couldn’t let it touch him—he had seen what it did.

Everywhere he looked, the bodies of their servants twisted and burned from the inside, their scales and skin cracked like shattered glass. And so, just from that, the young dragon chose to defend with his own fire.

The air reeked of mana and smoke. The explosion from earlier had scattered energy so wildly that even his senses couldn’t tell who was still alive. The young dragon tried again and again to track a familiar presence, but the mana signatures overlapped, fading in and out like dying echoes.

Still, he was certain of one thing. There was a concentration of mana deeper inside the estate.

He had to reach it.

Every step forward burned. The floor beneath him cracked under his weight, molten in some places and brittle in others where mana had warped the elements.

He pressed on, his claws digging into the scorched tiles. The sound of falling beams and splintering wood mixed with the roar of fire and his ragged breathing.

The pain was overwhelming. His body trembled as he poured out more mana than he had ever used before. He could feel his core screaming, the energy bleeding out of him in waves.

Still, he moved forward, trying and praying for the bond to reconnect.

Kael had since been trying to resonate with the egg. If it could call him, then he could definitely call on the egg. And if he called desperately, the egg was bound to respond, right?

It was the dragonling’s conviction—the single thought that carried him through the flames.

He was burning through too much mana, his vision beginning to blur, but he refused to stop.

At last, he reached his room.

The walls had warped inward, parts of the ceiling had fallen, and the air shimmered with heat. But what froze him in place were the bodies.

Their servants.

Loyal, familiar faces—all of them older than him, some even older than his parents’ rule—were scattered across the hall and around the entrance to his room.

They had tried to protect it.

He could see the way they had fallen, forming a barrier between whatever had come and the door. It was clear they had fought to the end.

Kael’s throat tightened.

He stepped forward, his claws brushing against the scorched ground, when a sound pierced through the noise of crackling flames.

Laughter.

Manic, distorted laughter that carried through the burning estate, mingled with faint shrieks of pain that hadn’t yet faded from the air.

His heart began to pound.

Someone was still here.

And if someone was here, then maybe—

The egg.

But the bond did not even flicker.