Hate Me, Witch!-Chapter 173: I Shall Become a Dragon Knight

Crack—

A shattering sound echoed.

In that moment, it was as if tens of thousands of pitch-black petals bloomed—then shattered.

The sky-scorching dragonfire froze midair, solidifying into ice before Xia Ya’s gaze.

And Xia Ya walked calmly through the desolate ruins, a rain of dark sakura petals falling behind him.

“Hiss hiss hiss~ (Master, wait—you’re actually fine?)”

The little Mercury Serpent in Xia Ya’s hand cautiously cracked open one eye.

It had already prepared itself to die as cannon fodder and trigger a Fate Rewind checkpoint.

Who knew its new Master was this badass?

Before, due to having zero combat power, it was technically a Mythical Creature, but in the First Era, it was the weakest of the weak.

Not only couldn’t it provoke other Mythical Creatures—even some Legendary-tier beings could step on it. All it could do was barely survive using the power of Fate.

But now, it had a boss. Could it finally walk tall?

In an instant, the snake imagined a whole 5-million-word plot: “Reborn in the First Era: Rise of the Overpowered Snake.”

In my last life, I lived in humiliation;even the gods could bully me.

This time, I’ll reclaim every bit of dignity I once lost.

Bonk—

Xia Ya flicked it on the head, snapping the snake out of its fantasy.

Feeling the nonsense streaming in from the Soul Pact connection—things like “Snake, endure,” “The Era of Three Eras has arrived—welcome back, Snake King”—Xia Ya was speechless.

So this Battle-5 Snake just spends its time dreaming up crap like this?

Still, Xia Ya soon pushed aside the chaos in his mind.

His footsteps stopped at the heart of the ruined palace.

In front of him, the massive black dragon had clearly exhausted itself with that last breath. Even the glow on its scales had dimmed a little.

But sensing Xia Ya’s approach, the dragon still raised its head.

Huge wings spread wide.

In those dim, lifeless eyes, a faint glint of hostility emerged.

Black-and-red light began to gather in its mouth again, about to fire once more.

Yet despite the overt hostility and murderous intent, Xia Ya only chuckled lightly.

“Really pushing yourself to the limit, huh.”

“Your body’s already been corroded to the point of collapse. Every time you use an outburst like that, it’s practically suicide—your dying self-awareness gets thinner each time, until you finally lose control.”

“Mythical Creatures may never truly die… but in an era when True Gods walk the world, losing control of your Divinity basically makes you a fat sheep in the eyes of other gods.”

Xia Ya shook his head.

His gaze fell behind the dragon—to that dragon egg shrouded in the veil of night.

“Even though your mind’s on the verge of collapse, you still made a suicidal move like that…”

“All because of…”

“That.”

As Xia Ya spoke,

the lifeless murk in the dragon’s yellowed eyes faded just a little.

Replaced by a fury—as if someone had touched its reverse scale.

The dragon’s breath surged stronger than before, forming a roar that could end worlds.

But as that apocalyptic breath loomed close, Xia Ya calmly extended his hand.

And then—

He gently placed it on the black dragon’s massive, chaotic head.

The next moment—

That black-and-red dragonfire faded away, dissolving into nothing.

If this had been any other Mythical Creature—

Then this berserk, death-or-glory outburst would have forced Xia Ya to be extremely cautious. After all, physical durability was never his strength—he wasn’t like Little Ai, who could brute-force through anything.

But this dragon… just so happened to share the same Authority as the Lord of Ashes.

And ever since Xia Ya usurped that Supreme Relic, he could somewhat be called a Mini Lord of Ashes.

This kind of flame couldn’t hurt him at all.

Two failed breath attacks in a row.

Even though this black dragon’s mind was clearly far from lucid, with most of it corrupted or polluted—

That last sliver of reason still sensed something was very wrong.

But before it could react—

The next moment—

A dazzling silver moonlight slowly reflected in Xia Ya’s eyes.

Among all of Xia Ya’s Summoned Beasts, if anyone had gained the most in Eden over the past ten years, it was none other than Silver.

Not only had she completed Amaterasu with the Lord of Ashes’ patronage, even Tsukuyomi had been enhanced thanks to the Crimson Moon.

Unlike the Lord of Ashes, who merely lost a relic, the Crimson Moon was a true unlucky soul—sacrificing its entire body to the Solar Furnace, where it was refined into a relic pearl.

And after Silver devoured that pearl over the past few days, Tsukuyomi had evolved to its complete form.

Now, Tsukuyomi could truly be called a Mythical Skill.

And as everyone knows, illusion arts are the greatest nemesis of berserk tailed beasts.

A giant silver moon slowly rose at the edge of the sky—

And filled the black dragon’s entire vision.

“I have no interest in talking with a half-mad beast, even if that beast is a full-fledged Mythical Species.”

A lofty voice echoed at the far end of the heavens.

“So, wake up.”

“Use your original form.”

……

Time in the sub-plane seemed to freeze;only the crimson-black lava on the ground continued to flow endlessly.

After a long while,

the black dragon finally opened its eyes again.

But this time, those eyes were no longer pale and withered, like those of a living corpse.

Now, there was a flicker of clarity in the dragon’s pupils—

The light that belonged solely to a sentient being.

Several patches of its pitch-black scales flaked off, revealing a glimmer beneath—

a radiant gold sheen, like molten sunlight.

It stared at Xia Ya, fragments of broken memory slowly resurfacing, tinged with disbelief.

Roar—

A majestic dragon roar echoed across the world.

“I can understand you, but I’m not fond of speaking in Ancient Draconic.”

“It’s a language tailored for dragonkind. The way it’s pronounced goes completely against human vocal instincts.”

With a thought, a small silver cube appeared in Xia Ya’s hand.

He turned it over once, then casually tossed it to the black dragon. “This little thing converts mental fluctuations into spoken language. You can just call it a translator.”

The black dragon caught the metallic cube.

With the intelligence of a Mythical Creature, mastering the use of such a tool wasn’t difficult.

Still, its gaze toward Xia Ya grew even more astonished.

“You awakened me from the madness of disorder… and you also possess a Holy Relic I’ve never seen before.”

“But… you appear to be a pure-blooded human?”

“From what I know, the most powerful among humans have only just touched the threshold of Legendary Tier.”

So the strongest they had was barely Legendary? Not even Throne-tier?

That would make the Sixth-Ring King of that kingdom a top-tier human.

Humans of the First Era really were weak.

Then again, according to the Mercury Serpent’s explanation—

In the First Era, dragons, elves, and giants were the true protagonists of the age.

Humans were nothing more than background characters.

These thoughts passed through Xia Ya’s mind, but none of them showed on his face.

“Funny enough, I was actually chosen by some of those humans below to be your sacrificial offering.”

Xia Ya smiled at the black dragon.

“But it seems… I won’t be doing much sacrificing today.”

“So, if you don’t mind, would you tell me—”

Xia Ya spoke calmly.

“The origin of the Cataclysm Calendar, the details of the Calamity of Light…”

“And why, as a Mythical Creature, you ended up in your current state.”

“And—”

Xia Ya paused briefly.

“The location of the Lost Isle where the High Elves dwell.”

……

Xia Ya’s tone was peaceful, as if he were merely making a polite request.

The black dragon looked deeply at him.

It could sense how young the other’s body was—brimming with unmatched vitality.

Even among humans, this boy would be considered a youth.

Yet the aura surrounding this black-haired, dark-eyed teenager made it feel as if he stood atop the clouds—

Not a mortal being of flesh and blood, but one of those gods that stood above even it.

There were too many mysteries around this human—

Why could a member of a race that hadn’t even reached proper Legendary Tier emit such pressure?

Why could he suppress the madness that not even other Mythical Creatures could contain?

Why did his body remain unscathed by dragonfire?

Why… did he seem to wield the same kind of Authority?

But the dragon didn’t ask.

Given how far gone its mind had been earlier, combined with the pressure this human radiated—

If he had meant harm, it would already be dead.

The fact that he chose to awaken it—

meant that, at least for now, this human bore it no ill will.

“The Calamity of Light, huh…”

“That truly is a distant memory.”

……

As was the case at the dawn of every Era,

the First Era too once had a golden age—

a time of brilliance, prosperity, and peace.

A utopia ruled by dragons, elves, and giants.

The Supreme Sun God sat upon the Divine Throne in the heavens.

The Dragon Kingdom, the Elven Courts, and the Giant Kings ruled the land below.

It was an age bathed in golden light.

And the black dragon before him was once not black at all—

but a Golden Dragon, revered even among pure-blooded dragons.

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Had the former Dragon King ascended further and become a Lesser God, a divine attendant to the Sun God himself—

then this Golden Dragon might very well have become the next Dragon King.

But—

Peace and glory never last. Only chaos and calamity are the true rhythm of this world.

No one knows why the Pure-White Sun God fell from the Divine Throne.

But it happened.

And so, the sun that once brought warmth and order—

became a forbidden catastrophe.

The Calamity of Light.

The flip side of the brightest light… is the deepest darkness.

All who had basked in the sunlight suffered varying degrees of corruption and erosion.

The higher one’s tier—

especially races who had once received the Sun God’s blessing of divinity and authority—

the more intense the corruption.

And so—

a world-consuming disaster descended.

“The first to lose control were the Lesser Gods who once served beside the Sun God.”

“In the glorious age, every Mythical Creature envied their place by the Divine Throne—but when the disaster came, the higher they stood, the harder they fell.”

“And I… once a Golden Dragon at the very top of dragonkind…

was hit the hardest.”

The black dragon turned, gazing at the ruins behind him.

From the shattered walls and collapsed columns, one could still faintly trace the grand splendor that once stood.

“This… was once the Royal Court of Dragons.”

The Golden Dragon spoke hoarsely.

From heaven to ruin.

The dragons, elves, and giants—who once ruled this land—

all shattered in the Calamity of Light.

Most died in the initial waves of madness.

Only a few, able to suppress their frenzy, went into hiding across the continent.

All that remained of their glory were these ruined palaces,

standing silent as a testament to the past.

“Humans, on the other hand, were spared.

Because of their low Tier—

and the fact that they had never received the Sun God’s blessing—”

“They weren’t heavily affected by the disaster.

They retained their civilization, their kingdoms.”

So that’s how it was.

No wonder dragons, elves, and giants were so overwhelmingly powerful.

A single adult from their races started at Third or Fourth Ring,

and a pure-blooded adult dragon reached Legendary Tier by default.

With intelligence on par with humans and lifespans far longer—

if the world had continued developing normally,

humans wouldn’t have stood a chance at rising.

But the Calamity of Light wiped out the powerful and spared the weak—

just like the asteroid that ended the dinosaurs,

giving primates a chance to rise.

The thought passed briefly through Xia Ya’s mind.

Then the Golden Dragon spoke again.

“You said you’re seeking the Lost Isle of the High Elves, correct?”

A light flared in those withered dragon eyes.

Then, its gaze fell upon the dark dragon egg

at the center of the ruined palace.

“I can help you find the Lost Isle.”

“But in return,

I have a request.”