Chapter 90: The fall of a Kingdom

She cut me...I was honestly quite surprised by that, I had thought that I already learned my lesson to not underestimate my opponents back when I fought Sidus, yet still, It appeared that I had unconsciously been treating the humans with disdain, never quite taking them as seriously as I should have.

The small scar on my left cheek was a painful reminder of that. I glanced down at the closed wound by side from my battle with Sidus and was disappointed in myself. The very reason why I had left It there was to not grow arrogant, yet I failed.

Granted, I was not seriously hurt, and I doubted they could even seriously harm me if I let them, they still struggled to the bitter end before her sword finally reached me. Her gaze at that moment when she broke through the dust was one full of rage and resentment, she had been unable to contain her bloodlust which in turn made It easier for me to sense her coming even though I was caught off guard by her companion's suicidal attack.

I glanced down at the ruined buildings below, her figure was no longer visible admits the rubble, yet I was sure she would not stand up anymore, her strength was completely depleted with that final attack. I carefully brought my finger to my face and wiped the blood off with a dark expression.

I won, but It didn't feel like It. 'The rite of passage Is truly complicated', I sighed, one moment I would be high in battle enjoying myself, the next my mood would turn sour. My feelings towards the humans were complicated, while initially, I could care less about them, I slowly grew to respect them.

I raised my head towards the sky, father's figure was not visible from my point of view, but I could still feel his gaze on me. 'I guess I should wrap things up in here,' With the fall of the capital, the Piya kingdom was officially in ruins.

I rose towards the sky right above It and glanced about, some humans survived amidst the collapsed buildings, others were in hurry trying to flee atop their giant one-eyed birds, that was when I unleashed an earth-shaking roar that reverberated throughout the air akin to a thunderclap.

All eyes suddenly turned towards me, despair, sorrow, resentment, acceptance, I could sense the countless emotions emitting from the surviving humans as they looked at me in defeat. It was then that I spoke in a loud deep voice, "Let today be a lesson to the entire continent, we dragons never forget!" I paused, my eyes carefully studying the survivors before I continued.

"Your ways are causing harm to the realm, should you not change them, then there would be no next time!" Leaving those final words behind, I lunged downwards like an arrow towards the pillars that held the giant platform of the city in place, I reached out to the surrounding mana and instantly froze them completely before they exploded into countless shards that flew away with the wind.

Losing its support, the once-thriving capital fell entirely towards the large mountain range, the survivors that managed to escape in time could barely believe their eyes as they glanced at the city as It collapsed completely. Some sobbed uncontrollably while others had blank expressions on their faces.

I did not doubt that with the number of casualties they had sustained, and the fall of all of their major cities, the kingdom was truly done for. Shooting it one final glance, I turned around with a sigh and took off towards my father to report the end of my mission, though I was sure he was already aware of that.

He was waiting for me with an enigmatic expression on his face. As I got closer, I lowered my head in respect for a moment before I raised It back to glance at him, father then nodded approvingly and spoke. "Congratulations Aether, with this you have completed your rite of passage," he said with a smile.

"Thank you father," I replied with a respectful expression on my face. "Come then, It's time to go back," He added and surprisingly extended his giant arm to me, his intention clear. I didn't dally any longer and quickly jumped on top of It. Soon, we were soaring through the sky, leaving the ruined kingdom behind.

The trip back was silent, I had a lot on my mind and my father wasn't the type to initiate a conversation just for the sake of It. Though once we reached the borders of our continent, a question popped into my mind and I couldn't help but ask.

"Father, I have a question if that's alright?"

"Hmm? Ask away then,"

"There were three other dragons with me on the naming ceremony, they should also pass their right of passage. Mine was to destroy a human kingdom, if they were to do the same—" I wasn't able to finish my question before my father interrupted me.

"Their rite of passage is certainly not the same as yours," He said, I could sense the pride oozing out of his body as he continued. "In the first place, no you going is supposed to be able to destroy a human kingdom, especially not so fast," Father then paused for a second before he added in a serious tone.

"Aether, you are special. Your connection to the stream of mana is abnormal, although we dragons are considered to be loved by mana, you take that to another level," He said with a chuckle, which in turn only served to confuse me.

"I'm special?" I asked hesitantly, to which he nodded and continued. "Yes, although as dragons our control over mana is beyond that of the so-called gods, we can not indefinitely use It, each dragon has a limit to how much mana he can influence, that's what we call talent,"

Hearing that I frowned, "A limit?" I found that hard to believe since I never felt anything of sorts, quite the opposite, whenever I reached out to the mana, all I could feel was Its boundless strength and power, never had I felt any limit.

"Yes, a limit. And what makes you special, is that like the King, you do not seem to have that limit," He said in a solemn tone. "That is why your tests and rite of passage are not the same as the others,"

Hearing all of that, I was momentarily stunned as I did not know how to react. "I-" Seeing that, father let out another chuckle, before he spoke. "Though as you are at the moment, you are still unbelievably weak in the grand scheme of things, don't get too cocky just because you flattened a small country, your grandfather destroyed an entire planet!"

"A planet?!" My eyes widened in shock, 'I guess now I understand where he gained his title of the destroyer,' I gulped down nervously.