Albion

High above the vast sky, Melusine, revealing her true form as a gigantic dragon, looked down coldly at Arkhan below.

The noon sunlight bathed her elegant and noble body, adding an indescribable aura of divinity to her presence.

Since Merlin had solidified her form, this was the first time she had revealed her true self in battle. To witness her noble figure, one would have no regrets even if one were to die.

Transforming into her dragon form subtly changed Melusine's mindset.

After all, she was now the Dragon of Albion.

Though she was not the original Albion, merely a remnant of its body left behind before its demise, Albion's thoughts and mentality, accumulated over endless ages of observing the world, had a considerable impact on her.

Albion was the first pure-blooded dragon born in the world and the last dragon of the Age of Gods. 

It witnessed the birth of the world, the rise of the gods, and their decline.

Unlike its flamboyant brethren, Albion always remained secluded in the corners of the world, quietly observing the world changes, seemingly indifferent to everything.

This aloof attitude was also the reason Melusine disliked interacting with others.

The gap between her and others in terms of experience and life was too vast as they had no common ground.

It was because of this attitude that, although Melusine was cold toward humans, it couldn't be said that she hated them since she treated all races equally; they were all practically the same in her eyes.

As the first and last dragon, Albion had the right to overlook all existence in the world. Even in the distant Age of Gods, the gods trembled in its presence.

But now, it seemed like there was a slight deviation from the norm.

Melusine's large dragon pupils looked down at Arkhan below and vaguely saw that this man seemed to be saying something, but because of the far distance, she couldn't hear his words clearly.

But it didn't matter.

What mattered was that she didn't see any proper fear on his face; instead, there was a hint of indifference.

Thanks to Albion's influence, Arkhan's calm and indifferent behavior made Melusine somewhat displeased, even angry.

Even in ancient times, there were not many who dared to adopt such an attitude toward Albion.

This black-haired man was just a mere human, utterly ignorant of his place!

In an instant, Melusine made a decision.

She was determined to punish this man who dared to offend her!

*ROOOAAARRR—!!!*

Melusine lifted her slender dragon neck, her loud roar echoing through the sky.

However, her roar came with a majestic pressure, causing many soldiers and villagers to kneel on the spot, sweating profusely, and trembling with fear.

Ritsuka clutched her chest, her expression showing discomfort. She refused to submit to this overwhelming pressure, choosing to resist.

Unfortunately, her resistance only led to more severe suppression, as if a mountain was pressing down on her chest, making it hard to breathe.

Large drops of sweat kept rolling down her forehead.

Her knees gradually bent, but she forced herself not to kneel.

A belief kept echoing in her mind—if she couldn't even resist an enemy like this, how could she face the Lion King?

It was just a mere dragon.

Her true enemies were godly existences.

However, strong her belief was, it couldn't change the fact that her body was nearing its limits. Her intense heartbeat sounded like a rapid rock song in her ears.

'If only I had exercised more...' Ritsuka joked to herself inwardly, forcing a smile.

But suddenly, an inexplicable power surged from within her body, infusing her nearing-limit body with renewed vigor. At the same time, a cool sensation rushed to her mind, sweeping away the pressure accumulated just moments before, making her thoughts clearer than ever.

'What happened?' Ritsuka was surprised for a moment, then quickly realized what was happening.

It was the five primordial runes Arkhan had given her before!

She remembered clearly that these five primordial runes were meant to enhance her body. Day by day, her body would slowly absorb the power of these runes, and training could help speed up this process.

Could it be that because she had directly resisted the dragon's pressure, it had increased the efficiency of absorbing these runes?

This unexpected joy came too suddenly, sweeping away all her previous frustrations.

Ritsuka couldn't help but smile broadly with happiness.

Especially when she noticed that her magical energy capacity was slowly expanding, she was ecstatic to the point of almost not being able to contain her excitement.

The magical energy capacity, in simple terms, was the total amount of magical energy a mage could contain. The importance of magical energy to a mage was self-evident; being able to contain more magical energy was a sign of great strength.

Unfortunately, this capacity couldn't be changed after birth.

The size of the magical energy capacity depended on the scale of the mage's magic circuits, which were like blood vessels distributed throughout the mage's body and were innate organs that couldn't be increased after birth.

Only those from mage families with deep roots could use various secret methods to try to increase the number of magic circuits before childbirth. Therefore, children from ancient mage families tended to have more magic circuits and greater potential than normal mages from a common background.

And this was also an important factor contributing to the stubborn traditions in the world of magecraft.

However, mages weren't completely helpless; some relied on Mystic Code to store magical energy, while others worked on themselves. It was even said that some mages deliberately grew their hair long to store more magical energy.

Ritsuka did not come from any ancient mage family, nor was she a prodigy; the quality of her magic circuits could be considered quite average.

Most of the magical energy supplied to her Servants was dependent on Chaldea's support and command spells. Without this support, relying solely on her meager magical energy capacity, Servants would probably find it very difficult to even maintain their forms.

But now, she had unexpectedly discovered that her magical energy capacity was expanding. Although the process was slow, just this change was enough to make her ecstatic.

Moreover, it wasn't just her magical energy capacity; her various physical attributes, including endurance, strength, and agility, were all slowly improving. At the same time, her mental strength was also changing, as the oppressive feeling brought by the dragon's pressure was gradually diminishing bit by bit.

Just as Ritsuka was reveling in her joy, her vision suddenly darkened as a figure stood in front of her. Eventually, the terrifying pressure that had been constantly weighing on her body disappeared bit by bit until it vanished completely.

"Senpai, rest assured! As long as I'm here, you won't have to worry about anything!" Mash declared firmly, holding a massive shield that emitted a faint glow.

With the pressure gone and the primordial runes no longer releasing their power to enhance her body, Ritsuka, who had just tasted the sweetness of her newfound power, panicked.

"Mash, quickly get out of the way!" Ritsuka shouted in a frantic voice.

"Eh?" Mash raised her eyebrows, confused.

Seeing the bewildered and puzzled expression of Mash, Ritsuka couldn't help but stomp her foot, then ran directly in front of Mash, eagerly accepting the dragon's pressure once again.

Watching her senior, who was being pressed down by the dragon's pressure yet had a blissful and happy expression, Mash's eyes were filled with deep confusion and peculiarity.

'After this is over, maybe I should ask Doctor to check Senpai's head...'