NOVEL NEXT Chapter 55. Crepuscular
Dragon King's Harem Chapter 55. Crepuscular
As we just took our Yegauns at the temporarily stable, Jyne spoke again.
"Um ... I know it's inappropriate, but ... May I --- ride your Yegaun?" she said in hesitation.
I frowned since she was quite demanding for someone I just met. But considering her status as a princess and since what she knew I was a commoner, I guessed maybe that's what made her want to ride alone. Moreover, my Yegaun was indeed different from Evelina and Eir's.
"Are you sure you don't want to ride with Evelina?" She should be more comfortable with it, while Eir and I could take care of the monsters that get in our way.
Jyne turned to Evelina briefly before shaking her head.
I sighed.
"Very well." My Yegaun was well trained to obey my and Eir's orders, so even if she tried to run away with it, with one whistle my Yegaun would come back to me. My hand patted the side of my mount's head casually and my eyes looked at him as if giving him a command without a sound. It was quite weird, but to communicate with our mount or tamed monster we could do it in three ways, gestures such as pats and simple movements, whistling and eye gaze.
"Krrrrrr!" he growled in a lower voice as if he understood my command to him.
"Good boy," I complimented him. I just turned around and walked towards Evelina, but Jyne caught my hand and made me stop my steps.
"I-I mean I want to share a Yegaun with you," she clarified her request.
I frowned again.
"You want to share a Yegaun with me?" I repeated in a disbelief tone since I thought I heard her wrongly.
"Yes ..."
My eyes moved to the side in confusion. While Eir and Evelina also did the same thing.
"If you are afraid to ride alone, why don't you let my wife accompany you?"
"I don't know her yet," she reasoned. Actually, since Jyne knew Argod was married and she didn't want to take him from Evelina, she decided to end her short love story with sweet memories. Who knew her first love would wither at their first meeting and not as beautifully as the books.
Although I was quite confused by her request, judging by her plan to marry me to escape her arranged marriage, I thought she had another plan behind this. But with my status as king, no matter what her plan was, it wouldn't affect me.
"I'll allow you if my wife doesn't mind it." Even though I could take this decision by myself and was pretty sure Evelina wouldn't object to this, I wanted to show that Jyne had to respect Evelina.
Jyne turned to Evelina in doubt since she wasn't sure Evelina would allow it. They were commoners, not nobles. Evelina would probably think that Jyne was trying to snatch Argod from her.
"C-Can I share a Yegaun with your husband, m-ma'am?" she said in the same hesitation and flushed face.
"I don't mean to take your husband from you, I just feel more comfortable with someone I know. Besides, I promise it's only until we get to Dragon Cross City," she added quickly.
"I don't mind it," said Evelina in confusion. Jyne's presence alone confused her and Eir. Coupled with Jyne's attitude. Meanwhile, she was pretty sure Argod hadn't told her his true identity since he hadn't cancelled Al's Tonic of Camouflage. But she decided to follow Argod's play and find out why after they arrived at the Palace later.
"Thank you," said Jyne with a smile.
After that, we got on our mounts and headed towards the city gates.
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Nearly an hour had passed, the two evening suns were almost setting on the western horizon and the sky above us grew darker. The sound of fast footsteps broke the silence in the meadow several kilometres from Dragon Cross City. The three Yegauns ran fast across the short meadow with several trees and boulders in between.
My eyes looked around me as I continued to spur my Yegaun. We had at least killed more than ten monsters after we left Warmbell Town, but luckily those were low-level monsters, so it didn't really matter to us. While Jyne sat in front of me to prevent her from falling. Her hands held the saddle tight as she kept her balance. Carpet of short grass covered our path and everything looked fine, but my Dragon Vision caught some monsters stalking us and ready to attack us anytime. In the forest not far from either side of us, some monsters shaped like headless deers on the size of two adult elephants ran after us. Even though it was a little dark because of the dim sunlight, I could see their black fur with some faint white stripes clearly.
[Name: Headless Black Deer]
[Level 46]
[Type: Formless]
[Element: Shadow]
[Speed: Normal]
[HP: 648/648]
[Mana: 186/186]
[ATK: 378]
[M.ATK: 67]
[DEF: 130]
'This is bad ...' I thought. They were crepuscular monsters that only appeared at dawn and dusk, the time where the Shadow element Mana reached its greatest power. Since they did not have a head and mouth, they ate by sucking their prey's life energy and Mana, turning their victims into pale corpses.
I raised my hand and moved it in the two directions towards the monsters, telling Eir and Evelina to prepare to attack them. While my attention remained on the front.
'Adrenaline Surge! Dragon Armor! 'I used my skills since they were getting closer to us, I guessed they would attack us anytime soon. While Evelina also used her skills on me.
[Evelina Lavinia Iaoth gave you Power Boost!]
[Your ATK and MATK have increased by 100%]
[Evelina Lavinia Iaoth gave you Accelerate!]
[Your SPD has increased by 100%]
[Adrenaline Surge has been activated.]
[Dragon Armor has been activated.]
[Power Boost has been activated.]
[Accelerate has been activated.]
[ATK: 305 + 153+ 305]
[M.ATK: 305 + 153 + 305]
[DEF: 120 + 60]
[SPD: 120 + 60 +120]
[Time remaining: 14:56]
Meanwhile, Eir also used his Skin Armor and also got the same support skills as me from Evelina. Then Evelina pulled the reins in her hands, moved her mount between us. it was the usual healer position on the battlefield if the attack came from two different directions. The healer had to position herself in the safest place or the farthest place from the enemies. That's why they usually took the backline, but with our current situation, the safest position was in the middle of me and Eir since we acted as attackers. This was also why I asked Jyne to ride with Evelina.
Eir took out his Fire Bolt. Dozens of short fire spikes emerged around him and prepared to attack. While Evelina prepared her Holy Beam. She possessed the Light element Mana which was the monster's weakness so she could kill them easily with this.
'Blazing Orb.' Forty-six of my flame orbs appeared around me, preparing to attack the monsters.
Seeing that we were ready to fight, Jyne looked confused since she didn't know what to do. Unlike Evelina and Sela who were used to following the real Argod, Jyne didn't know my fighting habits. That's why she couldn't cast her skills carelessly or she could mess up our attacks.
"What should I do to help you, Sir Ar?" she shouted.
"Hold on tight!" I said.
The monsters drew closer to us. But we couldn't attack them since they were still in the forest. We couldn't attack them carelessly especially by using skills that could create light in the dark like this. Since it could provoke the other monsters that resided in that forest. So we had to wait for them to come out of it. Also, this was the reason why travellers avoid spending the night in the forest. They usually looked for open fields to build their tents. That was because they could detect the monster's presence more easily on the fields.