To Moses, Irene's actions were undoubtedly an insult to the deceased, preventing Rudolf from resting in peace.
Consumed by rage, the final thread of sanity in the Silver Rank Grand Warrior's mind finally snapped.
He forced his body upright, dragging his heavy leg irons.
With the heavy clanking of chains, Moses took a heavy step forward.
Every muscle in his body tensed.
His bloodshot eyes glared intently at Irene, who was standing not far away with her chin resting in her hand, seemingly lost in thought.
His teeth ground together with a harsh, grating sound.
He prepared to forcefully squeeze out his remaining life force to avenge his friend while the evil dragon was distracted.
Even though Moses knew very well that, in his current state, it would be difficult to even scratch the evil dragon...
But!
Even if he could only bite off a single piece of her flesh before he died!
It would mean he had not disgraced his duty as a guard captain.
“Crack, crack...”
The faint popping of bones echoed continuously from within Moses's body.
His focus at this moment surpassed anything he had ever experienced before.
He was in a state of absolute concentration.
Mobilized by his mental focus and battle qi, every muscle, bone, and meridian in his body reached an unprecedented state of limit.
Right now, Moses was like a spring compressed to its absolute limit.
He only needed to release the constraint.
Then, he could deliver a devastating blow to his enemy!
But before he could act, a cold voice reached his ears.
“It seems he really can't recover his memories. Fido, take him away.”
As soon as the words fell, a large hand covered in pitch-black armor clamped down on Moses's shoulder.
The sudden development startled Moses, but he quickly snapped out of it, preparing to break free of the restraint and attack the evil dragon before him!
He figured that since he had managed to break free from the kobold's grip earlier, their strength couldn't be too far apart.
Yet the reality was that no matter how hard he struggled, the massive hand resting on his shoulder pressed down like a mountain, leaving him utterly unable to budge.
No matter how much he pushed his limits, it was completely futile.
He felt like a clown.
Then, Fido's signature voice sounded in his ear: “Stop struggling, pal. Visiting hours are over. It's time to go back.”
Moses turned his head to look the dog-faced creature in the eyes.
Only then did he realize that his earlier escape from the grip had been entirely because the other party had let him.
He wanted to keep struggling, but Fido, losing his patience, simply applied force with his hand. He dragged Moses to the ground like a dead dog and began hauling him out of the dragon's nest.
With his hands and feet bound, Moses had no way to resist this immense strength.
He could only watch helplessly as he drifted further and further away from his former friend.
His gaze was involuntarily drawn back to the evil dragon.
Once, they had been able to wage a fierce battle against this evil dragon, fighting to a standstill.
Yet how much time had passed since then?
Now, he couldn't even resist a single one of her vassals.
The flame of anger in Moses's heart was finally extinguished by the harshness of reality.
The strength in his body drained away instantly, as if he had eaten a spoiled stargazy pie.
He simply let Fido drag him along, his body wiping away a barely perceptible layer of dust from the floor.
His once-proud head now hung down in utter dejection.
He stared blankly up at the ceiling of the dragon's nest.
Until Fido dragged him completely out of the dragon's nest...
What Moses failed to notice, however, was that Rudolf had stared in the direction of their departure a few moments longer.
“Did you remember something?”
Irene, keenly noticing this, suddenly asked.
Rudolf shook his head. Then he opened his mouth, hesitated, and seemed to hold back his words.
Irene felt a flicker of disappointment at first, but noticing his hesitation, she gestured for him to continue.
“Moth—” Rudolf started, but seeing Irene's face darken, he quickly skipped the honorific and got straight to the point. “I am somewhat curious about the alchemical creation on that kobold...”
“For some reason, I feel an inexplicable yearning for such creations.”
As he spoke, Rudolf lowered his head and raised his hands, staring at his withered palms. He murmured softly, “I can feel that this kind of creation is very important to me.”
He looked up, his hollow eyes fixing on Irene.
“I have a powerful urge—an impulse to completely dismantle it and understand every single detail of its structure and mechanics!”
Irene frowned slightly.
She pondered the words of this newly born lich.
A word came to her mind.
Obsession.
An obsession engraved deep within his soul.
Irene still remembered that this old Gold Rank mage had been attacked and killed by her while he was in the middle of researching the ancient beastkin's spaceship.
Perhaps his obsession with the ancient beastkin technology was so profound that even though his soul had been shattered and reassembled into a new entity, he still couldn't forget it.
Thinking of this, Irene looked at the somewhat dim-witted lich before her.
No matter what, his former self was a Gold Rank Archmage who had even cracked the ancient beastkin's power armor technology and drawn up its blueprints. Although he's lost his memories, the foundation is still there. Having been transformed into a lich, his talent for research shouldn't be half bad.
He can be treated as a technical talent, of sorts.
If I nurture him into a knowledgeable research-oriented lich to assist with research... it should yield decent results.
After a brief brainstorm, Irene focused her attention back on Rudolf.
She asked, “Would you like to dismantle a suit of power armor and study it?”
“Ah?” Rudolf was clearly caught off guard.
Seeing this, Irene clarified, “The alchemical creation you saw just now.”
“Is... is that alright?” Rudolf hesitated. He desired this miraculous alchemical creation from the bottom of his soul, but at the same time, he felt an instinctive reverence for it.
It was as if a voice inside him was constantly screaming: This is important! Incredibly important! Get it! Study it! Uncover everything it hides!
“Hehehe...”
Irene smiled.
She walked slowly up to Rudolf, her golden eyes radiating an irresistible majesty.
“Of course you can,”
Irene said with a smile. “You are the first life created by me, Irene Afra Christina. In a way, you could be considered my eldest son.”
“As my eldest son, you possess supreme privilege!”
“Do you not know? At the moment of your birth, the entire Black Dragon Empire should have cheered for you!”
Hearing these words, Rudolf could not suppress the sudden surge of excitement welling up inside him. His decayed body trembled uncontrollably.
He was not just happy that Irene was willing to let him study the power armor.
He was even more thrilled that—
Mother has finally acknowledged me as her eldest son!
At this moment, Rudolf was like a child who had been given candy, his joy plain for all to see.
His knees buckled, and he made to kneel in gratitude to his “mother.”
But with a flick of Irene's finger, Rudolf's movement froze. He was suspended in mid-air, held up by mana and unable to move.
His already hunched body looked even more bent.
Rudolf looked up in confusion, only to meet Irene's cold, emotionless gaze as she looked down on him. Her chilling voice reached his ears.
“Don't be in such a hurry, my foolish eldest son.”
“Are you not curious about what your past life was like?”
At this point, Irene lowered her eyes and slowly raised a hand. Her soft, delicate hand rapidly transformed into a dragon claw covered in pitch-black scales.
“Are you not curious... as to who caused you to become like this?”
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