Chapter 130: The Reason for Escaping

"Fine! Since you insist on knowing, I will tell you." Seeing Zhou Tian truly preparing to haul her over his shoulder to head back, Afra finally had no choice but to speak up.

With a triumphant smile on his face, Zhou Tian shot a smug glance at Vivian and the others before setting Afra down from his shoulder.

Giving Zhou Tian an annoyed glare and a sharp kick to the shin, Afra grumbled, "I didn't want to drag you into this mess, but since you're so desperate to know, I'll tell you. At least this way, you won't be caught off guard if you get targeted." After forcing Zhou Tian to sit on the ground, she settled into his lap and continued, "You all know that I am a Dragon Knight, don't you?"

"Obviously. Everyone knows that."

"But I’m sure none of you know why my mount disappeared, do you?"

"True." Vivian nodded repeatedly, looking at Afra with curiosity as she urged her on. "I've always been curious. Given your personality, you wouldn't just ignore it if your mount ran away from home. So, are you finally going to tell us the reason today?"

Afra nodded slowly, her voice turning wistful. "When you think about it, I might be the youngest and, at the same time, the weakest Dragon Knight in the world. To be honest, becoming a Dragon Knight in the first place was quite an accident."

With a look of reminiscence, Afra began to recount the story of how she became a Dragon Knight...

It turned out that when Afra was still very young, she had wandered out one day and stumbled upon an injured dragon hatchling. Given the severity of its wounds, the dragon should have died, but just as it was at death’s door, it encountered Afra. Faced with the choice between life and death, the hatchling made a shocking decision: it chose to form a pact with Afra, making her its knight.

Although she was young, the legends of Dragon Knights were so pervasive across the continent that when the hatchling made its request, Afra didn't even hesitate; she agreed immediately.

The young Afra and the dragon hatchling signed the pact. Through the power of the contract, Afra took on a portion of the dragon’s injuries. She nearly lost her own life in the process, but she ultimately managed to pull the creature back from the brink of death.

Although the dragon had only formed the pact out of desperation, seeing Afra risk her life to save it filled the creature with a sense of guilt. Because of this, instead of leaving once it had recovered, the dragon stayed by her side, making Afra the youngest Dragon Knight in history.

With the dragon’s help, Afra enjoyed a period of great prestige within the Church of Light, and her own strength soared thanks to the dragon's aid. However, after several years, problems began to arise.

The pact they had signed wasn't an ordinary one; it was a Life-Sharing Pact. Unlike standard pacts where a dragon can find a new knight if its partner dies, this contract bound their life forces together. From that moment on, their lifespans were inextricably linked.

Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't have been an issue. Afra had risked her life to save the dragon, and even if it meant giving up half her lifespan, the dragon likely wouldn't have complained. But the trouble was that the hatchling was not just any dragon—it was the daughter of a dragon elder.

The hatchling had no objections to sharing its life with Afra, but its father, the dragon elder, was deeply dissatisfied.

Although the dragon race had entered into many pacts with humans, giving rise to the elite profession of Dragon Knights, they never abandoned their belief in dragon supremacy. In their eyes, apart from gods and demons, no other race could compare to them. They viewed the role of a "mount" as merely a job—humans provided wealth, and they provided combat support. Unless a genuine bond formed, they would often kill their knights if they felt displeased, provided it didn't violate the contract.

As the daughter of an elder, the hatchling was never meant to be a human's mount. The elder was already displeased, and upon discovering that they had signed a Life-Sharing Pact, his fury knew no bounds.

If not for the fear that harming Afra would also injure his own daughter, the elder would have killed Afra years ago. Even so, he had taken his daughter back, presumably to find a way to break the pact.

Years passed with no news, and Afra had almost forgotten about it. But a few days ago, she received a terrifying message from her partner through the bond: the elder had finally discovered a way to sever the pact. However, the requirement to break it was simple and cruel—he had to kill Afra.

Afra did not doubt that the elder was capable of it. The moment she received the news, her first thought was to leave Zhou Tian and the others. She knew their character; if the elder came for her, they wouldn't stand by and watch her be killed. Knowing how terrifyingly powerful a dragon elder was, she ran away specifically to prevent them from risking their lives for her.