Volume 4 Chapter 128

Volume 4 + Chapter 128: The Knight King, Tia

This was a moment of solitude between Xia Yi and Tia.

No one else would come to disturb them.

Xia Yi was unfamiliar with the changes that had taken place in the human world, and thus, when facing Tia—who had already become the Knight King—she did not know what to say for a while.

Should she ask how she had been, like before?

Given the current circumstances, that no longer seemed appropriate.

Just as the little princess was struggling internally, it was Tia who spoke first—

“I’m sorry.”

“Eh?”

Xia Yi looked at Tia in astonishment.

In her mind, she had imagined many possibilities.

For example, Tia questioned why she now stood as a representative of the dragon race, accusing her of abandoning humanity, or even condemning her for standing against humans… and so on.

Yet she had never expected Tia to apologize to her.

“Tia, why?” Xia Yi voiced her confusion. “From your perspective, shouldn’t you despise who I am now?”

“Xia Yi, I don’t truly understand you. Even what you experienced back when you were the human Sword Saint is something I do not know,” Tia said. “I only believed that you challenged the Silver Dragon Queen for the sake of humanity. In reality, you were forced to leave the human world, weren’t you?”

“…Those things really are all in the past now.”

Xia Yi felt that those old events were not worth recounting.

It was simply that the Schubert family wanted to discard her, so they sent her to subjugate the Silver Dragon Queen.

What followed was something no one could have foreseen—the development of events was even more absurd than fiction.

She did not die. Instead, she became a dragon.

“When you returned to the human world, you did not harbor malice toward humanity. Yet afterward, the Temple Knight Order kept forcing you step by step, forcing you to raise your weapon and point it at humans… all of this led to the tragedy we have today.”

“…Tia.”

“Xia Yi, I—”

Tia gazed at Xia Yi. Deep in her heart, there was still a trace of impulse remaining.

To hold on to Xia Yi, to make her stay by her side.

But now, Tia understood.

Everything had already changed. The two of them had long since stepped onto different paths, they should not intersect again.

Back then, the Knight Princess had been naive—harboring the delusion that she could use the lingering feelings of the Sword Saint still residing in Xia Yi’s heart to change everything.

Looking back now, it was laughable.

Had it not been for such naive thinking, perhaps the Temple Knight Order would not have suffered such heavy casualties afterward.

Naivety was powerless against the malice of humanity.

Now, Tia understood this clearly.

She had to erase that naiveté completely, letting the former Knight Princess truly die.

What should remain in this world was the Knight King, Tia.

“Xia Yi, to express this apology, I chose to help you resolve the doubts others held toward the dragon race when they opposed your joining the Anti–Vampire Clan Alliance.”

“Thank you, Tia.”

“From our earlier exchange, I could clearly feel your resolve as the Silver Dragon Princess. Your words carried enough weight to prove your current stance and attitude.”

Xia Yi could not deny this.

She had indeed spoken those words at the time—and more importantly…

She truly meant them. She did not want to disappoint Xia Lulu.

“Xia Yi, as you can see, I am now the one in control of the human world’s Temple Knight Order—the newly appointed Knight King. As for my grandfather… the former Glorious Knight, he fell into a coma after his battle with you. Even if he were to awaken one day, none of this would change.”

From Tia’s words, Xia Yi could clearly sense her determination.

This was not an attempt to flaunt power, but rather a heartfelt acceptance of her role as Knight King, speaking on equal footing with the heir of the dragon royal family.

“Allowing the dragon race to enter the Anti–Vampire Clan Alliance is the final apology I can offer you in my capacity as Tia. From this point on, I bear the fate of humanity as the Knight King. Every action I take, every word I speak, is inseparably tied to the future of my entire race.”

“And you are now the heir of the dragon royal family. Your position represents the future of the dragon race. After the Anti–Vampire Clan Alliance comes to an end, what our respective stances will be—let the future of our races decide.”

From this speech, Xia Yi could clearly understand what Tia meant.

The bond that once existed between the human Sword Saint and the Knight Princess had been severed.

The Sword Saint and the Knight Princess, once soul-bound comrades who fought side by side for humanity’s future, advancing together—such a beautiful and bittersweet dream…

Anyone, no matter who they were, should awaken from it.

“…Goodbye, Wright Schubert.”

A fleeting sadness surfaced in Tia’s eyes, but it vanished just as quickly.

This was the last time she would ever speak her fiancé’s name. It was as though she were bidding farewell to her past self. She stepped away from the reefs, leaving Xia Yi behind her.

When she reached the shore, it seemed Tia had silently summoned them. Human knights hurried to her side.

“Your Majesty, has the meeting concluded?” the Fearless Knight asked respectfully.

“Yes.”

The Knight King replied coldly.

Almost every knight who looked at Xia Yi did so with unmistakable hostility.

Yet in the presence of the Knight King, each of them appeared loyal and devout.

Without the Knight King’s permission, none would dare violate her will or make unnecessary moves.

Xia Yi could see it clearly—Tia had completely taken control of the Temple Knight Order. The fact that she could appear here alone as humanity’s representative, without any members of the four great Rhine families, meant that…

Tia now held the authority to decide everything in the human world.

“Oh right, Silver Dragon Princess—one more thing,”

Tia turned around. Her tone was completely different from before, with no trace of lingering warmth.

“I’ve already put an end to the hybrid experiment. Rhine Alchemy will no longer create those monsters. Humanity does not need to rely on the power of hybrids… And one more reminder—you dragons should also clean up your own internal affairs.”

“Clean up… internal affairs?”

Xia Yi frowned.

At first, she did not understand the connection to the hybrid experiments.

But suddenly, she understood.

With Rhine Alchemy’s capabilities, it would have been impossible to obtain dragon corpses. This meant that there had been a traitor within the dragon race—someone secretly supplying materials for human research. It was precisely because of this that the doctor had been able to create a pseudo Sword Saint modeled after Wright Schubert, a human–dragon hybrid.

“Let’s go.”

With a single command from Tia, the knights departed with her.

Watching Tia’s retreating figure, Xia Yi stood upon the reef, sinking into a long silence.