Supreme Hunter of Beautiful Souls

Chapter 558: Kael and Nidrogg flying

Kael remained silent for several minutes as Nidhogg crisscrossed the world’s skies in its true form. The wind still lashed against his body with enough force to hurt an ordinary human, but the dragoness’s enormous claws protected him from most of the atmospheric pressure. Even so, the cold of the extreme altitudes penetrated his partially destroyed clothes, mingling with the constant heat emanating from her black and gold scales.

His mind was still trying to process everything that had happened in the last few hours.

Sex with a primordial entity.

A seemingly permanent spiritual bond.

His mother attempting to assassinate his lover using offensive teleportation.

A fall of thousands of kilometers above the planet.

And now he was being carried by a colossal dragon through storm clouds as the sun slowly began to rise on the horizon.

After observing the world below them for long enough, Kael finally spoke.

"Where exactly are we?"

His voice sounded more tired than curious.

Nidhogg slowly moved her gigantic head as she surveyed the mountain ranges below the clouds. Her golden eyes shone with absolute calm, completely comfortable at that impossible altitude.

"Probably somewhere in the Central Continent."

"Probably?"

"I was teleported without my consent." Her tone carried a dry irritation. "My geographical accuracy was compromised."

Kael let out a small sigh.

Down below, vast forests covered entire kilometers of land. Enormous rivers cut through mountains like silver scars, while cities appeared too tiny to seem real from that distance.

"Are we near the Human Kingdom?"

"Relatively." Nidhogg tilted one wing slightly, cutting through a gust of wind. "Maybe a few days’ flight."

Kael immediately raised an eyebrow.

"That wasn’t reassuring."

"You’re thinking in human terms." She made a small, amused sound. "Continents seem smaller when you can cross oceans before breakfast."

Kael slowly massaged his face.

He still hadn’t fully come to terms with her true size.

Even now, being carried in her claws, his mind continued to reject the creature’s absurd scale. Nidhogg’s wings covered entire expanses of clouds. Each movement displaced enough air masses to create small storms below. The colossal body snaked through the sky with impossible ease, as if the world itself had been made to accommodate her.

Kael looked ahead again.

"What exactly are we going to do now?"

Nidhogg answered immediately.

"Go back home."

Kael nodded slowly.

Then she added:

"And then I’ll hit Elion."

The silence that followed lasted several full seconds.

Kael slowly closed his eyes.

He honestly didn’t know how to react to things anymore at that point.

Part of him wanted to laugh.

Another part wanted to simply give up trying to understand his own life.

Because there was something profoundly wrong with realizing that the two most important women in the situation were probably invincible.

Elion was an emotionally unstable magical monstrosity with access to ancient runic magic sufficient to alter continents.

Nidhogg was a primordial dragon capable of surviving inside volcanoes and traversing dimensions with apparent ease.

If those two decided to fight seriously—

Kael didn’t even want to imagine how long it would last.

Probably days.

Maybe weeks.

Maybe an entire country would cease to exist in the process.

He let out a tired sigh as he stared at the horizon.

"This is going to end very badly."

"Possibly."

"You two are absurdly powerful."

"Thank you."

"That wasn’t a compliment."

Nidhogg let out a low sound that seemed dangerously close to a draconic laugh. The vibration coursed through part of her body and echoed through the clouds below.

Kael continued to stare ahead in silence.

But his mind kept racing.

He was thinking about Yggdrasil.

About the bond.

About Elion’s reaction.

About the very real possibility of a dimensional war caused by jealousy and emotional turmoil accumulated over centuries.

He was overthinking.

Nidhogg noticed this immediately.

She always did.

One of her enormous golden pupils moved slowly toward him.

"Kael."

"Hm?"

"You’re overthinking again."

"Because my life turned into a cosmic disaster in less than a day."

"Technically, this happened before me."

"You keep making already bad statistics worse."

She completely ignored the accusation.

Instead, her voice became slightly softer.

"We don’t need to go back now." Kael raised his head slightly.

"What?"

"If you want..." There was a small, thoughtful pause. "We can go out."

He blinked slowly.

"You’re suggesting a date."

"Yes."

Kael stared blankly for a few seconds, trying to grasp the surreal nature of the conversation.

He was flying across continents in the claws of a colossal ancient dragon, discussing romantic encounters after nearly dying in an emotional teleportation from his own mother.

"I don’t think this is the ideal time."

Nidhogg made a small, disappointed sound.

It was a terrible mistake.

Because the sound produced by a creature of that size sounded like the distant wail of an entire storm crashing through mountains.

Kael immediately pointed at her.

"Stop making cute sounds when you’re miles long."

"I don’t control how you interpret my voice."

"That shouldn’t be biologically possible."

"You glow now too." Her tone seemed satisfied. "We’re not exactly within natural parameters."

Kael sighed again.

Even after his negative response, Nidhogg didn’t open any dimensional portals. It didn’t slow down toward any known territory. It continued flying calmly above the clouds, as if it simply wasn’t in any hurry.

After a few minutes of observing this, Kael finally frowned.

"What are you doing?"

"Flying."

"I see."

"Excellent."

"Nidhogg."

This time she answered after a few seconds of silence.

"It’s been a long time since the last time."

Kael waited.

The enormous dragon head moved slowly as she observed the distant horizon. The sun now rose partially above the mountains, scattering golden hues across the clouds. The light reflected off her scales, making her colossal body seem even less natural.

"I almost never come to the physical world in my true form." Her voice sounded different now. Lower. Further away. "Yggdrasil hates it when I completely cross the dimensional barriers."

Kael remained quiet.

"Besides..." She spread her gigantic wings a little wider, taking advantage of another gust of wind. "The world has changed a lot."

His gaze slowly shifted to the lands below.

"You miss this place."

"Yes."

The answer came simply.

Directly.

Without dramatization.

Kael realized that this probably meant more than any emotional speech coming from her.

Nidhogg continued flying silently for a few moments before speaking again.

"The skies are different now." Her golden eyes followed the gusts of wind around them. "The oceans have changed color. Some mountains have disappeared." She let out a small, heavy sigh. "The cities have grown larger."

Kael observed her gigantic profile.

"How long has it been since the last time?"

"A few centuries."

That made his stomach churn slightly.

She spoke of centuries the way someone would talk about weeks.

Nidhogg seemed to perceive his thoughts.

"Time works differently for me."

"I noticed."

"Sometimes I slept for decades."

Kael slowly stared at one of the enormous golden scales near him.

"That’s absurdly problematic."

"It was comfortable."

"You can’t just sleep for fifty years."

"I can. I’ve done it."

Kael massaged his face again.

Conversing with primordial entities was mentally exhausting.

Nidhogg seemed strangely satisfied with her own freedom at that moment. She slowly plunged between two enormous masses of clouds, passing through vapor and lightning without any concern.

The sensation was strange.

The world seemed small from there.

Distant.

Kael realized he had never seen the sky like that before. Not like a ceiling overhead, but like a gigantic ocean swirling around them.

"I never imagined flying would be like this."

Nidhogg seemed genuinely interested.

"How did you imagine it?"

"More..." Kael searched for better words. "Heroic."

"And isn’t it?"

"It seems more... silent."

She took a few seconds to answer.

"The skies have always been silent."

Kael was quiet after that.

Because she was right.

Despite the wind.

Despite the distant storms.

Despite the absurd scale of the situation—

There was a strange tranquility there.

No politics.

No war.

No constant pressure.

Just wind, clouds, and an ancient creature crossing the skies as if it had belonged there since the beginning of the world.

Nidhogg slowly moved one of her claws around him, adjusting its position with extreme care to better protect him from the cold.

The gesture was so naturally protective that Kael noticed it immediately.

"You’re doing this on purpose."

"Doing what?"

"Acting as if I were fragile."

"You are."

"I survived the atmospheric fall."

"Because I caught you."

"Details."

She made another small, amused sound.

Kael partially rested his head against one of her warm scales as he watched the horizon.

The constant warmth helped to lessen the absurd cold of that altitude.

After some time, he spoke again:

"Are you really going to try to fight my mother?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"She teleported me inside a volcano."

"You literally provoked her until she lost control."

"That doesn’t invalidate my point."

Kael let out a small, tired laugh.

"You two have problems."

"That doesn’t invalidate my point either."

The sun continued to rise slowly as Nidhogg crossed the continent’s skies at absurd speed. Sometimes it dove between mountains. Other times it soared above the storms simply because it seemed to enjoy the sensation of the wind passing through its wings.

She was truly enjoying it.

Kael realized this clearly now.

It wasn’t just physical freedom.

It was nostalgia.

After so long confined between dimensions, simply existing in the world again seemed important to her.

Nidhogg turned its gigantic head slightly toward him.

"You’re still worried."

"I have reasons."

"You always have."

"That doesn’t help."

"I’m not trying to help." Her tone sounded almost lazy. "I’m just observing."

Kael sighed.

Then he looked again at the sky around them.

And, for the first time in a long time—

He didn’t immediately think of the next problem.

He just watched the clouds slowly drifting by as an ancient dragon traversed the world, carrying him in its claws.