Arthur reached out and gently ruffled Melinaâs hair.
"Thank you for worrying about me. Iâm fine," he said.
"Letâs go. It should be morning back home. Time for breakfast."
He usually entered the Lands Between at night in the real world. His battle with Placidusax had lasted most of the night.
Dawn was approaching.
Maliketh could wait.
Melina nodded and quietly extended her hand.
Arthur took it.
They left the Lands Between.
After Breakfast â Zen Garden
Once breakfast was finished, Arthur returned to the Zen Garden.
He withdrew all dragon corpses of drake-tier and above from storage.
Including Placidusax.
Before long, a small figure came running at full speed.
Ifrit.
She leapt straight into Arthurâs arms, clinging to his shirt.
Her other hand pointed at the mountain of dragon bodies.
"Master... are those for me?"
Her wide eyes shimmered with anticipation.
Arthur smiled.
"Yes."
"Yay! Thank you, Master!"
He tapped her head lightly.
"Donât celebrate yet. Let me refine them first."
Ifrit obediently climbed onto his shoulder, allowing him to draw the extraction array.
Arthur sketched the magic circle with practiced ease, then adjusted the time-flow ratio within the formation.
"Master, how long this time?" Ifrit asked impatiently.
"A few minutes."
The Zen Garden already supported roughly 200x time acceleration.
Combined with Arthurâs own temporal authorityâ
Even refining over a dozen dragons, including a dragonlordâ
Would take only minutes externally.
Bloodline Extraction
Minutes laterâ
Only scales, claws, and bones remained on the ground.
Above the magic circle floated a vast sphere of crimson liquid over a hundred meters in diameter.
Pure bloodline essence.
Arthur could compress it further into crystal form.
But he chose not to.
Over-condensed essence would be too volatile.
If he compressed that entire mass into a fist-sized crystalâ
Ifrit would likely explode upon ingestion.
Instead, he purified impurities and stopped there.
Ifrit stared at the massive sphere.
"...Master, how do I eat something that big?"
Arthur chuckled.
"You donât. You soak."
External absorption was safer.
Placidusaxâs bloodline ranked above her current tier.
Direct ingestion could damage her organs.
Absorption through scales and skinâ
Safer.
Slower.
But Arthur controlled time.
That was irrelevant.
"Can I go in now?"
"Go ahead."
Ifrit dove headfirst into the crimson lake.
Moments laterâ
A muffled dragon roar echoed from within.
Arthur didnât even need to guess.
Sheâd swallowed some.
He shook his head with a faint smile.
Shouldâve clarified first.
He knelt and added a continuous healing array beneath the bloodline pool.
The roaring lessened from constant to intermittent.
He hadnât used direct healing spells deliberately.
Ifrit had the personality of someone who would keep eating scalding food no matter how badly it burned her mouth.
Better to let her suffer a little lessonâ
With safety measures.
After reinforcing the formation, Arthur maximized the time acceleration around the essence pool.
Then he collected the leftover scales, claws, and bones.
Half would reinforce the Death Staff.
Half would strengthen the Dark Moon Greatsword.
Both weapons were due for upgrades.
If nothing went wrongâ
This refinement would push Ifrit to the true Saint Dragon tier.
Even with acceleration, it would take time.
She wouldnât be coming out anytime soon.
Arthur left the Zen Garden.
There were external matters to settle.
Like the promise he made to Harry.
He had received Bellatrixâs wand days ago.
But he had been busy hunting dragons in Farum Azula.
Nowâ
With the dragon population thoroughly reducedâ
It was time.
Arthur took out Bellatrixâs wand.
Curse power surged in his palm.
The same peculiar authority he had obtained from Mohg.
It lacked the brute force of blood magic.
But it was far more insidious.
If used properlyâ
It could kill without leaving a trace.
He did not intend to curse Bellatrix to death.
Not yet.
He had promised Harry something first.
To find her.
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