"Nonsense! Back then, I fought alongside Morax, achieving great accomplishments. Yet, that villain Morax suddenly betrayed me, ambushing me with those two foul birds and the deer, leading to my imprisonment here."
"Good heavens, have you lost your memory to this extent? You only remember Morax striking you, but you've forgotten the reason why he did so. Morax, as the God of Contracts, is the deity who values contracts the most. Since he signed a contract with you, I don't believe he would have moved against you, his kin and friend, unless you broke the contract first."
"No! I am Azhdaha, a creature born from elemental Crystalize, carrying the power and memories of the earth, as ancient as the mountains and seas. I am certainly not an ally to mere ants."
"You are right about that. Unfortunately, for Geo element creatures like you, memories don't last long. Only extremely strong emotions can be retained. The longer the time, the more blurred the memories become. This is the erode that Heavenly Principles has inflicted upon you.
It is precisely because of this erode that your ability to think has been taken from you, making you gradually forget the faces of your friends, and unable to recall Liyue Harbor, which you once personally protected."
"Are you here today to be Morax's lobbyist? Do you want me to let go of my hatred for him? A thousand years, over a thousand years! That outsider back then stole our world, and now Morax has stolen my freedom. Heavenly Principles, Morax, if I don't avenge this, I swear I am no dragon!"
"Actually, I don't care about the grievances between you and Morax, and I am not Morax's lobbyist.
To be honest, I truly sympathize with you. Because Morax has the duty to love, he is overly lenient with the people of Liyue. I've been to The Chasm; it's a perfectly good place, yet it was dug up to such an extent. I also find it excessive; he didn't consider your feelings at all."
"If that's the case, what exactly are you here for?"
"I can free you, but on one condition: you must be at my service!"
"Hahahahaha..."
Azhdaha's laughter was incredibly grating, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.
"Back then, I allied with Morax because his strength was not inferior to mine, which is why I was willing to be subordinate to him. But you, you are just a tiny ant, yet you dare to speak so arrogantly, claiming you can free me, and even make me submit to you. It's utterly ridiculous."
Yuto pulled a scroll from his embrace, then tore it casually. The space near the scroll began to distort, and Azhdaha was surprised to find that the space before him also started to twist. Subsequently, an arm clutching the scroll abruptly appeared before him, tossing the scroll to him.
The scroll landed precisely on his nose. Compared to Azhdaha's massive size, this scroll was like a speck of dust, almost disappearing into the crevices of his nose. If he hadn't watched it being thrown onto his nose with his own eyes, he probably wouldn't have felt its presence.
However, what shocked Azhdaha was not the scroll itself, but the way it arrived before him. This was genuine spatial power. Since he could send the scroll through the sealing barrier using spatial power and toss it before him, could he also use spatial power to escape this place?
Realizing this, Azhdaha became incredibly excited. This made him see a glimmer of hope to break through the seal. As long as he could break the seal, he could go seek revenge on Morax. And if he could escape from here, how could this ant before him still expect him to submit?
"What is this thing?"
"This is a summoning scroll I made. Everything on it is already written. If you agree, open the scroll and sign your name with your blood. As soon as you sign, I can let you out."
"Summoning scroll? What is that? What's written on the scroll?"
"If you sign this scroll, you will become my summoned beast. In the future, when I need you, I can summon you over long distances to my side to fight for me. After the summoning ends, you will return to your original place."
"Is such a thing possible?" Azhdaha found Yuto's words unbelievable. Such long-distance teleportation seemed utterly fantastical to him.
"Believe it or not, this is your last chance to see the light of day and get your revenge. If you don't sign, I'll turn around and leave immediately. You can slowly rot and fester in this dark, sunless underground."
Azhdaha looked at the small scroll on his nose and fell into contemplation. He wasn't considering how his massive body would sign on such a tiny scroll, but rather whether he should sign this thing.
Because he was formerly a kin of Morax, the God of Contracts, under his influence, although he was filled with resentment towards Morax, he did not disregard the weight of the word 'contract'.
Yuto watched the giant dragon caught in a dilemma. After waiting for two minutes and seeing no movement from him, he simply turned around, and the space behind him began to distort again.
Azhdaha saw that this ant was actually going to leave and immediately panicked. He quickly stopped Yuto. He was truly fed up with this wretched place; it was even difficult to turn over in his sleep. Now that he finally had a chance to see the light of day again, he naturally had to cherish it.
"Wait, fine! I'll sign!" After Azhdaha finished speaking, Yuto secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Azhdaha's originally massive body began to shrink rapidly, but he did not transform into a human form. It wasn't that he couldn't change, but that he inherently disliked the appearance of humans. Even as his body shrank, he didn't forget his dragon's pride. However, after shrinking, he looked even fatter, truly living up to his nickname of 'Fat Azhdaha'.
Finally, Azhdaha's size stabilized at a height just enough to look down on Yuto. He flicked his coral-like tail and harshly struck his front right leg. Azhdaha's front right leg immediately splattered with golden-yellow blood, which made Yuto himself wince.
Azhdaha used his blood-stained front right leg to carefully write his great name on the scroll Yuto had given him.
As soon as Azhdaha finished writing his name, suddenly, both Yuto and Azhdaha simultaneously felt a strange sensation of kinship, as if something had connected them.
"Ding! Congratulations on completing the achievement — King of Summoned Beasts! You have successfully made Azhdaha, former kin of Lord Rex Lapis, your summoned beast. Reward: Chakra nature transformation for Lightning, Water, Fire, Ice, and Geo attributes!"
??? Holy crap!!!
This darn system actually came back to life! He thought this thing only gave mission rewards; he didn't expect there were achievement rewards too?
Lightning, Fire, Water, Ice, Geo—these correspond exactly to Azhdaha's five elemental attributes. Did it have this meaning as well?
Azhdaha's mind was suddenly flooded with knowledge about how to use summoning techniques and their specific details. It was his first time encountering such strange knowledge; he hadn't felt anything like this when he signed the contract with Morax.
This magical and unknown method of contract instantly quelled Azhdaha's original thought of crushing this ant as soon as he broke free from the seal.
The scroll within Azhdaha's barrier abruptly returned to Yuto's hand. Yuto carefully kept it close to him.
"The contract is made. It's time to fulfill your promise." Azhdaha watched Yuto's movements, his heart already impatient.
But Yuto's figure simply vanished, leaving a bewildered Azhdaha behind. Just as he felt deceived and was about to curse, the next moment, he suddenly had a strange sensation, and his body disappeared from its spot.
And the moment Azhdaha's figure vanished from within the sealing barrier, Mountain Shaper, who was reinforcing the seal, and Zhongli, the retired old man enjoying tea and music, both froze simultaneously. Immediately, an ominous premonition surged through their hearts.
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