Dragon King's Harem Chapter 485. Can I Help?
Dragon King's Harem Chapter 485. Can I Help?
Sela’s mouth dropped open. Kaelen screamed, “He brought DINNER!”
Maria blinked like she forgot how to breathe.
And then there was Al.
Standing near the edge of the garden. His arms crossed. His posture straight. His usual composure completely ruined by the most deadpan look I’d seen in weeks.
I released the Telekinesis and let the beast drop with a deep THUMP, snow exploding around it like a soft bomb.
He stared at the massive Snowhorn Mammock corpse. Then at me.
“Seriously?”
I landed beside him. Brushed the snow off my coat.
“I need him skinned. And cut.”
Al sighed. “Of course you do.”
Then summoned his shadow tendrils with a whisper of magic. Thin black vines of living darkness curled around his fingers, slithering toward the massive Snowhorn Mammock corpse like scalpels with ambition.
“…Why do I feel like this is going to become a habit?”
I smirked, planting my boots in the snow. “Because it might.”
And yeah.
Dinner was going to be awesome.
Until—
“Can I help!?”
Kaelen’s voice cracked like a whip through the air. I turned my head mid-laugh, wings folding behind me as I spotted him bouncing in place, hands up like a kid asking to join a bar fight.
I flew closer, slow, arms crossed.
“What do you know about hunting, you little brat?” I said with a crooked grin.
Kaelen pouted, puffed up his cheeks like a snow owl, and stomped forward. “I can help,” he huffed.
“Oh yeah?” I raised an eyebrow.
Without answering, he lifted both hands. His mana flared—cold, clean, and oddly sharp. The ground beneath him shimmered. With a flick of his wrist, he conjured a short sword out of solid ice. Clean edges. Balanced form. Not bad. He held it up like a prize. “See? I can fight!”
“Hmmm…” I leaned in, pretending to study the blade.
The craftsmanship was fine, honestly. Precise. Elegant even. But too short for what we were hunting. It’d pierce a wolf, maybe a crawler, but a two-ton beast with armor-plated bones and a bad temper?
He was gonna need something bigger.
Still, the mana control was solid. And that proud little look on his face—chin up, eyes gleaming, like I’d just handed him the sun—it made me pause.
He wanted to help.
No.
He wanted to matter.
I exhaled and gave him a slow nod. “Alright, then… how about ranged magic?”
He blinked. “Huh?”
“You know,” I said, pointing at his ice sword. “Cool trick. But too close-range. And I need this hunt done fast. So unless you can shoot something at the speed of me kicking down a fortress wall…”
Kaelen furrowed his brows. Then slowly, very deliberately, dispersed his sword. The blade turned to snowflakes in his palm.
“Watch this,” he muttered.
He stepped back, breathing slower now. His mana shifted again—less sharp this time, more fluid. The wind around him picked up. And then—
He snapped his fingers.
A bolt of jagged ice burst from his hand. It flew across the garden and embedded itself in a training dummy near the edge of the field. The impact sent frost exploding out in every direction.
Not bad.
Then he raised both hands again, formed a glyph in the air, and launched a second spell.
This one split mid-air. Twin spikes curved and homed in on a second dummy like fangs, impaling the torso from opposite sides.
Sela actually let out a low whistle behind me.
I stared at the kid.
Kaelen dusted his hands off with the smugness of a prince.
“…Not bad,” I said honestly.
His grin lit up like a sunbeam. “So we’re going hunting!?”
I exhaled slowly, pretended to think about it just to let him squirm, then reached out my hand. “Let’s hunt then.”
Before he could grab it, a voice called.
“But—”
Maria.
She stood at Kaelen’s side, staff in hand. Her eyes found mine, sharp and unsure. Then dropped down to Kaelen, concern etched across her face like frostbite.
“Are you sure about this?” she asked, her voice low but firm. “He’s still a child—”
“I know,” I said, cutting gently across her words. “But he’s your child. And I trust you raised someone stronger than most.”
She didn’t answer, just bit her bottom lip slightly, hesitation flickering in her gaze.
“I won’t let anything happen to him,” I added, quieter now. “He’ll be with me.”
Maria looked at me for a beat longer.
I met her gaze fully. Gave her a small, steady smile.
Then I tilted my head back and whistled.
A roar answered from the cliffs—deep, guttural, ancient.
Moments later, a shadow circled above us—massive, sleek, armored in onyx and gunmetal gray.
The wyvern.
The hunting beast. Scarred, battle-worn, and loyal to a fault.
It shrieked as it descended, landing in a swirl of wind and frost. Its claws carved into the ice as its molten eyes flicked between us. A jagged scar down its right wing made it look like a demon out of a bedtime horror story.
Kaelen gawked. “We’re riding that!?”
“Yup,” I said, stepping forward. “I need something to carry what we kill.”
“And him?” he pointed.
“We just need to feed him a little bit.”
Kaelen nodded like this was the greatest moment of his tiny royal life. Then he ran forward, took my hand, and didn’t let go.
“Hold on tight,” I warned him as I crouched and took off.
My wings flared again, lifting us both. The wyvern rose beside us with a roar of wind and fury. Kaelen clung to my arm, legs swinging, laughter on his lips.
We landed on the wyvern’s back with a heavy thud, my boots locking against the saddle ridge. I pulled Kaelen in front of me, kept my arm firm around his chest.
The beast shifted beneath us. Restless. Hungry.
Kaelen looked back at me with stars in his eyes.
“Let’s go get dinner,” he whispered.
I grinned.
And kicked off into the sky.