Chapter 354: Chapter 354: Alphox The Baby Dragon, Returning To The Imperial Kingdom

Leon stepped through the portal that the [Time Overseer] had opened for him, leaving the [Time Chamber] behind.

Fwoosh!

And as soon as he traveled through it and emerged on the other side, he found himself standing right outside where the tower had been, the familiar landscape of the [Hollow Plains] stretching out before him under the open sky.

Of course, as he looked back over his shoulder, the massive structure of the time tower was nowhere to be seen.

If he ever wanted to enter again, which he saw no reason to do anytime soon given that he had already accomplished what he came for, he would need to bring another [Secret Realm Token] to open the way.

Or at least, that would be the case for other people who wanted to see something inside the [Time Tower] like Dominik, because for Leon, things were different.

He opened his [World Map] and let it appear before his eyes, the familiar interface glowing softly in the air, and to his satisfaction, the time tower was still there with its symbol and title clearly marked on the map.

But now in contrast to before, as Leon clicked on it, a notification appeared confirming what he had suspected and hoped for: that his connection to the tower had been permanently established.

Ding!

[Do you wish to teleport inside "Time Tower"?]

"Yes!" Leon said immediately, wanting to test out this new feature and see if it worked smoothly.

After only a split second of waiting, both he and Alphox turned into particles of light and were whisked away through the void between spaces, the sensation of teleportation washing over them.

Fwoosh!

And after a few seconds, they appeared at the top of the [Time Tower] once again, the familiar platform and the endless starry sky greeting them.

Leon landed on the ground and looked around, his eyes eventually landing on the [Time Overseer] who was sitting on a throne that hadn’t been there before, the man seemingly lost in thought as he stared off into the distance.

"Wait a minute, how did you come back?" the overseer opened his eyes slowly as he looked at Leon with clear confusion and a hint of concern, "This is not..."

"Small trick of mine, goodbye," Leon said simply, cutting him off with a wave of his hand.

Fwoosh!

And once again, Leon teleported outside of the [Time Tower] before the overseer could even react or say another word.

’Nice, now I can check back on this guy whenever I want, no matter where I am!’ Leon thought with satisfaction.

He also didn’t actually have to go through days of traveling back through the [Hollow Plains] to head back to the [Imperial Kingdom] where Emilia and Celeste were waiting for him, because he could simply teleport there directly.

Leon opened his world map once more and scrolled through [Higher Domain #1] until he found the massive icon of the kingdom, which stood out clearly among the surrounding terrain with its distinctive marker.

Since he hadn’t entered it before leaving, he couldn’t teleport directly inside the walls, but the outside entrance was just fine for his purposes and would save him days of walking.

Ding!

[Do you wish to teleport outside of the "Imperial Kingdom"?]

"Yes," Leon confirmed.

Fwoosh!

One teleportation later, and Leon arrived at the exact place where he, Emilia and Celeste had said their goodbyes over a month ago.

The [Imperial Kingdom] stood before him in all its grandeur, its massive walls stretching across the horizon and casting long shadows over the surrounding plains.

The hundreds of lizard guards were still stationed at the entrance just like the first time he had seen them, their reptilian eyes scanning everyone who approached.

Leon marched forward confidently while opening his [Friends List] to check on his companions, curious to see if they had sent him any messages during his absence.

Surprisingly, he didn’t receive that many messages from Emilia and Celeste during his time away, as they had simply sent a few short ones like "Good luck" and "Hope you’re safe" without spamming him or panicking unnecessarily.

He had died many times during the challenge, and they had likely seen the skull icon appear beside his name, but they didn’t panic, which Leon appreciated.

"Alright," Leon looked down at the baby dragon he was holding in his arms, its small form warm against his chest, "If people see a dragon they might panic or try to attack you, so return to your pet space for now until we’re somewhere safe."

With that simple command, Alphox closed his eyes and disappeared into particles that seeped into Leon’s chest, the sensation of the dragon returning to its designated space feeling natural and right.

As said before, every pet had their own pet space inside of their master where they could rest and recover, a pocket dimension that existed solely for their comfort and safety.

The [Pet Space]’s conditions depended on the loyalty and the evolution of the pet, growing larger and more "luxurious" as the pet grew stronger and bonded more closely with its master.

At the start though, it was rather small and had nothing in it, so all the pet could do was rest and conserve its energy, which was enough for a newly hatched pet.

Alphox was still a baby dragon, so Leon guessed he would need a lot of rest at the start before he could fight effectively, probably sleeping for most of the day like any infant creature.

’I wonder if having Alphox is going to cause some problems in the future,’ Leon mused, thinking about the implications of carrying around such a rare and powerful creature.

[Divine Answer] had said that Alphox was the strongest dragon and the one they have been waiting for for a very long time, which meant his existence was significant and would attract attention. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

So what would happen if a god, or a powerful dragon, who knew about the [Primordial Dragon of Chaos], came to know that Leon had him in his possession and decided to take him by force.

"...I guess I don’t need to think about that for now," Leon decided, pushing the thought aside for later consideration.

Other than that, Leon’s wealth had increased nicely from all the essences he got in the [Hollow Plains], and more importantly, he had made a fortune from all the items he sold on the global market, the notifications piling up in his interface.

Ding!

[+107,904,380 Eternal Coins.]

He had indeed sold a lot of items, and many of them were fairly rare, so players from all higher domains rushed to buy them before anyone else could, snapping them up almost instantly.

With over a hundred million eternal coins, there was pretty much nothing he couldn’t buy at this point, which opened up a world of possibilities for equipment and resources.

’I already have the urge to return to [Higher Domain #3] and spend all this money,’ Leon sighed with a smile, ’But not yet, I’ll keep gaining more wealth to be able to spend it all at once, and also more strength to battle the guardians and the awakener lord when I eventually return to settle that score.’

With his new [Time Stop] ability, that was already a giant step he had taken toward being able to challenge them, giving him an edge he didn’t have before.

Leon then proceeded forward toward the entrance of the [Imperial Kingdom], ready to finally reunite with his companions and see how they had been doing in his absence.