Shao Xun watched the two behemoths before him. Before he could say anything, Selepais charged forward with the Holy Flame Sword.
The two dragons immediately adopted an offensive stance towards Selepais. Shao Xun, no matter how timid he was, couldn't stand by. He ran over and shouted at the twin-headed dragon, "You two-headed monster, yes, I'm talking to you, stand there obediently."
The twin-headed dragon was attracted by Shao Xun's shout. One of its heads unleashed a stream of extreme cold.
As for Selepais, she was locked in a fierce battle with the black dragon, neither side gaining an advantage, leaving her no time to attend to Shao Xun.
Shao Xun's hands glowed white as he absorbed all the cold air, then shivered all over.
He then unleashed the cold air back, and this returned blast, imbued with the power of 'Absolute Zero,' instantly froze the upper body of the twin-headed dragon, turning it into a massive ice sculpture.
The twin-headed dragon's lower body could still move, and it used 'War Stomp,' causing the entire underground palace to shake violently. Its wings flapped, and it accidentally struck the black dragon beside it.
The black dragon was dazed by the blow from the twin-headed dragon. Selepais seized the opportunity, flew up, raised the Flame Emblem Shield high, and smashed it into the soft cartilage between the black dragon's eyes, knocking it to the ground.
Seeing this, Shao Xun emulated Selepais. He pulled up a nearby bronze lamp post, leaped into the air, and less than a meter off the ground, struck the twin-headed dragon's toe with the lamp.
Before Shao Xun could test his grip on the lamp post, the twin-headed dragon's massive foot stomped down towards his head.
He was completely stunned by the overwhelming pressure and stood rooted to the spot like a nail.
Just as the giant foot was about to descend, Selepais lunged forward, swept Shao Xun into her arms, and they rolled to the side.
The massive foot struck the ground with a tremendous impact, making Shao Xun's head buzz.
Shao Xun, with a flick of his wrist, unleashed another 'Absolute Zero,' turning the twin-headed dragon's entire body into an 'ice sculpture.'
This move left Selepais dumbfounded. After pulling Shao Xun up, she patted his shoulder and said, "Not bad! That move has the power of a Grand Magus."
Shao Xun sheepishly scratched his head, "Just luck. Does this count as taming it?"
Selepais wagged a finger, "It's not that simple. You still need to sign a soul contract. Otherwise, a beast subdued by force, especially a dragon, is prone to betraying its master."
Saying that, she produced two scrolls from somewhere and opened them, revealing the contents of a contract.
Selepais handed one scroll to Shao Xun, "Use this quill to write your name, then have the dragon you've conquered shed its blood on where you signed."
Then she demonstrated: she signed her name with the quill, then used the Holy Flame Sword to slash the black dragon's hind foot. A stream of blue-purple blood spurted out, landing directly on the contract.
The contract emitted a golden light, then spontaneously combusted, leaving no ash behind. On the black dragon's foot, a crest of the Flame Crest family appeared, signifying the successful signing of the contract.
He looked to Selepais for help, but she shook her head at Shao Xun, "You have to do it yourself. No one else can help you."
Shao Xun looked at the contract in his hand and then at the twin-headed dragon before him. He thought, "After all this effort, I must have this dragon. How cool would it be to ride it out?"
With that thought, he steeled himself, "Whatever, I'll risk it."
He casually tossed the lamp post aside, feeling the bone-chilling cold emanating from the twin-headed dragon.
What happened next stunned Selepais. Shao Xun, enduring the cold, spat on the dragon's leg and then, sticking out his tongue, desperately licked the seemingly weak ice layer where he had spat.
His tongue went numb, his lips felt frozen, but the ice layer didn't budge. He almost froze his tongue, and only then remembered that Selepais was a fire mage.
He looked pleadingly at the Empress beside him, "Your Majesty, can I borrow some fire?"
Selepais burst into laughter, "Sure, no problem."
She used 'Sirius Flames' to slowly melt the ice layer. "Your cold energy is quite potent. This spell is one of my top-tier magic, yet it took so long to melt even this little bit."
Shao Xun ignored everything else, bit down hard on the exposed flesh of the twin-headed dragon. The dragon flinched slightly, indicating the severity of Shao Xun's bite.
The texture was like biting into a whole chicken just taken out of the freezer at the supermarket.
It drew blood, but just a trickle, not a gush.
For Shao Xun, who was accustomed to drinking cola, this was quite an achievement.
Shao Xun, one hand covering his numb mouth, pressed the signature section of the soul contract onto the blood. The contract ignited, and the soul imprint was applied.
Selepais was curious to see Shao Xun's imprint. The moment she looked, she burst out laughing.
Instead of a family crest or a special mark, it was a deep, red lipstick print, which stood out starkly against the purple skin.
Seeing Selepais laugh, Shao Xun's tense heart finally relaxed.
"Your Majesty, when can we ride them out?"
Selepais patted the black dragon's head, "My dragon will be ready when he wakes up. As for yours..."
She looked him up and down, "It'll probably be ready when the ice melts!"
Shao Xun walked over cheekily and took Selepais's hand, cradling it in his palms, "Then I'll have to trouble Your Majesty."
"I don't care, you figure it out yourself! I don't know what you were thinking, freezing this dragon so solid."
Seeing Selepais's proud demeanor, Shao Xun didn't let go of her hand, and Selepais didn't pull hers away either.
"Then let's give these two dragons names!"
Selepais looked at the black dragon before her, "Let's call him Xiao Hei."
Shao Xun was speechless, "That's too casual! Such a huge dragon, and you call it Xiao Hei? It's not a kitten or a puppy. It'll be unhappy if you call it that."
Selepais thought for a moment, "That's true. It's also fire element, and we have such a fate. Then, in honor of my family, let's call it Boldegar!"
Then she looked at the twin-headed dragon, "What are you going to call it?"
Shao Xun thought for a moment, "It has two heads, so let's call it Friscis."
Selepais gasped, "You're actually good at naming! You absolutely cannot call it that."
Shao Xun looked at her doubtfully, "Is there a taboo?"
Selepais shook her head, "I really don't know if you're being spontaneous or if you knew beforehand, but the name you picked is the name of the current Dragon Clan Chief."
Shao Xun shrugged, indicating that he had just picked a random name. Then he looked at the twin-headed dragon, "Since your dragon is called Boldegar, then mine shall be called Bolgard."
He then patted the twin-headed dragon Bolgard's leg, "This name sounds good too, though I don't know what it means."
At this moment, a ray of sunlight shone through a gap in the collapsed underground palace, "It's morning."
Shao Xun reached his hand into the sunlight and exclaimed excitedly, "Your Majesty, look, it's morning. The eternal night didn't come."
Selepais sighed, "Of course, it will be morning. What I meant by eternal night was a metaphor, not an everlasting night. Our world is also on a planet, with a star, planets, and moons. No matter how powerful the Winter Tribe is, they are still humans, not gods. They don't have the ability to stop a planet from rotating or a moon from orbiting. If they had that ability, they wouldn't be interested in Santiroman."
Shao Xun sheepishly let Selepais educate him on astronomy, "I thought in this magical world, everything was like in the novels."
Seeing Shao Xun's unconvinced look, Selepais poked his forehead with her index finger, "No matter how fantastical a world is, it still has to obey the laws of nature, right?"
Shao Xun said "Oh" and looked up and down at Selepais's armor, "This outfit looks good. Can I have a set?"
"You're carrying a lamp post and riding a dragon. This outfit wouldn't look good on you. Your robe is fine."
Shao Xun heard this, "I just didn't have a proper weapon, so I grabbed something to use. It's not like it's become my standard attire."
Then he picked up the lamp post and pointed at Bolgard, "Fortunately, I have a dragon as a mount. Otherwise, would you have had to find me a white horse to go fetch scriptures from the West?"
Selepais heard this and nodded, "We did have that plan initially."
The two returned to the surface. The entire city was making efforts to restore itself to its original state.
The captain of the guard approached and saluted them.
Selepais glanced back at the underground palace, "It will take a while for the two dragons to awaken. The morning court is about to begin, let's go!"
The two took a carriage to the Fire Shield Divine King's Palace. Selepais went directly to the second floor, while Shao Xun entered from the first floor and proceeded to his seat.
As the bell rang, the morning court began. This was Shao Xun's second time attending.
"Now, as Prime Minister is absent, today's council topic is the election of a new Prime Minister to lead the House of Commons."