They all charged into the distant mountain range, where tall forests rose like blades. When Vera flew in, she traveled for a while and then felt confused. This counted as a Evil God-polluted land.
The vegetation was lush. There were fewer living creatures, but there was nothing visibly wrong at all. Even if pollution could not always be seen, the pursuers behind them were completely fine too.
"Give up obediently," Augustus shouted. "I can grant you a quick death."
"Like hell we want that," Ham yelled back. "Is that pollution even real? It looks useless to me."
Ham wailed while flapping her wings with all her strength. Under Augustus's twitching gaze, she forcibly increased her speed by at least thirty percent. A young Black Dragon being faster than some adult Great Dragon was already strange enough.
Still, that was all. He had thought this place would be unusual, but everything seemed normal. He was scaring himself.
Then he paused slightly. A streak of pure white light suddenly bloomed before his eyes, followed by a female voice.
"Draconic Magic: Spatial Severance Domain."
A short silver-haired girl stood in midair out of nowhere. Along with obscure Dragon Tongue sounds, complex and profound Magic Array rapidly rose around the area. A wave spread outward, and the space holding Augustus's pursuers seemed to detach from the world.
They froze in midair.
Only Augustus, whose body burned with golden Battle Aura, could barely move. He stared at the silver-haired girl in the sky. "Who are you? I am the great Faris Empire, Augustus…"
She ignored him completely. Sylvia turned her head toward the small Black Dragon flapping her wings in the distance, narrowed her eyes, and clenched her fist.
"Who is that," Vera asked. "Hey, what's wrong with you? The pursuers are already dealt with."
Vera and Ham both looked back. Vera's body tilted backward from a sudden burst of speed. When Ham saw the silver-haired girl, she did not relax at all and instead flew even harder.
"It's over. Sylvia is here. I absolutely can't be caught and taken back. I still haven't…"
"Come here."
Over the years, it was not only Ham whose Magic had improved. Sylvia had also racked her brain and developed many unique spells. This one was especially effective against Teddy Bear children and was a direct counter to Ham.
From thousands of meters away, Ham was instantly pulled over. She immediately reverted to her dragon girl form, squatted down, and hugged her head, about to beg for mercy.
"Bang!"
Vera had not even reacted when she found herself standing on the ground. She felt a tremor and turned her head.
A cute silver-haired girl was using terrifying strength completely mismatched with her appearance. She pressed Ham's head straight into the ground. Judging by the Rift spreading outward, the force was not light, and Vera decided it was better to let them have some private time.
She took out a small stool and some melon seeds from her storage and watched.
"This time, you really made me look at you differently," Sylvia said coldly. "Do you know what place and what person you sneaked into and tried to grab. Do you have any idea how much trouble this could cause."
Her expression was icy. A diplomatic conference that could trigger a war with the slightest mistake, and a third princess serving as a diplomatic envoy. Just thinking about what this Teddy Bear child had almost done was shocking enough to make her head spin.
For a moment, she even thought about reorganizing the dragon eggs she had collected before and stuffing the dragon back inside. If she had acted any later just now, this child would probably already be dead.
"Wuu… wuu…"
With her head buried in the ground, Ham's words were muffled. Sylvia lifted her up again and, before she could speak, sealed her mouth with a Magic. After that, she tossed the bound-up Ham aside like a caterpillar and let her squirm.
Then she turned to Vera, who was cracking seeds. After taking a deep breath, she walked over and softened her tone. "I'm sorry. I'm Sylvia. You can think of me as this child's guardian."
"I sincerely apologize for her earlier actions. As long as it is within my capacity, I will handle the aftermath of this incident. You can also consider that I owe you a favor."
She bowed deeply in a very sincere apology. She even dragged the caterpillar-like Ham over and pressed her head down as well. Vera waved her hand and smiled.
"There's no need to be so polite. We ran into some trouble ourselves, and Ham and you just helped us solve a problem. Let's call it even."
She meant that seriously. If that bomb had fallen into their hands and detonated, the disaster would have been far worse than Ham simply taking her away. Although the expected use of possible Evil God pollution did not work, this outcome was better.
"By the way," Vera added, "when you came here earlier, did you feel any Evil God pollution?"
"Evil God pollution," Sylvia replied. "That kind of thing…"
Before they could finish speaking, both of their expressions changed. They looked toward the sealed spatial domain, where a Silver-level figure casually walked out. No, that could not possibly be just a Silver.
The dull-looking Silver twitched in place. In the blink of an eye, it seemed like a different person entirely. He looked at the two of them and smiled.
"So this really is the ending," he said softly. "Is this 'fate'? Even after falling, it can still have such an effect."
He smiled so wide that even the corners of his mouth split open, revealing fangs already mutating. Chaotic dragon scales surfaced across his body, and his eyes turned into cloudy vertical pupils. With the sound of flesh tearing and bones breaking, a creature that could not be clearly called dragon or human appeared before their stunned and terrified eyes.
Edward looked around, then turned to Sylvia with a ferocious grin. "Looks like you recognize me. You're the new silver dragon?"
"After that old thing died, this is what you found. Barely qualified for the crown at best."
"You are," Sylvia said.
Her face was solemn, but there was a trace of fear in her eyes. She took a deep breath. "That blasphemous thing. I will never…"
"Blasphemy," Edward laughed. "How ignorant. Only I can combine the power of four near-divine dragons. That ultimate power is truth and the answer. What right do you have to call me blasphemous."
He laughed wildly, spreading one side of his dragon wings. His gaze swept over Ham with intense fanaticism. Fate was forcing him to step in personally, and that was fine.
What a beautiful fate. But it suited him better. There was no rush. This silver dragon could exit the stage now, and the little Black Dragon would receive a gift from the closest one.
"Don't even think about it," Sylvia said. "At most, you're just an avatar, and I…"
Feeling Edward's gaze on Ham, Sylvia bristled. She stepped forward to shield the two behind her while secretly laying preparations.
"An avatar? Haha, yes, that's right," Edward replied. "This is indeed an avatar. But look at your reaction. Dragonkin have become this weak."
"You can't even sense the gap between the sacred realms above the crown and the demi-god The Realm."
A silver-white dragon of breathtaking beauty appeared, its scales flawless like a work of art. It did not look like a normal living creature. With a roar, the deformed dragonman rapidly expanded, turning into a massive five-headed evil dragon formed from a mountain of flesh.
Ham was completely stunned. Countless corpses of Great Dragon had twisted together into a gigantic mass, splitting into five enormous heads. As the flesh wings beat, a chaotic and evil presence filled the area.
The silver dragon body of Sylvia, which once seemed overwhelmingly powerful, now looked small by comparison.
"Listen, Ham," Sylvia said.
"Huh, Sylvia, you…"
"I've marked you and the princess beside you. In a moment, I'll use my death as the final trigger for a random spatial Teleportation. It will send you to the farthest place from here. After that, you must return to Dragon Valley."
"Take my place. I'll handle the rest."
Sylvia knew that once the other side manifested its domain and rules, she could not win. Just sensing it made her body tremble. That was only natural, since she had barely inherited the silver dragon's authority and could never match an ancient dragon.
With Ham's abnormal nature and talent, she was the more suitable successor anyway. Sylvia was just a guide, and it seemed that the path she guided was unexpectedly short. It was a pity.
Back then, the opponent had swallowed half of Dragon Valley. She herself had been a young dragon trembling in a corner. Even after thousands of years, that gap had not closed.
"It's not that I have no chance. I will use this to take you…"
"That?" Edward said lightly. "Sure, but are you certain?"
His mocking gaze fell on the black sphere in Sylvia's claws, the magic fusion bomb. She had set spatial Teleportation Magic Array to trigger upon her death for Ham and the others.