Translator: AnubisTL
The night was instantly illuminated by shimmering dust, turning the surrounding area as bright as day and banishing all darkness and shadows.
However, this lasted only a moment.
Garos's massive, powerful dragon wings stirred up a fierce wind, scattering the glowing dust like fireflies in all directions, shattering the blinding white light into countless glittering fragments.
His eyes narrowed, his dragon pupils slitting as he locked onto the fairy dragon ahead.
Whoosh!
Sand and stones flew wildly, and debris of broken rocks and withered branches swirled through the air.
Garos brutally cleaved through obstructing trees, charging straight toward the fairy dragon.
The fairy dragon glided effortlessly over the treetops.
Hearing the approaching thunderous roar behind her, she flapped her silvery-gray butterfly wings, producing a melodious sound like water cascading down a snow-capped mountain.
Phantom Sound Technique!
The sound pierced Garos's ears, causing his mind to waver and the world around him to distort and shift.
The stones scattered across the ground and the towering trees seemed to come alive, sprouting limbs and swaying erratically. Newly formed mouths opened to sing shrill nursery rhymes, creating a bizarre and surreal spectacle.
"An illusion?!"
Garos's mind sharpened. He raised a clawed hand and slammed it heavily against his own head.
Before developing proper countermeasures, physical blows to the head could, to some extent, suppress the effects of illusions.
Thud!
Garos's skull jolted, leaving him momentarily dazed.
Under the shock of dizziness, the chaotic nursery rhymes that had been assaulting his ears vanished, and the dancing stones and trees froze, reverting to their original forms.
Seizing the opportunity while Garos was distracted by the illusion, Fairy Dragon Vera fled further.
She darted through the treetops, her tail coiling around a branch to swing her body upward. With a flick of her tail, she hurled three small bear dolls woven from earthy-yellow fur at Garos.
Phantom Secret Puppets!
As the dolls fell, they suddenly swelled into three roaring Earthstorm Bears, lunging at Garos with ferocious intent.
These bears were eerily lifelike, their movements accompanied by thunderous roars and earth-shaking tremors, as if they were living creatures.
"This little thing has quite a few tricks up its sleeve," Garos muttered.
His right wing swept upward like a massive guillotine, slicing through the Earthstorm Bears in a blur. Yet the bears remained unfazed, continuing their relentless assault.
The red iron young dragon neither dodged nor flinched, allowing the bears' attacks to strike him. The strikes passed right through his body.
Whoosh!
The fine scales on Garos's dragon wings rubbed together, showering sparks as he smashed through three Earthstorm Bear phantoms, reducing them to wisps of fur.
His speed greatly increased, Garos streaked across the low sky, closing in on the fairy dragon in an instant.
Extending his claws, Garos seized the fairy dragon's tiny body.
But he felt nothing solid.
Garos halted, opened his claws, and found only a pollen-like substance in his palm—no trace of the fairy dragon.
He lifted his head, scanning the surroundings, but couldn't locate the fairy dragon. Lowering his body and spreading his wings, he carefully sensed the vibrations in the air, yet found nothing.
After pacing in place for a while, Garos angrily lashed his tail against the ground, carving deep furrows. After venting his rage for several minutes, he soared skyward, vanishing into the dark night.
Half an hour after his departure, Fairy Dragon Vera, hidden in a crevice between rocks, finally exhaled in relief. The duration of her invisibility and breath concealment spells had expired, revealing her cat-sized form.
"Clumsy, slow-witted dragon! You couldn't catch me, did that make you mad?"
Her spirits lifted, the earlier tension and fear completely dissipated.
Red dragons and iron dragons, the two dominant dragonkinds, excel in direct combat, possessing savage strength but lacking keen senses. The red iron hybrid dragon likely shares this sensory deficiency.
The fairy dragon Vera concluded that her fear had been unwarranted.
If she had been more cautious from the start, focusing her mind to cast and maintain her invisibility and breath concealment spells, that clumsy hybrid dragon would never have detected her. Her earlier exposure was entirely due to her own self-induced panic.
"If it's still living on Earthstorm Bear Ridge..."
"Next time, I'll sneak up on it, pluck out its dragon scales, or while it's sleeping, stuff a stinkflower up its nostril and sprinkle ash on it! I'll get my revenge!"
Fairy Dragon Vera, who had lived her entire life in the fae wilderness among friendly fey creatures, detested combat and slaughter. Such petty malice was the extent of her vengeful imagination.
She crawled out from between the rocks, delighted by her wicked revenge plan.
The thought of the evil dragon sneezing and gagging from the stench made her roll around on the leaf-strewn ground, laughing uncontrollably, her belly exposed as she gazed up at the sky.
Then, the fairy dragon's smile froze.
It saw a crimson meteor plummeting from the sky.
No, not a real meteor, but a red-iron dragon, its wings beating furiously, trailing dense sparks like a crimson meteor.
Having accelerated through a high-altitude dive, its speed was unparalleled, far surpassing its earlier pursuit at lower altitudes. The pair of wings, like terrifying giant blades, tore through the night, emitting a piercing shriek that sent panic through the fairy dragon's heart.
The fairy dragon's frozen smile vanished.
It shifted to Garos's dragon face.
He grinned, his expression menacing. "Little one, the chase ends here."
The fairy dragon flapped its wings and took flight again, but within two seconds, Garos seized it with lightning speed. This time, it was the fairy dragon's true form; its magical energy had been nearly exhausted during its earlier escape, leaving it unable to use the energy-intensive phantom body technique.
"Waaah, I'll never be curious again!"
Clutched in Garos's claws, the fairy dragon felt an overwhelming sense of danger closing in from all sides. Tears welled in its eyes as it whimpered, begging for mercy. "Please, let me go! I swear, I'll never stuff stinkweed up your nose as revenge!"
Garos lowered his gaze to scrutinize the fairy dragon.
Judging by its size, it should already be an adult.
However.
The fairy dragon's adulthood differed significantly from that of other dragons.
Fairy dragons have short lifespans; a dragon over 20 years old is considered an adult. Even adult fairy dragons have relatively low life grades, around level 6, but they are exceptionally skilled at escaping and preserving their lives.
Its speech is childish, and its mind seems immature—it doesn't act like a dragon over 20. It's more like a hatchling under six years old. Its origins must be abnormal, Garos thought to himself.
"As you can see, I am not an evil dragon," he said to the fairy dragon.
Not an evil dragon? The fairy dragon paused, then nodded rapidly, echoing, "Yes, yes! Vera saw it right away! You're not an evil dragon—you're a kind and wonderful dragon!"
Garos smiled faintly. "Therefore, I won't kill you."
Before the fairy dragon could rejoice, he paused, his tone shifting. "But you still need to pay for your offense against me."
The fairy dragon's illusions could help Garos train his mental resistance.
In the wilderness, ferocious beasts and demonic creatures capable of using illusions were rare. Even in civilized society, illusionists were scarce. Now that he had captured a fairy dragon with illusionary abilities, he intended to exploit it mercilessly to hone his mental resistance and advance his evolution.
Furthermore, the fairy dragon itself held value.
The inheritance mentioned that the scale dust from its butterfly-like wings could stimulate the minds of living beings, alleviating mental fatigue and tension, enhancing perception, reaction speed, and mental fortitude. This effect was even more pronounced in fellow dragonkind.
(End of the Chapter)
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