Gris was originally thin and small, with a total body length of just over two meters.
Jona Velli, on the other hand, had already broken the four-meter mark after three months of binge eating.
The remaining third of the Stone-Claw Demon Crocodile had already stuffed Gris to the point where he could barely walk, but even so, he still didn't relax or show any openings.
"Put away your useless vigilance; after all, it's completely useless against me."
Hearing Jona Velli's words, Gris bared his teeth on the spot.
"Pfft~"
Jona Velli couldn't help but snicker.
"Fine, eating my food and then baring your teeth at me—that's very Five-Color Dragon of you."
Jona Velli slowly stood up. Gris was startled by her movement and took two steps back, his front body crouching even closer to the ground, almost completely flat against it.
"Remember my honored name: the White Dragon Jona Velli."
After completing her self-introduction, Jona Velli locked eyes with those pitch-Black Dragon eyes.
"Tell me, who gave you the courage to trespass into my territory? Otherwise..."
Her crystal-blue pupils narrowed slightly, and she pressed a White Dragon claw firmly onto the ground, embedding it deeply. Gevas was startled.
He quickly turned his dragon head, looking at the dented ground and then at Jona Velli's unfriendly gaze.
"I am the True Dragon Gris. Going anywhere is my right, my freedom."
Gris's eyes darted around, somewhat afraid to look Jona Velli directly in the eye.
"Hmm?"
Jona Velli saw traces of a lie in his dragon eyes and immediately let out a cold snort.
"Humph! A great True Dragon never deigns to lie. Even if you are a Black Dragon, that is no excuse for lying. If you dare to deceive me again, I don't mind giving you a harsh lesson, just like these magical beasts."
Looking at Jona Velli's healthy, developing dragon body, Gris couldn't help but swallow his saliva, but he still stubbornly said:
"You dare to threaten me? Then... then I'll just leave."
Using the toughest tone to say the toughest words, Gris had just turned around when a Frost Breath shot out, sweeping in front of him. Instantly, a row of ice pillars condensed, blocking his path.
Gris turned back to look at Jona Velli, only to see her white dragon mouth slightly open.
"I never said you could leave. Since you dare to slight me, are you prepared to endure the might of a True Dragon?"
"Roar..."
Just as he bared his teeth, Jona Velli turned into an afterimage. Before Gris could react, she flipped him onto the ground and gave him a thorough thrashing.
"Damn it! You actually dare to attack the great Gris!"
..."Aren't you afraid that Auntie Tiamat will send down divine punishment?"
"Oh ho ho~"
..."Please wait, I think there might be a... small misunderstanding between us."
..."I was wrong, I was wrong, I'm really wrong! Stop hitting me, stop hitting me, I really can't take it anymore."
Seeing Gris take the initiative to yield, Jona Velli stopped her movements and patted her claws.
"Wouldn't it have been better if you'd acted like this from the start? Why put on an act with me? Was it worth suffering so much?"
Looking at the bruised and swollen Gris, Jona Velli moved off of him.
Finally regaining his freedom, Gris let out a heavy sigh of relief, his voice buzzing.
"Yes, you're right."
"In that case, tell me—if I'm not mistaken, you should be living in the Barossal Swamp. Why did you come to the upper reaches of the Sam River?"
Jona Velli didn't believe that while Gris was still just a Hatchling Dragon, his mother would dare to drive him away. No Five-Color Dragon would do that; after all, the Evil Dragon Mother Tiamat had issued a strict order that a Hatchling Dragon cannot be driven out of the Dragons Lair until they are self-sufficient.
As for why she herself had left the Dragons Lair so early and associated with a Green Dragon born from the same cave, she didn't know. Regardless, she had no memory of a Dragon Mother's appearance.
Gris's mood clearly dropped, his expression dimming.
"Because something happened there. The Demon Country wanted to occupy the Barossal Swamp. But my mother, being a Legendary-level Black Dragon, was not willing to let an outside race invade her territory, so she launched an attack on them.
News reached the Demon Country, and in his fury, the Demon King personally took action and killed my mother. Even my siblings met with misfortune."
Gris said all this calmly, but his dragon claws tightened, grabbing large clumps of dirt.
"The Demon King's strength has reached the Third Ring of Legendary. Mother could only barely hold her own against him, and with the massive number of monsters, she found it hard to resist. Ultimately, her dragon head was severed by the Demon King. I only managed to escape by luck because I was playing outside the swamp."
Should it be said that he's a true Five-Color Dragon? Even though his own mother and siblings were killed by someone else, he didn't show much emotional fluctuation.
As Jona Velli was thinking this, a crystal-clear teardrop fell from Gris's eye socket, startling her.
She saw Gris's claws embedding themselves deeply into the mud.
"I, Gris, swear that once I grow up, I will eat his flesh, flay his skin, and torture his soul in the most cruel way possible!"
Oh ho, this Little Black Dragon seems a bit different.
Aren't Five-Color Dragons supposed to be born with thin familial ties? Even she, with the soul of a transmigrator, felt no longing or closeness toward the mother and father she had never met.
Jona Velli's eyes rolled as she began to calculate.
This Black Fledgling Dragon in front of her was a bit special. After all, the feelings between Five-Color Dragons are too indifferent—so indifferent that once a Young Dragon leaves the Dragons Lair, meeting the Dragon Mother again might result in them being enemies.
But this Black Fledgling Dragon calling himself Gris was a bit abnormal, and he was quite stubborn. If she brought him into her faction, she might gain another decent thug.
Who would complain about having too many thugs?
Thinking of this, Jona Velli couldn't help but reveal a silly smile. When Gris finally saw behavior from Jona Velli that a White Dragon should have, he couldn't help but sigh in relief.
Good, good. Her nature is right there; she's just a White Dragon.
But this inevitably caused Gris to fall into memory. In his memory, his Black Dragon mother had once told them that their father was a powerful White Dragon.
However, he didn't have much emotion for the father he had never met.
Just as he was spacing out, the White Dragon in front of him raised a claw and gently pressed it on his shoulder, suddenly speaking.
"Oh~ Gris, you are truly too tragic. I feel sympathy and pity for your life story."
As she spoke, Jona Velli activated her magic power to make her dragon eyes more moist, which, combined with those crystal-blue eyes, made her look even more pitiable.
Gris was stunned. He hadn't expected that although this White Dragon was overbearing, she would actually sympathize with his plight. This touched his heart just a tiny, tiny bit.
But immediately, the pride of a True Dragon made him push away the claw the White Dragon had placed on him.
"A great True Dragon does not need sympathy!"
Jona Velli didn't get angry or annoyed because of this; instead, her gaze became more "sincere" and more sympathetic.
"It's okay, brother, I understand. You just don't want people to open your wounds and see your fragile side."