At the edge of the Everfrost Great Rift, Leodero and Vivian poked their heads out and looked downward like two little cats.
Below, the endless howling wind blew as ever, carrying ice, snow, and darkness. It was not peaceful in the slightest, nor did it show any signs of anything abnormal.
“Do you think... Izo is still alive?”
Leodero hesitated for a moment before asking anyway.
“Don't you hate him the most? Shouldn't you be happier if he's dead?”
“I do hate him, yeah!!”
“But... but he can't just... like this...”
“No way! I swore I'd defeat him with my own hands. He can't die yet!!”
At this point, Leodero grew flustered and exasperated.
Vivian pulled her head back, lying lazily on the snow.
“So what do you plan to do, go down and look for him now?”
Leodero seemed hesitant. He stood up indecisively, pacing back and forth from right to left, then left to right.
“Mm...”
“I'll go down and check if he's okay. You wait here for me!”
As if making up his mind, Leodero stepped to the edge of the cliff, preparing to jump down.
Vivian hurriedly grabbed his tail!
“Are you crazy?!”
“Do you even know what it's like down there?! You dare to just jump down?!”
“Then what should we do? Just stand around waiting here?!”
“Going down will only make you dead weight.”
“If there really is danger and Izo can't get away, going down will only mean death for us too.”
“Besides, when we ran, didn't you hear the fight inside the dragon lair?”
“That means Izo is evenly matched right now, or he wouldn't have chosen to fight.”
“So stay calm. He won't necessarily lose.”
Hearing this, Leodero froze; he had never thought of any of this. Then he shook his head and lay back down, muttering under his breath:
“Fine... you're always right...”
Vivian wasn't completely unconcerned about Izo either; she was simply better at using rational analysis to suppress emotional feelings.
Of course, if Izo really met with disaster, she had already made plans for the future.
If Izo didn't come up for the entire day, Vivian planned to take Leodero and retreat back to the Snowrot Bird habitat first.
It would be safer there than here, after all.
If a week passed and there was still no news of Izo, she planned to head south.
Resources in the south were far richer than here, though there were also many trolls. As long as she avoided those annoying creatures and left the Northern Territory, she could thrive wherever she went.
High in the air, Izo took all of this in.
Upon reaching the upper level, he had taken flight immediately, flying along the edge of the Great Rift for about an hour before finding the two little ones.
Izo didn't head down right away, instead observing the state Leodero and Vivian were in.
Although he couldn't completely hear their conversation, based on their dramatic movements, Izo guessed most of it.
Vivian was as rational as he expected, which put him in a pleasant mood.
Leodero's actions, on the other hand, were somewhat unexpected.
Seeing that the two dragons below were no longer talking or making any further moves, Izo dived downward.
The distance between them rapidly shrank. Hearing the commotion, Vivian and Leodero below both raised their heads.
Izo landed smoothly. Vivian immediately ran over, her face no longer cold as before, turning warm and enthusiastic:
“Izo! You're back!!”
“I knew you'd be fine!”
On the other hand, Leodero acted as if he hadn't seen Izo, remaining lying in place as though he wasn't the guy who was worried sick just moments ago.
My foolish little brother, tsundere is out of meta these days...
Izo muttered to himself internally while dealing with Vivian:
“Yeah, I'm back.”
“Are you two okay?”
“We're fine, we're fine! So... what on earth was inside the dragon lair?”
Little stars of anticipation sparkled in Vivian's eyes.
“It was still that big mother dragon. Nothing unusual really, except she was injured and her mind was a bit unclear.”
“Ah... it really was Mother. So she was just injured.”
“Looks like I was worried for nothing.”
“Alright, let's go.”
“Let's go see her. She happens to want to see you two as well.”
Saying that, Izo prepared to set off with the two dragons.
“Mother is okay! That's awesome!!”
“Let's head down quick!”
Only upon hearing this did Leodero finally react, his joy beyond words impossible to hide.
The three dragons descended once more, passing through the upper level's crystal-clear ice tunnels, traversing the howling winds of the mid-layer, and returning face-to-face with the dragon lair amidst the blustery gales.
Along the way, Vivian didn't forget to kill two Frostbats to bring along to the lair.
She still remembered what the big mother dragon had said: don't come back if you don't bring food.
After all, the mother dragon's mental state was currently unstable, and ghost only knew what might trigger her madness.
If something really goes wrong, I can throw these two Frostbats out, so she shouldn't immediately bite us...
Worst comes to worst, Izo will hold her off anyway, so there shouldn't be any real danger.
Vivian repeatedly reassured herself in her heart.
In the end, she still followed Izo and Leodero ahead into the dragon lair.
The three dragons walked in a line through the long entrance.
Vivian and Leodero froze for a moment. The dragon lair was covered with signs of battle: bloodstains, claw marks, and shattered indentations from heavy impacts were everywhere.
The scene looked like a parking lot hit by a tornado—a horrible sight to behold.
Car-sized rocks and chunks of ice lay scattered all over.
At this moment, Goliya was sprawled upon a "throne" piled from rocks and ice.
Though her expression was listless, it was still easy to glimpse the majestic air of this former ruler.
Goliya slowly raised her head:
“You've returned... my children.”
Vivian and Leodero slowly lowered their heads; the hierarchy innate to chromatic dragons remained deeply engraved in this family.
Yet Izo stood calm and composed, making no movement whatsoever.
After all, hierarchy was predicated on strength, and the true essence of chromatic dragons was the law of the jungle.
Goliya didn't overreact to Izo's "disrespect" either, tacitly permitting his behavior.
Seeing this scene unfold, Vivian immediately understood that Izo had won the fight earlier. Otherwise, the big mother dragon would never allow any creature to stand while speaking to her.
Izo is truly a monster!
How could a four-year-old juvenile dragon defeat an adult white dragon... Even if you're a silver dragon, even if she's wounded, it should still be impossible to win.
On the surface, Vivian remained composed, but inside she was filled with shock and bewilderment.
Then she glanced at Leodero beside her.
He was much more nonchalant. Well... that idiot didn't even realize it at all.
“Rise—”
From above, Goliya spoke as she sat up straight, lacking any of the dull foolishness typical of white dragons, showing a touch of silver dragon elegance and iron dragon majesty.
Rate on N.U.
