The star-core earth dragon was so livid she actually laughed, shooting forward instantly to pursue Jonavili in the direction she had fled.
Feeling the creature behind her firmly locked onto her, Jonavili cursed inwardly.
Her mind raced at high speed, and she quickly formulated a plan.
Before long, she burst into the massive underground space within the cave.
The star-core earth dragon was less than ten meters behind her, practically reaching her in the blink of an eye!
"Chrono Surge!"
Jonavili activated her ability, and everything around her slowed down in her eyes.
She instantly caught sight of the battling Furiel and the molten crystal-armored dragon lizard, her figure flickering as she appeared fifty meters away from them.
With a thought, the time acceleration ceased, and the star-core earth dragon's gaze froze.
It was a full two realms higher than Jonavili, yet it hadn't even noticed how she had escaped.
But none of that mattered anymore.
The star-core earth dragon revealed its true form and unleashed a powerful Star Silver Breath toward Jonavili's direction.
A ten-meter-thick beam of blue, starlight-like breath shot out, the ear-piercing sound of breaking air making Jonavili's eardrums ache.
"Chrono Surge!"
Jonavili activated her ability again, vanishing from the spot instantly.
As time returned to normal, the powerful Star Silver Breath slammed directly into the molten crystal-armored dragon lizard.
The two combatants froze mid-action and turned to look, but it was too late; at such a close distance, there was no way to avoid it.
"Spatial Flicker!"
Furiel activated her ability, her form vanishing rapidly and reappearing beside Jonavili.
Boom—!!!
The roar of the explosion even shattered some fire element mana crystals, and the terrifying aftershock swept through, making the two dragons hovering in mid-air lose their balance momentarily.
Seeing Jonavili come to her aid, the bruised and swollen Furiel felt a surge of joy—heaven only knew how badly she had been beaten.
However, on the surface, she still feigned annoyance.
"Why are you interfering in my fight?!"
Jonavili glanced at her and was immediately amused by her appearance.
One of Furiel's dragon horns had been snapped off, her scales were covered in cracks from heavy impacts, and most importantly, her right eye socket was swollen shut.
Seeing Jonavili stifling a laugh, Furiel dazed for a moment.
'She looks so cute when she smiles.'
But she quickly snapped out of it and let out an angry roar.
"What are you laughing at!"
Jonavili suppressed her laughter and cast a healing spell on Furiel.
"Ahem, sorry, I just thought of something funny..."
Before she could finish, a furious roar echoed throughout the entire cavern.
"Roar!!! Mofana, what do you think you're doing!!!"
This roar drew the attention of the two dragons, and a flash of panic appeared on the face of the star-core earth dragon known as Mofana, though she quickly suppressed it.
She pointed expressionlessly toward Jonavili and Furiel and said calmly, "Calm down, Qiao. Those two are the ones behind this."
As soon as she spoke, a terrifying Molten Breath shot out from the smoke, attacking Mofana.
Mofana glared fiercely at the two distant dragons while simultaneously using her innate ability to block the strike.
"Star-Core Shield!"
In an instant, an ice-element shield shimmering with starlight blocked her path, and the Molten Breath slammed into it with a violent explosion.
However, the molten crystal-armored dragon lizard named Qiao also took this chance to lunge forward. Seeing this, Mofana knew this battle was unavoidable and immediately met the charge.
"Roar!!"
Bam—! The loud collision of the two massive beasts shook the cavern, causing several stalactites to fall from the ceiling as crimson sparks flew from the friction between crystal armor and star scales.
Mofana was knocked back several steps, nearly toppling over, while the molten crystal-armored dragon lizard also retreated a few paces from the recoil, shaking its dizzy head.
The red crystal armor on its head cracked, but fire element particles immediately surged out, restoring it to its original state.
Qiao took the opportunity to slam its thick forelimbs onto Mofana's shoulders, its sharp crystal claws sinking into the star-patterned scales as violent fire elements seeped through the cracks with a sizzling sound.
Mofana, refusing to be outdone, thrust her head forward, her dragon horns piercing deep into the gaps of the dragon lizard's crystalline armor as ethereal blue star energy erupted into countless shimmering spots across its chest.
The two giant beasts rolled and wrestled together, shattering countless fire element mana crystals, while the leaking mana and fire elements surged toward the cave ceiling.
Qiao felt right at home amidst the surging fire elements, the flames around its body flaring up as it tried to burn Mofana.
In response, Mofana violently whipped her long tail, summoning several ice-element star blades to slash at Qiao's back while simultaneously opening her mouth to fire a concentrated Star Silver Breath directly at Qiao's molten core.
The dragon lizard let out a world-shaking roar.
"Mofana! God damn you!!! Crystalline Skin! Fire Crystals!! Activate!!!"
Its crystal armor fully expanded, transforming its entire body into a burning crystalline domain. The fire element concentration around Qiao surged several times over, causing the space around it to warp slightly from the high temperature.
Seeing her old neighbor get serious, Mofana's eyes also turned red with rare fury.
"You toad-skinned bastard, try saying that one more time!! Star-Pattern Enchantment!! Star-Crystal Wings!"
Mofana also activated the star patterns across her body. Wherever the silver glow reached, the rocks in the cavern and even some fire element mana crystals condensed into star-patterned stone.
On Mofana's back, countless starlight-like stones coalesced into massive dragon wings.
They rose again to face each other, Qiao's red crystal armor covered in scorch marks from star energy attacks, while Mofana's shimmering star-patterned scales were stained with cooling lava.
In the next second, both exerted their strength simultaneously. Qiao's molten crystal horns clashed with Mofana's star silver horns, and red-gold flames collided with ethereal blue star energy, forming an expanding sphere of energy that caused the light in the subterranean space to flicker wildly.
Watching the two sub-dragons truly lose their tempers, Furiel and Jonavili looked at each other and clicked their tongues.
One must know that these high-tier sub-dragons were capable of holding their own against weaker true dragons; it could be said they were only a pair of wings away from becoming true dragons themselves.
Humans even classified these powerful earth dragons as part of the dragon race, though true dragons generally refused to acknowledge them.
Firstly, these powerful sub-dragons lacked a draconic inheritance, and secondly, their bloodline was not pure, making them at best powerful dragon-kin possessing draconic blood.
However, it wasn't impossible for them to become true dragons—for instance, by devouring a true dragon to evolve their bloodline or obtaining a true dragon's essence blood to purify their bloodline and level of existence.
But now, a sense of lingering fear rose in Furiel's heart. Seeing them fight for real, she realized that the molten crystal-armored dragon lizard named Qiao had only been playing with her earlier.
At this thought, her mood couldn't help but sink slightly. She looked down at her dragon claws with their cracked scales and whispered, "Am I still... too weak?"
Rate on N.U.
