Autumn, when fallen leaves dazzle the eyes. Patunasankus quietly watched the withered leaves drifting past, the distant nest standing tall in tranquil serenity.
In the past, the evil dragon always enjoyed napping at such monts. The September sunlight, having shed its heat, brought a touch of coolness.
Perfect.
Only the afternoon garden seed to still retain and drift with her profound hesitation.
Patunasankus knew how much Isha wished the Princess could stay—just like before, during tea parties filled with laughter and joy, lending an ear to her, listening to each other's little secrets buried deep in their hearts.
But she still had to leave.
Isha didn't know that the reason she wouldn't linger, that she would resolutely keep moving forward even after freezing, wasn't due to open-mindedness or strength, but because she feared that one more glance would give her...
A lonely place.
Patunasankus didn't want to be left alone in the nest. Whether she was an evil dragon or a princess, the outco was ultimately the sa. Everything was so silent, days passing in this indescribable, simple solitude.
After clarifying this in her thoughts, Patunasankus no longer felt like staying. Besides, she had other matters to attend to—the whole dragon was terribly busy, with not a mont to spare.
Recalling the contents recorded in the texts, Patunasankus couldn't help but worry.
"The Kiran-infected dragon's... Why would this erosion originating from the ancient Dragon Mother suddenly erge? The Dragon Mother has been slumbering for ten thousand years." Patunasankus shook her head. "Never mind, it's none of my business. If the sky falls, the Dragon King will hold it up."
"As long as those two don't actually get into trouble."
Patunasankus thought of those two—Loranhir and Elaphia.
She was confident she had fulfilled her duty. Worrying over unavoidable dangers or dousing them with excessive anxiety wasn't in her nature.
In truth, Patunasankus sotis felt that caring so much about them was indeed making trouble out of nothing.
But undeniably, she herself thoroughly enjoyed it.
Was this imrsion because soone needed her? Or was it like fussing over a puppy or a kitten that couldn't take care of itself when its owner was away?
Was this conflicting feeling happiness or bondage?
She lifted her face to the sky—the blue was incredibly clear, without a single wisp of cloud.
Hmm... It's both.
It was already late autumn, and the leaves on the trees were beginning to fall profusely. Yellow ones, red ones. Slowly landing in the previous day's rainwater. The air faintly carried the scent of leaves.
Patunasankus watched as the wind brought her a falling leaf, dancing down with the breeze, slowly, as if holding infinite attachnt to the wind.
Spinning, spinning, spinning—never truly falling, like an elusive emotion.
She reached out and cupped it in her hands, like a weary butterfly resting quietly in her palm. Patunasankus's movents were always careful, but before she could get a good look, it crumbled.
"So, it's already the end of autumn."
Patunasankus murmured.
○
Dark, murky sedint churned.
The evil dragon Kiran's breath ravaged the entire forest, and Loranhir and Elaphia were nearly swept into the ominous vortex at its center.
"...I miss the Princess."Loranhir felt her blood run cold.
"Talking like that now makes you sound like a child scared and wanting their mother—it's way too familiar," Elaphia teased.
"I am not a child!" Loranhir retorted. "I can't believe you're joking around in a situation like this."
She scanned the encroaching black sludge surrounding them and realized a tactical retreat was impossible—there was no way the two of them could outrun a dragon.
Their only option was to confront it head-on.
Loranhir hadn't forgotten her purpose for coming here, either.
She gripped the holy sword tightly, hoping for the sa strange reaction as when she'd unexpectedly encountered Patunasankus in Taurant.
Unfortunately, the holy sword remained completely still and silent.
Damn it! What do you want? You're utterly unreliable when it matters most. Do you only work against the Black Death or sothing?
Loranhir cursed inwardly. Having hope dangled just out of reach was more maddening than having no hope at all.
With no other choice, Loranhir stepped forward. Perhaps it was so timidity, or perhaps so inexplicable, ill-tid pride suppressed her instincts.
Even though she was insignificant before an evil dragon, she couldn't just play the part of a fake hero waiting for luck to save her.
Loranhir held her breath and focused.
Liulansankus's Frostbreath.
A phantom dragon roared past as the power of the Eternal Frozen Mist expanded its domain. Intense cold radiated from them as the center, the temperature plunging in re fractions of a second. A following blizzard instantly dispelled and froze all of Kiran's breath, forming a vast sheet of ice.
The snowstorm subsided monts later, and Loranhir imdiately crouched down.
Unlike when she'd faced Yanubi, unleashing Liulansankus's breath at full power took a considerable toll on her, draining her stamina completely.
"Are you alright?" Elaphia asked.
"…Exhausted," Loranhir panted. "Let catch my breath, just a mont, just a mont."
"You go stall it," Loranhir said bluntly.
"?" Elaphia pointed at herself.
A terrifying, frenzied shriek tore through the sky. Kiran quickly realized the two intruding ants before it weren't dead yet. Like a giant ground-running chicken, it charged forward with furious cries.
Elaphia was montarily at a loss.
Using spells wasn't feasible—most of the spell scrolls she'd scavenged from the Oz Tower had been used up in her fight with Dreka, and the remaining low-level spells were useless against a thick-skinned, enraged evil dragon.
Close combat was out of the question, too. If she rushed in and took a fighting stance, one more breath attack from Kiran would finish her. Getting touched by that rolling black sludge clearly ant nothing good.
Only now did Elaphia realize how limited her combat abilities were as an ordinary vampire spawn.
Her greatest asset was the inexplicably vigorous vitality she'd gained after resurrection.
Elaphia knew this was the source of her revival, and she'd been trying to figure out where this change originated, but so far, she'd found nothing.
At the very least, she knew how to tap into this power.
"Wait, why are you taking your clothes off?""I really don't think seduction is going to work."
Under Loranhir's puzzled gaze, Elaphia removed her sun-shielding cloak, fully exposing herself to the sunlight.
"It's not seduction! What kind of nonsense are you still spouting at a ti like this!"
"Co on, I'm not the only one who talks nonsense when nervous..."
The sun poured down like molten iron. Elaphia felt the heavens and earth slowly spinning as she was baked under its rays, continuous wisps of blue smoke rising from her skin. Intense pain and unbearable restlessness erged simultaneously. She simply closed her eyes, focusing entirely on sensing the abundant life force continuously flowing through her ridians.
Scorching, burning, and unstoppable.
Like tidal waves, it surged in her chest, rose as tides in her blood vessels, sending ripples toward her temples.
This is it.
Elaphia was already proficient in martial arts, so controlling the energy flowing through her body posed no problem. She had always used this technique to enhance her combat skills, but this was her first attempt to channel another kind of power through it.
Loranhir asked her to buy so ti—she could definitely do it.
Because Elaphia could already feel her blood flowing wildly, expanding and igniting like an explosion. Under such vigorous life force, the sun's burning seed almost negligible.
Loranhir used the holy sword to support herself as she stood up. After carefully glancing at the silent Elaphia, she froze for a mont before sharply inhaling cold air.
Loranhir was stunned.
Elaphia now looked far more terrifying than when she had taken those potent drugs last ti.
In the blink of an eye, the skin all over her body had turned an eerie deep black. Dense scales seed to be piercing through her skin as they grew out bloodily, tearing apart her remaining clothes. The flowing light in her pupils resembled flas, giving off a strangely familiar hue.
She had never heard of any vampire capable of turning into such a monstrous appearance.
And that wasn't all—Loranhir detected sothing in Elaphia's throat, sothing that seed about to expand outward.
Elaphia opened her eyes, radiating cold majesty, and let out a dragon-like roar.
No scorching flas were visible, nor any biting cold wind. An invisible force field instantly spread out, rging heaven and earth completely in the turbulent airflow, wild and unrestrained.
The violently charging Kiran stepped into the domain of the dragon shout, imdiately struck by the rampant air currents.
Kiran's movents completely halted. Its body began trembling violently as the invisible force directly penetrated its hard scales, impacting its internal organs.
"FUS RO DAH!"
_
Tl/note: lmao, if you know then you know. Didn't think this was coming 😂
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