Chapter 44: Dragon Princess Zephyra

Dragon Clan?

Anya almost thought she’d misheard. She looked at Zephyra before her with a doubtful gaze.

There was not a hint of dragon in this girl—she was as ordinary as any human could be.

Calling herself the Princess of the Dragonkin, wasn’t that just too far-fetched?

“You’re the Princess of the Dragonkin? Then I must be the King of Humanity,” Anya obviously didn’t believe a word.

“I really am the Princess of the Dragonkin! I just sneaked out, so of course I had to hide my identity…” Zephyra’s cheeks flushed bright red as she mumbled her explanation.

Anya’s expression said clearly: “Go ahead, keep making things up.”

This black-haired girl, no matter how you looked at her, didn’t resemble Dragonkin at all.

With a helpless sigh, Zephyra did a little magic trick—she flashed a jet-black dragon tail from behind with a “swish,” then just as quickly made it vanish.

“See that? I’m the real deal, pure-blooded Dragonkin! Yet you, a human, still don’t believe me—how rude!” Zephyra huffed and turned away in anger.

Anya stared at that dragon tail, which had appeared and disappeared in an instant, her mind struggling to process what she’d seen.

Honestly, she’d only seen illustrations of Dragonkin in books, and knew those big fellows lived in seclusion deep within the Northern Border, but seeing a true Dragonkin with her own eyes—this was a first.

If Zephyra really was Dragonkin, she was nothing like what Anya remembered of the Dragonkin.

Most Dragonkin were half-dragon, half-human in form, and generally burly.

But Zephyra? If not for that brief glimpse of her tail, Anya would’ve thought she was just an ordinary human.

“So why did you sneak out? As far as I know, didn’t the Dragon Clan enact the Isolation Edict ages ago? There’s been no sign of Dragonkin in the Northern Border,” Anya asked, curiosity burning.

“What are you talking about? What Isolation Edict? Haven’t Dragonkin and humans always gotten along just fine?” Zephyra looked bewildered, then scratched her head a bit sheepishly. “I only sneaked out because I wanted to play in the Human World… but, well… I got lost, that’s all.”

Anya’s heart skipped a beat.

She’d been in the Northern Border for so long, and not only had she never seen Dragonkin, she hadn’t even seen a shadow of a dragon—though she’d met plenty of Dragonkin.

And the environment here was completely different from what she remembered of the Northern Border.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that things weren’t so simple. Everything here was strange, completely overturning her understanding of the world.

It felt like… like she’d stepped into an entirely different era.

Could this be the Secret Realm that Iris mentioned?

If so, how would she get back? Anya’s head throbbed; she wished Iris was here.

But right now, she had no choice but to take things one step at a time.

“I originally saved you because I wanted to ask for directions to the Human World. But now, you’re just as weird as any human I’ve met,” Zephyra pouted as Anya remained silent.

Anya didn’t bother to argue. Right now, Zephyra was her only source of information—she’d better not offend her, or she’d be lost for real.

“Princess Zephyra, I was rude just now. I shouldn’t have questioned your identity. Please, forgive me,” Anya lowered her stance and spoke sincerely.

“Ah-reh?” Zephyra was taken aback, but then her face instantly brightened, chin lifting high. “Now you’re talking. Not bad, not bad—I like that. No need for the whole maid thing; from now on, you’ll be my temporary Assistant. And your first mission: take me to the Human World!”

Anya suddenly felt exhausted. She didn’t even know where she was, let alone how to take Zephyra to the Human World.

But the word “Assistant” reminded Anya of Iris—she remembered their first meeting was much like this.

“Let’s go, Anya! To the Human World—onward!” Zephyra tried hard to suppress her excitement, pretending to be calm as she declared their departure.

But her grand speech was cut off by a few sharp wolf howls. Instantly, a crowd of glowing green eyes emerged, surrounding the two of them.

“No way! They’re back? And they brought reinforcements,” Zephyra stared in disbelief.

“You were the one who saved me from them just now?” Anya glanced at Zephyra curiously.

“Y-yeah…” Zephyra’s eyes darted, her voice dropping.

Anya couldn’t shake the feeling the Princess of the Dragonkin was lying.

“Then, Princess, please display your might once more and drive away these enemies. I’ll be cheering for you from the back,” Anya smiled.

“Ah? Uh… okay,” Zephyra responded hesitantly, eyeing the advancing Wolf Pack. After a moment’s hesitation, she finally forced herself to step forward.

“You nasty wolves! Didn’t I beat you up enough last time? Still have the guts to come back? Take this!” Zephyra shouted fiercely. At some point, a Staff had appeared in her hand.

Anya watched with twitching eyelids. This princess didn’t seem reliable at all, yet she was still putting on an air of confidence.

“Flames, heed my call!”

Zephyra chanted as the tip of her Staff glowed red. Surging magical power gathered above her head, forming a cloud of fire.

The Wolf Pack was clearly intimidated; they stopped in their tracks, raising their heads to watch the fire cloud, letting out low growls.

“Go!”

Zephyra swung her Staff, sending the fire cloud hurtling toward the Wolf Pack.

But the fire cloud suddenly lost control, wobbling wildly in the air like a broken kite. After a few dull pops, it faded into nothing.

“……” Zephyra stood frozen with her Staff raised, the scene unbearably awkward.

The Wolf Pack, startled by the sudden change, soon erupted into thunderous roars and charged at Zephyra in anger.

“That’s not right! I could control it just now—why did it suddenly fail?” Zephyra wailed, waving her Staff wildly.

“Fireball!”

A tiny, weak fireball barely formed before it sputtered out with a “puff.”

Zephyra stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

“Fireball! Fireball! Fireball!” she refused to give up and tried again and again.

But each Fireball either exploded before it was fully formed, or flickered out as a tiny spark—barely enough to tickle a wolf pup.

Anya stared in shock from the side. Was this really the Princess of the Dragonkin? She seemed even less capable than a rookie Magic Apprentice!

Weren’t the Dragonkin supposed to wield world-shattering power? But Zephyra now looked like she was putting on a clumsy magic show, not a shred of Dragonkin majesty to be seen.

“Waaaah! I’m the Princess of the Dragonkin! How dare you, you mangy wolf, bite me! I’ll roast you and eat you!” Zephyra let out a wail as a wolf bit her arm, making her yelp in pain.

Anya had to admit, this was eye-opening. Zephyra really was Dragonkin, after all.

After all, what ordinary human could get bitten by a wild wolf, be just fine, and even fling the wolf away in retaliation?

“That hurt! You’re all going down!”

Seemingly enraged, Zephyra gave up on her flashy magic and simply used her Staff as a club, eyes squeezed shut as she swung wildly at the Wolf Pack.

Before long, several unlucky wolves had already been knocked unconscious.