“Why am I not surprised at all?” Orange Sea Dream’s tone was tinged with sadness.
Although she had suspected from the beginning that Blackie was a bit off— after all, she wasn’t a Dragon Servant nurtured by her own Red Dragon clan—it turned out her hunch was completely correct.
But deep down, Orange Sea Dream still held out a sliver of hope for Blackie.
At first, she had planned to send Blackie out as cannon fodder, but in the end, she couldn’t bear to let her go and preferred to keep her safe by her side as a spectator.
Unfortunately, Blackie still couldn’t help but jump out and reveal her true identity.
There was no helping it. Seeing her mother under attack, how could she stand by and do nothing?
Even if the one attacked was a boss who treated her well, face could not be given.
If anything, Blackie was already being quite righteous by Jianghu Daoyi standards.
Otherwise, she could have just launched a sneak attack from behind on Orange Sea Dream.
If she had struck while Orange Sea Dream was casting a spell, she could have severely injured the Red Dragon.
Orange Sea Dream thought of this, and cold sweat began to bead on her forehead.
Just when she was unleashing Dragon Breath, that was her most vulnerable moment.
If someone close had landed a heavy blow to her head, her fate would likely have mirrored Xueyuedai’s, suffering Magic backlash. This match might have ended then and there.
After a lifetime of cunning and caution, she had almost lost everything in one moment of compassion—Orange Sea Dream was sweating all over from fright.
But for some reason, though she ought to be burning with rage at such betrayal, looking at Blackie’s dumb expression, she just couldn’t muster any anger.
Orange Sea Dream knew she must have been used. With Blackie’s appetite and simple mind, she’d never think of betraying someone on her own.
Who? Who was pulling the strings behind the scenes? Who could be even more cunning and sly than herself?
She looked around. The Golden Fang Beast Sisters wore looks of confusion, the Headless Rider was as dumbfounded as a wooden chicken—so was it you who arranged this, Orange Milky Dragon?
But Ten-Step Hall’s eyes were wide as well, forcibly suppressing her emotions, but unable to hide a flicker of shock.
It didn’t seem to be Orange Milky Dragon’s doing, and the anger in her earlier fight with Blackie didn’t look fake. Their acting skills couldn’t possibly fool her.
“…Was it you?” Orange Sea Dream quickly spotted the culprit.
It was that black-haired girl with a strangely ambiguous presence.
She had always been an unnoticed background figure, but now she seemed like a star in the spotlight, giving off a very contradictory vibe.
Wuqixiao Mo was the only one present whose face didn’t show a hint of surprise.
As the battle took an unexpected turn, she didn’t even glance back—she just helped the Frost Magician to the side to rest and meditate, as if she’d expected all this from the start.
When Feini had settled Xueyuedai and exchanged a distant glance with Orange Sea Dream, her expression was perfectly calm, with even a trace of disdain.
“So it was you all along…”
Orange Sea Dream now realized that everything was orchestrated by this Wuqixiao Mo. She was the true mastermind of the Stray Beast Squad.
Now that Blackie had reversed the tables and stood in front of her, all the advantage Orange Sea Dream had fought for had vanished in an instant.
Everyone was now tied up one-on-one, including herself.
“Old Mo! You bastard! After all the trust we put in you, you actually betrayed us?” Dragon Maid Weima Ana was the most furious, roaring loudly.
Her anger immediately exposed a flaw, and White Feather Dove seized the chance, sword energy forming a sword array to suppress her, keeping her from gathering any strength for a decisive draw.
“Why didn’t you stab me in the back? Wouldn’t that have been easier?” Orange Sea Dream asked coldly.
“The boss has always been kind to me. If there had been any other way, I wouldn’t have let things come to this,” Heiqi Long replied.
“How much did they pay you? Are you dissatisfied with the snacks I gave you as wages? I can offer double, triple, quadruple the price—whatever you want,” Orange Sea Dream was still trying to persuade Heiqi Long to turn back.
“It’s not about the money.” Heiqi Long shook her head.
“Then what is it?” Orange Sea Dream pressed.
“They are my family,” Heiqi Long answered resolutely.
“That’s a real joke. I considered you family too,” Orange Sea Dream’s eyes grew sharp, scarlet flames swirling around her, coalescing into a suit of fiery armor in the shape of a dragon.
Even a Flame Sword and Flame Shield appeared—she conjured a full set of Long Qishi Zhuangbei using Magic alone. So it all comes down to close combat in the end?
“Whoosh! Whoosh!”
A pair of flaming Dragon Wings unfurled from her back. With a powerful flap, she soared into the air, then dove down with a sword thrust forward.
Orange Sea Dream never thought that the first time she truly cared for an outsider, her heart would be so thoroughly broken. Damn!
Seeing the Red Dragon’s Flame Sword, brimming with merciless fury, Blackie dared not take her lightly.
She activated Dragon Scale Armor, raised her elbow blade, and launched a counterattack without hesitation!
“Clang!” The Dragon Elbow Blade and Flame Sword clashed!
Neither could gain the upper hand at that moment. Orange Sea Dream was using seventy percent of her power, but it still wasn’t enough to overpower Blackie.
Unlike with Ten-Step Hall, she couldn’t get a dominant advantage; she could only fight to a draw.
There was nothing to be done. Orange Sea Dream’s attacks were pure Magic.
But Blackie’s dark dragon scales had innate magic immunity. Though she couldn’t restrain the Red Dragon, she was the perfect counter to the Red Dragon.
Wasn’t this filial piety at its finest? If you can’t beat the Dragon Father, can’t you at least beat the Dragon Boss?
“Clang! Clang!”
The next instant, Blackie’s left elbow sprouted another dragon blade, and she started swinging both elbows in a frenzy.
For a moment, Orange Sea Dream could only use her shield to defend. But her shield was made purely of Magic, and Blackie’s relentless elbow strikes battered it until it steadily crumbled.
In her dark form, Blackie spun like a top—her physical coordination was on a whole different level from these pureblood dragon girls.
Whether it was the Red Dragon or the humanoid form of the Red Dragon, they were all brutes, relying on raw strength to perform miracles.
After all, you can’t have a race that maxes out in Magic, strength, and defense and also excels in speed and skill—otherwise, the other races might as well surrender whenever they see a dragon.
But Blackie was still a dragon, so why were her movements so smooth?
Uh… I have no idea!
Maybe mixed bloods are just born for technique? Look at Dragon Maid’s tachi style—doesn’t she have to go airborne just to pull it off?
But that didn’t make sense either. Half-Dragons were always stuck in these weak humanoid forms. Even if a mixed blood had some mutated traits, they could never become a true Ancient Dragon, let alone reach a complete dragon form.
Yet Blackie could return to her dragon form—she could transform into Dahui Dai, the big black dragon.
Though the Dragon Father scolded her daily as a mongrel, mixed-blood Half-Dragon, her dark physiology was no different from a pureblood Ancient Dragon.
“Damn you, Blackie!”
Orange Sea Dream couldn’t take the pounding any longer. She flapped her flame wings and soared into the air to take a breather, clearly about to start playing dirty.
Because darkness couldn’t fly, Blackie could only look up at her from below.
Flight among Demonic Beasts was a completely overpowered ability.
It marked a watershed: flying Demonic Beasts and earthbound ones were two entirely different threats.
Among Human Race legends, Feilong were a hundred times more terrifying than Earth Dragons, simply because they could fly, easily crossing all the defensive lines and city walls set up by the Human Race, and blasting fire directly into towns.
“Don’t think I’m actually afraid of you, Blackie! I won’t go easy on you!”
Orange Sea Dream had lost all her former elegance and composure. Hovering in the air, she threw a tantrum, tossing away both her Flame Sword and Shield—these were totally useless against Blackie anyway.
As she spoke, a highly compressed Dragon Breath Bomb ignited in her palm, and she started pelting Blackie below with a wild, carpet-bombing barrage.
“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!”
The reinforced Gymnasium floor erupted in several little mushroom clouds.
The explosions disrupted all the other battles, forcing everyone to dodge to the sidelines to avoid the blast waves. No one could have a proper duel anymore.
“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!”
Orange Sea Dream seemed to lose her mind, continuing to rain Dragon Breath Bombs down on the floor.
To be fair, this was indeed a show of the high-sustainability of Dragon Breath Magic. No other Magician had enough Magic to keep up such a wasteful assault.
The Red Dragon was rampaging! The battle was spiraling out of control!
Everyone had to stop fighting—this round couldn’t go on.
But in the eyes of a certain cunning and scheming little dragon, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“Splash! Splash!”
Braving the wild shockwaves of Dragon Breath, a figure shot straight into the sky.
“Buzz!”
Ten-Step Hall unfurled a pair of dark, crimson, and lightless Dragon Wings, charging straight behind Orange Sea Dream, and without a word, launched a twelve-layered, heart-piercing hand chop.
The ruthless backstab caught Orange Sea Dream completely off guard. Too despicable! No sense of honor at all!
“You… How is this possible?”
At the same time, she saw those lightless Dragon Wings and instantly recognized Ten-Step Hall’s race.
It was that infamous and vicious clan, feared even among the Ancient Dragons?
The Red Dragon, who prided herself on cunning, now realized she was actually the most honorable dragon here—blue outdone by indigo, the new surpassing the old.
In these times, nobody cared about loyalty anymore. Everything was just business.
But at the most critical moment…
Another shadow spiraled up from within the blazing waves, darting between the Red Dragon and the Red Dragon, blocking the fatal, heart-piercing strike.
“Splash!”
With a single sound, everyone’s hearts stopped for a moment.
Orange Sea Dream turned to see that Blackie had shielded her from the deadly attack.
With both arms crossed, Blackie used her dragon blades to parry Ten-Step Hall’s hand chop, redirecting the attack away from the vital spot, though her shoulder was still pierced by Yanjian.
“Blackie?”
This scene left Orange Sea Dream stunned in place, her mind blank and unable to think, but her body still reacted instinctively, immediately protecting Blackie and conjuring a Dragon Breath Bomb on the spot.
“Boom!”
Ten-Step Hall’s expression didn’t change at all. She calmly pulled her fingers from the wound and smacked the Dragon Breath Bomb away.
She had no guilt about crippling a mixed blood, nor would she show any sympathy.