Sven heard Ize’s words and, combined with his current playful smirk, her thoughts—heightened and more sensitive after her dragonification—instantly drifted toward the horizon.
She was, after all, still a teenager at heart. Her face instantly filled with terror, and she subconsciously took a half-step back. Her arms, now covered in fine dragon scales, instinctively crossed in front of her chest as her voice trembled.
“Senior… Senior Ize! I… I’m not interested in men! Don’t… don’t do anything reckless!”
Ize looked at her defensive stance, acting as if she were about to be defiled. He was stunned for a moment before he realized what she meant. Several dark lines seemed to hang from his forehead as he snapped back irritably.
“What kind of nonsense are you thinking! What is that head of yours filled with?!”
He sighed and massaged his temples, explaining, “My meaning is simple! Now, you know my secret, and I know yours. This way, we both hold leverage over each other. So, the best solution is—keep each other’s secrets, and remain tight-lipped. How about it?”
Ize’s intention was pure, even carrying a bit of his unique logic of “fairness.”
The two of them had faced a life-or-death crisis together, and both possessed trump cards they did not want to reveal.
Why should only Ize be forced to reveal his hidden power to save someone?
If Sven truly had no cards to play, he naturally wouldn’t have stood by and watched.
But the current situation was that both of them had used secret powers they didn’t want others to know about. In Ize’s eyes, this was very “fair.” Neither owed the other anything.
Only then did Sven realize she had misunderstood him. Her face instantly turned a deep crimson, and she felt incredibly embarrassed by her horrifying thoughts from a moment ago. She quickly lowered her head and replied in a voice as soft as a mosquito’s buzz.
“Uh… Okay… I… I won’t say anything…”
Seeing her agree, Ize’s expression softened slightly as he continued, “Besides, Sven. You want to avenge the many lives of the Raymond family. Sooner or later, you will have to use this power. You can’t keep it hidden forever.”
“Do you expect someone else to slay your enemies for you? To help you settle a blood feud?”
These words hit like a heavy hammer, shattering the last bit of hesitation and wandering thoughts in Sven’s heart caused by her physical transformation.
Yes, a blood feud must be settled personally!
Relying on Igneel’s power was an inevitable choice. Therefore, enduring the side effects that came with it was a destiny she had to face.
Her gaze became firm once more, and the light in her dragon pupils sharpened.
However, understanding was one thing; her shame as a youth still remained.
She truly did not want to be seen in this neither-male-nor-female state so soon, especially in such a pathetic condition, by Dio, Senior Sarah, and… Rose, her former fiancée.
With many mysteries still unsolved, Sven couldn’t help but ask, “Senior Ize, you just used Instructor Claire’s words to ‘educate’ me about having responsibility and not hiding my talents. But why do you try so hard to hide your own abilities?”
She analyzed him carefully.
“Even if you truly only know Tier 2 magic, with your massive mana capacity, exquisite control, and that inconceivable casting speed… if you were willing to show it, you would absolutely shock the entire academy, and even attract the favor of the Imperial Royal Family!”
“At that time, wealth, fame, and even joining the ranks of the nobility would be within easy reach…” She remembered that Ize came from a commoner background. In this world of strict social classes, this was a leap that countless commoners dreamed of.
Hearing this, the playfulness on Ize’s face vanished. His expression became exceptionally serious, even carrying a depth that did not match his age.
He looked at Sven and spoke with a solemn tone.
“Sven, since you call me Senior, and we are now ‘allies’ sharing a secret, I think it’s necessary to teach you the… ‘Path of Stealth’ for surviving in this dangerous world.”
“You must remember, the world we live in is far more dangerous and complex than you imagine. Beneath the seemingly calm surface, crises may lurk everywhere. Isn’t the destruction of your Raymond family the bloodiest example? Overnight, prosperity vanished and turned to ash.”
“So,” Ize lowered his voice as if reciting some supreme truth, “regardless of what power you possess, you must know how to hide your edge. Never expose your trump cards to people casually.”
“Keeping a hand back is not for the sake of harming others, but to have the capital to protect yourself, or even turn defeat into victory when a real crisis arrives.”
“A tree that stands above the forest will be destroyed by the wind; a mound that juts out from the bank will be swept away by the current. Excessive flamboyance often means a faster path to destruction.”
He explained his philosophy of the “Path of Stealth,” which he had followed for years, to Sven in simple terms.
Sven listened, only half-understanding, but the tragedy of the Raymond family had given her a bone-deep awareness of “danger.” She thought for a moment and asked a key question.
“Since you want to hide your strength and act cautiously… then back then, why did you risk yourself to save me?”
She was referring to the time she was being hunted by the Seth family, and Ize had secretly stepped in to help.
A look of extremely unnatural embarrassment flashed across Ize’s face. He hadn’t expected Sven to know about that, let alone remember it.
He rubbed his nose, his gaze flickering, and finally said in a half-truthful, extremely perfunctory tone, “If I said… it was because my right hand suddenly stopped listening to me and moved on its own… would you believe it?”
Sven: “…” ‘Do I look like a fool?’
Looking at Ize’s obvious reluctance to talk more about it, Sven felt more and more that this senior of hers had deep thoughts and was hard to fathom.
Ize decisively ended the topic, pulling her attention back to the present.
“Alright, that’s all in the past. Now, don’t you want to know the real reason why your Raymond family was massacred?”
Those words were like a giant wave instantly surging in Sven’s heart.
She stepped forward excitedly, her dragon claws unconsciously tightening. Her voice carried an irrepressible tremor.
“Senior! You… you know the truth?!”
Ize did not answer directly. Instead, he turned his gaze to the side, toward Heart, whose body was twisting slightly and whose eyes were dazed. A meaningful smile curled on his lips.
“I might not know, but right here, don’t we have a ready-made witness?”
At this moment, under the strong side effects of the Obedience Serum, Heart’s cheeks were flushed, and her breathing was rapid. The way she looked at Ize was almost seductive. Her body rubbed restlessly, clearly in the midst of some unspeakable torment.
Ize ignored her “passionate” eyes and asked calmly, “Speak. What was the true purpose of your blood clan’s attack on the Raymond family?”
Without any hesitation, Heart blurted out in a panting, flirtatious voice, “It was to… find the Dragon Soul!”
“What?!”
The remnant soul of Igneel within Sven’s body suddenly jolted, erupting with intense soul fluctuations.
‘It… it really was because of me!!!’
Sven also took a deep breath, her heart feeling incredibly heavy.
Igneel’s remnant soul had existed within her since birth.
According to her parents’ vague mentions before their deaths, this was a wisp of a remnant soul that had been secretly sealed away 100 years ago, after the Raymond family and the first Dragon Slayer, Gerald, had teamed up to kill Igneel.
The Raymond family had tried for generations to study and steal this dragon power. Even a sliver would be enough to make the family’s strength soar.
Unfortunately, after 100 years, Igneel’s remnant soul had remained in a deep sleep, and the research had made no progress.
It wasn’t until her generation that Igneel was sealed within her body.
The Raymond family was attacked by the blood clan, and she had died during that attack, only to be resurrected by Igneel’s remnant soul.
And the reason for the blood clan’s attack… the fundamental cause was this! It was the Raymond family’s own actions that had invited this catastrophe!
In a sense, this calamity was a bitter fruit planted by the Raymond family themselves. She didn’t even have the standing to hate Igneel…
When Ize heard the words “Dragon Soul,” combined with Sven’s current dragon-girl form and the secret Sven had just told him, he immediately connected the clues.
Igneel’s Dragon Soul was inside Sven!
He recalled the dragon scale he had obtained earlier, which the system had prompted as “Igneel.” It seemed that whether it was the goblin mutation or the sudden appearance of the blood clan, everything behind the scenes was connected to this fallen dragon!
He immediately followed up, pressing Heart for the most critical information. “Tell me, why exactly are you looking for the Dragon Soul?”
This question caused the shocked and emotionally complex Sven and Igneel to hold their “breath” at the same time. They both desperately wanted to know the ultimate purpose behind this.
Heart opened her mouth, her dazed eyes showing a hint of struggle. She seemed to instinctively realize that this question touched upon some taboo, but under the absolute power of the serum, she still spoke uncontrollably.
“Finding the Dragon Soul is for…”
Before she could finish, a sudden change occurred!
Heart’s body began to twitch violently, and her originally flushed face instantly turned deathly pale!
The blood-colored energy around her body went out of control like boiling water, and countless twisted dark-red runes appeared on the surface of her skin!
“Ah—!!!” A shrill scream that didn’t sound human was squeezed out of her throat!
In the next moment, under the startled gazes of Ize and Sven, Heart’s body expanded rapidly as if being inflated, and then—
*Pfft!*
With a muffled sound, her entire being actually exploded in an instant, turning into a thick cloud of blood-colored mist. Along with the out-of-control energy and the strange runes, she vanished into the air, leaving not even a scrap of remains!
Sven was stunned by this sudden scene and instinctively looked at Ize, her eyes full of shock and uncertainty.
Ize frowned and immediately clarified, “Don’t look at me! I didn’t do this!”
He quickly analyzed the situation. “It looks like a very vicious restriction was placed on this vampire’s soul or body a long time ago. Once she tried to reveal core secrets, the restriction would immediately trigger, causing her to self-destruct.”
Such ruthless methods made him even more wary of the forces behind the blood clan.
Ize suddenly realized something and reminded her, “This vampire is dead, and the barrier she set up is about to disappear! Sven, your current appearance…”
Sven was startled, no longer having the time to feel sigh over Heart’s strange death.
She definitely did not want to be exposed to everyone in this dragon-girl form!
She immediately concentrated, forcibly suppressing Igneel’s power within her.
The dragon scales on her body receded rapidly like a tide, her figure shrank, her sharp dragon claws returned to the shape of human fingers, and those molten gold vertical pupils gradually changed back into her original human ones.
Within a few breaths, she had deactivated her dragonification and returned to her normal appearance.
However, perhaps it was psychological, but Ize keenly noticed that the Sven who had returned to human form seemed slightly different than before.
Her skin seemed a bit fairer and more delicate, the lines of her features were softer, and although her figure was still that of a teenage boy’s frame, her waist seemed thinner, and the curves of her hips and legs were… well, a bit more obvious.
Her whole being exuded a youthful beauty that sat somewhere between a boy and a girl.
Sven noticed Ize’s evaluating gaze and suddenly felt uncomfortable. Her cheeks turned slightly red as she whispered, “Senior… Senior Ize, don’t… don’t stare at me like that…”
Ize snapped out of it, immediately looked away, and rubbed his nose. “Sorry.”
Then, his gaze turned toward the surrounding blood-colored barrier, which was gradually thinning and about to completely dissipate. His expression returned to the alertness required for a battlefield.
Almost at the same moment the barrier completely vanished, an anxious figure rushed over—it was Sarah.
Her face was written with worry as she quickly scanned the two of them. “Ize! Sven! Are you two all right? Are you injured?”
“We’re fine, Senior Sarah,” Ize replied calmly, his eyes quickly scanning the entire battlefield.
He noticed that the other three female vampires who had been fighting with Dio, Sarah, Emma, and the Betty family knights were now nowhere to be seen.
“Where are the other three vampires?” Ize asked.
Emma approached at this moment, explaining with lingering fear and a hint of excitement, “Senior Dio is simply too amazing! He killed those vampires called Diamond and Club all by himself! However, the one called Spade seemed especially good at speed and stealth. Seeing that things were going poorly, she found an opportunity to escape.”
As she spoke, she looked around curiously. “By the way, where is the female vampire who trapped you two in that red mist? Where did she go?”
Ize’s tone was flat, as if he were talking about an insignificant matter. “Dead.”
“Dead?!”
Emma and Sarah exclaimed at the same time, their faces filled with disbelief. They had just personally fought against Level 3 vampires and knew how terrifying their strength was.
According to Sarah’s judgment, the strength of these vampire executives had firmly reached the level of Lord-class monsters!
Ize and Sven—one who “only” knew low-tier magic and one who had only recently recovered his mana—how did the two of them independently kill a Lord-class vampire inside the barrier?
Among everyone present, only Dio was not too surprised by this result.
He stood a short distance away with his arms crossed, his deep gaze sweeping over Sven. He keenly captured the subtle changes in her—the slightly softer silhouette, her legs held together unnaturally, and a hint of a different luster in her eyes that hadn’t completely faded.
‘As expected, she used the power of dragonification…’ Dio thought to himself.
Possessing memories of his past life, he had some understanding of the changes that might happen to Sven in the future.
With the knowledge from his previous life, he knew the price Sven paid after using the power of dragonification.
However, looking at it this way, even though the course of events had deviated, Sven still obtained the power of dragonification.
This meant that the opportunity for Sven to gain dragonification was not, as he had analyzed, when he had returned to the Betty family alone to fight the blood clan in his past life.
It seemed that his seemingly harmless junior, who carried a heavy blood feud, still hid many mysteries that even he, a “regressor,” had failed to see through completely.
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