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Life and death come down to a single instant.
Medraco understood this down to his bones.
Even when what he faced was an Inferno Blast Fireball the size of a locomotive.
Run?
No.
A vicious light flashed through Medraco's eyes.
He worked the bolt. The spent casing bounced off the ground with a crisp ring, and the muzzle was already leveled at the Dragon Elf floating in midair.
So what if he didn't have enough intel?
A true elite player had to be ready for anything.
Current wind: level-two northwesterly.
Air temperature: approximately 15°C. Bullet velocity: roughly 1,200 meters per second. Distance to target: under two hundred meters.
Killing this Dragon Elf.
Would take less than 0.17 seconds.
0.17 seconds , even the Grim Reaper couldn't collect a soul that fast.
A cold smirk tugged at the corner of Medraco's mouth. He squeezed the trigger.
BANG,, !
Let the bullet fly.
The locomotive-sized Inferno Blast Fireball came hurtling straight at him, its raging flames reflected in his eyes like a devil dancing behind glass.
Death was just a new beginning for someone who could respawn. For the Dragon Elf, it would be something else entirely , an eternal sleep.
That was the advantage of being a Player.
Medraco spread his arms wide, faced the fireball head-on, and walked toward death without flinching. His gaze stayed locked on the Dragon Elf. He wanted to watch this girl die with his own eyes.
"Zun Haal Viik!"
Almost the instant the muzzle flash lit up, Su Nian spoke the Dragon Speech without hesitation.
The bullet was fast. Very fast.
But it wasn't faster than light. And it wasn't faster than the neural reflexes of a great dragon.
The bullet was less than five meters from Anna.
Then, under the weight of the Dragon Speech's ruling force ,
It dropped lifelessly to the ground with a quiet, crisp clink.
"Fuck! Fuck! Holy shit!"
Medraco grabbed fistfuls of his own hair, face flushed crimson, screaming curses at the top of his lungs. In that moment, he could have sworn he saw Newton grinning from ear to ear as he crawled out of his own coffin , and proceeded to shove a mouthful of ashes, dense with gravitational potential energy, straight into his mouth.
He didn't get to curse any further.
The Inferno Blast Fireball swallowed him whole. The explosion slammed into the rock wall with savage force. Stone fragments flew in every direction. Smoke and dust billowed outward in a wide ring.
The flames burned for a moment, then died, leaving a blasted semicircular crater in the rock.
Su Nian swallowed a mouthful of Dragon Saliva.
He'd known Anna's magic would be terrifying. He just hadn't imagined it would be terrifying to this degree.
And this was fire-element magic.
Anna's actual specialties were light and water. Which meant this Inferno Blast hadn't even received the bonus from her top-tier elemental affinity talent.
If it had ,
Su Nian was fairly certain one Inferno Blast would have turned the entire rock wall into powder.
"Brother, your eye..."
The moment the fireball finished off the enemy, Anna flew straight back to his side. Her small, soft hands cupped the side of his face where the bullet had grazed him, her peach-blossom eyes wide with worry.
"Ahem — it's fine, it's fine, barely a scratch~"
Her pink, adorable face was right there, close enough that her sweet warm breath brushed against his skin. His heart itched. His dragon tongue itched.
"It hit Brother's eye! How is that barely a scratch!"
Anna leaned in closer anyway, carefully examining his eyelid. She found it almost immediately , a faint white mark, pressed into the skin.
It left a mark. And he still said it was fine.
She felt heartache and annoyance in equal measure.
She reached out and ran her soft, warm fingers gently across the black dragon's eyelid, the same way you'd touch a wounded rabbit.
"Brother, does it hurt~? Let Anna blow on it , blow on it and it won't hurt anymore~"
Su Nian blinked. Blow on it?
He was still working that out when Anna's face drifted closer. And closer. Until it nearly filled his entire field of vision.
That pink, soft, luminous little mouth , ripe as a white peach , hovered right in front of his eye.
Anna pursed her lips, gentle as a kiss, and breathed out a soft, warm "HUUU,, " directly against his eyelid.
Oh. That's what blowing on it means.
Su Nian understood now.
He savored the sweetness of her breath. The warm, feather-soft tingle on his eyelid. A faint numbness crept up all the way to his scalp.
Behind him, his dragon tail rose with complete honesty.
"Brother, Mama always said — if you blow on a hurt, it stops hurting..."
Anna smiled softly, a thread of distant memory moving through her bright eyes.
"Back when we were driven out of the core zone, Anna fell outside once and got hurt."
"There were no herbs at home. We didn't have the standing to ask for the Water of Life."
"It hurt so much. Anna cried and cried and cried~"
"And then Mama blew on it for Anna~"
"After she blew on it... Anna didn't feel the pain anymore~"
Su Nian looked at her, something soft and aching in his chest. He couldn't help himself , he gave her cheek a fond little nuzzle, the way you'd comfort a child who'd just remembered something sad.
"Ah~! Brother~! You're terrible!"
She said it, but she still wrapped her arms around the black dragon's head and rubbed her cheek gently against his hard dragon nose.
"Brother, you kiss Anna all the time. Is it because Dragon Saliva heals wounds and beautifies skin?"
The question caught him slightly off guard.
In theory, Dragon Saliva did have those properties. The rumor that black dragon saliva was deadly poison existed because black dragons typically used acid-venom from their spray organ when tearing into prey. But if a black dragon deliberately held that back, the saliva itself could be perfectly harmless.
Animals licking their wounds had always been a thing in nature. Saliva did genuinely aid healing to some degree. As a legendary creature, a great dragon had that same quality , only far more potent. Though compared to actual healing magic or holy water, there was no real comparison.
Would Su Nian tell her the truth right now?
Only a fool would.
"Of course, Anna."
"Back when you were injured, every time Brother kissed you, it was to help you heal."
"Now I kiss you every day because I like you , and also because Dragon Saliva is good for your skin~"
He said it with complete conviction. Utterly serious. The tone of a man stating a self-evident and eternal truth.
"Oh~ Oh~"
Anna nodded earnestly. She glanced at his eyelid, and a faint blush crept across her pretty face.
"Brother... now that Anna has the Dragon Heart , does that mean if Anna kisses you, it would also... also have a healing effect?"
"Ahem — it should... probably?"
Su Nian kept his expression thick-skinned, though his eyes wandered just slightly.
Anna didn't notice. She only knew the black dragon was hurt. Even a faint white mark on his eyelid was unacceptable.
"Then... then Anna will kiss it for Brother... maybe the little white mark will heal a little faster that way. Okay?"
She didn't actually wait for an answer. Her face was already right there in front of his eye.
"Mmph , mua~"
Su Nian closed his eye gently.
Something soft and warm pressed against his eyelid.
Anna's gentle breath filled his ear. For a moment, he felt as though his heart were quietly melting.
"Brother~ does it feel better?"
Her mouth pulled away just a little. She tilted her head, blinking up at him with big, earnest eyes.
"Ahem... still a little... a tiny bit sore..."
He was too reluctant to let the warmth end.
So Su Nian told a shameless little lie.
There was absolutely nothing wrong with him. His regenerative ability had long since dissolved the sting on his eyelid into nothing.
"Then... then Anna will kiss it again~"
PRPRPR~ MUA~
➤ Next: I Swear to God
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