Purple energy fluctuations tore through the air.
This Dragon Pulse came too fast and too sinisterly.
The lone Frost Wyvern in the sky had no time to perform any evasive maneuvers.
"Boom—!"
The energy wave slammed directly into the Sub-dragon's chest.
Ice shards exploded!
Caesar's dragons maw widened, but in the next second, the figure that was hit shattered like a broken mirror, cracking into countless pieces and dissipating into the air.
It was actually a mirror image?!
"Tsk!"
Caesar clicked his tongue inwardly.
The moment the mirror image shattered, the real Gan quietly revealed himself a dozen meters away. A hint of mockery flashed in his ice-blue dragon pupils.
"Interesting."
Gan's voice was cold and steady. He didn't even look at the Ground, instead sensing the residual energy from the shockwave just now.
Yes, this aura... was the power of a pure-blooded True Dragon.
Although it was very weak, there was no mistaking it.
It seemed the intelligence was true; there were inferior species coveting the True Dragon's bloodline.
"A decent attack, Earth Dragon." Gan finally locked his gaze on Caesar in the dust below. "Unfortunately, you targeted the wrong one."
He let out a low dragon roar, as if giving some kind of command.
Immediately after, a suffocating chill erupted from his body.
Gan took a deep breath, his chest swelling high, and then he violently spat out a thick white torrent!
Freezing Breath!
This wasn't ordinary cold air, but a terrifying attack that could instantly freeze both magic and life!
"Damn it!"
Caesar felt a lethal chill instantly envelop his body, as if even his Soul was about to be frozen solid.
Four times effectiveness!
If this hit him squarely, he'd be finished here today!
Caesar didn't dare hesitate for a second. His limbs exerted sudden force, and his entire body stayed almost flush with the Ground, rushing toward the mine tunnel entrance to his rear-flank at an incredible speed.
"Boom—"
The Freezing Breath grazed the tip of his tail and slammed heavily into the Ground in front of him.
"Crack, crack, crack!"
The ear-piercing sound of freezing rang out.
Centering on the point of impact, a thick layer of ice emitting a ghostly blue light instantly spread in all directions, completely sealing off the open Ground in front of the abandoned mine entrance.
The Ground became as smooth as a mirror, with wisps of cold air rising from it.
Caesar braked sharply, his claws scraping a trail of sparks across the ice, nearly tumbling over.
The Ground was frozen!
Now, his proud Ground-type skills, whether it was Bulldoze or Sand Tomb, had all lost their effectiveness.
"Will! Cure! Come back! The target is here!"
Gan's voice echoed in the sky.
In the distance, the two Sub-dragons chasing the "fake Caesar" also realized what was happening, immediately turning around and flying back at high speed.
"Hee hee! Gan, are you capable or not? You can't even catch a little brat?"
The most flighty Sub-dragon, Will, mocked as she flew.
"Shut up!" Gan snorted coldly. "That Earth Dragon is Gold Rank, don't be careless."
The three Frost Wyverns reconvened in the air, forming a standard triangular formation and surrounding Caesar below.
What was more troublesome was that countless tiny ice crystals began to condense around them.
Under the sunlight, these ice crystals refracted dazzling light. For a moment, the figure of each Sub-dragon became blurred, as if seven or eight Clones had appeared simultaneously.
"This coordination... it's too perfect, isn't it?"
Caesar's heart sank.
He tried using sonar to detect them, but the feedback signals were a chaotic mess.
Those ice crystals could not only refract light but also interfere with sound waves.
"Did these guys put all their skill points into being annoying to Dragons?"
Caesar complained wildly in his mind while clumsily dodging the ice spikes that fell from time to time.
This setup was too cheap.
High mobility, high-altitude suppression, elemental advantage, and even tactical cooperation.
However, Caesar already had a countermeasure!
Seeing the raised dust gradually thinning, Caesar suddenly looked up, his dragons maw wide open, as a searing red energy gathered in his throat—
He didn't condense the Dragon Breath into a line, but like a flamethrower, he spat out a large fan-shaped area of dragon fire onto the ice beneath his feet!
The blazing Dragon Breath and the frigid ice layer collided violently!
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—!!!
A deafening roar sounded as large patches of ice rapidly melted and vaporized under the high temperature, rising into a massive, dense cloud of white steam!
In an instant, the entire forest clearing was completely enveloped by rolling white steam, and visibility instantly dropped to less than half a meter!
The vision that had become clear because the dust had settled was suddenly filled again by this thick white steam.
It was even thicker and denser than the dust from before...!
The three Sub-dragons in the sky were stunned for a moment.
Did he just give up resistance and commit suicide?
No.
The steam spread rapidly, not only obscuring the Ground but also enveloping the low-altitude area.
The Sub-dragons' vision was obstructed.
Their proud mirror image tactic was actually broken on the spot.
"Don't panic! Fire blindly!"
Gan roared.
Three Freezing Breaths swept toward the center of the steam.
But this time, Caesar had already changed positions.
Although he also couldn't see, having the same name as a certain Italian Young Master, he possessed the Kotodama: Kamaitachi.
In this close-range environment, the flow of steam, the sound of heartbeats, and even the tiny changes in airflow from flapping wings were all incredibly clear in his sonar organs.
A large part of the ice on the Ground had been melted by the high temperature of the Dragon Breath, turning into a mixture of mud and water.
It wasn't much, but it was enough.
Caesar thrust his claws into the mud.
This was enough to use that skill!
...Meanwhile.
In the shadows on the other side of the forest, a silver head suddenly popped out—
Cecilia!
This girl had just used Transformation to turn into Caesar and run out, only to find the two dragons chasing her had turned back.
She wasn't stupid; she immediately understood that something had happened on Caesar's side.
Although she was usually scared to death and only knew how to call for help when things went wrong...
If she were really asked to abandon Caesar and run away herself, she... well, she did hesitate for a moment.
But only for a moment.
If this long-term meal ticket died, the quality of life for the great True Dragon, Lady Cecilia, would likely decline.
Cecilia gritted her teeth and pulled out the red stone Caesar had stuffed into her Storage Ring.
Fire elemental resonance crystal—!
Terastalization... activate!!!
"Buzz—!"
A brilliant crystalline light instantly enveloped the little Silver Dragon's entire body.
Her originally silver-white scales were covered by a layer of translucent red crystal shell.
On her head, an exaggerated red crown crystal condensed into shape.
Fire Terastalization!
A familiar fire element energy filled her body; Cecilia felt she was terrifyingly strong right now.
She glanced at the cloud of white steam in the distance, then at the three looming large lizards in the sky.
"Bullying my Earth Dragon, are you?"
Cecilia raised her two front claws.
Secret Art—Celebrate!
This was originally a Spell that did no damage and was purely used to set off fireworks for atmosphere.
But with the enhancement of the Fire Tera Crystal, its nature changed.
The magic clusters that should have been fireworks were transformed by the Fire Tera Crystal into highly compressed fireballs.
"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—"
Countless red streams of fire gushed out from the bushes.
The scene didn't look like a magic attack at all; it was more like a Gatling gun with blue flames strafing.
The dense celebratory cannonade tore through the steam, covering the airspace where the three Sub-dragons were located without distinction.
"What is that?!"
The Sub-dragon Will was startled by this sudden net of firepower.
A fireball grazed her wing and flew past, directly blowing off a scale.
The power wasn't huge, but there were too many of them!
"It's fire magic! Be careful!"
Gan shouted low, and the three dragons immediately opened frost shields to defend. The sound of "pop, crackle, pop" explosions came continuously from the steam.
Although the power of this attack wasn't particularly strong, its density and unexpectedness completely disrupted their rhythm. The three dragons had to scatter to avoid the dense barrage being shot up from the Ground.
"Over there, that Silver Dragon!"
Cure had the fastest reaction, spotting Cecilia hiding in the bushes "sniping" at a glance.
He just wanted to dive down and deal with this Young Dragon who didn't know the heights of heaven and earth.
A silver airwave flew over, mixed in with the fireballs.
Paralysis Breath!
Cecilia did have this bit of malicious intent.
She had mixed her own goods into the fireballs!
Cure was caught off guard and hit by the breath on the spot.
Although this level of Paralysis could only cause a moment of stiffness for a high-rank Sub-dragon—
In a battle of this level.
A single moment was the distance between life and death!
In the fraction of a second that Cure's body went stiff, the sea of steam below suddenly exploded—
Caesar had been waiting for this exact moment!
Opening his mouth, he spat... Dragon Breath: Burst Fire version!
A stream of dragon fire only as thick as an arm, but so red it was almost purple, accurately pierced toward Cure's abdomen—where the scales were thinnest.
"Boom—!"
The high-temperature Dragon Breath instantly burned through the ice armor on Cure's body and drilled into his flesh.
"Aow—!!!"
The Sub-dragon Cure let out a mournful cry!
A scorched black hole was opened in his abdomen, and the intense pain caused the Sub-dragon to completely lose his balance, falling toward the Ground like a kite with a broken string.
"Cure!"
"Damn it!"
Gan and Will were both shocked and furious, hurriedly rushing over to catch their companion.
The formation was completely thrown into chaos!
And Caesar, the instigator, didn't even look at the result.
At the same time he spat out the Dragon Breath, he had already turned to face the melted Ground and repeated his old trick!
Sand Tomb!
The soil and crushed stones instantly liquefied, forming a rotating vortex, and the blocked mine entrance burst open!
A pitch-black tunnel entrance appeared before his eyes.
—"Cecilia, let's go!"
At this time, Cecilia was still having a blast with her "rat-tat-tat," the crystal crown on her head flashing like a disco ball.
"Stop blasting! Go!"
Caesar grabbed Cecilia by the scruff of her neck with a Shadow Claw.
The feel of it was about the same as picking up a fat cat.
"Hey, hey, hey? I'm not done yet! this young lady is suppressing them..."
"Suppressing my ass! Terastalization is about to run out, do you want to wait to die?"
Caesar unceremoniously interrupted her fantasy.
Taking advantage of the gap while the other two Sub-dragons went to save Cure.
Caesar dragged Cecilia and performed a slide into the entrance of that abandoned mine—
The moment he entered, he also looked back and spat out several rounds of Mud Shot, temporarily reinforcing the loose tunnel entrance walls to prevent an immediate collapse.
The figures of the two little Dragons instantly disappeared into the endless darkness.
By the time the steam dissipated, only three exasperated Frost Wyverns remained in the clearing.
Gan and Will supported the bleeding and weakened Cure, looking at the pitch-black tunnel entrance, trembling with rage.
What a humiliation!
Three high-rank Sub-dragons of Gold Rank had surrounded two Young Dragons, and not only did they let the targets escape, but one of their own was injured!
If this were to spread back to the Sub-dragon flock, where would the three dragons' faces be?
"I'm going to tear them apart...!" Will let out a furious roar, wanting to rush directly into the mine.
"Wait!" Gan stopped her, his eyes dark and terrifying. "This mine is very deep, and the situation inside is unknown. We can't go in rashly."
He supported Cure, slowly landing on the frost-covered Ground.
"Then what? Just let them run?" Will roared unwillingly.
"Run?" A cruel sneer appeared on Gan's face. "They can't run."
His pride as a high-rank Sub-dragon wouldn't allow himself to be played like this by two Young Dragons.
With a flash of light, the three giant Sub-dragon bodies transformed into three human forms.
Gan and Will were two tall, cold-faced silver-haired beauties (male and female), while Cure was a silver-haired youth with a pale face and blood on the corner of his mouth.
Gan walked to the mine entrance and pressed his palm against the cold Ground.
"Since they like burrowing into holes..."
"Then we'll turn this hole into their dead end."
As the words fell, an even more terrifying frigid power than the previous Freezing Breath gushed from his palm!
The thick ice and snow, like living things, began to spread frantically toward the interior of the dark mine—
"Let's go. The game of cat and mouse... it's time to begin."