In the carriage bound for the Treasure Vault, Lady Xuefei voiced her question once more. “Strange, isn’t the Hero coming?”
It was merely a test, of course.
“They won’t come,” Celi replied with a laugh. “The Hero’s wounds are too severe. Heading to the Treasure Vault would be nothing short of suicide for them… If Lady Xuefei wishes to meet the Hero, however, I can certainly make the arrangements.”
“I won’t make things difficult for you, Celi,” Xuefei sighed, puzzled by just how tense the other woman seemed.
“But could you at least tell me the Hero’s name?”
If the current Hero lacked her presence, then who exactly was this Hero?
And what was the deal with there being three of them?
“Truth be told, I don’t know his name either,” Celi said apologetically. “Everyone only knows him by his code name—or rather, what passes for his name.”
Xuefei nodded. “All right, that works.” After all, if it was someone she knew, it was only natural they’d have some kind of nickname.
“Windchaser. The Hero Windchaser.”
“Eh?”
She had imagined the guy might have some weird name, but this… this was a bit too chuunibyou!
No matter how she looked at it, this was the sort of name Okate would come up with!
“Though he doesn’t possess Lady Xuefei’s power, he’s quite strong in his own right. And he cares deeply for his teammates.”
“Hmph, that’s right—I’m the strongest!” Xuefei planted her hands on her hips, puffing out her chest with smug satisfaction.
“Yes, yes! Lady Xuefei is surely the strongest, which is why you’ve come to protect us and claim the Endless Treasure, isn’t it?”
“Hee hee~”
Xuefei was indeed getting a little cocky.
To be precise, it wasn’t arrogance—it was the haughty pride of someone whose strength had surged. Devouring a god was something most people wouldn’t even dare dream of. Those enigmatic beings existed only as objects of faith in the hearts of the masses.
Leia had accomplished it, earning the wariness of the gods in turn. Now Xuefei had done the same, proving she was equally formidable.
With this power, could Leia even hold a candle to her?
How intriguing. Hee hee~
She pictured Leia defeating her, then somehow impregnating her with a dragon egg…
But if she turned the tables and beat Leia—made her bear a dragon egg—wouldn’t that let her flip the script entirely? She’d be the Evil Dragon Lord then, with Leia as her cute little wife. Hee hee!
Decision made, and with glee!
The moment they got back, she’d challenge Leia to a one-on-one duel. Sure, the risk of failure was a headache, but victory would solve everything once and for all! As the saying went, high risk, high reward—exactly!
Seeing the delight written all over Xuefei’s face eased the tension in Celi’s chest. Lady Xuefei really was an adorable little thing. The Dragon King Majesty’s secret life was enviable beyond words—cuddling a little dragon every day had to be the happiest thing on earth.
But then Xuefei dropped a deadly serious question that shattered Celi’s reverie.
“So, do you believe the Hero can really save the world?”
The carriage had left the city behind. The sky remained sunless, and the orange-red horizon painted the barren roadside boulders in hellish hues…
Celi had no idea how to respond.
Everyone knew what the relationship between the Hero and the Evil Dragon truly entailed—and how the connections the Hero had forged had become a burdensome drag.
Xuefei had told her she could save the world. The Hero had made the same promise.
It was a tangled mess of a topic, impossible to unravel no matter how one tugged at the threads.
“I believe Lady Xuefei will outshine the Hero.”
“Of course she will. Celi, you need to understand—Heroes are all hypocrites. They’re leashed by some greater power, not truly fighting to save the world. Got it?”
“Mm…”
Just like her.
Had she truly set out to save the Camiran Continent by challenging the Evil Dragon?
But Xuefei had no intention of sharing “Mo Ran’s” story. After all, only those who remembered the First Playthrough would see it as anything but an absurd bedtime tale…
The galloping horses kicked up a meter-high cloud of dust. The wheels clattered against rocks in a relentless grind, as if they might snap at any moment. A late breeze swept in, lifting Xuefei’s silvery tresses to shimmer like diamonds in the orange dusk.
Directly ahead loomed a pitch-black mountain range, like a giant standing sentinel on the road to paradise—towering into the clouds with arms outstretched, its full form impossible to discern.
Giant boulders sprouted thicker than the tall reeds, said to be the wreckage left from the war of the gods.
The path grew ever more rugged and jolting. Even stabilizing magic struggled to keep things steady; ripples danced across the tea on the table, spilling resentful splashes of orange-red droplets.
At last, when the carriage could go no farther, it ground to a halt.
“Send the guards back.”
Xuefei opened her eyes, her scarlet dragon eyes gleaming like sparkling gems.
“But, the battlefield ahead…”
“It’s fine. With Laer and me here, there won’t be any problems.”
This was no longer just a matter of formality. Rather, these guards—known as protectors—if they stepped onto the battlefield ahead, they would end up becoming the ones needing protection, dragging down the entire team’s rhythm.
The guards stood dumbfounded on both sides, looking left and right in confusion.
They were the strongest fighters in the Snake Demon Country, and it was the first time they had been so thoroughly underestimated.
To protect the Princess, even charging in and out seven times over was no big deal!
Two demons from the Demon Race—could they really protect Celi? Obviously, it was impossible!
But in the end, Celi agreed to Xuefei’s suggestion. She smoothed down her long hair tousled by the wind, the golden bracelet on her arm gleaming brightly. “Pesel, go back and guard the Royal Palace. Be especially wary of the enemy luring the tiger away from the mountain.”
“But, Princess…” The snake demon called Pesel was about to anxiously retort something, but Celi sternly cut him off before he could.
“This is an order.”
“As you command…”
Celi slowly closed her eyes, gazing at the guards half-kneeling on the ground. Finally, her tone softened again as she smiled bitterly. “Please protect my little sister well. I’m counting on you, Pesel.”
“I will definitely complete the mission, Your Highness!”
Celi, though called Princess, was in fact the true supreme ruler of the Snake Demon Country.
Her mother had long since passed away, her father lay bedridden with illness, and when she shouldered the great burden of the nation, she had been only 14 years old.
This was also the reason for the guards’ anxiety.
In truth, if anything happened to Celi, the Snake Demon Country would have no suitable ruler left. Beili was skilled at commanding troops, but she could never overcome the factional elders.
After bidding farewell to the guards, the sky had unknowingly fallen under a curtain of darkness. The three of them seemed to plunge into a dark forest, where occasional wolf howls echoed and blue flames ignited sporadically amid the eerie atmosphere.
On the mountainside of the giant mountain stood a conspicuous fan-shaped stone gate, like a navel, making it easy to identify as their destination.
But reaching it was far from easy…
Elites from countless races lay in ambush here, all eyeing the Endless Treasure within that gate. This place was no desolate wasteland—it was a battlefield bristling with tension!
Hearing rustling footsteps nearby, a smile tugged at the corners of Xuefei’s lips.
“So soon? Have the pursuers already arrived? Then… let me give you a little demonstration…”
And only a few knew that those dragon eyes, harboring murderous intent, would become a nightmare they could never shake off for the rest of their lives.
