“Had enough fun yet?”
In an instant, the girl felt the world spin around her. By the time she reacted, her body was already tumbling through the air. Just as she tried to steady herself, a dragon tail flashed in her peripheral vision.
“Boom!”
Sensing the imminent danger, the girl instinctively raised her arm to block Xuefei’s punch—seemingly fragile from her slender arm. But in the next second, her body hurtled outward over a hundred meters like a cannonball. If she hadn’t stabilized herself midair at the last moment, the only outcome would have been a crater dozens of meters deep in the ground.
The howling wind left her head spinning. The girl stared at the Dragon Girl soaring through the sky and said softly, “State your name. You’re worthy to be my opponent.”
“Wha—”
In the blink of an eye, Xuefei—who had been up in the sky—appeared silently right in front of her, as if time itself had paused or space had twisted. But after a split-second analysis, the girl concluded that the Dragon Girl had simply moved too fast, too fast to track.
“You… you actually dare…”
Xuefei reached out to grab the girl’s neck, but the latter had already anticipated the move. A spike of light shot from her sleeve toward Xuefei’s soft belly.
“Crack!”
“What?”
It felt like striking a solid wall. The light spike shattered on impact, leaving only the girl’s shock.
In the next moment, she finally got a clear look at Xuefei’s face.
Silver-white hair, almost identical to her own, fluttered in the scorching evening breeze. Under the twilight, though her body was hard to make out, it was easy enough to spot the Dragon Clan scales piercing through her Lolita dress—adding a fierce edge to her disheveled state, yet concealing mysteries that left one yearning and disappointed. All that remained was an aura of danger. Her originally petite hands had transformed into the Dragon Clan’s razor-sharp claws, wreathed in pitch-black flames. Her scarlet emerald eyes plunged one into an abyss, as if the soul might lose its way.
Yet overall, for a fleeting instant, the girl saw Xuefei as a harmless little girl—the kind of sweet younger sister who stayed at home. But the marks of the Evil Dragon made her nothing less than worldly evil, a source of agony and lament for countless wretched souls.
“You… actually dare…”
Xuefei’s eyes widened, her head tilting as her rage-corrupted soul grew ever more perilous.
She wasted no more words and unleashed another blindingly fast punch at the girl’s left shoulder. In an instant, the girl’s body was rolling across the ground. Before she could even close her eyes, the Dragon Girl appeared directly in her path, raising her foot to stomp her flat.
“You…”
The girl sprang to her feet, dodging the spot where Xuefei landed. At the same time, Xuefei’s dainty foot in its leather shoe cracked the earth like a spiderweb.
The legends were beyond doubt.
This world was merely the Evil Dragon’s plaything. With a mere thought, she could uproot mountains and toy with them in her palm.
The very next instant—quicker than a flash of lightning—a turbid, silent wave of darkness erupted from Xuefei’s mouth. The girl, still airborne, had no time to evade the seamless strike of Terminus Fire. It scorched her left side.
Her clothes tore open, exposing soft flesh. Her hood fell away, revealing half of her silver-white hair. She landed gracefully, and their gazes locked in a straight line. The “greeting” had landed successfully. Both sized each other up, neither making another move.
After a few seconds of standoff, the girl spoke first. She adjusted her half-burned hood, hiding everything but her silver-white hair:
“Hello. My name is Lydia. If I remember right, you’re Leia? Or Xuefei?”
“Go all out, you bastard.”
Xuefei stood rooted, dark miasma radiating from her entire body. Only her eyes, brimming with contempt, stood out sharply against the blackness.
“If you don’t go all out and give me a good show, prepare to die a miserable death.”
Lydia ignored Xuefei’s slightly manic words and murmured softly, “This shouldn’t be… Even in a normal situation, I wouldn’t be suppressed this badly.”
But even those faint words were caught by Xuefei.
“Take a look behind you, pitiful god.”
Lydia turned. This was the second time in years she’d felt genuine shock—the first had been when Xuefei suppressed her.
Gone?
The breach in the Evil Dragon Domain… was gone?
That was the shield the god had painstakingly crafted. Yet Xuefei had seen through its mechanism in an instant, catching them off guard.
It was the first time she had ever seen someone with such ridiculously over-the-top combat talent.
“No wonder I got pinned down so fast. So this has been your home turf from the start?”
“I advise you to beat me before the Second Layer Domain descends. Otherwise, you’ll end up as everyone’s plaything.”
“Plaything? A bunch of girls—what are you planning to do with me? Actually, scratch that. Sounds even better,” Lydia replied with a calm smile. She brushed the dust off her clothes. Their brief exchange had given Xuefei a moment to regain her composure, and she started mulling over her next move.
“…What a utterly boring question.”
But the moment that certain matter crossed her mind, the rage burning in her heart refused to die down.
Her gaze drifted nearly a hundred meters away, to the Vampire Princess cradled in General Setra’s arms.
“What did you plant in Sophia’s body? When did you do it? If you don’t remove it right now, I’ll kill you.”
However, harming her fellow Demon clansmen wasn’t the primary reason for Xuefei’s uncontrollable fury.
Sophia’s body harbored a trap meticulously designed by the Gods.
And that meant her actions had long been under the control of those bastards. The thing concealed within her—what could only be called a “sin of the Gods”—had even tricked the world’s cycle during the Second Playthrough, lingering intact inside her body.
That’s right…
Sophia had been a crucial turning point for the Hero Party in the First Playthrough, a pivotal figure who changed everything. Without the identity card she provided, the Hero Party never could have slipped past the Seven Demon Kings’ legions of underhanded minions to pinpoint the Evil Dragon’s location.
The fact that her body held such a flawlessly sealed divine trap also proved that Sophia in the First Playthrough had never stood a chance against Xuefei…
In other words, every decision—right or wrong—had its outcome preordained by the Gods.
It was all their fault…
All of it, because of the Gods.
Perhaps afraid her seething resentment would harm the child nestled against her chest, Xuefei reined in her dangerous aura and spoke gravely instead.
“I’m not giving you any more time. Go take out whatever belongs to you from Sophia’s body—now.”
“If I do that for you, will you let me go?” Lydia asked with a wry smile.
“No.”
“…”
Lydia had no idea what sound to make.
