Four years later.
The Great Gana Forest.
Daviel released his Dragon Fear at a leisurely pace, herding a group of forest horned deer toward a swamp.
At the very back of the herd were three four-meter-long stags,
with antlers at least two meters long atop their heads.
Normally, if they encountered ordinary beasts, they could choose to fight back with these antlers.
Most beasts would flee in fear of these antlers.
But facing a young black dragon, they had no choice but to flee in panic.
The antlers they usually relied on for survival actually created greater resistance as they ran.
As a result, they were forced to fall to the very back.
Whenever they sensed the little black dragon in the sky spitting acidic breath, they would take the initiative to turn around and block it with their heads.
Working together, they used their antlers to block most of the acid.
Although the cost of doing so was that their antlers became horribly corroded and pitted.
But it was still better than being eaten by a black dragon.
If the antlers were gone, they could grow back, but if their lives were gone, they were truly gone.
At the very front of the herd was the five-meter-long stag leader.
He possessed the strongest body in the herd.
Even though his antlers rubbed against the air during his run, creating strong resistance, he could still run at the very front.
Leading the herd so they wouldn't scatter.
This was the source of his pride, and also the reason he could become the leader.
When the herd reached the edge of the swamp, the stag looked left and right.
There was no longer a path nearby. Ahead lay the swamp, and behind was the black dragon.
He felt a moment of hesitation in his heart.
Entering the swamp meant he might drown inside, but if the black dragon caught up, he would also die!
“Roar!!!”
A loud dragon roar accompanied by Dragon Fear swept over from behind!
The stag leader quickly made a decision.
Its limbs exerted sudden force, leaping toward the swamp.
Entering the swamp only meant he might die,
but if he was caught by the black dragon, he would definitely die!
However, just as the stag leader was about to enter the water, Irene, who had suppressed her Dragon Fear and lurked in the water for a long time, suddenly lunged out.
The murky swamp had perfectly concealed the little dragon girl.
Furthermore, over the years, her mastery over concealing her presence had become exceptionally refined.
Her Dragon Fear was not leaked in the slightest.
It wasn't until Irene burst out of the water that the stag discovered to its shock that a black dragon was actually hiding in the swamp!
By the time he reacted, it was already too late; there was nowhere to gain leverage to dodge in mid-air.
Irene's sharp claws dug into his chest, and her razor-sharp teeth bit into his neck.
Forcibly dragging the strong forest horned deer into the swamp.
Seeing this, the other forest horned deer instantly fell into chaos.
Some deer plunged into the swamp, struggling frantically to swim away, while others ran back in a panic.
Still others were so terrified they didn't dare move, a foul stench spreading from them.
The orderly momentum they had just now was completely gone.
Ignoring these terrified forest horned deer, Daviel flew above the swamp.
Aiming at the stag leader who was still struggling after being dragged into the water by Irene, he spat out a blast of acidic breath.
It struck the target with precision.
The stag leader, who was attempting to save himself in the swamp, let out a shrill scream of pain.
Immediately after,
Daviel dived down from the sky, slamming heavily onto the stag,
using the impact to help Irene drag it into the depths of the swamp.
Leaving only a trail of bubbles continuously bursting on the water's surface.
Under the joint efforts of the two black dragons, the strong forest horned deer quickly stopped struggling.
After confirming that their prey was completely dead, Daviel and Irene began to tear into the flesh and feast.
Over the course of four years, the changes in the two little black dragons were undoubtedly immense.
The stag leader that they once feared was no longer their match.
In fact, the two little black dragons had now entered a period of rapid growth as juvenile dragons, and their sizes had boomed.
Irene's body length had now reached an astonishing five meters, with a wingspan of seven meters.
Daviel's body length had also reached four meters, with a wingspan of over six meters.
Even without using such sneak attacks, the two siblings could have killed this stag in a head-on clash.
But that would be too troublesome, and there was a possibility of getting injured.
Thus, Irene had proposed an ambush, leading to the scene before them.
As for Mother Dragon, after realizing the two young dragons could support themselves, she simply stopped hunting and left the two hatchlings to roam free.
Now, she did nothing but sleep every day, not necessarily waking up even once a year.
Even if the two young dragons failed to hunt and starved, she wouldn't care.
Out of sheer necessity, when they were starving, the two dragon hatchlings would often search the forest for edible fruits and mushrooms to fill their bellies.
Though the taste couldn't compare to meat, it was still better than eating dirt.
Relying on the black dragon's incredibly high poison resistance, the two dragons were fortunate enough that during their years of eating mushrooms, they never once hallucinated and saw strange little people after a meal.
After eating their fill, Irene and Daviel each grabbed a forest horned deer trapped in the swamp, killed it, and flew back with it.
These food supplies could be buried in the swamp near the dragon nest; sealed away from the air, they could be preserved for a long time.
This meant they wouldn't need to hunt again for a while.
Although every time they dug up the buried food from the swamp, it would have turned incredibly sour and smelly.
Eating it was like eating kimchi that had been fermented for a very long time.
“Hey, Sis, let's have another fight after we get back.”
Flying in the air, Daviel issued a challenge to his sister.
With age catching up and seeing that they were about to be kicked out of the house by Mother Dragon, this guy always wanted to overthrow his savage sister's rule before they left.
To bring a perfect end to his childhood.
Though he had never succeeded even once.
“Forget it, I'm afraid I'll beat the deer meat you just ate right out of you.”
Irene tilted her head, glanced at her foolish brother, and curled her lip.
Over the years, this cheap dragon brother of hers would get cocky at the slightest thing, shouting a highly chuunibyou line that Irene had taught him...
“The three-year term is up...”
And then try to challenge her status in the family.
Only to be... turned into a punching bag by Irene.
Even so, over all these years, Daviel remained persistent, always wanting to challenge Irene.
It could be said that he displayed the black dragon's vengeful nature to the absolute fullest.
Irene was starting to think her dragon brother was a masochist.
If this were the technological world of her past life, he could probably be called blessed with a natural masochistic constitution.
“Tsk, that's not necessarily true. I feel incredibly powerful right now!”
Daviel grinned, revealing a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth.
“You said that last time, too.”
Irene rolled her eyes.
“And then I beat you until you threw up all over the place, beat you into your own vomit, and then beat you with your vomit.”
“Didn't I tell you never to bring up that dark past again!”
Daviel's golden dragon eyes widened dramatically.
“Wait, there's something going on.”
Irene suddenly stopped in mid-air, cutting off Daviel's rambling.
Daviel was a bit dazed. Following Irene's gaze, he saw several figures darting through the forest.
The distance was quite far, and those people hadn't noticed them.
Even with the extraordinary vision of a dragon, which was comparable to Eagle Eye, they could only vaguely make out that it was a group of humanoid creatures.
They couldn't see their exact appearances or attire.
“I—”
Before Daviel could shout, Irene stuffed a claw into his mouth, choking him so he couldn't speak.
“Mmph, mmph!”
Daviel blinked to signal her, and only then did Irene release her claw, whispering:
“Conceal your presence. Let's follow them and see what they're up to.”
“Alright.”
Daviel gave a simple reply, pulling back his Dragon Fear and suppressing his presence to the absolute minimum.
In matters that required using his brain, he had already habitually deferred to Irene.
Rate on N.U.
