Leopold's Battle

Leopold bent over, hands on his knees, panting heavily.

He hadn't run very far with Blake before stopping—not because of a sudden burst of conscience, but because he had suddenly realized one thing: if these two elves died underground, the Yegati Empire would definitely investigate to the very end. When that happened, whether the Bronzebeard Tribe was involved or not, the flames of war would inevitably spread to the goblins.

Gorn needed their strength to launch the unification war, and they needed the goblins' intelligence, supplies, and cover to carry out their revival plan.

Therefore, Ilovina could not die, and Shirwin could not die. If they died, the goblins would be dragged into it; if the goblins were dragged into it, they would have nowhere left to hide!

So, he turned around and ran back, with Blake swearing and grumbling right behind him.

“Let go of that girl!” Blake bellowed.

Carlyle slowly turned around, his face filled with disbelief.

“...You came back?” Carlyle tilted his head. “I clearly saw you run faster than rabbits just now.”

Leopold straightened up, finally catching his breath.

“Anyway, we're protecting that person!” Leopold got into a stance, ready for a major fight.

“Just the two of you?” Carlyle's tone carried a near-sincere confusion. “Hahaha! Interesting, so interesting!”

Shirwin closed her eyes. She did not believe these two young dragons, who had only undergone a single slumber, could defeat the Seventh Seat of the Blade Shadow Epic. That was the most famous assassination organization on the entire continent.

Not to mention that Carlyle was possessed by a shadow spirit. Unless they could use Holy Light magic or possessed the Shadow Blessing, with the strength of these two young dragons, they probably wouldn't last more than a few seconds...

Leopold, of course, had no idea what Shirwin was thinking. He knew there was a vast disparity in strength, but he had no way back. Since he had already stood up, he couldn't very well retreat again right in front of the enemy, could he?

So, he could only brace himself and take a stance.

Carlyle tilted his head and watched him for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed.

“Your stance is completely wrong,” Carlyle said. “Your center of gravity is too far forward, your left shoulder is pressed too low, and you don't even know where to put your right hand... Kid, is this your first time fighting someone?”

Leopold's mouth twitched.

“Leopold, get out of the way!” Blake had already charged from the side, three ice spikes condensing in his palm. “Nordus—”

Carlyle's silver-white rapier drew an almost invisible arc in the air. Before Blake could even finish chanting his spell, the tip of the blade was already pressed against his throat.

“...Too slow.” Carlyle stood behind Blake, his voice tinged with disappointment. “Hey, do you really have this little respect for a swordsman?”

Blake froze in place. Gritting his teeth, a massive blue dragon instantly filled half the space of the mine shaft, and Carlyle backed away with a smile.

Blake's massive head lowered, his grayish-blue vertical pupils glaring down at the tiny elf. His breath carried a freezing mist, causing the temperature of the entire mine shaft to plummet once again.

“Blake! Don't engage him in close-quarters combat!” Leopold shouted from a distance, but Blake lunged forward regardless.

A massive dragon claw, carrying the howling wind, slapped down at Carlyle.

Boom!

Debris flew everywhere as a deep crater was smashed into the floor of the mine shaft. However, Carlyle had already vanished from the spot, reforming behind Blake's tail.

“What a massive body...” Carlyle's voice carried a hint of admiration as he shook off the frost condensing on his rapier. “But being so large is actually a disadvantage in a narrow mine shaft like this.”

Blake whipped his tail violently. The thick tail swept across, but Carlyle avoided it with a light leap.

Immediately after, a freezing dragon breath spewed from Blake's mouth, exploding along the ground and kicking up a thick sheet of ice mist in the mine shaft.

As the ice mist spread and obscured their vision, Leopold seized the opportunity. He slipped along the rock wall, attempting to flank from the side.

Roar—

Blake let out a painful cry, seemingly pierced by a sharp blade. His massive dragon body writhed violently, crashing into the rock walls on both sides and causing countless stones to rain down.

Leopold's hand, pressed against the rock wall, suddenly clenched. He saw a deep-to-the-bone wound on Blake's leg. The gray-blue dragon panted heavily, yet he did not back down.

Carlyle landed on a protruding rock, the tip of his silver-white rapier stained with blue blood. He glanced down at the blade and flicked it, sending droplets of blood splattering onto the floor, where they instantly froze into ice.

“Dragon blood, truly a fine thing.” Carlyle's voice carried a hint of amusement. “Selling your corpse would fetch a handsome price.”

“Leopold, run!” Blake bellowed at the top of his lungs, his eyes locked onto Carlyle. “Get out of here! I'll hold him off!”

Roar— Blake spewed his freezing dragon breath once more, but Carlyle's figure blurred, turning into a shadow and vanishing again.

“Futile!” With several swift thrusts of his sharp sword, numerous wounds burst open across Blake's body!

Leopold stood in place, unmoving.

His gaze fell upon the wounds on Blake's body, then upon the rapier in Carlyle's hand, dripping with dragon blood. His clenched fists trembled slightly—but not from fear.

He was furious.

“Ah, why do I want to kill you so badly?” Leopold covered his face, the shadow beneath him starting to squirm.

As Leopold's hand moved away from his face, something began to awaken deep within his dragon pupils. The shadow at his feet began to crawl, creeping up the rock walls.

Carlyle, who was about to deliver the final strike, paused. He turned his head, his gaze passing over Blake's trembling dragon body to land on Leopold.

“...Huh?”

Carlyle's pupils contracted slightly. “Shadow power? You, a black dragon... no, what on earth are you—”

“Umbra Devorare!”

The darkness from the floor, the walls, and the ceiling all surged and churned, transforming into countless pitch-black, razor-sharp shadow claws that closed in on Carlyle like a rising tide!

Carlyle's pupils shrank to pinpricks. He retreated rapidly through the darkness, his dark elf night vision barely allowing him to track the incoming wave of shadows.

Something was wrong. This black dragon was using a short-chant spell, and he hadn't cast any enhancement magic. Why was his shadow magic so incredibly powerful?

Could it be!

Shirwin, still bound in place, slowly nodded in shock. She couldn't be mistaken—this black dragon had been bestowed the Shadow Blessing!

Leopold himself hadn't expected the incantation to slip out of his mouth so naturally.

But regardless of how, he was going to kill Carlyle here!

Carlyle darted and dodged rapidly through the darkness. After all, he was a dark elf—an understanding of shadows was engraved in his very bloodline. Three shadow blades whipped past. Carlyle was forced to flip repeatedly in midair, but another shadow blade still grazed his shoulder!

As droplets of dark purple blood splattered onto the rock wall, Carlyle's expression finally changed.

“Shadow Blessing... You're a black dragon, how could you possibly have the Shadow Blessing?!”

Swish!

The shadows around Leopold immediately expanded into an oval shield, sparks flying as the rapier scraped against it.

Having missed his strike, Carlyle quickly retreated, landing on a protruding rock ten paces away. He looked down at the bleeding wound on his left shoulder.

“Tch... I was caught off guard.”

He raised his head, his gaze passing over the shadow shield to land on Leopold. The black dragon stood behind the shadow shield, breathing heavily, his golden vertical pupils glaring intently at him.

In truth, Leopold was barely holding himself up. He felt incredibly hungry; casting “Umbra Devorare” had consumed a massive amount of his magic power, leaving him unable to unleash another spell.

Carlyle clearly noticed this as well. He narrowed his eyes, his gaze landing on Leopold's slightly trembling knees.

Blake lay not far away, his massive dragon body still bleeding as he struggled to stand.

“Blake... don't move,” Leopold whispered in a low voice. “I'll handle him!”