Leopold's Plan

The dark red mouth rapidly expanded in Leopold's pupils, and the mucus dripping from between its barbs splashed onto the rock next to his front claw, producing another sizzling sound of corrosion.

“Leopold!” Blake shouted urgently. He wanted to rush over, but it was already too late.

Leopold could already smell the pungent odor of sulfur from the worm's mouth, and the edges of the barbs were almost biting down on the tip of his nose.

At that very instant of life and death, a beam of pure white light pierced through from the side!

“Ōrthos Luminar, Drakon Kaelthas—” (Orthodoxy of Radiance, Dragon Kaelthas—)

Isabella's voice echoed in the cave, carrying a solemnity Leopold had never heard before.

A dazzling sword of light condensed in front of Isabella. The glow around the edges of the blade illuminated the surrounding rock walls, bringing a touch of solemnity to the atmosphere of the cave.

In the next instant, the sword of light flew out!

The sword of light pierced through the worm's head, breaking out from the end of its carapace, and pinned the lava worm firmly to the stone wall of the cave.

Leopold panted heavily, his back pressed tight against the rock wall, the afterimage of that white light still lingering in his golden pupils.

Isabella stood in place, her front claws trembling slightly. The white dragon's scales were covered in a pale golden aura that was slowly fading. She was gasping, her gaze somewhat unfocused.

“Bella!” Leopold quickly scrambled to his feet and rushed to her side.

“I'm fine,” Isabella shook her head. “I just overexerted myself a bit. That just now... I've never tried it before. I didn't know I could do it either.”

Blake walked over from behind, having already finished off the worm with his frost breath. He stopped beside the worm's corpse, looking down at the puncture wound, then up at Isabella with a complex expression.

“Kaelthas... that is the bloodline of the White Dragon Royal Family,” Blake's voice dropped. “Isabella, you carry royal blood.”

Isabella nodded. “My full name is Isabella Sigrid von Kaelthas.”

The moment her words fell, the sound of the underground river seemed to fall silent for an instant.

Blake opened his mouth, then closed it, his grayish-blue vertical pupils scanning Isabella up and down several times. He bowed his head to Isabella.

Leopold stood in place, his mind still replaying the moment the sword of light pierced the worm.

The glow around the blade, the sound of the burning air, that awe-inspiring aura—his tail twitched upward unconsciously.

Magic! This stuff was real, and it was incredibly cool! What should he do? He really wanted to learn it.

But his inherited memories told him one thing: dragon magic was not mastered through study and practice, but by awakening the power in one's bloodline through slumber. Every long sleep was an inheritance of ancestral memories.

But in these days of being chased by angels and hiding in underground rivers, where would he find the chance to have a comfortable sleep?

“Leo?” Isabella's voice pulled him back. “What are you thinking about?”

“I was thinking...” Leopold shook his head, his golden pupils refocusing. “You're really amazing, Isabella.”

Isabella felt a bit embarrassed by Leopold's praise. The white dragon lowered her head slightly, her icy-blue eyes unable to help but drift elsewhere.

Blake still had his head lowered, his grayish-blue tail resting obediently on the ground, a completely different dragon from the hot-tempered Blake of earlier.

“Blake, you don't have to be like this...” Isabella had not yet recovered from her embarrassment.

Blake raised his head, a hint of hesitation flashing through his grayish-blue vertical pupils, but he quickly returned to normal.

“This worm's carapace is very thick, but it looks like there's plenty of meat,” Blake changed the subject, his tone noticeably restrained. “Let's drag it to the bank, clean it, and eat to recover our strength.”

The three little ones worked together to drag the lava worm's corpse onto a flat rock at the edge of the underground river. Leopold dug his claws in and ripped it open to both sides.

The dark red worm meat was revealed, emitting a faint steam.

Isabella leaned in and sniffed. “Better than I imagined.”

Blake had already unceremoniously torn off a piece of worm meat, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed twice. “...It's alright.”

Leopold also took a bite. To his surprise, the texture of the worm meat was not coarse at all; instead, it carried a roasted aroma similar to barbecued meat.

The three young dragons gathered around the rock and quietly finished the entire lava worm. Once the last piece of worm meat was eaten, Leopold stretched his body.

“Recovered about twenty percent,” Blake estimated. “At this rate, we should recover to at least fifty percent after three days.”

“Fifty percent is not enough.” Leopold lay down, his front claws resting on the edge of the rock as he looked downstream. “Grimm won't just sit around waiting over these three days either. The goblins will definitely be mobilizing and preparing for war.”

“Then what should we do?” Isabella asked, somewhat worried.

“First, we need to map out the terrain here.” Leopold turned his head. “At the very least, we must eliminate their information advantage in this area.”

“You're right,” Blake spoke, his tone much more stable than before. “Goblins are small, good at squeezing into crevices and climbing. Their familiarity with this underground area is not something we can match.”

“But we have our own advantages too.” Leopold stood up, shaking off the gravel and dust on his body. “We fly fast, our sense of smell is sharper than theirs, and our field of vision is wider. Three days is enough for us to get a general layout of this underground river system.”

Isabella also stood up. The white dragon tried opening and closing her wings. Nourished by the worm meat, the wound on her left wing had stopped bleeding. “Where do we start?”

“Isabella, you follow me,” Leopold said. “Blake, you're the fastest flier among us, so please scout upstream. Pay attention to the goblins' patrol routes and shift change frequencies, but don't get too close.”

Hearing this, Blake couldn't help but cough dryly.

“...Hmph, obviously.” He spread his wings, his tail swishing behind him. “Of course I'm the fastest. Leopold, you actually... have some eye for talent.”

Isabella couldn't help but laugh from the side.

“Ahem.” Blake coughed heavily and shook his head. “Don't waste time. I'll have the upstream patrol routes figured out before dark. You two had better do some actual work as well.”

Leopold watched Blake's grayish-blue figure head back upstream along the way they came, only withdrawing his gaze once the blue figure vanished around a corner.

“Do you need me to do something?” Isabella asked Leopold.

“Of course, Isabella. There's something very important.” Leopold took a step forward, staring at Isabella without moving.

Isabella felt a bit uncomfortable under his gaze, the tip of her white tail twitching slightly. “...What important thing? Tell me.”

Leopold suddenly lunged in front of Isabella. The Night Black Dragon's body temperature carried a warm pressure. He lowered his head, bringing his nose close to the wound on the inside of her left wing, and sniffed carefully.

“You—” Isabella stiffened all over, her wings instinctively pulling inward slightly, her body trembling in spite of herself.

Leopold didn't answer immediately. He took half a step back and tilted his head. “The edges of the wound have already begun to heal, and there's no strange smell. It shouldn't be anything serious...”

Isabella froze for a second, then let out a sigh of relief. “You startled me. I thought...”

“What did you think I was going to do?” Leopold looked up, his face full of innocence.

“...Nothing.” Isabella turned her head away.

Leopold was somewhat puzzled. Wasn't this just the diagnostic method of traditional Chinese medicine—look, listen, question, and feel? What was she so nervous about?