"But now it looks like she has developed her own forces. Deldi, interested in taking a look?"
Hearing Vienna's words, Deldi, who was also a green dragon, understood instantly and revealed a malicious smile.
"Of course. I have no reason to refuse."
After the two dragons reached an agreement, they concealed their presence. With their scales blending into the foliage, they were difficult to spot as they moved through the woods.
"Daring to stretch their claws into our territory... it is time they paid a proper price."
The two green wyrmlings wasted no time, tailing the slowly retreating White Crystal knights.
Xiao Shunzi's pace faltered as he looked toward the dense forest in the distance.
A White Crystal knight beside him was stunned by this.
"My lord, what is it?"
Xiao Shunzi did not respond. He stared for a few seconds, his brow furrowing.
'An illusion?'
But slowly, he shook his head.
'No, impossible. With my master's blessing, my perception has increased significantly. This feeling of being watched by a dragon is all too familiar.'
But what puzzled Xiao Shunzi was that even after spreading out his perception, he sensed nothing.
This situation meant either there was truly nothing there, or the opponent was far stronger than him and was intentionally hiding.
"My lord?"
The dragon-blooded kobold spoke again, and Xiao Shunzi pulled back his thoughts.
"Forget it. Retreat quickly."
"Yes!"
The group of followers picked up their pace. Xiao Shunzi still felt a lingering sense of unease.
Once they had moved far away, the sound of a soft sigh of relief echoed in the trees.
"Whew—I didn't expect this follower's perception to be so strong."
Beside her, Deldi withdrew his gaze.
"Vienna, this..."
Deldi frowned. Green dragons possessed high intelligence, so he naturally understood what this implied.
But the female green dragon beside him slowly shook her head.
"No need to worry. We will just wait until they are off guard, then pluck one of them to ask some questions."
"Alright."
The two dragons followed for about two hours, but they both eventually grew impatient. During this time, the group remained perfectly organized and stayed alert to their surroundings, leaving no opportunity to snatch a straggler.
It gave the two dragons the illusion that they were facing a well-trained human knight order.
'What exactly is going on? Based on that white dragon's intelligence, how could her followers be so smart?'
'Could we have identified them incorrectly?'
But soon, Vienna slowly shook her head again.
'No, that is impossible. This aura belongs to that idiot. Even if I were mistaken, there is no doubt they are white dragon followers. No other white dragon's followers should have such high intelligence.'
Seeing Vienna sink into doubt, Deldi chimed in.
"Should we just drop it?"
Vienna stared at the retreating dragon-blooded kin. After thinking for a few seconds, she shook her head.
"No rush. In the end, it is still just a white dragon. So what if they are a bit smarter? Can they compare to us green dragons?"
"Besides, among the chromatic dragons, we are the third strongest. Why should we be afraid of a bottom-dweller?"
"True. And there are two of us, so..."
Deldi suddenly saw the light. At the thought of this, the two dragons could no longer restrain themselves.
Once they followed the group to a minotaur tribe, the two dragons decided to stop observing and strike immediately.
"Roar!!"
A violent draconic roar rang out, and a terrifying draconic majesty weighed down on the hearts of every living creature.
Xiao Shunzi, who was preparing to rest in the minotaur tribe, was stunned and immediately sensed trouble.
Neither the cry nor the draconic majesty was familiar to him.
Sure enough, in the next second, two massive green dragons charged into the air, revealing their not-so-formidable emerald-colored draconic bodies.
"Quick! Prepare for battle!!"
All the White Crystal knights who had arrived at the minotaur tribe, as well as those stationed there, entered a combat-ready state.
Just as Vienna and Deldi were preparing to start a slaughter before questioning them about the white dragon's whereabouts, Vienna's gaze inadvertently swept over the area. That single look caused her dive to falter.
"What is it?"
Noticing Vienna's hesitation, Deldi also made an emergency brake.
Vienna did not explain. She beat her dragon wings with all her might, turned around, and fled, her speed reaching its absolute limit.
Although he was confused, Deldi decided to follow Vienna for now.
Beside Xiao Shunzi was another team of White Crystal knights stationed there—Furiel's dragon-blooded kin.
Watching the two green dragons flee in a hurry, Xiao Shunzi let out a massive sigh of relief.
He was certain that with these few people, they could not have contended with those two dragons, even though their sizes were far smaller than Jonavili's and roughly equal to Gris's.
After his relief came deep confusion.
Why did they run? Given their strength, it wouldn't have been hard to take down this small group.
Given Xiao Shunzi's kobold brain, if he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't think about it anymore. He would just report it to Jonavili.
'Great master, sorry to disturb you, but there is something I need to report.'
'Speak.'
'Just now, two green dragons roughly the same size as Lord Gris prepared to attack us, or perhaps the minotaur tribe.'
'But for some reason, just as they were about to launch their attack, they fled in a hurry.'
...Silence. The silence lasted for over ten seconds. Just as Xiao Shunzi thought Jonavili had cut the connection, a faint response came through.
'Mhm. I know.'
Xiao Shunzi wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but he heard a trace of coldness in his master's voice.
Meanwhile, Jonavili, who was drinking with Furiel and Gris, set down a large jar of apple cider and looked into the distance.
"Vienna, Deldi... Hehehe, it really has been a long time."
"Hey, big sis, what are you doing? If you don't want to drink that, give it to me."
Jonavili pulled her thoughts back, meeting Gris's confused gaze. Furiel, sitting to the side, looked indifferent, but the occasional glances she threw over betrayed her curiosity.
Jonavili slightly parted her draconic snout and shook her head gently.
"Just two rats from the gutter, nothing worth mentioning. Medusa, Liya, go get more meat."
"Yes, great master," they replied in unison.
Jonavili looked into the distance again and muttered to herself.
"We will meet again eventually. When that time comes..."
Jonavili picked up the jar of alcohol and took a sip, a chill hanging on her face.
"I will make you pay a bit of the price from back then."
On the other side, Vienna's speed did not falter for a moment as she continued flying for over an hour.
Deldi, who had been following closely behind her, finally couldn't take it anymore and hurriedly called out to her.
"Hey! I'm asking you, how much longer are we going to run? This isn't like you!"
Hearing Deldi's shout, Vienna finally snapped out of it.
Rate on N.U.
