Chapter 45: Xiao Hei

“Roar roar roar!!!”

A massive figure streaked across the sky, its enormous body nearly blotting out the clouds.

The next moment…

「Boom!!!」

That terrifying form crashed onto the ground like a meteor, sending up a cloud of dust that engulfed the entire battlefield.

Even the whole forest trembled violently.

“Cough cough cough—what on earth is happening!”

Aurelia and Skarn hurriedly waved away the dust, still unaware of what had arrived.

Sera, however, had already dropped the White Orb in panic and was fleeing madly, her voice trembling with fear and chaos.

“Are you kidding me! Are you kidding me! How can there possibly be a Dragon here!!! What the…pffft!”

As she spoke, a dragon tail covered in pitch-black scales and sharp bony spikes tore through the dust and swept fiercely toward Sera.

She couldn’t dodge in time and was sent flying like a broken kite, tumbling across the ground before crashing heavily into an earthen mound, lying still.

It was precisely that sweeping tail that scattered the dust, revealing the creature’s full form.

It was a Black Dragon.

Towering like a mountain, its ebony scales gleamed like armor forged in the abyss, each plate radiating a cold, hard luster.

Sharp bony spikes covered its thick neck, rising and falling with its breath.

Its wings spread wide, the wing membranes as deep and dark as the night, edged with hooked claws sharp enough to tear through anything that stood in its way.

From deep within its throat rolled a rumble like distant thunder, a roar like the trembling of the earth’s core.

The very air vibrated with the sound—a roar that was more than just noise, as if linked directly to the Heartstring of every living being present, freezing all their breaths.

Skarn, Aurelia, and the knights stood stunned in place.

A Dragon!

Why was there a Dragon here?!

A creature that should only exist in myth, how could it suddenly appear in the forest?!

“I can’t be… I must be dreaming…”

Aurelia swallowed hard, her hands trembling.

Fear gripped her—a pressure from her bloodline.

Bai struggled to get up from the ground.

She raised her head and looked at the gigantic dragon.

Her despair suddenly shifted to joy and surprise as she cried out a name.

“Xiao Hei!”

“Xiao Hei?”

Skarn and Aurelia stared wide-eyed at each other.

“You’re calling it?!”

Xiao Hei shielded Bai behind its massive frame.

It turned its huge head toward her, catching sight of the blood covering her hands and the purple bruises around her neck—an alarming sight.

The next moment, it suddenly unfurled its wings, like twin blades slicing through the night.

The dragon scales clashed with a metallic clang as its furious roar pierced the sky, shaking the air like the eruption of a thousand volcanoes.

Its crimson slit pupils narrowed to thin lines as it glared at everyone present.

Then it fixed its gaze on the trembling, frightened monsters cowering on the ground.

Sharp dragon teeth glowed with Black Flame.

[Boom boom boom boom boom!!!]

The massive dragon opened its abyssal maw, releasing a viscous stream of Black Flame.

The air hissed with corrosive cries.

Where the black fire swept, the light warped and melted as if being devoured.

The monsters were completely engulfed by the Black Flame.

When the fire died down, only a deep crater several hundred meters long remained, stretching into the depths of the forest.

Black-purple gas still lingered above the scorched earth, burning the ground fiercely.

Not a trace of the monsters remained.

Skarn and the others were so terrified by the dragon’s overwhelming power that they could barely speak.

Only Aurelia managed to gulp and say, “Such terrifying strength… all of them gone in an instant…”

In just minutes since the Black Dragon’s arrival, dozens of Vampire Beasts and a Vampire were completely wiped out.

Yet the dragon’s fury seemed far from spent.

It glared fiercely and turned its head toward Aurelia and the others.

“Xiao Hei, calm down! They’re Bai’s friends!”

Bai hurriedly shouted to stop it.

But the Black Dragon no longer heard anything.

Its eyes blazed with unrelenting rage.

It opened its abyssal jaws again.

The surrounding air collapsed inward, forming a purple Black Flame orb.

The violent swirling of the energy alone made it extremely difficult for all the knights present to maintain their footing.

“Great Bright Goddess…”

Skarn’s voice trembled.

Even he was overwhelmed by the sight of that overwhelming power gathering.

Just as the Black Flame was about to be unleashed, Bai’s voice rang out once more.

“Xiao Hei, if you keep this up, I’m going to get mad, you know!”

“Roar… grumble grumble…”

The Black Flame in its mouth vanished instantly, and even the deafening roar dulled.

Xiao Hei retracted its fangs and didn’t even roar.

It lowered its massive head and gently nudged Bai, who had crossed her arms and pouted as if pretending to be angry.

Bai turned her head and snorted.

“Bai has told you so many times not to spit Black Orbs for no reason.

Every time you burn the courtyard clean, and I end up getting scolded by Yarabella-sama.

Now you nearly burned down the whole forest.”

Xiao Hei whined pitifully again, stretching out a tongue bigger than Bai herself to lick her from head to toe like a puppy.

Before Bai could say anything else, Aurelia’s anxious voice rang out behind her.

“Bai! What are you doing? Get away from that dragon!”

Suddenly, Xiao Hei whirled around and roared angrily at Aurelia.

Its slit pupils narrowed instantly, and its wings spread wide like a cat puffed up in alarm.

“Xiao Hei!”

Bai frowned and scolded once more.

“Grumble…”

Xiao Hei deflated again.

Bai turned her head and smiled at Aurelia.

“Don’t worry, Xiao Hei is my friend. It won’t hurt you.”

“Friend?! You mean this Black Dragon is your friend?!”

Skarn couldn’t hold back any longer and shouted.

They had already had enough trouble dealing with the Vampire.

Then suddenly, a Black Dragon from legend appeared, swatting the Vampire into a pit without even knowing if it was dead or not.

And now it was running up to Bai like a pitiful abandoned puppy.

You say it won’t hurt us?

It was clearly ready to burn us all to ashes just moments ago!

“Captain! Vice Captain!”

The remaining knights, though unsure of what had happened, hurried over to help Aurelia and Skarn up when they saw the Vampire was gone and the Vampire Beasts had fled.

“I’m fine,” Skarn said, forcing himself to stand, but his eyes remained wary of the Black Dragon.

He swallowed hard again as the ancient aura from those vertical pupils seemed to shake his very soul.

Bai raised her small fist and lightly tapped Xiao Hei twice, though the blows were so gentle it was clear she didn’t want to hurt him.

Still, Xiao Hei let out a few pitiful cries as if truly hurt.

“How did you end up here? I thought you didn’t like the human world,” Bai asked.

Xiao Hei grunted softly.

“Looking for me… Xiao Hei, do you miss me that much?”

Xiao Hei lowered its head, gently licking the blood on Bai’s hands as it answered her unspoken question…

[Bai, I missed you so much. Why did you leave me?]