"Enemy attack! Dragons! A dragon flock!"
The island finally erupted with heart-rending screams of terror.
The lizardman warriors, who just moments ago were immersed in dreams of victory, now collapsed completely like an ant colony doused with boiling water.
Well-trained soldiers seemed so insignificant and fragile before the true wrath of dragons.
"My ships! My treasures!"
Toxa's eyes nearly burst from their sockets, watching the fleet he had acquired at great cost instantly turn into a sea of flames. His heart bled. "Crossbows! Man the crossbows! Shoot them down!"
Following closely behind Tyrone's torrent of flames, the White Dragon Disos and the Black Dragon Saga also unleashed earth-shaking roars.
Disos swooped down, his icy frost pouring out like a burst glacial flood towards the port's flank, instantly spewing freezing breath at those lizardman warriors attempting to board the ships.
The injured Saga, bearing deep-seated hatred, gritted his teeth against the pain in his wing and skimmed low over the ground. His deadly acid breath descended like a rainstorm of dark green, precisely drenching the crowd of lizardmen.
Meanwhile, the sea around the fang-shaped reef suddenly boiled, and countless Bullywug warriors broke through the waves, their cold spear tips gleaming with a chilling light.
The Bullywug warriors let out croaking war cries, surging forward like a raging green tide. Seizing the moment when the lizardmen on shore had completely lost command and fallen into absolute chaos, they fiercely charged the beachhead, launching a ruthless landing assault!
Xia'er's cold draconic pupils pierced through the chaotic smoke and fleeing figures, precisely locking onto the lizardman chieftain Toxa on the platform.
Without the slightest hesitation, Xia'er opened her massive maw. A stream of deadly, sickly-sweet dark green poison mist, like a poisoned arrow loosed from its string, tore through the air, shooting straight down!
"Boom!"
A violent surge of poison mist erupted, carrying a hint of the pungent spiciness unique to Black Oil, hurtling towards Toxa!
Seeing this, Toxa was utterly horrified.
The dark green poison mist tearing through the sky carried the scent of death, instantly enveloping Toxa's vision. At this critical, life-or-death moment, the instinct for survival overwhelmed everything. Without a second thought, Toxa thrust his hand into a rough leather pouch hanging at his waist and viciously tore apart a scroll inside that emitted a faint arcane glow!
That was one of the life-saving trump cards he had obtained from the Human Merchant Caravan in exchange for a White Dragon corpse!
The green light that had previously obscured Saga's vision at sea was also from a similar type of magic scroll.
"Hum!"
As the scroll was torn, a visible ring of wind pressure abruptly erupted with Toxa at its center!
The powerful air current, like an invisible heavy hammer, slammed hard into the onrushing poison mist.
The deadly poison mist was instantly and violently blown off course by this sudden gale, veering to the left and right. Several lizardmen who couldn't dodge in time were immediately enveloped, letting out piercing screams.
"So close!"
Sweat beaded on Toxa's forehead as he let out a long sigh of relief.
"Blocked it?"
A flicker of surprise also flashed within Xia'er's draconic eyes.
Who would have thought that a nearly primitive tribal lizardman clan would possess such a treasure?
Obtained through trade with humans?
What could this lizardman have used to exchange for a magic scroll crafted by a human mage?
If the goods were so valuable, wouldn't it be simpler to just slaughter the lizardman tribe and take everything? Why bother with trade?
Applying typical evil dragon logic and putting herself in their place, Xia'er felt the Human Merchant Caravan was being too honorable.
But it didn't matter. Blocking it once was fine, but could this lizardman chieftain keep blocking indefinitely?
Thinking this, Xia'er immediately spread her wings, hovering in mid-air.
Meanwhile, the ecstatic joy of a narrow escape and an even more violent ferocity surged into Toxa's mind. He saw Xia'er hovering motionless in the air, her massive wings spread wide to either side. In Toxa's limited understanding, this was clearly the posture of a raptor that had been thwarted, preparing to create distance and regroup.
"Trying to run?"
Toxa let out a roar. The powerful muscles in his hind legs bulged, and his scaled arms instantly channeled his full strength.
He tightly gripped the long spear tipped with a sharp iron point, leaning his body back like a fully drawn bowstring. He intended to use all his might to hurl this weapon, imbued with hatred and greed, at the emerald silhouette in the sky.
However, he had misjudged Xia'er's intent.
Xia'er spreading her wings was not a retreat, but the prelude to an attack.
Just as Toxa was gathering strength for his throw, the unique glands beneath Xia'er's massive wing membranes, covered in emerald scales, suddenly swelled!
"Hiss!"
In an instant, several streams of dark green corrosive venom shot out from beneath the wing roots like high-pressure water jets! They crisscrossed, their coverage area almost completely blanketing the entire high platform where Toxa stood!
Caught completely off guard, Toxa's throwing motion was instantly interrupted as this deadly venom rain poured down on him!
However, Xia'er's assault did not stop there.
Just as Toxa was scrambling to dodge the venom rain, the magical energy around Xia'er surged violently. Three crimson rays, each as thick as a finger but containing terrifying high temperatures, tore through the air. Following the gaps between the venom sprays, they shot straight towards Toxa!
Toxa now had only two choices: either withstand the venom, or withstand the rays!
There was no avoiding them.
And between these two choices, Toxa chose a third.
Toxa's brain froze, hesitating for a mere moment.
Yet, that moment was enough. The venom poured down like a storm, hissing as it corroded his iron armor, causing his exposed scales to instantly fester!
"Hiss, Aah!"
Toxa let out a shriek, staggering backward. But the scorching rays had already arrived, precisely piercing through Toxa's rotting flesh!
In an instant, the venom corroded his organs, and the rays burned through his heart. His body collapsed like mud, black blood gushing forth, his forked tongue hanging limp and powerless.
[Killed lizardman chieftain 'Toxa Blackscale' (Challenge Rating 8). Reward obtained: Adaptive Dragon Scale Growth.]
"Adaptive Dragon Scale Growth?"
Xia'er folded her wings, hovering in mid-air, somewhat puzzled about what this new reward entailed.
Judging by the name, it should be a method to enhance her dragon scales.
Not bad at all.
Xia'er gave a slight nod, then spread her wings once more, continuing to hunt down lizardmen in other directions.
Nearby, the Red Dragon Tyrone, who had destroyed two wooden ships with his first breath attack, witnessed everything Xia'er had done. His draconic pupils abruptly contracted.
Scorching Ray?
Venom spray from her wings?
What in the world is going on?
Tyrone knew that Green Dragons possessed some inherited spellcasting abilities, but was Scorching Ray part of a Green Dragon's inherited spells? He'd never heard of that!
And what about this wing-sprayed venom attack? Wasn't venom a Black Dragon's specialty?
Seeing this, Tyrone grew even more wary.
If that's the case, then it means...
When she fought me, Xia'er wasn't even using her full strength!
Although Tyrone hadn't fully unleashed his own power either, he had used roughly seventy percent of his strength.
Witnessing Xia'er's performance today, Tyrone felt that during their fight, Xia'er had used at most fifty percent of her power!
A sense of powerlessness instantly washed over Tyrone. He then looked towards the Black Dragon Saga circling in the sky nearby. Without hesitation, he beat his wings and flew over, arriving beside Saga. Making no attempt to hide his curiosity, he opened his mouth and asked directly, "Was Xia'er like this before? Able to spray venom from her wings and cast spells?"
Hearing this, Saga was momentarily stunned, but after glancing at Tyrone, he replied in a low voice, "Casting spells is the first time I've seen that. The wing-sprayed venom... she's done that before."
"Did you teach her?"
The Red Dragon lifted his head proudly. "I want to learn too. If you can teach me how to spray venom, I'll acknowledge you're not just a 'Blackscale,' but a true member of the great dragon race!"
"I didn't teach her."
Saga shook his head, ignoring Tyrone's arrogance, and continued, "I don't know how Xia'er does it either. But I believe Xia'er is under the protection of the Dragon Mother, a special Chromatic Dragon... If Xia'er doesn't volunteer the information, I won't ask!"
Saga wasn't a foolish White Dragon. He had naturally realized Xia'er's peculiarities long ago, but he hadn't shown any sign of astonishment.
After all, in Saga's view, Xia'er was blessed by the evil Dragon Mother Tiamat. It was only natural for her to be able to master all the abilities of the Chromatic Dragons.
She was the destined true dragon, the one who would lead the Chromatic Dragons back to greatness!
"Under the protection of the Dragon Mother?"
Upon hearing this, Tyrone immediately murmured to himself, "It seems I too must develop some faith in the Dragon Mother."