"Boom!"
Emerald venom poured down like a torrential storm, scorching rays streaked like fiery serpents. The Sahuagin riding the waves instantly exploded, clearly caught off guard.
The venom sizzled as it landed on scales, the stench of scorched, rotting flesh mixed with the salty tang of seawater spreading through the air. Fishmen struck by the rays were directly reduced to charred fragments, crimson blood staining large, dark patches across the sea's surface.
The fishmen were unprepared, their agonized screams rising one after another.
The leading fishman chieftain's pupils constricted sharply. Seeing over half his kin annihilated in an instant, he let out a piercing shriek: "Gugala!"
Before the chieftain's cry had even faded, his scaly, slippery body shot into the churning, grayish seawater like an arrow from a bow, stirring up a small patch of turbid spray.
The remaining fishmen lackeys, as if waking from a dream, began shrieking weirdly, scrambling over each other to plunge into the icy seawater that symbolized their escape route, intending to flee into the deep sea.
This Green Dragon was unusual, there was a problem!
Seeing this, a cold glint flashed in Xia'er's draconic eyes. Without the slightest hesitation, her barbed tail sliced through the air. Her massive, streamlined form followed close behind, plunging into the biting waters of the Sea of Frost like a depth charge dropped from above, sending a towering column of water skyward!
"Lady Xia'er!"
Rebecca let out a short, sharp cry of alarm in the air, her indigo wings flapping frantically as she hovered above where Xia'er had entered the water.
She had never seen a dragon so resolutely take the initiative to plunge deep into enemy territory, let alone enter the deep sea.
That was typically considered the absolute domain of the fishmen!
The emerald-green seawater instantly swallowed Xia'er's figure, leaving only churning foam and spreading ripples.
However, Xia'er's sensation was completely different.
The cold, salty water enveloping her brought not the slightest hindrance, but rather felt like a return to some primitive origin.
Xia'er's powerful dragon tail swung like a ship's rudder. Her body, covered in deep emerald scales, displayed astonishing agility and speed underwater, far beyond anything any land-dwelling creature could imagine!
Xia'er's combat prowess underwater was unparalleled. Among dragonkind, perhaps only Ocean Dragons or Sea Dragons could compare.
The reason was also very simple.
When Xia'er had killed the Bullywug chieftain Matras of Bright Scale Bay, she had obtained a talent called 'Underwater Swimming'. Now, this talent was being demonstrated to its fullest extent. The seawater was no longer resistance, but an extension of Xia'er's power!
Xia'er's draconic eyes were exceptionally clear in the dim underwater light, instantly locking onto several Sahuagin desperately diving deeper, trying to flee towards darker areas of rocky reefs.
The leading Sahuagin chieftain was paddling furiously, believing it had escaped with its life.
Yet, a chilling, terrifying pressure, carrying the intense scent of sulfur and deadly poison, surged towards it from behind like a tangible current!
It turned its head in terror, only to see that immense emerald shadow, which made its very soul tremble, closing in at an unbelievable speed. The enormous draconic maw opened soundlessly in the water, revealing rows of sharp teeth like the entrance to an abyss!
"Gurgle!!"
The fishman chieftain let out a despairing screech, futilely raising its trident.
But it was too late.
Xia'er's serrated upper and lower jaws snapped shut with crushing force.
"CRACK!"
The fishman chieftain's bones were easily pulverized. A horrifying sound transmitted through the water, mingling as the seawater instantly turned a murky mix of emerald and crimson. The chieftain's mangled limbs and fragments slowly sank into the depths.
[Killed Fishman Commander 'Kamehameha' (Challenge Rating 7). Reward Gained: 'Storm Resistance' Experience +1, Spell: Acid Splash.]
The panel flashed before her eyes. Without pause, Xia'er's tail powered another burst. Her body executed a nimble turn in the water, like the swiftest shark, pouncing on another Sahuagin warrior trying to slip away from the flank.
The fishman swung its bone spear in terror, stabbing forward. But Xia'er's powerful forelimb, covered in thick dragon scales, casually swatted it aside. The bone spear snapped with a crisp sound. Immediately after, her dragon claw clamped around the fishman's throat like an iron vise and squeezed!
Blood sprayed forth once more.
Then came the third, the fourth...
The remaining Sahuagin were like fish and shrimp thrown into boiling water. In the face of Xia'er's absolute strength, speed, and underwater dominance, any struggle seemed laughable and futile. The water churned red. A brutal slaughter played out cruelly in the silent underwater world, with only the dull sounds of cracking bones and the surge of currents as the backdrop.
In the air, Rebecca didn't know what was happening, only feeling her heart pound with fear, almost forgetting to breathe.
She could only see large patches of murky emerald-green blood constantly churning to the surface below. Occasionally, severed limbs, broken arms, or shattered bone spears would float up, only to be swallowed again by the surging waves.
Just as Rebecca was growing somewhat worried, the severely injured Hybrid Dragon beside her suddenly opened its mouth and spoke to Rebecca: "Don't worry, that Green Dragon lady... is slaughtering those fishmen. A one-sided slaughter."
"Huh?"
Rebecca breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the Hybrid Dragon. It was a female dragon. She was just about to open her mouth to ask a question when the churning bloodstains on the sea surface also subsided. Aside from floating bits of debris, there was no longer any sign of fishman activity.
"SPLASH!"
With a tremendous sound, Xia'er's massive emerald form broke through the water's surface, sending a shower of droplets into the air.
Xia'er shook her great head, seawater cascading like a waterfall from her smooth, tough scales. Clenched in her jaws were many steel-forged tridents, stained with grimy blood—the only spoils of war she deemed worth taking.
These tridents seemed specially crafted by the fishmen, well-suited for underwater combat.
Take a few samples back, see if they can be replicated.
"Resolved."
Xia'er's voice was low, as if she had just completed a trivial hunt. She casually spat the half-eaten trident onto a pile of floating debris nearby. Her powerful wings spread once more, beating the air with a dull roar. Then, she turned her gaze to the Hybrid Dragon: "What kind of dragon are you? Why were you being hunted by these fishmen? With your capabilities, you shouldn't have been chased around by these few fishmen to the point of losing a dragon's face!"
Xia'er could tell the other's Challenge Rating was probably around 9, not yet 10, placing her in the Juvenile Dragon stage.
Although relatively young, and her strength not matching Xia'er's at the same level.
She still shouldn't have been chased around by this bunch of stinking fish and rotten shrimp.
If that were truly the case, then Xia'er could only begin to doubt the truth of the Dragon Inheritance's claim that dragons were the 'world's strongest race'.
Even if it's boasting, they should at least be first-rate, right? How could they be chased into such a state by fishmen?
Disgraceful! A disgrace to dragonkind!
Hearing these words, the Hybrid Dragon couldn't help feeling somewhat aggrieved, gnashing her teeth as she said, "It was all these fishmen! They pretended to submit to me, then attacked when I let my guard down. That's how I sustained such severe injuries. Otherwise, I would never have been chased all this way by these lowly fishmen..."
As she spoke, tears nearly blurred the little Hybrid Dragoness's vision. She silently grieved for a moment before continuing, "My name is Tina, no surname... My father despised me for having Lesser Dragon blood, so he stripped me of my surname and drove me out. My father is an Ocean Dragon, my mother is a Sea-Dwelling Dragon."
"My father cast me out, forbidding me from calling myself an Ocean Dragon. So I suppose I should be considered... a Sea-Dwelling Dragon with Ocean Dragon characteristics."
Hearing this, Xia'er couldn't help feeling somewhat astonished, genuinely giving rise to a sliver of respect.
You'd mate with a Lesser Dragon and still manage to hatch a hybrid dragon egg?
Truly invincible.
Might as well have mated with a White Dragon.
Compared to a Lesser Dragon, a White Dragon is practically flawless!