The dragon descended from the sky, furious and ferocious!
The green mist from Xia'er's maw was released without restraint, an endless torrent.
It must be said, the heavy bolts shot by those ballistae had truly given Xia'er a fright. One bolt she hadn't even managed to dodge, striking her right wing.
But the injury wasn't particularly severe.
For Xia'er, who possessed the supernaturally abnormal recovery ability of 'Limb Regeneration', going back to sleep for a night would make it as good as new by the next day. It hadn't damaged sinew or bone, merely a scratch.
Yet, Xia'er was still furious.
Apart from the slight pain from the injury, it was mostly the wrath of a great dragon who had been insulted.
Dwarves, they actually dared to slay a dragon?!
Then accept the fury of the Dragon Lord of the Star Mist Archipelago, the master of the Cassius Flight!
Xia'er's poison mist, like a bursting dam's flood, madly poured into the sturdy stone fort.
Five years of accumulated poison mist from her dragon sleep was enough to seep into every crevice, permeating every tunnel.
And before Xia'er's eyes, reminders from the Evolution Game constantly popped up.
Her base attributes were wildly increasing.
Though compared to direct enhancement, this kind of growth was still a bit too slow.
"Boom!"
A cleverly disguised stone slab at the side and rear of the fort was violently smashed open from the inside. Several stocky, dwarven figures tumbled out in utter disarray.
Their skin was red and swollen, even beginning to fester. Snot and tears streamed down their faces as they coughed up bloody foam with heart-rending intensity, scrambling on all fours, trying to crawl away from this zone of death.
The Dwarves farther from Xia'er were, rather luckily, able to escape a certain death.
Only those Dwarven soldiers who were very close to Xia'er, operating the ballistae at the first moment, were enveloped by the initial wave of poison mist, dying swiftly.
"ROAR——!!!"
At that moment, a draconic roar brimming with long-suppressed frustration and wild elation shook the heavens!
It was the Blue Dragon Valentina!
She had witnessed firsthand the devastating effect of Xia'er's poison breath, which overturned her understanding. All the pent-up resentment and anger accumulated from the Dwarves' tactics finally found an outlet for release.
Her deep blue draconic pupils shone brilliantly with extreme excitement, burning with flames of vengeance.
"See that?! Karta! Otto! And you dull-witted stone heads!"
Valentina's voice was excited, even trembling slightly. She violently spread her pair of massive blue wings, the powerful airflow whipping up dust and rubble from the mountain hollow into a swirling cloud. "My Prime Minister, Xaer Cassium! He tore open these dwarf-moles' turtle shell! Now, it's our turn!"
Her gaze instantly locked onto those Dwarves scrambling out of the tunnel exits, struggling like headless flies at the edges of the poison mist, her killing intent boiling over. "All forces, attack! Crush them! Leave none alive! Let these stubborn dregs repay their disrespect towards dragons with their lives!"
Before her words even faded, Valentina's enormous draconic form shot forward like a bolt of deep blue lightning, wreathed in violent arcs of electricity, straight towards the poison-wrapped stone fort.
Valentina did not charge directly into the poison mist's range. She had clearly seen the power of Xia'er's breath; it was an equal threat to herself.
After all, this wasn't some game with friendly fire immunity.
Valentina's targets were the periphery, those Dwarves fortunate enough to escape the fortress, now exposed in the open wilderness.
"BOOM!"
A thick bolt of blue-white lightning spewed from Valentina's maw, accurately striking amidst several Dwarves who had just crawled out of a tunnel exit, not yet having caught their breath.
Blinding electric light exploded. The smell of char instantly filled the air. Those Dwarves didn't even have time to scream before being reduced to charcoal by the violent current.
Valentina didn't pause. Her massive dragon claw, carrying the force of ten thousand jun, slammed down, smashing another Dwarf trying to hide behind a rock, along with the boulder he was using for cover, into paste and shattered stone.
Elegant yet deadly, she soared at low altitude. Each dive was accompanied by a lightning breath or a swipe of her claws, mercilessly harvesting the life of every Dwarf exposed in her line of sight, thoroughly eliminating any possible survivors after Xia'er's poison mist attack!
Soon, Xia'er also ceased her poison mist breath. She simply circled at a slightly higher altitude. The wound on her right wing membrane, torn by the heavy bolt, sent waves of stinging pain, but she paid it no mind. Watching Valentina's slaughter, she couldn't help but be taken aback.
Valentina, Karta, and Otto were, like hungry dragons pouncing on prey, mercilessly butchering the sporadic Dwarven survivors who had escaped to the edges of the poison mist, utterly defenseless.
What was Valentina doing?
Those were Dwarves!
They were incredibly valuable. Those who died in the tunnels were unavoidable; given the easily defensible position, this was the only way to breach this stone fort.
But now these Dwarves had escaped. Why still kill them?
To vent anger?
Dwarves were natural-born craftsmen!
Capturing them as slaves to build castles and forge weapons for oneself would be so much better!
Xia'er's forces precisely lacked such construction talent.
The makeshift civil engineering construction team cobbled together from kobolds was of extremely average skill. Now that professionals had arrived, killing them would be a terrible waste.
If these Dwarves were to die, it should be from exhaustion on her own construction sites!
"Stop!"
Xia'er's thunderous roar suddenly exploded, forcibly overpowering the clamor of the battlefield.
Valentina's poised claw halted, electricity crackling around it.
She sharply looked up at Xia'er, her deep blue draconic eyes filled with confusion and lingering ferocity. "Why? These stubborn stone dregs dared to wound you with ballistae! They must pay the price!"
Karta and Otto also stopped their actions, looking towards their 'Prime Minister' in puzzlement. Otto seemed somewhat bewildered, while a flash of obvious impatience crossed Karta's eyes.
"The price has already been paid."
Xia'er's voice was icy as she circled and descended, her immense shadow falling between Valentina and the surviving Dwarves. She swept a glance over those Dwarves curled on the ground, on the verge of death from fear and the torment of the toxin.
"This fortress's defensive strength has been broken. The core ballista operators and soldiers died in my breath. These who luckily escaped pose no threat. Killing them yields no benefit. It's better to take them as captives, demote them to slaves!"
Having said that, Xia'er turned to Valentina, her tone slightly softening. "Princess, slaughter is not the goal. We need intelligence. We need to understand the actual situation of the Dwarven Kingdom, their deployments, their allies! The value of live captives far exceeds that of corpses."
"Look at their current state. Fear is the best interrogator. Spare their lives, and we can pry open their mouths."
"Hmph!"
A snort thick with mockery came from the side.
The Blue Dragon Karta flicked his tail and spoke up. "Prime Minister, since when do we dragons need to show 'mercy' to these ground rats? If you ask me, we should grind them into paste and hang them on these stones, to show the Dwarves the consequence of offending dragons!"
Xia'er raised her gaze to look at Karta.
Just that single action.
Those deep emerald vertical pupils instantly released a pure, piercingly cold killing intent!
"!!!"
Karta felt an indescribable chill instantly shoot up his spine from his tailbone to the crown of his head. The scales all over his body felt like they were about to stand on end!
"Utter one more word, and I won't mind killing a fellow dragon."
Xia'er coldly spoke.
This Karta was somewhat too talkative.
Previously, Xia'er could consider his young age and not bother with him.
Now, openly defying her command, it was time to teach a lesson.
Hearing this, Karta's body trembled uncontrollably. His previously held-high head involuntarily drooped. His eyes darted about, avoiding Xia'er's gaze. His massive frame instinctively shrank back slightly towards Valentina's direction, as if seeking a sliver of protection.
Valentina also felt this terrifying aura that erupted in an instant. She glanced in surprise at Karta, who had instantly become as silent as a cicada in winter, then looked at Xia'er, whose imposing manner was as steady and heavy as a mountain range. After a moment's hesitation, she did not feel anger over Xia'er 'insulting' a Blue Dragon. Instead, she opened her maw and said, "Xia'er is right. Karta, disrespect towards the Prime Minister is disrespect towards me! If there is a next time, I will expel you from the flight!"
"Otto, capture all these Dwarves. If any Dwarf dares to resist, kill them directly!"
Valentina beat her wings, issuing the command to the other Blue Dragon. Then she looked at Xia'er, asking in a tentative tone, "This... is acceptable?"
Seeing this, Xia'er nodded, giving this Blue Dragoness a bit of an out. "Of course it is. From the era of the various dragon lords to the present, among all the Chromatic Dragon emperors and kings, none have been more sagacious than the Princess."
Upon hearing this, Valentina instantly perked up her tail.
That's right, I am the most sagacious dragon emperor in all of history, wow!