92. Venturing Out
Before releasing the fire magic just now, Xia Yi made a crucial micro-operation by summoning her magical instrument, the Rose Staff.
If a mage casts spells with a magical instrument as an aid, both the speed of the spell's release and the magnitude of its power are greatly enhanced.
Therefore, the fire magic she is using now is much more powerful than before.
Boom!
The intense flames exploded on the body of the dragon guard, blasting the guard who had revealed his true form onto the ground.
"Ah… it hurts so much!" The dragon guard wailed, rolling on the ground.
The scene was thrown into chaos for a moment.
The guard shook his head to clear his mind a bit, raised his head to look for Xia Yi's figure, but a magic circle suddenly lit up on his body.
As the light of the magic circle brightened, the ground also began to change, becoming malleable and deforming continuously.
"Oh! So it turns out that the fire magic Princess just used was a feint. Under the cover of the fire magic, she also set up a huge magic circle as a trap. What a brilliant move! There's no escape now! It's a rock prison!"
The earth condensed into a cage, locking up the dragon guard and restricting his movements.
"Damn it, why can't I move?!"
As soon as the dragon guard finished speaking, a large number of ice spikes appeared above his head, hovering in the air.
And Xia Yi was already standing to the side, holding the Rose Staff, aiming at the dragon guard.
"It's the Ice Fall! Using the rock prison to control the opponent and then targeting the opponent's weak points with the Ice Fall to declare victory. Worthy of Princess, using so many spells in succession without showing any signs of fatigue. Her magical power is truly astonishing. It seems the outcome has been decided!"
The dragon guard commenting from the sidelines nodded repeatedly in approval.
The dragon guard raised his head, glanced at the guard captain, then sighed and lowered his head, no longer resisting.
"I've lost, Your Highness."
The dragon guards cheered, clapping one after another.
Xia Yi put away the Rose Staff and also dispelled the magic.
The guard captain walked up with a smile, "Your Highness, you've won. Your performance was indeed excellent…"
"…Boring."
"What?"
The guard captain seemed to have heard Xia Yi whisper something.
At this moment, the little princess was looking down, her face gloomy, seemingly very dissatisfied.
"What's wrong? Your Highness, you're only at the third tier of strength, yet you defeated a fourth-tier guard."
"Boring! You guys are really no fun. I don't want to play house with you!"
Xia Yi shouted in dissatisfaction, and after throwing down those words, she ran off in a huff.
Leaving the guards looking at each other in bewilderment.
…
Damn it.
Damn it!
Damn it!!!
What a bunch of boring guys!!!
Xia Yi was really angry.
The battle just now, she was not satisfied at all. The opponent was just playing house with her.
In fact, after the dragon guard released his true form, he was blessed with dragon scale protection. Xia Yi's fire magic could cause damage, but it was not enough to make the opponent dizzy with one hit.
Also, when locked in the rock prison, the guard could have burst out with his own strength to shatter the rock prison, but at that time, he just acted, pretending he couldn't move, just waiting to be hit by a burst of magic and then defeated.
It was all a staged fight, from start to finish!
Xia Yi, who had previously struggled on the edge of life and death as a Sword Saint, could definitely tell whether her opponent was serious or not.
She knew exactly why they were doing this because of her current identity as the Silver Dragon Princess, Xia Lulu's daughter, the future heir to the dragon race…
In such a situation, the dragon guards certainly wouldn't dare to hurt her.
Everyone treated her like a pet, not thinking about having a real fight.
"What's the point of this?!" Xia Yi cried out, holding her head in frustration.
She didn't need these pretend games; she needed real battles, treating the opponent as an enemy, fully focused on how to use every condition to defeat them, the kind of battles where one stakes their life. That's how the Sword Saint's sword intent was always honed.
That's how she had grown stronger step by step in the past, facing the nearly impossible-to-defeat dragon race, even pushing herself to her limits…
But in the Dragon Palace, no one dared to do this to her.
"I miss the little fox," Xia Yi murmured to herself.
Thinking back to the time in the Blackstone Kingdom, when the little fox used the fox race's divine artifact, the Cherry Moon, to pull her into the barrier, those were happy times.
She desperately tried to kill her, using everything at her disposal…
And then Xia Yi got serious too.
It was exhilarating.
Although, she hadn't managed to use her strongest strike to retaliate against the little fox, scaring her witless, but the process was very enjoyable.
"Little fox, when will you come to kill me?"
But on second thought, triggering such a level of battle in the Dragon Kingdom wasn't impossible.
She just needed to find Xia Lulu.
All she had to do was run up to her and insult her by calling her a steel plate—
"…Uh, I don't dare!"
As soon as this thought emerged, Xia Yi immediately dismissed it. Her current strength was still insufficient, and if she did something so suicidal, she would definitely be grounded and forced to do homework, not to mention the horror of drinking bitter gourd juice.
Wah, bitter gourd juice… too terrifying, it's worse than death!
"Let's think of another way."
…
With a low mood, Xia Yi wandered around the Dragon Palace for a long time without coming up with any ideas. Wandering around, she found herself in front of Xia Lulu.
"What's wrong, my daughter? You look so down. Has someone bullied you?" Xia Lulu asked curiously, "In this palace, is there really someone who dares to bully you?"
Yes.
You!
Xia Yi silently muttered to herself.
"It's nothing, just feeling bored. I just went to challenge the dragon guards to a duel."
"Not staying in your room snacking and reading comics, but doing this?"
"You, what do you think I am!" Xia Yi retorted with a flushed face, "I am the noble human Sword Saint, I have never forgotten my heart, to constantly practice and become stronger!"
"Then I'll just assume that's the case. What happened next?"
"Next… it was no fun. The guards didn't dare to be serious, they just played along, pretending to lose to me. It was very disappointing."
"Oh."
Xia Lulu's response was calm, seemingly not very surprised.
"The guards don't dare to take you seriously. They're afraid that if they defeat you, they might accidentally hurt your pride, which could bring trouble for them. Moreover, if they manage to cheer you up, they might even reap some benefits."
"Of course, that's the case," Xia Yi said, feeling somewhat disheartened, "In this palace, no one will seriously want to fight me; they only play pretend games with me."
Seeing her daughter's reaction, Xia Lulu smiled.
"Actually, I have a way to solve your problem. Coincidentally, some trouble has arisen recently. Some uninvited outsiders have entered the Dragon Kingdom. Lately, our forces have been concentrated on the west side, resisting the beast tide. I was thinking of sending members of the Royal Maid Corps, but—"
"Leave it to me!"
Xia Yi volunteered to take on the challenge.
This was indeed a great opportunity!
After all, battling these foreign races was far better than dealing with the actors in the Dragon Palace!
"Alright, since you are determined, come with me."
Xia Lulu stood up and took Xia Yi back to the office.
She took out a pen and paper, wrote down some content, stamped it with a seal, and then put it into an envelope.
"Call Sera over, and I will instruct her on everything that needs to be done."
…
Xia Yi and Sera left the Dragon Palace together.
Within the Dragon Kingdom, unless it was a formal social occasion, the dragons did not use transportation for travel.
After all, flying was faster.
Sera transformed back into her true dragon form, a massive red dragon carrying the little princess, leaving the capital of the Dragon Kingdom.
Along the way, every so often, they would encounter dragons who would question them.
After Sera showed the queen's letter and informed them of Xia Yi's identity, the dragons would respectfully apologize for their rudeness and allow them to pass, providing an escort for a certain distance.
Finally, Sera landed in a mountainous area.
Xia Yi jumped down from the back of the red dragon and landed smoothly on the ground.
"Is this the place?"
Xia Yi looked around and noticed that there were hardly any people around.
"Yes, Your Highness, the foreign races are trying to approach the capital of the Dragon Kingdom. They are well-equipped and well-prepared, obviously planning for a long time, but unfortunately, they were still discovered by our dragon race," Sera explained.
Sera transformed into a more convenient humanoid form, still wearing the eye-catching black silk suspender and white maid outfit even when stepping outside.
"According to the intelligence, the foreign races have not yet reached this mountainous area. This place is the only way they can approach the capital. Your Highness, we just need to intercept them here," Sera clarified.
"What kind of people are they?"
"Your Highness, I cannot say for now. You will understand once you see them. This is how Queen Lulu instructed."
"Xia Lulu is still being mysterious, huh."
Xia Yi was a bit worried. Could there be another conspiracy?
"Speaking of which, Your Highness, this is the first time I have gone out on a mission with you," Sera said. "Your Highness, you can stay here, and I can take care of everything else…"
"No, that would be meaningless! Sera, you go to the back and keep watch. If the foreign races try to bypass us, report to me, just in case. Without my command, do not act rashly; I will handle the battle!"
"As you command, Your Highness. Please be careful, and if anything unexpected happens, be sure to call for me."
Sera then left to carry out the tasks Xia Yi had assigned.
Meanwhile, Xia Yi raised her hand and summoned her Holy Sword, Gram.
"Old friend, have you been thinking of me lately?"
The Holy Sword could not speak.
It simply responded, for example, by shining twice.
She suddenly remembered something. It had been a long time since the Holy Sword's mark had shone on her hand, even though it used to remind her from time to time.
Why was that?
Oh!
I understand!
It's because my will is now very firm, and I don't need to trouble the Holy Sword, so my old friend hasn't been lighting up the mark on its own.
Thinking about it that way, it really makes sense.
Xia Yi's smile emerged.
"Don't worry, old friend. If a formidable enemy does appear later, I will definitely summon you. Let's relive the times when we fought side by side and strived to become stronger!"
After that, she stored the Holy Sword away.
Time passed from noon to evening, and as night deepened, Xia Yi spotted a troop of people moving towards the mountains, preparing to cross.
She hid behind a rock, peeking out stealthily, and with the help of the moonlight, she finally saw them clearly.
They were humans.
Xia Yi was stunned.
These people were all clad in armor, agile and apparently specially trained, moving effortlessly through the rugged mountains. Moreover, the style of their armor was all too familiar to Xia Yi.
It was from her homeland, the Rhine Kingdom.
Then it dawned on her.
For a long time, the Rhine Kingdom had been sending people into the Dragon Kingdom to gather intelligence. It was with this intelligence that Wright had successfully entered the Dragon Kingdom.
So the foreign race Xia Lulu was referring to was these people.
No wonder she was being so secretive.
"Let's drive these guys away. If Sera sees them, they won't even know how they died."
Xia Yi leaped onto a boulder, her sudden appearance startling the humans.
"This girl has a tail… Is she from the dragon race?!"
The warriors immediately prepared for battle, rallying together.
At that moment, Xia Yi felt a bit conflicted. She had come to the Dragon Kingdom in the past with the intention of slaying dragons.
And now…
The Sword Saint who sought to slay dragons was about to be slain herself. Life was indeed full of ironies.
Forget it, let's just play the part of the evil dragon.
"This is as far as you go, humans!"
Xia Yi looked down at the Rhine Kingdom's human troops, summoning her Rose Staff.
"Those who trespass on dragon territory shall be struck down by me!"
"Don't panic, there's only one dragon here, and she's short and small, easy to deal with! Surround this mage, don't give her a chance to cast spells!"
The warriors of the Rhine Kingdom were quick, drawing their long swords and charging forward. The fastest swordsman among them had already reached Xia Yi, raising his sword to strike down.
Clang!
Xia Yi blocked it with her Rose Staff.
The Rhine Kingdom's swordsman exclaimed with joy, "I've done it! I've pinned down this short young dragon, she can't use her magic now…"
Xia Yi had intended to scare these people away, but hearing them repeatedly call her short ignited her anger, and she felt compelled to teach them a lesson!
She gripped the Rose Staff with both hands and pushed forward. Dragons naturally possessed incomparable strength, and she easily pushed the Rhine Kingdom's swordsman away.
"Who are you calling short? Who?!"
The little princess was angry, and without resorting to magic, she gripped the Rose Staff tightly and swung it at the weak points of the Rhine Kingdom's swordsman.
The swordsman was taken aback and hurriedly swung his sword to counter.
And so, everyone witnessed an utterly absurd scene…
A loli mage swinging her staff was dueling a tall swordsman in swordplay, and what was more bizarre was that the mage's swordsmanship was incredibly refined. Despite being at a height disadvantage, she still managed to gain the upper hand.
It was a sight that left everyone dumbfounded.
Of course, the one most shocked was the swordsman locked in combat with Xia Yi.
"This swordsmanship… is it Master Wright?!"
Thanks for the chapters
ReplyDeleteyou're welcome
Deletethanks for the chap
ReplyDeleteim looking forward for more