103. Silk Threads, Gears, And Mechanisms
Angry!
Angry!
Angry!
Xia Yi felt that Dorothea was really too annoying, wanting to hang her up and spank her.
A slap down, she should be able to cry for a long time, right?
But standing in front of Dorothea, there was another dragon—
Elly.
Elly is now protecting Dorothea.
Her position with Dorothea seemed to have reversed.
"Elly, what's wrong with you?" Xia Yi asked.
"Whimper…"
Elly seemed unable to speak, now only able to make a distressed low moan.
"Is it a drama of master and servant turning against each other?" Dorothea said with some pleasure, "Then, little Xia Yi, what choice will you make? Will you defeat the little maid in front of you? Just a reminder, if you don't defeat her, you won't be able to touch me."
Xia Yi frowned.
She didn't believe that Elly had chosen to betray her; it must be some form of control.
But what method was Dorothea using to control Elly?
Not to mention control, even to suppress a dragon who had released its true form would require a considerable amount of magical power.
Yet, just now, Xia Yi had not seen Dorothea use any magic circles, it seemed she hadn't even used any spells…
"Time is running out, little Xia Yi, if you keep daydreaming, you'll be smashed by the little maid."
As soon as Dorothea finished speaking, Elly sprang into action, charging towards her.
"Frost!"
Xia Yi planned to repeat her previous trick, condensing frost on the ground to make Elly lose her balance.
However, the same trick wouldn't work twice.
Before the frost spread to her feet, Elly flapped her wings and took flight, flipping in mid-air and swinging her massive arms down fiercely.
Xia Yi had already predicted that her opponent would not fall for the same trick, and the magic was just to buy time, to gain time for the next spell to be cast.
A magic circle appeared under her feet, and with a release of a large amount of magic power, the flowers on the Rose Staff bloomed, shining faintly, and the magic power, like a fountain, sprinkled on the surrounding plants.
"Rapid Growth!"
In the battlefield, there were countless irises.
Using the characteristics of the terrain, Xia Yi made the purple irises bloom continuously, creating a wave of flowers that crashed onto Elly.
Her petite figure was also submerged by the purple petals, making her lose sight of her target.
"Quite a magical talent, to think of using my irises against me, little Xia Yi, your talent is indeed as outstanding as your mother's," Dorothea commented.
"Then I really must thank you for your compliment!"
Xia Yi appeared behind Dorothea.
After being submerged by the wave of flowers, she had been pushed through the sea of flowers, moving quickly, while also chanting a spell.
At the moment of her appearance, the spell had been completed, and the Rose Staff pointed behind Dorothea, the spell already formed.
Icicles began to condense in the air, densely covering the space around the golden dragon girl, layer upon layer, reaching a point of no dead angles, leaving her no place to hide, no chance to escape.
At this time, Elly was elsewhere and couldn't possibly come back in time to help.
"It's too late, take this, Dorothea! Twenty-meter radius icicle piercing!"
Xia Yi waved the Rose Staff, causing the icicles to pierce down simultaneously.
If hit, the opponent would become a hedgehog.
She won!
However, strangely, Dorothea didn't move, still sitting in mid-air with an effortless expression.
As if for her, this was just a slight surprise, but not a trouble worth worrying about.
"Little Xia Yi, your tactics are indeed praiseworthy, but they are useless against me," Dorothea declared calmly.
The icicles that were about to hit her strangely veered off course, none hitting their mark, and exploded elsewhere, a scene that defied all reason.
This was definitely cheating!
Someone's coffin board can't hold down anymore!
"Little maid, come here!" Dorothea called.
Elly changed direction and flew towards her, colliding solidly with Xia Yi.
Ow!
Xia Yi fell from the sky, crashing to the ground.
Luckily, there were the irises that had grown rapidly with magic below, and with the dragon's naturally tough skin, she wasn't hurt, just dizzy.
"Little Xia Yi, your strength is only at the third tier now, you have no chance against me, why not just give up and act cute~" Dorothea suggested.
"I… will definitely not act cute, don't even think about it!!"
Xia Yi shook her head and stood up from the ground.
Damn it, isn't it just cheating?
If you cheat, I can cheat too!
She threw the Rose Staff aside, raised her right hand high, the imprint of the Holy Sword appeared on the back of her hand, shining brilliantly.
Then, the little princess called out the name of the Holy Sword—
"Gram!!!"
As the symbol of the human Sword Saint, it descended into the sea of purple flowers.
Dorothea was quite surprised.
"Old friend, let's fight side by side!" Xia Yi gripped the Holy Sword.
The Holy Sword vibrated, resonating with the sword intent of the sword bearer, its light spreading outwards, answering Xia Yi's call to battle.
"Why, as a dragon, can you wield the Holy Sword?" Dorothea asked, puzzled, "The Holy Sword should only recognize the soul of a human."
"I have no obligation to answer you, Dorothea!"
"…You really are full of surprises, little Xia Yi, but even with the Holy Sword beyond my expectations, you can't turn the tide of battle. Little maid, go."
Dorothea waved her hand, and Elly charged at Xia Yi.
It seems she has determined that I will be reluctant to use my full strength, afraid to hurt Elly.
She really underestimated me.
Xia Yi didn't retreat, lifting the Holy Sword and stepping forward, her movements without a hint of hesitation or doubt.
"Slash!"
The Holy Sword's light struck Elly.
Elly stopped in place, her body stiffening.
"So, in the end, you chose to harm your own companion? You really are cruel, little Xia Yi."
"Hmph, that's what you think!" Xia Yi lifted the corner of her mouth in disdain.
Dorothea was about to continue mocking the stubborn silver-haired loli, but in the next second, a burst of sword energy erupted from Elly, traveling precisely over the surface of her scales without harming her, but instead cutting something that was wrapped around Elly to pieces.
Xia Yi saw it, strands of thread falling from Elly's body, which she caught in her hand.
"This is your secret, isn't it, Dorothea!"
"…" Dorothea fell silent.
"Princess, it seems… I'm free from control!!"
Elly finally regained her freedom, immediately reverting to human form, hugging Xia Yi with tears in her eyes.
"Your Highness, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to attack you!!"
"It's okay, Elly," Xia Yi patted the green dragon maid's head, "It wasn't your fault just now."
"Your Highness, I have lost my composure! As a member of the Royal Maid Corps, I have brought shame upon myself… It's as if I was bound by something, forcibly controlling my body."
"Indeed, it must be this, right?"
Xia Yi faced Dorothea, lifting the silk thread she held in her hand.
The material of these silk threads was unknown, invisible to the naked eye, covered with a faint magic, connecting somewhere.
"Dorothea, you used these threads to control Elly like a puppet."
"No wonder, I felt as if I was bound by something!! So it was these threads!!" Elly realized in an epiphany.
The puzzle was solved.
Dorothea controlled Elly with the threads, keeping her silent, creating the illusion of Elly's betrayal.
She had avoided Xia Yi's magical bombardment by laying threads around herself, deflecting the trajectory of the icicles, thus remaining unharmed under the relentless assault.
And she was not floating, but sitting on the threads.
Xia Yi, by locking onto the magic on the threads, surveyed her surroundings, and her vision changed, revealing many threads, all under Dorothea's control.
"Elly, reach out your hand," Xia Yi commanded.
Elly, puzzled, extended her hand.
The little princess placed the cut thread in her palm, letting her feel the magic on it.
"So that's how it is!!" Elly quickly understood the current situation and was shocked.
"Now that your secrets are exposed, these tricks are useless against us!"
Xia Yi confidently faced Dorothea.
"Secrets? No, little Xia Yi, I never hid them from the start. The wise can see these threads; fools cannot."
"Are you calling us fools?"
"No, I'm praising you, little Xia Yi. The dragons who intruded into my tomb before died without knowing anything, hopelessly stupid. Your discovery shows you have rare battlefield intuition. You look like a young dragon, yet you have such rich combat experience. How old are you, really?" Dorothea was genuinely curious.
Not just her, but Elly too.
After coming out with Xia Yi, her view of the princess had drastically changed. Could this really be achieved with just a split personality?
Her combat intuition was too exceptional, something not honed without struggle on the battlefield!
"I, I… am of age!" Xia Yi replied.
"I don't believe you, let me pinch your tail to see. If you're truly an adult dragon, you wouldn't fear this."
"Don't even think about it! I will never let anyone touch my tail!"
Xia Yi's small hand nervously covered her large tail.
Annoying, she needed to find a way to deal with this golden dragon.
"Since your tricks are seen through, there's nothing to fear. Elly, let's use our ultimate combination move!!"
Xia Yi was spirited, ready for a major move.
"Eh? Your Highness, what ultimate combination move?"
Elly looked completely out of the loop; she had never heard of such a thing.
"Elly, use your dragon true form, then carry me, fly into the sky."
"Your Highness, could this be…!!" Elly had an epiphany.
"Yes."
Xia Yi nodded.
Elly and the little princess exchanged glances, filling her with determination, and she began to do as told.
The green dragon maid once again unleashed her dragon true form.
Then, Xia Yi jumped on, gripping the Holy Sword tightly.
The green dragon, carrying the silver-haired loli, began to soar into the sky, climbing vertically, accelerating without any intention of stopping.
"What trick is this? You clearly can't fly out." Dorothea looked up, shading her eyes with one hand.
Due to the space's constraints, the green dragon was forced to change direction, but its speed didn't slow down. Instead, with the addition of gravity, it became even more ferocious!
Dorothea understood.
Xia Yi had thought to use the characteristics of this space!
The Holy Sword wielder and the green dragon dove towards Dorothea like a heavy bomb.
"Elly, breathe fire!" Xia Yi commanded.
"Your Highness, I'm a green dragon, I don't breathe fire!"
"Just breathe any dragon breath!"
"Alright! Awoo!!"
Elly opened her mouth wide, releasing a green dragon breath, which was highly corrosive and toxic. If touched, enemies with low poison resistance would instantly turn into a mist of blood.
Meanwhile, Xia Yi was charging up the Holy Sword for a powerful attack.
Even if Dorothea could dodge Elly's dragon breath, there was still the formidable impact to contend with!
And if she had a way to resist the impact, she would still have to face Xia Yi's charged strike from the Holy Sword!
This was the ultimate combination technique of the two—
Dragon Knight! FINALVENT!
"Take this!!" Xia Yi declared her victory with high spirits.
"I indeed underestimated you, little Xia Yi. Perhaps, I should take this a bit more seriously."
Dorothea slowly stood up, no longer sitting.
Her hands crossed, then suddenly, in a swift motion, she spread them apart.
Boom!
Xia Yi heard a deafening roar, gears interlocking, a massive mechanism activating, even causing an earthquake, shaking the ground.
Mechanism, where was there any mechanism…
A thought flashed through Xia Yi's mind, and she paused, looking towards the giant cross.
She saw countless threads erupting from the cross, a spectacular sight, a blanket of white covering the entire sky, enveloping the land, all threads connected to something.
The sea of flowers surged once more, and Xia Yi saw the slumbering giant dragon skeletons on the ground awakening, like a loyal army responding to Dorothea, marching towards the sky.
This…
Despair descended.
Her previous conjecture had come true.
These giant dragon skeletons were not undead creatures; they were merely dead beings controlled by threads, unable to trigger the Holy Sword's special attack.
Seeing this, Elly nearly lost her will to fight, feeling boundless fear.
Dorothea's power had surpassed Xia Yi's understanding, like Xia Lulu, a realm she could not touch at the moment.
The giant dragon skeletons shattered Xia Yi's sword energy, swept away Elly's dragon breath.
They surrounded the two, countless bone claws locking onto Elly's limbs and dragon wings.
"Ah, no!!" Elly cried out in despair.
Soon, she was dragged down by the skeletal dragons.
Then, those hands reached for the little princess.
"Playtime is over, little Xia Yi," Dorothea said.
Now, whatever Xia Yi did seemed futile, as defeat loomed.
At that moment—
Flames of elemental fire appeared in the air, compressing, converging, burning, releasing!
Boom!
The flames, like the wrath of a Dragon King, descended from the heavens!
The skeletal dragons were pushed back by the blast wave of the fire explosion, and the tempest made way for the Dragon King's arrival.
"Old thing, how dare you bully my daughter?"
Hahaha she really loves to give her mother a headache 😂
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