The night was illuminated by Glittering Dust, and the surrounding area instantly became as bright as day, dispelling the darkness and shadows.
However, this only lasted for a fleeting moment.
Garros's massive, powerful dragon wings whipped up a gale, blowing away the Glittering Dust and scattering countless points of light like fireflies in all directions, causing the blinding white light to shatter into fragments.
His eyes narrowed slightly, and his dragon pupils slit into vertical lines, locking onto the Faerie Dragon ahead.
Whoosh!
Sand and stones flew, while gravel and withered branches swirled through the air.
Garros brutally sliced the trees blocking his path in half, pursuing the Faerie Dragon in a straight line.
The Faerie Dragon skimmed lightly over the treetops.
Hearing the thunderous approach from behind, its butterfly wings, shimmering with silver-gray light, fluttered, emitting a pleasant sound like flowing water cascading from the peak of a snow-capped mountain.
Phantasmal Sound Art!
The sound burrowed into Garros's ears, causing his mind to sway and the scenery before him to warp and shift.
The stones covering the ground and the tall trees standing around him seemed to come alive, growing limbs and wobbling in place, while new mouths sang piercing nursery rhymes, forming a bizarre and grotesque scene.
"Illusion?!"
Garros's heart tightened. He extended his claws and slammed them heavily against his own head.
In the absence of appropriate counter-skills, a physical blow to one's own head could, to some extent, suppress the effects of an illusion.
Bang!
Garros's brain jolted, leaving him slightly dazed.
Under the impact of the dizziness, the chaotic nursery rhymes in his ears vanished, and the dancing stones and trees stopped, returning to their original forms.
Taking advantage of the distraction the illusion caused Garros, Fairy Dragon Vera fled even further.
She wove through the treetops, her tail curling around a branch to swing her body forward, and threw three small bear dolls woven from earthy yellow fur toward Garros.
Phantom Puppets!
The moment the dolls fell, they suddenly expanded into three roaring Storm Bears, lunging toward Garros to kill him.
These Storm Bears were lifelike, their movements carrying a heavy momentum as if they were living creatures.
"This little thing has quite a few flashy tricks."
Garros raised his right wing, which swept through several Storm Bears like a giant guillotine, splitting them in half. However, they remained unfazed and continued to pounce on him.
The Red-Iron Young Dragon neither dodged nor parried, allowing the Storm Bears' attacks to hit and pass through his body.
Swoosh!
The fine scales on his dragon wings rubbed together, throwing off a dense shower of sparks. Garros smashed through the three Storm Bear phantoms, turning them back into fur.
With a great burst of speed, Garros skimmed through the low altitude and closed in on the Faerie Dragon in the blink of an eye.
Extending his claws, Garros snatched the Faerie Dragon's tiny body in one grasp.
However, there was no sensation of holding a solid object.
Garros stopped and opened his claws, seeing only some pollen-like substance in his palm; there was no sign of the Faerie Dragon.
He looked up, his gaze scanning the surroundings, but he couldn't find where the Faerie Dragon was. He lowered his body and spread his wings, carefully sensing the vibrations in the air, yet he still found nothing.
He paced back and forth for a while.
Garros irritably lashed the ground with his dragon tail, creating several deep furrows as he vented his anger for a few minutes before soaring into the sky and vanishing into the dark night.
After he left.
About half an hour later.
Fairy Dragon Vera, hiding in a crevice between rocks, let out a sigh of relief. Her Invisibility and Breath Concealment spells reached their duration limit, and her kitten-sized body was revealed.
"That dull-witted idiot dragon. He couldn't catch me, so he must be fuming."
Her mood became cheerful again, and her previous tension and fear vanished into thin air.
Red Dragons and Iron Dragons, these two major dragon types, excelled at frontal combat—brutal and powerful—but neither was known for keen perception. A Red-Iron Hybrid Dragon's perception shouldn't be outstanding either.
The Faerie Dragon felt that her fear had been unnecessary.
If she had been careful from the start, focusing her mind on casting and maintaining Invisibility and Breath Concealment, that idiot Hybrid Dragon definitely wouldn't have found her. Her previous discovery was only because she had scared herself into exposing her position.
"If he's still living in Storm Bear Ridge..."
"...next time I'll sneak up on him, pluck his scales, or wait until he's sleeping to stuff a Stink Flower up his nostrils and sprinkle some ash on top. I'll get my revenge!"
Fairy Dragon Vera had lived in the Fairy Wilds for many years, dwelling alongside other friendly fey creatures. She disliked fighting and killing, so this was the most malice she could imagine.
She crawled out of the rock crevice.
The Faerie Dragon felt happy about her 'vicious' revenge plan.
At the thought of the Evil Dragon sneezing or even vomiting from the stench, she couldn't help but roll around on the leaf-strewn ground, laughing hysterically with her belly exposed to the sky.
Then, the Faerie Dragon's smile froze.
She saw a crimson meteor descending from the sky.
No, it wasn't a real meteor, but the Red Iron Dragon, whose flapping wings trailed a dense stream of sparks like a crimson meteor.
Having accelerated during a high-altitude dive, his speed was incomparable, far exceeding his previous low-altitude pursuit. His wings, like terrifying giant blades, sliced through the night, emitting a shriek that sent the Faerie Dragon's heart into a panic.
The smile that had frozen off the Faerie Dragon's face...
...transferred onto Garros's dragon face.
He smiled, his face full of menace: "Little thing, the game of chase ends here."
The Faerie Dragon flapped her wings to fly again, but within two seconds, she was snatched by the rapidly approaching Garros. This time, it was her real body; her Demonic Energy was almost exhausted from her earlier flight, and she could no longer use the high-cost Phantasmal Body Art.
"Waaaah, I'll never be curious again."
Gripped by sharp claws, with a sense of danger and pressure closing in from all sides, the Faerie Dragon's eyes filled with tears. She sobbed and pleaded with Garros: "Please let me go, I swear I won't stuff a Stink Flower in your nose to get revenge!"
Garros looked down, scrutinizing the Faerie Dragon.
Judging by her size, she should already be an adult.
However...
...adulthood for a Faerie Dragon was quite different from other dragons.
Faerie Dragons had short lifespans; they were considered adults at 20 years old. Furthermore, an adult's life rank wasn't high, usually around Rank 6, though they were very good at escaping and survival.
"Her speech is childish and her mind is immature. She doesn't seem like a dragon over 20 years old; instead, she's like a Hatchling under six. Her origin must be unusual."
Garros thought to himself silently.
"As you can see, I am no Evil Dragon,"
He said to the Faerie Dragon.
Not an Evil Dragon? The Faerie Dragon blinked, then nodded quickly, echoing his words: "Yes, yes, Vera saw it at a glance, you're not an Evil Dragon, you're a kind, great dragon."
Garros smiled and said, "Therefore, I will not kill you."
Before the Faerie Dragon could celebrate, he paused and changed his tone: "But you still must pay the price for offending me."
The Faerie Dragon's illusions could train his mental resistance.
There were too few Vicious Beasts and monsters in the wilds that mastered illusions, and in civilized society, the number of illusionists was also small. Now that he had caught a Faerie Dragon who knew illusions, he had to exploit her thoroughly to train and evolve his mental resistance.
In addition...
...the Faerie Dragon herself was valuable.
It was mentioned in the Legacy.
The Scale Powder on her butterfly-like wings could stimulate a creature's spirit, repair mental fatigue and tension, and improve perception, reaction speed, and mental strength. It was also effective on fellow Dragonkin, with the effects being even better than on other creatures.