Tereshi felt that she was being discriminated against.
As a White Dragon, most creatures would be filled with fear or awe when facing her; however, when she encountered her own kind, the looks she received from them were always contemptuous and intolerable.
She had originally come with the intention of seeking revenge against the Centaurs.
When she saw a Red-Iron Dragon at the Centaur camp, powerful as she was, she did not strike immediately.
The Red-Iron Dragon's strong and towering body, dense and ferocious spines, unique and domineering wings, and his Bloodline—the head of two major Dragon lineages—made the White Dragon's eyes light up, even giving rise to thoughts of courtship.
She had never seen a Dragonkin like Garros before.
His posture, appearance, and majestic temperament fascinated her.
As for the age difference, it wasn't an issue.
Dragonkin begin to reach sexual maturity during their Young Dragon stage.
If one was exceptionally gifted and possessed extraordinary draconic traits, it was common to be favored by a member of the opposite sex from an older age group.
Out of admiration for power, Dragonkin also tended to prefer powerful members of their own kind who were older than themselves.
However, what the White Dragon did not expect...
...was that this Red-Iron Dragon, whom she found attractive and even wanted to pursue, spoke rudely to her the moment he opened his mouth, calling her a "White Scale" to her face.
In Dragonkin culture, this was perhaps the most discriminatory and insulting term for a White Dragon.
Tereshi was no ordinary White Dragon; she felt her talent was excellent, having reached Rank 12 upon reaching Adulthood!
After undergoing her adult Dragon Sleep and before even officially entering her Prime, she had already reached Rank 13.
This was not a level an ordinary White Dragon could achieve.
Thus, White Dragon Tereshi possessed her own pride and dignity.
Now that her dignity was being trampled upon, humiliation and rage filled her heart.
The words the Red-Iron Dragon said afterward to correct himself sounded more like a sarcastic "Yin and Yang" style mockery to her.
A mere Young Dragon!
To humiliate me so arrogantly!
Tereshi's dragon wings suddenly flapped, her nearly thirty-meter wingspan unfurling and casting a deep shadow on the ground.
"A slip of the tongue?!"
Her voice was cold as she stared at Garros and roared:
"Hybrid Dragon, I see nothing but damned arrogance and conceit in you. Has no Dragon ever taught you to respect Dragonkin who are older and more powerful than you?!"
Hearing the White Dragon's words, Garros felt somewhat wrongly accused.
He truly didn't intend to insult the White Dragon from the bottom of his heart.
It was simply that prejudice and contempt for White Dragons were deeply rooted in the Iron Dragon and Red Dragon Bloodlines.
Stacked together, these influences caused Garros to subconsciously blurt out "White Scale"—a term heavy with discrimination—the moment he saw her.
Judging by the White Dragon's size, she must have reached Adulthood and was likely approaching her Prime.
Given Garros's personality, he actually didn't want to provoke such an adult Dragon.
Although White Dragons didn't have the best reputation within the Dragon Clan.
But Garros felt that, after all, a White Dragon was still a Dragon.
A Dragon over a hundred years old, approaching two hundred, likely possessed some special techniques and trump cards; it was best not to provoke them if possible.
Furthermore, her body was very slender compared to his, almost like a hemp stalk.
However, her sixteen-meter body length was clearly visible, while Garros's length from head to tail was less than fourteen meters.
At a glance, the White Dragon's physical attributes seemed superior.
However...
...things having come to this point, Garros would not simply keep backing down.
In the eyes of an Evil Dragon, yielding represented a sign of weakness, and weakness meant being a target for bullying; he had to show an appropriate level of toughness.
More importantly...
...regarding White Dragons, Garros didn't discriminate or hold prejudices.
But in his heart, he also felt that a White Dragon didn't pose much of a threat to him, even if this one was much older.
The Red-Iron Dragon's spines bristled slightly as he said:
"I have apologized, Lady White Dragon."
He looked up, staring directly into the White Dragon's cold eyes. "If you've come for revenge, these Centaurs are now my vassals and my property. I cannot allow you to slaughter them as you please."
Hearing these words from the Red-Iron Dragon...
...the White Dragon grew even more enraged.
Why should the Centaurs she couldn't subdue submit to a Young Dragon?
"Red Dragons boast of being the kings of the Chromatic Dragons and look down on all other Dragonkin; Iron Dragons are pretentious and consider themselves the Dominators of Dragonkin, believing they should rule over all Dragons."
The White Dragon huffed out a breath of cold air, her back arching as she prepared to strike.
"Hybrid Dragon, let me see what skills you actually have that allow you to speak such boastful words to an adult Dragon!"
Tereshi's dragon wings flapped violently, whipping up a gale.
She dove down, her four dragon claws tearing through the air as ice crystals condensed on her fingertips into sharp blades of frost, gleaming with a piercing cold light in the night.
"Let me teach you the meaning of respect!"
The White Dragon's roar echoed through the sky.
Battle was unavoidable. Garros flapped his wings and shot straight up into the sky to meet the diving White Dragon.
Under the gaze of the Centaurs, the White Dragon's dive left an icy blue afterimage in the sky, while Garros charged upward against the wind pressure like a crimson meteor streaking toward the heavens.
The moment the two dragon bodies collided, ice mist and sparks exploded, raining down like a small meteor shower toward the ground.
Elvie took a deep breath, drew the longbow from her back, and nocked an arrow, her sharp eyes locked onto the White Dragon circling and fighting in the sky, ready to fire at any moment.
"Wait a moment."
Silvermane's voice came in a low whisper from beside her: "Do not intervene rashly without the Dragon Lord's command."
Meanwhile, the battle in the night sky instantly reached a fever pitch as the two Dragons closed in on each other.
White Dragon Tereshi extended her claws, lunging to seize Garros.
Living year-round in cold regions covered in ice crystals or permafrost, White Dragons had the sharpest claws among the Chromatic Dragons. Each one was like a meticulously polished sword or short spear, allowing a White Dragon to walk on ice as if it were level ground and easily pierce an enemy's defenses to tear away large chunks of flesh.
Her body was more slender and larger, giving her an advantage in reach.
Her claws, coated in a layer of cold, sharp ice crystals, locked onto Garros's head and swiped.
Garros flapped his wings and advanced instead of retreating.
His speed increased abruptly, and his head swayed left and right with his body's movements, demonstrating terrifying agility as he dodged all of the White Dragon's vicious claw strikes.
A second later...
...his body, which was shorter and sturdier than the White Dragon's, slammed violently into her chest.
The Red-Iron Dragon's body length couldn't match the White Dragon's, but the thickness of his limbs far exceeded hers, with iron-like muscle textures clearly visible through his heavy dragon scales.
Consequently, an irresistible force surged from the Red-Iron Dragon.
The White Dragon's body arched; she felt as if she had been struck by a meteor, her body being rammed diagonally toward the ground by the Red-Iron Dragon.
The opponent's body was like a solid block of iron—heavy, hard, and possessing extraordinary density; his weight even seemed to surpass hers, carrying immense power.
The White Dragon flapped her wings in an attempt to stabilize herself, but she still couldn't withstand the fierce power coming from the Red-Iron Dragon and continued to plummet.
"If it were a Rank 13 Red Dragon, it should have been able to knock me flying backward."
The White Dragon's lack of strength surprised Garros somewhat.
"My physical attributes are inferior to those of a mere Rank 10 Young Dragon?!"
The humiliating fact of being suppressed by someone at a lower rank made the White Dragon fly into a rage.
She shook her head, letting out a high-pitched dragon roar—not a meaningless howl, but the chanting of magic incantations to command the elements.
Ice Wind Spell!
With the White Dragon's wing-flapping casting motion, a chilling ice wind suddenly erupted with her at the center. Cold as a blade and spinning rapidly, it swept over and slashed at Garros, leaving dense cracks in his scales in an instant.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!
The Explosive Scales, which heated up upon being attacked, emitted high-temperature heat that clashed with the cold wind, producing a piercing sound and steaming white vapor. However, due to the corrosive influence of the cold, they failed to burst into flames even as the dragon scales shattered.
"My Ice Resistance is still not high enough,"
Garros thought to himself.
Innate weaknesses were not so easily compensated for; ice damage remained the most effective means of dealing with Garros.
He felt a wave of coldness; his blood seemed about to freeze, its flow becoming sluggish, and his strength weakened accordingly.
The White Dragon possessed beast-like combat instincts and keenly sensed this. She immediately flapped her wings vigorously to stabilize her body, and her chanting did not stop as she completed another Spell.
Ice Armor Spell!
Layers of ice crystals appeared, extending to cover her scales as if providing her with a suit of polar ice armor.
AI Model: gemini-3.1-flash-lite
Including the previous Ice Wind Spell, this was not a Spell-like Ability that an adult White Dragon could normally master, but rather magic that the White Dragon had learned.
She began learning magic when she reached Adulthood, specializing in Ice Spells that aligned with her attributes, and already had seventy years of experience in magical cultivation.
"Flame Claw!"
Flames ignited on Garros's claws, piercing through the freezing, chilling winds wrapped around the White Dragon, striking her chest with lightning speed.
The White Dragon's claws also rose simultaneously, tearing toward Garros.
After a brief moment of intersection.
The Ice Armor could not withstand the Red-Iron Dragon's claw strike and shattered into pieces.
Bang! The dragon claw continued to descend. With a muffled sound, the White Dragon's chest scales cracked. The searing pain from the fire damage made her wince and gasp, leaving a charred claw mark on her snow-white chest scales.
Fire-type attacks dealt extra damage to White Dragons.
If not for the Ice Armor Spell weakening some of the damage, her sternum might have been shattered.
Almost at the same time, the White Dragon's sharp claws landed on Garros's head as intended. Garros merely shook his head slightly, not feeling even a hint of dizziness; instead, it was the White Dragon who felt a sharp pain in her claws.
The spines on Garros's face and head were unusually hard and sharp.
They pierced the White Dragon's claws and, upon breaking, became embedded directly into them.
"Such hard spines?"
The White Dragon's gaze turned fierce. She opened her maw, lunged her head forward, and like a wild beast, bit directly toward Garros's neck. The speed was extremely fast, the angle tricky, resembling an instinctive wild fighting technique.
Garros shifted his body to the side, causing the White Dragon's bite to miss.
Instinctively, she bit toward the shoulder of the Red-Iron Dragon exposed before her. Her dragon teeth broke through the opponent's scales, but before she could taste blood, her mouth and tongue were slashed by the spines, and she let go in pain as if electrocuted.
The distribution of the spines on Garros's body was similar to that of a normal Red Dragon.
They looked denser and more rugged, but not enough to warrant alarm.
However, due to his previous evolution, the hardness and sharpness of his spines exceeded the understanding of other Dragonkin, and they could regenerate at super-high speed. The areas with spines were like wearing thorns armor; hitting them was equivalent to hitting oneself.
While taking a bite from the White Dragon head-on.
Garros lifted his hind claw, his muscles tensed like twisted steel wire, and stomped fiercely onto the White Dragon's abdomen, shattering her Ice Armor and abdominal scales, dealing another blow to the White Dragon.
The White Dragon flew backward, and at the same time, opened her maw to exhale Frost Dragon Breath.
The solidified cold air, carrying dense ice cones, formed a frosty trajectory in the air as it shot toward Garros.
Garros did not dodge.
He took a deep breath and then exhaled Flame Dragon Breath.
Roaring flames, like magma, erupted from his mouth and met it head-on.
The Frost Dragon Breath and Flame Dragon Breath collided, grinding against each other. With a hissing sound, the resulting white mist blotted out the sky and covered the earth, spreading everywhere.
An adult dragon's breath should have been more powerful.
But the Frost Dragon Breath was swallowed by the flames inch by inch, and the White Dragon was gradually forced back.
At the critical moment, she closed her mouth and pulled up her altitude. Her claws were grazed by the Flame Dragon Breath, sending a stinging pain.
"Boom!"
The Red-Iron Dragon's wings tore through the night as he charged toward the White Dragon.
The two engaged in close-quarters combat once again.
The White Dragon had a longer arm span and sharper claws, but her strength was inferior to Garros's. Her attacks on Garros were harmless, while Garros's attacks could shatter her Ice Armor, still causing her discomfort.
However, the White Dragon never stopped chanting.
A dozen seconds later, the last syllable of the White Dragon's incantation fell. She flapped her wings, kicking up a dense, thick ice fog, heavier than white mist and mixed with ice crystal dust.
"Ice Fog Spell!"
The dense fog instantly swallowed her and Garros.
Before his eyes was nothing but vast white ice fog. The cold air eroded from all directions, making Garros feel colder and colder, and both his vision and perception were affected.
"This White Dragon knows magic."
"Her talent level should be above the average for a White Dragon; otherwise, given the IQ of a White Dragon..."
Garros instinctively wanted to belittle the White Dragon again, but this time he stopped the thought in time.
Underestimating the enemy was a major taboo. Garros didn't want to underestimate her, but the contempt for White Dragons was engraved in his instincts, making him unable to resist sometimes.
The ice fog churned like a living thing, and the figure of the White Dragon Tereshi appeared and disappeared within it.
She seized the moment Garros turned around, her frost-covered claws slashing across the Red-Iron Dragon's back, tearing a cold-emitting rift in the double-layered dragon scales, but ultimately failing to reach the flesh.
And when Garros counterattacked, she had already melted into the fog, leaving behind only a few falling ice crystals.
Her voice echoed, layered and overlapping, from different directions.
"Hybrid Dragon, I admit you possess a unique and gifted Bloodline."
"But the wisdom and skills granted to me by nearly two hundred years of time are not something a Young Dragon like you can reach."
She said cruelly and gleefully: "I will defeat you, trample you, repeatedly insult you, and torture you slowly, making you pay the price for the two words 'White Scale'."
Listening to this voice, Garros seemed to see the gleeful smile on the White Dragon's face.
He remained silent, thinking to himself that only using his normal state to deal with this White Dragon with a higher Life Level was indeed a bit troublesome and difficult.
Adult Dragons were exceptionally tough, and the White Dragon's Ice Spells were not bad either.
Garros had dealt quite a bit of damage to her, but they were all minor injuries. If they continued to grapple like this, it would be hard to determine a winner even by dawn.
The battle had lasted until now, and Garros had basically figured out the White Dragon's level.
Since that was the case, there was no need to keep entangling with her.
Garros decided to end the fight quickly.
At this moment, the White Dragon Tereshi stared at the Young Dragon's strong body and quietly approached, preparing to launch an attack on his hind leg joints under the cover of the ice fog.
But just as she lifted her dragon claw, before it could descend.
She suddenly heard a vigorous sound of electric current.
"Zzzzt—" Golden electric currents emerged from the Young Dragon's body, dancing like mane hair between the gaps of his spines and scales, shining and dense. Under the stimulation of the electric current, the Young Dragon's muscles became congested and swelled, bulging layer by layer, and his already sturdy and solid body expanded a circle, becoming even more hulking and majestic.
Her claws had just touched the hind leg of the shining Red-Iron Dragon.
She hadn't even had time to leave a scar.
The White Dragon Tereshi saw the Red-Iron Dragon turn around suddenly with inconceivable speed and grin at her. Her heart was greatly alarmed, and she flapped her wings, intending to dive back into the ice fog; however, her neck suddenly tightened, and then her whole body sank, being suppressed and forced to fall.
The scene blurred into colorful patches in her eyes.
"Crash!"
The earth cracked with spiderweb-like fissures in the tremor as the White Dragon Tereshi's dragon body was driven by Garros and embedded deeply into the frozen earth.
Ice crystal-like scales splashed and shattered with every heavy blow. Garros's claw shadows, carrying black-red airflow and golden lightning, poured down like a storm of steel.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The crisp sound of the Ice Armor shattering mixed with the White Dragon's painful groans rang out continuously.
Tereshi's struggle grew weaker and weaker.
The Ice Spell she was proud of was shattered by the dragon claw just as it coalesced. Her long dragon tail tried to counterattack but was stepped on by one of Garros's claws, rendering it unable to move.
Under Garros's ferocious attacks, her feeble struggles and counterattacks were all suppressed.
The proud White Dragon now seemed to have become a lonely boat drifting in a storm, likely to capsize at any moment. She felt suffocated, felt she would die at any moment, and felt the Red-Iron Dragon before her was like a completely invincible monster wearing dragon skin.
The desire for survival eventually overcame her pride.
As the Red-Iron Dragon's next attack was about to fall, the White Dragon turned her body over.
"I am the foolish White Scale."
Her voice was like crushed ice crystals, her four claws facing the sky, revealing her most vulnerable abdomen: "Noble Red Iron Hybrid, I was wrong."
"Boom—" The wind pressure made it almost impossible for her to open her eyes.
Garros's claws stopped an inch away, and the golden lightning on his body gradually subsided.
"No."
The airflow from his claw tips brushed away the ice debris on the White Dragon's eyelids. Garros corrected her: "It's White Dragon." He slowly retracted his claws, which were still wreathed in residual electricity, and added: "It's the foolish White Dragon."