The weather recently has been atrocious.
The sky was swallowed by a thick, grayish-white haze, with clouds hanging so low they seemed ready to collapse. The snow wasn't falling; it was flying horizontally, like a silent, raging fury, howling as it tore at trees, rocks, and frozen earth. The distant mountains had long since vanished behind the curtain of snow, leaving only blurry outlines.
The Centaur and Ogre guards stationed at the Abyssal Rift felt visibly uncomfortable.
Their vision was obstructed, and their body heat was draining away. They hurriedly erected makeshift tents to withstand the wind and snow, but their combat readiness was still affected.
White Dragon Tereshi, however, stretched her wings contentedly, circling freely in the wind and snow.
As a typical cold-affinity creature, this weather made her feel right at home.
Feeling the bone-chilling cold, she even felt her mind was much sharper than usual, as if her intelligence had increased.
"There is less than forty years left until I gain my freedom."
This thought flashed through Tereshi's mind as she completed a graceful barrel roll in the air.
While enjoying the thrill of flight, she pondered her future options: "When the time comes, should I stay in the thriving Molten Iron Tribe, or leave and develop on my own?"
This major decision regarding her future left her deep in thought.
Both options had their pros and cons.
Among all the members of the Dragon Clan, Tereshi's current status could be said to be the lowest.
Looking back ten years ago, her strength was second only to Garros, ranking second.
However, as time passed, those Young Dragons had grown into adolescent dragons, and her status had slipped to the bottom, now only slightly higher than the servant kin.
What she found even more unbearable was that every time she encountered Red Dragon Samantha, she had to endure a variety of verbal insults from her.
"White-scaled freak," "White-skinned beast," "White monster." These discriminatory terms targeting white dragons were used by the Red Dragon in every way imaginable.
Some of these words were not even inherent to the Dragon Clan Legacy.
White Dragon Tereshi really couldn't understand how, with that Red Dragon's meager brain capacity, she managed to create so many insulting terms.
If she chose to remain in the Molten Iron Tribe, White Dragon Tereshi estimated it would be hard to avoid continuing to suffer such insults.
But on the other hand, the Molten Iron Tribe was in its golden age of booming development; as long as she followed the rules set by the King of Molten Iron, she could also obtain rich benefits and many advantages.
After careful weighing, the White Dragon still leaned toward choosing to stay.
She had had enough of those miserable days of living hand-to-mouth, where she could only use animal bones and stones as treasure.
"Besides."
Tereshi spun happily in the air, thinking: "Garros asked me before if there were any other hidden Young Dragons in The Borderlands."
"The Molten Iron Tribe is preparing to imitate the Blue Dragon community and adopt Young Dragons."
"With the appearance of new Young Dragons, my niche in the Dragon Clan will be able to rise again. I can insult those Young Dragons, and even if they insult me back once they grow up, I am already used to it; I can just continue to insult new Young Dragons for fun."
Throughout her long career of being discriminated against and discriminating against other dragons.
White Dragon Tereshi realized a truth.
A niche is not static; or rather, it is constantly changing.
If she were in front of the Ignas brothers, her niche would plummet to the lowest point, becoming the bottom-most layer of The Dragon Flight to be insulted and trampled upon. But if there were ordinary Young Dragons, her niche would skyrocket, and she would become a majestic, half-step adult Evil Dragon. Even if those Young Dragons looked down on the White Dragon, they wouldn't dare say it out loud and would just have to let her bully them.
"Even if it is Garros."
"When he faces an adult Silver Dragon, or is in front of a stronger Legendary creature, his niche will also drop."
Tereshi continued to think deeply.
"Thinking about it this way, even Legendary powerhouses, or even gods, cannot escape my Dynamic Niche Theory. When a lower god faces a higher god, it is difficult for them to be as high and mighty as they appear in the eyes of mortals; they are likely quite humble."
White Dragon Tereshi suddenly saw the light: "In this world, unless one is the sole supreme powerhouse, all creatures cannot avoid being insulted by those stronger, nor can they avoid insulting those weaker."
"No one is more noble than anyone else."
"Any insult against me is essentially an insult from the strong to the weak; it is ubiquitous, and I don't need to care."
She had attained enlightenment, eventually reaching a conclusion with quite a philosophical meaning.
Since it is the same everywhere, she might as well stay in the Molten Iron Tribe. After all, the number of dragons here will increase, and in the future, while being insulted by powerful dragons, she will also have the opportunity to vent by insulting other weak dragons.
"Once the number of Young Dragons adopted by the Molten Iron Tribe increases, my niche will continue to rise."
"Hehe, by then, the only dragons who can insult me will be the few above me, but below me, the number of dragons I can insult will be even greater."
After figuring this out.
White Dragon Tereshi felt exceptionally comfortable and at ease, both in body and mind.
She soared through the sky even more wantonly, dancing gracefully in the wind and snow.
Just as the White Dragon was immersed in these pleasant feelings, a low horn blast pierced through the thick curtain of snow from afar.
Tereshi immediately stopped circling, her sharp dragon eyes turning toward the ground.
This special horn blast meant only one thing—demons had appeared from the Abyssal Rift again.
Looking down from high altitude, she could see the guards stationed around the rift gathering rapidly from all directions. In the center of the encirclement they formed, the originally white snow was turning into eerie black-purple spots at a speed visible to the naked eye—this was a typical sign that the Abyssal energy was eroding the Material Plane.
Unlike the tension of the ordinary guards, Tereshi felt a surge of excitement.
Because based on past experience, no particularly powerful demons had ever appeared from this rift.
More importantly, in the current special weather environment, she could exert more combat power than usual.
"Now it is time to let these demons taste the flavor of being insulted!" The White Dragon extended her long tongue to lick her lower jaw, then violently flapped her wings, diving down while carrying the snow-filled sky with her.
Boom—!
With a sudden shake of the ground, the Abyssal Rift stood exposed, like a wound in the earth torn open by an invisible giant hand.
Dense swarms of Quasits gushed out from it like blood.
These goat-sized, low-tier demons with small wings let out excited cries as soon as they touched the air of the Material Plane.
Immediately after.
There were Manes with twisted torsos and limbs, looking deformed and disproportionate.
Dretches, covered in various abscesses and bulging cysts, carrying a foul, filthy stench.
When demons appeared in large numbers and gathered together, the Abyssal energy became intense.
Wherever the demons passed, the snow melted rapidly, and the ground rotted into scorched earth smelling of sulfur. The surrounding air seemed to be dyed dark, and the boundaries between the two different worlds became blurred here.
Ice Wall!
The White Dragon raised her head and roared, casting spells with a dragon's chant.
As she waved her wings, walls of ice rose from the ground, splitting the torrent of demons and leaving only one path.
Elvie simultaneously flapped her wings and rose into mid-air.
She drew her bow and nocked an arrow, holy energy condensing into a tangible arrow between the recurve bow, then shot it toward the center of the demon gathering.
Swish—Boom!
The high-temperature holy energy exploded into a huge ball of light, swallowing those demons whose attributes were countered, turning them into ash and dust.
The Abyssal energy that was expanding and radiating was also purified and evaporated.
The Manes and Dretches could not fly and were trapped inside by the ice walls. As Elvie's holy explosive arrows fell one by one, they panicked and could only surge madly through the remaining channel, where they were slaughtered by the prepared Ogres and Centaur Warriors.
The Quasits flapped their small wings and rushed into mid-air.
Swish, swish, swish!
The Centaur marksmen's arrows rained down, precisely picking off the Quasits that flew over the ice walls; almost every arrow found its target.
White Dragon Tereshi locked her eyes on the elites among the Quasits.
Clang!
With a crisp clashing sound, the demon elite, which was much stronger and larger than other Quasits, reacted quickly, turning around and using a short blade to knock away the arrow that had come piercing through the air.
But the next second, a violent wind struck.
The White Dragon's body enveloped the Quasit elite, her sharp claws reaching out, grabbing it, and crushing it instantly.
"Abyssal vermin! Fear! Tremble!"
The dragon laughed wantonly and arrogantly.
Bullying and slaughtering weak demons always made the White Dragon feel refreshed; the desire for slaughter rooted deep in the heart of the Evil Dragon was satisfied.
Afterward, the battle situation presented a one-sided posture.
As time passed, the demons were killed one by one.
Soon after, thousands of demon corpses lay on the ground, black blood soaking the earth. Looking down from high above, it looked like a stubborn ink stain had appeared in the snow-white world.
The servant guards used snow to wipe and wash the demonic blood off their weapons.
Low-tier demons did not cause many casualties to these elite guards, but the demons, in the process of fighting and dying, were constantly emitting Abyssal energy, and their blood had the dual effect of physical corrosion and mental influence.
The servants' movements were dazed, their eyes flashing with violent expressions from time to time, struggling to suppress the evil desires surging within them.
Elvie exhaled softly.
She noticed the abnormality of the other servants; similar situations had not happened for the first time.
Continuous fighting with demons easily allowed warriors to be eroded by the Abyss, even assimilated into demon-kin, and turn to slaughter their former companions.
In this situation, just having the guards move away and retreat, and replacing them with a new batch of guards, was enough.
The guards who recovered after a period of time would have stronger mental willpower after being tempered by the Abyssal energy.
But just at this moment.
The Abyssal Rift, which had calmed down, suddenly surged with intense energy again.
Two huge, withered wings, covered with blade-like black feathers, suddenly unfolded and reached out from the Abyssal Rift. Immediately after, a gray shadow flashed, and an exceptionally ferocious demon, which had not appeared before, appeared in the sky filled with wind and snow.
It was about five meters tall, its hooked beak contained serrated teeth, its compound eyes were deep red, and it had short horns on top of its head.
Its skeleton was as craggy as a vulture's, covered in feathers mixed with dark green and gray-black, and its skin, covered in pustules, was exposed between the gaps in the feathers.
Its body surface constantly oozed oil that smelled of sulfur, which formed foul-smelling steam after contacting the air.
Vrock, also known as—Vulture Demon.
Swish—it waved its wings, and its body teleported away without warning, appearing behind an Ogre. Its withered, sharp claws pierced into the Ogre's thick skin from the back of the neck, killing an Ogre guard in one strike.
And with the appearance of this Vulture Demon, whose Abyssal energy was exceptionally intense.
Many two- or three-meter-tall Vulture Demons rushed out from the Abyssal Rift, swarming in all directions. Those Quasits, Manes, and Dretches also emerged in greater numbers, forming a demonic tide.
Moreover, there was not just one powerful Vulture Demon leader; a full five Vulture Demon leaders flew out of the Abyssal Rift one after another.
This time, the demons came fiercely.
The appearance of the Vulture Demons changed the battle situation.
White Dragon Tereshi and Centaur Elvie's gazes swept over those Vulture Demon leaders that were extremely fast and capable of teleportation, and at the same time, their hearts felt a sense of awe.
Swish, swish, swish!
Three Vulture Demon leaders locked onto White Dragon Tereshi, flying around her at high speed and creating a sky full of afterimages.
Multi-Attack!
Rend!
The Vulture Demon leaders' attacks landed on the White Dragon. The first strike broke her ice armor, the second strike tore open her dragon scales, leaving a bloody, jagged wound that bled incessantly.
The White Dragon roared and counterattacked.
But demons are not weak; at the same level, they are stronger than the vast majority of creatures. The three Vulture Demon leaders attacked simultaneously, repeatedly using skills like Teleport, Stinking Cloud, and Fear Scream, pressing the White Dragon into a disadvantage.
There were two more Vulture Demon leaders that locked onto Elvie.
The half-blood Centaur, possessing Pegasus Bloodline and being holy and noble, made them feel wary while simultaneously unable to help but want to ravage and slaughter her.
Swish!
The shot arrow was dodged by the Vulture Demon as it tumbled its body.
Another Vulture Demon leader dived from the side, approaching rapidly. Elvie drew her greatsword, infused it with Demonic Energy, and slashed fiercely, hacking the Vulture Demon away and spilling demonic blood all over the ground.
However, before she could pursue, a foul wind suddenly came from behind her back.
Another Vulture Demon leader teleported behind Elvie. She hurriedly dodged, but was still swept by the Vulture Demon's sharp claws, causing waves of stinging pain. The wound was torn open, and a foul, rotting smell came from it, and just like the White Dragon, she bled incessantly.
One-on-one, she did not fear the Vulture Demon leader.
But now it was one against many, and the enemies were high-agility creatures, so the battle became fraught with danger.
"Sweet flesh, delicious Soul."
"I can't wait to enjoy it."
Licking the blood on their claws, the Vulture Demons let out hoarse and cruel screeches and attacked again.
"Vermin, do you think you have the upper hand? Wait for death."
Faced with the sudden disadvantage, Tereshi did not lose her reason due to anger.
She smiled coldly and decisively crushed the emergency Communication Stone hidden under her scales.
In her view, although these demon leaders seemed to have the upper hand at the moment and were insulting and bullying her, as long as stronger reinforcements arrived, the situation would surely be reversed, and she did not need to feel angry about a moment's humiliation.
This would be the best proof of the "Dynamic Niche Theory" she had just realized.