The wind and snow drifted, falling with a rustling sound.
The massive white beast landed amidst the pile of Young Dragons, adopting a lofty posture, her disdainful gaze looking down upon the surroundings from above.
The young Blue Dragon remained calm.
"White."
The young Green Dragon and young black dragon subconsciously wanted to express their dissatisfaction.
But when they looked up and saw Tereshi's massive body, which exceeded sixteen meters, and felt the biting winter Aura rushing toward them, all their words became stuck in their throats.
The two Young Dragons stepped back half a pace in unison, then simultaneously cast their gazes toward the Red Dragon Cahill.
This companion who had always behaved the most defiantly.
"White Scale?!"
Cahill lived up to expectations, her scales bristling.
The discrimination rooted in her Bloodline Legacy caused her to blurt out without a second thought: "A mere White Scale, and you think you're worthy of being our caretaker?"
She deliberately emphasized the pronunciation of the words "White Scale."
Her dragon maw parted to reveal sharp white fangs, sparks sprayed from her nostrils, instantly vaporizing the snowflakes that landed on her scales.
Dissatisfaction, contempt.
Such emotions were written all over her face, undisguised.
Hiss.
Cahill was as brave as ever.
The Green Dragon's pupils contracted slightly, his claws quietly scraping the ground as he moved backward, shielding the Red Dragon Cahill in front of him, while simultaneously nudging the black dragon with his tail without drawing attention.
As the race most adept at assessing situations among the Chromatic Dragons, he had already foreseen the tragedy about to unfold.
As for the small action of nudging the black dragon, it was because Green Dragons are naturally inclined to influence and control other creatures.
The black dragon reacted slightly slower, but upon the Green Dragon's reminder, he also realized what was happening, quietly retreating to shield the Red Dragon in front alongside the Green Dragon.
At this moment, the White Dragon Tereshi did not immediately fly into a rage.
She first turned toward the Red-Iron Dragon Garros, who stood quietly to the side, completing a series of delicate postural shifts in the process: her folded wings tucked snugly against her sides, her raised head lowered by fifteen degrees, and even the tip of her tail curled up submissively.
She completed the downward adjustment of her niche as naturally and smoothly as snow under a scorching sun.
Silky smooth, done in one go.
So the white dragon believed.
When facing a superior in the niche hierarchy.
It is always better to proactively lower one's niche than to be insulted and struck by the opponent before being forced to lower it.
[Dynamic Niche Theory]
[Second point: When facing an absolute superior, proactively lowering one's status has more survival advantages than being forced to submit.]
This was a line of thinking derived by Tereshi based on Dynamic Niche Theory.
She was already prepared to slowly perfect this theory, then organize and consolidate it, to later include it in her own Legacy, or perhaps first use the surrounding Young Dragons as subjects for instruction, letting them grasp the true meaning of the niche hierarchy.
Under the gaze of the White Dragon Tereshi, Garros said nothing, maintaining an attitude of tacit approval.
Back when his own sister, Samantha, had overreached and provoked a major dragon while she was still weak, and was beaten soundly by the White Dragon Tereshi, he had not interfered in that process.
Now, with the Red Dragon Cahill provoking her like this, he would certainly not interfere with the white dragon's subsequent actions.
If the White Dragon Tereshi wanted to manage these Young Dragons well, she first needed to establish her authority.
Moreover, Young Dragons who speak rudely without understanding the disparity in strength truly need to be taken down a peg.
Garros's tacit approval was like a silent decree.
The white dragon turned her head back and looked at Cahill again.
In the process of turning her head, she raised her head and puffed out her chest again, her entire Aura rising steadily like a thawing glacier.
"Little brat, say that name you just called me one more time."
The white dragon, with a cold and dangerous demeanor, did not get angry, but instead said to Cahill with a sneer.
"White Scale?! White-skinned monster?! White dragon beast?!"
With every insulting term Cahill spat out, the muscles beneath her scales tightened a fraction.
The pride belonging to a Red Dragon made her completely incapable of understanding what it meant to assess the situation.
The contempt for white dragons in her Bloodline Legacy all transformed into Battle Intent at this moment.
"Even the lowest dragon species dares to..."
Whoosh! Bang!
A gust of cold wind rushed toward her face, followed immediately by the white dragon's massive, sharp claw, which slammed fiercely into Cahill's body.
Cahill didn't even have time to raise her forelimbs to defend, and her entire draconic body was sent flying like a ragdoll, plowing a trench over thirty meters long in the snowy ground.
The wounds on the young Red Dragon that had barely scabbed over all burst open, and her scorching dragon blood sizzled, emitting white smoke on the snow.
"Despicable white dragon!"
The young Red Dragon roared as she climbed to her feet.
Disregarding her injuries, she kicked the ground, shattering it, and with a flap of her dragon wings, her body shot toward the massive white dragon like a cannonball, while the white dragon merely sneered, standing quietly in place.
The moment Cahill approached.
She reached out with her massive, sharp claw, striking after but arriving first, pressing down on the red Young Dragon's nape, instantly interrupting her charge and pinning her to the ground.
Red Dragons are indeed renowned for their strength.
However, one side was merely a Young Dragon, while the other was a near-two-hundred-year-old approaching Mature Adult Dragon; the age gap was immense, and the Red Dragon's strength was inherently insufficient to bridge that gap, let alone when she was currently in a severely injured state.
"Despicable white dragon, let me go!"
Pressed and restrained tightly by the white dragon, Cahill, who could barely move, cursed angrily: "If we were the same age, you would definitely not be my match."
Hearing these words, the white dragon merely sneered.
"Heh, same age? I will always be two hundred years older than you."
She looked down at the struggling Cahill, speaking coldly: "Listen well, little red-skin, this world will never give you the opportunity for a fair fight."
"When you are one day trampled underfoot by a real enemy, your wings broken, your skin peeled and bones dismantled, and you are subjected to ultimate humiliation—"
The White Dragon Tereshi's claw tightened slightly, frost seeping through the gaps in the scales into Cahill's wounds, bringing bone-chilling pain. She lowered her head, her Dragon Breath condensing into fine ice crystals beside the Red Dragon's ear, her voice colder than the freezing winds of the ice plains.
"—you will understand that the first lesson of a dragon's life is always 'recognize your Niche'!"
It seemed as though she had been suppressed for too long.
Now that she finally had the opportunity to stand in a high niche and educate the Young Dragons, the white dragon had to let it all out, saying in a deep voice:
"Red Dragon? Blue Dragon? White Dragon? In the moments when wings are broken and horns are snapped, color is nothing but the cheapest epitaph! Can that Bloodline Legacy you are so proud of block a Frost Giant's ice axe for you? Can it let you take even half a breath more when you are dying?!"
"Learn to measure the gap between claws and fangs!"
The white dragon released Cahill, who was no longer struggling or resisting, and said to her: "You can continue to shout 'White Scale is despicable,' but next time you say that, you had better ensure you are stronger than me."
Broken bones are the best education.
Facing the white dragon's condescending reprimand, Cahill finally recognized reality and did not continue to bare her teeth in provocation.
At this time, the white dragon's gaze swept over all the Young Dragons present.
"When the enemy is stronger than you, crouching low is wisdom; when you are stronger than the enemy, crushing their skull is an obligation. The true meaning of survival is to adapt and change between 'cowering' and 'tearing'—not like a foolish red scale, spraying ridiculous sparks at a high mountain!"
She said sternly.
Silence, dead silence, not a sound.
Not just the Young Dragons.
Garros, Solrog, Samantha.
The three Ignas brothers, as well as the Red-Silver Dragon watching the gathering of Evil Dragons atop the Burning Steel Fortress, and the Faerie Dragon watching the show from the flower bushes.
Were all shocked by the white dragon's words.
It seems she really has grasped some kind of true meaning of life?
"Foolish red scale?"
Samantha's low growl broke the silence. She stared at the White Dragon Tereshi, her tone unfriendly: "White-skin, you seem to have become a bit carried away."