The audience was on stage; everything was set for the show to begin.
Zoran hung up on Lu Mingfei and reconnected with the silent old man on the other end. A feast was about to commence here, and every qualified soul had been invited to take their seat and bear witness. Not one was missing.
As the master of ceremonies, however, his time to take the stage had not yet come.
…
The Subway Station.
Chu Zihang clung to the tail end of the train, a vehicle that technically shouldn't exist in this world, until it finally ground to a halt after a short journey. He jumped down and followed the tracks deeper into the darkness.
With the Seven Deadly Sins strapped to his back, he moved with the solitary focus of a man accustomed to walking alone. It wasn't until two somewhat familiar silhouettes appeared before him that he stopped and knit his brows.
"Caesar? NoNo?" he muttered.
The figures turned. Caesar's face was contemplative, though etched with a trace of surprise.
"So you found your way here too, Chu Zihang." Caesar stood tall in the center of the tracks, his boots planted firmly on the black coal cinders.
"I assume you know where we are."
"A Nibelungen," Caesar said lowly. "The mythical land of the dead, the domain of a Dragon King, and the most dangerous place on Earth."
"Correct. We're all trapped," Chu Zihang's voice was muffled as his gaze shifted to Chen Motong.
It was as if an invisible hand had gathered everyone here; no one could escape. But why were Caesar and his girlfriend here? Was this some bizarre adventure for the young aristocrat and his lady?
Chu Zihang's eyes flickered slightly as he asked, "Where is Xia Mi?"
His voice echoed through the hollow tunnel.
"It seems you have someone to worry about as well?" Caesar chuckled softly.
"I'm right here!"
A soft voice rang out as a shadow nearby suddenly moved. With the sound of pitter-pattering footsteps, a girl in a bohemian-style dress emerged.
Speak of the devil. Chu Zihang's frown deepened.
"I went to the hotel to find you, but the front desk said you'd left, so I asked around all the way here!" Xia Mi grinned, her eyes crinkling into crescents.
Now, aside from Lu Mingfei and that fellow Finger, the two dragon-slaying teams were nearly complete.
"It seems your team abandoned you, or did you abandon your team?" Caesar tilted his chin up.
This mission was more than a hunt; it was a contest between the Board of Trustees and Angers. Caesar's team, representing the Board, clearly held the advantage now, at least all three of his members were present. Competing with Chu Zihang was one of the few things Caesar truly relished.
"Um..." Xia Mi suddenly raised her hand. "Captain, may I defect?"
She framed it as a question, but without waiting for Caesar's response, she scurried over to stand beside Chu Zihang. Two against two.
Xia Mi stuck out her tongue and leaned toward Chu Zihang, saying with a hint of smugness, "After all, I was an undercover agent to begin with!"
"Predictable," Caesar replied, his expression unchanged.
His mind was entirely on NoNo. She lacked a Yanling, making her survival in a Nibelungen entirely dependent on his protection. NoNo, however, seemed nonchalant. She had come for one reason: the being known as the Elder had sent her a message, inviting her to watch a play here.
The title was intriguing: The Molting of the Cocoon, the Ascension of the Dragon. And she was never one to fear death. If he invited, she would come.
Though, so far, the man was nowhere to be seen.
As the two sides faced off, a wail suddenly erupted from the depths of the tunnel, a voice so familiar it was unmistakable.
"Lu Mingfei!" The group's pupils dilated in shock.
"How did that idiot get in here too?" NoNo's expression turned anxious.
But Chu Zihang was already running, charging into the unknown depths without a second thought.
"Wait for me!" Xia Mi followed close behind.
…
At the very end of the tracks, Lu Mingfei was sprawled on the ground, staring in terror at the massive, serpentine presence before him. It was the neck of the King of Earth and Mountains, Fenrir.
Lu Mingfei scrambled backward, his hands scraping the dirt. Not long ago, he had followed the tracks to their end, finding nothing but a stone wall. Then, a blinding yellow light had dawned from above, the eye of the reptilian colossus.
He was face-to-face with a Dragon King.
For a moment, the sheer pressure of the creature's presence paralyzed him. Powers, prices, deals, all were driven from his mind by the raw terror of a jump-scare. In an instant, he reverted to the "loser" he knew so well.
Rapid footsteps thundered behind him, followed by a searing flash of light.
"Lu Mingfei! Get back! Hide!" Chu Zihang's voice boomed like thunder through the tunnel.
The "Killing Machine" didn't hesitate for a second. Upon seeing the Dragon King, he charged. His Yanling: King's Blaze erupted, the high-risk power manifesting as a field of explosive heat around him.
Behind him, a gust of wind lifted Xia Mi. She hovered in the air like a descending goddess, her Eye of the Storm coordinating perfectly with Chu Zihang's fire. The intense heat melted the coal and iron tracks into raw energy, which the wind then gathered into a miniature sun, hurling it toward the Dragon King.
This was the way of things between Hybrids and Dragons: no words, only the ancient enmity of life and death.
The light illuminated Lu Mingfei's face, finally allowing him to see the whole scene. The Dragon King's lower body was encased in the stone wall, but its neck, tens of meters long, was arched high. The joy in its golden eyes vanished, replaced instantly by something else.
The flames also revealed Caesar rushing in from behind, his "Big Boss," and NoNo standing by the tracks. His crush was waving at him, gesturing for him to get away from the battlefield.
I look like such a dork, Lu Mingfei thought. His pathetic display must have been seen by everyone.
He scrambled up just as the terrifying explosion and shockwave struck the Dragon King. The beast wailed. The scorching heat melted the pile of ignored bottle caps it had been guarding under its neck into black slag. An old television caught fire and was tossed aside by the blast, smashing against the wall, totaled.
The war was on.
Lu Mingfei was momentarily stunned until a hand gripped his arm. NoNo had reached his side and yanked him away from the blast radius. Her strength was surprising; they tumbled to the ground together, the heat singeing their hair.
"Do you want to die?! Leave it to Chu Zihang and the others! What are you doing in the middle of it?" NoNo scolded him, her voice sharp with concern.
Lu Mingfei blinked. For a moment, he felt like that "dead kid" again, being ushered out of the movie theater by NoNo.
"Actually... senior... I have power now," he muttered, pouting.
"Quiet! I know you, even if you had power, you wouldn't know how to use it," NoNo said, dragging him toward safety.
Lu Mingfei felt a pang in his chest. "Senior, did you say yes to the Boss's proposal?" His eyes fell on the engagement ring on NoNo's finger. Not long ago, her hand had been bare.
NoNo flinched, instinctively hiding her hand behind her back. Caesar was a romantic to a fault; he had declared that the bravest man should propose to the woman he loved in the most dangerous place in the world, and a Nibelungen was a perfect choice.
She had put on the ring. She shouldn't have felt like a thief, accepting Caesar's proposal was the natural order of things, as natural as eating cake on a birthday. But looking at Lu Mingfei's crumpled face, she found herself shrinking back.
"I was just asking. No big deal," Lu Mingfei said, waving his hands dismissively.
Before he could say more, a massive tremor shook the earth. With a primal ferocity, the fury of the King of Earth and Mountains swept through the Nibelungen.
Chu Zihang and Xia Mi's cooperation was flawless, and Caesar's confidence was no less formidable. Just moments ago, he had obtained the Blood Rage ability from Chu Zihang's deputy, a dangerous technique that drastically amplified one's power.
This was a battle of Cassell College's elite, a showcase of the ultimate Hybrid combat. Others could only watch from the sidelines.
Unseen by all, a figure in a suit floated silently above their heads, observing the chaos below.
"It seems it's almost over. I don't know why, but the King of Earth and Mountains seems to lack the will to fight, and my students are exceptional," Angers remarked from his distant location, his eyes burning as he watched the battlefield through the video feed.
Through Zoran, he witnessed it all. A dragon slayer's war was nearing its end; the Dragon King was about to die. The blood in Angers' aged body throbbed with excitement.
"No. Not yet."
Zoran's gaze shifted downward toward the terrified "loser," then back up to Xia Mi hovering in mid-air.
"This is a masterpiece, and the curtain has only just been raised. As an audience member, one must have patience. Wouldn't you agree?"
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