"Hawky? Hawky!"
As the girl in his arms closed her eyelids, Wang paid no attention to the current situation on the battlefield. He immediately leaned his head down and placed an ear against her motionless chest.
Thud, thud, thud.
The heart was still beating, albeit very slowly. It had not stopped completely.
"Thank goodness, truly thank goodness..."
Tears streamed down Wang's face, but his expression was that of a smile.
Just as he began to feel relieved, sharp claws came from behind, accompanied by a gust of wind that stirred up the surrounding air.
Sensing the rushing wind behind him, Wang turned his head to look back;
It was at this moment that the dragon's claw, filled with boundless anger, rapidly approached with an unstoppable force.
If he were alone, Wang could have evaded the claw before it struck him. But he couldn't do that now because Hawky was in a deep state of unconsciousness and needed someone to protect her.
Wang was certain that he was the only one capable of taking on this responsibility. He immediately crossed his arms and further shielded Hawky, positioning his body between her and the claw.
This wasn't an impenetrable barrier, just a regular human body;
But this kind of protection had its benefits -- as long as the person providing the protection didn't die, the protected individual would not suffer any harm!
Amidst the onslaught of claw wind, the strong claw struck Wang's body, sending him and the earth beneath him flying without any attempt to dodge.
"This is good, I've always wanted to protect you, just like how you took care of me..."
Enduring the dragon's full-force attack, as his body was about to descend from mid-air, Wang held onto Hawky and controlled his body to spin in a circle;
He eventually landed on the ground with his back facing down;
Blood made contact with the soil, intensifying the deep red hue to the point where it almost appeared dark black.
It was quite mysterious.
Since Hawky lost the ability to protect herself and fell into a coma, she had not suffered any harm whatsoever;
All injuries were completely blocked by the young man who protected her.
Wang's happiness grew, because he finally had the opportunity to repay Hawky for her companionship;
Although he couldn't respond to her emotions, he was willing to give everything except his heart.
Ten years ago, Hawky saved his life;
Ten years later, he saved her once and risked his own life in the process.
The evidence was clear:
There was an alarmingly high amount of bleeding in Wang's side abdomen.
The injury inflicted this time, when added up with all the other injuries he sustained in the war, was even more perilous.
The reason being that during his self-sacrifice, he happened to be struck directly by the sharp claw of the dragon at a vital point.
Just a little higher, and the torn part would have been his heart.
As the dragon's attack succeeded, its ominous aura grew deeper, impatiently preparing to strike down with the remaining claw.
At the moment when Wang was unable to react due to his injuries, a figure hastily approached;
The landing claw came down like a hurricane, but the person represented by the shadow moved even faster than the wind in the next instant!
Clang!
As the claw slammed down, the blood-spattered head, which should have been hit within millimeters, didn't register any sensation of the sharpness slicing through flesh and blood, due to the dragon's limited intellect.
It felt disappointed again, hearing a clear shout spread out, like ripples covering the autumn leaves.
A cross-shaped sword stabbed under the dragon's claw, barely blocking this powerful attack.
The king looked up and saw color in front of him, sword in hand turned into a barrier.
"Silly woman, step back. You only have the experience of using a sword, but not the strength to fight against a strong enemy..."
"No!"
For the first time, Color didn't wait for the king to finish speaking and refused his request.
The reason was simple:
"I left before to lead everyone up the mountain to safety; now that my task is completed, what reason do I have to be protected by you and Big Sister?"
Color was indeed weak.
But the weak can show a stubbornness that is no less than that of the strong at certain times.
Currently, even though her hands were gripping the sword, her body was bent under the weight of the dragon claw that had fallen, as if she could collapse at any moment under the immense pressure.
However, the determination on her face was no less than that of Hawky, who had just fought to the death.
The dragon, which had become "weak at the end of its strength," couldn't instantly crush its obstructing target into pieces in a flash of lightning.
The injuries from the exploding feathers, the burning flames, and the sharp strikes of the sword;
These injuries gradually weakened the dragon over time;
After its power was weakened by the wounds, the dragon, which used to possess "city level" strength, couldn't gain much advantage in a one-on-one fight against Color.
As the dragon's attacking power weakened, Color seized the opportunity when it slightly lifted its claw and reversed the situation. She turned her palm and made the cross-shaped sword counterattack.
Soon, their offense and defense reversed, and Color was no longer passive;
Using the sharpness of the sword and her own weak strength, she launched a counterattack against the dragon claws that were being sliced bit by bit.
The dragon dared not underestimate the sharpness of the sword, so it had to temporarily raise its claw to dodge the sword's edge;
Unexpectedly, it was just this momentary hesitation that allowed Color, who had been given a lot of sword-fighting experience, to instantly spot the opportunity to turn the tables.
Color let out a low shout, exerting force with her feet and leaping into the air;
The sword, with a flickering cold light, emitted white light that swept across and attacked the unsuspecting dragon.
Swoosh, poof!
The sound of the sword flashing was the sound of scales being cut off. The dragon had only taken a few seconds to recover from its daze, but a piece of its front scales had already been shaved off;
While the opponent was howling in pain, Color jumped onto the dragon's limb and quickly dodged around;
Color arrived at the area under the dragon's neck, and in the next second, her body soared into the air with her hands tightly gripping the sword handle, then raised it high;
Suspended in mid-air, her body in the shape of a bow, the trembling right wrist pushed the sword forward.
Bang!
The dragon's neck was instantly pierced, and the long sword tip guided a spray of blood flow;
However, because Color lacked strength despite her experience, this attack, which was enough to end the battle, only managed to lightly graze the dragon scale in that position.
If she wanted to kill the target with one sword, Color still couldn't do it...
Roar!
In its fury, the dragon swung its head, which had turned into a black shadow, in front of Color, and it rushed toward her like a flying rock, hitting her frail body directly.
The strong and overbearing impact hit Color's body solidly;
The continuous force shook into her body, causing Cai's face to lose color. A clear cough echoed:
"Cough!"
Cai, raising her neck, spat out a mouthful of blood, which danced around her as the swirling stones stirred relentlessly;
The person involved followed suit, falling from the sky like a broken kite, leaving a long trail on the ground.
At the same time!
The cross sword, released from her hand, was thrown accurately after being handled by Cai's hands in the previous moment.
As the cross sword rotated forward, the icy sharpness engraved on the blade landed perfectly in the dragon's body, piercing its single-sided pupil;
In the midst of the crisis, Cai took advantage of the fleeting opportunity and made the right gamble.
Roar!
The final roar rang out for the last time. The one-eyed dragon, now mad, rolled its body in a frenzy, allowing itself to be hit by everything around it.
Trunks as thick as a waist broke in half, and fist-sized natural rocks were crushed;
The beautiful scenery of the mountains and rivers became even more desolate in the destruction caused by the tremendous force in an instant.
Until the blood-stained cross sword rolled to the ground and was picked up by a pair of bloodstained slender hands;
Until the enormous dragon shadow, turned into a sharp edge by the sword, completely penetrated its massive body;
At this moment, there was no sound coming from all directions.
Through the recent battle, Cai realized that her own power was not enough. Therefore, she only aimed the cross sword at the weak point in front of the dragon's body and cut off its blood vessels through that vulnerable spot.
That horrifying injury was not caused by Cai;
The girl who actually carried out that action was now lying in the gentle embrace of someone, her expression content as she fell into a deep sleep.
"Big sister..."
Wang raised his hand to stop Cai from finishing her sentence, not because he was impatient, but because he couldn't wait to tell her:
"Hawky, she's still alive... Not only her, I managed to survive because of your desperation!"
Supporting the unconscious Hawky, Wang carefully led her up the mountain;
Although Cai wanted to help, Wang was determined not to give in on this matter;
As Cai hesitated, a voice sounded ahead, full of revived spirit:
"Let's go, follow me home, and meet our 'family'!"
The soldiers in the distance did not surround them, which meant they had no intention of attacking the mountains.
After all, the immediate priority for those who had lost their courage was not to direct their blades outward, but to unite within.
As Wang led the two girls slowly back up the mountain, the three remaining legion commanders, who were still alive for now, were preparing to execute their well-thought-out plan.
The three legion commanders were afraid of the strength of the demon clan leader and didn't dare to continue their attack;
They knew that doing so would result in heavy losses, so they focused their attention on Yu.
The three of them, along with their subordinate officers, generally believed that the only factor that caused significant casualties on their side was Yu's mismanagement, attributing all the wrong decisions to him.
Even if the temporary command was handed over to Yu, it was these three legion commanders, but such details were not important at this moment.
Right now, the three of them joined forces, secretly mobilizing part of the troops in the camp, and decided to take the opportunity of Yu's negligence to take him down!
The three legion commanders thought:
If the plan went smoothly and they succeeded in killing Yu, they would gather the strength of the three families and annihilate all the soldiers brought by Yu.
