The dragon’s might thickened into something almost solid, bearing down until the rank-and-file dared not step forward. Flames roared up and sketched a dragon’s silhouette; if that black-armored soldier kept pestering, Lilo would cripple him without a blink.

The Royal Mage Corps and the city guard were never the same road; no matter the trouble, that unfathomable Captain would shoulder it. And right now, the board left no space for Lilo to soften; one inch of concession, and these lapdogs—whoever they served—would slap grand charges on Aphelia and drag her to some nameless place for “processing.”

They might shy from Lilo’s lineage, but to move without figuring out what stood behind Aphelia—that was bold to the point of suicide.

The thought drew a cold smile from Lilo. She watched the foolhardy soldiers and remembered Duke Dion, torn to shreds on the Hydra Plains. The last one who challenged a True God had been turned to ash.

These men, blind to death, were just pieces tossed out by the hand behind them.

Pressed by Lilo’s force, the black-armored soldier had to retreat, step after scraping step. He hadn’t expected her to be this direct, so he dragged out the name of the Royal Mage Corps like a shield. But when he recalled his instructions, his face twisted with venom.

“Vice-Captain Lilo, we’re arresting a criminal intent on wrecking the capital. Today’s Founding Day. You know how serious this is.”

He didn’t plan to yield, and he laid the stakes out clean. If Lilo kept shielding Aphelia, they could slap fabricated charges on Lilo too. Not that they could make them stick.

Set aside Lilo’s rank in the Royal Mage Corps; with her newly attained True God-level power, the Demon World’s future apex would include her. The upper echelons wouldn’t let a talent like that be destroyed by infighting, nor pin false crimes on her.

But Lilo still had her clan to guard. That’s why the black-armored brute dared to threaten.

“Oh? I’d love to hear what other sins you’ll pin on me.”

Lilo’s gaze cut over with open contempt. The stance she wore now was nothing like how she faced Aphelia; her born-to-rule presence bled through without restraint.

Scalding fire hovered at her shoulder. She leashed part of her Demigod pressure so the soldiers could still stand, yet the sense of a blade at the throat didn’t fade.

The black-armored soldier snorted and said, “Aiding a major felon is a capital crime. If convicted, it won’t be just you. For example, your—”

He didn’t finish. He only formed the word with his lips, venom curdling to smugness. He didn’t realize those syllables put him squarely against Lilo—and against the Crimson Dragon Clan.

He never got the chance to regret it. Lilo loosed her Demigod might. Scarlet fire surged and became a rampaging dragon, smashing down on him without restraint. She launched with it; red wings snapped open, dragon-scales rippling along her arms, and her fist crashed into his breastplate.

He had no time to react. The blow drove him into the cobbles, his chest burst open in a ragged hole, and the fire kept devouring him.

Half-draconic, Lilo glowered. Scarlet pupils burned with unmasked killing intent. She seized his throat and hauled him from the crater.

“Say that again.”

She stood like an enraged sovereign; the terrifying dragon might from the Crimson Dragon Source shrouded him. One squeeze, and he’d be erased.

The surrounding soldiers reeled at her sheer force, then snapped to and raised blades and shields, rushing her in a clatter of steel. A few were bolder: they cut for Fen and Shi, aiming to snatch them as leverage against Lilo. Aphelia watched every twitch and feint.

What met them were iron fists, silver-white and pitch-black crossing like stormcloud and shadow.

A dense hail of strikes filled the street. Only one figure flowed in and out of the ranks, leaving afterimages like ribbons of light.

Those who dared to move lay crumpled. Iron shells and the flesh inside twisted into crooked shapes. When you checked their breath, there was none left to find.

“Stand down!”

Just as Aphelia was about to keep culling through the formation, a shout like Thunder cracked from the air.

Power inside that voice crashed at her without reason. She answered the ambush with a cold smile and a True God spike, hurled across the gap at the source.

The roaring figure balked. He hadn’t expected a counter through his own attack. He threw up an arm, but the power wouldn’t form in time; the spike punched through his forearm, trailing a red line across the night.

Rage flared, and fear followed. Who had power like that?

“Oh? Roland, one of the Demonic Knights. So—you want in on this too?”

Lilo recognized him and answered like ice, her face darkening. The arrival of a Demonic Knight nailed her suspicion in place.

A man sealed in gray armor dropped from the sky and said, face stormy, “Lilo, what are you doing? Trying to drag the Crimson Dragon Clan into trouble?”

He led with accusation, flipping black and white without blinking. Lilo laughed, then crushed the black-armored soldier’s throat without hesitation and said, voice flat, “Do you know a dragon has a reverse scale? There are things you say, and things you don’t.”

Roland’s brows drew tight. In his memory, the Vice-Captain of the Royal Mage Corps didn’t have a saint’s temper, but she wasn’t reckless. For her to rage like this, that pawn must’ve crossed a line he shouldn’t.

He glanced at the limp corpse, tattered like rotten cloth, and sighed inwardly.

“Get this straight. The person you’re shielding is holding military ordnance. Today, a batch of magic-strike weapons went missing from the armory. The next second, your people are on the street with one. Do you take us for fools?”

He made it sound righteous, each word sharpened into a spear.

Facing a Demonic Knight, Lilo’s fists tightened. She pulled a long breath before saying, “I told you—we were attacked.”

“Then have the people behind you come back and cooperate with an investigation. Otherwise, the missing weapons fall on the Crimson Dragon Clan. The one you’re afraid for will be dragged in too.”

Roland’s cold tone and brute-force stance stoked Lilo’s anger, and fed her worry. Whatever lay behind this felt deeper than she’d thought.

While Lilo hesitated, Aphelia let out a quiet breath. She dismissed the Bracer Gauntlets formed from her True God power, folded her aura away, patted Lilo’s shoulder, and walked up to Roland.

“As you said, I’m here. How do you intend to investigate?”

Lilo and Roland both blinked at her. Roland wondered why she was this bold; the board was set against her, and she’d fought like a blade earlier, yet now she yielded. Lilo wanted to stop her, but Roland’s threat echoed in her head, and her hand froze mid-air.

“Oh? In that case, Miss Lilo, any objections?”

Their target had just offered herself. Even if Lilo blocked him, he could still take Aphelia in.

Lilo’s fists tightened harder. Her brows knotted. She trembled, and her eyes slid to Aphelia, seeking a cue. Aphelia only said, calm as water, “Remember to find that lord.”

She turned away then, as if disappointed, and didn’t look back. Roland nearly grinned—he saw a rift where hesitation had cut. But for Lilo, it was a wake-up slap. She let the draconic form go; the fire drew back into her body. She said nothing more, turned, lifted Fen and Shi, and leapt away.

“I’m curious—who wants to arrest me?”

With Lilo gone, and soldiers ringed around her, Aphelia asked it lightly.

To avoid another mess, Roland walked alongside the formation. Her calm earned a notch of respect, and he said, almost offhand, “A big name. With your power, the Crimson Dragon Clan isn’t a good partner.”

He drew out a pair of handcuffs etched with Runes and let them glint in front of her, inviting her to be cooperative and spare herself pain.

Aphelia’s expression didn’t change. She extended pale arms, and Roland locked the cuffs on her wrists.

“But I don’t think anyone who treats me like this makes a good partner.”

She laughed softly as the soldiers closed and marched her forward.