*Thud-thwack!*

The sound of flesh pierced by a spear.

No suffocating pain flooded Liangjie’s chest. Eyes snapping open in terror, he saw a petite girl standing with her back to him. The black spearhead jutting from her chest seemed a death sentence from the Grim Reaper itself. Two seconds stretched into an eternity.

Slowly, inch by inch, the girl turned her head. She smiled. Orange starlight Battle Qi radiated from her palms, clamping the spear shaft like iron jaws. No matter how fiercely the spearman strained, the weapon wouldn’t budge another hair’s breadth—never reaching the silver-haired man behind her.

The brightest starlight in the world dimmed. High above, a shooting star silently fell.

*"Run..."*

*"FAN QIANDAI!!!"*

Something deep within Liangjie shattered without warning. Memories surged like a tidal wave, tearing his world apart—

*"C-could you... p-please return these... to us?"*

*"This one is Fan Qiandai... items left by the deputy captain during retreat... I tripped... got scared... then fainted..."*

*"Seems stringing ten words together is her limit."*

*"N-none of your business..."*

*"What did I just say these were?"*

*"W-wah! M-money!"*

*"Hopeless! Wah~ Your Highness!"*

*"Fan Qiandai, weep in this one’s arms."*

*"This one, Fan Qiandai, swears to become your shadow—eternally serving you, my lord!"*

*"My lord!"*

*"Damn it! Don’t sneak up on people! You’ll scare someone to death!"*

*"H-help! This one fears mice most! Mama! Papa! Sister!"*

Fan Qiandai. This bright, lovely girl—he’d never once called her full name properly.

A heart-wrenching ache flooded Liangjie’s chest, cold and desolate.

*"Ah!"* Fan Qiandai gasped as the spear buried deeper into her chest.

*"Q-quickly..."* Crimson blood seeped from her mouth, through her back, dripping to the ground like hammer blows against Liangjie’s fragile heart.

*"Why won’t you leave?! Would you waste her sacrifice?!"*

Xier couldn’t hold back. She spurred her horse forward, chanting fiercely. A crimson fireball erupted from her palm, arcing unnaturally through the air to slam into the black-armored rider’s cheek.

A mere beginner’s fire spell sent the armored warrior flying, his spear clattering to the ground.

Liangjie scrambled to Fan Qiandai’s side, cradling her small frame as if she were spun glass.

*"Soldiers! Charge at my command!"*

Princess Saori’s face remained icy as she galloped ahead, leading the charge. The thunder of hooves finally sounded war’s drumbeat. Passing the frozen Liangjie, she flashed him a look of utter disgust.

No one had ever drawn such raw emotion from her—not since birth. This man had shaken her frozen heart twice: first with contempt, now with loathing.

Without a word, Saori plunged her spear into the black-armored riders. Like a crimson dragon, she twisted through their ranks. Dozens surrounded her—yet none could touch her. These weren’t mere rat-king minions; every black-armored rider was a Great Fighter or higher, elite troops of the Dark Lord’s Twelve Demon Kings!

Hooves thundered. Spells exploded. To Liangjie, it was a distant world. His eyes held only the girl in his arms, coughing blood onto his robes.

*"Fan Qiandai..."*

His hoarse whisper drew a pale smile from her.

*"M-my lord... first time you’ve called this one’s full name... so... happy..."*

Liangjie tilted his head back, silver hair spilling over his face, hiding features twisted by grief.

*"Don’t call me ‘my lord.’ I don’t deserve it..."*

*"M-my lord..."*

*"Call me by my name."*

Fan Qiandai coughed violently, blood blooming across her chest.

*"S-so ashamed... as your shadow... this one doesn’t even know... how to address you properly..."*

Liangjie covered his eyes with one trembling hand, veins standing out on his knuckles.

*"Sima Liangjie. Just... call me Liangjie."*

His voice cracked. Fan Qiandai smiled weakly, goddess-like tenderness in her fading eyes.

*"L-Liangjie... my lord... if you don’t mind... p-please... weep in this one’s arms..."*

*Weep in this one’s arms... Weep in this one’s arms... Weep in this one’s arms—*

*Just weep!*

Those frail words shattered the last barrier in Liangjie’s heart. Yet he couldn’t collapse into this child’s embrace.

*I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve it.*

*I DON’T DESERVE IT!*

Agony tore through him. He clawed at his silver hair, hiding eyes already drowned in tears.

*"Why... why were you so foolish..."*

*"Forgive me... Liangjie my lord... this one is your shadow... won’t let you become like His Highness... never... so please... stop blaming yourself..."*

*"You won’t die... I won’t let you die! NEVER!"*

Fan Qiandai smiled softly, two clear tears tracing her cheeks. Serenely, she closed her eyes. Liangjie held her tighter. Time froze.

The sky turned bitter cold. Snow began to fall.

Cruel snow. Deadly snow. Grieving snow. Furious snow. Snow sworn to freeze this moment forever.

*ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!!!*

Three dragon cries, each louder than the last!

The first made demons weep.

The second shook the gods.

The third split heaven and earth!

Lightning. Rain. Snow. Moonlight. Four skies clashed above Dragon Fang Mountain!

A colossal, translucent silver dragon coiled in the air, its form solidifying with every spiral.

The Black Emperor Demon Dragon—noblest of the Twelve Demon Kings—had scorned fighting mere ants. Only Prince His Highness’s order to impersonate the Iceflower Evil God Dragon dragged it here. Humans? Extinguishable with a flick. That crimson-skinned girl showed promise. The woman guarding her too. But only true strength deserved its attention!

Now—this weather’s violent shift signaled a worthy foe!

Those three earth-shattering roars ignited the noble blood boiling in its veins!

*Is it you, Iceflower Evil God Dragon?!*

*SKREEE—!* A guttural roar ripped from hell’s throat.

The Black Emperor Demon Dragon, hovering untouched above the demon army, finally descended!

Liangjie and Fan Qiandai had vanished from the ground. In their place, coiling above the humans—

The Iceflower Evil God Dragon!

Humans and demons alike halted mid-battle, retreating swiftly behind their respective dragons.

What came next was beyond mortal reach. To stay meant becoming crushed insects beneath divine talons.

All snow and ice in the sky converged onto the silver dragon. In an instant, a fully formed beast shimmered before them—crystalline scales blazing with azure light.

*"So beautiful..."* Saori stared, transfixed.

*"Why is the Iceflower Evil God Dragon here?! She should be in Frostbound Dragon Valley!"* Xier gasped, hand flying to her mouth.

*"Xier!"* Saori snapped.

*"Ah! Forgive me, Miss!"* Xier ducked her head, tongue poking out guiltily.

*Phew. Almost ruined Miss’s plan.* Without her lie to the old city lord and the citizens, no one would have united against the Demon Kind. If they’d known only an army approached, they’d have dismissed it as a skirmish. Istan City would have fallen.

The Iceflower Evil God Dragon bellowed fury. The blazing Black Emperor Demon Dragon roared back!

The battle of legends was about to begin!