Chapter 437

Chapter 437: Change

Armand seemed as insignificant as an ant compared to the Ice Dragon, and after landing upon it, the disparity in their sizes became even more pronounced.

If only he could sever the dragon’s head…

After attempting unsuccessfully to extract the long spear lodged between the dragon’s scales, Armand abandoned the effort and instead drew the longsword from his waist.

This was a longsword whose blade gleamed with azure light; though far lighter and smaller than the spear, its edge proved distinctly keener.

Crouching low to maintain balance, he gripped the scales of the Ice Dragon’s neck with one hand while advancing toward its head, the blade in his other hand.

Yet the frost clinging to the dragon’s scales inflicted considerable suffering—the piercing cold seemed to penetrate his palm and seep into his very organs…

Armand cursed inwardly but pressed onward despite the scales’ frigid bite.

Meanwhile.

The colossal Ice Dragon, unable to strike Armand upon its neck, could only violently thrash its body in an attempt to dislodge him.

Whether reluctant to intervene or merely entertained by the spectacle, the other four dragons continued assaulting imperial soldiers below while casting sidelong glances at the flustered Ice Dragon.

…

Seeing the other dragons withhold their attacks, Armand couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

Forced lower by the Ice Dragon’s relentless thrashing, he pressed his body closer to maintain footing.

After invoking skills to enhance his strength and speed, Armand’s figure flickered several times before swiftly reaching the crown of the Ice Dragon’s head.

“Die!”

Eyes blazing with fury, the man reversed his grip on the sword and drove it downward with all his might into the dragon’s skull!

Clang—

A shrill metallic shriek rang out as the blade merely scraped a shallow gash across the scales.

Though aimed for the gaps between plates, the Ice Dragon’s violent movements thwarted precise contact.

No time remained for hesitation!

Armand roared, veins bulging along his arms.

“Hmph! Haaaaaaaah!!!”

The longsword inched forward…

It’s working… it’s working!!

His spirit surged just as he gathered strength for another thrust—

A glimmer of light flashed, and the Ice Dragon vanished before his eyes. Simultaneously, immense force wrenched the longsword from his grasp.

The Ice Dragon had disappeared.

In its place hovered a woman not far above—a stunning figure with piercing azure beast-like eyes, frost-emanating snow-white hair, and a gaze sharp as winter. She appeared scarcely twenty years old.

Dragon wings of deepest blue unfurled from her back, twin ivory horns crowned her head, and a tail armored in rigid scales dragged behind her.

Moreover, sections of her body shimmered with ice-blue scales, while visible waves of cold radiated from her form.

So beautiful…

As a young man, Armand was instantly captivated by the sudden appearance of this elegant woman, until the sensation of weightlessness jolted him awake, and he realized his gaze was plummeting rapidly.

At that moment, he grasped the truth.

That woman… was she the Ice Dragon?!

In his moment of shock, Orna, transformed into a human form, merely cast him a frigid glance before sweeping her hand through the air.

The surrounding cold air abruptly coalesced into three razor-sharp ice spikes, which shot forth the instant they formed.

Then, with a squelching sound as they pierced flesh, Armand’s vision abruptly darkened; blood gushed from his wounds, staining the scene before him a deep scarlet, and even the fair woman’s azure eyes seemed dyed crimson in his fading sight.

…

After effortlessly dispatching the male human as if crushing an ant, Orna casually stored her spoils—a long sword sharp enough to have wounded her—into her Magic Backpack.

She extended her pale fingers to rub a spot on the back of her head; the minuscule wound, no larger than a fingernail’s gap, had already healed, and the faint sting was slowly fading.

Yet Orna remained displeased, for the earlier scene of her being flustered by that human had been unseemly.

“I’ll leave this to you all; I’m heading into the city to assess the situation.”

Without glancing at her other four brothers, Orna did not revert to her true form; instead, she spread her wings and soared directly toward the royal city.

After all, dealing with these human soldiers scarcely required all five Class S Earth Dragons; merely selecting one or two Class A Earth Dragons from the dragon lair would suffice.

Even at Class A, the human race stood no chance against Earth Dragons.

…

Later.

The grand army, primarily composed of the Deta Empire’s forces and secondarily supported by the Duchy of Donelas and Principality of Reba under the kingdom’s rule, was crushed by the kingdom’s troops and a sudden monster army.

Most imperial soldiers were slain on the spot; a plain outside the royal city was scorched into wasteland by five flying dragons that attacked that night. The surviving remnants of the imperial army fled to nearby villages, slaughtering and tormenting civilians… only to be slain by a mysterious shadow army.

The Duchy of Donelas’ forces surrendered after losing roughly a third of their number to casualties, becoming prisoners of the kingdom’s army.

The Principality of Reba’s forces suffered the fewest losses, but apart from their leader, General Darkling Stalker, some commanders were executed for rebellion.

After this battle, the Principality of Reba and Duchy of Donelas fully submitted to the Rollo Kingdom, while the rulers who had spearheaded the assault and their entrenched family powers were uprooted and replaced by kingdom appointees.

Naturally, the selection of those to govern these two principalities was guided by advice from the kingdom’s Chief Mage Magic Rainbow, who stood beside the queen and the former Third Princess Silvia.

Meanwhile.

At the very moment the empire’s tens of thousands of troops were annihilated, in a mansion somewhere in the eastern continent of the Deta Empire.

“Power! Surging power! Heh heh hahaha, to seize the life force of thousands in a single war! If we could repeat it—no… with this power, next time I’ll act myself—urgh…”

The man’s voice, initially exultant and nearly maniacal, abruptly cut off, replaced by a guttural, inhuman snarl that rasped from his throat.

“ROAR!!!”

His once-handsome, transformed features contorted into something monstrous; his skin bubbled like scalding water in a boiling pot, and his body swelled relentlessly…

“What… is… this? What the hell… is happening…”

His voice fluctuated wildly—sometimes male, sometimes female, sometimes deep, sometimes shrill—yet every inflection dripped with terror.

Witnessing her companion’s ghastly transformation, a girl in the room who appeared no older than seven screamed and recoiled against the wall, trembling as she stammered:

“Big brother? What’s wrong?!”

“This… is… the damned side effect.”

After uttering this, the final shred of clarity in his eyes was shredded by a tempest of chaotic psychic energy… By then, he resembled not a “human” but an unspeakable mass of flesh.