I reign supreme in the Western fantasy world for eternity.

Xiaohua lowered her gaze, her eyes sweeping over the churning battlefield once more.

This time, she saw it much more clearly.

Of those originally colorful figures with different scales, about half have lost their original colors and turned into an ominous, pure black that seems to devour light.

Even more strangely, the other fairies were completely unaware of this.

They continued to bite, pounce, transform into magic, and recombine, as if their adversaries had never changed.

Mia noticed this too, and her brow furrowed slightly:

"This...it's a bit like the S-rank mission we did in the Western Region five years ago involving necromancy. Could it be necromancy?"

"It's highly likely, but this time the dimension is too well hidden; even I didn't notice anything amiss."

"Wait, what's that?"

A figure stepped out from the gray-white void at the edge of the battlefield, its form streaking across the sky like an arrow, flying towards their altitude.

Mia instinctively gripped her staff, but relaxed slightly after seeing the newcomer's face.

It's Ian.

His robes were stained with dark dirt, and his face was somewhat pale, but his movements remained swift.

He hovered beside the golden dragon, his gaze sweeping over Mia and Little Flower, his tone urgent: "Mia! I've finally found you, something's not right down there!"

Mia's eyes lit up: "Ian! What are you doing here?"

Just as she was about to move closer, the golden dragon's tail silently blocked her way.

Mia paused, looking at Little Flower with a puzzled expression. She noticed that its vertical pupils were fixed on Ian's direction, and its golden scales were slightly raised.

"What's wrong?"

"Something's not right about him. Ian doesn't have an affinity for dark magic, so he shouldn't have this kind of scent."

Mia usually trusts Xiaohua's judgment, and upon hearing this, she turned her attention back to Ian.

"Ian, could you explain?"

Ian was silent for a moment, then gave a helpless, bitter smile.

"We've been discovered."

"Are you really Ian?"

"I am conscious, but my body is no longer under my control."

This is a lie. The real Ian died long after he was controlled by Evan. The purpose of saying this was only to make the other party hesitate in battle.

Without giving Mia more time to judge the truth of his words, Ian swung his longsword straight at her shoulder, his sword strike sharp and precise, showing no mercy.

Mia raised her cane to block.

The two forces collided in mid-air, creating a shockwave that shattered the surrounding clouds.

"Ian! Can you hear me?!"

Ian did not respond verbally, but instead forced a pained expression onto his face and continued chopping.

Each of his sword strikes was blocked or deflected by the golden light, and his sword moves had no unnecessary variations.

Komia was only focused on assessing Ian's condition and whether he could be saved; she had no intention of fighting and could only retreat continuously.

Mia parried with her staff in her right hand, while her left hand quickly formed hand seals at her side. Magic condensed at her fingertips, transforming into three silver chains that wrapped around Ian's sword.

Ian's sword spun in mid-air, using the power controlled by darkness to precisely cut into the gaps in the chains, shattering one of them.

He then strode forward, aiming straight for Mia's chest with tremendous force, his resolve to perish together with her.

Mia sidestepped the attack, swung her staff horizontally, and slammed it into Ian's arm, sending him flying back half a step.

Just as she was about to retaliate, she suddenly felt a strange magical fluctuation coming from beneath her feet.

The fluctuation came from the ground, from the horde of fairies engaged in a chaotic battle, and from the black fairies already tainted by darkness.

Its frequency is so low that it is almost imperceptible, yet it carries a kind of pressure that makes the skin feel tight.

Forbidden spell!

The magical fluctuations it generated before its release seemed to have been concealed, and Mia and Xiaohua only sensed the abnormality now.

Mia's pupils constricted sharply: "Little Flower—!"

Too late.

A dark purple beam of light shot into the sky from the ground, erupting from the very center of the black fairy horde and enveloping an area of ​​several miles in radius.

Wherever the light passed, the air emitted a piercing shriek, the ground churned and shattered, and even the gray-white void trembled.

The pillar of light engulfed Ian.

His body froze in mid-air, then began to disintegrate from the edges, turning into fine grayish-white dust, which was carried into the sky by the beam of light and completely dissipated.

Little Flower only had time to cover Mia with her wings before they were also struck by the beam of light. The force was like a mountain torrent compressed to its limit, crashing down and forcibly slamming them from the sky to the ground.

The golden dragon's wings were torn apart, golden scales shattered and flew everywhere, and blood droplets drew long, thin arcs in the air.

The ground beneath them rapidly expanded.

boom--!

The shockwave kicked up dust several meters high, and shallow craters were punched into the scorched ground, with cracks spreading outwards.

Mia lay beside the golden dragon, her silver armor covered with fine cracks, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, her staff broken in two.

The little flower's enormous body lay beside her, its wings supported only by skeletons, most of its scales shattered, its breathing rapid and heavy, and its golden vertical pupils somewhat unfocused.

Applause and footsteps echoed from the dust, as if one were walking in their own laboratory.

"Wonderful! Truly wonderful! No wonder he is a legendary figure in the Adventurers' Guild, having risen from a high-level mage to a legendary mage in just ten years."

Evan emerged from the churning dust, clapped, and then adjusted his glasses, as if the forbidden spell he had just cast was merely a routine procedure in his experiment.

He looked down at the heavily injured Golden Dragon, then at Mia, who was still struggling to get up, and his tone was filled with sincere admiration:

"While part of the credit goes to your dragon for protecting you at the last moment, it's still quite amazing."

"Originally, I only wanted to keep one powerless golden dragon as a research sample, but now it seems I can also get a stable puppet. This is an unexpected bonus."

Mia gritted her teeth and tried to stand up, but the intense pain almost made her knees buckle again. She managed to steady herself by bracing herself against the broken staff.

"Mia, run! I'm dying. While I can still hold him off, you—"

"I'm not leaving."

Mia shook her head, interrupting her, "As agreed, I'll stand with you through thick and thin, right?"

"What time is it? Still worrying about this? Run!"

"And you? Haven't you always kept your promises? Then of course I have to keep mine too."

"...Years ago, when you came to the Holy Mountain to try and draw your sword, I also thought about leaving you!"

"But you didn't leave, did you?"

Evan stood there watching all of this, neither in a hurry nor urging anyone on.

He was also very curious as to why the renowned dragon knight could forge such a deep friendship with a dragon.

Unexpectedly, Mia and the dragon stopped talking and seemed to be communicating with their eyes.

Never mind, they'll know everything when they're turned into puppets.

With a snap of his fingers, shadows silently spread beneath Evan's feet, rapidly approaching Mia and the dragon.

Just then, Evan suddenly turned around and keenly noticed that the portal he had just entered had been reopened not far behind him.

Before the door was fully opened, a clear, melodious, and bell-like girl's voice rang out:

"Master, it's not dark here at all."