Chapter 35 The Dragon's Courtship (2) Go, I will always be watching...
"Fafnir, is this how dragons court?"
Fafnir hooked his finger around Xia Ying's in a very intimate way, touching the ring face with his lips, while his golden dragon eyes remained fixed on hers.
The dragon asked, "And what is your answer?"
Xia Ying did not shy away from the dragon's aggressive gaze. She stared directly into the sharp vertical pupils embedded in its golden eyes, engaging in a battle known only to the owner of those eyes. This transformed what should have been a tender moment into a contest between hunter and prey.
After a long pause, Xia Ying finally spoke.
"I……"
Just as she was about to give the answer, Xia Ying suddenly raised her head, her gaze passing over the dragon and landing on the sky above the arena.
She muttered to herself, "What is that?"
At the end of Xia Ying's line of sight, a strange phenomenon was occurring in the sky that she could not understand... A certain part of the sky began to deform, bulging towards the earth, and the clouds gradually swelled up like balloons being inflated, as if something unsettling was being conceived within them.
In the vast sky, the features of that face became increasingly clear, as if an enormous creature was desperately trying to squeeze its face into the world where Xia Ying was, yearning to peek into everything within it.
The sky above Cocytus ultimately refused the intruder's entry. With its face blocked from approaching, it angrily opened its eyes. The two voids continued to expand, quickly swallowing the other features. Two enormous orbs of light formed in the void's "eye sockets" and fell into Cocytus.
"!!"
Xia Ying looked surprised but didn't know how to react, while Fafnir realized the seriousness of the situation even before the bewildered Xia Ying did.
"It's a 'virus' invasion."
Fafnir transformed into its dragon form and vigorously flapped its membranous wings.
"Hurry, get out of here right now!"
The strong airflow generated by the dragon's wings propelled Xia Ying away into the distance. Xia Ying was tossed about by the wind like a kite, and suddenly came back to her senses.
Instead of immediately using teleportation magic to leave, she stopped after creating enough distance and turned to observe the evolution of the anomaly.
Dragonfire roared up, splitting the sky in two. The falling "eyeballs" were engulfed by the flames, and at the moment they exploded, a strange hymn suddenly enveloped the earth.
The sound was like the ensemble of thousands of pipe organs, or the unison of tens of thousands of singers. The majestic and solemn music instantly pierced through Xia Ying's body, causing a tremor in her soul.
The special effect of the "Unyielding One" title has been triggered. Remaining cooldown: 10/10 days.
The mental damage immunity effect of the {Unyielding} title was triggered, and Xia Ying felt as if she had been hit hard on the head, regaining consciousness amidst excruciating pain and dizziness.
Along with the explosion of the orb of light, not only did the "hymn" with its powerful mental interference effect appear, but also a large number of strange creatures that Fafnir called "viruses".
In the distance, the "viruses" had densely covered half the sky. They were shaped like nested, slowly rotating, brilliant halos, with tens of millions of cold eyes covering every inch of the rim, which was extremely terrifying.
Countless eyes rolled simultaneously, casting a radiant light of annihilation. Wherever they shone, rocks melted, magic energy stagnated, and the very space upon which Cocytus depended was eroded inch by inch. The world seemed to be forcibly "purified" back into a void of data.
Perhaps that's why those things are called "viruses".
Xia Ying immediately understood why Fafnir was on high alert. She tried to find the dragon's figure in the bright light, and then she saw dragon fire soar into the sky, tearing apart that glorious holy domain.
Many light rings were destroyed, but the dense beams of light emitted from even more eyeballs precisely decomposed the mighty dragon breath in mid-air, turning it into shattered light spots.
What's even more chilling is that when that "gaze" struck the dragon's scales, the scales didn't shatter; instead, they became transparent and ethereal, showing signs of turning into nothingness, much like the space itself being eroded.
No, we have to think of something to do.
Xia Ying glanced at the distant, inaccessible battlefield and quickly made up her mind.
She summoned the [Abyssal Dangerous Creatures Compendium] and quickly found an unlocked skill in the skill equipment interface.
[Skill selected: Nine-Tailed Fox - Arrow of Destruction]
A breeze brushed her face, causing her feather earrings to sway slightly and make a crisp metallic clanging sound. Then, more and more winds responded to her call. Xia Ying reached out, drew back the bowstring of the raging wind, and shot her longsword toward the place where thousands of eyes were focused.
The [Ama-no-Murakumo Sword] pierced into the Radiant Sacred Domain with the wind. The "virus's" gaze seemed unable to analyze this sudden intruder for a moment. As soon as it entered this storm, it sluggishly sank into the quagmire.
At this moment, the dragon let out a roar that shook the heavens and earth. Xia Ying seemed to sense something and looked over, her heart filled with a strange mix of fear and anticipation, as she quietly awaited what was about to happen.
Just as she expected, the dragon spewed out pale white flames.
The pale dragon fire, imbued with primal power, engulfed the light wheel. The two annihilating forces collided violently, causing the wheel's rotation to stall. Countless eyes, disturbed by chaos, flickered rapidly with disordered light. Before long, the wheel was at a disadvantage and disintegrated on its own.
After the foreign object was cleared away by the dragon fire, the world returned to its normal operating track, and the things that had been corrupted gradually returned to normal.
Xia Ying had a bellyful of questions to ask. As soon as she was sure the crisis was over, she ran towards Fafnir. When she was close enough to the dragon, she leaped up on the wind and jumped onto the dragon's back to check the spot where he had been hit by the dragon's gaze.
The translucent scales were not completely free from the effects, but they had begun to stabilize. Xia Ying breathed a sigh of relief and looked up to ask, "Are those 'viruses' also abyssal creatures?"
“No, the Demon Lord considers them to be a kind of… ‘program’.” Fafnir managed to utter this rather obscure word, which was quite rare for creatures of the abyss. “In short, they’re not exactly living things, but they’re not so easy to deal with.”
"Programs?" Xia Ying thought for a moment. "Why would they be here?"
"'Viruses' are like insects crawling around in the void. They feed on spatial fragments. Similar invasions occasionally occur in other demon realms... but they happen much more often in Cocytus."
As the dragon answered, it opened its membranous wings and, with a hint of displeasure, dusted off the dust it had picked up during the battle.
"Never mind, it's the King of the Ring Domain's duty to get rid of these bugs anyway."
Just as Xia Ying was about to speak, a small "virus" suddenly flew out of the clouds, its hundreds of eyes trembling wildly as it rushed straight towards Xia Ying.
Fafnir whirled around, shielding the girl behind him. The "virus" exploded nearby, scattering numerous spikes in all directions. Fafnir blocked most of them, but one still pierced his chest.
The hard scales failed to stop the seemingly fragile needle, which silently pierced the dragon's body without leaving a visible wound.
The dragon stopped, its head bowed, and remained motionless.
Xia Ying patted his body and asked, "Fafnir?"
The dragon reverted to human form, exhausted, and collapsed towards Xia Ying.
Xia Ying quickly reached out to catch him, but the humanoid dragon was still too heavy. Xia Ying could only squat down and use the strength of half of her body to barely support Fafnir, freeing up her hands to activate the teleportation spell.
After returning to the dragon's lair, Xia Ying struggled to drag the giant dragon onto the bed.
Fafnir had not regained consciousness. Xia Ying leaned over to look and found his eyes tightly closed, his eyelids trembling uneasily. So she gently patted his cheek and called out, "Fafnir, Fafnir?"
The dragon let out a low growl and opened its eyes, but its golden pupils remained unfocused, failing to clearly reflect the girl's figure.
"Fafnir, what's wrong? Can you see me?"
Xia Ying waved her hand in front of him, but the dragon suddenly grabbed her wrist.
She was startled and instinctively tried to pull her hand back, but the dragon's hand gripped her tightly, sliding towards her palm and then slipping between her fingers.
As he fastened her hand, Fafnir inadvertently touched the ring that was still on.
The dragon paused briefly, then closed its eyes again, and its hands fell to its sides.
Xia Ying glanced at her hand, then looked at Fafnir.
He frowned slightly, as if he hadn't slept soundly.
At this moment, that terrifying dragon seemed to be nothing more than a fragile creature plagued by nightmares.
Xia Ying looked down at him, her hands on the bed slowly tightening, slightly wrinkling the sheets.
Before the Sisyphus Collar could warn her, Xia Ying let go of the dragon's hand and simply lay down beside it, contemplating the current situation.
Is Fafnir alright now? What effect will the spike that hit him have on him?
Ultimately, what exactly is a "virus"?
With one question after another, Xia Ying finally gave up trying to solve the mystery out of thin air with her newcomer's clues.
So, who could answer her questions? Who could offer her reliable advice? Xia Ying searched her mind for someone she could turn to, and a figure quickly came to mind.
Having finalized her plan, Xia Ying did not immediately take action, but instead closed her eyes.
This is because the scenes in which the people she asks for help most often appear are exactly the same as her dreams.
#####
“Okay,” said the customer who arrived as scheduled. “I fully understand your predicament.”
Xia Ying nodded in satisfaction, signaling him to begin explaining.
The hooded monster spoke confidently: "Let's start with the viruses. They are not abyssal creatures; the Demon Lord believes they are a kind of program..."
Xia Ying interrupted, "I've heard that before."
Xia Ying grew impatient: "Can you tell me something I don't know?"
“Then let me share some of my personal speculations.” The diner readily changed his tune. “In fact, I believe that the viruses are not acting in a chaotic manner; on the contrary, they are driven by some kind of will.”
“I have a similar feeling.” Xia Ying stroked her chin. “Even if they are ‘programs,’ they don’t appear and run for no reason. Someone must have created them… But who could it be? Could it be some particularly powerful abyssal creature, like the Demon Lord?”
"Perhaps it's not the work of a monster," the eater chuckled, "but rather a curse from the gods?"
Xia Ying was taken aback and was about to ask further questions when the Eater quickly changed the subject: "Let's get back to the Crimson-Crowned King. I have to tell you, his situation is very bad."
Xia Ying asked in surprise, "Is he going to die?"
"Perhaps it's worse than that. The spikes fired by the virus can directly poison the souls of abyssal creatures, causing them to lose their rationality, go mad, and kill every creature they see."
For some reason, the diner suddenly became very interested in describing the tragic scene.
"Okay, I understand." Xia Ying quickly got into the zone. "So, how can I prevent these tragedies from happening?"
"You have to help him remove the thorns that are piercing his soul."
"Pull it out?" she asked, puzzled. "How?"
“Oh, my dear lady,” the eater said in a loving and indulgent tone, “all you need to do is infiltrate his nightmare, find the foreign object and eliminate it. I have already recorded all the important matters in the Dream Infiltration Manual.”
Xia Ying suddenly realized: "That's actually a dream entry request!"
"No, no, this is far more dangerous than a dream-entry commission, because you are entering a deeper level of the dream."
The diner lowered his voice.
“Very deep, almost reaching the depths of the soul. There, you will become one with the dragon, its desires, fears, and weaknesses that it itself is unwilling to admit will be laid bare before you… This also means that if you forget who you are, you will forever wander in the dragon’s dream.”
Xia Ying suddenly said, "Summer, would you just stand by and watch this happen?"
The diner was stunned, not expecting her reaction.
Xia Ying roughly pulled the hooded monster closer to her, looked up at the nothingness under the hood, and slowly wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Don’t always sit in the audience, sir.” She tilted her head, a faint smile playing on her lips. “Wouldn’t you like to step into the spotlight once in a while and dance with me?”
“…Xia Ying, I told you, this isn’t a wise move,” the eater murmured. “But, of course, yes. You will get everything you want.”
A viscous substance surged out of the hood, quickly enveloping Xia Ying. Before her consciousness shifted, a vast expanse of dazzling and bizarre starlight reappeared in this indescribable darkness.
Xia Ying walked towards that colorful expanse, where she saw countless versions of herself appearing and disappearing like bubbles.
She remembered; it was the eater's iris.
She reached out and touched Xingcai; the thing felt warm and slippery, as if flowing in her hand, and pulsating like internal organs.
She leaned closer and heard an unusual, strange rhythm.
"Go, Xia Ying."
That was the monster talking to her.
"Just like every moment in the past, I will always be watching over you."
-----------------------
Author's Note: The dragon turned into Sleeping Beauty (sad)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
