But do you really need to use such means to deal with me?

It's just a Giant Dragon at the Legendary Peak?

Do you think that's enough to handle me?

You think I would fear her?

Svanni squinted, silently observing the seemingly unguarded red-haired Dragon lady.

"..."

The more Svanni watched, the more she felt something was off.

Something seems... not quite right.

This aura... is truly abnormal!

Svanni had encountered dragons in the past.

As a powerful Grand Mage, she once signed a contract with a Shadow Giant Dragon in the Dark Territory, purchasing a hundred years of its Essence Blood.

But later, their cooperation lasted only fifty years before Svanni was imprisoned here, losing contact.

And that Shadow Giant Dragon was Legendary Level. Despite not reaching the peak, its aura was incomparable to the woman before her.

Indeed, this Dragon lady is no ordinary Giant Dragon; Valentina... she is also a unique being!

"This..."

This discovery made Svanni, who clearly knew herself to be a unique being, pause with a hint of newfound kinship with Valentina.

Unique beings are lonely, existing outside of their race.

Isolated, rejected, feared...

She had never met another Dark Elf like herself in her lifetime, believing she would continue to live alone.

Yet now, she unexpectedly encounters another unique being!!!

A unique being of a Giant Dragon... Wait!?

Svanni's eyes slightly trembled as she suddenly connected more dots.

No.

It's not just her and Valentina.

Even that intriguing Vampire differs from the stereotype she held...

Eliza is also a unique being!

The Dark Elf sensed she understood something.

Could all the prisoners in this prison be unique beings?

She frowned, pondering, and shook her head slightly.

"Since she is a unique being, then... it might be a bit tricky to handle."

If Valentina was just an ordinary Giant Dragon, Svanni might have had confidence in taking her down.

Because Valentina appeared directly in Svanni's 'treehouse' — or rather, her 'body'.

This treehouse could be seen as an extension of her body; once enemies enter, they fall into her prison, subject to her whims and torments.

But... this only applies to weaker opponents Svanni can control.

If the enemy is a strong adversary capable of threatening her, the positions swap.

That undoubtedly exposes her weaknesses to the enemy, inviting disaster.

"Inviting the enemy" turns into "inviting the wolf into the house".

After realizing this, Svanni suppressed her dangerous thoughts and maintained outward calmness.

Just when Svanni gave up the idea of dealing with Valentina, Miss Hungry Dragon poked her head from the remaining food,

apparently oblivious to Svanni's prior dilemma, calling out cheerfully, "Svanni!"

"Hmm? Miss Valentina, what's the matter?"

Perhaps out of a sense of kinship as unique beings or perhaps because of acknowledging the Giant Dragon's strength, the Dark Elf's attitude softened more than before.

Valentina waved the dark red chunk of meat she had taken a bite from, curiously asking, "What kind of animal is this meat from?"

Hmm?

Svanni looked closely, then slightly raised her eyebrows, gazing at Valentina with a peculiar expression.

Seeing Miss Hungry Dragon's genuine curiosity, Svanni shook her head and didn't answer, "You don't need to know this. Is there a problem?"

"It tastes really good!"

Svanni's expression grew even more amused, shaking her head, she softly said, "Since you think it tastes good... then take some when you leave later."

It's not that she wasn't willing to explain, but she truly didn't know how — after all, her tests were ongoing.

The path of Mage research naturally isn't a single path.

Svanni's main research direction is flesh evolution, but in the process, she doesn't let branch research go, allocating some energy to it simultaneously.

This portion of research she temporarily named "Directed Cultivation of Flesh".

The meat looked ordinary but was cultivated from a mix of several Demons' flesh, trying to maximize nutrition without compromising taste.

It was one of the few successful projects Svanni was relatively satisfied with over the years.

Svanni herself couldn't quite grasp the specific steps, making sharing with Valentina difficult — and more so, she didn't seem the type who could understand.

She estimated, among the entire prison, probably only Herbert could barely understand a fraction.

After all this time, the only one capable of barely understanding her remained that white-haired youth.

On the other hand, Valentina didn't mind not getting answers but focused entirely on the latter part of Svanni's speech— she could eat to her fill and even take some with her!

"Really!? That's awesome!"

But, taking a bunch to eat and take away — is that okay?

"Uh..."

Valentina hesitated, her movements to stuff food in slowed down significantly.

She must be careful not to eat them out of house and home.

Svanni noticed this and found it intriguing, shaking her head, "You don't need to worry about me. I have many cultures... um, much stock. Food won't be short."

Valentina squinted, observing Svanni's expression. After confirming she wasn't forced, she smiled.

"Great! Then I won't hold back!"

"Hmm." Svanni nodded gently.

Valentina looked at Svanni touched, nearly moved to tears, sniffled, and sincerely said, "Svanni, you really are a good person!"

Svanni: ?

She blinked, finding the comment quite novel.

A good person?

Throughout all these years, she hadn't ever been so praised genuinely before.

This feeling is truly...

Then, she heard Valentina's second compliment.

"You're really a good person like Herbert!"

The Dark Elf's smile froze, blinking slowly.

Svanni: ??

You say I'm like who?

Herbert?

He, is he a good person!!?

No.

What image do you have of Herbert?

Svanni had some doubts about life, furrowing her brow before releasing and slowly saying, "...cough, thank you for the compliment, but I think you might be wrong, I'm not similar to him."

Valentina blinked and then waved it off with a smile, "Ah, no worries, even if you're not as good as him, it's not something to be embarrassed about!"

Svanni: ???

Did I mean that?

She took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to rebut, saying with difficulty, "...cough! Hmm."

And after holding her breath, Svanni looked at Valentina's natural expression and clear eyes, suddenly wanting to laugh.

"Hehe..."

Originally, Svanni always thought she was cold, even somewhat sharp and harsh, with no one willing to talk to her, which suited her solitude.

But after encountering Herbert, Eliza, and Valentina, she realized... her previous thoughts might be wrong.

Some people simply don't care about her coldness.

Those people merely feared her, choosing to avoid and not daring to face her.

And she... likewise chose to escape, refusing to explain, avoiding further communication.

But when meeting those who don't mind her cold, conversations naturally arise.

Svanni shook her head, feeling a bit emotional for a moment.

After pondering a while, she soon regained composure and asked another curious question.

"By the way, Miss Valentina, how did you get here? I mean, through the floor's restrictions."

"Oh? You're asking me, I don't... wait, it's this!"

Valentina, slightly confused at first, suddenly 'enlightened,' showed off the Silver Ring on her finger, proudly saying:

"Yes, I used it to push open that door."

After speaking, Valentina suddenly realized something, retracting her hand, guarding, "This is mine! Not splitting it! If you want it, ask Herbert yourself!"

This is mine, not giving it to you!

And Svanni, eyeing the Ring, furrowed her brows, many thoughts flashing through her mind.

"Herbert, Ring, permissions..."

...

Elsewhere, in an unnoticed corner.

"Someone, cough cough, someone help me please—"

A faint call for help echoed from the dark corner.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.