"Ahhhh——"

Fremay, stuck to the ceiling, was now in panic.

Very uneasy!

She carefully watched Valentina's every move, ready to flee at any moment.

Please don't come over, ahhhhh!!!

She resembled a dried salted fish stuck to the ceiling, trying to slowly inch toward the exit... but once she looked back, she found that the path she came from had vanished.

The exit was gone!

Hiss——

With the Prison Warden absent, the entire prison automatically activated its self-operating mode, restricting prisoners' escape as it always had.

No one! Get! Out!

"...This is bad."

There's no way out now!

Now, since leaving was impossible, there was actually another option in front of Fremay.

That was to delve deeper.

Enter the Deep Water Prison and return to her safe little room!

If it was just that, Fremay could manage it.

Even now, she could vaguely sense where the Water Element was the densest.

However, before Fremay could move far, she was noticed by Valentina, who glared at her for her small actions!

Valentina's vertical pupils narrowed, staring at the sneaky salted fish, and she huffed in a bad mood, "Hey! Where do you think you're going?"

Fremay: !!!

When Fremay was spotted, she initially wanted to dash forward all at once, but she abruptly halted right where she was.

She had a feeling.

If she really disobeyed... there might truly be a life-threatening danger.

Seeing Fremay obediently stop, Valentina pouted and muttered, "That's more like it."

Then she bared her teeth at the anxious mermaid and hummed in displeasure, "Stay there obediently, don't move!"

Valentina felt very wronged and hurt now.

She felt her dragon dignity had been insulted.

Why run?

What do you mean by this?

What's going on?

I'm not going to eat you!

You're making it seem like I'm a vicious dragon!

Well... though I indeed was a vicious dragon in the past, I am different now!

The old me is dead.

The current me is the true me.

According to Herbert—as long as I abide by the law and do not actively attack others, then it's possible for me to become a respected great dragon of goodwill!

And if I do so, he will keep praising and rewarding me as promised.

"Hee hee."

Thinking of this, Valentina hugged her arms, making the waves in front of her chest change shape.

She looked at Fremay, raising her chin proudly with a light hum.

"Hmph hmph~"

Fremay: "Hmm?"

The mermaid saw Miss Hungry Dragon's proud demeanor and completely interpreted it differently—she must be showing off, right?

This damned Giant Dragon, she must be showing off!!?

So what if it's a bit larger?

What's so great about it!

With your kind of physique, you don't know how much resistance you'll face in water! Swim much slower than me, no doubt!

I'm much faster than you!

Hmph!

Did I ever get smug?

Was I ever proud?

Ha.

"Hmph hmph!"

And after snorting unhappily, when Valentina glanced over with a sidelong look, Fremay's momentum deflated once more.

She shrank her head, enveloping herself in a mist like a chameleon, futilely trying to diminish her presence.

You don't see me, you don't see me, you don't see me...

Don't tease, I'm chickening out.

No, this is not chickening out!

This is merely following the choice of my heart.

The instinct of life!

Fremay had been prepared before officially meeting Valentina.

She had seen Valentina before, and had quietly sensed her strength while she was asleep.

She had long known her rival's strength, and understood there might be a tiny gap in combat capability between them.

A powerful Legendary Peak Giant Dragon...

But who isn't?

You may be a special Legendary Giant Dragon, but am I not also a Legendary Sea Siren with royal blood?

Hmph, I, Fremay, am not to be trifled with!

From a strength perspective, the two were roughly equal, maybe at most a 60-40 split.

Even if I'm at four and she's at six, it's not a guaranteed win for anyone!

Moreover, a duel between experts has never been as simple as gauging the odds of victory!

Besides strength, myriad factors can influence the outcome of a battle.

Experience, skill, environment, timing... even luck—all kinds of factors can change the battle.

Therefore, Fremay wasn't actually intimidated when facing Valentina.

What's the big deal?

If push comes to shove, we'll just have a fight, is all.

But Fremay never anticipated such a great disparity between them.

The instant she saw Valentina again, Fremay was completely shocked.

Her long-forgotten biological instincts were frantically warning her—not to engage in a head-on clash with this opponent!

60-40 split?

No, no, the gap is too vast!

70-30 split?

Still a bit different.

80-20 split?

Hmm, almost about there.

90-10?

Hmm... alas!

"..."

Although the proud Fremay was reluctant to admit it, the reality was cruelly undeniable.

Fremay had no chance of victory whatsoever.

No victory in sight at all.

This dragon felt ridiculously powerful!

The unintentional aura it emitted made her scales shiver, causing her to desperately want to "turn tail" and run—she quite literally did.

In a moment of crisis, she flung away her two alchemical prosthetics, instantly returning to her original form and swiftly took to the air, transforming into a ceiling-sticking salted fish.

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.