Chapter 133: Suppression

"Awoo!" Setting aside the excruciating agony of having its dragon scale—the most vulnerable spot on a dragon's body—pierced, the wound inflicted by Anna's sword alone was enough to make the young dragon writhe in pain. Following that cry of anguish, the young dragon immediately launched a counterattack against Anna.

Anna, however, was no pushover. Although most of her combat skills had been rendered ineffective, the new martial arts techniques she had mastered meant her current combat prowess had hardly diminished; if anything, she had become even more troublesome to deal with than before.

Tapping her feet against the air in quick succession, Anna soared several meters higher just as the dragon unleashed its breath attack, narrowly escaping the strike.

Seeing this result, the young dragon was naturally furious and prepared to launch a second assault. But this time, it wasn't just Anna attacking. Previously, it had caught her off guard, but now that the dragon had already made one attempt, the others would never allow it a second chance.

Just as the young dragon prepared to snap its jaws and crush Anna, a tremendous force struck its lower jaw. Caught completely off guard, its wide-open mouth slammed shut, and in its carelessness, the dragon bit down hard on its own tongue.

"Awoo!" Letting out another pained cry, the nearly crazed dragon scanned its surroundings and spotted Afra, who had launched the attack from below. Not only was Afra their primary target, but her timely strike had successfully drawn the dragon's full enmity.

"Whoosh!" A standard dragon breath attack followed.

Facing the dragon's assault, Afra lacked the agile reflexes of Anna, but she showed no signs of fear. Stomping her right foot against the ground, she launched herself into the air.

"Cloud-Riding Talisman: Cost: 100 Spiritual Energy. (Effect: Grants the user the ability to fly on clouds for a short period.)"

As a dragon knight, Zhou Tian always provided her with support related to her mount. Whether it was the previous Beast-Imitating Talisman or this Cloud-Riding Talisman, any jade talisman could enable Afra to take to the skies. A flying dragon knight, even without the cooperation of a dragon, was more than capable of unleashing the majority of her power.

Undoubtedly, by controlling the white cloud to soar upward, Afra successfully evaded the dragon's attack. However, while she and Anna had performed admirably, their actions only served to drive the young dragon into a frenzy.

The three dragons had come to the capital to cause trouble for Zhou Tian and his companions, yet before they even laid eyes on their target, Afra, they had been inexplicably subdued one after another. The Dragon Elder was trapped by a formation, their companion was bound by the Immortal-Binding Rope, and now the last one, still capable of acting and potentially rescuing the others, was being toyed with by Afra and her partner. Driven by desperation, the young dragon went berserk.

Feeling unable to catch the elusive Afra and Anna, the young dragon abandoned its targeted attacks and began to wreak havoc on the surroundings.

This shift in strategy immediately yielded significant results. Not everyone possessed the strength of Afra and Anna. The professionals who had rushed forward with them had already suffered heavy casualties from the dragon's initial attacks, and as the creature now lashed out indiscriminately, while the powerful few easily dodged, many others—too slow to react—perished one after another under the dragon's breath.

Flying into mid-air to catch the descending Anna, Afra saw the carnage below and said anxiously, "This won't do! If we let that thing continue, I fear everyone but us will be wiped out!"

"Let's go! We need to draw its attention back to us."

"That's the only way."

Having agreed on a strategy, the two shared a glance before splitting up and charging toward the young dragon once more.

Without a doubt, dodging the dragon's wild, indiscriminate attacks was effortless for them. After easily sidestepping several strikes, they closed the distance again and launched another coordinated assault.

As expected, the young dragon had no effective defense against their attacks. The gap in their combat ability wasn't large to begin with, and now, facing two opponents while unable to bring its full strength to bear, it was at a disadvantage. Despite having killed many of Zhou Tian's men, it was now firmly on the defensive, reduced to a target for their relentless strikes.

While Afra and Anna bullied the young dragon, Zhou Tian was also encountering minor difficulties.

The power of the Immortal-Binding Rope was incredibly formidable; any creature unfamiliar with its nature could be easily ambushed by Zhou Tian. However, the rope's limitations made Zhou Tian hesitant to use it against truly powerful opponents.

For instance, against the Dragon Elder, Zhou Tian could have theoretically used the rope to ambush him, but he dared not. He preferred the less certain Twelve Capital Heavens Demonic Formation over the rope, knowing full well that he lacked the strength to fully subdue the Elder with it alone.

Although there had been some surprises, most of the situation remained within Zhou Tian's calculations. The Dragon Elder was trapped within the formation with no hope of escape, and his defeat was merely a matter of time.

As for the two young dragons, one was already securely bound by the Immortal-Binding Rope. Though it required a constant, exhausting drain of his demonic energy, Zhou Tian could keep it restrained indefinitely simply by consuming medicinal pills.

And the last dragon, despite its fierce performance, seemed unlikely to pose a significant problem given the way Afra and Anna were performing. In every respect, victory for Zhou Tian and his side was already a foregone conclusion.