Ch.897We’ll See About That Later.

The perilous and urgent escape began.

Since there was no longer any need to hide my identity, I openly summoned Cascador and mounted him, galloping across the vast plains of the Dragonic Kingdom.

Cascador seemed angry that I had used him as both shield and springboard earlier, and showed some resistance… but in the end, it was just the meaningless tantrum of a beast.

“…Shut up and run. Don’t you understand what situation we’re in?”

“Phrreeeeeeee—!”

I grabbed its horns firmly with both hands, squeezing and compressing them thin like straws, and Cascador immediately returned to being a loyal mount.

A sealed spirit inside a holy relic should know its place.

Being sealed inside the Ring of Returning Seal meant this creature had caused some trouble in the Holy State.

Considering the characteristics of unicorns, I suspected it had probably gone around stabbing and killing women who had lovers.

【 Do you think you can escape from me, Amitamir, by borrowing the legs of such a lowly creature? Your impoverished ideas and shabby hopes are truly pitiful! 】

From the sky at an awkward distance—neither too close nor too far—Amitamir’s mockery penetrated my mind as he looked down at me.

‘That bastard…!’

His tone was filled with joy like a child after the last day of school.

Hearing it made my blood boil to the point I could understand why Carlos the Great had made a habit of dropping dragons as if it were an annual event.

[ He’s not wrong. At this rate, you’ll be caught up to in no time. ]

Hersella clicked her tongue and muttered.

As she said, while Cascador was surprisingly fast, he couldn’t compare to a gigantic lizard flying through the sky.

Though my blood had stained him red and he had a horn on his head, this wasn’t a cartoon but reality—he wasn’t going to suddenly become three times faster.

To be honest, flying with Karma flames would actually be faster.

So why was I riding instead?

The answer was obvious.

I had used up too much of my achievements in the battle with Persiella and was now fleeing without being able to resist. If I were to waste Karma flames on top of that, I would completely deplete the power of my Murder Karma.

Even if I flew using Karma flames, it didn’t seem like I could outrun that monster, so it would just be a waste of energy.

I was already struggling to buy time while waiting for my power to recover, and if I meaninglessly consumed what little strength I had left, I would truly have nothing left.

So now, all I could do was desperately try to widen the distance, hoping that he would enjoy this precarious chase for as long as possible.

Until I recovered enough strength to at least land one proper blow on him, if not return to full power.

======[ Persiella ]======

“Bernard, Tasios, Simeir! Are you still alive?”

After rushing out to the ground, Persiella glared at Amitamir flying away in the distance, then turned her head and called out the names of her three close aides.

“Tasios, I’m here!”

Tasios shouted while grabbing the head of an orthodox dragonborn and smashing it into the ground. He was wearing only a single tattered robe riddled with holes. His entire body had become smooth as a baby’s skin from overusing the Ten Thousand Rain technique.

“Still here. Though I can’t say I’m doing well, honestly.”

Simeir sighed as she announced her survival. She looked exhausted, wounded, and devastated. Her left arm was severed below the elbow and replaced with a translucent soul arm, and two sharp spears were embedded in her back.

Of course, the area around her still displayed an unspeakably horrific scene of hell.

“Lady Persiella, that dragon… what exactly is it?”

The last aide, Bernard, after bursting a dragonborn’s abdomen with a Karma-infused punch, leapt to Persiella’s side and asked about the white dragon’s identity.

Bernard’s question was filled with the bewilderment he felt.

He had heard that dragons could return from their slumber after the collapse of the fourth Heaven’s Wall, but even he hadn’t expected it to happen so suddenly.

“An enemy. One we must eventually destroy… but we lack the strength to do so now.”

Persiella answered briefly while surveying the battlefield.

They were holding out somehow, but the situation had clearly deteriorated while she was occupied with Haschal. If Persiella herself were to join the battle and rampage, they might be able to turn the tide… but that would only be temporary.

‘If that white dragon, Amitamir, returns… we won’t be able to avoid a crushing defeat.’

Since she currently had no way to defeat Amitamir, the outcome for the Celestial Horse Divine Palace was clear if they continued fighting. Everything would end the moment Amitamir returned from chasing Haschal.

“…Regrettable, but it’s time to retreat. Order the palace members to withdraw! We must leave this battlefield before he returns!”

Therefore, Persiella bit her lip and ordered a retreat.

To others, it would appear that the Celestial Horse Divine Palace was fleeing after failing to overcome the Small Forest, but…

‘There’s no choice. He declared himself to be Amitamir.’

The founder of the Small Forest.

The first practitioner who became a dragon while grazing.

‘If he truly is Amitamir, he will surely protect the Small Forest. We have no option. We must retreat for now.’

It would be wiser to preserve their forces and plan for the future, even at the cost of face and reputation, than to continue fighting and face annihilation.

‘Anyway, the Small Forest itself seems to have been damaged beyond recovery. Even with a dragon’s protection, it will be difficult for them to regain their former glory for some time.’

That was enough.

What her brother, Dragon King Cylude, had ordered was not the extermination of the orthodox dragonborn, but to significantly weaken their power. To ensure they would never again dream of challenging the royal authority.

‘The dragon’s return was unexpected… but this too can be resolved if I grow stronger and reach transcendence. It’s not impossible.’

Persiella was confident. Confident that she could become stronger than she was now. This wasn’t mere positive thinking but a conviction based on clear evidence.

‘The oppression that had been restraining my power from growing beyond its current level, something that had seemed like an insurmountable wall… has now completely vanished.’

She instinctively understood the benefit that the collapse of Heaven’s Wall had brought her. That the upper limit of power permitted to her had risen incomparably higher than before.

It was truly welcome news. Especially for Persiella, who had been forced to halt just short of evolving into a dragon due to the oppression of Heaven’s Wall.

In any case, her order was quickly transmitted through her three aides, and soon all the dragonborn of the Celestial Horse Divine Palace knew of it.

“Retreat! The Celestial Horse has ordered a strategic withdrawal. She says we’ve achieved sufficient results—!”

As the order passed from dragonborn to dragonborn, it gained embellishments, transforming from a simple retreat into a regrouping after achieving objectives. Thanks to this, the dragonborn of the Celestial Horse Divine Palace were able to maintain their morale even as they withdrew from battle.

“Grass-grazing practitioners, we’ll let you off this time! Hug your collapsed halls and shed your tears!”

“With the forest burned down, you’re just ‘Small’ now! Well, you were always rather small!”

They could even throw out mocking taunts as they hastily fled.

“The heretical scum are running away! Don’t let them escape! We must eliminate this future threat now!”

Of course, the orthodox dragonborn led by the Small Forest practitioners didn’t just stand by and watch the Celestial Horse Divine Palace retreat.

If they allowed them to escape now, they would regroup with their forces scattered across various regions, recover their strength, and invade again.

Therefore, they had to break the Celestial Horse Divine Palace’s back here and now, by any means necessary. Thoroughly, so they could never rise again.

However, this was nearly impossible.

“Your dreams are grand. Do you think that’s possible?”

Due to the four powerful figures, including Persiella, who stood guarding the rear of the retreating Celestial Horse Divine Palace dragonborn.

“It’s true that my energy has somewhat diminished, but if you think this is your opportunity… I’ll have to personally teach you. That it’s a great misconception.”

Persiella spread her ice wings wide, greedily absorbing the thickening mana in the atmosphere.

“Come and try! If you can get past me, Tasios!”

“Rear guard defense… yes, not bad. It’s necessary in this situation.”

A dragonborn man and a human man grinned as they clenched their fists tightly.

“Haah… Lady Persiella. Can’t I just fall back? Unlike those idiots, I’m honestly dying here.”

Even Simeir, who complained with an exhausted face but still summoned spirits to drape around her body like a dress.

The orthodox dragonborn, including the Small Forest practitioners, couldn’t get past them.

Most of their core forces had been rendered combat-ineffective due to the collapse of the Twenty-Four Constellation Formation and the aftermath of Persiella and Haschal’s clash, followed by the destruction of the ground.