Vol 7. Chapter 72: I Just Like Short Tails

Deep inside the cave of the crawling crabs, Hefei and Zorn were driven into a dead end.

The massive crab bodies blocked the way ahead, and no matter how hard the two children tried with all their strength, they couldn’t shake them in the slightest.

By now, their stamina and magic power were nearly exhausted. Their shoulders, arms, and legs were covered with wounds where the steel-shelled crawling crabs had bitten them.

“Damn it!”

Zorn slammed his fist against the icy rock, his tone filled with unwillingness.

“These crawling crabs aren’t like what the books say! It’s broad daylight, yet their urge to attack is this strong.”

Hefei slowly turned, gazing at the path the crabs had come from. A chilling hissing roar was rapidly approaching.

Her body and mind were drained. She leaned her back against the cold stone wall and slowly sat down.

“And they’re clever. They know how to unite against us and set traps. For a mere B-rank dangerous species, they shouldn’t possess this level of intelligence... Just what has happened here...”

Zorn also sat powerlessly on the ground, his eyes filled with deep despair. Resting his head against the stone wall, he gritted his teeth and said,

“Sorry, Hefei. I just wanted to compete with you to see who could catch more crawling crabs, but I didn’t expect we’d run into something like this.”

Hefei closed her eyes. She didn’t blame him—complaints were useless at such a time.

“Compared to what Noa-sister once went through, this little mishap is really nothing,” Hefei said faintly.

“But we don’t have the kind of skill your sister Noa had. I’m starting to doubt if we can even hold out until Luka and Teacher come.”

Zorn raised both hands, his ten fingers digging into his hair.

“Dying at the hands of a bunch of crawling crabs is way too embarrassing. My dad will curse me to death.”

Hefei was stunned, then turned her head toward Zorn.

“You’ll already be dead in the cave. How would your dad curse you? A dragon can’t die twice.”

“Really? Are you sure dragons can’t die twice? Think about it again (crossed out).”

Zorn slumped, ruffling his hair in despair, letting out a long sigh. Hearing the hissing grow ever closer, he realized hopelessness.

“Do you think there’s even the slightest chance that, at the moment we’re at death’s door, some great hero will suddenly appear in front of us and say, ‘Don’t be afraid, I’ve come to save you’?”

Hefei blinked and murmured:

“I don’t know if that’s a dying fantasy or just a ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) cruel joke at my expense. But this cave of crawling crabs is really remote. The only ones who could possibly reach us in such a short time are Muse and Luka.”

“But that Luka guy barely managed to escape to fetch reinforcements. How could he possibly come back here and risk himself again?” Zorn said.

At those words, Hefei’s brows knitted slightly. She lowered her eyes to the ground, stayed silent for a moment, then said in a low voice:

“Then the only one who could save us... is Muse.”

To Zorn, Hefei was the one fantasizing at death’s door.

“Her? Her tail’s shorter than a normal dragon’s, and she can’t even use Phantom Illusion. Besides, you saw at the cave entrance earlier—she didn’t even dare to take a single step inside. So how could she possibly run in here to save us?”

At a time when life and death were on the line, Hefei didn’t want to argue with Zorn. She needed to save what little strength she had left to face the oncoming swarm.

The hissing grew closer.

Hefei propped herself up against the stone wall and slowly stood.

“What’s wrong with a short tail? Short tails are fun too. I just like short tails.”

With that, Hefei spread open her right hand. A weak ball of dragon flame condensed in her palm, illuminating the pitch-black surroundings.

Seeing that she refused to give up fighting, Zorn also trembled as he forced himself to his feet.

But his magic power was so depleted that he couldn’t even muster the simplest dragon flame.

The swarm of steel-shelled crawling crabs surged around the bend of the tunnel, surrounding Hefei and Zorn completely.

They howled and screeched, wings covered in steel beating rapidly, whipping up gusts of cold wind.

“There’s one more surprise, Hefei—these crabs have decent defenses. Under normal circumstances they shouldn’t be able to resist dragon flame, yet our attacks didn’t affect them at all.”

Zorn warned:

“I must have the worst damn luck in eight generations to run into this kind of nightmare.”

That was also the main reason why the two had exhausted their magic without breaking free of the encirclement.

Not only did these steel-shelled crawling crabs possess intelligence far beyond their rank, even their individual strength was far greater than anything recorded in books.

The books couldn’t be wrong. The academy’s teachers wouldn’t teach wrong, either—records of such dangerous species had been passed down for centuries. So the problem must lie with these particular crabs. They had undergone some kind of... change.

“Whether it works or not, at least we can buy a little more time!”

Saying that, Hefei hurled the ball of dragon flame from her hand, striking the swarm dead-on.

The fireball exploded—yet the crabs emerged unscathed.

As the flame’s light died out, the cave once again fell into darkness...

This was precisely the home battlefield of the steel-shelled crawling crabs.

In complete darkness, they could use echolocation to precisely track their prey.

Hefei tried to gather dragon flame again, but the flame flickered a few times and went out.

She bit her lip.

“My magic power’s completely gone...”

As if sensing their prey’s exhaustion, after a brief probing, the swarm swarmed in all at once.

They tore at Hefei and Zorn wildly with fangs and claws.

The two children bent over, raising their arms to shield their heads. But the pain from their wounds tormented them, and the number of wounds kept growing.

“Hefei! At this rate... we really will die here!” Zorn shouted.

Death—was there no escape from it?

Hefei once heard her father discuss the topic of death. At the time, she asked, was death unavoidable?

Her father said yes—no matter the species, none could escape death. That was the law of nature.

Hefei then asked, what kind of death could be called “worthy”?

That question made her father think for a long time. In the end, Hefei got her answer:

“If something truly important, something you hold precious, is on the verge of destruction, and someone is there at your side in that moment—that kind of death can be called worthy.”

But Hefei wanted to graduate with Muse, to become an outstanding dragon warrior alongside Muse, to do so many things together with Muse...

She hadn’t yet accomplished these precious things. Her father wasn’t here, Muse wasn’t here at her side.

How could such a death... ever be worthy? She didn’t want to die here.

Yet what could reality offer?

“I’m sorry, Hefei! I’m the one who dragged you into this mess!” At the very end, the boy apologized sincerely once again. “If we somehow make it out alive, I’ll give you all the points from this exam!”

Zorn sounded like he was leaving his last words.

Hefei shook her head miserably.

“If we make it out alive, words like that... sound so powerless.”

The swarm closed in tighter, about to bury them completely.

Hefei shut her eyes, resigning herself...

Suddenly, a dragon’s roar-like wail tore through the air.

Hefei’s eyes snapped open. She saw the crawling crabs around them being struck and sent flying one after another.

“This is...”

She looked toward the distant bend. Footsteps slowly approached. In the darkness, golden-red gauntlets gleamed faintly.

A small figure gradually came into view, crimson eyes blazing with unwavering fire.

“Hefei, I’ve come to save you.”