Chapter 723 Becoming The First Ranked Academy And An Attack - 2

A/N: Dragons in their beast form will be referred to as Dragons.

Dragons in their humanoid form, but with the ability to fly—that is, they have wings—will be called as hybrid dragons/hybrid form.

Humanoid dragons that cannot fly and remain on foot will be called Humanoid Dragons.

[Note: Humanoid dragons can turn out to be able to transform into dragons if they previously chose to hide their true strength.]

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Chapter 723: Becoming The First Ranked Academy And An Attack - 2

The moment they stepped into the cave, about 10 humanoid dragons charged at Leo and Lily at once.

Red-Flame Dragon [Rhaezara] (Peak 2-star) - Mortal Bloodline

Red-Flame Dragon [Rhazak] (Pseudo 3-star) - Mortal Bloodline

Red-Flame Dragon [Fyrak] (High 2-star) - Mortal Bloodline

Red-Flame Dragon [Ignara] (Low 3-star) - Mortal Bloodline

Red-Flame Dragon [Kharzara] (Low 3-star) - Mortal Bloodline

…

..

.

Both of them drew their swords and—

Slash! Slash!

Both made only a single slash each, and two humanoid dragons were teleported away.

A thrust to the head; teleported away.

A punch to the face; teleported away.

3 sharp wind blades; 3 humanoid dragons teleported away.

It was so easy that Leo and Lily were casually chatting among themselves while defeating them.

"Isn't this the first time we are actually seeing some female dragons?" Lily pointed out, and Leo nodded.

"Is Azirith Academy an exception, or do female dragons gain strength at later stages of life?"

Leo didn't say that they were weak because he had already seen Zerathra, the Yellow-Flame Dragon with Pseudo 6-star strength.

"Who knows? I read somewhere that some particular flame variants tend to be beneficial to a specific gender. Maybe red-flame is better for males?" Lily figured out.

"Or maybe the males are more competitive, so they start trying to gain strength quickly," Leo said.

According to what Leo had studied about the Sunborn Empire, it was an extremely patriarchal Empire where males of their race established most of the rules. It wasn't that females were treated like garbage; it was just that they had less say in important matters.

Not to mention, among the dragons in that Empire, females having more than one partner was frowned upon if the male partner was more than capable, so females rarely rushed to gain strength when they knew they just needed to choose one capable mate.

And the males competed to be that one capable mate.

Nonetheless, there were females who wanted to gain strength, as apparent from the fact that they made it to the competition. But they mostly lacked strength in comparison to the top-tier students, who were males, since the competition to be the best mate had been going on for ages.

Conversely, the elves were the opposite. There, females usually had more strength because they were more compatible with spirits. Though exceptions existed, like the head of the Vaeloria family and Prince Valandor, who was engaged to Sylrael, Naelith, and Lyswenna.

Soon enough, Leo defeated all the humanoid dragons and destroyed the beacon.

Less than a minute passed before Fruder contacted Leo.

"Sir Leo! The 3rd-ranked academy disappeared, and now we have 80 points! The announcement board even declares the end of Phase 2 since now only 6 academies remain. It says that Phase 3 will begin after 7 hours."

Right now, the morning sun still hadn't risen, but the sky was starting to lighten. That meant it was around 5 AM, and the next phase would begin at 12 PM sharp.

Leo also observed that the spirit beams of 3 flags that were not yet captured died down simultaneously.

This clearly meant that those flags would remain uncaptured.

Leo was already deciding to return to the stronghold when Tavian contacted him; his voice sounded urgent.

"Leo! The dragons from Sunborn Royal Academy have attacked us—and there are a lot of them!"

Leo didn't even think twice, flying straight toward the stronghold while telling Lily to arrive shortly, riding Agnivar.

Since his personal flight speed was faster than Agnivar, and unfortunately he couldn't bring Lily along, she would need to arrive later.

Back in the Aurelius stronghold…

Kaelion rode his Skyreaver and flew at the forefront to confront the incoming wave of dragons.

One could clearly see 10 dragons, all in their beast form, flying rapidly towards the stronghold from a distance.

"Sir Leon! Except for 1, all of them are flame dragons! No variant, just flame! The other one seemed to be a Sun-Flame Dragon. He has that purifying glow underneath the scales!" Fruder informed Kaelion through the mind link after observing the dragon's physique.

"So the Sunborn Royal Academy actually admits two types of dragons…" Kaelion muttered.

He tried to sense their strength, but the distance was too great. However, from their size alone, he could tell no one had strength lower than Pseudo 4-star.

As for how the Sunborn Royal Academy had so many strong dragons who could transform into beast form, it was because of their flame type.

Or rather, no flame type. Vulcarion, also a flame dragon, carried normal dragon flame with no special properties like red, blue, yellow, etc. This lack of special properties let it grow faster in raw personal strength.

Since most dragons in the Dragon Empire were ordinary flame dragons, more capable young individuals naturally emerged, and Sunborn Royal Academy became the strongest academy.

"Hahaha, Prince Vorthak! No wonder they have so many points to nearly surpass us! These sneaky rats were hiding at the furthest location!" Vulcarion, leading the charge, said to the Sun-Flame Dragon named Vorthak.

It seems that they had yet to see the updated ranking.

Apparently, he wasn't Azrakar, the leader of the Sunborn Royal Academy, but his cousin, who ranked lower.

"Hmph! They won't stand for long. Brother will finish capturing 2 more flags within the next few hours. At that time, our 1st position will be unchallenged!"

Soon enough, the dragons entered the stormy cloud region, and less than a kilometre in, acid rain started falling. Hydra was still in the lake and doing his work.

"Hm? So this is actually an artificial storm. Pretty impressive for a 3rd-ranked human academy," Vorthak muttered. The acidic rain falling on their bodies had minimal effect.

"Hmph! Even their 1st-ranked academy is nothing more than a worm," Vulcarion spat.

"And I also have a score to settle with 1 of the students of this academy…"

"Catching me off guard and playing smart? Kheheh, let's see how long you maintain that arrogant expression." Vulcarion's blood still pumped at the thought of Leo mocking him in the Ember Family Secret Realm.

Vorthak left him mumbling to himself and focused on Kaelion's Skyreaver in front.

"That guy might be the cause of this uncomfortable storm. Let's deal with him quickly."

Kaelion, meanwhile, noted that Lunaria—Lily's beast, still hiding in the clouds—hadn't attacked yet with her continuous barrages of black lightning.

His lips curled at the thought that Lily might have instructed Lunaria to hold back so that these dragons could be lured deep into the region.

"Looks like the Sunborn Royal Academy won't last too long…"