Chapter 182: Cooperating with the Flame Demon

Under the White Dragon Lord's guarded gaze, the Flame Demon Lord, Ogresa, stepped out from the Portal in the sky, wreathed in roaring flames.

High in the air, the Flame Demon Lord realized in horror that the moment he arrived in this world, his flames abruptly extinguished.

Normally, losing his flames would only cost him a bit of prestige, but the Portal had opened in midair!

Less than ten days had passed since his battle with the White Dragon Lord. His fractured demonic wings had yet to fully heal, leaving him entirely reliant on magic to fly. Suddenly plunged into a world devoid of magic, he was like a man stepping onto empty air.

And just like that, disaster struck Ogresa.

"Aaah—! @#¥%...&*!"

The panicked screams and curses reached the White Dragon Lord's ears. Watching the plummeting Flame Demon, he smiled, openly gloating.

Ogresa flailed wildly in midair, but no amount of struggling could defy the laws of nature. Yielding to gravity, his massive body plummeted in a freefall and smashed into the yellow sand right in front of the White Dragon Lord.

Umm...

Face-first.

Pushing off the ground, Ogresa hurriedly scrambled to his feet. He threw up his guard, glaring warily at the White Dragon Lord while spitting out a mouthful of yellow sand.

He assumed he had stumbled into the white dragon's trap.

The White Dragon Lord's lips twitched at the sight of the sand spraying from the Flame Demon's mouth. Giving his wings a powerful flap to blow the dust away, he studied his defensive foe.

"Ogresa, are you sure you want to fight me here?"

Seeing that the white dragon had no intention of attacking, the Flame Demon Lord took in his surroundings. The moment he sensed the absolute lack of magical elements in the air, his expression darkened.

Dragons and Flame Demons were both magical creatures. Though they stored a certain amount of elemental mana within their bodies, their spellcasting relied heavily on drawing magic from the environment.

This meant that without enough ambient magic, the Flame Demon Lord had no way to return to the Abyss.

Just like the white dragon, he was trapped!

Any desire to fight vanished, and Ogresa immediately dropped his guard.

In a magic-depleted environment like this, his internal mana reserves were as precious as water in a desert. Wasting them on a meaningless brawl would be utterly irrational.

The Flame Demon Lord's red face flushed so darkly it almost turned black—mottled with the yellow of the sand still clinging to his skin.

"Where are we?!"

Seeing the sand plastered across Ogresa's face, the White Dragon Lord chuckled.

"I don't know either."

He had to admit, seeing his enemy suffer worse luck than his own was a fantastic way to instantly boost his mood.

His enemy, however, was in no such good spirits. Noticing the white dragon's stare, the Flame Demon Lord furiously wiped the sand from his face.

"Stop laughing!"

The White Dragon Lord decided not to keep poking at Ogresa's fraying nerves. He turned serious.

"Alright, Ogresa, right now we are grasshoppers on the same rope."

The Flame Demon Lord's expression remained grim as he growled in a deep voice.

"What is a grasshopper?"

The white dragon fell speechless. "..."

"Just take it to mean that we currently share an important goal. Until we achieve it, we can put our personal grudges aside."

Ogresa's face was livid, but the white dragon was entirely right.

"White dragon, let us cooperate for now."

The White Dragon Lord nodded.

"That's exactly what I was going to suggest. However, since we lack even the most basic trust, we need to add a layer of insurance to our partnership."

The Flame Demon Lord raised his head high. If the white dragon didn't trust him, the feeling was entirely mutual.

"Hmph! Then let us swear an oath. I will swear to the God of Darkness, and you to the Five-Headed Dragon Queen!"

The White Dragon Lord raised a brow, thoroughly displeased.

"Do you take me for a fool? What demon actually worships gods?! You will swear in the name of the Will of the Abyss, and I will swear by Her Majesty the Dragon Queen. Otherwise, this conversation is over."

Seeing that the white dragon would not budge, the Flame Demon Lord nodded in agreement.

Following a heated discussion, the two decided to split up to increase their odds of escaping their cage.

"I, Amos (Ogresa), swear in the name of Tiamat (the Will of the Abyss), that until I leave this plane, I shall not harm Ogresa (Amos) in any form. Upon finding a way out, I shall not leave alone, but must share it with Ogresa (Amos)."

With the oath sworn, the White Dragon Lord and Ogresa finally dropped their guard against each other. Until they escaped this plane, there would be no fighting between them.

The White Dragon Lord glanced at the wings on the Flame Demon's back, knowing the demon wouldn't be flying again anytime soon. He pulled out a Scale and infused it with a trace of soul power.

"Ogresa, I'll go scout ahead. If you find a way out, crush this Scale, and I will receive the message."

The Flame Demon Lord accepted the Scale. Curling his fingers, he tapped into his internal mana reserves to condense a Flame Bead, handing it over to the white dragon.

The White Dragon Lord nodded. Snatching up the unconscious Nether Panther, he flapped his wings and soared high into the sky.

After a brief climb, Amos hovered high in the air and surveyed the land below. The earth was a boundless expanse of yellow sand, with rolling dunes stretching endlessly as far as the eye could see.

The White Dragon Lord frowned, praying this wasn't a dead, lifeless plane.

His worries faded quickly, however. He realized there was oxygen in this world's air. Where there was oxygen, there had to be plant life.

Amos carefully sensed the air currents flowing through the sky. These omnipresent winds carried vital information.

For instance, a chilling breeze definitely originated from a colder region, while moisture-laden winds pointed directly toward a water source.

The white dragon soon locked onto a direction and flew eastward.

He flew from high noon until the sun sank in the west.

When the White Dragon Lord finally spotted a patch of green, joy surged in his heart. He immediately accelerated toward it.

As he drew closer, the white dragon discovered it was a vast, boundless grassland.

Lush green grass filled his vision, occasionally dotted by shimmering white lakes. Unknown wild animals sprinted across the plains, forming a breathtakingly beautiful portrait of nature.

Thrilled, the White Dragon Lord let out a resounding roar and beat his wings, diving toward one of the lakes.

Mindful of the Nether Panther in his claws, the White Dragon Lord refrained from plunging headfirst into the water as he normally would.

His massive wings whipped up a fierce gale as he landed by the water. At the same time, he unleashed his oppressive draconic might, paralyzing a few wild animals who had been drinking and couldn't flee in time.

Setting the Nether Panther down by the lake, the White Dragon Lord snapped the necks of several massive animals. Satisfied that he had enough food, he retracted his aura, allowing the remaining creatures to flee.

The surviving animals scattered in a panic.

The White Dragon Lord strode up to the edge, plunged his enormous head into the pristine lake, and drank deeply of the sweet water.

Nearby, the unconscious Nether Panther stirred slightly.