Unlike the last few times, where the dragon’s realm dropped down in an instant, Long Shiyi was still in the seventh realm, almost grabbing onto it and holding it within herself with sheer willpower. The gap between the sixth and seventh realm was significantly larger than between two stages, perhaps enabling her to linger in the seventh realm for longer, but the fall seemed inevitable.

“Not… again…” the dragon muttered, her energies wavering, fluctuating, waning and growing.

She was on the brink of crumbling, but at the same time, it felt as though her energies were flaring up for one last time, the full potential of the seventh realm coursing through her. So, before it could truly slip away from her, she dedicated all her remaining power to unleash one more strike.

Countless pieces of iron rose up from the ground, shards and fragments of metal, soaring into the air and into a massive ball of metal. It contained so much energy that it would be enough to kill Bianca by just surrounding her with it, but instead that enormous mass of metal built up until it suddenly erupted, all the fragments flying out and scattering across the camp.

It tore into the many, many soldiers of the Exarch, and destroyed the countless tents and structures that still stood within the camp. Only the dragon’s remaining soldiers were unharmed… and Bianca and the rest.

‘Okay, this has to be deliberate at this point. If that’s the case…’ Bianca took a breath, and suddenly called out, “Get over here and take the beating, dragon!”

“Hmph, you are still far too arrogant!” Long Shiyi replied, but she stayed on the ground as her aura suddenly crumbled, the impressive aura of the seventh realm practically shattering as the aura of the sixth realm replaced it.

Her power was drastically lower now, as even at the peak of the sixth realm, she lacked the draconic equivalents of the Oblivion Halos, among with the other benefits of her cultivation. Naturally, she was far superior to Bianca’s capabilities, and even to Huang Su’s cultivation, but it meant that she wasn’t quite as overwhelming as before.

More importantly, in the moment she lingered on the ground, Bianca had her next stupid idea and just rushed straight to the dragon, practically throwing herself at her – and most importantly, putting her hand on the dragon’s skin.

Before Long Shiyi could react – or chose to, at least – Bianca just pushed all of her energy into her, all her crackling crimson, smoky shadow and tainting violet pouring in. Compared to the bottomless volume of metallic energy within the dragon’s body, it was practically insignificant, but it showcased her intention, making Long Shiyi pause for a moment longer as she gazed upon it with sight and spiritual perception alike.

After a moment – a moment more than the dragon truly needed – Long Shiyi pushed her away, sending her tumbling to the ground.

“Whatever you think you’re doing, it will not be enough!”

‘So, she means that my energy hasn’t settled into her… fuck. I can’t really break through on the spot, so I guess my only option is to either spend all of my energy… or to wait for her realm to drop,’ Bianca thought, but to try and convey her thoughts to the dragon, she called out, “Maybe not now, but when your realm drops again, you’ll see exactly what I can do!”

The dragon didn’t reply, but she rolled her eyes, clearly frustrated by Bianca’s lack of power. Nevertheless, given the fact that she wasn’t stopping her, if this wasn’t the dragon providing some form of consent to her attempts, then… well, she had no clue what it was. Whatever the case was, she still had to try again, and since she was already making her efforts public, she didn’t need to keep her ideas to herself.

“Help me restrain her!” she called out to the other three, and Huang Su responded most quickly.

All of her flaming feathers surrounded Long Shiyi, concentrated like never before, and though the dragon quickly retaliated, trying to break through, her drop in power was such that she couldn’t effortlessly disperse it all.

“Are you sure?” the kitsune asked.

“It’s either this or getting killed!” she replied, which was enough for Xue Yaling to grasp the rough idea.

The only issue was that none of them were exceptionally skilled at skills to restrain their opponents, nor did the kitsune have an artefact shard that would permit her to restrain the dragon outside of simply tying her up in prolonged combat. Still, against an opponent that was practically agreeing to be held down, they were in luck, as all that was needed was the basic pretence.

And so, Xue Yaling invoked a set of skills she didn’t often get to use – the basic skills of the Shard half-archetype, raising her hand into the air as countless shards manifested from thin air.

Conjured Fragments was the second realm skill of the half-archetype, a pale imitation of greater things, but nevertheless, each shard still bore an echo of the power contained within the shards that the kitsune had been able to integrate. With one, it would hardly make an impact, but as she summoned dozens, their power grew more and more formidable – and Bianca couldn’t help but notice the slight resemblance between the dragon and the kitsune’s skillsets.

Both summoned metallic fragments, both flung them at enemies…

‘Right, it is called a half-archetype for a reason, and other archetypes started off similarly, so perhaps the origins of their skills were the same,’ Bianca guessed while keeping back, waiting for her opportunity.

All of the shards the kitsune manifested lingered for a breath, then were suddenly shot out as though from a railgun, each projectile crossing the distance in an instant, a few crashing into the dragon even with her best efforts to evade. Like usual, the pieces were incapable of penetrating her skin, but each one then erupted with the power of the artefact that they were copied from, several types of energy erupting from the pieces as they exploded, the sunlight being especially bright, forcing the dragon to cover up her eyes.

In that instant, Bianca leapt onto her again, getting onto the dragon’s back, wrapping her arms around her, letting her energy pour out again.

She’d spent a decent amount already, and she was letting it out without restraint, so by the time that the dragon threw her off, she had nearly emptied herself out completely, but again, she could sense that it still wasn’t enough. Compared to the dragon’s vast energy, hers was barely a drop in the ocean, and more than that, she was still an ancient beast, with a foundation far greater than that of Huang Su.

So, where the Phoenix Sect’s leader was susceptible enough to her energy relatively quickly, though it took a while for it to truly settle in, Long Shiyi could endure far more before it really took hold, which… was an issue. Bianca’s energy wouldn’t remain at its maximum potency forever, but it would be some time until her realm dropped back down to the fifth realm.

‘Shit, what do I-’ Bianca suddenly had an idea, shouting out, “Are you all out of energy now, you lizard? I bet you won’t dare to use your most powerful skills now! Especially not while Yaling has Anathema!”

“… If you think it’s that easy to provoke me, then-” Long Shiyi barely managed to get that far before rolling her eyes, not bothering with the pretence any longer.

She did as she was told, and Xue Yaling readied her Anathema, and soon both of their powers were unleashed to their fullest, a metal orb once more condensing in the air above, and a field of planar energy negation manifesting around the dragon. Together, the two helped to drain the dragon’s energy, but none of the metallic energy concentrating above contained Bianca’s corruption – in other words, all of it lingered in her body, and had the chance to make a greater impact on her.

Another tick, another stage dropping away, the dragon’s aura weakening further. It felt as though the time between stages was lower than before, and indeed, long before it would’ve happened while she was in the seventh realm, the next tick of the clock came.

Two drops in her cultivation so close to one another meant that her skill barely remained stable, but even as some energy dispersed, it remained outside her body – which was the most important detail. As long as it didn’t return to combat Bianca’s corruption, it would only be a matter of time until it was able to truly settle in.

Yet again, the ticking in the background heralded a drop in stage, and Bianca finally felt the faint connection between them, the presence of her corruption within yet another soul.

It was absurdly faint, though, on the brink of fading away – a first time for her, as she had previously seen it settle even within Huang Su, and it never showed any indication of being eliminated. By all looks, it appeared to be the first ever time that her corruption could be outright purged.

To say that it irked her would be an understatement. How dare her property try to escape her?!

Her sense tried to return to her, but not before her energy had the chance to flare up, to be imbued by her fury and to become far more intense, far more potent – in the blink of an eye, it was as though her pool of energy had been refilled in an instant, every drop feeling a dozen times more powerful than before, and it left her with the chance to leap onto the dragon again.

She grabbed onto Long Shiyi and held on firmly, even as the dragon attempted to shake her off, and just channelled her energy into her yet again. Even with the heightened intensity, it was only a fraction of her original pool, so it took less time to pour it all away, but at the same time, she felt the difference it made far more intensely.

If she could describe the initial state of the corruption as 1%, if that, then she could now feel it rise to 2%, then 3% before her supply finally ran out.

In that instant, she felt weak, her energy drained, and her grip weakened to the point that Long Shiyi was able to throw her off with ease. Another tick, another stage lost, but it meant that her corruption was settle into her body a little further, and it finally led to a certain change.

Something about the distant ticking became distorted, and the next one came at a slight delay, a tiny one, yet… Bianca could tell that Long Shiyi’s eyes were filled with hope, even as the dragon pretended to crumble to the ground from weakness. It seemed like this is what she had been planning on, what she had betting on by letting Bianca flood her with energy… and whatever gave her the impression that it would work, well, Bianca was more than glad about it.

After all, whatever the dragon was planning, the moment that her corruption truly settled into Long Shiyi, it would be a matter of time until she got what she wanted.

Only the mass of metal remained above them, now, somehow enduring even as the dragon’s realm continued to decline, but she showed no interest in flinging it at them, nor were there any others around them to fool… at least until an ominous presence approached, just as Long Shiyi dropped to the first stage.

Considering the main participants in this battle, there was little doubt as to the identity of the new arrival, though if even that wasn’t enough, the vast sigil blazing above that being made it even more obvious. The Exarch walked towards them – or perhaps floated, Bianca couldn’t see any hints of it actually stepping on anything, nor having feet to begin with – at a slow pace, certainly explaining why it took so long to arrive, and though there were no visible eyes beneath the hood, it was obviously gazing at them intently.

“There you are! Take… this!” Long Shiyi suddenly let the mass of metal fly, straight at the Exarch, all of her sixth realm energy across the stages concentrated within that single skill.

It nearly crashed into it in an instant, but the Sigil behind it lit up, and suddenly the metal was enveloped with flame, energy practically burning off of it, being carried away in the smoke. The mass slowed down, pieces fell off, and before it could hit the Exarch, it just fell apart, all that metal falling apart and then just vanishing, as it was all a mere planar construct.

“Long Shiyi.”

“Heh, you’re late. I-” the dragon trembled as the clock ticked one final time, her cultivation dropping to the fifth realm, “I… have already been defeated by another.”

“Do not attempt to fool me. We-”

“Who’s fooling who?” Bianca stepped in front of the dragon, meeting the Exarch directly, “I beat her, didn’t you see? This is my victory – do you not respect that?”

“The Demon Queen… do you understand what you are doing? Do you really wish to claim this one as your prize?”

“Oh, absolutely. Long Shiyi is mine.”

The Exarch continued to glare, the two remaining there for quite a while, to the point that Bianca feared that she might need to fight… somehow.

“By your right of contribution, you may claim your prize. However… do not be mistaken, Demon Queen. Those that get in my way will fall, sooner or later.”

“Same to you, you floating rag.”

Whether the Exarch cared for her remark or not, it didn’t show it. Instead, it just backed away, and as the remnants of its forces drew closer, it raised a hand to stop them in place. Still, countless soldiers still remained, and the ones at the front were experts in the fifth and sixth realms, whose absence up until now certainly gave the impression that their victory over Long Shiyi was practically staged by both sides.

Bianca could easily understand why Long Shiyi might want to be defeated by her instead of the Exarch – her energy seemed to be able to stabilise the dragon’s cultivation, not to mention that she wasn’t the Exarch – but as for the other side, why would they-

‘Ah. By letting me step in, they were able to avoid casualties amongst the most important members of the army, not to mention that Long Shiyi wasted her energy on us rather than them. It also gives them cause to go after me after this place is fully under their control, since I’ve either interfered in their battle or saved Long Shiyi outright – whether I’m truly able to do that or not,’ she realised, looking around at the ones surrounding her.

She couldn’t really put names to most of the faces, but among the many was one with a blade that burned like flame, another in a hooded robe with shoulder pads that resembled interweaving fingers, a faint purple glow coming from beneath the hood, another with a vivid glow seemingly coming from within his chest, and more.

All of them seemed like capable warriors, so it made sense that an outcome where none of them had to be sacrificed was an ideal one for the Exarch. Even in their current state, they could easily crush Bianca and the others, especially with the dragon dropping to the peak of the fifth realm, and Huang Su having spent a lot of her energy to help contain Long Shiyi.

“You may leave. My forces will not stop you.”

It said that, but the surrounding army didn’t move yet, all watching them closely, not only to confirm that Long Shiyi wasn’t going to try and escape on her own, but also to see which direction they’d go into.

As such, Bianca had a choice, to attempt to return to the Reaper’s Grave, and in turn confirm that both she and the dragon would be there when the Exarch felt like taking down another target… or to proceed with the original plan, and head north. There, they may or may not find something of value, but in either case, it would mean that they couldn’t be certain where to find them until a return to the Reaper’s Grave, which…

‘Well, it won’t really matter, since they can attack no matter what, but… in any case, I think it would be best to do as we had planned. In the best case, we might find something valuable and get a big power up,’ she concluded, and, feeling the others looking at her expectantly, turned firmly towards the north, “Then, we shall depart. Congratulations on your conquest, Exarch, and I hope to never see you again.”

There was no reply, but the army parted, offering them a route out of the camp, which she took as soon as she grabbed Long Shiyi and lifted her up, over her own shoulder, carrying her like she was just a body.

She was heavier than she looked, but still, Bianca wasn’t about to display any weakness, so she walked and walked, past the crowd, past the ruins, past the scorched fields outside… until they were clear of the conflict, at least for now.