Dragons only begin to gradually master the abilities of transformation and flight after turning twenty.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have fallen from above just now.
But this time, the ground didn't suddenly collapse, nor did a stone gate suddenly open.
Dong! Dong!
Heavy and powerful footsteps came from behind that single door.
The three followed the sound and stared intently at the door panel, holding their breath.
Rumble!
The door panel slowly opened, emitting a deep rumble.
Behind the door, a giant stone statue strode toward them with a step that carried the weight of a thousand pounds.
The giant was more than ten meters tall, nearly as big as a full-grown dragon in its dragon form.
Its pupils burst forth with white ghostly light, and there was a crystal shining with luster on its forehead.
With every step this massive creature took, intense tremors followed.
The sense of oppression instantly enveloped the three, Noah, Yuna, and Anton.
"H-Hey hey hey! Are you kidding me, that thing definitely isn't just some dangerous creature?"
Anton backed away, "Yuna, let's run!"
"Run? Run where? The only exit here is that door behind the giant, we can only go out through there," As she spoke, Yuna gathered dragon flame and threw it at the stone statue giant.
But the flames vanished instantly upon hitting the giant's body, dissipating without a trace.
And this move seemed to have completely enraged the giant, it quickened its pace and lunged toward the three of them.
Yuna and Anton immediately struck back.
"Brat, get out of the way, don't block the road!", Anton shouted as he hurled two bursts of dragon flame at the giant.
But the result was the same as before, the attacks of the two young dragons weren't strong enough to deal any substantial damage to the stone statue giant.
"Damn it... not even a bit of effect," Yuna's expression turned grave.
Anton was already sweating coldly, he swallowed hard, fear rising in his heart, "W-What do we do? What now?"
Though Yuna wanted to take the chance to mock Anton, now clearly wasn't the time.
They had to figure out a way to eliminate this giant, or they'd be flattened into pancakes sooner or later.
While thinking, two bolts of lightning flashed and struck the giant's body.
Yet the giant remained completely unscathed.
"Brat, stop making things worse! Stay away from there!", Anton shouted.
Noah gave him a faint glance. How strange, even though he was already drenched in sweat from fear, he still had the nerve to tell others not to get in the way.
She looked away and re-examined the giant before her.
Noah recalled that not long ago at Aunt Isa's Red Dragon Sanctuary, that dragon king named Constantine attacked them at midnight with a remodeled body.
That body was mainly based on a steel-rock mammoth, massively enhancing its defense, normal magic attacks couldn't even break through.
Lightning magic was even outright ineffective.
'Which means, to damage a body like this made of stone... other than Mom's primordial magic, the only thing left is...'
'Physical techniques.'
'I wonder if the Nine Hells Gates Dad taught me last time will work, but if I combine it with Thunder Dash's piercing power...'
Thinking this, Noah immediately turned around and ran backward, creating distance from the stone statue giant.
"Hey, brat, you sure are fast at running away! I didn't even get to see you bawl yet!"
"What the heck?"
"Noah's not running away."
"Not running? Then she, what is she doing? That stance is?"
A sharp bird cry suddenly rang out, echoing back and forth inside the massive structure.
Explosive thunder power burst from the floor beneath Noah's feet, kicking up clouds of dust.
Noah bent slightly, gripping her right wrist tightly, a ghostly blue lightning flickering in her palm.
"This distance... is enough!"
She had only just started practicing the Nine Hells Gates, so she could only achieve a certain level of physical enhancement.
Of course, if paired with Thunder Dash's penetration trait, the success rate would greatly increase.
But likewise, if it failed, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Still, to find Helena as soon as possible, Noah had no choice but to take the risk and bet everything.
She dragged Thunder Dash along the floor, blasting up tiles as she passed.
Her small figure turned into a flickering shadow, and in the blink of an eye, she charged straight at the stone statue giant.
The giant was too slow to stop her.
That girl leapt high, the lightning in her hand like a sharp sword, stabbing straight at the giant's chest.
Boom!
Thunder burst forth, kicking up a storm of dust and debris.
"Noah!", Yuna shouted her junior's name and rushed forward.
When the dust finally settled, a small, thin figure stood in the middle of a pile of rubble, panting heavily. Her right hand trembled slightly due to the aftereffects of her previous attack.
"Noah... a-are you okay?", Yuna asked with concern.
Noah slowly bent down, picked up the white crystal that had been on the giant's forehead, gave it a quick look, and tucked it into her pocket.
"I'm fine, senpai. Let's go find the others."
Noah wiped the dust from her face, stepped over the rubble, climbed the stairs, and walked toward that only door.
Yuna looked at Anton and mocked, "Seems like the one dragging us down is you, kid."
Anton's face turned red but said nothing.
The two quickly caught up with Noah, passed through the door, and headed deeper in.
"Helena! Helena, where are you?"
"Diane! Raymond! Can you hear us!"
"..."
They called out their companions' names, but only their own echoes bouncing off the walls answered them.
After walking a bit farther, Anton suddenly stopped.
"What is it?", Yuna asked, looking back.
"Yuna, do you think... could they already be—"
"Don't jinx it, idiot. We will find them."
Anton shrugged, "Where are we supposed to look? We've got no backup, no map, we're just wandering around blindly. What if another giant pops out later? Can you handle it? Or are you hoping that brat can do that move again? If she does, her right hand will be ruined."
A heavy atmosphere always makes people's emotions crumble gradually.
What began as teasing escalated into a real argument.
"Then what do you want? Stand here and wait to die?"
"Keep going and we'll end up the same. What's the difference?"
"Well, it's still better than standing here like idiots waiting to be stomped by a giant."
"..."
The arguing continued.
Noah didn't have the energy or patience to break up a fight.
She was exhausted too, wanting to just curl up in a corner and sleep.
That earlier attack had drained nearly all her magic, and she didn't know how many more enemies like that were ahead.
Could she find her friends before getting crushed?
She wasn't sure.
All she could do now was, "Don't stop moving."
She had to keep going. Only by continuing could she see hope.
Dragging her heavy body, Noah took another step forward.
But all of a sudden, her vision went black, and she leaned against the nearby wall.
Noah steadied herself with the wall, slowly crouched down, trying to ease the fatigue.
Just then, as she got closer to the floor, her sharp eyes caught a faint trace of something.
'That is... a tiny bit of extremely fine hair?'
Noah narrowed her eyes, reached out, and pinched a few strands in her fingers.
"Blue hair... it's Helena's!"
This was a clue Helena had left for her.
It was like grasping a new strand of hope, Noah instantly felt re-energized.
Following the traces Helena left behind, she continued moving forward.
The other two, seeing this, also stopped quarreling and quickly followed her.
The trail stretched onward, guiding Noah toward her friend.
Through long, dark corridors, torches lit one by one; they dodged several stone statue giants and passed layer after layer of traps.
Noah had a feeling, she would soon see Helena.
"Stop!", Noah suddenly raised her hand.
"What is it?", Yuna asked.
"That room ahead... someone's inside."
Noah nodded her chin toward the front.
Yuna and Anton looked in the direction she indicated.
Sure enough, in the room at the end of the corridor, a beam of light shone out, and faint voices could be heard.
Noah tucked the blue hair strands she'd gathered into her pocket, then walked forward quietly and carefully.
The two behind her also followed silently.
Arriving at the doorway of the room, Noah could clearly hear the conversation inside.
"So this is the Primordial Dragon King Noah, huh..."
"Judging from the ancient script and murals on the stone wall, this is indeed the ruin where Noah sealed himself."
"I... I can feel it, that overwhelming primordial power... it's surging right there."
"Senior, this great power will soon be yours!"
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