Lilith’s heart stopped again.


    Three stood on the gravel not far away with an annoyed smile on her face.


    “H-How could you…” Lilith stared in disbelief. She had just tossed out nearly all of her offensive scrolls in one go. While she hadn’t expected to defeat Three outright, she hadn’t anticipated that her efforts would only stall the enemy for such a short time.


    Those scrolls were all handmade by her mother, their power spanning from the early stages to the peak of the Saint Realm.


    More importantly… Three appearedpletely unharmed except for a single strand of hair at her forehead that had been singed.


    If it weren’t for the fact that the area where they had just fought had turned into a turbulent zone of magic power, Lilith would have suspected that she had either thrown a bunch of fake scrolls or been misled by illusions affecting her senses.


    Fortunately, she still had many spatial scrolls.


    Three had sealed off the small world, along withws barring the use of items beyond the Saint Realm, so many scrolls in Lilith’s possession had the opportunity to be used.


    Although Lilith had finally taken notice of the spatial scrolls, which had remained unused for quite some time, the teleportation range they offered was still severely limited—whether due to the small world’s constraints or Three’s abilities. However, this limitation could be ovee with sheer quantity, and so there was still hope of escape…Suddenly, Three vanished from sight. When she reappeared, she was already in front of Lilith.


    Lilith quickly pulled out a spatial scroll and activated it as fast as she could. Three raised her de and brought it down without hesitation. The distorted space was severed instantly, and the once-bright scroll dimmed in the blink of an eye.


    The de’s relentless sharpness cut through the space and continued toward Lilith’s head. Lilith watched the descending de through its smooth, reflective surface and saw a flicker of fear in her own eyes.


    It was toote to call for thunder. Reflexively, Lilith raised her hand to block the blow. Then… She felt a coldness at her wrist… A searing pain followed, cutting deep into her bone marrow.


    Lilith stared at the blood sttering around her in a daze, forgetting to even scream. Her hand had been severed… Now, blood sprayed upward from the stump of her wrist—only that crimson torrent remained.


    “Hand… my hand…” Lilith used her trembling other hand to press against the stump, which clearly exposed the t, smooth white bone of the wound.


    The usual resilience of her dragon race was failing her, and blood continued to spurt uncontrobly. The flesh at the wound’s edge twitched aimlessly, like headless flies uncertain of where to grow.


    Desperately, Lilith picked up her severed hand from the ground and tried to press it back against the stump.


    The two parts seemed to connect, but as soon as she let go, the hand drooped at a grotesque ny-degree angle, as though it was attached by only flesh.


    “I knew it. The so-called dragon race relies on dragonnguage as the god, dragon bones as the foundation, and dragon blood as the source. These three elements are the root of a dragon’s strength. Sealing the flow of dragon blood weakens the dragon, sealing the dragonnguage makes it clumsy, and cutting the dragon bones makes recovery difficult, even for a dragon’s regenerative powers.”


    Three rested the de on her shoulder, murmuring with excitement. “Well then, Your Highness, where should I cut next to make you despair even more?”


    “How dare you… chop my hand off…” Lilith’s remaining hand clenched into a fist and mmed into the ground, carving five deep grooves into the rock. Her once-dim golden pupils red back to life, radiating a monarch-like intensity.


    With a sudden, powerful move, she struck her own chest. The impact caused her heart to shatter but then quickly healed and resumed beating. At that moment, she felt nothing… Not even pain.


    The world fell silent. Lilith could only hear the roaring me burning within her chest. Everything around her turned gray. All she could see was Three’s arrogant face.


    <em>How dare… How dare… How dare you… How dare you chop my hand off…</em>


    Endless rage consumed Lilith’s sanity.


    “Hee.” In her fury, Lilith let out a childlike, high-pitchedugh, but her expression remained as fierce as a wild beast. “I’m going to kill you.”


    Lilith lunged at Three again.


    Three merely raised an eyebrow, as if expecting her, and said, “ording to the ‘Surviving the Dragon n Handbook,’ the dragon’s bloodthirsty instincts can temporarily overwhelm their sanity when their lives are in real danger. During this period, the dragon’s strength increases significantly.” ??


    “But what’s the point of that? All it does is drive you to your death like a beast,” Three remarked as she gently swung her de. An invisible circr de shadow sliced through the air in an instant.


    Lilith felt herself losing bnce. The world around her was spinning before she copsed on the ground, sliding a considerable distance on her face. As she struggled to rise, she realized she could no longer feel anything below her knees.


    Lilith crawled across the ground in a daze, dragging herself with her remaining hand and leaving two long bloody trails behind her.


    “Hey, your legs are over there.”


    Three crouched down, resting her de on her shoulder as she considerately pointed to the severed legs among the jumble of rocks.


    The calves were still standing in a running position, but their owner could no longer make them move.


    “My legs…” Sanity returned briefly, but Lilith struggled to think clearly.


    <em>Why did my feet leave me and run so far? Why can’t I even stand up?</em>


    “Hello? Did you lose your mind already?” Three rolled Lilith onto her back and ced her foot firmly on Lilith’s chest. “Are you in despair? If that’s the case, then summon whatever power you have left.”


    Lilith raised her remaining hand shakily and gripped Three’s calf.


    “Hmm? Trying to beg for mercy?” Three wondered but noticed the hatred in Lilith’s eyes.


    Lilith squeezed with all her strength, digging her fingers through Three’s flesh.


    “S?h?i?t?!” Three swore in frustration. With a swift motion, she chopped off Lilith’s only remaining hand. She pressed the sharp edge of her de against Lilith’s throat and said coldly, “I don’t know if dragons can live without their heads, so this is yourst chance.”


    Lilith’s lips moved.


    “Hmm, what was that?” Three lowered her head and asked.


    “Come closer… and I’ll tell you…”


    Three bent down, cing her ear near Lilith’s mouth. Lilith lifted her head and whispered into Three’s ear. “F?u?c?k? you…” After saying that, she bit down hard on Three’s ear and yanked it violently.


    “AH!” Blood sprayed everywhere. Three clutched her ear and howled in pain, her face contorting with fury. “If you want to do it the hard way, then I’llply—let’s see if you’ll still have the strength to fight!”


    Three raised her de and shed viciously at Lilith’s neck.