Retreat

"Has this dragoness lost her mind? Transforming in the heart of a human kingdom—isn't she afraid of drawing a swarm of human powerhouses to hunt her down? If her hidden identity is exposed, will her old man ever forgive her?"

Liam ranted frantically in his heart, feeling that Onyxia's mental fortitude was truly pathetic. It was just one shot—was it really worth going into a suicidal frenzy over?

What he didn't know was that Onyxia was currently half-mad with rage.

Right now, she only wanted to tear this guy into shreds! As for the mess that would follow, she'd leave that for her father to clean up. In her blind, humiliated fury, Onyxia was prepared to reveal her true form just to kill this detestable brat. She could sense the pressure radiating from the phoenix before her; even as a pure-blooded dragon, she couldn't guarantee victory without shifting into her true form.

So, she intended to transform immediately, crush Liam—that tiny "ant"—and his not-yet-adult "phoenix," then flee before other powerhouses arrived. As for the plan to annex the Alterac Ruins... that could be discussed another time.

Seeing Onyxia reveal her true form, Liam was startled, but he reacted instantly, turning and leaping out through the window that Coral had smashed earlier. As he vaulted out, a grappling hook with a rope suddenly appeared in his hand. With the three-pronged hook catching precisely on the window frame, Liam slid effortlessly to the ground.

Liam ran without looking back, while Coral flapped its wings and dove toward Onyxia. The man and the bird worked with remarkable synergy.

During their previous training travels, Liam had often encountered opponents he couldn't handle, and those were the moments to "open the gate and release Coral." Over time, Coral had grown increasingly adept at understanding Liam's intentions.

Whenever its unscrupulous master turned and ran, it would dive in to "die." This tactic was surprisingly effective; to this day, no one had managed to overcome the "666 Pyros" after it had died once.

Unfortunately, past records weren't a reliable reference, and today it seemed they might get to see what "101010 Pyros" looked like.

Normal phoenixes possessed many innate talents, but unfortunately, Coral seemed to lack natural intelligence. Even after resurrecting and gaining greater power, it could only engage in melee combat. The various fire spells that phoenixes were born with were completely unknown to this silly bird.

Thus, despite possessing strength nearing the Hero tier, Coral couldn't unleash even half of its potential. Usually, it relied on raw power to crush enemies, but facing Onyxia, it was destined to suffer a major setback.

Coral dove straight for Onyxia's massive dragon head, locking its target onto her giant eyes. This trick was something it had learned from Liam: gouging eyes, locking throats, kicking groins, and stomping knees. Liam had adopted these street-brawling techniques from another set of memories, using whatever worked without a shred of his former gentle, princely demeanor—he was nothing more than a street-smart hoodlum.

If the people of Gilneas saw this style, their eyes would surely pop out of their sockets.

However, Coral had no such concerns. It simply did what its master did; it was just a peck to the eye, not like it would lose a chunk of meat.

Regrettably, the opponent Coral faced this time wasn't a common bandit or a guard, but a dragon with ancient blood.

Though Onyxia had never seen such a hooligan of a phoenix, the sharp horns on her head weren't just for show. She swung her massive head, swatting Coral's diving form away, then unleashed a breath of dragonfire to pursue the phoenix as it crashed to the ground.

In just one exchange, Coral suffered the heaviest blow of its life. The gap between the Hero tier and the quasi-Hero tier was laid bare. While the strike wasn't fatal, it was enough to keep Coral down for a while.

The subsequent dragon breath was far less damaging than the first, as even a "weak" phoenix was still a phoenix. Onyxia had been blinded by rage to use fire against it; after the blast, Coral stayed right where it had fallen, taking the hit without moving an inch.

The raging dragon fire didn't incinerate Coral, but it burned and collapsed most of the castle behind it, igniting many buildings outside as well. In an instant, the fires merged into a sea of flames, causing even more destruction than Coral's own laborious efforts!

Coral, having been "one-shot" and suffering a disastrous start, decided to play the rogue. It simply waited for Onyxia's claws to descend so it could hurry off to reincarnate into a more powerful body and fight this dragoness again.

Unfortunately, its daydreams were interrupted by the magical fluctuations of an opening portal.

"Dalaran scum! You arrived so quickly!"

Onyxia muttered, her massive dragon claws pressing down as flames surged from the ground, sealing the area around the swirling portal. Under the suppression of powerful fire elemental energy, the formation of the portal slowed to a crawl.

"Consider yourself lucky. You are now on the Black Dragonflight's blacklist. Run for your life and see how long you can survive our hunt!"

The black dragon, soaring into the sky, cast a glance with her giant eyes, glared fiercely at Liam, who was hiding to the side, and left a parting threat before vanishing into the night sky, flying south.

"Sorry, but the Black Dragonflight has been on my blacklist for a long time. I happen to be missing a good hide for a leather vest—if you've got the guts, don't run and save me the cost of the fabric."

Liam never let himself be at a disadvantage, refusing to let anyone have the last word, and shouted at the rising Onyxia. His words made the dragoness, already in the air, stumble, her wingbeats faltering as she nearly turned back to burn Liam to a crisp with a "Deep Breath."

"No, I need to scram too. If those meddlesome old geezers from Dalaran find me, it'll be a huge mess." Having caused such a catastrophe, Liam wasn't stupid enough to stay and "clean up." With a whistle, Coral dove down.

Liam leaped, landing on the molten lava congealing on the phoenix's back, feeling only warmth despite the flames that could melt anything.

Sensing Liam had climbed onto its back, Coral flapped its wings, transforming into a streak of fire and flying toward the Hinterlands in the east. This was something it had learned from Liam: never go home after doing something bad; you have to stay out for at least a night.

The figures of the black dragon and the phoenix vanished into the night. The seal Onyxia hadn't fully committed to was torn to shreds by the power of space, scattering into sparks in the air.

As the portal solidified, a figure in crimson robes stepped out, appearing in the Alterac Ruins, which had just been devastated by another battle.