Before dawn, a dense darkness shrouded Kassel College. The sky struggled between ink-black and fish-belly white. The winding mountain road threaded through the silent woods, old streetlights casting dim, feeble halos that formed patches of illusory warmth on the asphalt. All was silent, and the air carried the crisp chill of early morning.
In this world not yet awake, a bedraggled figure was running for his life.
Lu Mingfei felt like he was about to stop breathing. Every step was like treading on cotton, yet also like dragging iron shackles weighing a thousand pounds. His lungs burned, and every breath tore at his chest. Just as he wanted to slow down for a moment to catch his breath, a scorching wave of air suddenly rushed at him from behind.
He stumbled in fright, instinctively hunching his neck and ducking his head. With a whoosh, a cluster of orange-red flames grazed over his head. Several strands of hair curled up and blackened at once, giving off the awful stench of burning protein.
"Ow!" Lu Mingfei let out an even more miserable scream. His will to survive squeezed out the last bit of potential in his body, and his pace, which had just slowed, surged again. He practically ran fast enough to leave an afterimage.
Not far behind him floated a white creature the size of a housecat.
It had a pair of delicate membranous wings on its back, and its long tail swayed elegantly. Its pure golden eyes watched the fleeing figure ahead with great interest.
This was Little Red, the Red Dragon Cub Amon had once "traded" out of the college Archives.
"Se... Senior Brother... is this really necessary?"
Lu Mingfei wailed breathlessly as he ran, his voice trembling.
"It is very necessary."
A calm voice came from behind and