The two stepped into the entryway in the next instant. Emperal felt the gravity shift, his eyes widened as he looked down at the ground.

It was just—there was no ground below them!

SIIIIIIIIIIIII~!!

He felt Dresh’s hand on his collarbone, and with a yank, she took a step forward.

Step.

Emperal blinked, in the next instant. He was standing in the middle of a huge hallway.

It was a huge one; he almost felt it was an arena bowl. Given the sheer distance from the center.

"At least a mile or two in radius, Dresh. It almost looks like a fightin—"

"It is indeed a fighting arena; in fact, he should be arriving any time soon."

Before he could complete his words, Dresh spoke with a smile on her face. It seemed like she liked the way Emperal called her.

"...Who?"

Tremble~!

The ground suddenly shook, making Emperal curious.

Step. BOOM! Step. BOOM! Step. BOOM!

Heavy footsteps echoed, the type to shake the ground just with its weight.

"Oh, there he is! It is a pet of mine that I kept for guarding the gates."

ROARR~!!!

Emperal snapped his head towards the far north of the expanse, and a pair icy eyes glared back at him.

His expression changed when he saw that, "Is that...a Wyvern?"

Dresh chuckled when she saw his face, "It is indeed, and quite a unique one at that."

Flap! Flap! Flap!

A huge shadow reflected in Emperal’s eyes, it moved through the air smoothly, so that not a single particle of dust was disturbed.

DHAMM!

It landed directly in front of Dresh and under the surprising eyes of Emperal. It lowered its head and opened its mouth.

It huffed slightly and took a long lick on Dresh’s body. Her eyes sparkled when she saw it.

"How have you been? My cutie beans!"

ROAR!!

"B-Be...ans?"

Emperal was stunned when he heard that name; it certainly wasn’t beans.

The Wyvern was huge, going up to forty feet, unlike the rough and tough Draconic scales. Its scales were smooth and resilient.

It was greyish-black in colour, and its eyes were icy blue. Just one of its wings reached up to eighteen feet!

But the most surprising thing was its aura! It was even above...Verth Shaper.

It was a Verth Master Wyvern...possibly a nightmare if unleashed in the EverHeart realm. But looking at it, cooing and licking Dresh. He...somewhat doubted that reality.

After licking Dresh for the whole five minutes, it snapped its head towards Emperal and hissed loudly.

"Oh? Possessive of your master, I see?"

Emperal’s eyes widened in amusement. Dresh gently brushed its head. Making it calm down.

"There there, my cutie beanie, he is a close...friend of mom. Don’t be hostile."

She spoke in a gentle and motherly voice, which was a stark contrast to the sheer brutality she had shown earlier.

Then and only then, the...thing called ’Cutie beanie’ calmed down. It suddenly snapped its tongue outside and wiggled it provocatively at Emperal.

"This...brat"

Emperal felt a twitch in his brows when he saw this beast’s actions. In that moment, he understood.

It wanted war! Then war it shall have!

Without hesitation, he stepped forward and closed the distance between him and Dresh.

She looked at him amusingly, wondering what the man was doing. But to her shock, the moment Emperal closed in—he grabbed her waist and pulled her towards him!

"Whaa!!"

Her mind was thrown into chaos the moment she felt his hands on her. The beast’s expression changed drastically when it saw this.

ROAR~!!!

It let out a feral roar; it was enough to evaporate him. But, with Dresh’s presence, how could that happen?

Not a single hair on his head was damaged. Looking at the distressed Wyvern ahead, Emperal’s eyes shone with evil intent.

"You started it."

Saying that...he opened his mouth and...bit on Dresh’s ear!

"N-N-No~!! Nooot ther—ahnn~!!"

Dresh felt her knees weaken when Emperal bit her long ears. He even chewed on them lightly, making her tremble violently.

The Wyvern was horrified when it saw this; somehow, it felt a huge and wide green hat on its head.

And it certainly didn’t like it.

But before it could do anything drastic, Emperal stopped his actions and pulled back, licking his lips with a smile on his face.

"Heh, you are a hundred years too young to compete with me, brat."

Emperal smirked down at the creature arrogantly...after all, Dresh was probably the strongest here...who should he fear? And why should he?

Dresh took a few long breaths; her large bust heaved up and down. Making her look all the more enticing.

"Alright, that’s enough. Go and play, Beanie. I’ll call you soon."

COOOE~!!!

The Wyvern complained, feeling wronged! But one sharp look from Dresh...made it turn back and fly away.

Emperal swore he noticed its back was way more hunched when it had arrived. Looking at Dresh, he smiled.

"I was just playing around, Lady Dresh, hope you didn’t mind~."

Dresh felt her eyes twitch at his shamelessness, but she kept quiet. There were far more important things to do.

"Alright, let’s go in. In this area, I had just kept for security; aside from Beanie, there is no threat here. Let’s go."

Dresh once again yanked his collar and stomped her jade-like feet on the harsh ground.

Tremble~!!

BOOM!!

Once again, their center of gravity shifted, and surprisingly, Emperal’s vision darkened.

"How? We didn’t even break the ground."

He couldn’t help but wonder, a second later, brilliant light flashed. The moment Emperal opened his eyes, he found himself standing in front of a door.

It was a medium and... normal-looking door. Until...it wasn’t.

"My goodness, this...what level of formation master built this formation?"

Surprisingly. It was Infernal Dragon’s voice. Emperal couldn’t help but be surprised when he heard that.

"Why is that?"

"There are literally more than a million formations here...all of them compressed into a single giant, all-encompassing formation!"

The moment the Infernal Dragon spoke, Emperal sucked in a cold breath. A bead of sweat dripped down his chin.

"L-Lady Dresh, I think, this is as far as we must go."

Turning towards the smiling woman, he spoke with a smile on his face. Unfortunately, it was far uglier than his usual smile.