Vol 9. Chapter 81: Dragon God Tiamat

An hour earlier, in the vice principal’s office.

Claudia opened her eyes. Her awareness had mostly returned, but her head was still a mess, and the ringing in her ears would not stop.

She lay weakly on her side on the floor, replaying the moment before she lost consciousness:

Tucker had used chaotic power to knock her out, and the chaos had seized the opening to begin corroding her.

Under normal circumstances, with no time to cloak herself in Primordial Force, she should have been dead already.

A soul being corroded, falling into the abyss of chaos—that was a despair worse than death.

But now…

She had woken up.

“What on earth is… going on?” Claudia murmured.

Then she heard an even weaker voice nearby.

“Umm… umm…”

Claudia looked up.

It was that little blue creature.

She remembered that, before she passed out, Umm had forced its way out of the cage and wriggled toward her.

As for what happened after that, she had no idea.

After regaining a little strength, Claudia struggled to sit up and inch her way toward Umm.

She leaned under the desk and gathered Umm into her arms.

“Umm…”

Umm answered weakly, “Umm…”

Claudia showed a tired smile. She did not say anything, only kept stroking Umm’s little head as she waited for her stamina to come back.

But being that close made Claudia notice something off.

She frowned slightly.

“Weren’t you a deep blue? Why do you look… a lot lighter?”

“Umm… umm…”

Just as Claudia was about to do a quick check on Umm, the office door was suddenly slammed open.

“Mom!”

“Vice Principal!”

Helena and Samantha burst in.

Seeing that Claudia was not in immediate danger, both of them finally loosened up a little.

Claudia braced on the desk and forced herself to stand. She did not waste words.

“Tucker took the key to the Magic Eye’s prison. We cannot let the Magic Eye escape the academy. Arrange manpower and start a full search immediately.”

“Yes, Vice Principal.”

The three of them rushed out, gathered people, and moved at once toward the field.

But on the way, thunder boomed nonstop outside, and the ground shook violently.

When Claudia finally led the group out of the office building, they saw the entire academy already covered in tentacles and the purple haze of chaotic power.

They protected the younger students while trying to resist the chaos.

But Claudia still had not recovered. Her body was so weak she could not possibly produce Primordial magic strong enough to protect this many people.

Then, at the most critical moment, an overwhelming dragon pressure erupted from the other side of the thick purple haze.

A dragon’s shadow tore across the sky, its roar shaking heaven and earth.

Not long after that strike ended, the chaotic power began to be pulled by some force, gathering into a single place.

Only when Claudia reached the far side of the field and saw Noa lying unconscious did she finally understand what had happened over the last hour.

Helena stared at Noa in disbelief. She dropped to her knees beside her, trembling fingers brushing her friend’s face.

Tears pooled in her blue eyes, then spilled out, drop by drop, landing on Noa’s cheeks.

“Noa…”

“Right now she still has breathing and a heartbeat, but since a moment ago, those basic life signs have been steadily weakening,” a medic explained beside them.

“We tried everything, but… but we can’t wake her up… If this continues, Noa might...”

Claudia stepped up as well and knelt beside Noa.

Looking at the battered girl, there was not the slightest fear on Claudia’s face.

Noa was so calm. So resolute.

She had protected everyone with her own strength. She had not failed herself, and she had not failed the weight of being the eldest sister.

“Noa. You did well.”

As she spoke, Claudia reached out and placed her hand gently over Noa’s chest.

Even though the medical team had tried every method and none could wake Noa, Claudia refused to give up.

She tried to send Primordial Force into Noa’s body.

Still no response.

A heavy, suffocating grief spread through the air.

Moon, Aurora, Muse, Hefei, Helena, and so many others who knew Noa all watched in silence.

In their eyes there was sorrow, but there was also hope.

Hope that the girl had only fallen asleep by accident, and she would open her eyes any moment now.

And in a place no one was watching, Umm peeked its head out from behind Claudia.

It looked at Noa. After hesitating, it slowly wriggled over.

It stopped beside Noa’s hand and rubbed its little head against the back of her icy-cold hand.

“Umm, umm.”

“Umm, don’t cause trouble.”

Helena tried to pick the little creature up so it would not interfere with Claudia’s treatment.

But unusually, Umm was stubborn this time, clinging to Noa’s hand and refusing to be carried off.

In the end, it even opened its mouth and bit down on Noa’s wrist...

…

…

“So this is Valhalla. Then you must be—ah!”

Before Noa could finish, a sharp pain suddenly shot through her wrist.

The forebear lowered her head toward Noa.

“What is it?”

Noa shook her wrist and shook her head.

“Felt like something bit my wrist. It’s fine.”

She lifted her head again to the person in front of her.

White hair, white brows. Judging by appearance, he looked about the age of a thousand-year-old dragon.

His horns and tail were pure white like the forebear’s.

But his clothing was nothing like dragon attire.

A spotless white robe, an easy, kindly smile like a gentle grandfather.

There was even something distinctly Eastern about him, like an immortal sage out of an old painting.

It fit this foggy white world almost too well.

“I really… really didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”

The forebear’s voice pulled Noa out of her thoughts.

Noa looked to the side.

The Primordial Dragon King who was usually so proud now looked like a student meeting a long-lost teacher, eyes full of longing and joy.

And the other party smiled back warmly.

“Me too, Noa. It’s been a long time.”

The forebear took a step forward, excitement impossible to hide.

“In all the years since you left, I never forgot my mission. I kept putting down the dragon race’s internal unrest, and I… I sealed the Ultimate Terror. A few years ago it was released again by some ambitious lunatic, but thankfully the mess was dealt with in the end. And… and I also slowly came to understand what you taught me back then, especially the parts about emotions. And that’s also thanks to this little brat by my side. She’s also called Noa. Noa, come on. Say something.”

Noa: ?

“Wait, wait, wait. You rattled off that whole report like an overworked office drone and that was already a lot, but why are you shoving me up front now? This is literally like the holidays, when relatives you’ve never met show up, your parents drag you out of a warm bed into the living room, and then force you to greet some elder you’ve never seen in your life…”

Seeing Noa freeze up, the forebear hurried to smooth things over.

“Ah, she’s a bit shy. Doesn’t talk much. Please don’t take it the wrong way.”

The man laughed, waved it off, and shook his head.

“No, no. Then let me introduce myself first.”

Noa pulled herself together at once and stared at the white-robed elder seriously.

From the beginning, she had roughly guessed who he was.

And the forebear’s reaction, plus their exchange just now, made her even more certain.

“My original name was Ladon. Of course, that name may be unfamiliar to you. So you can also call me by another name that is far better known... Tiamat.”