The Darkwing Dragon’s brutality caused everyone to suck in a breath of cold air. They couldn’t help but see the similarities between it and its master, both of them brimming with killing intent.

Even though the Darkwing Dragon was greatly outnumbered, it didn’t falter in the slightest, retaliating with fierce attacks.

“The Mad Rogue really does live up to his name. Anyone else would’ve fallen long ago.”

“What brutal and ferocious attacks!”

The players from Pantheon felt admiration for Nie Yan. But orders were orders. They wouldn’t let him go or hold back against him.

Two Nether Hawks bit the Darkwing Dragon and ripped out chunks of its flesh with their claws. “GRWAOAH!” It struck out with its claws and sent one of them flying.

Nie Yan leaped onto the other Nether Hawk. With a swift kick, he sent its rider flying off its back. He then ruthlessly slashed its throat with the Bloody Dagger. Blood sprayed out into the air.

“KYEEEH!” The Nether Hawk let out a mournful cry before plunging down from the sky.

Nie Yan leaped back onto the Darkwing Dragon’s back.

The Darkwing Dragon engaged in a fierce dogfight with these Rank 6 flying mounts. Small and large wounds covered its body.

Glancing at the Darkwing Dragon’s status window, it had suffered heavy injuries and was in critical condition.

There were still more than 20 flying mounts in the vicinity. They’d tightly locked them down. There was no way to charge out.

The Darkwing Dragon was like a caged beast backed into a corner.

This was the end of the road. The Darkwing Dragon was in its death throes.

Nie Yan’s heart sunk to the pit of his stomach. It looked like the Darkwing Dragon’s death was unavoidable. He looked around his surroundings, at the items in his bag, and at the skills on his hotbar, but all to no avail. It seemed there was no saving his Darkwing Dragon. He loathed to give up on it, but he saw no other option.

Nie Yan was confident in escaping by himself, even if he was bound by Shackles of Strife. However, if he wanted to take the Darkwing Dragon with him, that would be impossible. The incantation to recall it took too much time. The enemies would interrupt him before he could even start.

Sensing its master’s helplessness, the Darkwing Dragon let out a sad cry. It suddenly accelerated and dove down toward a Greenfinch Wyvern flying below.

The Greenfinch Wyvern tried to flee in a panic, but it was simply too slow.

The Darkwing Dragon grabbed onto the Greenfinch Wyvern’s wings, then chomped down on its neck.

“GREEEGH!” the Greenfinch Wyvern wailed out in agony. It ruthlessly whipped its tail into the Darkwing Dragon’s body. But no matter how much it struggled, it couldn’t break free.

Not another breath escaped the Greenfinch Wyvern’s mouth.

The Darkwing Dragon let go of the Greenfinch Wyvern, letting it fall from the sky.

Nie Yan saw an opening. He immediately seized the opportunity and passed down an order to the Darkwing Dragon.

The Darkwing Dragon accelerated and made a break for it.

“Stop him! Don’t let him escape!”

“If he gets away, we’ll be screwed!”

Three Nether Hawks moved to intercept the Darkwing Dragon and swooped down with their claws outstretched.

The Darkwing Dragon was already in critical condition. If it took the attacks of these Nether Hawks, it would definitely die!

Nie Yan had the Darkwing Dragon evade by making a sharp turn. Glancing back, the opportunity was already gone, the opening sealed.

The enemy was fairly skilled with excellent teamwork. They were definitely the experts of some guild. In the entire Evil Faction, there were only a handful of guilds that could mobilize so many Rank 6 flying mounts at once.

Nie Yan could still escape if he abandoned the Darkwing Dragon right now. However, even these chances grew slimmer as the battle raged on.

Normally, Nie Yan would act with rational in situations like these, choosing the path with the fewest losses. However, he was hesitating right now.

Given his current strength, Nie Yan could easily find another flying mount at the same level as the Darkwing Dragon.

However, even though he hadn’t spent much time with the Darkwing Dragon lately, when it came time to abandon it, a strong unwillingness welled up from the bottom of his heart. They’d gone through so many battles together. It would be a lie to say he didn’t feel a sense of attachment.

In this virtual world, from the moment the Darkwing Dragon hatched, it had formed a connection with Nie Yan. As time passed, their bond only grew deeper, and it also gradually developed some intelligence. No matter what happened, it would always unconditionally trust its master. Even if Nie Yan decided to abandon it, it would still fight for him until the bitter end.

The Darkwing Dragon turned its head and looked back at Nie Yan.

Meeting the gaze of the Darkwing Dragon, this was the first time Nie Yan noticed the flicker of intelligence in its eyes. The deep sadness, yearning, he could sense all the complicated emotions stirring in its heart.

“You realize it too, huh?” Nie Yan felt sorrow gripping at his chest.

Rank 7 flying mounts already possessed some intelligence. However, only Rank 8 flying mounts could express such human emotions.

A feeling of grief surged up from Nie Yan’s heart. The Darkwing Dragon was already so close to reaching Rank 8. Was it really going to die here just like that?

“GROAAAR!” the Darkwing Dragon let out a final cry, giving voice to the rage and defiance in its heart. The Rank 6 flying mounts in the surroundings trembled. They had an innate fear of dragons.

Though already a spent arrow, the Darkwing Dragon would struggle fiercely until the last flames of its life died out.

Nie Yan’s heart was deeply shaken. It was almost as if he was going to lose a child. This was the first time he ever felt this way toward a pet in a game.

Three Nether Hawks pounced forward once more.

Flying mounts were large creatures. With five pouncing forward at the same time, it was enough to completely fill up the surrounding air space, leaving no room to maneuver at all. So, three was the most optimal number. Since the Nether Hawks were famed for their close combat ability, they became the vanguard.

The Darkwing Dragon and the three Nether Hawks wrestled in the air. Several more wounds opened up on its body.

Nie Yan could sense the Darkwing Dragon’s life force rapidly slipping away.

The Darkwing Dragon glanced back at Nie Yan one last time. He could see the light in its eyes growing fainter by the second.

This was the final parting.

Nie Yan clenched his fist as a feeling of anguish tore at his heart. He was puzzled. How could he feel such pain for a virtual pet?

Humans were sentimental creatures. Even though the Darkwing Dragon was only a virtual pet, Nie Yan had raised it from the moment it hatched to now. For the sake of making it grow stronger, he searched all over for things like Darkness Life Cores and Dragon Cores. After investing so much love and energy into it, he would naturally feel attached to it. If the Darkwing Dragon died, he would certainly feel heartache.

Nie Yan glanced at his bag. It was filled with a large pile of Darkness Life Cores and four Dragon Cores. He didn’t have an opportunity to feed them to the Darkwing Dragon. He originally wanted to give them to it bit by bit, having it progress slowly, so it would have a higher chance of breaking through to Rank 9. However, right now, it seemed like all that was going to waste.

“The Darkwing Dragon is almost dead! We can do it!”

“When the Darkwing Dragon dies, don’t let Nirvana Flame escape!”

“I’ll pay 500,000 gold to buy the Darkwing Dragon’s Life Core. I call dibs on it!”

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The players from Pantheon all grew excited, to the extent that they were bickering about who would get the spoils. Even if they couldn’t kill Nie Yan, the Darkwing Dragon’s Life Core would be a huge harvest.

Everyone felt the Darkwing Dragon was on its last breath.

“Screw it! What’s there to lose!?” Nie Yan said, his eyes still on the Darkness Life Cores in his bag. He had no idea if they would help the Darkwing Dragon. Every single one of them was extremely valuable. If they failed, they would all go to waste. But that was a gamble he was willing to take!

Nie Yan grabbed a handful of Darkness Life Cores out of his bag. He then gave the Darkwing Dragon one last command. Turn your head and open your mouth wide!

The Darkwing Dragon was barely conscious. However, it immediately stirred awake and turned its head around.

Nie Yan stuffed the Life Cores into the Darkwing Dragon’s mouth.

Gulp! The Darkwing Dragon swallowed them all into its stomach.

The Darkwing Dragon didn’t show any change, except for its aura that grew somewhat stronger.

No turning back now! Nie Yan shoved another handful of Life Cores into the Darkwing Dragon’s mouth.

Still not enough! He shoved yet another handful.

Nie Yan fed the Darkwing Dragon six handfuls of Life Cores for a total of 30. He had obtained all of them during his Luminous Dancer class advancement quest. So, it wouldn’t be easy to find more. However, he no longer cared about this.

Feeding a flying mount so many Life Cores at once, it wasn’t like no one had done this before. In fact, a player had stuffed his Rank 7 flying mount full of Life Cores in the previous timeline. The result was it swelling in size before exploding from all the energy and dying. Nie Yan was doing the exact same thing!

Nie Yan previously didn’t dare to feed the Darkwing Dragon too many Life Cores at once precisely because he recalled this incident. However, desperate times called for desperate measures!

After swallowing over 30 Darkness Life Cores, the Darkwing Dragon’s aura rapidly climbed. The powerful draconic aura caused the surrounding Rank 6 flying mounts to back away in fear. The riders stared at the Darkwing Dragon in bewilderment. No matter how much they commanded, their flying mounts refused to move.

“God dammit! Move, you stupid bird!” a Warrior gave his Nether Hawk a hard kick. It flapped its wings and flailed about wildly, nearly throwing him off. He barely hung on.