Vol2 Chapter 44: Jörmungandr? Shami!

“You’re not acting like Xia Mi at all,” Bai Ci said with a soft laugh. “It’s kind of ruining your image.”

“I’m not Xia Mi. I’m Jörmungandr, Dragon King Jörmungandr,” she replied with a smile. “Any servant who dares to defy my majesty will pay a price!”

Bai Ci sighed, her bones emitting faint pops, like a lion within her roaring its return. The long-suppressed power awakened, her dragon blood unleashed, boiling through her veins as if wringing out every bit of strength.

A surge of energy coursed through her, her body instantly cloaked in thin white scales. Her knuckles swelled, her facial bones sharpened, her golden pupils blazing, scales rippling.

“Dragonizing so intensely—aren’t you afraid of turning into a Deadpool?” Jörmungandr chuckled.

“I’ll beat you back into Xia Mi before that happens.”

Bai Ci drew her alchemical katana, aiming it at Jörmungandr.

Xia Mi froze for a second, then laughed, her eyes icy, her arrogance unmasked.

“Sorry, dragons don’t feel for humans. You’re just servants—not even food.”

Her reverse-jointed dragon knees exploded with unnatural force, and Jörmungandr vanished in a blur of speed, inhuman in motion. She was the Dragon King.

Bai Ci exhaled, slashing her katana through the air. A jarring sensation hit as Jörmungandr, descending, pinned the blade with her claws, sliding down with a shower of sparks. The clash of dragon claws against alchemical steel nearly split Bai Ci’s palm.

“Nice reflexes,” Jörmungandr said, amused, her golden pupils glinting. “You’ve gotten stronger, Senior Sister.”

Before she finished, Jörmungandr blurred again. Her claws, reeking of blood, aimed for Bai Ci’s throat but were blocked by a silver-white flash at her abdomen. The momentum sent them tumbling, as if embracing. The S-rank weapon could cut dragon scales, but Jörmungandr didn’t take it head-on, clamping it mid-roll. Unlike the flawless Seven Deadly Sins, forged by Norton, this human-made blade was mere fragments to her.

She flipped, straddling Bai Ci, her fearsome wings spreading, claws pinning Bai Ci’s arms as she roared proudly.

Bai Ci’s body numbed under the dragon’s aura, but she wanted to laugh, unafraid. Xia Mi’s face was close, dusted with yellowish scales, two pairs of horns—one small, one large—bristling, her tiger teeth elongated, striving to show her Dragon King’s majesty, or perhaps anger.

But… it hurts, Xia Mi.

And you broke my sword.

Bai Ci’s claws dug into her palms, blood seeping, its scent filling the air.

Word Spirit: Dustless Land.

The air solidified into a transparent sphere. Jörmungandr was flung back at unnatural speed, smashing a wall to dust.

Her pupils contracted. She tried summoning her Word Spirit, but the air repelled her at three thousand rotations per second. A glassy halo shimmered behind Bai Ci, crystallizing matter at the force field’s edge like a frozen meteor shower.

“Glazed Brahma City…” Xia Mi murmured, gazing at the falling crystals.

Bai Ci slipped free, her dragonized body covered in blade-like scales, stark white, wings vibrating.

“Another blood burst, Senior Sister. So eager to become a Deadpool?” Jörmungandr laughed. “Glazed Brahma City, third burst. Impressive. Dying to beat me? But it’s not enough. A human matching my speed with a broken blade—how can you win?”

She eyed Bai Ci, scales gleaming like jade, knuckles swollen, fingers razor-sharp, wings glinting like blades.

Jörmungandr smiled playfully. “You’re talented, Senior Sister. With more time, I might not stand a chance,” she said with regret. “But you’re mimicking a dragon. I’m a true Dragon King. Your power comes from lowly human blood; mine is innate, unshakable.”

Fighting isn’t simple, Senior Sister. Like Joan of Arc—beautiful, passionate, but judged mercilessly. Only victors matter. Fancy moves are useless.

Jörmungandr’s claws clenched, charging with blistering speed. Bai Ci felt the overwhelming might of the King of Earth and Mountains.

Gritting her teeth, Bai Ci blocked with her right hand, her left fist slamming Jörmungandr’s cheek. The Dragon King’s pupils dimmed, her body crumpling like a kite, crashing onto the tracks.

“ROAR!!!”

The trapped dragon’s fangs rattled eardrums.

Pain shot from Bai Ci’s arm to her brain, her scales bleeding, her arm’s “eyes” destroyed. Her right hand was useless; her bones nearly shattered.

Jörmungandr, dazed, stood shakily, touching her cheek where scales had fallen.

Ouch… that hurt…

A few more, and I might not take it…

You didn’t mention your third burst made you this strong, Senior Sister.

Frowning, she hid behind Fenrir. “Brother, knock her out.”

She was the weakest monarch, but Fenrir could tear apart Nibelungen, dragging the city with it.

She said it was a game—but she never said she wouldn’t cheat if she lost.

—

Bai Ci was selfish, caring only for what she wanted.

She’d thought it through: if Lu Mingfei became a Dragon King, bent on destroying the world, and the only way to save it was to kill him, even with countless guns aimed at her, she’d shield him, find a way to escape, help him return to normal. If that failed, they’d be riddled with bullets together, dying in a pool of blood.

She didn’t have many friends—just a few.

Xia Mi was one of them.

She’d taught Bai Ci to cook, encouraged her to confess to Lu Mingfei, made her all sorts of food, invited her to her home.

Such a great junior sister—Bai Ci didn’t want her to leave.

Lu Mingfei, Xia Mi…

Two Dragon Kings among her friends. Impressive.

To Cassell, they were villains, unforgivable monsters.

They might endanger humanity in their pursuit of power.

But Bai Ci didn’t care. Watching Ultraman in internet cafés, she sometimes empathized with the defeated monsters. Some were cool, some pitiful.

Being with people she cared about made her happy, and she wanted them happy too.

Belial was pretty cool…

If Xia Mi and Lu Mingfei really wanted to fight Cassell, she’d join them, become the worst Belial, turning the world upside down.

But Lu Mingfei didn’t want that. Neither did Xia Mi—she was just pretending she’d cut ties with that world.

Eyes don’t lie.

Did you know, when you said you didn’t like Chu Zihang, the sadness in your eyes was overflowing?

You kept him away to protect him, didn’t you?

Bad girls toy with boys, devouring them, keeping them from others even if they can’t have them.

Xia Mi was a good girl, unwilling to hurt a boy, so she fled from his side.

So you came to hurt me instead?

You jerk, forgetting your friend for a crush!

Bai Ci looked at Xia Mi, crouching behind Fenrir.

Why are all Dragon Kings such idiots?

Lu Mingfei, Constantine, even Xia Mi!

She wanted to smack Xia Mi awake, make her go date Chu Zihang, but she couldn’t beat Fenrir.

“Xia Mi.”

A voice interrupted Fenrir’s movement. Xia Mi and Bai Ci turned to look.

—

Chu Zihang woke in the subway, unsure who brought him here.

Beside him was the case for the Seven Deadly Sins. He stared at the blades, lost in thought.

He’d often pondered his parents’ love—why a man like his father fell for his mother. He never understood. Does everyone meet someone in their life and fall for them?

People meet at the right time, like flowers blooming in spring, and everything works out—they fall in love, get engaged, marry, live together.

But some meet at the wrong time, like seeing a fish surface for air through winter ice, only to sink back, leaving nothing behind.

Can you stop yourself from liking someone at the wrong time? Or do you still try everything to get closer, hiding your true self, like that man who disguised himself as useless?

Yet they fell in love—a hybrid and a pure human.

Chu Zihang took a deep breath, staring into the dark outside the subway, his mind flashing with images.

Her silhouette watching a turtle swim by at the aquarium…

Sitting quietly beside him in the theater, light flickering on her focused face…

Cheering brightly for him on the basketball court…

Flying into his arms, giggling, in a flax-colored dress, calling him “big spender”…

Waving to him barefoot in the rain, angelic…

He’d seen her in a thousand ways, her image etched deeply in his heart.

Professor Toyama Masashi said human memory is unreliable, like a hard drive prone to demagnetization. The past is like a drawing in the sand—time passes, the wind blows, the lines blur, and it becomes an indistinguishable haze.

But he couldn’t forget her, just like he couldn’t forget that man.

Dad, I think… I found a girl I like, just like you did.

If no girl ever threw herself into his arms with a radiant smile, if no one quietly watched him, if no one made him osmanthus tremella soup…

Her joy, her sorrow, her vibrant energy, her occasional bratty unreasonableness—they’d left an indelible mark on his life.

He and his dad were alike.

Both thought they’d never fall for anyone, yet met the wrong person at the wrong time. When the fish sank back under the ice, that fragile, precious happiness froze.

A pure-blood dragon and a hybrid meeting was also wrong.

Wrong person, wrong time—but who could say those feelings weren’t real?

Chu Zihang hated things he couldn’t even fight for. That’d leave him restless in death.

The train stopped. He stepped onto the platform, silently gazing ahead. Seeing the girl he wanted to find standing with a dragon, he gripped the blade case tightly.

Biting his lip, he forced out two words: “Xia Mi.”

She turned, stunned, then smiled. “Senior Brother, you’re awake? That dose could knock out an elephant for days.”

Chu Zihang didn’t respond. His body sprouted ashen scales, knuckles swelling, facial bones sharpening, scales rippling, muscles bulging like iron, golden pupils burning as they locked onto her.

Xia Mi fell silent, her gaze dropping, dark as the ocean depths.

So eager, huh?

Not even a word?

Senior Brother… such a liar…

“Brother, stay out of this,” Jörmungandr said softly, stepping out from behind Fenrir.

“I’m not Xia Mi. I’m Jörmungandr, Dragon King Jörmungandr!” she roared, the King of Earth and Mountains, born to rule from her throne.

Chu Zihang didn’t reply, drawing a blade from the Seven Deadly Sins. The floor shattered under their feet, a thunderous boom echoing.

But the fight ended in an instant.

Chu Zihang let Jörmungandr’s claws pierce his heart, his blade discarded. He only reached out, embracing the girl who crashed into him.

Jörmungandr looked up, stunned, at his smiling face.

Senior Brother’s smiling… first time I’ve seen it.

“You came just to die?”

“I promised I’d save you,” he said softly, as if afraid to disturb her. “The Academy taught me to kill every dragon. If I don’t, I’d betray the principal and professors’ trust.”

“…Is that so? You’re dying. Any last words?” she murmured, nestled in his arms like a girl at a Chicago station begging to be kept.

“Yes… Sorry, Xia Mi, I might not make it to the amusement park tomorrow. No Ferris wheel either.”

“There was never a Xia Mi… It was all an act. I’m Jörmungandr. I don’t care what you think.”

“I know. The professors said dragons have no emotions, that you’re brutal, enslaved humans, the cruelest race in history. Even among your kind, there’s no mercy—only bloodshed and betrayal… But when Constantine died, Norton went mad, not even cocooning. I wondered then… do dragons feel too? I kept thinking, if some things can only be reclaimed by fighting, I’d fight. I have nothing, so I can’t lose anything more.” He held her tighter, whispering in her ear.

“Sorry, I was too slow to realize my feelings. Sorry, I can’t make it to the Ferris wheel…”

“Enough!”

“Sorry, Xia Mi… I think I might…”

“I said enough!” She gripped his clothes, head bowed, her expression hidden but trembling with rage. “I told you! I’m Jörmungandr! Xia Mi is fake—fake! There’s no girl named Xia Mi!”

“Whether you’re Xia Mi or not… it doesn’t matter…” Chu Zihang held her tightly, as if merging her into himself. “I love you… that’s real…”

Dragons are as foolish as humans, contradictory, unable to face themselves honestly. When they fall in love, they’re no different from humans drowning in it.

The walls she’d built in her heart collapsed, revealing a soft, emotion-filled heart.

Fenrir watched his motionless sister and the man bearing her mark, his gaze blank.

So quiet… why’s Sister so quiet?

“Do you still think you don’t like Chu Zihang?”

Bai Ci had approached, looking down at her.

“Heh, who taught him those words? Lu Mingfei? Fingel? Couldn’t be you, Senior Sister,” she said shakily, standing. “You know dragons’ blood has no room for love, so how could I like him?”

“But you’re crying.”

“Shut up!”

“Crying won’t help… The president’s dying. You pierced his heart. A hole that big—even Cassell can’t save him.”

“You think I wouldn’t dare kill you, Senior Sister?”

Bai Ci sensed Xia Mi might actually kill her now. After leaving Chu Zihang’s arms, she seemed unhinged, capable of anything.

“Fenrir, don’t let her move.” Jörmungandr stood unsteadily, approaching Bai Ci, who was restrained by Fenrir. Her blade-like claws plunged into Bai Ci’s abdomen, deep into her chest.

“Don’t be scared, Senior Sister. It’ll be over soon. Once I take your heart, you’ll join the Land of the Dead. You, me, Brother, Senior Brother—we’ll be together forever, best friends on my ship. We’ll vent our hatred together, like black flowers blooming across the world. It’ll be beautiful.”

Bai Ci couldn’t move—Fenrir’s Word Spirit held her. She thought Xia Mi had truly lost it.

Lu Mingfei arrived to see two girls, bare and fighting fiercely.

Not a shred of desire stirred in him.

“In this Nibelungen, the sibling Kings of Earth and Mountains rule. To defeat them, you need power surpassing theirs.”

“Cut the crap! Is there a way to save them? Hurry!” Lu Mingfei snapped.

“Come on, she’s a Dragon King with Fenrir backing her. Your besties are at each other’s throats, your revered Senior Brother’s basically dead, and you want to save them all? Get a grip—they decide to stop playing, Fenrir flicks a finger, and you’re done. You’re committing treason. Back in the day, they’d brand you a [human traitor].”

Lu Mingze grinned. “Or take the easy route. I taught you—something for nothing. A quarter of your life to kill them, save Bai Ci and Chu Zihang. You’d be a hero, your deeds echoing through Cassell. How dazzling you’d be.”

“I don’t want Xia Mi to die. She’s my friend, Senior Brother’s girlfriend, Bai Ci’s bestie… You wouldn’t get it, kid.”

“I get it, Brother,” Lu Mingze looked up.

“Didn’t you already kill a friend? At the bottom of that dark water, forgot?”

“Old Tang’s dead. I’ve got so few friends—I don’t want to see another die.”

“So you’re set on being a [human traitor], huh? Not a hero, but a villain siding with Dragon Kings.” Lu Mingze laughed. “No need for guilt, Brother. He deserved it. Some fates are written in blood by the dark, like the threads spun by the Fates—no one can change them. Old Tang was, Xia Mi is.”

“If you can’t help, get lost! We’ll all die here together!”

“Of course I’ll help. Villains, huh? Fine, we’re not good guys. We’re bad, and bad guys do what they want—screw justice or evil. The innocent aren’t our fault. We can sacrifice our lives to save the world, but who says we’re obligated to?” Lu Mingze smiled. “I won’t kill the Kings of Earth and Mountains, but I’ll take their authority and your soul. I’m omnipotent—name any Word Spirit or power, I’ll give it. A quarter of your life, fair price. What do you want?”