42: It feels so reassuring to be protected by a dragon.

At the same moment, in another unknown corner, a woman dressed in a white kimono and traditional matronly attire quietly appeared. Her eyes were empty and numb, her face wearing a stiff, almost frozen sorrow.

Her fingers danced, and thin yet resilient spider silk shot out from her fingertips, precisely connecting to several dull-eyed customers who had already been bound by coarse threads. These manipulated "Puppets" immediately let out unconscious rasps and lunged toward Lin Luo and the others with flailing limbs.

Blue light surged in Yukino Mifuyu's eyes, her hair instantly turning an icy blue as the cold Qi around her intensified. With a cold glance, an aura of extreme frost rippled out like a wave. The feet of those Puppets were suddenly frozen in place by thick ice, leaving them to sway futilely, unable to advance an inch.

"Disgusting things." Tohru wrinkled her nose in distaste. She didn't even bother to fully transform her dragon claws, simply opening her mouth to spit out a concentrated stream of golden flames. The fire split upon hitting the ground, forming a circular wall of blazing heat that shielded the three of them at the center before rapidly expanding outward.

The moment the wave of black poisonous spiders touched the golden flames, they vanished like snowflakes thrown into a steel furnace, turning directly into wisps of green smoke and ash. Wherever the fire wall passed, the thin threads controlling the Puppets melted and snapped. The customers, no longer under control, slumped to the ground, temporarily freed.

However, the attack did not stop. Suddenly, an exceptionally tall and burly man wearing a white short coat, his eyes cloudy and filled with pure violence, leapt down from the upper floor like an out-of-control bull. He fearlessly crashed through the remaining wall of fire, charging straight at Tohru, who stood at the very front!

"Father... crush them!" The Spider Boy hid in the distance, shrilly barking orders.

"Watch out!" Yukino cried out, the intense cold in her hands instantly condensing into a thick, solid ice shield in an attempt to block him.

But Tohru's reaction was far superior. In a mere instant, her right hand was covered in hard green dragon scales, her fingers transforming into hideous, sharp dragon claws. With a whistle that tore through the air, she struck first, her claws piercing through "Father's" knotted chest muscles with pinpoint accuracy!

"Low-level creature." Tohru shook the filthy purple Demon Blood from her dragon claws, her tone indifferent and devoid of emotion.

But in the next second, that terrifying, gruesome puncture wound actually began to squirm and heal at a speed visible to the naked eye!

"Huh? It can't be killed?!" A hint of surprise flashed through Tohru's molten-gold vertical pupils for the first time, quickly replaced by deeper annoyance. "Annoying ant! Then I'll crush you completely!"

She no longer held back. A terrifying pressure, vast as the sea and enough to make one's Soul tremble, suddenly erupted from her petite body! Dazzling white light instantly swallowed her figure, the radiance so intense it temporarily dispelled the surrounding darkness.

"Roar—!!!"

A deafening Dragon's Roar exploded like a thunderclap, echoing wildly throughout the enclosed space of the mall! As the white light faded, what appeared in its place was a massive, azure Dragon that nearly filled most of the mall's atrium!

Her sleek, powerful body was covered in scales that shimmered with a cold metallic light. A slight flap of her massive Dragon Wings kicked up a gale that made it hard to stand. Those molten-gold vertical pupils were like two small suns hanging low in the sky, looking down upon all the ant-like creatures below with a majesty that disregarded everything.

"A Dragon... it's a Dragon!!!" The survivors even forgot the fear brought by the ghosts. Struck by the sight of a creature that only existed in fantasy appearing in the real world, they were Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, collapsing to the ground with screams stuck in their throats.

Having become an Incarnation of the giant Dragon, Tohru didn't even need to use her Dragon Breath. She simply raised a massive dragon claw, capable of easily crushing a steel truck, and stomped down on the "Father" below—who had just finished healing and was preparing to attack again—as if crushing a bug!

"Pshhh—!"

There was no scream, no struggle. Under that absolute crushing power, the tall and burly "Father" was instantly turned into a blurred mess of flesh and fragments, unable to ever recover.

!!!!!

Everyone who witnessed this scene, including the remaining conscious Ghostly Creatures, fell into a state of complete shock and deathly silence! A Dragon?! This was an absolute existence at the top of the food chain, completely beyond their scope of understanding!

The poisonous spiders, which were naturally fearless, were suppressed by the Dragon's aura and completely lost their Battle Intent. Boundless fear seized their minds, and they began to flee in terror in all directions. Even the Spider Boy let out a scream of extreme fear, scrambling frantically toward the Underground Air-raid Shelter.

A strange, suffocating silence fell over the mall. Only the heavy breathing of the Dragon remained, along with the faint crackling of the air being scorched by the heat naturally radiating from her body, the weak whimpering of those trapped in cocoons, and the uncontrollable chattering of the survivors' teeth due to extreme terror.

Lin Luo stood in the shadow cast by the giant Dragon, feeling the surging vitality and the almost tangible will to protect. Around him, the cold Qi emitted by Yukino intertwined with the scalding heat from the Dragon, while Tohru's heavy breathing sounded in his ears. As the one being protected, he rarely had such a shocking experience; it was as if all danger became insignificant before this absolute power.

The feeling of being protected by a Dragon... is truly reassuring.

However, the crisis was not over.

In the corner, the threads connected to the remaining Puppets on the woman in the white kimono's fingers all snapped. She had intended to follow the Spider Boy and escape, but a cold voice spoke directly into her mind through an invisible connection:

"Mother, kill him!"

In the underground lair, a sickly pale youth curled up in the center of a giant spider web slowly opened eyes that looked like abysses. His originally calm state of mind had been disturbed by the total destruction of "Father" and the absolute power Tohru had displayed.

The Family bond "game" had been crudely interrupted, making him feel angry as his intent to attack began to override his rational analysis.

"Mother's" body trembled violently, a deeper fear appearing in her empty eyes, but she could not disobey. As spider silk was drawn from her fingertips again, a Headless Monster quickly darted out from the shadows.

Almost at the same moment, countless nearly transparent and incredibly tough strands of spider silk shot out from the shadows like living things, instantly wrapping around Tohru's limbs, wings, and even her neck!

It was then that the headless figure flashed behind Tohru like a ghost! Its axe-like arms tore through the air, aiming straight for Lin Luo's throat—

Clang!

A brilliant golden light erupted in front of Lin Luo, steadily blocking the lethal strike. The light flowed, reflecting his calm eyes.

With the attack blocked, the Headless Monster prepared to retreat and regroup.

However, another piercing chill had already arrived.

Whoosh—

Yukino Mifuyu, who had been standing quietly to the side, had at some point parted her lips, and a blast of extreme frost exhaled from her mouth like a breath. As the cold air passed, the moisture in the air instantly condensed with a faint "crackling" sound.

Still in its retreating posture, the Headless Monster was overtaken and covered by that streak of pure icy blue.

In an instant, its massive body, its raised axe-arms, and even the surrounding air were transformed into a crystal-clear, lifelike ice sculpture, frozen in its final hideous pose. Inside the ice, the knotted texture of its muscles as it tried to exert force and the dark purple hue of its Demon Blood were still preserved.

"To actually be treated as the weak one," Lin Luo finally looked up slowly at the ice sculpture close at hand, his tone flat but carrying a bone-chilling coldness, "I've really been... completely underestimated."

Almost the instant his voice fell—

"Roar—!!!"

The spider silk binding Tohru snapped inch by inch! The deafening Dragon's Roar echoed through the mall once more, this time filled with a rage that seemed ready to incinerate everything, the fury of one whose Reverse Scale had been touched.

"You—how dare you touch him!!!"

A terrifying Dragon Might swept out like a tsunami, and the giant Dragon's molten-gold vertical pupils had already completely locked onto the next target. Almost at the instant his voice fell—

"Roar—!!!"

The spider silk binding Tohru snapped inch by inch! The deafening Dragon's Roar, carrying a rage that could incinerate everything, echoed through the mall. The giant Dragon's molten-gold vertical pupils had completely locked onto the next target, and a scorching Dragon Breath gathered in her throat, the destructive energy causing the temperature of the entire space to skyrocket.

"Tohru!"

At this critical moment, Lin Luo's voice came clearly. It wasn't loud, but it carried an unquestionable tone of command.

Tohru's massive dragon head jerked to a halt, her molten-gold vertical pupils turning toward him, the churning fire within them subsiding slightly, replaced by a hint of inquiry.

"There are still many people here." Lin Luo was brief and to the point, his gaze sweeping over the survivors trapped in cocoons or collapsed in fear. If Tohru were really allowed to scour the area with her Dragon Breath, the ghosts would be eliminated, but those fragile humans would also have no chance of survival.

"...Hmph." Tohru let out a disgruntled grunt, but the destructive energy fluctuations around her began to rapidly recede. Dazzling white light surged again, swallowing her massive dragon body.

The light quickly contracted and took shape. When the white light dissipated, it was Tohru, back in her human form, who appeared in its place.

Her original clothes had long since been torn during her dragon transformation. What covered her now was that familiar and exquisite Maid Outfit, manifested from her own azure dragon scales.

Lingering anger remained on her face, her molten-gold eyes narrowing unpleasantly as she scanned the shadowy corners, but in the end, she listened to Lin Luo and did not go on a rampage again.

However, her suppressed anger still needed an outlet.

Her gaze suddenly locked onto the nearby ice sculpture of the Headless Monster frozen by Yukino Mifuyu. Without any warning, her right arm was instantly covered in azure dragon scales, her fingers transforming into hideous claws. With a violent wind, she smashed a fist into the ice sculpture!

Boom!

Before this absolute power, the hard ice and the monster within were like fragile glass, instantly exploding into a shower of flying ice crystals and dust mixed with foul black blood. The demon that had still been slightly squirming beneath the ice, trying to break free, was completely obliterated by this single punch.