"I thought the peerless Chieftain was simply unable to resist the power of doom."

"The noble Princess Glina, she could only watch as doom descended, helpless."

"I prayed to Lord Entropy for strength, asked Him to change the future, yet He told me to try again."

Irexis opened her eyes, the ice-blue dragon eyes revealing an indescribable sense of time's vicissitudes, something absolutely not expected to appear on the young Dragon Race.

She sat up, taking Wawa from her head, her full chest covered with white dragonscales, one hand shedding the scales to become a human hand gently holding Wawa, while the sharp claws of the other hand rested on her leg.

"Relying on others will never bring change; only my own efforts will not deceive me."

Irexis said softly:

"It's enough that I tell you, Wawa, in this world, only you will not betray me, will worry for me, love me, understand me."

"But Wawa can't do anything."

Wawa hung her head, lost, saying:

"Wawa needs to grow up to be useful, the Elf Dragon takes hundreds of thousands of years to grow up, and according to your words, the Dragon Race will be extinct in a few hundred years."

"Wawa can't grow up."

"Wawa really wants to help you, Azafina, we are best partners, I don't want to just help massage you and listen to you complain, Wawa also wants to save the Dragon Race with you."

"Don't be sad, dear."

Irexis kissed Wawa's forehead, her left hand's claws also transformed into a human hand, gently stroking Wawa's butterfly wings:

"I will resolve all this, and watch you grow up. The Fairy Dragon is very powerful when it matures, even Princess Glina said: 'Fairy Dragon has great potential, not much inferior to the Dragon Emperor', you will definitely become a great dragon, you must grow up well and protect everyone."

"Just like you, Azafina? Sacrificing yourself, even at the risk of infamy."

"In times of crisis, every species should have someone willing to sacrifice, sacrificing themselves for the continuance of their race. Other dragon races have ideals and families, but since I have nothing, no dreams, who else but me?"

Irexis said with a smile:

"There always has to be someone who sacrifices for the greater good, so why not me? After all, I am only a discriminated White Dragon."

Wawa wagged her tail, the topic too heavy for her:

"Azafi—Irexis, you said you met Princess Glina, what kind of dragon is she? She has always lived in Layer Abyss, quite popular within the Narrative Civilization, always striving to reform the Dragon Race's internal system, is that so?"

Irexis's eyes darkened:

"... I can only say, she is a more tragic little girl than me."

"Isn't she older than you, living even before I was born?"

"Yes, and no. Her true time living as an independent, free life might only be 18 years. The rest of her time was spent living as a puppet and substitute."

Irexis shook her head:

"These topics are a bit sensitive, the princess is a very good and kind Dragon Race, just a bit too idealistic... let's talk about reality—by the way, have Quetro and Mana Raya bullied you again?"

"No, ever since you drove them away, they haven't dared to come."

Wawa said proudly:

"Those two bully the weak, relying on being Upper Dragon Clan such as Black Dragon and Red Dragon to bully other young dragons. After you beat them, they behaved. However... now I hear their parents are going to participate in the tournament, they've been much restrained."

"Tournament..."

Irexis murmured:

"Yes, it is time for the alliance's internal species ranking tournament."

"Historically, the Dragon Race will lose the top ten rankings, then never recover, eventually being ousted after 100 years, enslaved and corrupted in the ninth Astral War by the Twilight Duke."

"The Chieftain was transformed into the Void Dragon Race, ultimately slaughtered by a Meteor Fall Master, turned into a terrifying planetary weapon, that man wore an entire Void Dragon Skin robe, wielding a Dragon Bone Staff, striding further down the path against the void, and we were merely the sacrifices for his success..."

The origin of all these tragedies stems from this tournament.

The Dragon Race already had distinct racial discrimination, and after joining the alliance, this did not change into unity against external forces, instead, made internal discrimination more severe.

The High Dragon Race faced discrimination externally, being ridiculed by higher-level alliance tribes as 'Long-winged Lizard', 'Scale Chicken', and upon returning home, vented all their anger on the lower dragon races.

Princess Glina does not wish to see this happen.

In many of the reincarnations Irexis experienced, the Princess Glina she met was always fair, idealistic, vibrant, innocent, her vulnerability made one want to protect her, yet her strength could surpass diamonds, standing against opposition, to complete that sacred goal:

To establish the Dragon Race Pathway!

It should be said, only by completing that step of reform does the Dragon Race have a future.

To completely break the concept of the Dragon Race, redefine what it means to be Dragon Race, everyone can be a dragon, every dragon can be called Emperor, every Dragon Race has the opportunity to become a Radiant Dragon, belonging to everyone and every dragon, to save the Dragon Race.

However, this result is no less than an emperor rebelling, overthrowing one's reign. Even if Princess Glina personally took action, did her best, the stubborn ministers and the existing High Dragon Race could not accept it.

Though they couldn't harm Glina, they could collaborate with external forces to crush and oppress those lower dragon races who would gain freedom due to the reform.

Sometimes, Princess Glina succeeds, and sometimes, His Excellency Redd Gold steps in personally to complete the reform, but Redd never cares about the fate of the Dragon Race.

His Excellency Redd, a god of Dragon Race origin, is not a god of the Dragon Race.

His belonging is not with the Dragon Race, not even with the Divine Clan. Even after a thousand and nine cycles of reincarnation, Irexis still doesn't understand what His Excellency Redd Gold truly wants.

She can't forget how, when she came wounded in front of Redd Gold, she bowed her head and wept to the Matriarch Goddess about the tragic experiences over the years, telling him how the Dragon Race, this suffering species, was annihilated and dismantled, asking for his intervention to help them, how Redd responded.

"Alright, I know."

The Goddess casually tended to her nails, not even glancing at her, and said:

"Leave, the next one is Odyssey, the lord of the Outer Realm, remember to call him in."

That's it.

The Dragon Race perished, everything utterly destroyed, even his own flesh and blood daughter was torn apart and devoured, yet the Goddess showed no concern.

Even for him, it was not more troublesome than tending to his nails.

Clearly, he has his own offspring, the Dragon Race is all his descendants, why does he turn a blind eye to their demise?

The creator abandoned them.

This is the only point, no matter how much time passes, Irexis can never let go.

However, since even the creator of the Dragon Race abandoned them, relying on the martyrdom of Princess Glina could not complete the reform from top to bottom.

In this world, relying on anyone is unreliable, no one will assist you unconditionally.

Irexis' heart has long gone cold, she no longer trusts any entity that tries to help her.

Only by relying on her own strength can the Dragon Race be saved.

The two dragons fell into silence; Wawa didn't know what to say, for Irexis, she must have already experienced countless such events.

Each time, she is unable to change the outcome of this contest.

No matter how strong she becomes, stronger than anyone, she cannot achieve victory in this competition.

"I will participate," Irexis said, "Even if I've lost 1008 times, I will still join this competition."

"Azafina..."

"Anyway, worst case, I'll just commit suicide again, reincarnate back 40 years, and start over."

Irexis laughed softly:

"Since I have this ability, I won't sit idly by. Don't worry, Wawa; I'm in decent shape this time, probably won't lose."

Even saying this, Irexis glanced at the alchemy workshop beside her.

The luggage was packed long ago; from the first day of the new life, she had been ready for relocation.

The Dragon Race tribes could not defeat the other allied tribes.

"However, maybe this time it really might work."

Wawa suddenly said:

"Irexis, the chieftain said that he received a reply from the Golden Dragon Monk Yachi, who confirmed he would come to assist in the battle."

"Well, maybe..."

Irexis replied perfunctorily.

Yachi, huh? Quite the fighter, but it's useless, it can't change the big picture.

In history, she once even enlisted the guard of Princess Glina, Volgan the Red Dragon, and still could not change anything.

Facing that one from the top-ranking tribe, there's no mortal who can withstand them.

"Anyway, in a couple of days, they'll be here, we'll see then."

"Whatever."

Irexis sighed:

"I can't change any of this, Wawa, you remember what I said, right? Once the competition ends, you take the gem, and we'll run as far as we can."

"But doing so would be betrayal to the tribe..."

"There's no other way; no matter who comes, they can't defeat the first-ranked powerhouse of the allied tribe. You see my scars, right? That guy's on par with the level of Oshen, who's been demoted to Evil God. Unless it's a demigod, but how could a demigod appear in this competition?"

Irexis said in a deep voice:

"If the Dragon Race wants to continue, this is the only option. Even if it means taking on the infamy of a traitor, we have to do it."

"For the future of the species, someone young must stand up, even if it means fleeing, betraying, or living ignobly, we must survive."

"We will wander for a long time, but don't be afraid. In the past, I was even used as an experimental subject and a slave, endured all sorts of suffering, but as long as we persist, I believe there will be a cycle where I can save the Dragon Race."

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