For the Elven Race

Mana addiction! With Catherine's reminder, Anbaixiu actually recalled it. Back when he was conducting experiments, he had witnessed what drow elves looked like during an onset of mana addiction. They were indeed driven mad, as if consumed by ravenous hunger, stuffing anything and everything into their mouths. That was because the magical black hole within their bodies was frantically draining their life force and mana, creating the illusion of extreme starvation. "Does this dragon have mana addiction too? Could he have accidentally been tainted by elven blood?" That possibility was slim. Had the elves ever encountered this dragon, Catherine couldn't have been unaware. Then only one possibility remained: the dragon had also been granted power beyond its control—for instance, forcibly endowed with legendary might. If that were the case, perhaps they could just wait for the dragon to die on its own. Mana addiction was an incurable affliction. After agonizing torment, the victim's body would be drained dry, ending in a miserable death. The dragon had clearly entered an acute episode; perhaps with a bit more waiting, they would see the monster's body collapse. Yet this notion was unrealistic. The dragon possessed an extraordinary regenerative ability, likely backed by immense vitality. Who knew how long it would take for the beast to be drained dry? Days, or months? By then, it would be far too late. Catherine seemed to have thought of an idea as well, quickly saying to Anbaixiu, "Can't you treat mana addiction? Or we could seal this dragon away." Anbaixiu shook his head. "It's not that simple. Leaving aside its colossal size—which means the sealing spell would need to be amplified several times over to take effect—there's the most critical problem: a magical seal is still magic at the end of the day. You saw its magic resistance. A sealing spell won't do anything to it, unless..." "Unless what?" Catherine asked hurriedly. "Unless the sealing spell is cast from inside its body. This dragon has no magic resistance internally. I tested that just now." "How is that even possible?!" Catherine found the idea utterly absurd. With a maw lined with razor-sharp teeth, one bite would grind a person to pieces. Even if one were lucky enough to avoid the teeth, a single puff of dragon breath from its throat would char anyone to cinders. Even if someone made it safely into its stomach, the dragon's gastric acid would melt them instantly, leaving no time at all to cast a magical seal. Yet Catherine noticed Anbaixiu's eyes were fixed on her. "What are you doing? You can't possibly want me to crawl into the dragon's belly, can you?" Anbaixiu nodded. "Indeed. You're the best candidate, because you are certain to succeed, and you will definitely be in no mortal danger." Her future as an overworked corporate slave had already been woven; until that agonizing future came to pass, Catherine could not possibly die. That made her the ideal candidate to crawl inside the dragon's belly. But Catherine was no fool, quickly retorting, "How about we just wait for the dragon to succumb to the illness on its own? It's just a castle, isn't it? At worst, I'll give you a brand-new one." Everyone in the castle had fled anyway, so let the dragon thrash around here all it wanted. Her reasoning was sound enough, but the dragon refused to cooperate. After smashing through nearly half of Anbaixiu's castle, the dragon took to the air once more, hurtling straight toward Anbaixiu and Catherine. Breath weapon spewing indiscriminately, it forced the two of them to dodge in all directions. This chase dragged on for quite some time. The dragon showed not the slightest sign of weakening, whereas Catherine and Anbaixiu were expending considerable energy. Even legendary mana was not infinite. Anbaixiu's Golden Throne had not yet recharged from the expenditures of the previous battle, so every bit he used diminished what remained. Catherine actually wanted to teleport away with Anbaixiu, but Anbaixiu refused. "No. This monster seems to have struck some kind of equilibrium with the mana addiction; it probably won't be drained dry of its vitality. Look at its size—it has literally doubled since the start. If we flee now, no one will be able to control this dragon. Once it devours all the surrounding lands, even a sealing spell probably won't work anymore. "Your Majesty Catherine, we cannot retreat any further. A short distance to the south lies the Silvermoon High Court." Anbaixiu's words made Catherine sorely tempted to retort: this was the heart of the City of Alchemy's hinterland, still very far from the Silvermoon High Court. Yet Catherine also understood that Anbaixiu wasn't exaggerating entirely. Driven by gnawing starvation, the dragon would continuously devour all living things. Feasting its way from north to south, it would sooner or later reach the Silvermoon High Court. With the safety of the elven race on the line, Catherine's attitude shifted at once. Catherine asked Anbaixiu, "When you said earlier that I'm certain to succeed—was that true?" Patting his chest, Anbaixiu said, "Trust me. You'll definitely succeed, and you'll definitely come out safe and sound." Gritting her teeth, Catherine said, "Fine! I'll trust you this once! Give me the sealing scrolls!" Anbaixiu smiled and took out several magic scrolls of sealing spells. He layered their effects using his mana until he felt it was sufficient to seal the dragon, then handed the bundle of scrolls to Catherine. "Go with ease, Your Majesty! I'll await your triumphant return!" Taking the scrolls, Catherine gritted her teeth and rode her giant eagle toward the frenzied dragon. By now, the dragon had grown colossal, measuring nearly sixty meters from head to tail, with a head nearly as large as a castle gate. Compared to that, Catherine was so tiny she would barely get stuck between its teeth. Yet getting stuck between its teeth was precisely what Catherine feared most. She could only layer multiple defensive spells over herself, then charge toward the dragon's maw at top speed. Consumed by hunger and having long since lost all reason, the dragon naturally opened its maw when it saw Catherine charging in, intending to snap her up in a single bite. Just as the sharp fangs were about to close, Catherine leaped from the giant eagle and dove directly into the dragon's mouth. The gleaming teeth slammed shut like a guillotine, grazing Catherine's head. Catherine's vision went dark as her body slid into a viscous, foul-smelling space. The dragon's tongue writhed, trying to thrust Catherine toward its teeth to grind her down, but with agile grace, she rolled and slid down the tongue toward its throat. "Please don't breathe fire, please don't breathe fire!" Catherine prayed as she slipped down into the esophagus. Miraculously, the dragon did not breathe fire; everything went smoother than Catherine could have ever imagined. Next came entering the stomach, cutting open the gastric wall, and stamping the seal directly upon the dragon's heart. The sealing spell had to be applied to the heart. Elves didn't possess such overwhelming magic resistance, so casting a seal from outside the body could easily target the heart. But this dragon was far too terrifying; it could only be sealed from within. It was precisely because of this complication that Anbaixiu needed Catherine to enter the dragon's body in person; otherwise, he could have just tossed the scrolls into its mouth. Anbaixiu remained suspended in midair, maneuvering around the frenzied dragon. Catherine had been swallowed half a minute ago. Logically speaking, she should have finished the seal by now. "Did something go wrong?" Anbaixiu shook his head. That was impossible. A fate already established could not be changed. Destiny Weaving pinned the future in stone; Catherine would inevitably arrive at that corporate slave future, rather than end up dead in a dragon's belly. One had to trust in destiny! At that very moment, Catherine was inside the dragon's stomach, standing atop a heap of stinking flesh and blood. Earlier, the dragon had devoured a massive number of demons, and their corpses filled more than half the stomach, not yet completely digested. In all her life, Catherine had never witnessed an environment so revolting. As Queen of the Elves, she had lived a life of pampered nobility in the elegant Silvermoon High Court, where not even trash was ever seen. How could she have ever encountered such filth? A sour, rotting stench constantly assaulted her nostrils. As the dragon thrashed, gastric acid splashed about, continuously corroding her shield. To keep her footing, her feet sank into the rotting flesh, enveloped in a sickening slickness. Catherine felt this was nothing short of torture, but she held her breath, fought to stabilize her balance, and drew her short sword to slice through the dragon's stomach wall. "All of this... is for the elven race!" Sustained by sheer resolve, Catherine drove the short sword into the stomach wall, carving a gash. Yet before she could cut entirely through, the dragon convulsed in agony, and the gastric wall contracted violently, attempting to crush Catherine within. A creature of such enormous scale possessed terrifying internal strength as well. Catherine felt her magical shield instantly web with cracks. The dragon's stomach walls closed in like twin battering rams, exerting tremendous pressure upon her. Now Catherine had two choices: either drop her short sword and recast her shields in hopes of resisting the stomach walls, or ignore the fracturing shield and keep cutting to break out before it shattered completely. Without hesitation, Catherine kept slashing the stomach wall with her blade, shouting at the top of her lungs, "Damn lich, don't you dare lie to me!" Catherine chose to believe Anbaixiu's words, to believe that she was destined to succeed. The short sword bit deep into the stomach wall, triggering even more violent thrashing from the dragon. But Catherine finally pierced through, slicing open a massive wound right before her shield gave way. Without a second thought, Catherine squeezed through the opening. Her choice was undeniably the right one, for the instant she pushed through, the wound began to knit together, fully closing within two or three seconds. Catherine struggled to feel her way through the dragon's innards. She didn't know how long she crawled before her hands finally brushed against the violently thumping dragon heart. The dragon's heart was larger than Catherine herself, each beat detonating in her ears like muffled thunder. Were she not a legend, her eardrums would likely have ruptured, knocking her unconscious on the spot. Enduring the deafening roar, Catherine channeled mana into the spell scrolls. Countless blue threads erupted from them, coiling tightly around the colossal dragon heart. The threads intertwined, binding the heart fast as countless magical runes burned into the organ, flowing through the blood vessels into every part of the dragon's body. Before long, Catherine felt a sensation of weightlessness. The dragon was plunging from the sky!