Mana gathered around Irene as space warped around her, causing her to disappear from sight to evade the Meteor Dragon’s breath from above.

The Meteor Dragon’s breath was the second fastest after that of the Lightning Dragon, moving at at least 20 km/s, which was the speed of a meteorite as it entered the Earth’s atmosphere.

She reappeared farther ahead once more, only to be chased again by the Lightning Dragon, whose speed matched hers or even surpassed it under the right circumstances.

The brown-scaled Meteor Dragon had also fully joined the pursuit by this time, chasing from a different direction.

These two dragons were considerably older than Irene.

In terms of raw power, neither of them fell short of her. Their Dragon Breaths possessed enough destructive force to contend directly with that of the Dragon of Space, while their speed ranked among the greatest of dragonkind.

Against the Lightning Dragon in particular, Irene found herself at a severe disadvantage.

His breaths truly moved at the speed of lightning, making them almost impossible to evade on instinct alone. More often than not, she had to prepare layers of spatial distortion in advance, as even her space warping possessed the slightest ramp-up before the teleportation itself could occur.

That tiny delay, insignificant against most opponents, was a deadly weakness against an attack that crossed the skies in an instant.

The Meteor Dragon presented a different danger.

Much like the meteoric nature of his element, his Dragon Breath travelled at speeds and carried strength comparable to a meteorite plunging through the atmosphere, bringing not only tremendous force but overwhelming velocity as well.

These two dragons spearheaded the pursuit, relentlessly pressuring Irene from both sides while several more dragons closed in from different directions behind them.

Under such circumstances, Nathan could no longer consistently guide Irene toward the Southern Continent as their attention had become entirely occupied with surviving the relentless assault, leaving little room to properly determine the safest route forward.

The skies themselves had become a battlefield, and to any observer below, it resembled a deadly dance between dragons.

Flashes of lightning tore across the heavens, torrents of different elements collided, meteoric waves surged through the clouds, while purple-like distortions of warped space flickered endlessly as Irene desperately fought to keep herself and Nathan alive.

Eventually, Nathan realized just how futile the situation had become.

It was only a matter of time before one of the attacks finally landed. No matter how desperately Irene maneuvered through the skies, they never truly managed to break free from the relentless pressure imposed by the two elder dragons.

They were trapped.

Nathan wanted to speak reason into her thoughts through the mental link created by his magic.

He wanted to dissuade her, but he also didn’t want to become a distraction to her mind, as it was already difficult enough trying to face off against all those dragons. Moreover, he knew Irene too well.

Once she truly set her heart on something, convincing her otherwise became almost impossible, especially when she believed with absolute certainty that she was doing the right thing.

So the chase continued. The dragons relentlessly pursued them from behind while the two elder dragons maintained the assault from both sides, never allowing Irene even a single moment to properly recover.

Then... just as Nathan had feared, it finally happened.

The Meteor Dragon unleashed another colossal breath from above, which, of course, was stopped by the spatial barrier around Irene, intercepting the attack before it could reach them.

The barrier held, but the tremendous force behind the attack completely exhausted the defensive layer she had prepared.

So, for the briefest instant, Irene was left exposed.

And in that moment, the Lightning Dragon’s breath struck directly into her side.

Irene let out a deafening scream as her massive body convulsed violently in midair. The agony nearly caused her to lose control of her flight altogether.

Nathan screamed, "Irene!"

He was in a state of panic as he watched her falter.

But before the Meteor Dragon’s follow-up attack could descend upon them, Irene quickly erected another barrier that tanked the meteoric blast.

The Meteor Dragon’s breath felt like an actual meteorite crashing into Irene’s barrier, and the force behind it rippled across the spatial shield, threatening to collapse it altogether.

But the instant the barrier absorbed the attack, Irene disappeared once again, warping through space at the last possible moment, narrowly avoiding the attack the Lightning Dragon launched immediately afterward.

The relentless dance continued.

Dragon Breaths crossed one another as Irene desperately struggled to stay alive.

And at some point, Irene had begun to realize just how unsustainable this battle had become.

So she decided on another approach as she began diving toward the ground.

Every dragon pursuing her instinctively followed.

Nathan frowned at that move, then asked a question through their mind link. ’Irene... what are you doing?’

Her voice echoed gently within his mind.

"Nathan... I’m the one they’re after. As long as you’re with me, your life will always be in danger... and I will not lose you today."

Nathan’s heart sank. He immediately understood where her thoughts were headed.

"Irene... no... Please don’t..."

There was desperation in his voice now. "Don’t do this."

A gentle smile appeared upon Irene’s draconic face despite everything happening around them.

Her thoughts reached him one final time. ’I love you.’

Before Nathan could answer, space warped. But this time, it was only around him.

Nathan vanished as Irene forcefully teleported him away, leaving only the Dragon of Space alone amidst the pursuing dragons.

Eventually, Irene descended, crashing onto the earth with enough force to send up huge gusts of dust.

The instant her feet touched the ground, light enveloped her body as her draconic form dissolved away, leaving behind her humanoid figure once more.

One after another, the pursuing dragons landed around her.

All eight of them had also abandoned their draconic forms, letting their massive bodies shrink beneath the cover of different elemental lights until they were only humanoid figures standing in a wide circle that completely cut off every possible escape.

Irene slowly straightened herself.

In front of her stood the Meteor Dragon, Yvnil.

She had a tall, curvaceous figure with pale skin marked by patches of brownish-dark scales. Her voluminous white hair, streaked with vibrant orange, flowed freely down her back, while two dark horns curved from her head.

Standing by the side, was the Lightning Dragon. Yellow arcs of electricity crawled and streamed endlessly across his skin, occasionally rising into the air around him with sharp crackles.

Xygias was his name.

He was built and heavily muscled. Long yellow hair flowed past his shoulders, while a pair of massive curved horns arched from his head.

Most of his body was overlapped by draconic scales, and his glowing eyes radiated an almost feral intensity.

The Meteor Dragon’s lips slowly curved into a smile. "It seems you’ve finally decided to stop running."

Irene tilted her head. "I must admit... I’m rather disappointed."

Her gaze swept across the dragons surrounding her. "It took eight of you just to corner a single dragon... how embarrassing."