Gorgan was taken aback by her actions.
'Why did Phoebe... come forward?'
Her playful face had turned serious.
Her actions reminded him of what William had said.
William had suggested a fight between Gorgan and Phoebe as the final bet.
'Is she saying she wants to fight me? But why?'
He knew that there would be no end to their fight, so why did she make such a choice?
However, Gorgan didn't ask.
He just drew the over 2-meter-long sword he had on his back.
All the knights were taken aback by his actions.
That one stance meant something.
It meant he would give it his all.
Holding the sword, Gorgan, the vanguard of the Empire, tensed up.
'Phoebe has changed.'
One unchanging thing had changed everything.
That's why Gorgan had a hard time gauging her depth.
Phoebe began to walk in a circle to her right.
He moved clockwise to match her.
A strange tension where neither side could attack first.
Then, Phoebe stopped.
She, who had been expressionless, gave a faint smile.
Only then did Gorgan notice something strange.
Behind her smile stood a defenseless William.
"…!"
Before Gorgan could react, her body disappeared.
"Huh?"
William, who had been waiting for the duel, saw a shadow cast in front of him and raised a question mark in his head.
Blinking once, a blonde woman with wide-open eyes was looking down at him.
"Gurk!"
As Phoebe grabbed William's neck with one hand, part of her blonde hair was cut off and flew away with the whirlwind.
A sword that had been sharpened to the blue was dangerously close to Phoebe's neck.
If he had wanted, he could have cut his throat right now.
But Phoebe already had her hand on William's neck.
Gorgan was quick to react, but he couldn't beat Phoebe, who had thrown an unexpected move.
It wasn't until the battle of wits between the two half-dragons ended that the regular escort knights hurriedly drew their swords.
"Phoebe! Let go of the prince."
Gorgan warned, moving his sword subtly.
"Gorgan, you know if I die, this kid dies too, right?"
"This has nothing to do with the prince. Wasn't it our duel?"
"I never said I'd duel. I just stared at Gorgan and walked half a circle."
"…So you didn't say a word to create a misunderstanding."
He was completely fooled.
Gorgan blamed himself and glared at Phoebe with murderous eyes.
However, Phoebe did not show any hostility towards Gorgan.
It was clear that Phoebe had the upper hand.
"Don't worry, Gorgan. I don't intend to harm the prince."
"…"
"Just give me a moment. Then I'll let you and your subordinates carry on with the mission you couldn't complete."
"Do you expect me to stand still knowing what you're going to do... knowing that and still do nothing?"
"Gorgan has no choice, does he?"
As she said, Gorgan had no choice.
'If I attack, the prince will die.'
No matter how fast Gorgan was, he couldn't be faster than Phoebe, who held the prince's neck.
Gorgan's mission was to safely escort the prince.
He was already in the enemy's hands, but he had to save the prince even if it cost his life.
If even a scratch occurred, his mission would be over.
There was no choice.
Gorgan looked at Phoebe with a helpless face.
She was still smiling with her eyes wide open.
It was a strange smile to Gorgan, but there was no difference in her appearance from before.
Gorgan had completely forgotten her abilities, deceived by her current face.
'You're still the same Phoebe...'
Her skills hadn't changed.
He was sure after seeing her actions.
Gorgan closed his eyes and sheathed his sword.
"Go, Gorgan! What are you doing? Save me right now!"
Gorgan didn't open his mouth.
Knowing that it was the way to save the prince, he clenched his fist and stepped back.
William, held by Phoebe's hand, struggled to break free.
He tried to pry her hand off, but it was like hitting solid steel without a flinch.
Phoebe turned her head and looked up at the prince.
Then his resistance stopped.
He was overwhelmed by the atmosphere she emitted.
"Prince, no, little one. Do you know what you've done?"
Phoebe's dragging tone changed.
William yelled one last time to save face.
"I, I am the Third Prince of the Empire, William! Can't you let go of me right now!?"
"You crossed the line."
Phoebe carefully opened her eyes.
The pupils of the half-dragon met William's eyes.
At a glance, they were the same golden pupils, but they were different from when she looked at Gorgan.
The pupils were sharply split vertically.
Something he had never seen before appeared in them.
William swallowed.
"You crossed the line."
He was increasingly drawn into her eyes.
William clenched his eyes to resist.
But even with his eyes closed, he saw Phoebe's eyes. They grew larger and swallowed William.
"You have to pay the price accordingly."
At the same time as her voice, William's vision went dark.
The soft and firm hand holding his neck, the sound of the wind around him, everything disappeared.
The only thing shining in the darkness was the golden pupils.
A pair of golden eyes larger than his head stared at him.
"Ah, ahh..."
A figure hidden in the darkness slowly appeared.
A long snout.
The teeth hidden inside were as thick as an arm.
He had not fallen into the darkness.
It was just that the creature with black scales was so large that the surroundings were plunged into darkness.
The snout swallowed William and flexed.
"Uh, uaaah! Save me! Gorgan! Gorgoooon!"
William's scream, held by Phoebe's hand, echoed loudly throughout the Colosseum.
He called Gorgan's name, but Gorgan could only watch her actions with his fists clenched.
In reality, Phoebe did nothing.
She just glared at William.
She had just filled her eyes with hostility and stared at William.
Dragon's Fear.
Although her effect was significantly weaker than that of a real dragon because she was a half-dragon, Phoebe was descended from the blood of the Black Dragon, the target of fear.
It was not something a brat like William, who had grown up in a greenhouse, could withstand.
"Did you do wrong?"
"I, I was wrong! I was wrong! Please! Don't kill me! I don't want to die, huhuuu!"
Tears and snot poured out, staining his white pants yellow.
He poured out all the water from every hole, pleading with her.
Seeing the figure of William pleading, Phoebe closed her eyes.
And as if nothing had happened, she gently put him down and smiled.
"That's right. From now on, you shouldn't play with people, okay?"
"Huk... huk... huk..."
"Your Highness!"
"Are you alright!?"
William lay down on the spot and began to sob.
Gorgan glared at Phoebe with resentful eyes.
As a response, Phoebe smiled and returned to her original position.
"I hope we don't mention what happened today."
"…I agree."
The moment they argue about right and wrong, both would look bad.
William would also have his pride, so he would never mention this incident.
Gorgan wrapped the imperial prince in his cape to hide his pitiful state. Then he carried him on his back and quickly disappeared.
