Chapter 80 | They Called Me the Dumbest Dragon, So I Paused Time and Built an Empire

Jonavili wandered through White Crystal City in a bit of a huff.

However, the alchemy creations had piqued her interest; she hadn't expected that goblin-born Erlingzi to possess such wisdom.

As she walked, lost in thought, Jonavili unconsciously arrived at the perimeter of an ancient-looking building, surrounded by iron railings that made it look like a garden.

"Whoa! Whose house is this? It's so grand."

Muttering to herself, Jonavili looked around, her pace naturally slowing. At that moment, thanks to a dragon's heightened senses, she overheard the faint sounds of conversation.

"Sister Ailal is a lovely brass dragon. As you know, brass dragons love to talk, and Sister Ailal is no exception.

She also deeply longs for life outside Dragon Island. She's always looking for the gold dragon who traveled through the Duchy of Fellba on the Wolf Supercontinent—the Big Brother Masonlis I mentioned to you before—to learn about the daily lives of humans and stories that I personally find quite boring."

"I see. That sounds very nice..."

Jonavili originally intended to leave, as she felt eavesdropping on others' conversations was poor form, but when she heard words like "brass dragon," "Dragon Island," and "gold dragon," she was stunned.

What was most shocking was that while the voice answering was youthful and a bit unfamiliar, it felt mostly familiar to her.

'That voice...'

Jonavili walked along the railings toward the main gate, where a middle-aged, black-haired knight stood quietly, gazing into the distance, lost in thought.

Nearby were two red dragon-blooded minotaurs.

Jonavili blinked and walked straight toward them.

This action quickly caught the attention of the three. Upon seeing who was approaching, the two dragon-blooded minotaurs froze for a few seconds before kneeling on the ground.

"Greetings, Great One."

Speuler was dazed, but he quickly knelt as well.

Jonavili ignored them, simply masking her aura and speaking softly.

"Chrono Surge."

In the next second, her figure vanished, leaving the three of them staring at each other in confusion.

A blink later, Jonavili had already reached the back of a garden swing.

Looking at the two people—no, the two dragons—sitting on it, her expression became very strange.

She recognized them; one was the black dragon Gris, and the other was a silver dragon she didn't know at all.

She was curious—how were these two meeting without starting a fight?

Even though Gris wouldn't be able to win even if they did fight, the scene before her still looked incredibly bizarre no matter how she viewed it.

As for how she could tell this quiet-looking girl was a silver dragon? It was simply because of the aura she emitted.

After listening for a while, Jonavili looked at Gris's back with a look of confusion, her ahoge twisting into a giant question mark.

'Wait? What's wrong with this guy? Why is he enjoying such mindless conversation so much? He looks like he's actually having a good time.

Why do I get the sense of a teenage boy meeting his innocent first love?'

What made Jonavili curl her lip even more was Gris's sitting posture.

Because Gris was used to sitting in a sloppy, carefree manner, his current effort to sit upright looked neither here nor there; in short, it was very awkward.

"A pathetic mimicry."

Jonavili couldn't help but mutter a criticism.

In the next second, the entire garden went silent. The originally romantic atmosphere instantly became incredibly awkward.

The hearts of both dragons skipped a beat. They were dragons, yet someone was standing behind them and they hadn't even noticed!

What they didn't know was that Jonavili had used [Chrono Lock] on her own eyes. Although she was looking at them, time for her vision remained at the moment before she looked.

Her gaze only existed in the timeline before seeing them, never reaching the current timeline, yet the image still traveled through light to her retinas.

Saisa's expression froze as she hurriedly lowered her head, her cheeks quickly flushing a deep red. She felt as though she had been caught in a secret tryst.

Gris, on the other hand, turned around in a fit of humiliation and rage, glaring fiercely at Jonavili.

Seeing this, Jonavili crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

Gris didn't recognize who this was even after several glances, and since he was already in a bad mood, he...

"Who the hell are you? You dare interrupt the business of I, Dragon Emperor Gris? I'll freaking kill you!"

As he spoke, Gris leaped to his feet, his right hand transforming into a dragon claw as he lunged for Jonavili's neck.

Just as he was about to grab her, Jonavili suddenly moved, catching Gris's forearm in a grip that he couldn't budge.

Gris's pupils dilated. He hadn't expected this person to catch such an attack with one hand.

In all of White Crystal City, only Jonavili, Furiel, Joe, Mofana, and Saisa beside him could do such a thing.

He stared intently at the dragonkin form before him, feeling an increasing sense of familiarity. It wasn't until he saw the slight upward curve of her lips that he realized something was wrong.

"Oh? Getting serious now? See, you're getting impatient again."

Crack—

Jonavili instantly applied pressure, snapping Gris's bone on the spot.

"Ah! Yaa-hoo-hoo-hoo~~!"

"Gris!"

Saisa cried out in alarm, intending to stand up and help, but she was stopped by Gris's other hand, signaling her not to move.

That overwhelming strength allowed him to realize exactly who this was in an instant.

"Bo—"

Before he could even beg for mercy, the sound of rushing wind arrived.

Duang!

Jonavili's fist slammed down. Gris immediately stood at attention, seeing stars.

"What did you just say? Dragon Emperor? Say it again, I think I misheard. Whose emperor are you?"

Hearing this, Gris shook his head forcefully to clear it.

"I... I mispronounced the draconic word. It wasn't... wasn't Dragon Emperor. It was Dragon Bro, hehe~"

"I'm your little brother~ Dear Sister, don't you recognize me? Hee hee hee~"

Amusement flashed in Jonavili's eyes.

"Oh? Is that so?"

Gris nodded frantically.

"Yes, yes, that's it."

Jonavili's tone shifted.

"Then why did I hear someone say they were going to kill me? Hmm?"

Gris's expression froze, and he started sweating buckets (metaphorically, at least).

"Was... was there? Maybe you heard wrong."

Jonavili wagged a finger.

"No~ After all, I'm not deaf yet."

"Ahem... I think that person might have... just said the wrong thing, yeah, that's it."

"Then tell me, if someone wants to kill me, how should I deal with them?"

"I... I believe that saving a life is better than building a seven-storied pagoda. A dragon should have a kind heart and repay grievances with kindness. You should let him off the hook, right, Big Sis?"