But a Super S-rank dangerous species still had some skill.
After sensing Shirley's attack, the Six-Winged Dragon-Hawk quickly dodged, easily evading those bursts of dragonfire.
At the same time it increased its speed.
In pure combat power, the Six-Winged Dragon-Hawk couldn't match Leon and the others, but in an aerial speed contest it could still hold out for a while.
Shirley tried several more dragonfire attacks, but each one was dodged.
"Shirley, your fundamentals… still need practice," Leon couldn't help but complain.
The young captain of the guards was a little embarrassed, "...Sorry, Prince, I've been negligent in training recently."
"Watch how I demonstrate what extreme aiming looks like."
"Looking forward to it, Prince."
Leon slowly raised his hand; lightning gathered in his palm, he aimed a bit, seized the moment, and fired a Thunder Wolf, he missed crooked.
"Tch!"
Another shot!
Missed crooked again.
"Sss..."
Third shot!
Also crooked.
"Not good, bro..."
Shirley: "Prince, your fundamentals… seem to have room for improvement too."
"...Remember to call me next time you practice shooting targets."
Noah didn't forget to jab, "Daddy, you weren't like this when you popped balloons at the Young Dragon Park back then."
"...Sweetheart, Daddy will teach you a new phrase today: 'A real hero doesn't brag about past glories.'"
Actually the misses couldn't be entirely blamed on Leon and Shirley.
The Six-Winged Dragon-Hawk's speed was extreme, its reactions very fast.
In such an intense chase, hitting a speed-type dangerous species with long-range magic was indeed difficult.
Afterwards Leon tried a few more attacks, but still did not hit the dragon-hawk.
This made someone a bit heated.
"Today I'm definitely going to pluck all its feathers!"
———
After more than ten minutes of pursuit, Shirley finally closed to a relatively short distance from the Six-Winged Dragon-Hawk.
Obviously, the dragon-hawk's endurance was flagging, while Shirley still had some energy left.
The gap between a dangerous species and a dragon was beginning to show.
"Daddy, this distance should be about right."
Noah said as she waved, signaling Leon to crouch.
Leon complied.
Noah whispered a few words in his ear.
After listening, Leon asked, "This is a bit dangerous, are you sure?"
"Mm, it's a bit dangerous, but it'll look cool. Like you, Daddy, cool."
The doting father beamed when praised, hummed a laugh, and patted Noah's head, "Alright, Daddy will help you."
Saying that, Leon stepped back a few paces, then bent his knees, interlaced his fingers, palms up, placed before his knees.
Noah also stepped back several meters; after judging the distance she sprinted toward Leon.
When she reached Leon, Noah lifted her foot and stepped onto Leon's interlaced palms; at the same time Leon pushed upward with his arms.
Noah used him as a springboard, borrowing her Daddy's force to leap high into the air.
Then Noah glanced back at the dragon-hawk not far ahead, calculating the distance, and summoned thunder magic with one hand.
Seeing the chance, Noah released a Thunder Wolf Breaker, using its recoil to propel herself directly above the Six-Winged Dragon-Hawk.
"Finally... I caught up to you."
Noah gathered a Thunder Spike in her right hand and plunged down onto the dragon-hawk's back.
BOOM!
The Thunder Spike struck; with the crack of thunder the Six-Winged Dragon-Hawk could not maintain flight posture and wavered, plunging toward the ground.
Shirley also dove; after closing in, Noah ran two steps and jumped from the dragon-hawk's back back onto Shirley.
"Well done, Noah, those two moves have your old man's coolness," Leon reached out; Noah jumped in place and high-fived her Daddy.
"Thanks, Daddy."
Leon patted her shoulder encouragingly.
Shirley slowly descended with the father and daughter back to the ground.
The Six-Winged Dragon-Hawk was lying under a massive tree ahead, trying to stand again.
Actually Noah's Thunder Spike hadn't done much real damage; the thunder magic only temporarily paralyzed it, preventing it from maintaining flight posture, which caused it to fall.
But the impact of falling to the ground was enough to lay it out; recovering quickly was basically unlikely.
Leon jumped down from Shirley with Noah in his arms; Shirley then shifted back to human form.
The three of them walked slowly to the dragon-hawk.
When they reached it, it still couldn't stand.
The dragonfruit tree it had bitten off lay toppled nearby, the only two Jade Dew Dragonfruits scattered on the ground.
Leon walked over, bent, and picked up the fruits, then turned to look at the dragon-hawk and said, "You greedy little thief, that'll teach you, right?"
A weak low growl came from the Six-Winged Dragon-Hawk's throat, but it did not sound threatening or defiant.
However, Leon and the others did not understand the dragon-hawk's way of communicating.
After recovering the Jade Dew Dragonfruits, Leon intended to leave.
He wasn't someone who liked fighting and killing.
Moreover, the little hawk had only stolen fruit and caused no irreparable loss; now that it had fallen hard, it had been taught a lesson, no need to finish it off.
"Let's go."
"Yes, Prince."
Yet, just as the three turned and stepped a few paces away, a sound came from behind.
Turning, they saw the dragon-hawk trembling to its feet, weakly crying once, then charging toward Leon.
Unfortunately, a spent bowstring should just lie still on the ground.
In an instant, Shirley transformed into dragon form; a dragon claw swiped out, easily pinning the Six-Winged Dragon-Hawk to the ground, immobilized.
Leon looked at the downed dragon-hawk; its sharp hawk eyes seemed to glimmer with resentment and guilt.
"Why is this creature... so fixated on the Jade Dew Dragonfruit...?"
While puzzled, a brown figure suddenly burst out from the nearby woods.
Leon gathered a Thousand Birds in an instant, shielding Noah behind him.
But the figure was not coming at them.
On closer look, it was a smaller Six-Winged Dragon-Hawk, the tips of its wings tinged with a faint purple.
It ran to the pinned dragon-hawk's side, used its wings to shelter the other's body, then lifted its head and let out a weak cry toward Shirley.
As if... begging Shirley not to hurt that dragon-hawk.
Shirley was a bit stunned and turned to look at Leon, waiting for the Prince's orders.
Leon nodded , "Let it go, Shirley."
"Yes, Prince."
Shirley backed off, reverted to human form, and stepped behind Leon.
Seeing Shirley release the dragon-hawk, the purple-tipped-wing hawk kept bowing to Leon and the others and repeatedly chirping.
Super S-rank dangerous species possess considerable intelligence; they know forgiveness and gratitude.
After several rounds of "thanks," the purple-feathered hawk lowered its head and lightly chirped beside the fallen dragon-hawk.
The other responded gently.
"Are they... communicating?", Noah asked.
"Mm, we don't understand, but such Super S-rank dangerous species can indeed communicate precisely with their own kind," Leon replied.
Finally, the two dragon-hawks rubbed their beaks against each other, as if comforting one another.
"Prince."
"Hmm?"
"That purple-feathered dragon-hawk is female, and judging by the sheen of her feathers and her body shape, she should... be pregnant."
Leon was startled, "You mean she has several dragon-hawk eggs in her belly right now?"
Shirley nodded, "Yes."
Leon blinked, calming himself a bit.
He looked at the pair of dragon-hawks and understood why the "little thief" risked stealing the Jade Dew Dragonfruit.
Leon bowed his head, looked at the two fruits in his hand, weighed them, then stepped forward and carefully placed one of the fruits in front of the pair of dragon-hawks, then stepped back.
The meaning was clear; the two dragon-hawks understood.
After another round of "thanks," the dragon-hawk couple took the dragonfruit Leon gave them and slowly walked into the woods.
Leon stood quietly watching their backs. Suddenly he felt a warm touch in his palm.
Noah lifted her small arm and took his hand.
"Daddy."
"What is it, Noah?"
"All things have spirits, right?"
To have his precious daughter learn some life lesson from this was indeed an unexpected harvest.
Leon smiled and nodded, "That's right."
After a pause, he added, "But stealing other people's things is still wrong, okay?"
"Okay, I know. But..."
"But what?"
"But now there's only one fruit left; will that be enough to keep you alive against Mom's future unreasonable tantrums?"
General Leon felt a chill down his spine.
"...Stop thinking about being a do-gooder, forget this incident!"
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.