In the magic circle, the Dragon Souls of Gan, Will, and Cure had already attached themselves to the Spirit Puppets.
After realizing what had just happened, their Souls fluctuated violently, filled with the relief of surviving a disaster and the trepidation of having brought shame upon their master.
"Master... we deserve ten thousand deaths!"
Because a large portion of their Souls had been forcibly snatched away by the opponent, the remaining Souls no longer matched the Spirit Puppet bodies originally prepared for the Gold Rank.
To stabilize their remaining consciousness and prevent it from dissipating, the Shaping Clay had automatically shrunk, tightly compressing and enveloping their Souls.
Thus, the three majestic Frost Wyverns had now turned into three head-sized, teardrop-shaped creatures with short, thick limbs and pitifully short tails.
They looked like three chibi-style teardrop-shaped dragon bubbles.
"Whew..."
Although Ilena was angry, she wasn't about to take it out on her own kin.
She paused for a moment before asking, "Tell me, what exactly happened?"
The three "dragon bubbles" dared not hide anything, using intermittent Soul transmissions to recount everything that had occurred in the mine tunnel.
From that blue Young Dragon's eerie [Sandstorm] Domain to the process of being slaughtered one by one in the dust.
The more Ilena listened, the tighter her brow furrowed.
And when she learned that the one who had executed all this and slaughtered the three Gold Rank Sub-dragons was actually just a young Earth Dragon, Ilena became even more skeptical.
"A young Earth Dragon? With a young Silver Dragon by its side?"
She believed that Gan and the others would not lie; the loyalty of these three kin was beyond doubt.
But this matter was eerie in every way.
How could a young Earth Dragon master a Domain skill of that level? How could it kill three Frost Wyverns who worked in perfect coordination in a head-on battle?
Recalling the Soul-stirring battle for Souls just now, Ilena immediately concluded that behind that Earth Dragon, there must be a Legendary powerhouse like the one she had just fought!
Perhaps the Earth Dragon itself was merely a disguised form of that Legendary powerhouse!
A Legendary Great Dragon of unknown origin, disguised as an Earth Dragon, and keeping a Silver Dragon hatchling... Ilena felt she had grasped an important clue, but the matter had also become more complicated because of it.
She hadn't expected that the mysterious entity rumored to be keeping a Silver Dragon egg might actually be a bona fide Legendary Great Dragon.
If that were the case, things would be completely complicated... Fafnir looked at his teacher's solemn expression and couldn't help but ask, "Teacher, what exactly is..."
Ilena interrupted him and asked instead, "Fafnir, do you want to know where the dragon egg you lost actually came from?"
Fafnir was stunned for a moment. Although he had some guesses, he still answered honestly:
"It should be wild, or perhaps entrusted to the Academy by some Dragon Clan?"
These were the two most common sources of dragon eggs in the Dragon Academy's hatchery.
Normally, dragon eggs should be hatched by the female dragon herself.
But in reality, except for the relatively domestic Metallic Dragons, many True Dragons were simply too lazy to care for their offspring, especially the Chromatic Dragons known for being lax and irritable.
They would often hide their dragon eggs randomly in an element-rich place and then walk away, or simply leave them near a Dragons Nest to be raised collectively by the entire nest.
Therefore, in the Dragon Academy's hatchery, except for a few eggs specifically entrusted by internal members, most were orphans from birth.
Fafnir himself had grown up this way.
"But Teacher, Silver Dragons are Metallic Dragons, and they are famous for cherishing their offspring; it's almost impossible for them to abandon their own eggs," Fafnir added. "So I think the one I lost was most likely wild."
"That's not the case."
Ilena shook her head and revealed a shocking secret.
"That was the offspring of the Silver Dragon King, Severus Silverwing."
Fafnir froze completely, staring at his teacher in shock.
"Silver Dragon King Severus!"
"He is the leader of the Silver Dragon Clan, in charge of the entire True Dragon Imperial Court's diplomatic and intelligence networks... In terms of seniority, he was even something of a mentor to Ilena!"
What he had lost... was the Silver Dragon King's only offspring? The princess of the Silver Dragon Clan?!
Fafnir's mind went blank.
But immediately after, he felt something was wrong.
"Impossible!" he blurted out. "Lord Severus is nearing his Elder stage, and that is his only offspring. How could he entrust such an important dragon egg to the Dragon Academy's public hatchery?!"
"That is exactly the problem."
Ilena's eyes became deep.
"Because that dragon egg was swapped by someone before it was sent to the hatchery. So much so that... even Silver Dragon King Severus himself didn't notice."
"This matter has vast implications and has been completely suppressed by the Imperial Court's Elder Council. It is only out of respect for my Face that they haven't immediately held you accountable for losing the egg."
Fafnir broke into a cold sweat as he listened.
He had always thought he had just caused a major disaster, and as a Genius of the younger generation, he would at most be punished. He never expected such a terrifying conspiracy to be involved behind the scenes.
"At first, I thought this was just some kind of political struggle," Ilena continued. "Such insidious methods are common within human kingdoms... but within our Dragon Clan, they have almost never appeared."
"As for you, Fafnir, you were likely just being used. This was entirely a meticulously choreographed play designed to make you 'accidentally' lose the dragon egg!"
Fafnir felt a surge of horror.
This... how could it be?
He thought of that little blue Earth Dragon he had seen in the cave before, such a base and weak creature... It was hard to imagine that such a terrifying conspiracy was involved behind it all.
"Nothing is impossible."
Ilena seemed to see through his thoughts.
"Fafnir, you must learn to see the essence through the surface."
"An Earth Dragon keeping a Silver Dragon is inherently illogical. But if there is a Legendary Great Dragon behind them—like the one we just fought—then everything makes sense."
"Furthermore, this mysterious Legendary Great Dragon likely doesn't come from our True Dragon Imperial Court. It might be a powerhouse from another Dragons Nest, or even a Demonic Dragon from the Ultimate Space... anything is possible."
Ilena paused and stated the most crucial point.
"But most importantly, an outside dragon could not have swapped the Silver Dragon King's offspring without alerting anyone."
Her voice was very low, like a stroke of profound wisdom lightly touching Fafnir's heart.
"Fafnir, remember, conspiracy theories are always part of the conspiracy..."
"Within the True Dragon Imperial Court, there must be a traitor!"