The blood-soaked Drake King gasped for breath, his massive form streaking over the winding mountain range, fleeing desperately until he crashed down by a small creek. Dust billowed skyward as he landed and reverted to his human shape, lying flat on the ground, wheezing and coughing up mouthfuls of fresh blood.
King Macaque rushed over, knelt beside the Drake King, and gripped his wrist to check his pulse. After a long moment, he finally released it, glanced at King Bullhorn, and sighed, "No serious harm."
Behind the Drake King, King Liontusk shielded the wounded King Roc as they hurried over.
As he landed, King Roc collapsed completely, panting heavily. Blood-soaked feathers scattered all around him, yet he burst into wild laughter: "Damn it, I actually survived! Hahaha! My fate isn't sealed after all! Hahaha!"
He laughed until he could barely breathe, coughed for a while, then reached out and patted King Liontusk beside him, saying, "Thanks for that just now, Fourth Brother. I won't forget it."
"All of you actually made it?" King Bullhorn couldn't help but furrow his brow.
Glancing at the Drake King, who looked half-dead, King Liontusk adjusted his battered armor and said, "I don't know why, but at the very end, the Celestial Army's assault suddenly weakened."
"Weakened? Could it be they let you go on purpose?" King Bullhorn paused, lost in thought.
After a moment, he turned and bowed to the seated Nine-Headed Wyrm not far away, saying, "Thank you, Brother Nine-Headed, for saving us. If you hadn't intervened just now, we wouldn't have escaped intact."
"Escaped intact?" The Nine-Headed Wyrm snorted with laughter. "From what I saw, you were headed for total annihilation. That Celestial River Navy was clearly trying to wear you down with sheer numbers. You think I wanted to save you? If my future father-in-law hadn't spoken up, I'd never have meddled in this mess. Now my bounty's going to rise again."