As soon as the adults appeared, Golden boy surprisingly stopped his assault. He turned to peek at grandpa's large intimidating figure, and to my astonishment, I was unable to feel any fighting spirit in his eyes, instead, all I could sense was his frightened emotions.

'Golden boy is scared?' At that unbelievable notion, I turned to face my grandfather in alarm. Golden boy was not the type to be taken over by fear, even when faced with our father's overwhelming superiority, he did not yield and instead stood by my side.

I would like to think that I somewhat understand his character from the time we have spent together, and that was exactly what made me more cautious. For Golden boy to show fear, just how far do the depths of grandfather's strength extend to?

I think I did manage to catch a small glimpse of it when our gazes interlocked earlier. 'Shit, that was too rash of me! Especially considering how even mother and father seem to treat him with undisguised respect!' I mentally berated myself.

A small part of me had no strength to face his gaze once more, yet I could not simply run away. I was already in too deep, and so as grandfather strode out, I resolutely met his gaze with my back raised.

'That's alright, what's the worst that could happen...right?' I tried to calm myself.

Boom!

As if to answer my question, a sudden force knocked the wind out of my lungs as I felt myself being sent flying through the air. Green had thankfully jumped off my head the moment grandfather appeared hence she was spared from the blow.

I had no time to react to his sudden tail attack. My body moved with pure instinct as I crossed my claws in front of me in an attempt to block. It felt as if I was hit by a mountain.

*Cough!*

The sheer force of the blow caused me to cough blood as I landed by the entrance of the cave. My vision waned as I could no longer feel my limbs, I glanced downward as they hung limply.

At that moment, I had no time to think about anything, no time to question the absurdity of the situation, and no time to ask for an explanation. Faced with my grandfather's intimidating presence, the feeling of death's scythe seemed to tickle my neck.

I almost immediately called out to the surrounding mana, as I rapidly breathed in and out trying to complete a few circles in my body. I wasn't sure when my grandfather's next attack would come, and so instead of waiting for it and not doing anything, I hurriedly stood on my back limbs and jumped to the sky.

My wings were still functional, and I needed to buy myself time to heal. Perhaps the air was not the ideal battlefield for me, yet had I stayed on the ground It would have been just me waiting for the inevitable considering my useless front limbs.

The only thought that clouded my mind at the moment was to survive. As I hurriedly breathed in and out, the pain slowly began to recede as the familiar water bubble appeared around me.

'Good, thankfully I can still use this while I'm moving, though the amount of concentration needed is very taxing,'

Grandfather who did not appear to have any intention of attacking observed me with interest, his eyes resting on my water bubble for a few seconds before he seemed to finally lose interest in it.

My eyes momentarily caught a glimpse of my mother's figure, her one eye seemed to be fuming with rage as the wind mana picked up around her. It was then that father hastily stepped in front of her, both glared at each other seemingly talking about something.

I did not have the luxury of trying to guess what it was since grandfather suddenly made his move. He calmly raised his gigantic paw to the sky, an ominous feeling welled up inside of me as all my senses began to scream danger.

To my surprise, Blacky who had been hiding behind our parent's back all this time suddenly roared, and for some reason, at that moment, I understood his intentions.

'Dodge!'

Without hesitation, I flapped my wings as I swerved in the air hastily trying to move away from where I once was. An unbelievable heatwave suddenly washed over me the moment I moved, I did not have the time to look back as an even louder explosion followed.

This time, the force sent me plunging from the sky. My body crashed against the ground with a loud thud as all my limbs protested in pain. I rapidly summoned a water ball to drench me in water as I felt my scales on fire.

My eyes peeked backwards at the scene, a giant beam of what could only be described as heavenly fire was descending from the sky and into the ground.

'That's the place where I was at,' Had I been late by a mere second, I wouldn't have been able to survive.

My gaze was unconsciously drawn to blacky who stared back at me with a fiery gaze. 'Thank you,' I silently said. I was sure my emotions were conveyed to him as he replied with a nod.

Just then, the sudden hail of fire disappeared as if it did exist, leaving a scorched mark on the ground. It reminded me of father's breath attack back in the forest, he was also able to control his flames making them appear and disappear at will.

My water bubble reappeared as I tried to take advantage of each second. 'What should I do? Father and mother don't seem like they will intervene even if I was to die. Should I run? But then again where to?'

Suddenly the image of that floating purple crystal flashed through my mind. 'If it's there maybe...just maybe!' my sudden hope was abruptly crushed by grandfather's next action.

Waves of fiery hot mana danced around him as an oppressive aura descended on the area. 'What is he doing?' As if he was able to read my intentions, a large transparent red net materialized around the entire mountain, caging me inside.

'What the fuck am I supposed to do then?!' I cursed unable to accept this unfair treatment.

"You survived two of my attacks, the next one will be the final one, don't disappoint me," He suddenly spoke, his deep voice seemed very very ancient.

'Another one? Give me a break already!'