Volume 2 - CH 2

Early the next day, despite Saul’s reluctance, a five-person scouting team secretly left Lowell territory and headed towards the dragon’s lair in the northern mountains. The security of the territory was entrusted to Chipp, who remained behind.

Saul also offered a few pieces of meat to entice Simba to enter the summoning ring, as he relied on this little guy to save his life.

After a long journey that lasted mostly the entire day, the group finally arrived at a dense forest opposite to the Northern Mountain Dragon’s Lair at dusk. They hid behind the lush foliage of trees, and Saul followed Bocci’s pointed finger to look across.

On a protruding boulder on the opposite slope, a huge cave loomed into view. The cave was enormous—about five to six meters high—and dark and gloomy inside. In front of the cave, there was a platform-like stone with sparse weeds growing around it, but nothing unusual could be seen at the moment.

“You see, there are many claw marks on that rock, precisely left by the dragon,” whispered Yoda.

Saul concentrated his gaze but could only vaguely see some huge natural cracks on the rock. He secretly thought to himself that, with such good eyesight, it was no wonder Yoda could be so good at archery

After waiting for a long time without seeing any trace of the dragon, Saul became impatient, and his stomach started grumbling. He suggested, “I’m hungry. Let’s eat something first.”

Jessica, who was focused on observing the cave, glared at him angrily, making it clear that it was not the time to think about food. At that moment, Kress suddenly whispered, “Be prudent; there’s something happening.”

The two quickly turned their heads and noted a strange noise coming from the trees in the forest below the dragon’s lair. After two large trees crashed down, three gray shadows leaped onto the stone platform in front of the dragon’s lair.

They were three strange and monstrous creatures, the largest of which was a four-legged beast resembling a rhinoceros. Its skin was covered in armor-like, hard scales that shone with a metallic luster in the sunlight. The creature’s head was relatively narrow, with a silver crescent-shaped horn towering high above its forehead, attracting attention.

The smaller of the two monsters looked like a fox with a fiery red coat. Its claws were long and hung at its sides like human hands. What was most peculiar was that it stood upright on its hind legs, with its feet in a reverse-jointed position like a Tyrannosaurus rex, and its soles were wrapped in a blazing flame.

The last monster was a golden bird, as big as an eagle, with pure blue eyes that sparkled like aquamarine, even from afar. This bird floated in mid-air, commanding a regal presence like an emperor, with faint electric currents swirling around it.

“My goodness, those are three supreme-grade magic beasts: the Imperial Rhino King, the Fire Demon, and the Thunder Eagle. I can’t believe there are such powerful magic beasts around Lowell!” exclaimed Jessica in a hushed voice.

According to the Adventurer Guild’s “Magic Beast Records,” magic beasts were generally divided into three grade: low, intermediate, and high. Low and intermediate-grade magic beasts were relatively common, while high-grade magic beasts were only found in specific areas and in small quantities.

Compared to low and intermediate-grade magic beasts, high-grade magic beasts had far superior intelligence and abilities. Moreover, their magic cores, fur, bones, and other materials were extremely precious, making them excellent species for magic and weaponry.

Of course, high-grade magic beasts were fewer and more difficult to deal with. Around Lowell, there were only four known types of high-grade magic beasts confirmed to exist in the two giant mountain ranges. Only two of these have been hunted, and that was during a collective hunting operation organized by the Adventurer Guild, where dozens of monster hunters died each time.

However, compared to high-grade magic beasts, there were even more mysterious creatures known as supreme-grade magic beasts. These monsters were extremely enigmatic and resided in the most remote and inaccessible areas, rarely appearing in front of humans. Information about them was only found in the illustrated guide and records left by a mysterious traveler named Y·SP in his book “Pan-Continental Travelogue,” which was published several hundred years ago.

Although “Pan-Continental Travelogue” was a well-known book, there have been only a few hundred sightings of supreme-grade monsters in the past few centuries, and only a dozen or so have been hunted down. The magic items made from their magic cores and fur were treasured possessions of royal families around the world. Therefore, compared to them, dragons were relatively common.

However, to the surprise of the group, there were supreme -grade monsters hidden in the mountains of Lowell, and they emerged in groups of three. The Imperial Rhino King was an earth-type creature, covered in tough skin that was almost impervious to damage. The Flame Demon was a fire-type monster that was said to be able to emit black flames known as hellfire, while the Thunder Eagle was an air-type creature that could summon lightning.

The three monsters gathered in front of the dragon’s lair, constantly threatening and roaring toward the cave. The thunder eagle opened its wings, its feathers standing on end, and lightning shot out from its body, causing debris to fly from the ground.

Kress couldn’t help but wonder, “What are they doing?”

Yoda hushed him, “Be careful; something is coming out.”

A faint blue shadow flickered in the cave, followed by a gigantic beast slowly stepping out. The moment he saw it, Saul felt a buzzing sensation in his brain, and suddenly he felt like he was in a dream.

Although he had seen the dragon’s appearance in countless books and games in his past life, seeing it actually appear before him at this moment was still a kind of shock.

This was the blue dragon, about seven to eight meters long from head to tail and four meters from foot to head, with beautiful blue-sapphire-like scales covering its entire body. Its powerful tail curled behind it, swaying slightly from side to side, while its clawed wings were tightly pressed against its sides. One could only imagine the magnificent sight when its wings unfolded.

The blue dragon stood proudly at the entrance of its cave, its majestic face exuding a natural aura of majesty. From its elevated position, it looked down upon those three supreme-grade magic beasts, its slender neck and sturdy body forming a perfect angle. Even a casual movement displayed an incredible sense of grace.

Upon seeing the appearance of the blue dragon, the three monsters’ hissing grew even more intense. It was unclear what meaning was contained in their roar, but the previously calm blue dragon immediately became enraged.

It lowered its massive body, its muscles trembling, making the dragon suddenly appear even larger. Lowering its neck, the blue dragon angrily exhaled bursts of electric sparks into the air. Suddenly, it opened its mouth and emitted a loud, high-pitched dragon roar at the three monsters. Even from a distance, Saul and the others covered their ears in pain.

“Oh my god, is this the power of a dragon?” Saul huddled up, shivering in fear.

By now, the situation was clear. Feeling threatened by the blue dragon that had settled in the area, the three supreme-grade monsters hidden deep in the mountains had joined forces, intending to drive the dragon away. But how could an adult dragon be so easily dealt with? In the blink of an eye, following that roar, the two sides were at each other’s throats.

The battle in front of the dragon’s lair had already begun. The four beasts were instantly entangled, and the fight entered its most intense stage from the very beginning. The fierce combination of lightning and fire mixed with the wild screams of the four beasts, was like a hurricane that scattered everything in its path. The huge stone platform in front of the dragon’s lair was instantly stripped of its surface layer. In the nearby mountains and fields, frightened howls and cries could be heard, as countless creatures fled in all directions, terrified.

The Imperial Rhino King lowered its head and charged forward, the sharp horn on its head slamming into the Blue Dragon’s left leg. With its massive body and momentum, the Blue Dragon let out a cry of pain and was knocked over to the ground by the Rhino King. However, as it fell, the dragon fiercely swung its thick tail, sending the opposite party flying and causing its enormous body to roll down the cliff, crushing countless giant trees in the process.

Meanwhile, the fire demon’s two claws hovered in front of it as the latter emitted a sharp cry. Right then, a thick and completely black column of strange fire, capable of melting even the strongest metals, known as Hellfire, was released from its body and flew towards the Blue Dragon.

The latter, still struggling to get up, was hit head-on by the fiery column and got instantly enveloped in black flames. At the same time, the Thunder Eagle had taken flight, and, as it screeched towards the sky, bolts of lightning as thick as a child’s arm rained down, leaving large craters in the ground before the entrance to the dragon’s lair.

At that moment, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck out from amidst the black flames, causing the fire demon to shrink into a ball. At the same time, with a sharp whistle, the blue dragon spread its wings like a B-52 jet bomber taking off, breaking through the flames and soaring towards the thunder eagle in mid-air. The place it stood earlier was now a terrifying crater with a diameter of over ten meters, with the rocks turned into a semi-liquid black fluid.

Seeing the blue dragon approaching, the thunder eagle was greatly frightened. Its feathers stood on end, and it formed a ball of condensed blue lightning in its mouth, which grew larger and larger. As the blue dragon charged towards it, the ball of lightning shot out.

Boom! It was like the explosion of thousands of tons of dynamite in mid-air, the tremendous roar shaking the surrounding mountains and causing Saul and the others to desperately cover their ears. The blue dragon, struck directly by the thunderbolt, fell down like a kite with a broken string and crashed onto the stone platform. After shooting its lightning attack, the thunder eagle seemed to be exhausted. Its weak and mournful cries could be heard, and it could no longer fly in the air as it staggered down to the ground.

At this moment, the Blue Dragon, who should have been paralyzed by the thunder strike, wobbled a few times and surprisingly got back up. It opened its mouth and bit down towards the falling Thunder Eagle. Just as the Eagle was about to meet its demise within the dragon’s mouth, the rocks below the Blue Dragon trembled slightly, and the Imperial Rhino King jumped out and bit its enemy’s thinner leg bone, dragging it down to the ground.

The Imperial Rhino King’s body was incredibly tough, and even though it had been struck by the dragon’s tail, it remained unscathed. When the blue dragon was bitten, it let out an angry cry and suddenly turned its head, biting the Rhino King’s neck.

The Rhino King was confident in its tough hide and didn’t care about the dragon’s bite. Then, with a cracking sound, the Blue Dragon’s leg bone was broken. Suddenly, the latter’s eyes opened wide, and its wings spread out, causing dust and rocks to fly around, as if it was trying to alleviate the severe pain.

At that moment, the Rhino King suddenly released its grip and began to howl in pain. Could it be that the Blue Dragon’s teeth were sharp enough to penetrate its armored hide? Of course not. Apart from the claws of the Sickle Wolf, which was also a supreme-grade magic beast, nothing could harm the Imperial Rhino King in the slightest. If you looked closely, you could see that there seemed to be an invisible rope slowly tightening around the spot where the Blue Dragon had bitten the Rhino King’s neck.

The blue dragon, realizing that it couldn’t harm the rhinoceros, resorted to using a spell from the air element to choke its neck, attempting to suffocate it. One had to understand that the rhinoceros’ skin was tough, and the muscles on its neck were incredibly powerful. It would require an immense amount of magical power to use an air bubble to strangle its hardened skin and crush its windpipe.

Feeling its life slip away, the Imperial Rhino King became frantic, opening its mouth to gulp for air while thrashing its enormous body around. However, the blue dragon pinned it down, and the Imperial Rhino King could only futilely kick the boulders beneath it into the air. These rocks, as big as millstones, crashed into the dense forest below, creating deafening booms.

The five onlookers were left speechless, staring in shock at the intense battle between the four beasts and the complete transformation of the surrounding terrain, their scalps tingling with fear. Only by witnessing it in person could one comprehend the sheer terror brought about by such incomparable power. The strength of these beasts was beyond what humans could ever achieve, and any one of them could easily destroy an entire town.

Therefore, the blue dragon’s feat of single-handedly battling three other supreme-grade monsters was all the more impressive.

After a moment, the struggling of the Rhino King became weaker and weaker. The Fire Demon, who had been hit by lightning from the Blue Dragon, crawled up and opened its mouth, spraying out another black pillar of fire towards the Blue Dragon.

The dragon was unable to avoid it while suppressing the Rhino, so it simply opened one of its wings like a shield to protect itself. The fire pillar hit the dragon wing with a loud crash and immediately ignited it, burning the fleshy membrane to the bone. The black bones hung on the side of the Blue Dragon’s body in a terrifying manner.

In agony, the Blue Dragon roared at the Fire Demon, as if saying, “I’ll deal with you later.” At this moment, the Thunder Eagle also flew over, but this time it did not use thunderbolt. Instead, it was wrapped in a bundle of blue electric currents, charging straight down at the Blue Dragon like a guided missile.

A crackling ball of blue light shot towards them and hit the Blue Dragon’s head in an instant. The Blue Dragon and the Rhino King were suddenly wrapped in a terrifying electric current, and several deep bottomless cracks were formed on the thick rocks under their bodies!

At this point, the Thunder Eagle’s attack was already the last straw, as its magical energy was greatly depleted. However, despite the excruciating pain, the Blue Dragon remained steadfastly clamped onto the neck of the Dragon King Rhino and refused to let go.

What the Thunder Eagle failed to understand was under normal circumstances, the thunderous blue lightning it had unleashed in mid-air would have paralyzed any other dragon it encountered, rendering them unable to move. However, the Blue Dragon was the only exception due to its unique dragon breath attribute—lightning. As such, the damage inflicted by the Thunder Eagle’s lightning was greatly reduced.

Dragons generally possessed different attributes based on their breath, such as the Blue Dragon’s breath being lightning, while the Black Dragon breathes acid, the Red Dragon breathes fire, the White Dragon breathes ice, and so on and so forth. Fully grown dragons had exceptional resistance to all four magical elements, with specific attributes simply making it harder for them to be harmed by that particular element.

Therefore, of the three magic beasts, it was the Thunder Eagle that caused the least damage to the Blue Dragon. Despite struggling to withstand the electrical shock, the Blue Dragon extended its front claws and grabbed the Thunder Eagle, knowing that there was no escape for it. With its last bit of magic power, the Thunder Eagle unleashed a final thunderbolt, aiming it directly at the Blue Dragon’s left eye.

The massive body of the blue dragon suddenly trembled, and its left eye was burned unexpectedly, causing a stream of blood to drip down its cheek. The remaining eye of the blue dragon burst with a furious glare. With a fierce grip of its four-toed feet, it pierced through the abdomen of the thunder eagle, and then flung it aside.

After the thunder eagle fell to its death, the limbs of the Dragon King Rhino thrashed wildly, its tense body slowly relaxing as it succumbed to suffocation and died.

At this point, the blue dragon was heavily injured, with one foot broken, its left eye burned, and one wing reduced to a skeletal frame. Its entire body was covered in blackened burn scars from the flames, large scales had fallen off, revealing blackened muscles underneath. It was exhausted and in a very sorry state.

Of the three magic beasts, only the flame demon remained. It watched as the blue dragon approached, slowly retreating to the edge of the stone platform. With one final threatening roar from the blue dragon, the flame demon let out a shrill scream, its fur standing on end. It then crouched down on all fours, and spiraling flames erupted around its body.

In an instant, an intense and boundless heat engulfed the surrounding hills and fields. Trees near the stone platform were blackened and twisted, and rocks on the ground cracked under the high temperature. Even Saul and the others who were hiding nearby could feel a faint wave of heat, indicating just how high the temperature was.

The blue dragon continued to approach calmly, while the screams of the flame demon grew increasingly shrill. Suddenly, the flames surrounding the demon’s body burst inward and erupted in an instant. In the blink of an eye, a terrifying fire field, about a hundred meters in diameter, was formed, with scattered flames igniting in the surrounding forest and thick smoke billowing upward.

Saul and the others watched nervously at the middle of the flames, hoping to see the outcome of the battle as soon as possible. After about three breaths, the sky-blocking flames suddenly dissipated as abruptly as they had appeared, and they finally saw the scene on the platform.

Within a few moments, the entire stone platform had been charred black, with no grass visible within a hundred meters. The surrounding forest was still burning. And amidst all of this, the blue dragon stood proud with the lifeless flame demon in its mouth.

Sure enough, even three supreme-grade beasts were no match for the mighty dragon, despite the fact that the blue dragon also suffered heavy injuries. With a shake of its head, the blue dragon threw the lifeless body of the Fire Demon to the side and let out a few painful cries. It then struggled to cast a few water-attributed spells to put out the fire in the forest.

After completing all of this, the dragon lay exhausted on the ground, gasping for breath. Although Saul thought that the dragon might have just breathed its last, it was clear that this was not the case. After resting for a while, the dragon cast a levitation spell on itself and, ignoring the bodies of the three beasts on the ground, it wobbled and flew off into the distance.

As they watched the blue dragon’s figure gradually disappear over the mountains, the five of them fell silent for a while. After a long time, Kress finally said, with difficulty, “My Lord, I feel that anything we do would be futile.”

Saul understood what he meant. After witnessing the earth-shattering power of the blue dragon, everyone knew that this fellow was not something that anyone could handle.

Saul gave a bitter laugh. “Let’s go back and pray that it’s heavily injured and dies on its own. Otherwise, Lowell is finished.”

Jessica didn’t argue with him this time, apparently feeling the same sense of despair. As they rose to leave, Saul suddenly caught sight of a flash of gold. “Hey, what’s that?” he pointed to the glimmer on the opposite stone platform.

Yoda stared at it for a moment. “It looks like the Thunder eagle’s magic core, rolling out of its corpse.”

As time passes, high-grade magic beasts naturally develop crystals that were called magic cores inside their bodies. This magic core served as the source of the beast’s magical power, similar to a human’s sea of energy. Therefore, the higher the grade of the magic beast, the more precious its magic core. Like these three supreme magic beasts, it was rare to even catch a glimpse of them, so the value of their magic cores goes without saying. It was likely that if any one of these magic cores were to appear inside human settlements, they would trigger a frenzied pursuit.

Saying that it was priceless was actually an understatement. If it were placed before knowledgeable mages or top-level blacksmiths, they would not hesitate to exchange their lives for it.

Suddenly, a crazy idea flashed through Saul’s mind. He grabbed Jessica’s arm and said hurriedly, “Wait, I have a plan.”

“What?” Jessica didn’t understand at first.

“No time to explain, let’s go get the magic cores from those three beasts first,” Saul said, raising his ring finger and summoning the griffin beast.

Jessica was stunned for a moment before speaking angrily. “It’s already over, and you’re still thinking about these things? This can’t save Lowell anyway.”

“We need to rely on them to take down this dragon,” Saul said, too exhausted to explain himself as he pulled Jessica and climbed onto the back of Simba.

Once Jessica was seated, Simba became much more cooperative and didn’t make any sudden moves to throw off his master. Following Saul’s command, the griffin carried the two of them towards the stone platform on the other side.

As they watched the griffin depart, Kress looked on in shock and asked, “What is our lord doing?”

Bocci shrugged, “Who knows? Maybe he’s gone crazy.”

Once they landed on the stone platform, Saul immediately ran towards the body of the thunder eagle and grabbed its golden magic core. Jessica frowned and asked, “What are you thinking? I know they are rare treasures, but they are of no use to us. We need to leave quickly before the dragon comes back.”

Ignoring her, Saul ran over to the corpse of the Dragon King Rhino and reached his hand into its mouth, feeling around. Without looking back, he said sharply, “Go and help me find the Fire Demon’s core.”

Jessica still didn’t move, and he couldn’t help but speak sternly, “There’s no time to explain now, trust me!”

Having never seen Saul acting like this before, Jessica hesitated for a moment before finally approaching. Soon, the two of them each found a fiery red and earthy yellow core from within the monsters’ bodies.

With the cores in their pockets, Saul looked regretfully at the bodies of the three beasts. It was such a waste. If they could actually transport the bodies back to the territory, every part and organ would be a top-notch magic material. But there was no time, and he was afraid that the disappearance of the bodies would alert the Blue Dragon, so he had to abandon the idea.

At this point, Saul suddenly became strongly interested in the dragon’s cave. He really wanted to see what the place where the dragon was said to live looked like.

So, ignoring Jessica who was urging him to leave, he walked up to the cave entrance and peered inside. He didn’t dare to enter. Although he knew that the blue dragon had already left, who knew what else might be in there? Perhaps even its mate could be hiding there.

The dragon’s lair was very deep, and after looking for a long time, Saul still couldn’t figure out what it looked like inside. Unable to resist his curiosity any longer, he picked up a burning tree branch beside the cave and took a few steps in, using the light of the fire to guide his way.

At that moment, he stopped breathing.

As he gazed into the expansive and dark cavern, illuminated only by intermittent flames, he beheld a breathtaking golden radiance that suffused every inch of the space. This was none other than the immeasurable hoard of gold, precious gems, and countless other treasures, heaped in towering piles that defied enumeration.

Saul felt certain that he had never laid eyes on even a fraction of the treasures that lay before him, not even in this lifetime, let alone his past one. The entire cave was practically overflowing with gold, and the floor was covered in a sparkling carpet of gems, shining brilliantly in the firelight.

It was only then when Saul remembered that one famous rumor about dragons—they were the guardians of great wealth, each one possessing a fortune that could rival that of an entire kingdom.

“My goodness, it seems the rumors were true,” he thought, completely intoxicated by the sight before him. He couldn’t resist the urge to venture further into the cave.

Jessica was utterly perplexed as Saul, like a madman, stood at the mouth of the cave and then plunged recklessly inward, heedless of her calls. Casting a worried glance towards the sky, she wondered when the blue dragon would return. With no other choice, she reluctantly followed Saul into the cave.

“What are you doing? Get out of here!” Jessica urgently grabbed Saul’s arm, but suddenly her voice trailed off and she froze in shock. “Oh my god…”

Saul promptly handed the torch over to Jessica and strode deeper into the cave. It took a moment for the girl to snap out of her daze, and when she did, she was horrified. “What are you doing?” she exclaimed.

Saul seemed dazed and confused. “I’m going to take them out, of course. We’ll never be short of money again.”

Anxiously glancing back towards the cave entrance, Jessica gritted her teeth and grabbed Saul by the neck, dragging him towards the exit. “Are you insane? We can’t possibly carry all this treasure, and if the dragon comes back, we’re as good as dead.”

Saul was still unwilling to give up. “Jessica, stop! Let me at least try. We can take half…one third…one tenth…one percent…sniff, sniff…just let me take a single gem as a keepsake…”

But he was no match for Jessica and was quickly dragged out of the cave. Jessica tossed him onto the back of Simba, climbed on after him, and the griffin let out a happy screech before spreading its wings and taking off.

Lying prone on the griffin back, Saul was like Gollum from “Lord of the Rings,” helplessly reaching out towards the dragon’s lair, which was gradually receding into the distance.

In mid-air, he let out a wail like a slaughtered pig. “My gold, my diamonds, my…treasures…”

“Shut up, you greedy fool!”