Chapter 640 - 259: Shadow-Stealing Wings, Thunderous Methods
The shadow, stretched long by the setting sun, began to churn and twist violently like boiling water. A hideous silhouette was rapidly taking shape within it, as if something was about to burst forth!
However, before it could finish its attack—
"SCREEECH—!!!"
A sharp cry, filled with absolute terror and panic, erupted from the shadow!
The next moment, an ethereal black figure scrambled wretchedly out of Lin Ye’s shadow. It slammed hard onto the stone-paved road dozens of meters away, tumbling several times before coming to a stop.
Only then did Lin Ye get a clear look at his assailant.
It was shaped like a giant bat with a wingspan of over five meters, but its entire body was ethereal and semi-transparent, as if formed from constantly shifting shadows and smoke.
Only its pair of Obsidian claws and the two balls of pale, cold fire burning in its eye sockets were fully corporeal.
[Shadow-Stealing Wings]
[LV. 59]
[Evolution Tier: 2.29]
At this moment, the bizarre Dragon Race creature known as a Shadow-Stealing Wings was pressing its enormous head firmly to the ground. Its massive body trembled unceasingly, and the pale, cold flames in its eyes flickered violently, filled with fear and submission.
Lin Ye’s gaze sharpened.
He had understood that shriek.
It wasn’t a cry of anger from a failed attack, but rather...
A panicked apology for having offended a superior!
It was the suppression of his Dragonkin bloodline.
With a thought, Lin Ye opened his mouth, and a string of obscure, ancient, yet majestic syllables spilled from his lips.
It was pure Draconic.
Hearing this familiar language, the Shadow-Stealing Wings was visibly stunned. Then, a hint of surprise and sycophancy flickered within the two pale flames on its enormous draconic head.
Almost simultaneously, a system notification popped up before Lin Ye’s eyes.
[Ding! The Shadow-Stealing Wings Lektorn has accepted your Master-Servant Contract and become your minion!]
Even Lin Ye himself was a little surprised.
He had just used Draconic to tentatively offer two choices.
—"Submit, or die."
—"Submit to me, and you will gain eternal life."
He hadn’t expected the creature to choose submission without the slightest hesitation.
’Is its will really that weak?’
Confirming that the Dragon Race creature before him no longer held any hostility, Lin Ye spoke again in Draconic, asking about its species and origins.
And so, in the dead silence of the ancient city, one man and one dragon began to communicate without barriers.
This scene was also witnessed by all the examiners in the conference room.
"Wait... what is he doing?"
𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
"Is he chatting with that monster?"
"Can he actually... be communicating with a dragon?!"
Sun Lie was stunned for a long moment, then slapped the shoulder of Yan Che beside him. "Ah Che, see that? Now you know how important it is to master a foreign language, don’t you?"
Yan Che rolled his eyes, his expression blank.
Yi Jiugao’s expression, however, grew incredibly grave. "In all likelihood... they truly are communicating."
...
Before long, Lin Ye had obtained a great deal of new information from the Shadow-Stealing Wings named Lektorn.
Lektorn was over three hundred and twenty years old. For a species like the Shadow-Stealing Wings, which has an average lifespan of 330 years, he had already entered his twilight years.
The world of the Dragon Race is one of strict hierarchy.
If you come from a prominent background, your family will fulfill its duty to care for you in your old age.
But if your origins are humble, old age typically ends in only one way—being driven out of the dragon flight by younger, stronger kin to fend for yourself and die in the perilous wilderness.
Lektorn’s background wasn’t actually bad. His father had been a Centurion in their clan, with a distinguished military record.
He had thought he would be able to live out his final years in peace. He never imagined that his most trusted second-in-command—a close friend he had grown up with—would collude with outside enemies to seize the wealth he had amassed over a lifetime and his position within the clan.
In a brutal ambush, his father died protecting him. He himself was gravely injured, yet after the battle, he was framed for "colluding with outside enemies and causing the death of the Centurion," and was personally exiled from the clan by that same dear friend.
Before meeting Lin Ye, he had wandered these ruins for several years—starving, old, and frail. He was only a step away from true death.
No wonder...
After hearing his story, Lin Ye understood.
For an old dragon who had been betrayed, exiled, left with nothing, and was on the verge of death, an opportunity that offered both sanctuary and eternal life was indeed impossible to refuse.
Lin Ye looked at Lektorn, who was prostrated on the ground, not even daring to meet his gaze. In a majestic and cold Draconic tongue, he spoke slowly.
"From this day forward, you will no longer grow old, and you will no longer know hunger."
"I will give you the power for revenge, allowing you to reclaim everything that is yours with your own hands."
"You will become the new leader of your clan."
"You will be grateful that today... you pledged yourself to me."
The moment his voice fell.
Lektorn suddenly felt a vast, boundless life force surge into his old, decrepit body—a body that had been on the verge of collapse—like a cataclysmic flood!
His withered flesh rapidly filled out, and his feeble aura soared!
Even the exhaustion deep in his soul, born from the passage of years, was being swiftly washed away and purified by this warm energy!
At the same time, a frenzied, bloodthirsty power filled with the desire for destruction flowed from the other end of the contract and merged with his soul!
[Frenzy]!
Lektorn could feel that, whenever he wished, he could call upon this power to double his combat strength for a short period of time!
’This is... a miracle!’