Chapter 779 - 766: The Only Mission
The old dwarf mage spread out his shadow like a thin black blanket, wrapping it around Bado and a few other surviving dwarves, slowly dragging them away from the Blue Dragon.
Azra’s dragon eyes didn’t even flicker in that direction, as all its attention was focused on the black figure atop the mountain.
"What’s this?" Azra’s voice carried a hint of tension, "The so-called strongest dragon, playing the game of sitting back and reaping the spoils?"
The giant dragon lay prone on the rocky ridge at the mountain top, its dragon eyes half open, wings folded at its sides, not posing an aggressive stance. "I just felt the dragon struggle here and came to take a look."
"Take a look?" Azra’s dragon face showed unabashed doubt.
The giant dragon ignored its expression.
"Have you encountered Svirgis?"
"Which Svirgis? Ah—!" Azra was momentarily taken aback, then suddenly realized, with dragon eyes slightly narrowed, "You mean that Dragon Man who’s always following behind you?"
"Have you seen her?"
"No, but..." It bared its mouth, revealing a full mouth of sharp white fangs, "Such a weak creature, daring to meddle in a dragon struggle, probably already dead at someone’s claw."
The giant dragon didn’t refute; it lowered its eyelids as if losing interest in the topic, then propped up its forelegs, dragon wings slowly spread, ready to fly away.
"Do you still intend to protect that waste in this dragon struggle?" Azra suddenly spoke again, its voice full of mockery and teasing, "Even though Silvia is already dead."
The giant dragon’s movements stopped abruptly, its previously half-open dragon eyes widened sharply, pupils contracting into a thin slit.
At the last moment, the dragon wings fully spread, shading the entire setting sun.
The next instant, the Black Dragon plummeted down the mountain peak like a meteor!
Azra lifted its head, opening its gigantic mouth, gathering an electric dragon breath at its throat.
Yet before the dragon breath could be unleashed, a black claw had already gripped Azra’s dragon mouth.
The electric dragon breath exploded inside the Blue Dragon’s throat, a dull boom echoed from its neck, lightning shot out from between the scales.
If it weren’t for the Blue Dragon’s natural high resistance to lightning, this alone would’ve been enough to sear its entire neck.
The giant dragon pressed Azra’s head, slamming it fiercely into the mountain wall. The Black Dragon’s roar exploded from the dust, causing the forest within several miles to tremble.
"How dare you, use such a frivolous tone, to call Mother’s name directly!"
"What if I call her by name?" Azra, pressed into the rubble, scales shattered, blood at the corner of its mouth, showed no sign of yielding.
It turned those golden slit eyes, staring directly at the black giant dragon pressing down on its head: "You’re the stupidest among us! Just as stupid as your underling!"
"Mother? Hahaha!" Its laugh mixed with bloody foam, squeezed out from the throat, sharp and piercing, "You call her Mother, but did she ever see you as a child? In her eyes, we’re merely a group who whimsically appeared by her side, no different from those Kobold servants in our nest!"
"What mother, child? Our only mission as Giant Dragons is to become the next generation of Ancient Dragons!" Azra articulated each word. "Only you would truly think of her as some kind of mother."
"Ha... cough cough... come, kill me. Become an Ancient Dragon. Then spend all your time after, entangled in these ridiculous and boring thoughts!"
Just as Azra closed its dragon eyes waiting for death, the dragon claw on its head suddenly released.
Azra showed not the slightest gratitude: "What? You couldn’t possibly be so weak you can’t even finish me off, right? That wouldn’t be worthy of becoming an Ancient Dragon."
The giant dragon retreated a step, raised its head, looking down at the scarred Blue Dragon.
"A dragon struggle should select the strongest giant dragon, I will give you time to recover your wounds for a fair battle. However, you must promise, if you encounter Svirgis, leave her to me, I want to personally kill her. Otherwise, die here."
"Hmph, as you wish." Having barely escaped with its life, Azra took two steps back, met the giant dragon’s gaze again, then spread its tattered dragon wings, flew toward the distant horizon, its figure growing smaller, soon swallowed by the dusk.
After Azra left, the giant dragon glanced toward the mountain forest, similarly spread its wings and flew in another direction.
In the mountain forest, within a temporary barrier that could blur light, the old mage’s hand holding the magic staff was still slightly trembling.
That Blue Dragon alone had left him unable to muster any thought of resistance, let alone the Black Dragon; he had never seen such powerful creatures appear simultaneously before him in his life.
Not until those two monsters finally both flew away, did he slowly exhale, as if expelling all the accumulated fear from his heart.
Only then did he hastily take out healing potions, pouring them into the mouths of Bado and other severely injured dwarves, the potion trickling down their scorched throats, causing some to reflexively cough, while others showed no response.
The situation was dire.
Aside from the three lightly wounded dwarves whose faces showed slight improvement, the others, including Bado, were steadily slipping towards death.
Their heavily injured bodies were like leaky hot air balloons; even though the healing potion slightly replenished them, it couldn’t compete with the leaking speed and only served to delay death.
"No way!" The old mage stood up, pacing back and forth, "I need to find something else to aid the healing, or else none of them will survive."
He suddenly stood still, recalling something—on the other side of this mountain, there was a recently cleared Fungal Mat!
Though cleared, given the Fungal Mat’s consistent resilience, it might not have been cleaned thoroughly, perhaps a new patch already grew.
He knew well enough the fierce debate over Fungal Mats and mycelium parasitism raging in the mountains.
Also aware if Bado got parasitized by mycelium, it might trigger some deadly chain reactions.
But that was all in the future, better than watching Bado die here!
He waved the magic staff, his shadow lengthened, rewrapping several severely injured dwarves and dragging them toward that Fungal Mat’s direction.
...
Bang—!
"Base... despicable..."
A certain dragon’s unwilling roar dragged out a long tail, echoing through the ruins-transformed arena, its shattered dragon body heavily slammed onto the debris-strewn ground, splashing up a flurry of ice shards.
Its eyes were still wide open, yet the pupils had already lost focus, reflecting the ice dome overhead.
Among the ruins, Xiao Hai emerged clutching his head, which had a few more bumps, tears pooling in his eyes, blinking them back without letting them fall.
No. 7 led a group of delicious Puki from all directions, jumping a victory dance around Xiao Hai.
After dancing a little while, No. 7 eagerly stood at the forefront.
Norris, once again rescued, "deeply grateful," handed over a pile of silver scales.
Xiao Hai sniffled, forcing back the tears about to spill out.
She puffed up her chest, paws on hips, dragon tail lifted high, striking a pose of "the boss has got your back."
Norris, seeing that exaggerated dignified pose, understood he would be staying in Sister Hei’s Mushroom House for a few days, listening to her snores, sometimes getting awoken by her tail slaps.
Elsewhere, Lin Jun was pleasantly surprised by Xiao Hai’s growth.
The progress on this dragon’s Ancient Dragon Path wasn’t low, already halfway there.
He thought Xiao Hai would need at least three or four rounds, didn’t expect it to be done in just two.
Seems the further it progresses, the less impact the base value differences have?
A good thing, raising an Ancient Dragon is now within reach.
The only slight regret is, the enhancement from the Ancient Dragon Path doesn’t include intelligence; Xiao Hai still remained the same silly self—couldn’t remember paths, confused gemstones with glass, occasionally awkwardly walking while holding her tail.
But, it doesn’t seem all that bad.
Looking outside, everyone was anxious, worried, struggling for the impending apocalypse, only Xiao Hai truly enjoyed every day.
Lin Jun also wished he could be this happy every day...
Thinking this, Lin Jun unconsciously shifted his gaze to the Sword Saint.
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