Chapter 502: Black Dragon and the Return Battle

Luo De ignored her act, coldly pushing her away.

The forest's reputation can't be ruined by this guy—last time's promotional scam is still joked about to this day.

"I said, then it's mine."

Chris didn't care.

Grinning.

Buying meat to stick to? Losing a little for a future commercial skyscraper's assist dagger? More than worth it.

Besides, I've already been completely drained by this dog-man—over and over again, cycle after cycle.

Where hasn't he been? Front, back, top, middle—everywhere?

I've even tried three straight days of blissful consciousness—losing to this man isn't a loss at all!

Luo De snorted, snatching the dagger away.

"I said I won't give it to you—this thing brings nothing but harm. I'll just destroy it."

"Pfft, destroy it if you can—it's got the 【Durability】 property!"

Before she finished speaking.

Luo De activated the artifact he'd found among the Tree Realm's gray squirrel's gift: 【Rust Ring】.

Dark red energy flickered, coiling around the dagger's blade like a venomous snake.

At first, the dagger resisted—the emerald glow flickered faintly, trying to repel the rust's corrosion.

But soon, the dark red energy gained the upper hand; brown specks began appearing on the dagger's surface.

The specks spread rapidly, like a plague spreading wildly.

As the rust intensified, the dagger emitted faint "click-click" sounds, its blade gradually crumbling into rusted fragments.

Chris opened her mouth in shock.

Realizing what happened, she pouted, crying out: "Wasted!!"

Luo De didn't care.

This guy himself admitted he sensed the 【Black Dragon Calamity】 energy in a fragile balance, with a hidden timed explosion ritual.

Why keep it?

But 【Black Dragon】…

There's only one Black Dragon in the Twilight Hills: Black Dragon Mikhail.

Whatever—any mention of 【Black Dragon】 or its legends, Luo De assumed was Mikhail's doing. Who cares if it's really him?

And the fact that the witch Dimea's 【Dragon Sensing】 had been triggered.

Luo De had basically guessed it was Mikhail behind it.

There are only two dragons here.

Generally, red dragons are pure, arrogant battle maniacs—they charge in and blast you with a breath right away.

They're supremely confident in their power, viewing other races like ants. Unlike green dragons, who play mind games even with ordinary humans, red dragons don't bother with tricks.

Of course, they're not fools.

When they can't win, they start thinking.

From Coral Bay and Shi Ying Town's standpoint:

Only that cunning, cruel Black Dragon would do something like spying or manipulating the weak.

Luo De had specifically studied the Black Dragon's habits.

These chromatic dragons are infamous for cruelty—they love torturing prey and enemies. They kill not just for survival, but for pleasure.

The fate of these dog-people perfectly matched its tastes.

Luo De speculated.

They were likely targeted from the start—not Dimea the witch of Shi Ying Town, but these dog-people themselves.

Luo De looked again toward the dog-people.

After the dagger's destruction, Dog-man Micky showed little change.

Whether genuine or the influence couldn't be removed, he kept muttering hatred and disgust toward his companions.

They'd escaped together from some unknown demonic lair, seeing each other as closest kin.

Physical torment had passed; a new wave of psychological trauma now began to wound them.

You could see them secretly wiping away tears.

"Heh."

Luo De laughed bitterly.

Black Dragon Mikhail, huh?

Nearby, Witch Dimea, who'd been distractedly strengthening her 【Dragon Sensing】, saw the scene and her face softened with pity.

The six dog-people's wounds were simply too horrific and terrifying; their huddled crying made it unbearable.

She suddenly froze, looking at Luo De:

"Found it."

Hansen River.

It begins at Ke's Plain, cuts through Claw Valley and the Twilight Hills, then flows into the Monster Sea from the south of Coral Bay.

Before its main branch merges with the ocean, dozens of tributaries branch off, supplying freshwater to towns and villages across the Twilight Hills.

One of these tributaries, near the central Twilight Hills, passed through a village named Kelaimengte with only a hundred or so residents.

As the dust storm lessened and the river's ice layer slowly melted,

villagers all gathered along its edge—drawing water, smashing ice.

Boom—

Suddenly, an unprecedented roar approached from afar, like a sudden thunderclap, drawing everyone's attention.

People looked up in shock.

A shimmering streak of spirit pierced the sky—an indistinct figure slashed across the heavens at an unbelievable speed, leaving a long trail, then plunged straight into the river ten miles ahead of the village.

Plop.

The water exploded violently, sending up massive waves mixed with still-frozen ice chunks.

Fortunately, the village gathering area was far enough away to avoid any damage.

Villagers stared at each other, still stunned even after the water calmed.

Next moment.

A deafening dragon roar exploded!

The water surged violently, rupturing into a vast cavity.

A massive tail, covered in deep black scales, lashed out from the water, slicing open a huge gash in the riverbank.

"Forest Warden Luo De!! This has nothing to do with you!! I haven't even settled the score with you yet!!"

The deep roar carried hatred and fury.

At the same time.

"Come at me then—no one's stopping you."

Luo De was struck by immense force, crossing his arms and recoiling violently, bursting through the water's surface before landing steadily.

The Dragon-Slaying Greatsword emerged from his spell satchel.

Nah, better save it—for a bigger surprise later.

For now, she's still our mascot: 【Sacrificial Sword】, but with black-gold coating.

He stretched his aching arms.

Dragon strength really isn't fake—just now, taking that underwater slap head-on, he'd compared: stronger than him, but nowhere near incomprehensible power.

After all, 510 Ke intensity—even though Luo De had just broken through Daguan to 400 Ke a few days ago—he still lagged by 110 Ke.

Just a size advantage.

Spirit Warriors are easily suppressed by size.

Mages aren't affected at all.

At the same time.

Plop—the Black Dragon Mikhail spread his wings and burst from the water.

The flapping wind surged violently.

A waterfall of foul, acidic breath poured down.

Worse—this breath was far stronger than last time, likely doubled, nearly tripled in power!

Fuck! This sneaky black dragon hid his strength last time!

"Shit!"

If he'd still relied on last time's estimate, Luo De would've been in deep trouble.

Luckily, he hadn't stood still either.

【Dragon Scale Technique +4】!

【Spirit Armor】, 【Energy Resistance】, 【Eckri's Protective Film】, 【Green Emerald Energy Shield】!!

Defense Domain—rise!

I'm just gonna tank it straight!

Then—【Yudian's Ice Blade Domain】—freeze it all!

Hmm. Well, that's impossible.

The breath's power is too great, and strong acid is inherently difficult to freeze; Luo De's 【Yudian's Ice Blade Domain】 is still far from powerful.

Fortunately, the 【Dragon Scale Technique】 held.

The sixteen defensive spells that came forward were shattered almost instantly.

The domain skill of the Defensive Domain: 【Defensive Overlap】.

【Details: When casting two or more defensive skills on yourself, trigger the 'Defensive' effect; when any defensive skill is breached, all remaining defensive skills gain a 3% boost to their effect (scaling with authority), stackable.】

Stacked sixteen layers, a total boost of 48%!!

Almost half!

"Roar!!!"

Amid the shocked and furious roar of the black dragon Mihail, Luo De braved the breath, his clothing utterly destroyed, and successfully leaped before him.

Activate 【Insight Demon Eye】!

In an instant, invisible threads flowed, guiding Luo De to notice the vulnerable soft scales at the wing membrane junction.

Locked on!

【Power Liberation 500%】【Strike Burst】【Dragon Special Attack +9】【Forceful Attack +1】.

After 【Black Gold Coating】, add +2 to the body-sword skill, 【Emotional Resonance +2】【Heart Flame Coating +2】.

The black-golden sword began to ooze a flickering, starlike spiritual energy and heart flame from its spine, rapidly spreading across the entire blade.

Then, the 【Hate Pain Fire】 infected the heart flame, swiftly transforming it into billowing pink-purple wrathful fire.

The black dragon Mihail's vertical pupils contracted into needles.

He never imagined that within such a short time, this forest warden had grown so much stronger!!

"【Twenty-Four Flashes】!!"

The Aitheron Flash, forcibly elevated to twenty-four flashes by 【Strike Burst】, completed twenty-four blazing sword flashes in an instant.

All struck the vulnerable soft scales at the right wing membrane junction!

Broke the dragon scales again—dragon blood sprayed across his face.

The black dragon screamed in agony, rearing its head!

Its massive claw became a blur and struck Luo De midair, where he had no footing.

Boom!

He was shot into the ground like a cannonball, instantly erupting a cloud of dust.

Dust without injury, that's fine.

Luo De reacted swiftly, laughing wildly as he rose to his feet.

He faced again the dragon's furious dive!

Crackling—

Crackling—

The black-gold sword clashed furiously with dragon scales—a brutal melee of pure physical combat!

But domain skills consume enormous energy.

Luo De constantly maintained the 【Defensive Overlap】 state, his spiritual energy draining rapidly, yet being replenished furiously by 【Grass Domain】, 【Tree's Blessing】, and 【Second Heart】.

His muscles and internal organs were slightly cramping.

No ordinary person could fight like this without regard for depletion!

But this was still a great dragon; in the overwhelming disparity of power, Luo De was clearly at a disadvantage in direct combat.

The dragon scales were factory-original, their strength absurdly high.

Without using wrathful fire or the Sky's enlargement blessing, direct impact simply couldn't break through.

But then again.

Thanks to the 【Insight Demon Eye】.

Luo De could often find relatively softer scales on the dragon's body, delivering heavy blows without revealing his full strength.

The black dragon Mihail was extremely sensitive to pain, frequently howling in agony.

Moreover, this location was far from Coral Bay, and he feared reinforcements.

Gradually, he was the first to consider retreating.

After another tail swipe flung Luo De away, he turned and flapped his bloodied right wing upward into the sky.

And just as Luo De was struck.

The 【Insight Demon Eye】 activated its "insight into the heart" effect for the first time.

A fascinating piece of information flooded his mind.

(End of Chapter)

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