Chapter 503: Insight and Injuries

He watched from afar as the dragon silhouette flew off.

Rod stood up from the collapsed hill, gasping hard for a big breath of air.

He had no intention of chasing again.

Although under his fierce assault, the black dragon's wings had taken some damage, and its flight speed had dropped somewhat.

But that body size was still far too outrageous for a human, like an overloaded dump truck — definitely impossible to hold back.

"Damn, good thing I had the Star Realm Ambusher's War Soul skill, saved me a few hits."

Rod grimaced, bore the pain, and plopped himself down on his backside.

A large patch on his chest had been corroded by strong acid into red, swollen burns, and was slightly sunken; his body was covered in various contusions from massive impacts and lacerations of varying depths from dragon claws.

He looked utterly miserable.

But that was only on the surface.

The Dragon Scale Art reinforced by the Guardian Domain had still saved his life; although Black Dragon Mikhail's attacks were defensive, the damage wasn't too deep.

Under the dual healing of the Plague Domain and the Verdant Domain, he'd probably be fully recovered within half a day.

This could be considered one of those rare overload-level battles.

"Still, it's not like there were no gains."

Rod looked with great interest at the new message on his panel:

【【Insight Demon Eye】 Inner Insight successfully activated】

【"... Can't keep fighting, this place is too close to Coral Bay***

What kind of defense is this? Not even dead from this??

Damnable! This pink flame can actually knock off dragon scales! Do you have any idea how expensive it is to repair dragon scales?!

My treasury was mostly spent repairing the dragon scales on my head, I can't take more injuries! Right, although my own treasury is empty, Red Dragon Narth's still has plenty, most of the dark elves' payment is with him, so... forget it, I can't beat him."】

If it were only these few lines, Rod wouldn't have been that interested.

Most importantly, when Black Dragon Mikhail mentioned the treasury, he also recalled the locations of both his own and Red Dragon Narth's treasuries.

The gold-hoarding spots of two giant dragons!

A classic trope from dragon-slaying picture-books and stories — emptying out a giant dragon's treasury!

Who would've thought.

That this kind of good fortune would finally land on me.

Rod could no longer be bothered by the severe muscle spasms wracking his body, and excitedly stood up again.

But the devastation that met his eyes quickly cooled the blood in his veins.

The plains were covered everywhere with massive craters, scorched-black marks, and the lingering acidic mist of dragon breath.

Broken dragon scales, dragon blood pooling on the ground and steaming.

The air was thick with a sharp, acrid-bitter and burnt smell.

Rod was fine, but an ordinary person would probably face life-threatening danger just from inhaling the acidic mist here.

This place was also too close to human villages.

"I'll wait until later to absorb some with 【Abyssal Throat】."

After all, there were too many people during the day.

Even now, he could see some bold villagers in the distance already starting to approach.

He immediately waved them off and shouted them away.

Among them were a few young girls; the moment they saw Rod, their gazes all dropped downward at the same time.

Then their cheeks all flushed red at once, and they squealed in embarrassment as they fled.

"Mm..."

Although that giant dragon had left, a different giant dragon had been exposed to the open air.

Rod awkwardly found by the river the spell satchel he'd flung off before bathing in the strong acid breath, and took out a pair of underpants to put on.

He wouldn't bother with clothes for now.

To avoid them sticking to the mangled flesh on his body, which would make repair difficult.

After waiting to finish collecting the black dragon's broken scales and dragon blood.

Tally, Witch Demia, Banshee Chris, and others hurried over.

Even the only three remaining combat-capable Tier-6 members of the dog-kin squad followed behind.

Tally spotted her master from afar and began waving with a smile, but as she got closer and saw his condition, the smile on her face instantly froze.

Her steps lost their cheer, and her smile vanished.

She just stood there in a daze in front of Rod, blankly surveying the injuries all over his body.

Demia's expression also changed; she hurried over to cast healing spells, and pulled several bottles of magic potions from her spell satchel to pour on him.

Healing spells among mages had always been relatively slow.

It barely took the edge off.

Banshee Chris, still shaken, turned her head to look at the direction the black dragon had flown off.

The three Tier-6 dog-kin showed shock on their faces: "My lord, did you actually drive back the black dragon?!"

To them, seeing someone drive back a black dragon alone with such minor injuries was simply unheard of.

"I heard that a month ago, Shi Ying Town's Forest Warden Rod had successfully repelled an invasion at Coral Bay, along with a black dragon — I've even heard ballads about it."

"Forest Warden Rod — I remember that lord is also named Rod..."

The three looked again at this man who had fought desperately to protect his home; the doubt in their eyes vanished, replaced by a heartful respect and admiration.

Rod waved it off.

Feeling the throbbing pain in his body ease slightly, he sat down on a broken rock and let out another deep breath.

Unlike the three-person dog-kin group, who, because of their own past experiences, subconsciously dismissed this kind of "minor injury."

Of the three girls, aside from Tally, none of them had ever seen Rod get hurt.

Their expressions were, to put it mildly, not pleasant.

"Rod! You went way too far this time! Didn't we agree you'd ambush and run? Why did you have to get tangled up with a giant dragon!"

Witch Di Mi Ya was the most displeased.

Her delicate brows knitted into a knot, the self-reproach and worry in her eyes plain to see. "If I'd known you were going to act this tough, I never would have told you the black dragon's location!"

"The clearing of the Twilight Hills has to be done with sweeping, momentum-breaking force. Only by driving back the black dragon Mihail from the start and comprehensively cutting off the source of his finances can the rest of the plan go smoothly."

"Then what if you're seriously hurt, or die?! If you die, what's the point of any of this? What about Sharon then! I—"

Witch Di Mi Ya's voice faltered, and she stiffly turned her head away.

"Sorry, Rod, I got too worked up."

"Mm, it's my fault. I was too eager to establish an advantage."

Rod smiled, easing the mood.

Hearing someone mention dying triggered the keyword, and Chris drifted over.

She looked her master's injuries up and down, confirming they were nothing serious.

"If you die, Rod, I'll personally wail at your funeral for you."

"... What did you just call me? Think I can't throw a punch at you just because I'm a little hurt?"

"What? I said 'Master,' Master~~"

Rod raised a hand and flicked her on the forehead.

Yet the little creature actually seemed quite pleased, and cheerfully backed away.

Tally, who hadn't spoken until now, came over and draped his arm over her shoulder.

"Let's head back to the forest first. I've already called over that little deer girl and that elven woman to prepare a ritual to examine you."

"That reliable? Rare to see, Tally."

Rod stood up with her, teasing.

But the succubus girl was acting strange—her usual cheerful look was completely gone, and even when he cracked a joke she paid no attention.

No helping it.

He took out the Crystal Swan and cast a group flight spell.

The group drifted off toward the forest.

As for the three dog-kin, they had originally wanted to come along and check on things, but after Rod told them his address he still sent them away—after all, their own two seventh-tier members had just exhausted their spiritual and physical strength, and someone had to keep an eye on them.

Very quickly.

Rod's first experience staying at the treehouse medical station in the Bai Yu district of the forest arrived.

The elf Kalius, the half-deer Miss Xiao Ke, and the spider-turned elf Watching Yuna had long been waiting there.

All three women's faces changed at the sight of him being helped back by Tally in such a sorry state.

Kalius furrowed her brow and hurriedly moved to activate the examination ritual that had long been prepared.

Miss Xiao Ke's small face was taut, tears welling in her eyes over and over, holding them back stubbornly.

Watching Yuna trembled with rage, and upon learning the opponent was indeed the black dragon of Coral Bay, she nearly bit through her own lip.

Rod scratched his head.

Seeing they seemed a bit too tense.

He decided to do a little trick to lighten the mood.

On the spot he did twenty consecutive back handsprings, just as the banshee Chris was clapping and cheering.

Rod's face twisted oddly, blood rushed up, and he spat out a huge mouthful of clotted blood.

In an instant he scared everyone on the scene into total panic.

The scene instantly descended into chaos.

Frantically activating the ritual, scolding him as an idiot, crying and hugging his head while healing him and saying "Mommy's here," and immediately starting to keen at his funeral—everything you could imagine was there.

After a great deal of fussing about.

Kalius confirmed the diagnosis: it was merely clotted blood caused by a powerful shock, and spitting it out was actually a good thing.

But she was still not at ease and forcefully demanded bed rest.

She also ordered that all women were temporarily forbidden from getting intimate with him, including the succubus.

Tally, for once, unusually said nothing, just nodded and said she had backup rations.

To prevent Rod from moving around and doing things like a few more back handsprings, which were too scary.

Watching Yuna could only, tears in her eyes, bind him to the bed with spider silk.

Mm.

This one is truly outrageous, that's for sure.

It wasn't all that serious an injury to begin with, but they insisted on treating him straight from day until dusk.

Miss Xiao Ke overused 【Spirit Light's Embrace】, nearly exhausting her spiritual energy, unable to even stand steady, yet stubbornly refused to leave.

Witch Di Mi Ya, who already felt guilty, was the same.

The banshee Chris was comparatively decisive—once the diagnosis came out she slipped away, and from the direction she went, it looked like she was heading toward Rod's ranger cabin.

In the end it was Kalius who got angry, saying they were obstructing treatment and disturbing the patient's rest, and she drove every last one of them out.

The moment she saw the girls were all gone.

She turned her head and gave Rod a cold smile, a flash of annoyance in her eyes.

"You certainly are bold, going to challenge a giant dragon alone."

Rod gave a bitter smile: "My fault, my fault. I misjudged their strength. I thought I could emerge unscathed, but that old schemer held back a move."

"Black dragons are treacherous, red dragons are arrogant. I told you this. Didn't you know?"

"In the end, the result is still good. Both the black dragon and I are wounded, but his injury is on the most critical part, his wings. This gives us a huge advantage for the upcoming ambush. I knew you've been busy researching spells to counter Tong Dao De Fa, so naturally, I didn't want to disturb you."

Lady Kali continued to scowl and sneer: "You don't need to worry about spell matters. I will do what needs to be done."

Having spoken, she did not wait for Rod's reply.

She turned and left.

The medical station treehouse suddenly fell quiet from the bustle.

Rod looked at the empty room and smiled helplessly.

"Ah, she's angry."

This Young Lady elf in the forest is like this; if she isn't asked for help when something happens, she secretly fumes. This has happened several times before.

She is such a tsundere old soul.

(End of this chapter)