Chapter 503

He watched the dragon's shadow fly away in the distance.

Luo De stood up from the collapsed hill, gasping heavily.

He had no intention of chasing after it again.

Though his relentless assault had damaged the black dragon's wings, reducing its flight speed.

But its size was still absurdly disproportionate to a human—like an overloaded dump truck, impossible to stop.

"Damn, lucky I had the Shadow Ambusher's soul skill—saved me from a few hits."

Luo De winced, gritting his teeth as he sat down hard.

A large patch of his chest was corroded into swollen, burned flesh, slightly sunken, with various bruises from massive impacts and deep, uneven claw wounds across his body.

He looked utterly horrific.

But it was only on the surface.

The Dragon Scale technique, reinforced by his Defense Domain, had saved his life—Mikhail's attacks, though fierce, hadn't pierced too deeply.

With dual-domain healing from the Plague Domain and the Grass Domain, he'd likely heal within half a day.

This was one of the rare overexertion battles.

"But it wasn't without gains."

Luo De glanced curiously at the new message on his panel:

【【Insight Demon Eye】—Inner Insight activated successfully】

【"I can't keep fighting—this place is too close to Coral Bay***

What kind of defense is this? Still alive??

Damn it! This pink flame actually knocked off my scales! Don't you know how expensive it is to repair dragon scales!

I've spent most of my treasury just fixing the scales on my head—I can't afford more injuries! Wait, my treasury is empty, but Nas's red dragon treasury still has plenty—most of the dark elf payment is stored with him… maybe… no, forget it, I can't beat him."】

If it were just these lines, Luo De wouldn't have been interested.

The most important part was that Mikhail, while mentioning his treasury, involuntarily recalled the locations of both his own and Nas's treasuries.

The hiding places of two great dragons!

The classic trope from dragon-slaying tales: emptying a dragon's hoard!

Who would've thought?

This kind of luck finally came my way.

Ignoring the sharp muscle cramps, Luo De jumped up again, excited.

But the devastation before his eyes quickly cooled his blood.

The plains were littered with massive craters, charred traces, and drifting clouds of dragon-breath acid mist.

Shattered dragon scales, dragon blood steaming on the ground.

The air reeked of sharp, bitter acid and burnt flesh.

Luo De was fine, but any ordinary human inhaling this acid mist would be in mortal danger.

And it was too close to human villages.

"I'll use the Abyssal Maw to absorb some later."

After all, too many people around during the day.

Even now, he saw a few bold villagers slowly approaching from afar.

He immediately waved them off and shouted them away.

Among them were several young girls who, upon seeing Luo De, all looked down at once.

Then their cheeks flushed red, and they shrieked in embarrassment before fleeing.

"Hmm."

Though the great dragon had left, another great dragon was now exposed to the air.

Luo De awkwardly found his spell satchel, flung into the river before he'd bathed in the acidic breath, and pulled on his underwear.

He'd leave the rest of his clothes off for now.

To avoid them sticking to his ruined flesh and making healing harder.

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

Tally, the witch Dimea, and the banshee Chris hurried over.

Even the three remaining six-rank canine warriors from the pack followed behind.

Tally spotted her master from afar and began waving with a smile—but as she drew closer and saw his condition, her smile froze.

Her steps lost their cheer, her face lost its joy.

She walked over, dazed, staring blankly at his wounds.

Dimea's expression changed instantly; she rushed over, casting healing spells and pulling out several vials of magical potions from her satchel to pour onto him.

Healing spells among mages were always slow.

Not painful, not soothing.

The banshee Chris, still shaken, turned to look at where the black dragon had flown away.

The three six-rank canine warriors stared in shock: "My lord, did you repel the black dragon?!"

To them, a single person repelling a dragon with such minor injuries was unheard of.

"I heard that a month ago, the forest warden Luo De from Shiying Village successfully repelled an incursion from Coral Bay—alongside a black dragon—and there's even a folk song about it."

"Forest warden Luo De—I remember this lord is also Luo De."

They looked again at this man who had fought desperately to protect his home; their skepticism vanished, replaced entirely by respect and admiration.

Luo De waved his hand.

Feeling the muscle pain ease slightly, he sat on a broken rock and took another deep breath.

Unlike the three canine warriors, who, due to their own experiences, instinctively dismissed such "minor" injuries,

the three girls—aside from Tally—had never seen Luo De injured before.

Their expressions were far from pleasant.

"Luo De! You went too far this time! Didn't we agree to strike and run? Why did you fight a dragon?!"

Dimea was the most upset.

Her delicate brows knotted, her eyes filled with guilt and worry: "If I'd known you'd be this reckless, I never would've told you where the black dragon was!"

"The cleanup of Dusk Hills must be swift and overwhelming—only by driving back Mikhail at the start can we fully cut off his financial resources; only then can the rest of the plan proceed."

"But what if you're gravely injured—or dead?! If you die, what's the point of all this… what about Sharen?! I—"

Dimea's voice caught; she stiffly turned her head away.

"Sorry, Luo De—I got too emotional."

"Hmm, it's my fault—I was too eager to gain the upper hand."

Luo De smiled, easing the tension.

Hearing the keyword triggered, Chris floated over.

She scanned her master's injuries, confirmed they were just as bad as they looked.

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

". What did you call me? Do you think I'm injured and can't punch you?"

"What? I said master—master~~"

Luo De flicked her on the forehead.

The girl actually seemed pleased, grinning as she skipped backward.

Tally, who had said nothing until now, stepped closer and slung his arm over her shoulder.

"Let's go back to the forest—I've already told the deer girl and the elf woman to prepare a check-up ritual for you."

"That reliable? Rare for you, Tally."

Luo De stood up with her, teasing.

But the succubus girl was strange—her usual cheerful grin was gone, and she ignored his joke.

No choice.

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

Everyone floated swiftly toward the forest.

As for the three canine warriors, they'd wanted to follow and check on the situation, but after Luo De gave them his address, he sent them off—they needed to rest, since their own two seven-ranks had just exhausted their spirit and strength.

Soon.

Luo De's first experience staying at the forest's Baiyu district treehouse medical station arrived.

The elf Kali Site, the half-deer Xiao Ke, and the arachne elf You Na had already been waiting.

All three women's faces paled at the sight of Luo De, supported by Tally.

Kali Site frowned and immediately activated the pre-prepared examination ritual.

Xiao Ke's face was tight, tears swirling in her eyes but stubbornly held back.

You Na trembled with rage; upon learning the attacker was the Coral Bay black dragon, she nearly bit her lip bloody.

Luo De scratched his head.

He noticed they were overly tense.

So he decided to lighten the mood.

Right then, he performed twenty consecutive backflips—just as the banshee Chris clapped and cheered.

Luo De's expression twisted as his blood surged; he spat out a mouthful of clotted blood.

Instantly, everyone in the room was thrown into chaos.

The scene erupted into utter disorder.

Some frantically activated the ritual, others cursed him a fool, some wept while cradling his head, chanting "Mom's here" as they treated him, and soon others began wailing as if at a funeral—everything imaginable.

They bustled about for a long while.

Kali Site diagnosed him: it was merely clotted blood from a violent shock; spitting it out had actually helped.

But she still wasn't reassured, and forcibly ordered him to rest.

She also banned all women from intimate contact with him, including succubi.

Tally unusually said nothing, only nodded and mentioned she had backup rations.

To prevent Luo De from moving, she even mentioned some kind of "reverse binding spells"—too terrifying.

Yuna could only, with tears, bind him to the bed with silk threads.

Hmm.

This guy's truly insubordinate.

His injury wasn't serious at all, yet they insisted on treating him nonstop from morning until evening.

Xiao Ke overused 【Light Spirit's Protection】, nearly draining her spiritual essence; she could barely stand but refused to leave.

Dimia, already burdened by guilt, did the same.

The Banshee Krist was more straightforward: after the diagnosis, she slipped away, heading in the direction of Luo De's forest guard cabin.

Finally, Kali Site grew angry, accusing them of obstructing treatment and disturbing the patient's rest, and drove them all out one by one.

As soon as she saw the girls had all left,

she turned to Luo De with a cold sneer, a flicker of irritation in her eyes.

"You're quite the hero, going off alone to challenge a dragon."

Luo De smiled bitterly: "My bad—I misjudged the opponent's strength. I thought I could take him unscathed, but that old sneak had a trick up his sleeve."

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

"But in the end, it worked out: both I and the black dragon were wounded—he took the worst hit, right in the wings. That gives us a big advantage for the ambush later. I knew you've been busy researching spells to counter the Hell Gate, so I didn't want to disturb you."

Kali Site kept her scowl and sneered: "Don't worry about my spells—I'll do what needs doing."

Without waiting for Luo De's reply,

she turned and left.

The medical treehouse fell silent, emptied of its earlier bustle.

Luo De looked at the empty room and sighed wryly.

"Ah, she's mad again."

This elven girl in the forest always sulks when you don't ask her for help—she's done it several times before.

Such a stubborn brat.

(End of Chapter)