Chapter 510: Disguise and Cooperation

The halfling girl froze for a moment, puzzled: "War Soul? Isn't that a land naga thing?"

Lili had never seen Rod use a War Soul skill, so she wasn't familiar with it either.

Rod decided to demonstrate it directly.

But in the shadows, space was limited.

So he only demonstrated the smaller Star Realm Ambusher War Soul.

As blue-white mist drifted, a Star Realm Ambusher phantom — pitch-black all over, muscles knotted, arms thicker than its waist — flashed past behind him.

Then he called upon the domain power of the Camouflage Domain and wrapped it around the phantom.

The phantom thus became solid and real.

"Oh!"

Lili's eyes lit up. "So cool!"

Chris frowned, expressing a different aesthetic sensibility: "Cool? What's cool about this big bald guy's muscle bumps?"

Having said that.

She pinched Rod's shoulder hard and pleaded, "Can we stop playing, Master? Just go along with Lili's suggestion and wait for him to leave first!"

The halfling girl's personality was always a bit closer to a boy's, so she didn't care about aesthetic commentary.

Then, turning to Rod in confusion, she said, "I remember War Souls came about because of the land naga's unique spiritual circulation — humans shouldn't be able to succeed at it!"

"I can't figure it out either."

Rod spread his hands.

It wasn't that he didn't want to teach.

This thing was a shared skill.

Just like 【Second Heart】, there was no way he could teach it.

"Maybe it's a personal constitution thing. War Souls are even cooler than I imagined — I want one too. Rod, can you let me study it later?"

"Of course."

Seeing him agree without the slightest hesitation, Lili's smile bloomed like a flower.

Then she immediately got back to the main point:

"A War Soul plus the Camouflage Domain is indeed similar enough, but it only works on yourself. A huge creature landing on the ground — every word and action affects its surroundings: wind direction, the tremor of its weight on the ground, the breath of its speech, and so on. The Camouflage Domain can't make up for that side of things."

Although she didn't know what Rod was planning, she still gave her opinion.

"Mm, true."

"I know an ancient spell called 【Phantom Dragon】 that can create a giant phantom dragon. Its appearance and behavior are no different from a real dragon — it can even breathe dragon breath or lash its tail, dealing real damage. Combined with that, it would be perfect. Too bad I don't know this spell."

Lili said apologetically.

Hearing this, Rod smiled: "No worries, I know an elven mage — if there's a spell you don't know, she's the one to find."

"... Lady Kali?"

Saying so.

Rod cast a 【Far Whisper Chain】, pulling Lady Kali and Lili in together.

And directly asked inside about the relevant spell.

The knowledgeable elven young lady did not disappoint the two of them — as if she didn't need to think, she laid out the spell's key points and operational details in full.

This completely astonished Lili.

Then she spent five minutes learning the spell.

Rod: "?"

This was a spell that nearly reached the eighth tier — just listening to it made Rod's head spin.

You two

How are other mages supposed to survive?

Fortunately, the black dragon Mikhail wasn't satisfied with just one trap; after a flurry of busywork, he did manage to buy them time.

Rod didn't summon the War Soul right away.

He simply used the Camouflage Domain to blur his appearance, becoming an ordinary-looking man.

After leaping out of the shadows.

He swaggered across the hard rock ground, not bothering to hide the sound of his footsteps at all.

Clip-clop — clip-clop —

So brazen that even the black dragon Mikhail ahead, absorbed in making acid traps, didn't notice him at first.

Rod felt a little awkward.

He could only clear his throat lightly through those eighteen dragon puppets.

The black dragon Mikhail jerked his head up, wariness and shock flashing through his slit pupils.

He stared, uncertain, at the human walking out from inside the red dragon Narse's vault, and instinctively began gathering an acid breath.

Planning to spray this person dead first, no matter what.

As for the red dragon Narse's questioning later.

He'd just say this person had entered the vault intending to ambush, and he, the black dragon Mikhail, had happened to spot him. With Narse's big brother's safety on his mind, he'd had no choice but to act on the spot — trespassing into the forbidden palace.

Although doing so would leave plenty of suspicious points, there really was no other way.

Rod naturally saw the fellow's movements across the way and cursed under his breath.

Then he said calmly and coldly, "Before you make a move on me, you'd better weigh your chances."

Saying so.

Under the effect of 【Judian's Ice Blade Domain】, the ground suddenly exploded with a massive burst of frost.

The air suddenly froze, the temperature plummeting.

The ancient white dragon's war soul and the disguise domain were deployed together.

The halfling Lily covertly coordinated from the shadows, casting 【Phantom Dragon】.

Then came a thunderous boom, the ground began to tremble, and fine shards of ice condensed from the void, suspended in midair like stars.

A colossal white dragon, towering like a mountain, was exposed to the air, every scale carved as if from glacial ice, refracting a dazzling cold light.

The airflow within the lair underwent a tremendous change at this moment.

Its icy, deep-set eyes radiated a ghostly majesty, and the overwhelming dragon's might pressed down upon the black dragon Mikhail like a physical force.

"A white dragon?!"

Mikhail was dumbstruck, instantly intimidated by the massive frame of the white dragon before him.

Dragons are creatures that make their living by sheer size.

Big is good, good is big—an eternal, unchanging truth of theirs.

Facing a white dragon that outclassed him in size.

Mikhail, who never favored frontal combat to begin with, would be a fool to entertain any thought of continuing the attack.

If he couldn't take it down, the red dragon Narth would find out; if he could take it down, then

Taking it down was absolutely impossible! The moment he struck, it would mean making an enemy of another white dragon.

And the red dragon Narth might not even fully believe his word!

When the time came, he'd have to face two dragons!

The black dragon's tail restlessly slapped the ground.

Unsolvable!

Rod realized his hesitation.

He immediately struck while the iron was hot.

He deliberately infused his voice with the dignity of dragonkind, and employed the derivative skill of the Bewitching Domain, 【Truth Deception】:

"You have a grudge against the red dragon Narth too?"

Mikhail's slit pupils contracted slightly.

He naturally caught the 'too' in the question, and his cunning nature swiftly seized upon a lead to resolve the situation.

"What do you mean?"

Rod paid him no heed, swiftly recalling his war soul.

Once again revealing his 'human form'.

"I'm still more accustomed to speaking with this body."

Among dragons, there are masters who study polymorph magic.

Some dragons, fond of learning, will also take on humanoid form to enter cities to study and live.

It's not exactly rare.

It's just that most are held back by their proud nature.

Moreover, shrinking into a small humanoid form means being unable to wield dragon strength and breath—an equally unacceptable trade-off for them.

The black dragon Mikhail narrowed his eyes.

"What trick did you use? How could you slip past these defenses without a trace?"

"Where do you think the red dragon Narth got this whole setup from? I could walk in here unscathed with my eyes closed."

Rod sneered, "And you, black dragon—I noticed you laying traps. Don't tell me you're helping the red dragon Narth reinforce his defenses."

His words were thick with threat.

As if the slightest disagreement would lead to a fight.

"Of course not! The red dragon Narth embezzled my payment—I was just about to settle the score with him!"

Mikhail raised his head, angrily puffing out two breaths through his nose.

"Hmph! Then leave this place! Don't get in my way! I've already grasped a fatal weakness of the red dragon Narth—I will surely avenge the grudge of those years past!"

Rod said coldly.

He didn't issue a direct invitation; instead, he played hard to get.

A fatal weakness, of course, was pure fabrication.

Sure enough.

The black dragon Mikhail was tempted.

A low growl rumbled from his throat.

He gave little thought to the possibility that the other was lying.

After all, white dragons—the shame of the chromatic dragons—were notoriously lacking in intellect, hardly capable of any intricate scheming.

Yet their capacity for holding grudges was in no way inferior to that of black dragons; waiting a few centuries for revenge was no trouble at all.

Given the red dragon Narth's insufferably arrogant temperament, it would be a miracle if he hadn't offended some dragon or other.

"Cooperation."

Mikhail uttered two words.

"You're familiar with the red dragon Narth's weakness, and I, for now, still count as being in the same camp as him."

"No, that's not needed! I'm enough on my own to tear him apart!"

Here Rod, having no choice, put on a show of the white dragon's reckless impulsiveness.

And Mikhail clearly knew this, snorting coldly as he inwardly cursed him a fool.

He began a more patient attempt at persuasion.

Considering the probability of injury and the two-versus-one advantage, and from the dark elf warlock's assistance to luring the dragon nearby away, he began persuading with every argument.

Rod put on a show of silence for a moment.

"If you dare play tricks."

"I swear on the Dragon God's name." Mikhail cut him off, terrified he wouldn't agree, and hurriedly added: "I only need to take back my share from the vault."

Of course.

He was eyeing the entire fortune in the vault.

But for now, the red dragon Nass was the number one threat; this stupid dragon had actually gotten together with someone like Nataly, who carried Lilith's bloodline.

Besides.

White dragons simply weren't suited to this climate; they always stayed only in lands of extreme cold.

Once the other side finished this job, they would definitely leave.

When the time comes, won't this entire Dusk Hill region be my territory!

Mikhail, oh Mikhail, you really are a far-sighted, cunning great dragon, hahahahaha—

"Very well, let us teach that arrogant red dragon an unforgettable lesson—if he can still recall this lesson in his next life."

Rod let out a cold, snickering laugh.

An agreement was reached.

As for splitting the vault's money with the black dragon?

What is money? Being able to practically and openly provoke a confrontation between two dragons—this bit of money is nothing.

Besides, Mikhail was so afraid he wouldn't agree that he only took five hundred thousand Jin Along and left.

Not long after.

The two finished planning.

Afterward, Mikhail would spread rumors of a white dragon sighted in this area, first shifting attention onto Rod, then arrange to meet with the red dragon Nass to deal with him together, and after that he would stab him in the back, ambush the red dragon, and pull off a reversal of fortunes.

Looks like he truly hates him.

When speaking of ambushing the red dragon, Mikhail said quite a few lines like "Didn't expect that, did you? I'm the mole" and "Sorry, you started it first"—the kind of pretentious lines—seems like he'd been thinking about them for quite a while.

Before leaving.

Mikhail seemed to remember something, turned his head, and said darkly to Rod: "Your shapeshifting is so powerful it's enough to sneak into a town. If you're willing to help me kill a human, I'm willing to give you all this payment."

"Just one human, why don't you do it yourself?"

"He's not hard to kill. The main issue is that the Shi Ying town he's in has a guardian formation; great dragons find it hard to enter."

". Who do you want to kill?"

"A forest warden named Rod."

(End of chapter)