Chapter 521: The Appointment and the Ice Tree

Two days later.

"Honestly Rod, I went to the memorial service the Adventurer's Guild held yesterday — you really should've gone, the food was amazing."

The halfling Lily's short little legs were kicking out a goose-step as she walked over the uneven ground of mixed dirt and rock.

The road itself was relatively flat, but on either side rose peaks that soared into the clouds.

This was unmistakably the bottom of a rift canyon.

Although Lily was only 1.2 meters tall, her proportions were well-balanced.

Her legs alone made up three-fifths of her height, so she didn't look the dull-witted type the way other halflings did.

Speaking of which, halflings rarely exceed one meter in height.

For her kind, she was already a giant in the eyes of her own people.

"If I remember right, that memorial was for me, wasn't it? If I showed up, that'd be the end of it."

Rod gave a wry smile.

Lily was the type who couldn't sit still.

Every meal these past few days had been mooched at one memorial service or another.

What?

That many people died?

Not really — just the one.

Because the City Hall's denial of Rod's death had been so forceful, it had stirred up a fair amount of contrarian spirit in people.

Quite a few organizations and individuals had taken it upon themselves to hold memorial services for Rod.

Yesterday, when Rod went to find Sharon for some intimacy—

—taking a stroll down New Lanke Street, one could spot about two restaurants running an "In Memory of Rod's Death" discount buffet.

It left the man himself utterly speechless.

The banshee Chrissie would wail at every single service, and ended up crying herself into a state of bliss.

In the end she even advanced a minor stage, reaching the mid sixth tier.

Lily laughed brightly: "Only you could pull off something like this, Rod! I want to find a chance to fake my own death too, and see if anyone holds a memorial for me!"

The halfling girl had always been an eager student of Rod's.

"All I can say is, my feelings are complicated — there are even portrait sketches of my corpse being sold at street stalls."

"Hahahahaha——"

After her bout of laughter, Lily gave him a meaningful look.

"You're not just feeling complicated, are you? You look pretty interested to me. I heard the folks at Maria's Ready-to-Wear made a batch of indecent mourning dresses — slits, cut-outs at the chest, the little panties just a single string, that sort of thing."

"."

"I thought there was a brothel in Shi Ying Town, and that it was running something this outrageous — turns out when I looked into it, it was being secretly delivered to a villa at Henry Farm."

The halfling spoke as she nudged him with her elbow, grinning wickedly.

Rod: "."

That girl Tally threw a mourning-dress party the day before yesterday.

The six girls at the party each wore mourning dress and held Rod's portrait at the door to greet guests.

Tally, as hostess, wouldn't let them laugh — they had to cry.

At the mourning-dress party these past two days, the banshee Chrissie had, for once, chosen to attend of her own accord.

Only her usual soft little moans during the act had turned into a sawing-through-wood wail, leaving Rod utterly speechless.

Precisely because this environment was so suited to the undead girl's growth—

—amid her wailing, she proudly watched the expression on Rod's face.

Her obedience actually ticked up by two points, finally breaking through 50 and unlocking a shared skill.

【Aura of Fear】

【Details: When entering combat or actively activating Aura of Fear, all creatures within a certain radius are affected; each creature within range makes a Will check. If the save fails, the target is afflicted with the "Fear" status.】

It was a merciless skill for bullying the weak.

Honestly, Rod wasn't exactly lacking this kind of skill at the moment.

The Bronze Dragon battle-soul could step out and let loose a roar, and the dragon's majesty would spill over.

The effect was the same.

Besides—

—the Fear Domain on 【Soul-Quivering Blade】 was the same type of skill, and even stronger to boot.

Not quite cutting it, Chrissie.

As they spoke—

—the two had already walked deep into the canyon.

This place belonged to the eastern edge of Claw Valley Highlands, near the far end of the Koch Plains.

It was called Eagle Claw Canyon — a rare stretch of terrain amid the rugged, mountain-ringed Claw Valley Highlands that had been developed into a trade route.

The peaks on either side rose into the clouds, and the canyon floor was flat.

Viewed from the sky, it looked like an eagle's talon had torn a long, narrow slit into the earth.

Add to that the fact that harpies — the harpy folk — had lived here since ancient times.

Hence the name Eagle Claw Canyon.

Rod had come here to keep an appointment — an appointment with the black dragon Mikhail.

Set two days ago, during his communication with the black dragon.

The two sides not only set the payment for "killing Rod," but also finalized the plan to ambush the Red Dragon Nars.

What a coincidence, wouldn't you say?

The location was on this very trade road that Shi Ying Town was preparing to punch through to Tyles Town — the same spot where the Blizzard Mercenary Corps had planned to drop the gold-coin bait.

This wasn't something Rod said.

As the White Dragon's side, his IQ wouldn't allow him to come up with something so calculated.

It was all because the Black Dragon Mikhail had his wing injured in the previous battle with Rod, and his flight capability had declined.

Setting the battlefield in a relatively narrow canyon.

Was precisely to suppress the Red Dragon's aerial combat, dragging the two combatants down to the same level.

A happy accident, one might say.

Lily had entered the shadows ahead of time with Tally to wait.

Before long.

They found the "temporary nest" the Black Dragon Mikhail had built for the White Dragon.

A cave located beneath the canyon, within the rock wall.

It was damp and carried a whiff of swamp gas — not much like the sort of nesting spot a cold-aligned creature like a White Dragon would pick.

But after all, several days had passed since the raid on the Red Dragon's vault, and Nars the Red Dragon had already swept every cold region on the Twilight Hills. Building it specifically in this spot lent a certain plausibility to the Black Dragon's claim that he had "happened upon" it by accident.

Entering the nest.

They hadn't walked far inside before reaching what appeared to be the end.

In reality, however, it was not.

Rod activated 【Insight Demon Eye】.

He immediately spotted a draconic spell disguised as a massive boulder in the corner.

He fed in a sliver of mana, and the rock began to emit a faint violet magical glow.

The light swiftly sketched out a simply-lined circular ritual array in the void.

"Please enter the password."

The array spoke in a toneless voice, impossible to tell as male or female.

This was a magical passcode.

The correct password had to be entered to open it.

Rod cleared his throat and spat five words at the array: "The Red Dragon must die."

"Password correct."

"Pleasure doing business, White Dragon brother."

The rectangular pattern at the center of the magical passcode slowly rotated, aligning every mana circuit.

With a hum.

The array's light blazed bright.

What followed was the cave's end wall crumbling away like ash in the wind.

A small Jin Along mountain pile hidden behind the rock wall was revealed.

Rod gazed at the gleaming mountain of coins and couldn't help but smile.

This was the payment for "killing Rod," agreed upon with the Black Dragon!

A total of four hundred thousand gold coins!

Of course.

What had actually been agreed upon at the time was five hundred thousand.

But the Black Dragon Mikhail was a stubborn old deadbeat — he deeply feared that the "White Dragon" might chicken out at the last moment during the plan against the Red Dragon, so the remaining hundred thousand in balance had to be settled only after Nars the Red Dragon was killed.

Rod of course argued his case vigorously!

But because the "White Dragon's" IQ wasn't quite enough, he was very easily "force-persuaded" by Mikhail.

No big deal.

Rod was mainly focused on maintaining his dragon persona, and didn't care too much about this bit of money.

After all, he still had to pay a visit to the Black Dragon's vault later.

At this moment.

The Black Dragon Mikhail's communication stone buzzed.

Rod picked it up and activated it, and the deadbeat Black Dragon's excited voice came through.

So chipper he seemed to be walking on air.

【White Dragon brother, are you in position? I've already been in contact with Nars the Red Dragon! Estimated arrival in one hour.】

"I'm here."

Rod answered, keeping the White Dragon's muffled, dopey tone.

【Very good! White Dragon brother!

Listen, Nars the Red Dragon's favorite fighting style is to strike first with a flame breath. The moment his chest cavity swells is when you should start dodging.

And after that first breath, his fire sac will briefly go soft and cool down, making him unable to immediately unleash a second one.

At that point he'll dive down for close combat, tearing apart enemies with the body and scales he's so proud of】

Rod gave a cold snort.

"I don't need you to tell me that!"

【Of course, just a small reminder from the host of these lands. And once Nars the Red Dragon dives and enters the canyon, I'll launch the first ambush right away, then say, "Red Dragon, your era is over!" — officially raising the curtain on our two-on-one battle!】

Mikhail spoke with great enthusiasm.

Especially when he got to the line "Red Dragon, your era is over," he was just putting on airs.

"Red Dragon must die!"

【Yes, White Dragon brother! Red Dragon must die!】

He cut off the communication stone.

Rod arrived outside the lair.

The halfling Lily said from the shadows: "There's still one hour. Do you want to set up the spell in advance?"

"No need. The Black Dragon may have set up secret scrying around the lair, so it's safer to be cautious. Besides, I have a better Bu Zhi Fa that fits the White Dragon style."

"Oh?"

Rod smiled.

He raised both hands toward the sky.

Crack!

With him at the center, a large ice domain of frost, ten meters in radius, exploded outward with a roar.

And it wasn't just ten meters.

As half of the spiritual capacity within Rod's body was instantly squeezed dry, a thick, leafless ice tree slowly took shape, condensed from frost.

On the trunk, a face twisted in terror formed, and then let out a horrifying wail.

At the same time, splashing, savage ice blades began expanding outward.

The spiritual intensity on the ice crystals also showed a clear increase.

【Wailing Ice Tree: Within the Ice Blade Domain, one "Wailing Ice Tree" grows every five minutes. Each tree will increase the Ice Blade intensity by 5%. The caster may Xiao Hao Shi Fa 50% of the spiritual energy within their body to force growth.】!

Rod smiled.

One hour.

Refined by 【Myriad Phenomena Furnace】.

Using the Plague Domain and 【Udian's Ice Blade Domain】 as materials.

The fusion of a domain and a spiritual art.

Let me see your limits.

One hour later.

The bottom of Eagle Claw Canyon.

Centered on the disguised White Dragon lair, blue-white frost covered the entire bottom road, even spreading to the vertical cliff face on the opposite side.

And under the effect of the densely packed 【Wailing Ice Trees】, the road's longitudinal range stretched beyond fifty meters.

【"Wailing Ice Tree" count: 86】

【"Udian's Ice Blade Domain" amplification: 430%】

(End of this chapter)