Chapter 563: Green Dragon

Knowing the "score," Xia Duo moved his gaze away from the diamond-shaped crystal in the center of the Arena and scanned the spectator stands. The expressions on the faces of the human Mages were not very good, perhaps because of the scene of slaughter just now, or perhaps because they were not optimistic about the Gnomes to follow. The performance of the Elves, however, surprised Xia Duo somewhat; apart from the ten competing Keman Mages who wore expressions of disdain, most of the other Elves revealed looks of disgust and fear. Could this be what is called "grieving for one's own kind"?

As for the Dwarves, they were drinking with excited expressions on their faces! Now only the performance from the Netheril side remained. Ten Gnomes leaped down from their seats in the contestant area, trotting on their short legs, and arrived at the center of the Arena under everyone's gaze.

Pairs of eyes—some disdainful, some angry, some suspicious—fell upon them, causing the lower end of the diamond-shaped crystal, which had just been cleared of its record, to be almost instantly covered with a thin layer of crimson mist.

"Could this be the strategy of the Great Arcanists?"

Such a thought suddenly flashed through Xia Duo's mind, but he quickly dismissed it. If they relied solely on the power of emotion stirred up by the Gnomes themselves, it would be far too little; it would be impossible to surpass the Elves.

Just as Xia Duo was wondering how the Gnomes' performance would begin, a patch of mist quietly shrouded the entire Arena. Xia Duo immediately became alert; this was different from the previous performance by the Elves.

No matter how strong the sense of immersion was, there had always been a feeling of falseness that allowed one to distinguish it immediately, but now—

This kind of mist seemed real! As the mist gradually thickened, the surrounding scene gradually faded away. Just at this moment, Xia Duo suddenly felt a breeze blow from his left side. He stood up abruptly and reached out to touch his left.

It was empty; Niya was gone!

Or rather, everyone else was gone! Taking a step back, the original seat had also disappeared!

This breeze lasted for a while, until the mist thinned slightly. Through the thin mist, Xia Duo vaguely saw dense thickets not far away.

Looking down at his feet, it was no longer the stone floor of the Arena, but an incredibly thick, exposed tree root covered in moss.

He did not know when he had arrived at this strange forest from the Arena in Seventon.

This sense of reality was simply superb! And even under Magic Vision, the surrounding environment remained this strange forest. Xia Duo tried to cast a spell; it went smoothly, but at the same time, it allowed him to discover a flaw.

He could cast spells, but there was always an inexplicable sense of falseness. If he hadn't personally created Arcane Fire and possessed Magic Net Strings himself, he might very well have been deceived.

But before he could continue to experiment, he heard a swift sound of wind coming from the sky ahead. Immediately after, a giant emerald-green creature pierced through the mist and descended from the sky, landing right in front of Xia Duo.

The intense airflow almost blew Xia Duo over. He struggled to stand steady and looked closely—

Strong muscles, thick thighs, a slender neck, a ferocious head, and broad wings that had just been folded after descending from the sky; Xia Duo suddenly dared not move.

That stature, which was a full two heads taller than himself, those giant pupils larger than bowls, and that body of emerald-green scales—could it be anything other than a legendary Green Dragon!

Although he knew in his heart that this was an illusion created by those ten Gnome illusionists, it was just like a glass skywalk on Earth; tourists clearly know they cannot fall, yet they are still terrified to death.

Although Xia Duo was not quite terrified to death, he held his breath. The dragon's form was still very oppressive. When he was on Earth, he had once visited a dinosaur park.

Perhaps because he knew too much, when he walked past those artificial dinosaurs, although he could also feel the pressure, it was not as strong as this Green Dragon, which might even be slightly smaller in size.

The reason was probably that this Green Dragon was alive and could move! At least in this incredibly realistic illusion, this Green Dragon was alive.

Whether it was the breeze, the mist, or the scent of humus in the forest, everything strove to create a sense of reality that made it impossible to distinguish. Even knowing it was fake, one still couldn't help but worry whether this Green Dragon would attack them.

While Xia Duo remained cautiously on guard, he carefully observed the various characteristics of this Green Dragon. Such an opportunity did not come often; at least before today, he had not heard of any giant dragon appearing within the borders of Netheril.

He had only heard that the Elves possessed a Magic Book made of dragon skin, which had very powerful abilities.

Xia Duo observed while waiting for the next evolution of the illusion.

However, the dragon attack or Dragon Language magic he had imagined did not appear. The Green Dragon just glanced at Xia Duo, then flapped its wings and turned to leave.

Literally, it walked away on the ground using its four thick, sturdy legs.

The mist gathered again and then gradually dissipated. When he looked again, he was already back inside the Arena.

Xia Duo was still sitting in his original seat; it seemed that even the action of standing up just now was an illusion.

Unlike the silence of the audience after the previous two groups of Elves performed, as soon as the Gnome illusionists' performance ended, Xia Duo heard screams of terror and panic filling the Arena.

Just as he was wondering why these people were making such a fuss, Xia Duo suddenly felt his left arm being grabbed. He turned his head and met Niya's panicked eyes.

Could it be that bad? Just seeing a Green Dragon scared them like this?

For Xia Duo, while this Green Dragon scene was indeed realistic, in terms of emotional stimulation, it was far inferior to the scene of slaughter performed by the Yierlan Mages just now.

Niya had been calm when watching that scene of slaughter just now; how did she become like this after seeing the Green Dragon? "Niya, what's wrong?"

"It was too terrifying!"

"..."

Xia Duo patted the back of Niya's hand comfortingly, while looking at the diamond-shaped crystal in the center of the Arena. Huh—

It was too unexpected!

At this moment, the diamond-shaped crystal was already more than half-filled with crimson mist. Combined with the screams in the arena that had not yet completely subsided, Xia Duo realized the problem might lie with himself.

For this reason, he specifically looked at the Elves. The Elves' performance seemed even worse than the humans'; Xia Duo saw more than one Elf faint in their seat.

And while the screams on the human side were indeed a bit piercing, at least no one had fainted. Even the mere twenty or thirty ordinary human spectators performed better than the group of Spellcasters.

Although there was still a trace of lingering shock on their faces, they tried their best to remain calm and did not lose their composure.

"Niya, what did you see just now?"

"A giant dragon, I just saw a giant dragon!"

Niya had recovered by now, but mentioning the scene she had just seen, she still couldn't help but feel palpitations. "It was too terrifying. How can such a terrifying creature exist in this world!"

"Is it really that terrifying? I saw it too; it was a Green Dragon. It felt like a big lizard with wings." This was indeed Xia Duo's first impression.

However, Niya shook her head. "No, unlike a lizard, when I first saw it, my brain went almost blank, and I completely forgot how to think. This is not an ordinary creature!"

Brain went blank? Xia Duo thought of 【Stun】 in Judgment Spells (mind spells). Could this be the so-called "Dragon Fear"? In his understanding, so-called Dragon Fear should be a psychological reaction similar to "megalophobia." Standing under a skyscraper and looking up, a normal person would also feel a sense of pressure, right?

However, this was just Xia Duo's guess; he would need to find a real giant dragon to verify it. But the Gnome illusionists' illusion just now seemed to have simulated an effect similar to a mind spell!

No wonder he didn't feel much!

(End of chapter)