Chapter 102: Who Is the Boss?

Don't take dragons too seriously. The gap between dragons is greater than that between humans.

In the pitch-black corridor, a smiling little girl stood ahead, while the knight behind remained cautiously alert.

After all, this is a dragon.

The ultimate boss of countless legends, the apex of nature, and in this world, it seems to vaguely possess something akin to divinity.

Most dragons don't live to adulthood; at least eighty percent of juvenile dragons die. Their growth period lasts nearly a century, and their parents barely care for them. Without a safe place to develop, they're easily hunted down by greedy adventurers for their skin and bones.

Uh, you just said something pretty terrifying—and you're hinting at something, aren't you?

The last time my senior came through this area, there was only one juvenile black dragon. It's been barely a few decades—there's no way it could have grown to adulthood.

Alright, it's been spelled out. Li En wondered how many years exactly.

The span from juvenile to young dragon (adult) can be eighty years, but seeing how things are, it's better not to ask too clearly.

This did ease Li En's mind—if an adult dragon is roughly the size of a house, then a juvenile's maximum size would be no larger than a carriage.

The smallest are only two meters long and barely know any spells—they're nowhere near the same power level.

If it's just this level, this big shot should be able to solo it!

"Sssss. I told you last time—just turn it into medicine already. But you insisted on letting it grow for a while until adulthood. Hmph. Now it's spoiled, aren't you regretting it?"

It seemed the magical girl's mascot had just uttered something horrifying.

After leaving the caravan, the spirit beast Mei Lu'er became more lively, as if her usual "speech" was a kind of pollution even to ordinary people.

"I don't regret it! The quality hide of a juvenile dragon isn't even enough to make a purse. Isn't that exactly what you said back then—wait a few years? Don't blame me!" The girl pouted, speaking words that were girlish yet deeply terrifying.

Who, then, is the real monster?

No wonder you spotted that dragon so easily—you'd been watching it all along.

But now, Li En realized his vigilance had been foolish. He'd better just play the obedient new recruit, following the big shot for experience and materials.

Li En's relaxed expression made Zi Qiangwei cover her mouth and giggle softly.

On a date, you should be cheerful. All tense and on guard? What's that about?

Trouble? Threat? Sister's got it all handled!

Thus, Miss Zi Qiangwei grew even more lively, chattering like a junior student, recounting many adventure anecdotes.

Li En, now at ease, adjusted his mindset and responded cheerfully.

It seemed he really had overreacted.

As they walked, Li En had assumed the target was small, so no attacks had occurred—but in truth, there was no safe zone in this area at all.

Li En had no stealth ability. His body heat, scent, even his dragon scent, continuously drew attackers—except that…

"Wu wu wu wu!"

Amidst thick bushes and clusters of mushrooms, a dark elf assassin was desperately whimpering.

He couldn't move at all, didn't know what had happened, and on his exposed skin, ink-like snake patterns were slowly spreading.

Bit by bit, rising from his feet to his waist, the markings crept upward until they finally covered his forehead.

It was gone.

His eyes bulged wide with terror, yet he could not stop the end.

He blindly pulled out his dagger—but the snake pattern on his lips clamped shut his mouth, turning every roar into a whimper.

Finally, the dagger, now held by hands completely covered in snake tattoos, slowly plunged into his own eyes.

Entered through the forehead, exited through the back of the skull.

The corpse lay lifeless, tears of terror streaking its face—the snake tattoos finally released him and began to recede.

Li En had no idea that horror films were playing all around him. He thought his concealment technique was excellent—he'd marched through heavy armor without encountering a single enemy.

Having adjusted his mindset to become a sidekick chasing experience, since the big shot wanted to chat, his own words naturally flowed more freely.

Li En truly enjoyed chatting with Zi Qiangwei—her voice was sweet, her appearance beautiful, and she always gave him useful intelligence and guidance.

Li En did know many things—his Hero Soul's memory fragments had granted him countless world-level secrets—but as a newcomer, he lacked vast amounts of practical experience: adventure tactics, conduct, etiquette, and the like.

Especially regarding the underground world—he was utterly blank.

"The dark elves have always been a theocratic race, but they've shattered badly. The last racial deity, the Spider Queen Luo Si, died several eons ago. Now, seven dark elf deities all claim to be her successors. Some are good, some neutral, some evil—I don't know which side the current dark elf city stands with."

The rationality of a theocratic nation is upheld by its deities and clergy; the behavior of that race and nation is essentially identical to the stance of its deity.

Of the current seven dark elf deities (three others are too weak to matter), one is good, two neutral, four evil—the odds of encountering a highly aggressive tribe are still high, but far better than in the era of Luo Si.

"I've got a pretty good guess—those bastards dared to touch my jar of cookies!"

The furious Zi Qiangwei looked adorable—but the content of her words was deeply odd.

Li En figured it out—her "cookies" were almost certainly the juvenile black dragon she'd eyed earlier!

So this involves deities and dragons scheming? Are we really jumping into this level of content so early? I'm just a first-rank knight—why am I being thrown into this?

Li En now only hoped Zi Qiangwei would pull her weight—just like a veteran player who clears everything for the newbie.

Please don't turn out like some game cutscene—where the mighty senior appears for a few minutes and then vanishes (for all sorts of reasons), leaving the new hero with a short sword to challenge a dragon and demon king. If the plot kill doesn't come, he's dead!

"It's definitely that bastard 'Silver Vial Mirror Maiden'—she loves dragging powerful lifeforms into the Shadow Plane."

Many shadow dragons aren't naturally born—they're ordinary dragonkind that fell into the Shadow Plane and were corrupted into bizarre half-shadow, half-flesh entities.

The Silver Vial Mirror Maiden is one of the seven dark elf deities and, theoretically, leans neutral.

But in dark elf terms, "neutral" is merely the difference between "I came to you and slaughtered your entire family" and "I saw you—now I'm considering whether to slaughter your entire family." This goddess is said to dwell in the Shadow Plane and delights in transforming powerful lifeforms into her followers.

So it made sense—the black dragon Zi Qiangwei had targeted, while residing in the domain of the Shadow Goddess, had become a shadow dragon.

"How foolish—to surrender for power. No wonder many say shadow dragons aren't true dragons at all."

Zi Qiangwei looked up with a smile, her words dripping with malice.

". ou agree, don't you, Little Long Longlong?"

At that moment, Li En froze, instantly drawing his sword.

Only after activating his Dragon Eye did he notice—perched atop the stone pillar was a shadow creature the size of an elephant.

In dragon form, it crouched on the pillar, claws outstretched, its gaping maw centered on a gathering shadow breath.

It was preparing a dragon breath!

【The most dangerous stealthers in the underground world are shadow dragons. You never want to face a hidden dragon's ambush.】

Looking at the upside-down shadow dragon, Li En instantly recalled Zi Qiangwei's earlier words—every casual remark had been no accident!

"Evil." Staring at the shadow dragon, Li En instinctively drew his sword.

And from the start, something was wrong—the radiant golden light instantly ignited everything. His blood boiled; he felt overwhelming revulsion toward the shadow creature before him.

This was blasphemy—against dragons, against life, against the entire Material Plane!

This fury came from bloodline, yet also from the holy knight's instinct—the radiant, purifying power surged fully activated.

Radiance and positive energy, shadow and negative energy—born enemies.

". urge." Since his heart moved, he acted.

Li En leapt forward, delivering a slash straight at the giant dragon.

"Boom!"

But the next instant, he was flung back faster than he'd charged.

Complete power suppression—Li En felt pain all over, muscles and bones groaning together.

The evil dragon effortlessly slammed the charging armored knight aside, never pausing its gathering shadow breath!

But one of its claws bore a clear crack.

The dragon's face showed surprise—it couldn't comprehend how its hardened scales had been pierced by this puny knight.

The flowing black blood and the annoying radiant flames on the wound irritated it.

"I should've disguised myself better, waited for a safer spot to launch the breath attack."

Originally, had it not been discovered, it would've unleashed its breath when the target passed directly beneath or beside it.

Juvenile dragons are mediocre in melee and magic—only their breath is worth anything.

Shadow breath may be the weakest dragon breath, but it's extremely stealthy and perfect for ambushes!

As for dragon pride? What does a juvenile dragon need pride for?

"Snap!"

Suddenly, the gathered breath energy vanished with a finger snap.

The little shadow dragon plummeted to the ground, as if bound and entangled by something.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!" A furious roar—the bindings broke.

It scrambled up, ready to tear apart this insolent mortal female—but—

"Sssss. (Come out.)"

After a calm utterance, a bizarre scene unfolded.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!" The shadow dragon writhed in agony, collapsing again.

At this moment, pale purple tentacles emerged from its ears, mouth, and nasal cavities!

They writhed wildly—the juvenile dragon collapsed in agony, unable to even maintain its half-shadow state, reverting instantly to flesh and blood.

Just as Li En facing a juvenile dragon was like a level-one challenge boss—essentially suicide.

A juvenile dragon encountering a mature magical girl? Same situation, same outcome—especially when the juvenile had already been marked and targeted.

It had been seeded from the start, merely waiting to be activated and harvested.

Watching the tentacles still spreading through the poor shadow dragon's orifices, Li En shuddered.

Does this magical girl really have to play with tentacles? Isn't that a bit too much?

"Can it… be saved?"

But Ziqiangwei's sudden smile became even sweeter.

The tone and content, however, were as casual as a girlfriend asking her boyfriend whether he wanted to eat the fish she'd bought and cooked.

Li En first froze, then realized she was asking if this dragon could serve as an evolution material.

Glancing at the struggling Shadow Dragon, Li En instinctively felt a deep, gut-wrenching revulsion—he shook his head. Even without Kuku's guidance, he felt his body and soul rejecting it.

As Ziqiangwei had said earlier, the Shadow Dragon could no longer be called a dragon; having been assimilated by the Shadow Plane, it was more like a shadow creature infused with dragon blood.

Letting something like this into my body would contaminate me.

Since the "boyfriend" didn't want to eat it, then let's get down to business.

"Little Long Longlong, tell me everything you know, and I'll let you go. Don't worry—I won't eat little fish, especially rotten ones."

But the moment this "Little Long Longlong" spoke, both of them froze.

"Another magical girl. Another monster."

(End of Chapter)