Chapter 361: Dragon of Guerrilla Warfare

A peaceful day began with mutual slaughter.

"Awooo!"

The dragon's roar still echoed through the day, and the hydrological monitoring station built on the spring's edge was already in ruins.

Everywhere lay chunks of flesh and fur; the animal companions' bloodied bone fragments covered the ground. Claw marks from the evil dragon scarred the rock walls, and the Great Druid Korol's animal companion, the mutated bear-kin "Bronze Crown," had been chewed directly into a pulp of meat, its bloody flesh stuck to the wall.

This was not hunting; it was merely simple venting of anger, or perhaps intimidation.

The claw marks on the rock wall and the undigested chunks of flesh seemed to declare: no one could escape; all would be my prey.

"Waaah, my Bronze Crown, we promised to live a good life together."

The Great Druid, born of the Deer Clan, cried like a child. To him, this animal companion who had been with him for thirty years was not merely a fellow transcendent warrior who had grown up together; he was a childhood friend, and something similar yet inconvenient to state.

"In the cold nights ahead, there will no longer be your warm fur and embrace."

Druids being strange is normal, especially since they can truly turn into bears. After crying a little, the Great Druid returned to his usual self.

Because of his grief, too many "animal companions" embraced him, and he was directly crushed underneath them.

Wiping away his tears, life must go on; bidding farewell to one family member, there are still many more family members.

"Waaah, Bronze Crown, how could you leave at just over thirty years old?"

Moreover, perhaps from the very beginning, he had foreseen all of this would happen.

"Should we still have animal companions guard the outdoor hydrological stations, water sources, and mining areas?" The silver-robed Druid thought, having found the Druid leader.

At present, the trade plans with other orders have come to nothing; perhaps we should take the remaining stock and cut our losses in time.

In stories, Druids are often covered in fur and penniless, yet not poor.

When money is truly needed, they can always produce rare monster materials, gold ore, magic gems, and the like. Some of their doctrines despise currency, one of the symbols of civilization, and even regard accumulating wealth as foolishness (according to extreme Druids, anything beyond one's living needs is waste).

But nature is a true treasure trove; the Great Druids who can communicate with nature can often easily obtain treasures that other clans could never acquire.

However, not keeping private wealth beyond the limit makes most Druids appear relatively "primitive."

Doctrine is one thing; the fall of the devout is common. Druids are not all true fanatics; in fact, they still have internal operating mechanisms.

And this Garden of Verdure has actually accumulated quite a few treasures in this Demon Realm over the years. Various rare monster materials and ores are only one aspect; various powerful monsters and demonized animal cubs have earned it the reputation of a "Beast-Taming Paradise" within the natural camp's circle.

"Damn... it still didn't take the bait."

The giant team led by the Forest Giant, seeing the ruined hydrological station, helplessly abandoned the trap at another location.

The team's core personnel had long begun to contract, handing over important resource points on the periphery to be guarded by "animal companions."

This was the strategy planned beforehand; in fact, it used animal companions as bait, attempting to hunt this evil dragon.

No matter how strong that evil dragon is, it is still a lone wolf; it must strive for its own survival.

Dragons are not a weak clan that likes to hoard food; when causing trouble for the Druid Order, its hunting range would also be restricted.

Those animal companions and summons dispatched to guard important "outposts" were a helpless choice to avoid personnel casualties, but at the same time, they were bait for dragon fishing. But now it seems the bait was eaten by the opponent, and every ambush attempt failed completely.

This is extremely rare for Druids, because mid-to-high-level Great Druids possess a similar ability of "unity with heaven and man," allowing them to easily merge with nature, making ambushes hard to detect.

Druids also have the trait of sensing life, but now, it seems meaningless as well.

The chewed-up residue placed before them was a blatant mockery.

This habit of chewing without eating also says, "Your poisoning attempts are meaningless." Probably, during these days, that dragon did not even hunt in the surroundings; quite boldly, it flew dozens of kilometers to hunt in the territory of other powerful creatures.

A cunning evil dragon, more skilled at combat than expected.