Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The adult Dragon Hawk swooped in aggressively. The two of them heard a long, gentle growl coming from the sky just as they ran out of the woods. Then, they saw the dark clouds in the sky being torn apart by a streak of red light. The red light flashed through the tumultuous dark clouds. The brilliant feathers and swirling flames of the Dragon Hawk were almost arrogant…
As the Dragon Hawk charged out of the dark clouds, a gush of heat wave suddenly poured in.
“Run!” Lin Li saw a flashing red light the moment he looked up. He lunged himself into the mud almost subconsciously at the thought of the power of an adult Dragon Hawk.
“Boom!” An explosion followed.
The Dragon Hawk skimmed over the woods in an arrogant manner, and it was followed by a scorching dragon breath. The trees around it burned up and the mud on the ground evaporated instantly. When it came back, the land had turned into the color of scorched earth.
“F*ck…” Lin Li felt a rush from behind just when he had started to move his body. What was originally an agile movement became a slapstick in an instant—he slammed heavily into the mud like a toad. The pervasive smell of mud splattered all over him. Lin Li spent a while spitting out the stinky mud from his mouth. However, when he turned around, he was dumbfounded by what he saw…
A mere dragon breath attack had razed a few dozen meters of the woods into ground. It was a piece of dark brown scorched earth at a glance. The whole dense woods had vanished in the dragon breath, leaving only a scene of doomsday.
“This, this… This is the bloody Dragon Hawk?” Lin Li couldn’t believe—not over his dead body—that a level-16 Dragon Hawk could be so destructive. Just a dragon breath had anihilated dozens of meters of woods—this was almost comparable to a legendary-level spell. Not to mention a Dragon Hawk, Lin Li would even believe it if it was said to be a wyrm.
“F*ck, fatso, what kind of monster have you provoked?”
Fatso had been scared out of his wits, and stammered, “It, it, it… it’s a Dragon Hawk Queen!”
“F*ck…” Lin Li thought he’d faint. Bloody hell, this fatso is some genius. He has actually stolen from a Dragon Hawk Queen. Why did you not just steal a wyrm’s egg?
“Let’s… Let’s return the Dragon Hawk’s egg, shall we?”
“…” Lin Li almost passed out from anger. If an apology would suffice, why else did they need garrisons?
“You go…” Lin Li pursed his lips, and hid himself deeper into the woods without dignity. “Try negotiating with Her Majesty. Say you’ve taken it by mistake. Ask her if she’ll let us off if you return the egg to her…”
“I… I don’t think she’s up for a negotiation…” Fatso swallowed his saliva and hid into the woods ahead of Lin Li.
“Glad you know.” Lin Li hid himself among the trees, but kept his eyes on the Dragon Hawk Queen hovering in the sky through the gaps between the branches and leaves.
Luckily, there was still some time…
Although the Dragon Hawk had the blood of the wyrm, it was not a real wyrm. Even if the one hovering in the sky was the Dragon Hawk Queen, it was still impossible for it to use the dragon breath like a real wyrm. After a dragon breath, it’d need to rest at least for a while, which provided a respite for the two of them.
Both of them were safe for the time being—until the next dragon breath attack.
However, this was only temporary.
The two men hiding in the woods seemed to be dancing on the tip of a knife. In fact, they might get themselves killed anytime. An adult Dragon Hawk was at the very least a level-16 magical beast, not to mention that the one before them was the queen of the Dragon Hawks. With its previous dragon breath, it might very well be a power that was close to the legendary-level. Perhaps it was even no weaker than the Salamander in the Fire Plume Ridge.
If there had been a Sword Sage of the Storm in the Fire Plume Ridge, then what was in the Cinder Woods?
Apart from a stealthy bandit, there was only a rookie Archmage who had just broken through to level-15, and he was only able to exert a level-14 power in this damned woods.
With their strength, the only thing they could do was to pray that the Dragon Hawk Queen wouldn’t find them so quickly…
But could such thing be determined by a prayer?
Despite them looking seemingly safe at present, there was still a high probability of them being burned to ashes with a dragon breath. Moreover, they dared not run. They might be able to drag it out for some time while under the cover of this dense woods. If they ran out, they would immediately be discovered by the Dragon Hawk Queen. When its sharp talons fall, they’d be torn to pieces in a moment.
“How, how, how…?” Lin Li hit his forehead repeatedly. He was about to go insane. Ever since transmigrating to Anril, he had encountered his fair share of danger and a few close calls with death. He had even killed a Salamander once.
But he had never been in such dire straits like present.
No matter how Lin Li racked his brains, he had to admit that there was absolutely no way out of this situation…
“I’ll be damned…” Just as Lin Li was in distress, Connoris, who was on his back, jumped suddenly. “How did you come to provoke the Dragon Hawk?”
“Shut up!” Lin Li’s blood boiled when he heard the fellow’s voice. If Connoris hadn’t pretended to be an old horse who knew the way, he wouldn’t have met the fatso and gotten himself into such a fix.
“…” Connoris shut his mouth sensibly…
For a moment, the atmosphere in the woods was extremely depressing.
The Dragon Hawk Queen was still circling in the sky with its gorgeous tail in tow, just like a meteor falling from the sky. The two men in the woods desperately tried to hold onto their breaths, afraid to make a noise. Shaun’s plump face had turned pale from fright, and his small eyes were glued to the sky, keeping a lookout on the Dragon Hawk Queen at all times, while Lin Li was still trying hard to rack his brains, carefully filtering every resource they had. From level-one spells to level-14 spells, from the various potions to the various scrolls, and every item in the Ring of Endless Storm were all given a thought to by Lin Li.
It was not until this time that he realized—although he had many treasures in his hand, nothing could help him out of his predicament…
“Hey, Connoris, you still alive?” After much deliberation, Lin Li decided to hit on Connoris.
“What?”
“Do you have a solution?”
“Don’t ask me. I’m just a hammer.”
“F*ck, our assess are burning already and you’re still merely a hammer? Great soul merchant, please find a way out. My death is not going to do you any good!”
“How is it no good?” Connoris had had enough, and began analyzing scornfully. “If you’re dead, no one will keep me in the ring anymore. As for the Eternal Furnace, I could just find a new owner for it. It doesn’t matter. The Brand Of Dusk is indestructible, anyway…”
“Connoris, you’ve got guts!” Lin Li cursed through clenched teeth. “But don’t worry. Before I die, I’ll think of a way to put you in the ring and fuse my Spiritual Brand in it completely. Unless you can find someone with exactly the same Spiritual Brand as me, don’t ever think of getting out from the ring!”
“F*ck…” Connoris started. He stood stunned for a while before responding lamely, “You’re good!”
“Glad you know. Hurry and think of something. I don’t believe a monster like you who has lived for 1,000 years can’t handle a Dragon Hawk!”
“Don’t rush me…” Connoris grumbled, then exclaimed suddenly, “I remembered!”
Lin Li’s eyes lit up. “Spill it!”
“I remembered…” Connoris said confidently. “There’s a creature the Dragon Hawk fears!”
“Which creature?”
“The Wyrm!”
“Bloody hell…” Lin Li nearly kicked the hammer. “Are you kidding? Who isn’t afraid of the Wyrm now in Anril? If I could get the Wyrm to help me, I wouldn’t be here, wasting my time badgering with you, and would have made it kill that little red birdy long ago…”
“Be patient and listen to me… The Dragon Hawk’s fear of the Wyrm is different from that of other magical beasts. Ordinary magical beasts are afraid of their power. Where the Wyrm exists, there will not be any magical beast within a hundred miles’ radius. But the Dragon Hawk’s fear of Wyrm comes from the memory deep in the soul. Because they have the blood of wyrms themselves, this fear was probably engraved in their souls even before they were born. Just a howl from the wyrm, or even a slight hint of wyrm’s aura, is enough to drive away any Dragon Hawk.”
“Wyrm’s aura?” Lin Li frowned, then suddenly slapped his thigh. “Got it!”
“What?”
“Hold on…” Lin Li couldn’t care to explain at all in a haste. He hurriedly opened the Ring of Endless Storm and took out a fist-sized item.
“Luckily, I didn’t throw it away…” Lin Li held a dull stone in his hand, but he seemed to be holding it like it was something precious. The Wyrm’s aura? This stone was dug out from the body of Azardas, the Dragon of Destruction. Even if it was not a magical crystal and a gallstone instead, it would still carry a trace of the aura of the Dragon of Destruction, wouldn’t it?
That was one of the four Dragon Aspects in the Endless World. It absolutely could not be mentioned at the same length as other ordinary dragons. Once its aura was emitted, even a real dragon would bow in trepidation, let alone the Dragon Hawk Queen.
“What is this?”
“O great soul merchant, can’t you see? This is something from a wyrm’s body. How’s it? The wyrm’s aura it emits is pretty strong, eh?”
“To be honest, I can’t feel it at all.” Connoris did not give Lin Li face at all. “If you’re depending on this to scare the Dragon Hawk away, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed…”
