Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 102 Who is the BOSS?
"Don't take dragons too seriously. The difference between dragons is greater than the difference between people."

In the pitch-black passage, a smiling little girl stood ahead, while the knight behind her remained cautious and wary.

After all, this is a dragon.

The ultimate boss in countless legendary tales, the pinnacle of nature, and in this world, he seems to possess a vaguely divine existence.

"Most dragons don't live to adulthood; the mortality rate for juvenile dragons is at least 80%. And young dragons have a growth period of nearly a hundred years, during which their parents basically don't care for them. If they don't find a safe place to develop, they can easily be found by greedy adventurers who will skin and desecrate them."

Uh, you seem to have said something scary, and it seems like you're hinting at something.

"When my predecessor came here last time, there was only a juvenile black dragon in this area. It hasn't been many decades since then, so it's impossible for it to have grown into an adult."

Okay, it's all been made clear. Rean is a little curious about how many years it has been.

The span from a young dragon to a young adult dragon can be eighty years, but once you see it, it's best not to ask too many questions.

This did indeed relieve Rean. If an adult dragon is about the size of a house, then a young dragon is at most the size of a carriage.

The smaller ones are only two meters long and have very few spells; they're not even in the same league.

If that's all there is to it, this expert in front of me should be able to solo it!

"Hiss. I told you last time that we should put it into medicine as soon as possible, but you insisted on letting it roam free for a while until it grew up. Ha, now it's gone bad. You regret it now."

It seems the magical girl's mascot has said something quite terrifying.

After leaving the caravan, the contracted beast Merul also became more active, seemingly because her daily "words" were a form of pollution to ordinary people.

"I don't regret it! The quality of a young dragon's hide isn't even enough to make a bag. It's better to wait for it to grow a few years. Isn't that what you said back then?! It's my fault!" The girl pouted, saying something that was quite feminine yet terrifying.

So, who is the real monster?

No wonder you spotted the dragon so easily; you'd been eyeing it for a while.

But then Rean realized that his vigilance was a bit foolish, so he decided to just be a happy new recruit and learn from the veterans.

Rean's relaxed expression made Purple Rose cover her mouth and chuckle.

When you're on a date, you should naturally be happy. What's the point of being tense and on guard all the time?

Trouble? Threat? I can handle it all!

So Miss Purple Rose became even more lively, coming over and chattering like a junior student, telling many adventurous and interesting stories.

Rean, now relaxed, adjusted his mindset and dealt with the situation cheerfully.

It seems I really overreacted.

As he walked along, Rean thought he hadn't been attacked because he was a small target, but in reality, there was no safe zone in this area.

Rean had no ability to stealth, and his temperature, scent, and even dragon smell constantly attracted attackers.
"woo woo woo woo!"

In a thicket of bushes and mushrooms, a dark elf assassin was desperately whimpering.

He was completely unable to move, unaware of what had happened, and on the exposed parts of his skin, there seemed to be faint, ink-like snake patterns spreading.

Little by little, the lines rose, from the feet to the waist, slowly spreading and crawling until they finally covered the forehead.

It's gone.

His eyes widened in terror, but he was powerless to stop it all from ending.

He pulled out the dagger in a daze, but the snake pattern around his mouth pinched his mouth shut, turning all his roars into sobs.

Finally, the dagger, pulled out and controlled by hands covered in snake patterns, slowly pierced into the eyes.

It went in through the forehead and out from behind the head.

The corpse lay on the ground, its eyes wide open in death, tears of terror streaming down its face. Only then did the snake-like markings cease and begin to fade.

Rean had no idea that horror movies were playing out all around him. He thought his ability to conceal his presence was pretty good, and he hadn't encountered any enemies while wearing heavy armor.

Having adjusted his mindset and become a subordinate eager to gain experience, he naturally became more talkative since the big boss wanted to chat.

Rean also enjoys chatting with Purple Rose. Not only is she sweet-voiced and beautiful, but she also always provides Rean with information and guidance.

Rean did know a lot; the fragments of the Heroic Spirits' memories gave him many world-class secrets. However, he lacked a lot of the specific operational skills that a newcomer should have, such as adventure experience, style of conduct, and etiquette.

He knew almost nothing about the underworld, in particular.

"Dark elves have always been a theocratic race, but they've been fragmented quite a bit. The last race's goddess, Lolth, perished several eons ago, and the current seven dark elf gods all claim to be her successors. There are good and bad among them, so I don't know what stance that particular dark elf city currently holds."

The rationality of a theocratic state is guaranteed by its gods and clergy; the way that race and state behaves is essentially equivalent to the position of the gods themselves.

Of the current seven Dark Elf deities (and three weaker ones who are not worth mentioning), one is benevolent, two are neutral, and four are malevolent. The chance of drawing a highly aggressive race is still quite high, but it is much better than in the era of Lolth in previous eras.

"I have a pretty good idea what these bastards are up to, daring to touch the cookies in my jar!"

The huffy purple rose looked quite cute, but what she said was rather subtle.

Rean guessed it; the little cookie in her mouth was probably the little black dragon she had her eye on before!

It seems this involves the schemes of gods and dragons? Is it really okay to release such high-level content so early? Is it a bit too early for a first-tier knight like me to be involved in such a challenge?

Rean now only hopes that the Purple Rose in front of him will be helpful and handle everything just like the big brother who helps out.

Don't let it be like those cutscenes in some games where a majestic senior character appears for a few minutes and then disappears (for various reasons), leaving a novice hero with only a short sword to challenge dragons and demon kings. If the hero doesn't get to fight the storyline hero, he's doomed!
"It must be that bastard 'Silver Bottle Mirror Woman,' she loves dragging powerful beings into the shadow dimension."

Many Shadow Dragons (Shadow Dragons) are not naturally occurring; they are ordinary dragons that have fallen into the Shadow Plane and been corrupted by it into bizarre beings that are half shadow and half flesh.

The Silver Bottle Mirror Woman is one of the seven Dark Elf Gods, and theoretically she is neutral.

However, the Dark Elves' definition of neutrality is roughly the difference between "I actively seek you out and kill your entire family" and "After seeing you, I'll consider whether to kill your entire family." This goddess is said to reside in the Shadow Plane and enjoys transforming various powerful life forms into her own kin.

So, it's quite normal that the black dragon that was previously targeted by the Purple Rose was transformed into a shadow dragon in the territory where the Goddess of Shadows was serving.

"How foolish! To succumb to power like that. No wonder many say the Shadow Dragon can't even be considered a true dragon."

Purple Rose looked up and smiled, but her words were full of malice.

"Aren't you right, Little Dragon!"

At that moment, Rean was stunned and quickly drew his sword to defend himself.

Only after opening his dragon eye did he notice that a shadowy monster the size of an elephant was lying on the stone pillar.

Shaped like a dragon, it lay sprawled on the stone pillar, its claws outstretched, but in the center of its wide-open mouth, a shadowy breath was gathering.

It is brewing a dragon's breath!

The most dangerous stalker in the underworld is the Shadow Dragon; you wouldn't want to be ambushed by a giant dragon.

Looking at the Shadow Dragon hanging upside down, Rean instantly recalled Purple Rose's words from before. Not a single word of those idle remarks was superfluous!
“Evil!” Rean instinctively drew his sword as he stared at the shadow dragon.

But something was wrong from the start. The dazzling golden light instantly ignited everything, his blood boiled, and he was filled with disgust for the shadowy monster before him.

This is blasphemy—against dragons, against life, and against the entire material plane!

This rage stemmed from his bloodline, but also from the paladin's instincts; the radiant power to ward off evil was fully activated.

Radiance and positive energy, shadow and negative energy, natural enemies!
"Break through evil." Since you're tempted, take action.

Rean leaped up and delivered the slash to meet the dragon's attack.

"Boom!"

But the next moment, he was pushed back even faster than when he was being pushed up.

Completely suppressed by power, Rean felt pain all over his body, his muscles and bones groaning together.

The dragon easily swatted away the charging heavily armored knight, without even stopping its gathering shadowy dragon breath!

However, a noticeable crack appeared on one of its dragon claws.

The dragon's face showed surprise, as if it could not understand how its hard dragon scales could be pierced by the weak knight in front of it.

The flowing black blood and the irritating glow on the wound bothered him.

"Indeed, we should have used better disguises and launched the dragon breath attack from a safer location."

Normally, if it weren't discovered, it would unleash a dragon breath attack on its opponent when the opponent passes directly below or to the side.

Young dragons are mediocre in both melee and magic combat; only their dragon breath is worth watching.

Shadow Dragon Breath may be the weakest of all dragon breaths, but it has the advantage of being extremely stealthy and suitable for surprise attacks!
As for the dragon race's pride? What do young dragons need pride for?
"Snapped!"

But suddenly, the gathered dragon breath energy dissipated after a snap of the fingers.

The little shadow dragon suddenly crashed to the ground, as if something was binding and entangled it.

"Roar!" With a furious roar, the restraints were broken.

It struggled to its feet, ready to tear apart the mortal woman who had provoked it, but...
"Hiss hiss (Come out.)"

After a series of calm words, a bizarre scene unfolded.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!" Shadow Dragon rolled on the ground in pain and fell down again.

At this moment, pale purple tentacles emerged from Shadow Dragon's ears, mouth, and nasal cavity!
They stirred things up, and the young dragon collapsed in pain, unable to even maintain its semi-shadow state, and directly transformed back into its flesh and blood form.

For example, if Rean encounters a baby dragon, it's equivalent to facing a level one boss, which is basically suicide.

The young dragon encountered a mature magical girl, and the situation and outcome were the same, especially since the young dragon had already been targeted and marked.

It was planted with the "seed" from the very beginning, just waiting to be stimulated and harvested.

Rean shuddered as he looked at the pitiful Shadow Dragon, whose tentacles were still spreading and developing on its acupoints.

This magical girl playing with tentacles, isn't that a bit too much of a taste?

"Is it okay?"

But Purple Rose's smile, which suddenly turned her head, was even sweeter.

The content and tone were as casual as a girlfriend helping her boyfriend buy groceries and cook, asking if he wanted to eat the "fish".

Rean was taken aback at first, then realized that this was asking him if the dragon could be used as evolution material.

Looking at the still struggling Shadow Dragon, Rean instinctively felt a deep-seated disgust. He shook his head. Even without Kuku's guidance, he could feel his body and soul rejecting it.

As Purple Rose said before, Shadow Dragons can no longer be considered dragons. After being assimilated by the Shadow Dimension, they are more like shadow creatures mixed with dragon blood.

If this stuff gets into your body, it will make you dirty.

Since my "little boyfriend" doesn't want to eat, let's get down to business.

"Little Dragon, tell me everything you know, and I'll let you go. Don't worry, I won't eat the small fish, especially the rotten ones."

But the moment this "little dragon" spoke, both of them were stunned.

"Another magical girl, another monster."

(End of this chapter)