Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 204 The Black Bird of the Night
"Victoria, what do you think of me?"

"Uh, you're a good person."

“I mean on a partner level.”

"You're such a good person! Would you marry me? How much dowry ...

There are some things and some people that you never know what kind of trouble they will cause before you get involved with them.

When asked how much "bride price" he wanted, Rean finally couldn't hold back anymore.

When Rean tried to choose someone to confess to, he subconsciously kept slamming on the brakes.

As one of the most dangerous fraudsters, the fact that the Serpent could express such friendly support was only because of certain people. He didn't really care if Rean died and was reincarnated, but it meant that the country had a high probability of destruction and the Dragonborn of the Thousand-Faced Dragon would all die, which made the Serpent quite unhappy.

It's one thing for the snake to be willing to interfere, but if you break your promise to him, his authority involves contracts, fraud, and breach of contract. But what if you cheat him or break your contract? He'll surely give you a complete and utter disaster.

"You're a good person too, but I'm afraid we're not a good match. I was just asking; I'm a little curious about the dark elves' aesthetic sense."

Looking at Victoria's expectant face, Rean sighed and made up a reason. The way she looked at him was as if she were looking at a "beautiful woman," and he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

With only a few days left, Rean must find a way to fulfill his promise to the snake.

But once it was actually put into practice, this "confession" was just too difficult to deliver.

Suliman? Rean thought she might not actually refuse, but then he thought of the Purple Rose.
"I always feel like I'll be tied up and forced into marriage the moment I confess my feelings, and once the Purple Rose thing is exposed, I might never be able to leave the house again." On the other hand, Rean also feels that he is a little bit morally fastidious.

It was already outrageous enough that she took the place of her "fiancé," but in the end, she even got her hands on him and his money. It really crossed the line of morality, and I can't get over this.

Although Rean himself felt it was pretentious, this "face-swapped identity" and "engaged couple" status had indeed become an insurmountable knot in his heart, coupled with the Purple Rose.
"Find a girlfriend, break up with her after a while, that would be best," was Rean's idea, the way to fulfill the agreement with the least cost.

Rean was hesitant to choose safe options like Stephen and Mushroom, mainly because of the snake's previous threats. He worried that the snake might actually distort their sexual orientation just for fun.

Rean himself would rather be seen as a scumbag than as a pervert.

It seems that only two dark elves, Suliman, and Bai remain.

Not only is Bai not here, but he's also too small; it seems there are only two dark elves.

"Oh, and Ophelia, uh, the robot."

Rean felt a bit numb; none of them seemed suitable for dating.

The dark elves seem to be the only option, but Rean always feels uncomfortable about it. Although the two dark elf ladies seem to have no experience, who knows if they will follow the same path as many dark elf matriarchs, engaging in various group entertainment activities and taking on male concubines.

Rean had originally intended to try Victoria's advances, as dark elves' relationships are usually a mess. Victoria seemed completely willing to accept it, but the question, "When are you going to marry me, and how much dowry do you want?" was a bit too much for him to handle.

"It's a real shame. Actually, you're quite cute in the eyes of the dark elves." Victoria shook her head and sighed.

She's reached a certain age and does want to find a "woman" to satisfy her. Dark elves are considered the most chaotic of all intelligent races, so don't expect her to have a normal view of family.

If Rean really confessed to her, she would definitely accept, just like a playboy wouldn't refuse a girl who throws herself into his arms.

Especially since the playboy is developing his career in this girl's city, he can use her family's resources to build a solid foundation for himself.

It was because he saw through all of this that Rean felt increasingly disgusted.

Faced with the way Victoria and Vera looked at him, he always felt like he was the one being slept with!
Yes, so did the goddess Verna. When they first met, she invited Rean to become her family knight. The martial arts master and knight master of a family are often the mistress's servant father, and may even be "shared".

The cultural shock of a different race is fine to try occasionally, but when it comes to forming a family and life partner, Rean, who is actually quite conservative at heart, really cannot accept it.

"Damn snake." Rean sighed. This "price" seemed insignificant, but if it were actually paid, he might lose his next life if he wasn't careful.

"If all else fails, then we'll have to resort to the Dark Elves. Let's just treat it as a charade, and as long as we stay within our bounds and nothing happens."

Rean couldn't bring himself to eat it, so he decided to grit his teeth and wait until the last day.

If nothing unexpected happens, I'll just use a dark elf. Most likely it will be Victoria in front of me, since Rean doesn't want to cause any political incidents.

"I never expected my first love would be like this. Well, I've already lowered my standards enough. In the end, I'm the one who's deceiving people's feelings, although it's really hard to break a dark elf's illusion."

Rean chose to deceive himself, hoping to delay as long as possible, knowing that things might change at any time.

Who knows, the snake might find something new to amuse itself someday. A trade could be made, and with different terms, they might just get through this ordeal.

Rean would rather fight to the death with another Beast Prince than have his love life become a mess, even though it's already messy enough as it is.

"Let's do business first."

The most important thing right now is to deal with the threat implied by the snake. Rean thought about it and realized there wasn't really a good solution.

My bloodline has just been upgraded, and I haven't even finished the several courses of potions left by Kuku. It's not realistic to move my bloodline again now.

"Still 20% short, what exactly happened back then?"

Rean naturally thought of his "cheat device," believing that borrowing the power of the Heroic Spirits should solve many problems.

Since the kingdom wasn't destroyed back then, Lex must have taken care of everything; he should be able to handle the other beast.

"The other beast... uh, you mean the 'elephant'? It's a pity I wasn't qualified to follow Lord Lex to the battlefield back then."

Rean went to see Knight Carne, but the result was quite complicated.

No one knew anything about the other beast. Rean only inquired with the higher-ups of the Knights, but received no valuable feedback.

He even went to see Dania while he was still hesitant, mentioning keywords like "fierce bird," "black bird," and "griffin for lion," but she was completely baffled.

Finally, she shooed Rean away in a huff, so as not to disturb her overtime work.

Rean didn't think Dania could hide these things, so she must really be unaware.

This undoubtedly made Rean feel a bit confused. When they fought the deer before, they were clearly prepared, and even had a weapon like "pine wood" that could counter them.

"Completely unaware?" But upon closer examination, this is most likely a royal scandal, so it seems reasonable to block such information.

Rean was somewhat surprised that even Dania was completely unaware of the situation. Logically, he should have told her, or at least not burdened her with such a mental burden.
"Wait, could it be that even the royal family is unaware?"

The disaster back then caused immense damage; the entire old capital was destroyed, and now all that remains are ruins.

"...Only when the Queen arrives, and makes sure she's aware of it too. Hmm, that's quite possible."

Rean suspected this was possible, after all, if the second princess really was the previous king's illegitimate child, then the biggest blame would naturally fall on the previous king! It was also very possible that the queen was kept in the dark the whole time.

If only the king knows this secret passed down through generations, and the king is already dead, and a beast whose abilities and characteristics are completely unknown is lurking in the shadows, preparing to cause trouble, what kind of hellish difficulty is this?!

"Really." Rean sighed, staring at Lex's spirit Kaha for a long time, annoyed. This is clearly your fault, how did you drag me into it?

"Another day wasted." Running around looking up information and asking people, it seems I didn't get the answer in the end.

Rean counted the days, hoping the snake would stay a few more days.

But as soon as he lay down on the bed, he fell into a dream.

"Hey, you're here?"

But this time, when Rean was trapped in a dream, he was once again pulled into the Hall of Heroes.

A large black snake lay on the floor of the hall, occupying at least half of the space.

Rean recognized him instantly. Wasn't this an enlarged snake? How did it get so big?
"Rean!!"

Before Rean could react, a fragrant breeze wafted over.

The familiar, soft touch startled Rean. His question was immediately cut off, his mouth filled with sweet fragrance.

When the girl who had been standing on tiptoe stopped, their eyes met.

That silly smile, that sweet smile, that infatuated smile made Rean feel inexplicably guilty, as if he had been thinking about his "new girlfriend" during the day.

"It's been a long time, Vivian (Purple Rose)."

"Mmm, mmm, mmm." The girl rushed into the man's arms and rubbed against him.

"Cough." It wasn't until the "snake" coughed lightly that Purple Rose stopped Rean from stealthily taking his clothes.

If it weren't for the really bad time and place, Rean would probably have already been dragged into the room.

"Snake, you—" Rean stopped mid-question as a piercing gaze made him feel his life was in danger.

He looked around and noticed that the hall contained not only snakes and purple roses, but also four women who appeared to be magical girls.

The eldest of them, wearing a veil, was also looking at Rean with her snake-like eyes, but she gave him a friendly smile.

"The rose, one of my favorite flowers, is also the current patriarch of the snake clan."

Well, he is indeed a big shot.

Another person Rean was also familiar with was "White," who smiled and nodded at him.

Rean responded happily, indicating that her condition was stable.

The next one was a complete stranger. She wore a strange red and white feathered robe with blue and white feathers on the long sleeves. She had a pair of sharp, piercing eyes that exuded a chilling killing intent.
This woman, who was clearly not from the snake clan, looked at the snake's two descendants with great respect, but seemed to completely ignore him.

One snuggled close to Rean, while the other watched the "couple" with amusement, saying with great interest.

"Little guy, when are you coming here? Let your sister arrange blind dates for you. There are lots of pretty ladies who would suit you. Let's arrange a hundred first! It's been a long time since we had a group wedding."

"Hiss hiss hiss!" For the first time, Rean saw Purple Rose flick out its forked tongue, revealing the menacing look of its snake-like eyes.

The woman opposite him, however, continued to smile and then glared back with her snake-like eyes.

"Ah!" Poor Purple Rose cried out in pain, seemingly having suffered a loss in the unseen confrontation.

But this woman, who seems to be the clan leader, is actually too childish.

Not only did he hold grudges against his juniors, but after winning, he would wag his tail triumphantly.

Rean confirmed that these two were indeed pure-blooded snakes.

They don't seem to care much about their ancestors. The snake itself seems indifferent as well.

Rean realized that the descendants of the beasts, especially the magical girls, seemed to have very different personalities across the various branches.
For example, the one that keeps staring at you with the eyes of someone eyeing prey is probably a bird of prey.
"Wait, a raptor?" Rean instantly remembered the target he had been searching for during the day.

"Yes, she is 'Red Feather Arrow,' the magical girl of the eagle, and the helper I found for you. She is traveling during the day and should arrive at Radiant City soon. Without her help, you are unlikely to survive this crisis."

The snake yawned, having searched through the threads of cause and effect for a long time, and finally found some places where it could intervene.

Ultimately, this is all the trouble left behind by Lex. But as the Thousand-Faced Dragon, he also left some gaps in the causal lines, allowing for limited intervention.

"I'm on my way, and I'm a citizen of the Kingdom too." The cold words and the even colder gaze made Rean wonder if he had accidentally offended her.
"She's from the old capital." Well, that explains everything.

Her survival was partly due to Lex, but from another perspective, Lex was also responsible for all of this.

"White and Red Feather Arrows are on their way. Their abilities should help you deal with that opponent." Both of them were saved by the "Thousand-Faced Dragon" and are also people connected to Rean by karma.

Rean glanced at them and nodded slightly to the ladies in thanks.

They truly are "family." With their help, I feel a little more at ease.

"And what about this lady?" Rean's gaze fell on the last person in the hall.

"Uh, wasn't she the one you brought in?"

Rean and the others turned around abruptly and saw the last "girl" in black.

She seemed very pretty, but upon closer inspection, nothing could be clearly seen.

She smiled.

She smiled sweetly, her smile growing more and more joyful, but Rean felt as if she were wailing and crying, her laughter seeming to bring tears to her eyes.

"Found it! Found it! Finally found it!"

The tiny figure began to spread and multiply endlessly, and the darkness began to cover and erode everything around it. The hall of heroes was about to be covered by the shadows.

The ruler of dreams has arrived in her domain, and Rean's dreams are gradually being eroded and controlled by her.

The snake sighed and gently flicked its tail, shattering the dream palace.

Under the current circumstances, he cannot directly target the "Beast's" authority, but ending Rean's dream is certainly an option.

Before the dream shattered completely, Rean only saw the massive shadow of the owl and heard its cheerful laughter.

"Found it, found it."

The gurgling laughter, filled with joy and resentment, was like a black bird crying blood, or a mournful widow.

(End of this chapter)