Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 348 Kro Canyon
Looking up, you see a narrow strip of sky enclosed by two cliffs.

Even though it was already noon, only a few rays of sunlight shone down, and the sound of flowing streams filled the air, while the wind carried countless roars of various animals.

Hot springs? Cold springs? Both. The volcano sculpted by the earth's veins and the exit of the icy plane are only a few kilometers apart, where you can witness the spectacular sight of ice and fire melting into each other.

Crisis? Monsters? They're everywhere here. If you climb a steep slope, you can see the endless herds of beasts below the boundless mountains.

Earth, fire, water, and wind are all present here, with countless passages leading to underground and above-ground areas, and a large number of unknown species have gathered here.

The fragmented mountain range has sculpted countless underground caves and rivers, allowing visitors to descend into dark and mysterious areas as well as embark on snow-capped mountain paths leading to misty peaks.

This is the Kro Mountains, one of the ancient, uninhabited, and terrifying wilderness areas.

"Kolluna, there's a very high level of energy reaction over the Blue Well Cave. It seems like another ancient monster has awakened. Should we move out?"

"I understand. Let's proceed according to plan."

The towering forest giant gripped a "tree-made" wooden staff in one hand while gazing into the distance.

On her outstretched fingers, magical energy was visibly concentrated, only beginning to dissipate slightly when the wind blew by.

This demonstrates her mastery of elemental power, but it also showcases the "tidal height." As the magical tide gradually reaches its peak, and the entire world begins to be filled with magic and elemental power, that magic becomes even more difficult to dissipate.

Alchemists have more stable machines for sampling magical element concentrations, but ancient species also have their own useful methods passed down through generations.

"It's risen by at least 20%, and it's only been less than a month, so we can't delay any longer, but that damn dragon."

Kolluna put her hand into the stream, feeling the coolness as well as the ever-expanding elemental tide.

The Cloak Mountains are quite unique. Their relatively primitive and isolated mountain structure has protected them from human habitation and erosion by climate disasters, allowing them to preserve many ancient species and primitive structures.

There are also several rifts in the elemental planes here, and even entrances to other realms, which makes the species more diverse, but also makes it difficult for the weak to establish a place to live.

But for the Druid order, which seeks natural balance and studies natural species, this is naturally a treasure trove.

It is also due to its relatively open geological structure and elemental plane connections that many elemental creatures and ancient species can survive here.

But now, with the rise of the elemental tides, the rate of increase here has far exceeded that of the outside world. Many ancient species that have been dormant or sleeping in this area have awakened, and some powerful species have also come here ahead of time in pursuit of the elemental tides.

For them, this might be a treasure hunt; for mortals, it could be a catastrophe.
"Damn dragon."

Kolluna looked up at the sky above the canyon, where the floating pale blue wings would suddenly appear from time to time, as repulsive as a floating Grim Reaper.

The sapphire dragon came to this area ten years ago. At that time, it occupied a cave and began to sleep. The druid order and it lived in peace.

Looking back now, he already knew that this was the "high elemental period" and that it was faster here than outside, so he came here in advance to adapt and advance. Having completed his evolution, he entered the active period about three years ago.

It took only a few days to wipe out all intelligent creatures and social life forms around the cave.

Sapphire dragons are a type of dragon with a very strong sense of territory, and they will basically kill any intruders on the spot.

"Sure enough, he's got his eye on us, and the sacred artifact too."

The Druid Order, known as the Green Garden, consists of a tribe of giants, including two adult forest giants and subspecies such as hill giants, as well as dozens of druids of ordinary human races. In fact, they can roam freely in most areas.

But in this place lacking light and plagued by chaotic elemental tides, confronting a fully grown Sapphire Dragon with the Ambush Master skill is far too difficult. After all, reality isn't a game, and what's most frustrating about real dragons is that they not only excel in both magic and physical combat, but also often possess extremely high intelligence and strategic combat abilities.

If you want to kill it, the premise is that it is willing to fight you to the death. But dragons with excellent flying ability basically always have the initiative and mobility advantage, so why would they fight you to the death instead of running away?

Sapphire dragons are a prime example. Their innate spells include wall-penetrating, spider-walking, and "sonic radar." Coupled with their racial traits of loving war and strategic planning, even if they can't be called war masters, they are all tactical masters of small-scale battlefields.

This thing chooses its battlefield, not the other way around.
"Go smash the dragon's nest again? No, it's pointless. There's nothing in that nest except some trash. That bastard will give up without hesitation. This will only further enrage him." The most common way for giants to deal with true dragons is to find the dragon's nest and block the entrance. The dragon's treasures and cubs can force the evil dragon to fight to the death.

But the nests of these dragons only contain leftover bones, so chasing them to the nests is pointless.

The animosity between the two sides was not originally deep; in fact, both sides could be considered neutral. However, their neutrality was probably two different things.

The so-called neutral camp among dragons is relative to the color dragons; it means that if you stay far enough away from them, they won't bother you.

The Green Garden was unlucky, being located on the edge of the Sapphire Dragon's territory. However, considering that dragon territories are often enormous, this was actually inevitable. They don't care about first come, first served. Even though this druid order has been operating here for at least fifty years, according to dragon rules, druids are still considered outsiders.

After the dragon woke up, friction naturally arose between the two sides. At this point, the sapphire dragon was just playing around.

The neutral faction wasn't completely unreasonable; they played around while trying to force the cult to leave. They thought everything would be fine once the druids left, but the druids activated a sacred relic to deal with it.

Well, using a sub-divine artifact (an object containing a certain amount of divine power, not necessarily strong, but certainly rare) in front of a greedy dragon will naturally attract its attention.

The friction between the two sides continued to escalate, and eventually the giants, unable to contain their anger, went directly to the dragon's nest and smashed it.

Then, the Druid order was never at peace.

This tactical dragon, adept at ambushing through walls, has mastered guerrilla and harassment tactics to an extreme degree, and many of the cult members have disappeared without a trace.

Ironically, in this area filled with canyons and caves, the dragon, which appears and disappears without a trace and occasionally floats in the air to survey the massive figures of the cult, is the perfect target.

Even if someone leaves to seek help, they will definitely be intercepted and killed. This guy is really going to wear down the cult.

"Let's hope those beastmen will keep their promise."

With a sigh, Kolluna, now trapped here, could only hope that her dream would come true.

She didn't really expect to hunt dragons; she only hoped that reinforcements would be strong enough to help the order relocate.
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"Why did I agree to slay the dragon? I really didn't do it for the kingdom or for you. I just need the materials from the Sapphire Dragon to complete my bloodline evolution. I'm telling you the truth, don't laugh."

Rean put down the little mirror demon, ended the communication, and sighed.

Dania was still trying to convince herself to give up, but after assessing the situation, it seemed like this really was an opportunity.

Normally, the journey there is quite long, but if you start from the city of the Dark Elves, it's not that far. The Mirror Fairy can greatly speed up the round trip, as long as Dania can provide assistance.

If we can fight, we will. If we can't, we'll borrow the power of the Mirror Demon and abduct the Order.

That dragon, is it really crazy enough to attack Radiant City? That would be suicidal.

"Don't worry, dragons are not difficult to deal with." At least, that's what the Lord of Pleasure said.

"Come, I'll teach you how to hunt dragons. Dragons often act recklessly because of their talents and racial advantages. That's their biggest weakness: arrogance and looking down on people." When it came to dragon hunting, this heroic spirit finally showed interest in teaching something.

(End of this chapter)