Thousand-Faced Dragon

Chapter 493 Familiar Wind
I came here to join the victor, to get rich and share the spoils, and you want me to be cannon fodder?
Nobody's stupid. You're not my father, so why should I make sacrifices for you?

This was already an unstable community of interests, yet they made neutral fence-sitters the cannon fodder, resulting in a collective collapse of the fence-sitters.

They may not dare to rebel directly, but they will not hesitate to mess things up.

You don't even treat us like your own people anymore. Even if you win, you won't share a large portion of the profits with me, so why should I risk my life for you?
"Sima, I'm not dead yet!"

The old city lord blocked his adopted son from leaving the house.

He could force his way out, but that would also mean a complete break with his father. Just as his father had said, there were some things he couldn't do before he died.

As for how the old father found out, and who leaked the information to him, that's another story. It wasn't Dania, because she had no mercy for the traitor.

The second son of the Finkel family, the vagrant who ran the slave market, also suddenly "fell and was injured" and was unable to leave the house.

Only the small church faction, which considered itself one of their own, dutifully sent out its core forces, but unfortunately, they encountered a hunting horde of black dragons.

Right now, they are probably struggling to survive in the wilderness.

Even if this den of black dragons is a bit stupid (if they weren't stupid, they wouldn't have had their own kind become their mounts), they are still true dragons. They shouldn't be doomed, because wild dragons are just beasts, and when they find their prey too difficult to deal with, they will often rationally find an easier target to devour.

Of course, this is on the premise that they are not foolish enough to completely provoke these beasts.

"Great, hit! Those stupid black beasts!!"

The young dragon, struck by the sacred flame, plummeted with a mournful cry. It struggled to flap its wings, but still fell helplessly.

All around were roaring black dragons. Most living beings, even beasts, have the instinct to protect their young (except for white dragons). Now, those dragons, who were completely enraged, might be in for a rough time.

This may not be a misfortune, but rather an inevitability.

Even though Rean's group was large, they still had professional scouts and experienced hunters leading the way. Rean himself was already considered a veteran of exploring underground ruins.

Avoiding risks is a habit, a basic common sense when traveling, which means trying to hide yourself as much as possible, even in wilderness areas.

Try to move along terrain such as rocks, caves, and trees, and avoid placing yourself in too open a space, so as not to become the most obvious target in the area.

At the very least, birds of prey, scout eagles, and flying dragons should not be able to be spotted at a glance from several kilometers away.

Clearly, these church officials, who usually lived a life of luxury on earth, had no such experience. They swaggered around as usual, just like they did in the city streets. Being found by the black dragons was just bad luck, not a misfortune, as it could have been avoided to some extent.

After encountering the dragons, they did not light fireworks or make noise to try to drive away the beasts (to make them think that these prey were not to be trifled with). Wild animals in nature hunt for the most cost-effectiveness. When they realize that the prey may hurt them, they will choose to give up if there is still enough food.

But if you completely enrage them when they test you...
"Ha, did you see that? I hit it! It was me! I'm going to become a dragon-slaying hero too!"

The high priest of the Four Leaf Church was still boasting about the accuracy of his sacred fire, unaware that the baby dragon, which had been lying on the ground howling for a while before falling completely silent, had driven its parents mad.

Even if they are just a group of "wild dragons" without magic or tactics, they are still dragons!
"Wait, what are these dragons doing? They're howling, calling for their companions."

One of the basic innate abilities of chromatic dragons like black and green dragons is to summon a large number of subordinates to act as cannon fodder. It seems that these bigwigs from the church can try out the abilities of a low-budget dragon army. "As expected, we can't count on those guys." The masterminds behind the scenes, seeing one bad news after another, could only mobilize the forces they could truly trust in their impotent rage.

Because they are not trusted, they are sent out as cannon fodder. And because of the lack of trust, they all fail more and more. When you suspect the other party of betrayal and test them, the opponent also betrays you because of this distrust and being tested. This is the "chain of suspicion".

The knights were quite surprised, as the expected ambush had not yet appeared. Had the ambush team already detected their plan?

"Never mind them, let's stick to the plan. As long as we execute it, they'll definitely leave traces."

Under Rean's command, all parties began to move about. The druids began to investigate the ley lines, the alchemists began to prepare materials and magic circles, and the knights gave a final check of the disposable dragon spears and javelins. Against dragons, especially semi-elemental dragons like the Crystal Dragon, light weapons and ordinary arrows were practically useless.

Aside from warriors with extreme self-confidence, those specializing in blunt weapons and wielding heavy hammers—who don't usually need large dragon spears—can use the force of their impact to inflict damage on dragons.
"Have you enchanted it?"

"We had the mages help with it before, and the alchemists are activating it. It's the standard three-piece set: Corrosion, Armor Penetration, and Dragon Slayer."

Permanent enchantments are incredibly expensive, but temporary enchantments cost only one-tenth or even one-hundredth of the cost of permanent enchantments.

However, if a weapon is equipped with dual enchantments, the material and cost consumption will increase several times. Rean's side only has single enchantments, but there are enough of them, so he just uses quantity to stack the effect.

Will it work?

Rean was still a little hesitant. He had been researching a lot of information about crystal dragons these past few days, and he found the thing to be far too troublesome.

It's not just the ridiculous hardness and crystal armor that's frustrating; what's most frustrating is that as a dual-attribute dragon with both wind and light attributes, it can use Gale to distort projectiles and has extremely high light attribute resistance. This means that not only are powerful anti-evil attacks like Holy Fire and Evil Slash ineffective, but even pure fire attacks struggle to deal damage.
"Can't this thing even be called a legendary dragon species?"

"If we only look at the hardware, they are indeed much stronger than ordinary colored dragons and gem dragons. However, the trouble with true dragons is never about hardware. In addition to the dragon's heritage, the difference between different dragon species is not that big. It mainly depends on the individual's own cultivation. Uh, white dragons are an exception."

The only advantage of the white dragon is probably that, after giving up its intelligence, its reproductive ability is quite famous among true dragons, which has led to the emergence of many dragon-like and sub-dragon types in the north and polar regions.

However, the Crystal Dragon is ridiculously overpriced and outrageous just by looking at its hardware.

"Isn't that precisely why I hunted it?"

Rean calmly watched the busy crowd below. Perhaps, the moment certain forces got involved, it was already destined to be no longer a simple hunt, but a war where only the outcome mattered.

"Red Feather Arrow?"

"No."

This time, in order to discover his opponent in advance, Rean specially invited the Eagle Witch.

She said no, but it's probably true that there aren't any within a few kilometers or even a dozen kilometers.
"That's strange, what exactly do those guys mean?"

But now, it seems, is not the time to consider such trivial matters. The materials are already prepared, and there's no turning back once the arrow is released.

"Then let's see what the Crystal Dragon, hailed as one of the most beautiful dragon species, looks like."

(End of this chapter)