Anime Crossover: Master is Not Here Today

"This seems to be the place."

Finally, they arrived at the fork in the road that Reya had recorded. They could clearly see a winding road extending downwards, which indeed looked like it led directly to the earth's veins.

Will we find that guy here?

With this in mind, they headed toward the fork in the road.

Walking on this path felt like constantly going deeper into the earth. As they continued to go deeper, not only Meiliuqina, but even she could feel the energy around her becoming more and more concentrated, and she could even faintly sense the flow of energy.

Moreover, the dragon crystals formed here are different from those on the surface, appearing more translucent and clear. According to Meiliuqina, the crystals here contain a higher purity of energy.

"……roar!"

Just then, the Nergigante that had been following behind them suddenly froze for a moment, then seemed to realize something and let out a cry.

"what happened?"

Fujimaru Ritsuka turned her head, looking at Nergigante's unusual confusion, but the next moment, Nergigante suddenly passed by her and began to move resolutely in a certain direction.

Seeing this, she exchanged a glance with Mei Liuqina and quickly followed.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 278 Mysterious Beings Deep Within the Earth's Veins

Unlike the others who move slowly while exploring, Nergigante seems to have a clear goal, only occasionally stopping to look around and confirm the direction before continuing to move forward at a rapid pace.

So after following Nergigante for a while, they encountered the Grand Master who had entered the area to investigate before them.

"...Ritsuka?!"

The Grand Master was startled when he suddenly saw Nergigante appear, and then immediately noticed Fujimaru Ritsuka and Meiryu Shina following closely behind. His expression was filled with surprise and confusion.

But Fujimaru Ritsuka clearly didn't have time to stop for pleasantries and detailed explanations, so she could only quickly say:

"Meimei seems to have made a discovery!"

"Ah, what?"

The commander paused for a moment before realizing what was happening. Seeing that Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others had already passed by him and were gradually moving away, he quickly followed after them.

After catching up with Fujimaru Ritsuka, he continued to ask:

"What exactly happened?"

Faced with the problem, Fujimaru Ritsuka could only shake her head and look ahead at the Nergigante path:

"I don't know either, but it seems like it sensed something and suddenly changed like this."

"Did you notice anything?"

The commander seemed to be deep in thought, then asked:

"Why didn't Bai Feng and Re Ya come with you? Haven't you run into them yet?"

“They were setting up camp outside and preparing to return to the base to report, so I came to investigate first.”

The Grand Master nodded and said nothing more; the group silently followed behind Nergigante.

After advancing for a while, Nergigante suddenly stopped again.

Just when they thought the Nergigante was merely confirming its direction, it let out a threatening roar—

"Roar--!!!"

Only then did they realize that something was wrong, and they immediately perked up and looked ahead.

The reason why Nergigante stopped was because a figure appeared in front of it, blocking its path.

The other party appeared to be a middle-aged male dragon-human, with his hair styled into long braids and holding a weapon that resembled a long staff. He maintained a guarded posture, staring at the Nergigante with vigilance and seriousness.

At this moment, the cloth strips covering the opponent's weapon were still half-hanging on the weapon, and some cold sweat was seeping from the opponent's forehead. Obviously, the opponent did not expect to encounter a battle here, especially one against Nergigante.

Why is Nergigante here?!

Just as the man and the dragon were facing off, the Grand Master standing behind Nergigante, after seeing the other's appearance clearly, waved happily and said:

"Hey, Ovi!"

"...Commander!?"

Looking at the Grand Master standing behind Nergigante, the male dragonman called Ovi had a look of great confusion in his eyes.

……

...

Orvi was also a hunter from the Survey Corps, and a member of the First Fleet. He was a friend of the Commander for decades.

And just like the Grand Master's choice, he also spent most of his time conducting investigations alone, maintaining a distant but not intimate relationship with the investigation team.

Therefore, he was clearly unaware of what Fujimaru Ritsuka and her group were doing.

"...Nergigante, the guardian of nature...The reason why Lavasioth deviated from its predetermined destination...A visitor from another world...A precognitive dream..."

Ovi stood there, eyes closed, muttering everything the Grand Master had just told him, seemingly trying his best to process the massive amount of astonishing information.

After a long while, he opened his eyes, slowly exhaled, and first looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others, then at the obediently sitting Nergigante beside him, and smiled wryly:

"I see. It's incredible that such a wonderful coincidence could happen."

After a moment of reflection, he looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka again and said:

"My purpose in coming here is probably the same as yours."

"As you should understand now, these crystals are the product of the energy released by the ancient dragons that died in the Miasma Valley. They are formed by the continuous accumulation of energy through the ley lines. This is also the reason why the Dragon Crystal Land you mentioned was formed."

As he spoke, Ovi looked up at the crystals above his head and said:

"But in the last few years, I suddenly sensed that the energy flow in the Crystal Land and even the ley lines began to become abnormal, so I have been investigating this anomaly."

The dragon race has a long lifespan and a relatively small population. Compared to humans, some special individuals are occasionally born, such as those who can communicate with nature, those who are enormous in size, or even those who can resonate with ancient dragons, etc.

While Ovi himself is not considered a particularly special individual among the dragon-human race, he is more sensitive to energy in nature than ordinary people, and can even sense the flow of energy from the earth's veins.

“I recently observed that the abnormal flow of energy in the ley lines is not a chaotic mess, but rather seems to be gathering in a certain direction. After observing the location of the energy gathering on the surface, I began to search for the location of the anomaly in the ley line corridors.”

"If nothing unexpected happens, it should be nearby."

Then, Ovi continued:

"Moreover, I suspect that it may not just be a matter of energy accumulation. The reason why that Lava Dragon left the Valley of Miasma and chose to go deep into the ley lines through the Ley Line Corridor was probably because it was attracted by that anomaly."

"You mean, even ancient dragons would be attracted to it?"

The Grand Master was somewhat surprised upon hearing this, then, as if struck by a thought, he looked at the Nergigante beside him, wondering if it had also been drawn in.

Noticing the Grand Master's gaze, Ovi said:

"The other party is probably attracting the life-ending Lavasioth to obtain its energy, but Nergigante probably wouldn't."

"Haha, you're right!"

The commander scratched his head, chuckled twice, and then asked:

"Tell me, what exactly is that strange entity that keeps gathering energy?"

"……I have no idea."

After a moment of silence, Ovi shook his head and said in a deep voice:

"However, one thing is certain: it is an absolutely powerful and dangerous entity, and a deadly threat to the entire ecosystem of the New World."

"Powerful and dangerous..."

The Grand Commander frowned and pondered. At that moment, Fujimaru Ritsuka suddenly spoke up:

"In any case, we have to stop it, right?"

She smiled at Ovi and the Grand Master:

"Since it's a problem that must be addressed, we just need to think about how to solve it."

"More importantly, we still don't know what kind of being it is. The energy is gathering nearby, so let's investigate first, no matter what?"

"Forehead,"

Upon hearing this, the Grand Commander looked at Fujimaru Ritsuka with some surprise. After exchanging a glance with Ovi, he couldn't help but burst into hearty laughter.

"Haha, Ritsuka is right. The most important thing now is to do a good job of investigation. Thinking wildly won't help!"

Ovi shook his head and laughed:

"That's true. We can't analyze any more information with the existing intelligence. Let's conduct the investigation first, and then discuss how to solve the problem."

Seeing this, Fujimaru Ritsuka chuckled and patted Nergigante's head. Unable to contain itself any longer, Nergigante quickly rose and continued its rapid advance in a certain direction, with the others following closely behind.

Finally, led by Nergigante, the group arrived at a spacious, cave-like area.

The original magma disappeared, replaced by dragon crystals that covered almost the entire field of vision, and a calm underground river that glowed faintly and was also filled with rich energy, like liquid dragon crystals.

At this moment, Ovi's expression changed slightly, and he said in a deep voice:

"It's right in front."

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 279 The Demon Lamp Dragon

Upon reaching this location, not only Nergigante and Orvi, but also Fujimaru Ritsuka and the others vaguely sensed that there seemed to be something unusual ahead, which made them inexplicably uneasy.

Should we continue forward?

Having already resolved to investigate, the Grand Master hesitated once again as the truth lay before him.

It wasn't that he was cowardly, but his intuition told him that what followed was far more than just gathering intelligence; a major battle might erupt the moment they met their opponent.

Perhaps we should first gather the necessary fighting force, at least we should call on Bai Feng...

"Roar--!"

However, in the short time he was thinking, Nergigante flapped its wings without hesitation and took off.

The underground space they were in wasn't small, but the dragon crystal pillars that grew everywhere compressed the space, making it seem like there was no room for the Nergigante to fly in the air.