Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

The mage had no time to exert any strength, and the stone wall behind him suddenly broke apart before he could notice and dodge. A branch thicker than Bella's waist came across and slapped the mage straight into the platform.

And the person who walked out from the smoke and dust produced by the broken stone wall was Sander, who had been misled by Eaton and chased into a fork in the road!

"Khalid—"

Having been deceived once before, and then deceived again, Sander's rage was so intense that it threatened to erupt like magma, incinerating everything it touched. He completely ignored the giant bear's massive size and clashed with it, shaking the entire platform.

On the other side, Bella rushed forward with an oak stick in her hand and tripped the wizard who had just dug her out of the ground and threw him to the ground.

"The law of the jungle is only a small part of nature," she said, completely abandoning her pretentious moralizing attitude. She spoke rapidly, her long staff waving as fast as the other one. "Another part of nature is 'whatever rises must fall'!"

The protective spell on Eaton finally took effect at this moment. Although he could barely stand, only one or two of Bella's blows actually hit him. He gritted his teeth and finally seized the opportunity to soar into the air again, but the magical words uttered by the poet in the distance almost made him fall again.

"That's the law of gravity, Lord Bull said!"

"enough!"

The mage panicked and tore open another scroll of the Phantom Step, appearing dozens of meters away in an instant. "You bunch of country bumpkins! How dare you do this to me?!"

"'What goes up must come down?' Great! Let's see how you ants can make 'it' fall too!"

Eton Smil raised the staff called Tears of Eddas and slammed it downwards. The arcane light suddenly surged, and a complicated emerald green magic circle rose from the ground beneath his feet, as if it had been drawn long ago!

Chapter 160 Final Counterattack

"Originally, I wasn't planning on using this," Eaton's face twisted in anger from being humiliated. "After all, it's nearly impossible to reach an equal deal with a being like Kolin Otto's Bite. But you! You've left me with no choice!"

A sentence that had existed in the mage's mind for decades, almost making him think it was one of his innate memories, was recited fluently by Eaton:

"(Dragon language) ar-haurach, geth vivex, dokaal noach!" (Translation: My destiny, the two-legged servant has fulfilled his mission)

Eden Smeal had no idea what it meant, but he could pronounce the awkward words. It wasn't until he had advanced in the arcane arts and joined the Academy of Magopares that he realized it was Draconic.

However, even in the finest academies of the Empire, or even the world, Dragon Language wasn't a common, fully translatable language. As one of the oldest languages, few could still freely use it without the assistance of a true dragon. It took Eton over twenty years (plus several years as a student) to finally understand that the message was directed at the powerful green dragon of the Kolin Otto Mountains, presumably to awaken it.

Afterwards, he came here, found the dragon's lair, and based on its original lair structure, he arranged a series of back-up plans to complete his plan this time.

But what he still couldn't understand was that he already knew and could say these words long before he was adopted by a small noble family with no descendants and came into contact with the arcane.

However, these should be just minor details. Perhaps his ancestors had once benefited from the grace of this dragon, so the words they communicated with it were engraved in their blood, giving him the talent for casting spells.

Eaton calmed himself down and began to repeat these words again. He actually wasn't sure if this could awaken a giant dragon wandering in the star realm in one fell swoop... so he should call it a few more times.

"Whatever he's doing, stop him!"

No one could understand the mage's words, but just by looking at the constantly rotating magic circle, they knew it was definitely not a good thing. Everyone immediately began to try to stop Eaton, but the magic circle seemed to be able to automatically operate a barrier, blocking most of the attacks.

But... that wasn't enough. What if he couldn't awaken it? He had no real confidence in this matter—and even if he did awaken the dragon, he was afraid all his efforts would be in vain.

Seeing that everyone's attacks were ineffective, the mage's mind became active again. However, before he could form any further ideas, he heard a loud explosion from the other side, as if flesh and bones were torn apart. Everyone's attention was drawn to that side.

But it turned out that it was Sander who had transformed into a tree man, who actually lifted Khalid, whose giant form had not yet disappeared, over the top of the tree, and tore him into two halves at the same time, including his bear form and human form!

The sky was filled with blood rain that splashed on the trees, but Sander simply threw the two pieces of Khalid's body, which had shrunk to the ground, and turned around to rush towards Eaton.

"Let me take care of you!"

The terrifying brute force, along with the weight, slammed into the barrier of the magic circle. Eaton even felt that the magic circle under his feet stopped working at that second - he was afraid that he would not be able to hold on until he woke up the dragon!

"Dragon! Wake up!" The wizard screamed desperately and hysterically, "Esmir, the dragon that protects the country! How can I call out your true name and beg you to destroy my enemies?"

However, even after he gave up using Dragon Language and pleaded with all the languages he had learned throughout his life, the dragon coiled in the ancient tree outside the platform remained indifferent. It was still breathing, and the magic in the air was still responding to it, but it just lay there motionless, not even intending to open its eyes.

Madness gradually permeated Eaton's face.

"You want to kill me? Fine, I'll kill you!" The wizard took out his few remaining collections and found an old wand that looked completely unusable. "I'll kill you - but your life is mine too!"

"Then you can give it a try!" Sander's face was actually leaking liquid from all seven orifices. It wasn't blood, but more like some kind of sticky resin. Khalid didn't pose such a serious threat to him. The injury was entirely the backlash of the spell that merged him with the tree man.

However, just as Sander, realizing he was nearing his limit, decided to deliver a final blow, crushing his enemy along with the already crumbling barrier, a barrier suddenly enveloped them both, along with Reslaufer's team. Within this barrier, the poet Daisy suddenly found her harp mute, unable to play even a single magical note.

On Sander's body, a figure suddenly staggered and fell out from the huge body of the tree man, and the latter turned into a pile of ashes in an instant with a wail.

The magic circle beneath Eaton's feet inevitably extinguished as well, as if all magic had no effect within the barrier—except for the magic wand in the wizard's hand! Its handle was now ablaze, and a dangerous ball of red and white light at the end was constantly shrinking and expanding, as if it would explode at any moment!

"Then let's die together!" Eton roared, raising his staff and charging at the crowd. "You should feel honored. This is the most valuable moment of your worthless lives!"

This spell is the most precious one among the scrolls stored by Eaton. It was originally intended to be used against spellcasters more powerful than him, but he didn't expect it to be used here!

"Get out of the way!" In such a situation, Leslaufer only had time to push Angrita away. However, in fact, the mercenary himself was not sure how large the range of this spell could be covered, and whether he could help Angrita escape from danger.

And at this moment when they almost lost the chance to resist, Sander, who had regained his human form due to the forcible termination of the spell, seemed to have made some kind of decision. He suddenly rushed towards Eaton, picked up the relatively weak latter, and charged towards the edge of the platform!

"No—" The mage's desperate cry was so shrill in this space that had suddenly lost its magic. With one last effort, he threw the Tear of Eldath to the other side of the platform, trying to divert Sander's attention. However, Sander was obviously not buying it. The two of them rushed off the platform, hugging each other, and fell into the air!

Chapter 161 The Relic of the Artifact

"Xander!" Bella was shocked and rose up into a giant python, trying to save Xander with her avatar form that was not affected by the barrier. "Just push him down!"

"That's not enough!" Sander looked up gratefully, but the mage below roared in despair. It was he who now restrained Sander. "Do you think you can leave me alone?!"

"Old Lei, come and help!" Vondar and others rushed forward and grabbed Bella's tail and tried to pull her back, while the Holy Knight immediately ran up to help Sander get rid of Eaton. However, when he wanted to ask the mercenary for help, he saw that the latter actually ran towards the Tears of Edas!

"What are you doing?!" The paladin felt unprecedented shock and anger. "It's just a cane!"

"That's a divine weapon!" Leslaufer responded loudly.

"It's nothing compared to human life! Come and knock down his staff!" Until this moment, Patrick had only thought about knocking down the deadly weapon.

"I'll never let go, not even two of you!" Eaton laughed wildly, pulling at Sander while tightly gripping the staff. "Enjoy this final despair! I always thought this junky thing could give that idiot Khalid some residual value, but in the end, I activated it! None of you can escape!"

"Leslaufer!" Patrick shouted for help for the last time. He saw that the light on the staff was becoming more and more unstable!

Reslaufer was so close to the Tear of Eldath that he could grab it and run, perhaps seriously injured, but not necessarily dead. And such an artifact was definitely worth the price:

Six or seven lives, a balance of several hundred gold coins, and half his own life.

"Bra!" The last person who saw this scene as a great opportunity also fell into despair. Leslaufer turned around angrily, picked up a giant sword that was nearly two meters long and stabbed it viciously towards the bottom of the platform!

The black-flaming greatsword flew free and crashed down, severing half the mage's body like a steel file. The dangerous staff, its half-owner, and the greatsword plummeted downwards, triggering a massive explosion in mid-air. The terrifying shockwave ripped the mage's other half and Sander's legs apart, and even the blast sent Sander and Bella, who were hanging outside, flying far away, landing unconscious on the platform.

The barrier that could temporarily nullify the magic power disappeared. Daisy, who had come to her senses, rushed forward to treat the seriously injured Sander and Bella, but Reslaufer's attention was completely focused on the edge of the platform.

There, a crystal clear, magical and powerful staff was blown into the air by the air wave, drew an elegant arc, and disappeared among the crowns of the ancient trees.

Leslough was so engrossed in watching that he didn't notice Patrick rushing towards him with black eyes and shaking his fist at him.

"You almost killed all of us!" The holy warrior was now covered in dust and dirt, and the stones left many scars and blood on his body.

Leslough subconsciously dodged the punch, but the much heavier fist covered with the Halberd Breaker's gauntlet struck Patrick's shoulder with a strong wind. The sound of a crisp bone fracture woke all the conscious people from their relief at having survived the disaster.

"Except me." Doppler responded coldly as he looked at the holy warrior who was beaten to the ground.

"Enough, do you want to fight here again?!" Vondar quickly held down Patrick, who was trying to grab his weapon with his other hand.

"Are you crazy?" the dwarf leaned over to the paladin's ear and warned, "You've already convinced him once! Don't provoke him again, or he'll kill you!"

"Think of Angreta, Old Ray!"

Patrick dropped his weapon, but stubbornly and painfully pushed the dwarf aside and stood up, staring at Leslaufer intently: "Don't be fooled by the so-called 'artifact'. Even if you give up all of us, you should at least protect her! Isn't it for her that you embarked on this journey?!"

"For the gold coins for the balance payment," Leslaufer glanced at Angarita. The girl turned away, not meeting his gaze. "The value of that artifact is far greater than that! Even if I don't understand the market, I can guess: ten times the price is enough to stop it?"

"It can buy the lives of every one of us here! Even - I don't know - the lives of half or all of the Empire! If someone offers that price, even the most proud dragon would be willing to be the killer!"

"And I've already saved her, at the very beginning of the incident! If my employer has her own ideas, then I completely respect her choice!"

"You're just sophistry!" The paladin tried to step forward, but as soon as he moved, he groaned due to his broken arm. "No life should be abandoned for such a bullshit reason! Not to mention that she's just an underage child! She shouldn't be held responsible for her own actions! And you are her—"

"Enough!" A suppressed cry burst out from Angarita's mouth, interrupting the argument between the two. "I say, enough."

"Angelita..." Patrick looked at her, but was interrupted by the girl again.

"I will take responsibility for my own actions. I should do so and I must do so," Angelita said in a deep voice. "So let's end this matter here, okay, Mr. Kord? Our top priority now is to leave this damn place, not to argue in a dragon's lair that just exploded!"

When the word "Mr. Kord" appeared, Patrick's spine seemed to be pulled out, and he lowered his head in despair: "Yes, yes, at least we can reach a consensus on this point... Let's go out first."

Bella and Sander's injuries have stabilized, but Sander has not yet woken up, and Bella is also very weak. Patrick walked over and carried Sander on his back, while Lesloff supported Bella. Everyone stopped talking and left this place of trouble silently and quickly, looking for another exit to the outside world besides the bottom of the lake.

Next to the dragon's nest where no one was left alive, under the ancient tree, the remains that once belonged to a human wizard who called himself "Eton Smir" turned into pools of thick fluid in an unnoticed place. As if they still had self-awareness, they slid along the trunk and branches to one of the branches of an ancient tree.

There, an empty, translucent cocoon awaited its arrival. Once all the fluids had been absorbed, the cocoon closed and sealed, and everything inside ceased flowing.

On a main branch not far from it, at a position that Reslaufer and others had not found before, a vertical pupil as bright yellow as a lamp suddenly opened, and its sight was focused on the crystal cane that was "just inserted" in front of it, which was emitting a blue and green luster.

A low sound echoed through the trees, yet it seemed only the wind, a wind that blew from underground across a small portion of the Golinoto Mountains, causing the vegetation, wild animals like the giant ape, and even the tree people to sway rhythmically or respond with cries and roars. And all this was completely unnoticed, even by the Archdruid and the priests of the Temple of Eldath.

"(Dragon language) Icwangciso ierikc, yakho bube etherasvim, aripotvych, Eldath." (Translation: I never spent centuries seeking your teardrop, but it is now here with me. My apologies, Eldath.)

Chapter 162: Eldas's Gift

"So, the holy relic is still in this world, still within these mountains. In fact, it's right under our feet."

The priests of the Temple of Eldath listened calmly to Raslaufer's account of the entire process. After a brief and orderly discussion, an older female priest stood up, smiled, and bowed in respect to the mercenary and his companions.

This is an "Arbitrator of Tranquility". Before the new head of the temple is chosen, she can decide all matters.

"The goddess's relic has not left us, and your act of kindness ultimately saved seven lives. Mr. Reslaufer, I am truly delighted by your final choice."

"Six." Leslough frowned slightly.

"If you finally took the Tears of Eldath and exchanged them for gold coins as you said, when you looked at the money, would your life still be free?" The priest said softly, "I believe the answer lies in your own heart."

"But the artifact is gone after all," Daisy said, her arms and legs wrapped in white gauze. Her injuries were minor compared to others, but the priests still bandaged her thoroughly. "I don't mean to be ungrateful. Let's just talk about the facts. The Tear of Eldath has now fallen into the lair of the Bite of Kolin Otto, right in front of the dragon itself. Shouldn't you think of a way to get it back?"

"Why do you have to do this?" The priest's question left the poet confused for a moment.

"Even if we bring the relic back, it will only be enshrined in a temple. How is that any different from enshrining it in a dragon's lair? Ultimately, we serve a goddess, not a relic."

"Isn't that giant dragon also known as the 'Protector Dragon'? Asking it to help us guard the sacred object might be a good thing." Another priest in the crowd interrupted, causing the other priests to smile.

Leslaufer remembered this young man; it was he who had been on "night duty" before.

"The sacred object belongs to the goddess, and I think it fell into the dragon's lair within her expectations," the priest explained to Reslaufer and the others after the crowd calmed down. "So, you shouldn't worry about this matter."

"You have come from afar, helped to eliminate the vicious enemies who coveted the Holy Land, and freed us from their encirclement. You are our eternal guests. As long as you wish, everything here will be open to you forever. If you need any service in the future, we will do our best to help you."

"However..." The Inquisitor looked at the armor on Reslaufer's body and the bloodstains on it, his expression slightly hesitant. "If it's a fight with humans, I'm afraid we can't be relied upon, and we'll be disappointing you."

Leslough nodded slightly. "It would be too much trouble for me to come to you for help in killing someone. You can rest assured."

The priest breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm deeply grateful. Finally, please allow me to thank you once again for your willingness to be frank and transparent about the whereabouts of the holy relic. Everyone, please rest. I don't think there will be any enemies for the time being, at least."

"Also, Mr. Raslaufer, could you please come over here with me so we can talk for a moment?"

The priestess did not lead Raslaufer into the temple interior, where the remains of Desipa and the others, including the returnee druids, were still laid. Instead, she led the mercenary around the chalk-built building to the back, where she took something from her body and handed it to the mercenary with great care and solemnity.

"what is this?"

At first, Reslaufer thought the rope was just a piece of woven fiber grass rope, but when he took it in his hands, he discovered that it was actually dangling from it an oval transparent crystal. The crystal felt like crystal, but it was completely different. Even in the sunlight, it was extremely difficult to detect, and could only be identified by its weight and feel.

"do not know."

"do not know?"

The priest didn't seem to be joking. "Mr. Reslaufer, this object belongs neither to me nor to the Holy Land. I hadn't even seen it before the first rays of dawn today."

"A gentle breeze brought it to my hands, and a voice on the wind told me it should be yours. That is all I know."

"You should be able to tell I'm not a follower of Eldath, nor do I have any interest in peace," Reslaufer said, even more surprised. As far as he knew, "a breeze" was the form the goddess often used to appear in the mortal world. "You're not saying this is a gift from her, are you?"

"The goddess didn't mention this." Not only did Leslaufer, but even the priest's expression was very subtle at this moment. "But I don't think I misheard or hallucinated."

"Is it possible that you've lost the artifact, and your goddess is trying to replace it?" The mercenary could only make one last effort. His only connection to peace was that he didn't want it to happen, lest he lose the land he depended on for survival - but what was this pendant?

It couldn't be that Eldath gave him a weapon...right?

The crystal in his hand, which was originally as smooth as jade, suddenly changed. Under the wide-eyed gaze of the priests of Reslaufer and Edas, it transformed into the shape of a fighting sword.

That was the fighting sword that Reslaufer often used and carried before. He had the most profound impression of that weapon, so Reslaufer could fully confirm that the shape and even the weight of the weapon in his hand at this moment had become exactly the same as the original.

The only difference was that this transformed sword still had no color and was still completely transparent. Reslaufer carefully lifted it up and held it in front of him under the light, observing it carefully. Only at this time could the mercenary barely see the blurred outline caused by the change in light at the edge.

"Is this... your old weapon?" The priest asked curiously after being surprised at the changes.

"...Yes." Some strange thoughts suddenly occurred to Reslaufer's mind. As his thoughts turned, the fighting sword in his hand changed shape and finally stabilized into the shape of a black flame giant sword - but the size was still only the size of a fighting sword, far from the huge weapon of more than 1.8 meters.

"It seems that your goddess doesn't like my previous equipment?" Reslaufer shrugged and casually hung the fiber rope around his neck. The crystal at the end immediately returned to its original oval shape.

"It seems that this is indeed a gift from the goddess to you." The priestess made several gestures on her chest to show that as a priestess, she obeyed the will of Eldas.