Volume 9, Chapter 39 – The Beginning of Conflict

Boom!

Just as Lin was telling Yisi, “I’ll definitely find a way to gather the money,” and everyone was clearing away the dishes and utensils, the earth suddenly trembled violently, as if a giant iron ball had slammed into the ground. Simultaneously, the roar of a beast echoed from the distant mountains—not a pack of beasts, but a single, massive monster with a body rivaling a hill, wings sprouting from its back, and horns atop its head. The moment it appeared in the sky, even the sun’s light was completely blocked, plunging the land into darkness. If an ordinary person were to encounter such a monster, they would likely be scared witless just by looking up. To humans, this was a hellish beast capable of bringing about the apocalypse.

The beast appeared only for an instant before rapidly descending, disappearing behind the towering mountain peaks on the other side.

A dragon.

Any dragon, upon reaching adulthood, could easily surpass the level 40 threshold. If it possessed a purer bloodline or was more diligent in its training, surpassing level 50 was commonplace. Most adult dragons were above level 50, and some could even break through level 60 or 70. The so-called ‘Hero’s Domain’ was merely a title used by species like humans. For a dragon, failing to reach the ‘Hero’s Domain’ of level 50 was considered a disgrace, something to be mocked by their kin.

This was also why humans feared dragons. The difference in racial talent was like comparing the light of a firefly to the moon. It could be said that if the dragons on the continent wished it, human nations could be annihilated under their claws at any moment, the survivors forced to huddle within the Tower of Alexia in a tiny piece of land. As for why the dragons had refrained from attacking humans and the Blood Clan until now, perhaps only the dragons themselves knew the reason.

“What was that sound?”

“It’s the dragon. Someone has trespassed into its territory.” Answering Camilla’s question, Edith frowned, her expression exceptionally serious. “I saw a battle between a dragon and a frost giant when I went to the northern defensive line with Father before. When its territory is violated, a dragon will let out such a roar. We need to leave here quickly. Fighting an enraged dragon is not a wise choice. It would be terrible if it called its companions.”

“Could it be that the dragon smelled the hot pot and noticed us?”

“Red, is this really the time for jokes?”

“Yisi, Red, Purple, you take the others and go back first. Inform Atwood. I’m going to the dragon to see what happened. The hunters living nearby wouldn’t go this deep into the forest. I suspect there’s some secret hidden here.”

“Wait, I won’t go back. Although you’ve surpassed level 60, Lin, you just woke up from a coma and your body hasn’t adapted to the increase in strength yet. Meeting that dragon rashly might be dangerous—Laxy, I leave the others to you.”

With a serious expression, Laxy, who had just drawn her rapier from her storage magic, nodded at Yisi.

“Yes, My Lord. Please be careful.”

“I know you’re strong, but don’t be too reckless.”

“I know, I know, trust me. And Camilla, Mary, don’t look so worried. It’s just a dragon; it can’t possibly hurt me.”

I can even tie up the Demon Lord and hang her in a church. Dealing with a dragon is easy.

After waving goodbye to the earnestly advising Pepe and her worried companions, Yisi used flight magic to catch up with Lin. Seemingly surprised that Yisi had actually followed, Lin first frowned anxiously, then sighed helplessly.

“Just how big a debt do you want me to owe you?”

“If you’re going to tell me to go back, then save it. Even if your current level is higher than that dragon’s, a dragon’s physique is far stronger than a human’s.”

Even though she had never seen a dragon with her own eyes, she knew that at the same level, humans would have a hard time defeating one. Dragons surpassed humans significantly in both magic power and physical strength. The simplest example was that a dragon could survive a direct hit from Tier 5 magic, whereas even someone in the realm beyond heroes at level 60 could easily be sent to hell by Tier 3 magic if caught off guard.

“I knew you’d say that.”

The conversation fell silent for a moment. The dragon’s location was about five kilometers away. At Lin’s flight speed, it would take about two minutes. As the lush forest below rapidly receded behind them and they flew over a mountain peak that pierced the clouds, the two finally saw the dragon’s true form.

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A massive creature covered in cyan scales, over sixty meters long, like a hill. The moment Yisi and Lin appeared in its field of vision, the cyan dragon immediately turned its eyes towards them. A dangerous light resided in its deep red eyes, as if the slightest move from the duo would prompt the dragon to beat its wings—with a span even more exaggerated than its body length—and launch an attack.

As expected of a dragon… Just looking at it, the sheer presence is overwhelming.

The dangerous fangs extending from its mouth, coupled with the ferocious gaze and the oppressive feeling from its immense size—even though she was at least a hundred meters away, her heart couldn’t help but beat faster. This didn’t mean Yisi’s strength was inferior to the dragon’s, but rather an instinctive fear. When faced with a monster larger than oneself, a human’s first reaction is always to get as far away as possible.

She secretly gathered magic power in her hand, covering her skin with [Magic Blade].

If the dragon charges, I’ll definitely punch it into the nearby mountain peak.

“Yisi, wait a moment. Don’t provoke it.” Sensing Yisi’s movement, Lin reached out to block her, then took a step forward in the air, displaying the scythe she had prepared earlier, and called softly to the dragon, “Clarence.”

“Ngh…”

The cyan dragon slowly exhaled dragon breath. The cyan airflow merely grazed the forest below, yet the trees were instantly sliced in half, revealing an ugly patch of yellow soil devoid of green cover, like a scar.

Has it regained its reason?

Seeing the dragon turn its head towards Lin, the anger in its eyes seemingly subsiding, Yisi couldn’t help but feel surprised. She had always thought dragons capable of communicating with humans only existed in games and novels, that real dragons were no different from ordinary monsters—just slightly stronger, perhaps.

What Yisi didn’t know was that her stereotype stemmed from the historical records she had encountered since coming to this world, almost all of which came from the Ymir Church. The core ideology of the Ymir Church was human supremacy, so it naturally portrayed other races as evil, irrational beings. In reality, while not all dragons understood human language, even young dragons possessed basic intelligence.

Following the breath, the dragon slowly reduced the speed of its wing beats. With a tremor that shook the earth, its muscular hind legs landed on the ground, bringing its line of sight level with Lin and Yisi. Even though the dragon landed slowly, spiderweb cracks appeared on the ground. It was much heavier than Yisi had imagined.

“…Lin.”

Ah, the dragon spoke.

Standing behind Lin, a surprised Yisi widened her eyes. Judging from the voice, this dragon was male. It spoke the language of the Norta Empire. If one ignored its appearance and just listened to the voice, one would only think it was a mature old man, probably around fifty years old.

“Hah, I thought you’d lost your senses. Since you still recognize me, it means you’re alright.” Letting out a long sigh of relief, Lin relaxed completely. “What happened to you?”

“Humans entered my resting place.”

As if expressing dissatisfaction, the dragon flapped its wings at an extremely slow speed, the powerful downbeat stirring up a gust of wind.

Lin must be very familiar with this dragon, Yisi guessed.

“Who were they?”

“Don’t know. They’re dead now.”

“I see.” A hint of sorrow entered her tone, but she quickly recovered her spirits. Lin asked, “Where are their bodies?”

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“Here.”

Without lowering its head, the dragon simply stomped its foot slightly. Beneath its foot, in a patch of felled trees, a glaring bloodstain could be seen on the yellow earth—the humans had been crushed into paste by the dragon.

“Yisi, let’s go down first.”

“Don’t we need the dragon to move away from us?”

“It signed a contract with us. As long as we don’t attack it first, it won’t attack us. Besides, as long as I’m here, Clarence won’t act rashly.”

“We dragons always value contracts. Little thing of the Blood Clan, do not lump us together with your kind.”

Using ‘your kind’…

Coupled with the dragon lifting its head to look down its nostrils at her, Yisi couldn’t help but feel slighted.

Both the way it breathed down its nose at her and its arrogant tone were irritating.

An anger mark popped up on Yisi’s head.

“Yisi?”

“Ah, I know. Let’s go down.”

For Lin’s sake, I’ll let it slide this time. If it looks down its nose at people again, I’ll definitely smash its nostrils through the lithosphere and give them a good wash in the asthenosphere.

…

“So there was more than one intruder. Their packs contained outdoor camping tents, and even plenty of demon-repelling powder. Plus, the longswords at their waists… Lin, this group made thorough preparations before entering the forest.”

Using a replicated Gungnir to pick through the dead men’s packs, Yisi, covering her nose with her sleeve, calmly analyzed. Although the group had died gruesome deaths—either crushed into paste by this cyan dragon (a wind dragon, to be precise) or sliced into pieces by its breath—some clues could still be found among their remains.

Compared to Yisi’s restraint, Lin showed no concern for the gruesome scene. She crouched down directly and rummaged through the body parts, searching for anything that could serve as identification. The squishy sounds made Yisi’s spine tingle. Honestly, it was quite disgusting. Even as a blood-drinking vampire, seeing such a sight made her stomach churn. Vampires weren’t necessarily good with gore. If Pepe’s memories hadn’t desensitized her to bloody scenes, she probably wouldn’t be able to eat for days—no, the hot pot she just ate would come right back up.

“Hah, still nothing. If only the armor hadn’t been destroyed, we could have determined which country’s soldiers they were from the craftsmanship.”

“Apologies,” the wind dragon’s deep male voice came from above. “I was hibernating in my lair earlier, but I suddenly smelled humans, so I came out to see. Upon seeing me, these humans immediately used magic on me. Thinking that mere humans dared to provoke me, I punished them in my anger.”

“I don’t mean to blame you, Clarence. On the contrary, I should thank you. They must be reconnaissance soldiers from the Empire. The Ducal Capital of Chloe is near the Norta Empire’s northern border. These people must have sneaked in through the wilderness to scout our movements.”

“The Empire? Lin, has your Divine Religion had a dispute with the Empire?” A hint of surprise entered the wind dragon’s voice, quickly turning into concern. “The Empire is not as easy to deal with as you imagine. Even I wouldn’t dare cause trouble within the Empire’s territory recklessly. If it can be settled, it’s best to seek peace.”

Rather than a friendship, Yisi felt the wind dragon’s tone towards Lin held a hint of ingratiation, reminding her of a doting father and a willful daughter.

That can’t be their relationship, right? Even if Lin had dragon blood, Yisi didn’t think this wind dragon was her father. Otherwise, Lin wouldn’t maintain such a distant attitude.

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Taking out a waterskin from her storage magic to wash the blood off her hands, Lin was about to wipe them dry when the wind dragon carefully extended its foreclaw towards her. With a breeze so gentle it seemed unlike something a dragon could produce, it lightly dried the water droplets on her hands.

Lin slumped her shoulders with a look of resignation.

“You don’t need to go to such lengths, Clarence. I’ve told you, you don’t owe me anything. Once you fulfill the fifty-year contract agreed upon with the old Pope, you should go live your own life.”

“No. Your father did me a great favor. I must take care of you on his behalf. Otherwise, I will have no face to meet him after death. Regarding the Empire, I advise you to stop listening to that thing called the Gospel. You should consider your own happiness more. The Empire is not something that can be shaken relying solely on the Gospel. There are powers supporting it from behind that you cannot afford to provoke.”

“Clarence!”

Just like when she argued with Yisi earlier, Lin stopped Clarence from speaking further. But Clarence didn’t stop there, merely lowering his posture even more.

“Lin, I know you dislike others speaking ill of the Gospel, but I must emphasize, I am always on your side. If you need me, I can fight the Empire for you at any time. When I saw you in the Divine Religion, I decided I would dote on you as my own daughter. Your father owes you far too much. He was not a qualified father. Ah, I forgot you have a friend beside you; I accidentally said too much. Since you say these slain ants are imperial soldiers, it means the Empire has started to move against you, right? Then do you plan to fight the Empire, or retreat to the Kingdom for protection?”

“The Gospel only told us to prepare to meet the Empire’s deployment, it didn’t say whether to retreat or engage. During this time, Atwood should have made arrangements. But I was unconscious for a week and just woke up, so I’m still not clear about everything.”

“Unconscious for a week? Who did it?”

Instantly, the wind dragon’s tone filled with killing intent. The wind element around it turned violent. A winter-like cold wind slapped against their faces, bringing stinging pain.

Holding down her wind-blown black hair and the black gauze skirt that threatened to fly up, Lin shouted loudly, embarrassed and angry.

“Clarence, stop it!”

“Er… apologies. But it’s good there are no males here, otherwise I would definitely gouge his eyes out.”

As he said this, the wind dragon took two steps back, resting its head gently beside Lin. It turned its eyes and glared at Yisi.

What the wind dragon didn’t know was that due to its large movement, Yisi almost thought it was about to attack her, to the point where she punched the dragon’s approaching chin.

“This little Blood Clan thing here should be female, right? Lin, tell me, who was the one who made you unconscious? Although I cannot leave here casually due to the contract, I can have my younger brother act on my behalf. Let him taste the suffering of being unable to live and unable to die.”

“It was Yisi here.” Pressing her forehead in exasperation, Lin sighed deeply. “But don’t you dare lay a hand on her. I have a feeling you’re no match for her. Also, put away that disdainful expression where you look down your nose at people. Yisi is my benefactor. Clarence, you know my constitution, right? Yisi helped me turn all the deathly aura in my body into magic I can control. The reason I could transform from the Hero’s Domain to the realm beyond in just one week is all thanks to Yisi’s help. The reason I was unconscious was because I was assimilating the deathly aura in my body.”

“What! You reached level sixty in a week? Assimilating that deathly aura is something even I couldn’t do! What exactly did she do to you?”

Exaggeratedly, the wind dragon roared, its powerful voice echoing through the mountains, making even the leaves rustle. But Yisi could tell the dragon was joyous; it trembled with excitement.

“It was exchanging blood. Just her drinking my blood, and me drinking hers, and it ended up like this. I know you must be thinking, Clarence, that just drinking blood couldn’t possibly cause such a big change, but that’s the truth. I broke through ten levels in one week. I don’t even know how to thank Yisi properly. With this strength, our Divine Religion should have the capital to fight the Empire.”

“I see… I understand. Thank you, friend of the Blood Clan. Thank you for helping Lin. I will remember this favor.”

Contrary to his earlier contemptuous expression, very sincerely, the wind dragon turned its head towards Yisi and slightly closed its eyes in thanks.

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“No, no, forget about thanks. I didn’t expect such a change to happen either. Honestly, I don’t even know what this ‘deathly aura’ you speak of is.”

“Lin, you didn’t tell her?”

“No…”

“I see. Then it’s not convenient for me to tell either. From my knowledge, just exchanging blood, without external magical interference, resulting in the assimilation of the deathly aura… it’s only possible if this Blood Clan friend’s bloodline is far superior to yours, Lin… No, how is that possible? Dragon blood flows in your body, and moreover, the calamity’s… Even the blood of the Blood Clan Queen couldn’t possibly produce such an effect. In my understanding, only the blood of Her Highness the Imperial Princess could possibly do that.”

The dragon’s voice was filled with disbelief.

Yisi couldn’t help but ask.

“Who is Her Highness the Imperial Princess?”

“Her Highness the Dragon Imperial Princess. She is the king of all us dragons.”

“Dragon Imperial Princess…”

A name she had never heard.

However, the wind dragon’s words gave Yisi some inspiration. She had always wondered what kind of creature she was in her Third Form Awakening. When she researched it before, there were no relevant records. The only related concepts were the incarnation of calamity and the Witch of Destruction, but she didn’t feel like the Witch of Destruction at all. After all, in her third form, she was filled with a sense of holiness; even calling her a goddess wouldn’t be wrong.

Since there was a knowledgeable dragon right here, asking it might reveal what she truly was in her third form.

“As Lin’s relative, mere verbal promises are insufficient to express my gratitude. Friend of the Blood Clan, is there anything you desire? Although I cannot leave this place, I can ask other dragons for help.”

“Clarence, this is my affair. I will find a way to repay my debt to Yisi. It has nothing to do with you.”

“Your debt is my debt. Lin, bound by the Gospel as you are, do you expect to have your own time to repay favors?”

Clarence’s words made Lin freeze.

This is where I should step in to smooth things over. Sighing inwardly, Yisi raised her blue eyes and extended a delicate, porcelain-like index finger.

“In that case, Clarence, if you can just answer one question for me, I’ll consider this debt repaid.”

“What question?”

“I want to know what race I truly am.”

Under the gazes of the human and the dragon, Yisi lightly snapped her fingers, instantly enveloping herself in a white light.

[Third Form Awakening].