Chapter 98
Chapter 98: Will A Cannon-Fodder Hero Encounter A Dou Zong-Level Powerhouse?
The black-haired hero, worried that his silence might scare the women, thought it would be better to chat with them as they walked to gain their trust, making them more willing to part with their money.
“Where are you from? Judging by your clothes, you don’t seem to be from the Kingdom of Diya?”
“We’re from the Eastern Land of the Great Tang Dynasty,” Naya casually replied, thinking it best not to admit they were from the Dragon Empire.
“The Eastern Land of the Great Tang? Where’s that? I’ve never heard of it.”
“It’s between the Sui and Song Dynasties. There are many places in this world you haven’t heard of.”
The hero awkwardly scratched his head. Indeed, even as a hero who had traveled far and wide, he had never reached the world’s end. The vastness of this world was far beyond his imagination.
Better not to delve into their origins, lest he appear ignorant.
“You don’t know much about this area, do you? Let me explain it to you.”
The hero started explaining things Naya already knew, while Naya conversed with the system in her mind.
[System, do we really have to follow them? Aren’t we drifting further away from the Earth Vein Holy Artifact?]
[Host, don’t worry. I used an illusion to guide them in the direction of the artifact. They’re just boasting. In this dense forest, how could they possibly know the way? They’re just wandering aimlessly.]
[I see. System, you’re really something.]
“Charge!”
Before Naya and the system could continue chatting, she heard the sound of rushing footsteps. A group of armored soldiers suddenly charged at them from all directions.
The heroes quickly surrounded Naya and her companions, standing with their backs to them, weapons drawn, pointing at the soldiers, who were formed of Earth Vein energy.
“Damn it! More of these undead soldiers. Everyone, prepare for battle!”
“You evil cultivators! Prepare to die!” shouted the lead soldier, raising his sword and roaring at the heroes.
“Evil cultivators? We’re regular humans! Look closely!”
“Boss, stop wasting time talking. They’re not even sane.”
“Fine! Brothers, attack!”
The seven-man hero team, led by the black-haired hero, split into two groups. Three stayed to guard Naya and her group, while the other four engaged the undead soldiers.
Amidst the flashing swords, the undead soldiers were swiftly eliminated, surprisingly fragile.
The black-haired muscle-bound hero wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a long sigh as he returned to Naia and her companions.
“Phew! You weren’t scared, right?”
He had thought his battle stance looked impressive, but when he looked closely, all five women, including the pink-haired little girl, remained unfazed.
“Thank you,” Naya quickly smiled at the black-haired hero, realizing their reaction might have been too cold.
Satisfied, the black-haired hero grinned.
“Haha, don’t worry. These undead are just memories. The dense Earth Vein energy awakened the land’s memories, recreating the soldiers who once fought here. Unlike guardians, these memory soldiers won’t regenerate after being destroyed. At least, not for now.”
“I see.”
“Yes. Would you like to rest for a bit?”
Naya shook her head. “No, let’s keep moving.”
“Alright. Though it’s safe for now, staying here too long could be dangerous as the Earth Vein space expands. Let’s move on.”
The black-haired hero hefted his large sword and led his team forward. To pass the time, he started recounting his experiences in the forest.
“We’ve run into these undead soldiers many times now. They always shout about ‘evil cultivators.’ From what little they’ve said, it seems that, long ago, some humans revered the dragon race. They believed dragons were the most perfect creatures in the world, so they formed a cult to study how to become dragons. These soldiers were sent to eradicate those cultists.”
Naia became interested and curiously asked, “Long ago? How long ago?”
“Well, I’m not sure exactly, but the history books suggest it was thousands of years ago.”
“That long ago?”
“Not much farther away. Some of the leyline memories even record events from tens of thousands of years ago. Fifteen years ago, I was just a child, following a super-tier hero on an adventure. I witnessed memories of the leylines from thousands of years ago, and it was magnificent—dragons were everywhere. In that secret realm, I slaughtered quite a few dragons. But they were just dragons formed by the leyline memories, their strength weakened considerably.”
The black-haired hero, recalling his past, wiped his nose with a hint of pride.
“What was it like ten thousand years ago?”
Naya remembered that Iris had said dragons once roamed every corner of this land during ancient times.
“Back then, the whole world belonged to the dragon race. They were the absolute rulers. Humans? Well… we were basically no different from monkeys. But, we humans endured the pressure from the dragons, developed ourselves, and now we’re the most populous species in the world, building all sorts of diverse civilizations. Haha… do you think our ancestors could have imagined that we’d one day stand among the stars?”
Naya glanced over at Iris.
Iris remained silent and indifferent, while Illya, cradled in Iris’s arms, wore the same curious expression as Naya.
“Too bad. Fifteen years have passed, and I’m still just a high-tier hero.”
“High-tier is already impressive.”
“If I’m only at high-tier, I might not be able to protect my brothers when facing a real dragon.”
“That’s not true, boss! You’re already amazing!”
“Yes! Thanks to you, we’ve made it this far. Boss, don’t belittle yourself!”
“If it weren’t for you, we would’ve died at the hands of that Guardian yesterday!”
His followers quickly chimed in, trying to save face for their black-haired leader.
Naya observed the warrior’s muscular build. His muscles were indeed impressive, but to remain a high-tier warrior after fifteen years, it was probably due to a lack of magical talent.
“Can you tell me the story of the cult that worshiped dragons from a thousand years ago?”
The black-haired hero glanced back at Naya.
“Uh… I only pieced that together from the murmurs of those undead soldiers. If you really want to hear it, it might not be entirely accurate.”
“Hmm, go ahead.”
Naya nodded, and Illya followed suit, nodding eagerly. She loved hearing stories.
Who would have thought adventuring could come with storytelling?
“It goes something like this. Normally, a regular cult would be easily suppressed. But this particular cult had the support of the dragons—specifically, an emperor-class dragon. The emperor-class dragon taught the cultists a method to transform into dragons. However, the success rate was extremely low. Very few humans succeeded in transforming into dragons, while most of the failures became half-human, half-dragon death knights. They couldn’t fully turn into dragons, nor could they hide the dragon features on their bodies. Scales would grow all over them, and they would suffer excruciating pain until the scales covered their entire bodies, at which point they would die in agony.”
Naya thought of Zelan.
Could it be that Iris was using the method this hero described?
“Do you know what the method the emperor-class dragon taught them was?”
“According to the undead soldiers, it involved drinking the blood of that emperor-class dragon.”
Naya turned to glance at Iris again.
Iris still showed no expression.
Isn’t that similar to Iris’s method?
“Is there more to the story?”
“That’s all I’ve heard.”
“So little,” Illya quietly grumbled.
Hearing this, the black-haired hero smiled and turned back.
“Oh my little ancestor, this information was wrestled out of those undead soldiers’ mouths, and they only revealed it while muttering to themselves. Even if I wanted to ask more, I couldn’t. We only started exploring Bear Forest two days ago, so knowing this much is already pretty good.”
“Oh…”
Illya slowly nodded.
As they walked, the black-haired hero’s expression grew more puzzled.
“What’s going on? Why do I feel like we’ve taken the wrong path?”
“The wrong path?” Naya feigned surprise.
“Ah no, d-don’t worry, I’ll definitely get us out of here.”
The black-haired hero had his back to Naya and the others, cold sweat streaming down his forehead. His other companions looked equally troubled.
This place was entirely unfamiliar.
Earlier, while wandering aimlessly, they could still find some resemblance to yesterday’s scenes. But now, there was no similarity at all.
Still, to keep the women behind him from losing trust, they had to maintain a facade of calm.
“The trees are thinning. We should be close to the forest’s edge, right?” Naya responded nonchalantly to the black-haired hero.
“Yeah, it should be.”
The black-haired hero swallowed hard.
Should it be? More like, not at all!
The thinning trees actually signified a growing danger. It meant they were venturing deeper into the leyline space, far from reality.
This was like the difference between reality and a dream.
As long as the trees around them remained dense, they were still in the real world. But with fewer trees, they were slipping away from reality.
“Boss! There’s light ahead! Light!”
Suddenly, one of the black-haired hero’s companions pointed towards the forest path ahead, where a dazzling white light surged, dispelling the surrounding mist.
In an instant, the thick fog cleared away.
“Hey! Don’t run so fast!”
Two of his companions, scared after being trapped for so long, ignored his warnings and rushed towards the blinding light, desperate to escape the forest.
The black-haired hero had no choice but to quicken his pace to catch up.
“You two idiots!”
As the black-haired hero entered the white light, his vision turned blindingly bright. Before his eyes could adjust to the light—
“Incinerate!”
A deep male voice rang out, and the surrounding air instantly heated up.
The black-haired hero leaped into the air, landing in front of his two reckless companions.
“Blade Tempest!”
He swung his greatsword, trying to cut through the incoming firebird.
“Boom!”
The firebird engulfed the black-haired hero and his two companions, sending them flying five meters back.
“Boss! Are you alright?”
The two companions, who had been sheltered by the warrior, weren’t too badly hurt. But the warrior’s bare upper body was now scorched red, steam rising from his skin, his face contorted in pain.
The two companions looked at their leader with eyes full of guilt and regret.
“Boss, we’re sorry! We shouldn’t have been so reckless!”
As the black-haired hero listened to their cries, he opened his eyes and noticed the women had followed them into the light as well.
He glanced at his other four companions.
“Are you guys idiots? Can’t you tell this is a deeper layer of the secret realm? Why did you follow us in?!”
After stepping into the white light, they had entered yet another fold in the leyline space.
Guarding this layer was the infamous red-haired leyline Guardian, whose name had spread like wildfire in Rex City.
“Boss, we…”
His chastised companions were at a loss, their only thought having been to follow their leader without considering the safety of the women.
The black-haired hero clenched his teeth, looking at Naya and the others.
“Judgment!”
The Guardian’s voice echoed again, giving the scorched warrior no time to reprimand his companions.
A massive firebird spread its wings, shrieking as it tore through the air toward them.
It’s over.
Now he truly couldn’t protect anyone.
The density of leyline energy had reached its peak, and the Guardian’s power was at its zenith.
Today’s Guardian was far beyond what he had encountered before. The Guardian had even crafted his own illusionary realm, trapping the warriors inside with no way out.
The scorching heat approached, and the black-haired warrior closed his eyes.
There was nothing left to do but wait for death.
“Divine Shield!”
However, he heard a crisp, clear female voice, followed by the sound of flames being extinguished.
The black-haired hero opened his eyes.
He saw the silver-haired woman standing at the front.
She was holding a spear in reverse, its tip embedded in the ground. Her small figure now appeared towering, like a mountain. Tiny embers swirled around her, drifting downward.
The giant firebird had already been completely extinguished.
“Flanna, Bella, go ahead. Don’t hold back your power. Tear that Guardian apart.”
Her words carried an implicit order: use your true dragon forms.
The black-haired hero’s companions helped him to his feet, and he saw the two maids transform into a purple and blue-white dragon, their wings blotting out the sky as they soared toward the red-haired ponytailed Guardian.
“Dragons…?!”
Naya glanced down at him, her purple eyes reflecting an air of superiority.
“You tell stories well. Try to stay alive.”
Of course, it could also have been the hero’s own fear of dragons warping his perception.
After all, Naya’s face always appeared kind.
However, the disdain in the eyes of the two others behind Naya. Iris and Illya, was very real.
Having witnessed the recent events, Illya silently mocked, Humans are humans—so weak.
She raised her head to watch Flanna and Bella in the distance.
Better to enjoy watching the gods battle.