Chapter 146

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Chapter 146: The Hunt!

Jesse regretted taking that short rest on the way, thinking if only he had braved it and followed, he wouldn’t have lost track of Greed.

However, that guy had almost completely lost his sanity, running like a rabbit all the way. Any delay would result in losing a significant distance.

Jesse lay on the ground, peeking out to scan the area, trying to find Greed’s figure. Of course… he also kept an eye out for any lurking dwarves or similar creatures.

On the nearby open space, there were no dwarfs standing or lying down, nor were there any human bodies. Only in the distance by the river, there were two or three charred bodies, probably soldiers who caught on fire and tried to jump into the river to extinguish the flames, but were killed by the black dragon.

No soldiers were running that way now. Without any cover, it was as good as walking into death. Those who accidentally caught on fire would hide and let their comrades help put out the flames. Not far away, several soldiers were continuously stamping on a comrade who was still emitting black smoke behind a wall.

Jesse was drenched in sweat. He tightly held the long stick in his hand, ready to wait for the black dragon to come back around and then try to cast Curse of Weakness on it.

He didn’t really expect to scare a real dragon with Fear. It was only after facing the black dragon that he realized trying to use Fear on it was just a joke.

Thinking about this, he quickly opened his spellbook and recited the Curse of Weakness spell again. This time was much more serious than confronting the black panther, he couldn’t make any mistakes. More importantly, he found that he couldn’t remain calm when facing the black panther.

Around the black dragon, Jesse seemed to sense the constant pressure of Shadow Power radiating from it, which made his conscious mind increasingly oppressed, causing him to become more and more nervous and flustered.

If he had not used shadow magic before, he would never have recognized that this pressure was from the black dragon’s magic, and he might have just thought he was scared.

But now, Jesse could clearly feel his emotions being pulled by the Shadow Power released from the black dragon’s body in waves, and those soldiers were probably feeling the same.

Perhaps this was the deliberate release of dark power that Saenor had warned about, that shadow creature circling in the distance…

While Jesse was recalling the spell, he suddenly heard a faint rustling noise from behind the wall not far away.

He listened carefully for a while, it was a series of languages that he couldn’t understand at all, but even though he couldn’t understand the language, he recognized the voice!

"Wait!" Jesse climbed up the wall and looked over there, only to see a short figure with its back towards him sneaking up the steps of the watchtower.

He called out Greed’s name again, but there was no response.

There was a clattering sound of crumbling rocks coming from the watchtower, the black dragon seemed to have heard its own movement and shifted towards this side a bit, prompting Jesse to immediately lower his head to hide.

Oh no… Greed, don’t go to your death, wait for me a moment!

"Archers! Flank him and force him back! Mages, stay here and wait for him to come over, arcane energy is too weak, switch to ice magic, use ice magic for the attack! All Arcane apprentices, hurry to help transport the wounded, darn it!"

The commander’s voice, from somewhere unknown, was quite loud, but a deep, rumbling voice surprised everyone present.

"Humans… think… I don’t understand?"

The black dragon made a strange cackling sound, climbing to the other side of the watchtower, separating from the archers getting ready to assist the mage. The Knight Captain shouted, "He’s gone to the other side! Hide! Everyone, hide!"

The black dragon roared again, causing a blast of air to bend. Jesse didn’t see any fire, but heard a loud explosion from the other side, followed by cries.

Jesse left the wall and hid on the side where the black dragon was. He could see the dragon’s tail swaying above his head.

He prepared to cast the Curse of Weakness spell, knowing it might not work, and bracing for the dragon’s counterattack.

His hand reached for the Shadow Protection Potion bottle, his heart racing as he grabbed it.

"For Khaz Modan!"

Amidst the chaos, Jesse heard a voice in Dwarven language that he understood. He looked up to see a dwarf wielding a warhammer leaping from the tower.

With a flash of lightning, Greed struck the black dragon on the head with a mighty blow.

A burst of light erupted, followed by a thunderous roar. Surprisingly, Greed’s hammer remained stuck in the dragon’s skull.

The black dragon roared in pain, shaking its whole body, crazily shaking its head while Greed tightly held onto the hammer handle, refusing to let go, swinging like a broken sack in mid-air.

Hold on…

Jesse stepped away from the wall, raising the magic wand high towards the black dragon and shouted – Anuniki, Duzhazara, Kanar!

Even though his voice was completely drowned out by the dragon’s, as long as the dark shadow energy lingering around could hear, it was enough.

Although unsure if the Curse of Weakness had taken effect, one of the dragon’s claws suddenly loosened during its shaking, scraping down a long way, triggering a chain reaction causing a large section of the tower wall to collapse. The dragon could no longer hold on, falling along with a large amount of debris to the ground.

Jesse leaped aside to avoid the flying stones and dust from the rubble. The black dragon tumbled under the stone wall, trying to stand up, its head visibly cracked from a blow, oozing dark purple blood staining its neck.

"The black dragon has fallen! Everyone, follow me! Kill it and save our dwarf brothers! We shall hang its head in the town, defenders of Hillsbrad!"

The commander shouted, and soldiers with swords and spears rushed out from everywhere, but where did Greed go, buried under the stones?

The black dragon squealed, swinging its tail towards the soldiers charging with shields. Jesse darted around its body, jumping onto the ruins, seeing Greed possibly struck by a rock, lying unconscious in a pile of gravel.

Jesse grabbed the 200-pound guy and tried to get him out of the chaos. Suddenly, Greed coughed, spewing dust, causing the black dragon to abruptly turn around.

"You small worm, still alive!" The black dragon insulted in a strange language, with a red fire building up in his chest.

Darn it!

Jesse felt his whole body tense up, as if possessed by a higher power, he lifted Greed and threw him under the remains of a tower.

He then jumped over… The fireball exploded behind him, pushing him into the tower, where he landed among debris and armor, luckily avoiding any broken bones.

He patted out the flames on his pants, checked the potion on his robe – one Mana Potion was shattered, another seemed usable, and the Shadow Protection Potion was intact.

Greed was shielded from the flames by the wall, as the soldiers outside quickly surrounded the dragon but the battle wasn’t going smoothly.

The black dragon roared crazily, proving to be a tough opponent even with heavy injuries, requiring more reinforcements to handle.

Wasn’t Southshore supposed to be where Dalaran gathers in the south of Alterac Mountain? Where are all the mages? Did they go to work during the day after disappearing last night?

Darn it… Jesse was stuck in this watchtower, if the dark dragon forces those soldiers back, he might not have a chance to turn around and save himself, then he and Greed, along with this watchtower, would be done for!

Jesse tapped Greed’s face and said, "Greed! Wake up, wake up quickly!"

He found his hand shaking uncontrollably, the effort of throwing Greed in earlier seemed to have drained his strength, both his arms were slightly sore.

Greed slowly opened his eyes, then coughed, spitting out some blood, and this blood was tinged with purple Shadow Power.

What’s going on here?

Is he being corrupted by the shadows?

If not treated urgently, shadow corruption could cause permanent damage! Jesse uncorked the Shadow Protection Potion, knowing that this protective potion could only prevent further damage, not heal existing wounds, so he had to use it quickly without hesitation.

He couldn’t let Greed die.

Jesse gave him a slap to wake him up a bit, then opened his lips and poured the potion into his mouth. Luckily, this guy still had the reflex to drink when he felt something stimulating, even in a dazed state, so he opened his mouth without spilling any liquid.

But what should we do now? If that black dragon attacks again, is there any defense measure?

No, but Jesse knows that this bottle of medicine cannot help him withstand a fireball, so he might as well use it.

It’s too risky to cast Mage Armor in this situation, right?

If only we had practiced properly on the ship to deal with this kind of situation…

The key now is that Greed’s condition is very worrying. The shadow damage can be slowed down with potions, but what about the other internal injuries?

Since he’s coughing up blood, he must have been injured in the recent battle, hit by a rock or something from the black dragon, which could result in unseen fatal wounds.

Jesse is at a loss. He doesn’t know any healing spells, so he can only watch helplessly as things worsen?

"No, there is still one more method." Jesse’s panicked movements gradually calmed down. He took out the Mana Potion and drank it, replenishing his energy after casting Curse of Weakness and running all the way here.

The method is to quickly defeat this black dragon and get Greed treated as soon as possible.

He opened his spellbook and saw the Life Drain spell, quietly recited it once.

With the Arcane Intellect buff, he didn’t need to read it too many times.

He tightly held his magic wand, walked to the half-collapsed watchtower entrance, looked at the black dragon spewing flames at the soldiers in front of him.

At his feet, there were already five to six soldiers lying down, some crawling away in pain, some already dead or unconscious.

You think I can’t beat you.

He raised his magic wand high, pointed his other hand at the black dragon, shouting:

Elamang, Sicilendor!

The Shadowfiend light from the magic wand pierced through the tightly wrapped cloth around it, the black dragon suddenly turned its head to stare at this warlock attacking it, its wings and paws even began to tremble violently.

"You… dare!"

He roared loudly and conjured up a ball of fire, but Jesse didn’t hide. Instead, he repeated the spell loudly!

"Um…"

The black dragon coughed violently, the fire in its chest extinguished, and a cloud of black smoke sprayed from its mouth, engulfing its head.

Suddenly, the wound on its head burst open again without warning, spewing out a ball of blood. The blood didn’t scatter in the sky but flew towards Jesse, drenching him.

Jesse didn’t evade, staying focused. He knew the spell was still active and had to concentrate and guide it until the black dragon was defeated!

He couldn’t doubt his own power. Last time, doubting himself caused the Mage Armor spell to fail halfway. Even if he couldn’t kill this guy now, he had to believe he could do it.

The dragon’s roar was replaced by a ringing in his ears. His head and chest felt swollen, and he vomited blood, but he didn’t look at it, just stared at the dragon’s eyes.

The dragon’s scales dimmed, and its injured wing membrane wrinkled. It seemed to start panicking and cursing, but Jesse couldn’t hear clearly.

The dragon used its claws to push itself up from the rubble. Its lower body had been injured by the collapsed city wall, making it difficult to move. It managed to free itself completely and approached Jesse.

He kept roaring, but to Jesse, it seemed like everything had gone quiet, until a spear suddenly stuck in his neck.

The black dragon roared, finally giving in, as soldiers wearing the Lordaeron emblem rushed forward, using long weapons to pierce through the black dragon’s scales again and again.

The black dragon weakly sighed, finally falling down beside Jesse, closing its trembling eyes slowly.

Is it over?

Jesse couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t see clearly, only feeling burning all over and severe nausea inside. He felt his palms covered in blood, his vision blurred and reddened…

A wave of nausea surged up, and he vomited a large mouthful of purple pus on the black dragon’s head…

He finally felt a bit better, with his hearing and vision improving.

He looked blankly ahead, seeing a group of Lordaeron soldiers rushing in to support him. An officer shouted, "Both of these people have been harmed by the black dragon’s shadow. We need to quickly find a priest, go call for a priest! Many Alliance soldiers defending Alterac have become lifelong cripples due to not being rescued in time!"

"Priest! Priest!"

"The Wildhammer warrior’s injuries are not too serious, let’s take this Dalaran mage back first!"

"He is not a Dalaran mage…"

"This is a ring from the Kingdom of Stormwindmage guild!"

"It doesn’t matter where he’s from, do you know so much because you want to get into Kirin Tor? Hurry up!"

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