Chapter 661

Chapter 661: The Sun in the Night

"Master, master! Wake up! This is life or death!"

Jesse coughed several times and slowly regained consciousness, immediately feeling intense pain throughout his body. He couldn’t tell if he’d broken bones or reopened wounds.

He found himself pinned between several massive boulders, unable to move. Before him, Saenor squatted on a tilted stone slab watching him, then slapped him.

"Stop hitting me! I’m awake! What happened? Are we in the Shadowlands? Or was that just a nightmare?"

"Afraid not, master. Neither. The black dragon’s here and you’re still breathing. Get up! Want to watch your friends die?" "They’re alive?"

"I’m guessing… Master, you’re the least durable among them yet still kicking. Logically, they’re probably alive too!"

Alright, alright. What about the Demon Soul?

Jesse fumbled around. He remembered Molofeel returning the disc after the Red Dragon Queen’s release. But trapped as he was, he couldn’t reach his robe pocket.

"How long was I out?"

"Minutes, master? Dunno. Grim Batol crumbled like a sandcastle!" "Help me…" Jesse strained to pull his limbs but couldn’t summon any strength.

"I’ll fetch help! Stay put!"

The imp vanished trailing embers of fel fire. Jesse yelled, "Hey! You little…" Yet finding assistance was indeed their only option.

Roars thundered from above. Countless red dragons besieged Deathwing, but Jesse knew they couldn’t win.

Their only hope was shattering the Demon Soul to restore the Dragon Aspects’ power—at least to the Red Dragon Queen. That might buy time until the Aspects arrived.

That was the plan, right?

Had any of Deathwing’s scales fallen? So many red dragons attacked him—adults, even their Queen! Surely someone scratched him, dislodging something?!

This thought ignited Jesse’s determination. Gritting his teeth, he wrenched his arm and shifted his legs. Though no bones seemed broken, the crushing weight held him fast.

Frankly, surviving Grim Batol’s collapse was miracle enough.

A pang of worry struck—were Vereesa and Greed alive? No time for doubts. Every second wasted endangered any survivors. Jesse bit down hard, pushing against the rocks when suddenly one shifted.

"Jesse! You damn… down there? That imp better not be fooling me!" "Greed!"

"Alive after all! Hang on! Vereesa? Where is she?!"

"Dunno. We’ll find her together!" "You hurt?"

"No Wildhammer dwarf gets injured in Grim Batol!" Greed roared, heaving the boulder aside. Jesse saw him towering taller in his avatar form.

Unnoticed, Greed’s avatar had grown mightier since first emerging in Uldaman. Perhaps he truly strengthened his ancestral connection through trials, empowering both himself and his avatar.

One hand gripped Jesse’s shoulder while the other shoved aside the stone pinning his legs, hauling him out like a kitten.

Jesse urgently patted himself down, finding the disc…

"Thank the ancestors." He breathed. "Still here. Now we break it. Whatever it takes—our only chance… Greed."

Greed nodded. "Don’t get how this trinket ties to that black lizard, but you’re rarely wrong. Smash it or…?"

"Need Deathwing’s fallen scales." Jesse swallowed, recalling the cracked Azuresong Mageblade. "Only his scales can cut it."

"Scales! Over there, Jesse! Mountains of ’em!" Greed pointed behind him. "Just came from that way. Right, demon?"

“Yeah! I saw it too!” Saenor jumped around excitedly.

“Let’s go!” Jesse said as he tucked Saenor into his robe and walked out of the ruins with Greed. Emerging from the pile of rubble, the scene before him sent a chill down his spine.

Grim Batol was completely destroyed; without a doubt, half the mountain had been flattened… The river of lava flowed between the valley and the boulders. It should have been morning or noon, but the sky was entirely dark. Countless red figures fought a massive black shape in the sky, and cold laughter echoed, almost like the roaring thunder.

“I couldn’t believe I was still alive…” Jesse thought to himself.

“Maybe the Red Dragon Queen protected us a bit,” Greed replied as he jumped over a broken stone gap. “Vereesa and I were tossed around by the wind. I felt some kind of magic cast on us before we landed, but I couldn’t explain it. But now she can’t even protect herself, so don’t expect much. Luckily, there’s not much left for Grim Batol to collapse, so we shouldn’t get trapped under the stones anymore. Ha!”

The dwarf said as he ran towards the dragons fighting, and Jesse kept up with him, unable to help but say, “I’m sorry, Greed. I lied to you all along and didn’t tell you that I angered Deathwing.”

Greed chuckled, “That sigil, I can guess what it means. That’s a black dragon’s claw—I know that much, and Vereesa can too. If you could have told us, you would have. Since you didn’t, you had your reasons.”

“Don’t dwell on that, Jesse. If I were in the same spot, you’d help me without a second thought. Vereesa would too, and even those demons would.”

The imp in his arms screamed, “I can’t! I don’t want to die! You need to get us out of here; forget big plans! We’re alive now; there’s still time!”

“Shut the hell up! If those red dragons die, we all die! You think you can escape Deathwing’s grip?” Greed scolded as he jumped down a step.

The imp cried out, “Oh my, why did I pick a master like this…” Jesse gave it a hard slap on the chest, making it yelp.

Watching Greed run ahead, Jesse felt his nose sting. But now wasn’t the time.

“I don’t know how you ticked off that black dragon, Jesse. He kept shouting your name earlier; maybe I misheard,” Greed said.

“Forget him.”

As Jesse spoke, he kept moving when a young red dragon, covered in black flames, plummeted down. Before it hit the ground, it burned to bones, splashing into the rolling lava and vanishing.

“Right here, Jesse.” Greed picked up a scale and said, “Is this good?”

Jesse held the black scale and saw it wasn’t a black dragon scale; it was a charred red dragon scale, with a small bright red part.

“Not really, we need black ones… dark brown with a purple shine.”

“Got it.”

The two searched back and forth. Suddenly, a bubble rose from the lava behind them, and a boiling Ooze-like mass surged out, rumbling as it rushed over. Then more lava rivers erupted with the same gooey monsters. Greed swore, raised his warhammer, summoned lightning, and smashed the closest one, scattering the animated lava everywhere.

But more lava creatures closed in, spitting burning flames. Molten rock nearly splashed onto Jesse and Greed several times, forcing them to move elsewhere to hunt for dragon scales.

After wasting over ten minutes, they saw more young dragons fall from the sky, and even a strong adult dragon crashed into boulders, causing a fiery blast. Still, Jesse and Greed hadn’t found a single Deathwing scale.

Worse, Jesse found no shining scales like the red crystal ones he saw on the Red Dragon Queen.

Damn it.

Even with the heat threatening to knock him out, a cold despair gripped Jesse’s heart.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp itch in his gut. What was that? Wait, Soul Link?

Was Molofeel still alive? And hurt? What was she up against? Could Nekros have broken free from Molofeel’s Charm during Grim Batol’s ruin? That warlock…

“They seem in trouble, Greed. Let’s go help them. I doubt we’ll find scales here.”

“Then let’s go!” Greed replied. Jesse glanced up. The huge shadow blotting the sky had seized the red figure, like dark clouds swallowing the dim sun.