Chapter 323: Leaving behind an ear
Crackle… pop…
The starry nebulae, which dotted the fighting aura, transformed into a dark ray, fusing with the Demonslayer Edge. The formerly black and matte Demonslayer Edge suddenly exploded with a pillar of bloody light, the fearsome killing intent condensing into clouds of bloody mist, with thin, red lightning crackling within.
The divine weapon in Celt’s hand, “Starry Sky”, suddenly flew out from his hand, abruptly landing in the glow of clustered nebulae within the blood cloud. With little spots of cold light flaring from its body, it continuously clashed with the bloodthirsty Demonslayer Edge.
The two battling weapons gave off an aura of violence. Within the multicolored light, increasingly loud explosions echoed, causing nearby plants and animals to be knocked over by the sounds before the undulations spreading towards other areas.
Han Shuo remained hidden in the dark, feeling all of his magical yuan surging towards the wild Demonslayer Edge. The greatly worried Han Shuo immediately sat down cross-legged, circulating his magical yuan as he tried to provide more power for the Demonslayer Edge to utilize.
Celt moaned painfully, his veins popping out of his forehead. The fighting aura in his body ravaged his wounds as it continually circulated, causing Celt to spit out another mouthful of blood.
The golden dragon had originally thought that it would be impossible to escape. He was unable to react for a moment when he saw the starry fighting aura engage in combat with a blood-red weapon. The dragon sat, staring distractedly at the light strewn skies, slowly starting to feel that the blood-red weapon looked a bit familiar.
“It’s that man, that lunatic!” After staring for a while, the golden dragon finally remembered and cried out in surprise.
“Rumble…”
The sky rumbled as if there were thunder, with the sound of a large explosion ripping past.Rays of light crisscrossed through the magnificent sky, and the divine weapon “Starry Sky” turned tail and retreated back towards Celt.
Celt was actually kneeling on the ground at this very moment. It looked like he’d expended too much fighting aura in too short an amount of time. He was quivering like a leaf seeming to be suffering from an epileptic fit. The blood flowing from the corners of his mouth became white foam; he looked like he could collapse at any moment.
“I will kill you!” The golden dragon finally found his opportunity. Not thinking carefully about why Han Shuo had appeared, he madly charged towards Celt.
Celt could barely stand. He had been weakened to a critical point. Seeing the blood-covered golden dragon charging towards him, Celt used his trembling hands to throw out a magical scroll. The lifesaving scroll transformed into a mass of silver light, wrapping around Celt, and releasing strong magical pulses.
“Crap. It’s another priceless spatial magic scroll!” Han Shuo cursed under his breath, his attention calmly focused as he manipulated the Demonslayer Edge that was flying straight towards Celt’s neck.
Consumed by the flash of dazzling light, Celt let out a mournful screech. Large undulations rippled through the area, as if it had been ripped in half. By the time it calmed down, Celt’s body had vanished without a trace, only leaving left ear on the ground.
When the golden dragon arrived, the only thing he found was Celt’s left ear. He didn’t find anything else apart from this. Even Han Shuo’s Demonslayer Edge had been recalled into his body after that single strike.
“Kill me! I just hope that after you kill me, you’ll also kill off that despicable human!” Standing at the place where Celt once stood, the golden dragon reached out and picked up Celt’s ear, shouting at his surroundings while stuffing it into his mouth.
In the Dark Forest, strength determined everything. In the cruel Dark Forest, the strongest gained everything, while the weakest didn’t even have the right to live. Such were the rules tacitly agreed upon between the super-ranked magical beasts and the humans.
The golden dragon had reached its weakest point now. Without a space magic scroll to save its life, and having already witnessed Han Shuo’s unfeeling ferocity, it correctly predicted that Han Shuo would treat him as another animal of prey and kill him. This was why he had said these words.
“Celt’s loss of an ear won’t affect his strength at all. This time, he only exhausted his fighting aura and sustained a few injuries. When I was fighting with him, not only did he recognize my weapon, but he also managed to perceive my presence. I’ve already detected that Celt’s has met up with the Redbud Knights. We now have a common enemy, so I think killing you wouldn’t be the wisest idea.”
Han Shuo slowly walked out of the shade and spoke calmly to the golden dragon. Seeing that the golden dragon had become quiet, Han Shuo continued to speak: “Besides, I feel like you’re a dragon whom I should befriend. I highly admire your bravery and dedication. As such. I feel that making a friend like you is far more valuable than your magical beast core.”
“Thank you. You have won the respect and friendship of me, the golden dragon Sidrick!” As per the etiquette of the dragon race, golden dragon Sidrick expressed the highest level of respect towards Han Shuo.
“Sidrick, I feel that your best course of action right now is to properly tend to your wounds. That despicable knight called Celt will definitely not let us off after regrouping with the Redbud Knights. However, the Dark Forest is very large, so it shouldn’t be a problem for the two of us to disappear. On the contrary, their group is large and easy to discover. When your wounds have healed, we can work together to deal with them.”
This golden dragon trembled every time he tried to speak. Han Shuo could see that he would collapse at a moment’s notice. Since that was the case, Han Shuo had offered this thought to Sidrick after mulling the situation over.
“I shall return to my race. After I recover a bit, I’ll bring my fellow dragon warriors and kill every one of those despicable ambushers who dared to offend me.” The golden dragon vowed solemnly. He then respectfully spoke to Han Shuo once more, “There is a Dragon Valley located in the deepest parts of the Dark Forest. In the future, be it you or your sons and descendants, if you ever need me, Sidrick, you can always come to the Dragon Valley to find me.”
“I apologize, I really can’t endure it any longer. I’ll be taking my leave now.”
As if he were afraid of Han Shuo reneging on his promise, Sidrick managed to force out a friendly smile after saying these words. He transformed back into his draconic form, flying towards the deepest recesses of the Dark Forest. It seemed like his injuries really weren’t light; he probably wouldn’t be able to recover any time soon.
Mature dragons of the dragon race would usually leave the Dragon Valley and occupy a mountain or a river, gradually building their wealth over the long course of their evolution. Some dragons prefered to live alone, while others preferred to live in groups. Han Shuo had learned a little about the Dragon Valley from some of the Dark Mantle’s intelligence reports, but had never gone there to explore himself.
The golden dragon Sidrick had actually come from the Dragon Valley! It seems like his influence wasn’t something to sneeze at. The reason why Han Shuo had let Sidrick go was because he wanted to use the dragon’s power against Celt, though he would never have thought that he had come from the Dragon Valley. Han Shuo thought that since Sidrick had been able to leave alive, if Celt didn’t quickly leave the Dark Forest and a group of dragons from the Dragon Valley found him, then one of the continent’s ten great troop of knights, the Redbud Knights, would vanish forever.
With the commander of the Redbud Knights lying injured, along with the disappearance of fire grand magus Marceau, this time’s plan of looting of the underground world would likely be seriously delayed.
After following the trail of and discovering the Redbud Knights, Han Shuo discovered that the Redbud Knights had been prevented from making good time. Everyone was frantically converging on the central tent, tending to Celt’s injuries. The central tent was surrounded by rows of knights, with a few powerful mages setting up magic boundaries in the vicinity. Han Shuo hid in the shadows, observing them, realizing that it was impossible to assassinate Celt at this time.
Even the ground beneath Celt had become as hard as steel due to the effects of the boundaries. When the earth elite zombie returned after failing to penetrate the enchantment, Han Shuo immediately gave up on this idea. Seeing the Redbud Knights set up camp, seemingly wanting to bring Celt’s injuries under control first, Han Shuo understood that their planned raid on the underworld would be suspended until further notice.
After observing for a bit longer, Han Shuo spotted the traitor druid Kassel returning without any accomplishments, both his hands were empty and his face held an expression full of ire. It was obvious that he had failed to catch Cecilia and Emily. Only after seeing this did Han Shuo truly relax. He didn’t stick around, flying straight towards the Cemetery of Death.
Han Shuo spent a night resting at the Cemetery of Death, then used the transportation matrix the next day to return to the city lord’s residence in Brettel City.
Walking out from the secret chamber in the city lord’s residence, Han Shuo was deeply moved by the profoundness of magic. Yesterday, he’d been thousands of kilometers away in the Dark Forest, struggling for his life. He’d appeared here after using the transportation matrix, skipping a long journey and arriving with a thought. Even the technologically unparalleled Earth couldn’t accomplish this, but this magic and martial skill wielding Profound Continent could.
After leaving Brettel City for a couple of days, Han Shuo suddenly remembered his prisoner, Helen Tina. He happened to recall that Helen Tina hadn’t eaten anything for two days. The secret prison in the city lord’s residence had never really been used to lock people up. After Han Shuo tied up Helen Tina and threw her in there, he hadn’t even told anyone about her. As such, he believed that nobody had brought her any food.
Han Shuo rushed towards the prison to take a look when he remembered. He found Helen Tina, with a pale complexion and sallow cheeks, belly deflating and rumbling continuously, as if there was a bird constantly calling. Sure enough, Helen Tina had been starved pretty badly over these two days. Had Han Shuo returned any later, it was likely that this enchanting beauty would have starved to death.