Chapter 735 Battle of the Stone Stairs.
Billis stood alone in silence at the entrance of the fire dragon"s labyrinth.
It was several thousands of meters underground after all. Therewas even a rolling river of lava right beside him. It was only naturalthat the cave was unbearably warm.
However, the waves of dragon roars and terrifying aura of mightthat emanated from the labyrinth caused Billis" body to trembleuncontrollably. The bug adept once again realized the ma.s.sive differencein power between himself and the people on the other end.
Second and First Grade. A terrifying gulf existed between even beginner Second Grade and peak First Grade.
Consequently, he could only guard the exit path alone while theSecond Grades were fighting the fire dragon with all their strength.
Just as his thoughts started to wander, a series of odd wingbeating sounds came from the valley above. Old Fox Vanlier plunged downfrom above, his body completely covered in fire.
The temperature here was far too high. Even intermediate First Grade Vanlier could not survive here for long.
"Careful…careful. Those dragonborn have charged all the way back."
Small fires were all over his furry bat body. Vanlier hadpractically slammed onto the teleportation platform like a crashingplane. When he finally transformed into his human form again, his bodywas covered in black scorch marks and boils of various sizes.
Apart from the so-called teleportation array, the only way totravel from the top of the valley to this teleportation platform was asingle narrow, winding path. Right now, a horde of Firethroat Dragonbornwere roaring and walking down the stairs, swarming toward the platform.
At this moment, the roar of the dragon could still be clearly heard from the labyrinth. Even the valley was quaking intensely.
It was apparent how intense the battle between the two parties was!
"Dammit, dammit! The battle hasn"t ended yet! How are wesupposed to stop those dragonborn when they get here? With just the twoof us?" Vanlier couldn"t help but start grumbling.
"Four!" Billis" ghostly green eyes remained unblinking under his robe.
"Four?"
Vanlier had just asked the question when the Voodoo Doll andthe St.i.tch Ghost Golem hovered out from the shadows. The two dollsstarted to let out an odd and sinister laugh.
The two little guys might only be the size of a palm, but theywere actually First Grade magical creations. Each of them had strangeabilities that were completely different from the norm. Still, even withthe two of them, there were only four First Grades present. It didn"tseem to be enough to deal with the berserk dragonborn that were swarmingtowards them!
While Vanlier"s gaze flickered about, Billis" body startedsquirming as some large insect projections rolled out from within. Ashort moment later, these insect projections solidified into actualferocious mantises before Vanlier"s eyes. These mantises were surroundedby flashing jade green runes.
One, two, three, four.
In the blink of an eye, the empty platform filled up withtwenty-two magical mantises with slender bodies, flat wings, and wickedscythe-shaped limbs.
"Go my precious; let there be a b.l.o.o.d.y banquet here!"
As Bug Adept Billis hissed, the magical mantises stood up ontheir hind legs and made sparks with their scythe limbs. It was now thatthey extended their wings and lunged at the berserk dragonborn walkingdown the steps.
A battle of blood and flesh unfolded now!
The two instinctively murderous dolls immediately followed after the mantises at the sight of this.
Meanwhile, Vanlier, who had always acted as an advisor, felthis heart tremble when he saw the mantises. He had long heard of BugAdept Billis" improvement and his renown for being the rising star ofthe Crimson"s second generation adepts that was most likely to advanceto Second Grade in the short term.
However, this was his first time witnessing Billis" power for himself!
With that swarm of his and these fierce insect generals, hecould probably stand his ground against certain Second Grades. As forthe First Grade adepts back at the clan? He could probably crush themwith such power.
It seemed he would have to try and get closer with this bug adept and establish a bit of a relationship.
Old Fox Vanlier thought to himself as he took out some potions and started to treat his wounds.
Some time ago, the roars from the labyrinth had gone silent.
"Lord Billis, in there…" Vanlier asked with a bit of hesitation.
He might be a First Grade Crimson adept like Billis, but thevast difference in power made him unconsciously treat Billis like aSecond Grade adept.
Perhaps satisfied by Vanlier"s respect, the cold and silent Billis finally spoke.
"They"ve won over on master"s side! They are sweeping the battlefield right now. It didn"t end too well for the fire dragon!"
Billis might have suffered tremendous losses from scoutingearlier, but some bugs had still survived after all. With these insectsas miniature scouts, Billis was able to witness the entirety of theSecond Grade adept"s glorious dragonslaying feat from a third personperspective, even while absent.
In all honesty, Billis might have been satisfied with hiscurrent strength. However, when he saw the scene of the battle betweenthe Second Grade adepts and the fire dragons, he immediately amended hisposition.
One couldn"t think too much of him right now because of hispowerful army. If he were actually to be sent onto the battlfield of aSecond Grade, everything he had would turn into dust.
So what if he had a virtually endless swarm of insects? Asingle dragon"s breath from that Second Grade fire dragon wouldexterminate the majority of them! So what if he had ferocious insectgenerals? They couldn"t even break through a layer of the Second Gradefire dragon"s skin! The insects and insect generals might be uncontestedagainst opponents that were of the same grade or weaker than them.However, if they were to run into difficult enemies, any number of themwould not be as useful as that dragonborn.
That was why the battle that erupted in the lava hall alsocaused Billis to fall into contemplation. He started reflecting on hisevolution path and his role within the clan. Perhaps he would advance toSecond Grade very shortly. It was better to figure it out now ratherthan later.
A b.l.o.o.d.y and brutal battle was happening on the winding stone stairs carved into the walls of the hot lava valley.
Due to how narrow the stairs were, only one dragonborn couldfit at the same time. Consequently, the Firethroats formed themselvesinto one long line and charged down the steps. Billis" magical mantiseseither unfolded their wings or climbed up the walls to intercept thedragonborn along the stairs, breaking out into a b.l.o.o.d.y conflict.
The Firethroat Dragonborn were all muscular and ma.s.sive, andthe large long-handled axes in their hands were unstoppable when theywaved them. However, such heavy weapons could not be used to theirfullest potential on such a narrow path. They weren"t as agile or mobileas the slender and fast mantises either.
What lay beneath the stairs was a dark and swirling river oflava. Even with the excellent fire resistance of the Firethroats,falling into the river would mean death. That was why the mantisesconstantly circled the stairs and looked for spots of weaknesses amongthe dragonborn before diving at them.
Due to the hara.s.sment of the insects, a Firethroat dragonbornoccasionally take a misstepped and fell from the stairs, plunging intothe lava with an audible plop. Dragonborn like these had no chance tostruggle and save themselves. The blazing lava devoured them in a meretwo to three seconds. Not even a bubble popped on the surface.
"What"s the situation here?"
A familiar male voice rang out. Greem walked out of thelabyrinth with the adepts. The only person missing was the DragonDevourer Oliven.
It was clear that the dragonslaying battle had left the Crimsonadepts injured. Some of them even carried fairly grievous wounds.However, the joy of victory was painted on everyone"s faces. They wereexcited.
"Those Firethroat Dragonborn have all hurried back. My Lord, doyou think we should retreat now?" Old Fox Vanlier asked respectfully.
"Now now. That Oliven"s still…never mind. Let"s try and stall a bit longer for her!"
With Greem"s order given out, a trace of wickedness appeared on the faces of these Second Grades that had just won a battle.
The battle against the fire dragon had been too dangerous andstifling. The battle had been trying with only their power and numbers.It caused an indescribable fire to acc.u.mulate in the hearts of every oneof them. Now that they saw these dragonborn warriors who had come tocourt death, the Crimson adepts couldn"t suppress their killing intentany longer.
"Let"s go!" A scorched and burnt Mary beat her wings and tookto the skies, leading her two badly injured blood knights against theFirethroat Dragonborn.
They were all severely wounded from the previous battle andwere in need of high-energy blood to replenish the exhaustion of theirstrength. The sight of so many Firethroat Dragonborn was like the sightof a moving blood bank. Their glee showed on their faces.
Zacha and the Goblin Shredder had been kicked about by the firedragon like a ball for the entire duration of the battle. Now that theyfinally had a chance to relieve their anger, they wouldn"t possiblygive up on it. Similarly, they too charged onto the stone stairs.
Inside the lava hall, an unbearably b.l.o.o.d.y ceremony was unfolding.
The previously intimidating and berserk fire dragon was nowlying on the floor like a dead dog. His large abdomen swelled ma.s.sively,forming a barrier of flesh and tendons. One could vaguely see thesilhouette of a girl curled in a ball inside him.
The fire dragon"s limbs had all been shattered, and its neck was bleeding profusely while missing a large patch of his hide.
Under the guidance of a mysterious force, all the life energyof the Second Grade fire dragon, along with his overwhelming Spirit anddragon soul, was slowly vanishing. Even the blood, bones, flesh of hisbody, and the dragon crystal in his skull were melting into a surge ofenergy by the corrosion of a strange force and slowly being a.s.similatedby the mysterious girl.
The power within the mysterious girl"s body started to boil in this place where no one could see.
A strange and immensely powerful flux was slowly forming.