Chapter 249 “It’s shameful to waste”
According to the legends of old, it was said that the ones to stand at the very top of the biological food chain are the Dragons.
Whether it was speed, power, reflexes, or combat capabilities, they are supposedly close to what the world called perfection.
Spanning a whopping thirty meters in length and eight meters in height, one adult gold dragon can not only ram through a city wall with ease, they also had absolute superiority in the air.
But that’s not the most troubling. Because of the natural hierarchy in the animal kingdom, draconian magic takes precedence over any other type of magic. Whether it was the humans or magic beasts, it means nothing in front of a Gold Dragon.
Ever since Du Wei returned from the Frozen Forest and created the blood feud with that old chief, he’s been spending a lot of time researching the dragon race, both their weaknesses and advantages.
In the end, Du Wei finally had to admit the dragon race was naturally blessed by the all mighty creator. Unrivaled combat capabilities and an intellect no lower than the human race…. If not for their weak reproductive rate, it’s likely this race would have conquered the entire world.
According to some of the ancient doc.u.ments read by Du Wei inside the magic union, he came to one single conclusion after a.n.a.lyzing the data collected by the dragon slayers of old: a dragon could almost completely ignore all offensive spells inferior to their own rank! This advantage only gets more ridiculous as you move up the ladder in the dragon specie, especially for the gold variant.
For example: a gold dragon will reach its prime after living fifteen hundred years. At its peak, the dragon in question will reach a state where some have dubbed “Immunity to all inferiority”, meaning they will truly be immune to all magic unless it was greatly superior to themselves.
To put it bluntly, anyone unlucky enough to face off against an adult gold dragon was better off committing suicide than to fight.
Du Wei wasn’t sure if this Dragon Prince was in its prime or not, but simply based on that monstrous roar and enormous body frame, this dragon was most certainly a force to be reckoned with!
Tartaglia on the other hand could only feel his mage robe drenched in his own sweat because the pressure coming off from his foe had completely overwhelmed his pet.
Although this bone dragon was also a high quality product he so painstakingly scavenged from the ancient battlefields, but no matter what, it’s still only an undead being. Compared to a real dragon, to be more precise, the king of all dragons, his pet could hardly be called magnificent.
The ginormous ent.i.ty further away had already turned its sight to fixate its sharp reptilian eyes against Tartaglia and his pet dragon. In a loud roar, nearly all of the surrounding clouds were blown away.
“All those whom insult the Dragons dignity shall DIE!”
With a growl, Second Dragon Prince opens his huge jaw and spews a mouthful of golden fury at Tartaglia. Aside from the burning characteristic of the dragon breath, it also carried a deadly corrosive effect against any defensive magic.
Crying out in shock, Tartaglia quickly waves his wand like his life depended on it to drive his pet away.
When the golden flames came into contact with the dark fog he released earlier, a very thick burst of vapor immediately came up like how a bowl of hot soup would look when splashed onto a pile of snow. Seeing his life’s work being destroyed in ma.s.s, Tartaglia could only suppress the aching pain while hurrying his pet to flee. However, there’s no way the Gold Dragon was going to let him slip away.
Under the monstrous roar of the Gold Dragon, it didn’t take long for the Second Prince to catch up to the Bone Dragon. With one swipe of his golden claw, the first thing to be grabbed was the Bone Dragon’s tail.
Horrified by the situation, Tartaglia quickly fled from his pet’s back. Shooting himself further up into the sky, the only thing he could do was have his pet resist by releasing even more dark energy into it.
But under the might of the Gold Dragon, how can a mere bone dragon resist? Though already dead, but the inherent characteristics of a real dragon still lingers within the soul used in its creation. With every roar it gave out, the whimpering and merciful cry became ever so obvious.
After a few snapping sound, a good portion of the Bone Dragon was torn away. Then with another golden breath, the entire bone tail was painfully reduced to ashes.
Bleeding inside, Tartaglia desperately tried to command his pet to run. However, he quickly came to the realization his greatest creation was starting to disobey him. No matter what order he gave or what amount of energy he used, his pet dragon would timidly cower below its foe.
Finally, after another snapping sound when the Gold Dragon bites down on its neck, a spark of ferocity was sparked inside the bone dragon. Retaliating with its remaining claw by smacking down at the Gold Dragon’s head, this not only didn’t diffuse the disadvantage it had, it only angered the Second Dragon Prince even more.
Brawling on the ground, this was truly a contest of strength at this point. But then how can the skeletal structure of the bone dragon compete with the hulking body of the Gold Dragon?
Fearing for what was to come, Tartaglia continues to do his upmost to drive his pet to fight back. Just then, Du Wei’s mocking voice drifted over from the distance: “Oh honorable master Taraglia…… It’s no use. No matter what spell you use now, your bone dragon will not call upon its draconian magic!”
“Wh-why.” Under intense fear, Tartaglia asks this like a reflex reaction.
With complex emotions running through his eyes, Du Wei slowly answers: “Because….. Of the dragon’s golden rule: Whenever a dragon encounters another dragon, the two can only rely on their physical bodies during the duel. This rule is set by the dragon G.o.d himself and no dragon can ever violate this decree. Even if your bone dragon is an undead creature, but in the end, it’s still a dragon.”
While Du Wei explained this, the unforgettable memories of his venture into frozen forest surfaced once again. In order to cover their escape, White Robed Gandalf sacrificed himself by transforming into a red dragon using druid magic. Taking advantage of the golden rule, the old fool was able to force the dragon chief into a physical brawl and stalled enough time for the party to escape successfully.
Now, watching the giant beings tearing at each other from afar, a sudden burst of emotions he couldn’t explain was building up inside.
The truth was Tartaglia also knew of this golden rule, after all, he spent his entire life studying how to create a bone dragon. Now that he was reminded by Du Wei, Tartaglia felt like he suddenly awoke from a daze. Stopping his futile attempt at driving the bone dragon, a sense of conviction filled Tartaglia’s eyes as he grits his teeth back and forth.
It’s not hard for him to escape alone, but a majority of his life was spent on this bone dragon. For a Dark Mage, losing their most powerful undead creature equates to losing a large portion of their power, and if that happens today, he might really have the heart to kill himself right here and then!
Irrational as it was, but as a man, there comes a time in life where one must abandon all reason and risk it all.
Thinking up to here, Tartaglia bites down on his lip and began to wave his wand at the sky. Following a series of incantations, the sky overhead began to turn dark and before long, flickers of light flew out.
Watching this, Du Wei gasped: “What a guy…. He’s really going all in!”
Casting a “Life Drain” darkness spell at the wrestling behemoths down below, Second Dragon Prince suddenly found himself wrapped in a fog of darkness. What Tartaglia used just now was the most common darkness spell used by Dark Mages where it will suck out the life force of its living prey.
In a loud roar, Gold Dragon uses one claw to subdue its prey down below and growls at the interloper: “Despicable human, how dare you attack me!”
Then in a maniacal laugh, Gold Dragon spews another golden breath at the “Life Drain” fog and immediately destroyed Tartaglia’s effort.
Not willing to give up, Tartaglia musters up all of the surrounding dark energy and calls forth another spell. Forcing open several tears in the air, a series of dark scythes suddenly lunged out from the void and mercilessly cuts down at the Second Dragon Prince.
As a Gold Dragon, the Second Prince naturally has an enormous body, adding in the fact that he was in a middle of a brawl with the bone dragon, the first scythe managed to land onto his back quite easily. Unfortunately for Tartaglia, the attack may have landed, but it did no damage other than to infuriate the lizard even more. With one bite from his ma.s.sive jaw, Second Dragon Prince shattered the remaining dark scythes still in the air.
Feeling the recoil coming back at him, Tartaglia immediately coughed up a mouthful of blood from his now sickly green face. Seeing how useless his dark scythes were, Tartaglia only had this in mind: is this dragon at its prime already?
At this shocking revelation, his hands moved even faster to gather up more dark energy. With the tightening of his grip, the dark fog under his palm hardened to form a giant black spear before lunging down towards the Gold Dragon.
At the same time, the bone dragon on the ground was already paralyzed after having its wing ripped apart by the Second Dragon Prince. Still basking in his own victory, Second Dragon Prince’s attention was pulled away by the commotion behind him. When he turned to see what the sound was, the first image to come into sight was a large spear flying at him from the back. Roaring out in anger, he immediately incinerated the attack with another breath.
Not missing the chance while Tartaglia was lost in his own madness, Du Wei quietly descended towards the Bone Dragon lying there on the ground outside Watt City. Just minutes ago this thing was still chasing him across the forest, but now, it could barely cling onto life with a wing torn and its neck twisted to one side.
By the time Du Wei came up to its side, the Bone Dragon obviously sensed his hostility, but all it could do now was utter a low growl.
Laughing in an extremely sinister fas.h.i.+on: “Call all you like, no one is going to come save you even if you lose your voice.”
With that, Du Wei already pulled out his black crystal ball: “Your dark energy is so pure…. Rather than letting that Gold Dragon tear you into pieces, why not benefit me……”
Bone Dragon’s roar went from a weak growl and into a weak sigh. Not being polite, Du Wei immediately began to work his own dark crystal to suck out the dead spirits from within the Bone Dragon like small little streams running down a hill. Before long, the last brink of flame was blown out from the Bone Dragon’s eye socket.
From what was once a dull black ball, the crystal ball in Du Wei’s hand now was a pearly black. Pleased by this, he smiled in a very satisfied fas.h.i.+on: “As expected.” With that, he pulls up his robe and stores the crystal ball away.
For a person like Du Wei that never likes to waste stuff, he only needed to give the remaining dragon bones a glance to decide what to do with them. In one sweep of his hand, the remaining damaged bones were sucked into his storage ring for future use. Top grade bones are still top grade, even if they are damaged!
“It’s shameful to be wasteful.” Du Wei nods his head like he was doing a great deed for the world.
As soon as he finished his thievery deed, a loud and blood roar came from above.