Chapter 321
After doing some hotfixes to this gloomy place such as laying down various torture tools, cleaning up some of the mess and turning it into a more appropriate torture room, he left the place with Lucy .
The sun had already fallen and darkness cloaked the sky . Once he returned, Mary and Sonia left with Miya, who was going to show them around the city . Taliya was nowhere to be seen, which only left Saly, who was currently playing with Astrith in the living room .
Once she noticed her parents" return, she gave one final hug to the big wolf and darted toward Arthur with an eager look and expecting eyes .
The father didn"t let her down as he patted her head and nodded his head, indicating that he"ll take her dragon-hunting in just a moment . With nothing important to do, the trio left the place and with the help of Arthur"s s.p.a.ce Magic, appeared in what seemed to be a high-level dungeon .
It took him a few seconds to find an appropriate place where there"s a living dragon, which is not too weak nor too overpowered for his daughter . With both Lucy and Arthur with her, Astrith decided to take a small nap, as for the invisible Raduin, he was also missing too .
From what Arthur heard, the lizard followed Taliya to take care of some business, as to what that is, he was in the dark but it"s not like he cared much about what they"ll do, that is, unless they do something that is too attention-grabbing .
Saly excitedly surveyed the surroundings, the temperature was unusually high and there were lava pits scattered all over the place . Obviously, Arthur teleported them directly to the boss room as it"s a ha.s.sle to climb it the normal way .
He knew Saly wouldn"t want to do that too and yearned for a good fight without having to waste a lot of time taking care of small fries .
This dungeon was situated in the middle of Algeria"s desert, North of Africa . There were no signs of humans in the lower floors, moreover, it was infested with high-leveled monsters which only means that it"s still an undiscovered dungeon .
It was hidden underground and so it"s rather unlikely for the monsters to be able to escape and attack the humans on the surface, however, Arthur sensed worm-like creatures that are able to drill through the hard earth and arrive at the surface but since their Level is too low, he didn"t pay them much attention .
Now that he thought about it, these worms were a bit similar to the ones that exist on the Western Continent of Astria, though they were weaker . It reminded him of the first time Jackob, who was incredibly weak back then .
Arthur and Lucy stood at the back and carefully watched Saly, who equipped two yellow gauntlets that were flas.h.i.+ng with an orange light .
The little girl"s eyes shone as they stared at the big figure laying at the center of the room . It has a big body, red scales covering it and two wings that had a length of 15m .
This was a mature Fire Dragon, it looked incredibly threatening and any unexperienced Hero would escape the moment he/she sees this monstrosity .
However, the beastmen kid did not do such a thing, she buffed herself using her skills then leaped at the sleeping dragon, who didn"t seem to notice their presence .
The Fire Dragon was Lv661 but their Race should not be judged by their Lv . It wouldn"t be a surprise if it can match a person at the Spirit Realm, nonetheless, Arthur had confidence in his daughter"s strength .
Despite not reaching the Spirit Realm, she had an a.r.s.enal of powerful skills and she was proficient in Earth Magic, which made her defenses almost impenetrable by people and with two powerhouses protecting her, there is no way she"ll suffer fatal injuries .
. . .
The fight lasted forty-minutes and in more than one occasion, Lucy was about to intervene only to be stopped by Arthur, who kept telling her that Saly needs to get used to dangerous situations if she ever wants to get stronger . Being always protected will not allow her to unleash her full potential .
Although he kept getting deathly glares from Lucy, she still listened to his words and backed off . He could see that she was barely containing herself when she saw the cut and burn marks appearing all over Saly"s body but it"s for their daughter"s sake so they had to hold themselves back .
Such injuries could be healed in a few minutes with the help of his potions so there was no need to worry, moreover, the dragon was in a much worse as his tail was broken and half of his scales were smashed into pieces .
Saly stood with a triumphant pose on the corpse of the dragon, she happily jumped as she giggled and pointed at the deceased dragon while puffing her chest in front of her parents .
. . . . . . .
Although it was called The Death Region, it was the smallest out of the eighteen Regions . It was practically deserted and no one dares to trespa.s.s for fear of being killed .
This Region is devoid of living beings and is really one huge graveyard with a few Dark Knights guarding it . Even though they are mere Death Knights, their strength is out of the norm, even the Tall Empress, who finally managed to obtain the chance to come here, was cautious around them .
She can take care of them individually but if they gang up on her then it"ll her end within two minutes at most . The place was littered with graves, some had a normal size while others spanned for tens of miles, it wasn"t a sight you"ll see every day .
No matter how long she walked, the Water Empress didn"t arrive at her destination, it"s as if she was stuck in some kind of loop despite the ever-change environment .
As she had a special pa.s.s, the Death Knights didn"t bother her and kept guarding specific graves . Only after a whole week did she stumble upon a new kind of "enemies" .
It was a floating Jack O Lantern with a torch in its illusory hands . The woman wanted to avoid it but the floating creepy face floated toward her with a very slow pace yet managing to reach her within a split second .
Dumbfounded, the Empress remained standing there, unable to do anything unusual like attacking it as it will only cause the nearby Dark Knights to attack her too .
"Kakakakakakak, a lost traveler!"
She maintained her silence and stared at this thing with wariness . Honestly, she wanted to bypa.s.s but didn"t have the courage to do so . It"s strange for an Empress like her, who rules over a whole region and is wors.h.i.+pped and feared by countless people, to act like this, however, in this foreign territory where every living being or dead one she stumbles upon has a power that almost matches her cultivation .
No wonder this place isn"t frequently visited by the common people .
"Kakkakakaka, what are you seeking in this lost land? K-kakakaka"
The woman hesitated for a few seconds before replying
"I"m searching for clues . "
Although the dark-haired youth told her to come here, he didn"t specify where exactly in the Death Region . So, even without having a clear destination, she still decided to come here and search every corner until she finds something worthwhile .
"Kakakaka this isn"t a place for sightseeing kakakakaka"
"I"m not sightseeing, this is an important matter . "
The eyes of the Jack O Lantern shone with two green flames as it laughed in a very weird manner
"Kakakakaka It"s the same thing . This is the resting place for the dead kakakakaka, it"s forbidden for living beings to come here . Kakakakak you"re only allowed in this place thanks to your special pa.s.s you have on you . "
From the looks of it, this Jack O Lantern wasn"t going to let her roam this place forever . She couldn"t find the right words to convince it and from the way it speaks, it didn"t seem to view her in a positive way, probably because she"s a living person, or so she thought .
A long silence prevailed the place until the floating Jack O Lantern spoke again
"Kakakaka I"m a guide so you tell me where you want to go and I will take you there . Kakakakak, you must hurry, the special pa.s.s won"t last forever . "
"Where can you take me?"
"Kakakakak three choices . The Grand Tomb, the Lost Palace, and out of the Death Region . Kakakaka, think carefully as I will only guide you one time for free, the second one will be costly . "
The Empress inwardly clicked her tongue . From the time she spent here, she knew that there must be some mechanism or illusion formation to disorientate unwelcome visitors, which is why this Jack O Lantern offered to guide her out of this place .
This can only mean that leaving isn"t as easy as entering . She pondered for a few seconds before resolutely answering
"Take me to the Lost Palace!"
The green flames inside its eyesockets shone brighter, it turned around and said
"Kakakaka follow me . "
The Jack O Lantern flew away and the Water Empress followed right after while doing her best to match the guide"s speed . Due to the type of this place and the heavy Death Energy, flying is harder than outside . Moreover, when she tried flying a week ago, when she just entered this graveyard, the Dark Knight seemed to be on the verge of attacking her, especially if she flew above the tombs they are guarding .