Chapter 40: Legendary Alchemical Tools

With the blessing of the Rune Battle Armor, the golden-haired warrior’s all attributes surged, yet he still couldn’t keep up with Garoth’s speed. Seeing Garoth pounce toward the white-robed priest, the golden-haired warrior’s eyes widened.

—She was the golden-haired warrior’s beloved.

Although his earlier confession had been mercilessly rejected, the golden-haired warrior’s admiration had not faded.

“Cowardly, timid dragon, are you afraid of my blade?”

“I’m going to skin you and disassemble your bones, turning you into a specimen hanging in the display room!”

Thinking quickly, the golden-haired warrior shouted at the young dragon.

Dragons, especially evil ones, were extremely arrogant and proud, with short tempers that couldn’t withstand provocation. Direct insults and degradation were the best way to provoke their hatred.

However,

Garoth acted as if he hadn’t heard anything, completely ignoring the golden-haired warrior’s taunts.

With a gust of wind trailing behind, he instantly charged to the front of the white-robed priest.

Priests came in many types—some wore armor and wielded flails or war hammers, tall and burly, fighting even fiercer than warriors; others, like the one before him, were poor at close combat and specialized in support skills such as enhancing or healing companions.

Facing Garoth’s fierce pounce,

this white-robed priest panicked and stumbled backward, tripping over a stone.

Retribution!

She spread out her palm, raising and then lowering it toward Garoth, unleashing the only offensive skill she knew.

Boom! The pure, holy light struck like lightning, crashing onto Garoth’s back and cracking the dense scales. The sacred light infiltrated along the cracks, bringing an intense burning pain.

The burning sensation was not caused by high temperature.

Garoth was basically immune to ordinary fire damage; this pain came from the holy attribute of Retribution, which inflicted extra damage on the “evil” Garoth.

“Hiss... it hurts! This skill actually judged me as evil?”

“Nowadays even skills have prejudice and discrimination? I, Garoth, am not an evil dragon!”

Garoth was furious, slashing his scythe-like dragon wings.

Under the moonlight, a head filled with shock and fear shot straight up.

“Ah! Hetty!”

The golden-haired warrior roared, “Damn evil dragon, I’ll kill you!”

He grabbed his door-plank greatsword and strode fiercely toward Garoth.

At this moment, only one dragon and two humans remained on the battlefield.

Garoth, dominating the situation with the strength of a single dragon; the golden-haired warrior, furious to the point his hair nearly stood on end; and a necromancer lurking in the shadow of a spruce tree.

As for the female rogue,

she was the most cunning of the group. Sensing danger immediately, she slipped away, but Samantha was unwilling to let this little thief escape after attacking her, so she chased after her.

“Next up is the necromancer.”

Garoth ignored the golden-haired warrior and turned his gaze to the necromancer.

The necromancer’s heart chilled and he grew nervous, but when he caught sight of two corpses with his peripheral vision, he felt somewhat reassured.

When there were corpses around, especially those of transcendent beings,

necromancers could unleash more powerful skills than usual.

“I’ll be the one to turn the tide.”

He thought, extending his hand and pointing at the priest’s corpse lying on the ground.

The corpse exploded!

Boom!

The priest’s body suddenly burst apart, leaving nothing behind. All the blood and flesh essence formed a swift, blood-poisonous mist that enveloped Garoth.

Life Extraction!

Boom! The corpses of casters farther away also exploded, forming a bloodline that landed on the golden-haired warrior’s body, instantly causing him to swell. Veins bulged on his face, and the muscles under his skin seemed filled with asphalt and petroleum, bulging up high, significantly enhancing his strength.

“Captain, good opportunity!”

“You’ve been strengthened; take down this evil dragon!”

The necromancer shouted.

Under the cold moonlight, the golden-haired warrior’s eyes went blank, his neck stiffly turning toward the necromancer.

White-robed priest Hetty—his beloved.

Caster Haven—his sworn brother.

As for the necromancer before him, he was still unfamiliar, only recruited temporarily for this wild exploration because he seemed skilled after a few joint missions.

“What are you staring at? Don’t just stand there, get moving! Hetty and Haven are with you!”

The necromancer urged, confused.

To him, making good use of his companions’ corpses was the greatest respect, but the golden-haired warrior didn’t think that way.

“Bastard! I’ll kill you first!”

The golden-haired warrior’s eyes were bloodshot as he turned and charged at the necromancer.

“Oh no!”

The necromancer’s heart jumped. “The captain’s mind has been cursed by the evil dragon!”

He reached out and summoned ghostly flames that ignited the priest’s head, burning flesh away until only a skull remained. It flew up to block the “insane” golden-haired warrior, who grew even angrier and more frenzied.

“I’ll kill you!”

He shattered the skull with a sword strike, ignoring the ghost flames crashing onto him, and leapt to the necromancer’s front, slashing with his sword.

The necromancer couldn’t dodge and his body was bisected diagonally.

“Ahhh!” The golden-haired warrior roared and struck again, beheading the necromancer.

On the other side,

Garoth’s twin wings burned with fierce flames, having already dispersed the blood mist, but he did not attack. Instead, he watched the scene before him with curiosity and surprise.

The sudden internal conflict was beyond his expectations, adding some dramatic flair to the fierce battle.

But it saved him some effort.

“Evil dragon!”

The golden-haired warrior who had just killed the necromancer turned toward Garoth and strode quickly to attack.

“Die!”

He leapt up, raised his greatsword, and recklessly struck at Garoth’s head.

The warrior’s sword never landed.

Garoth suddenly turned, sweeping his tail horizontally and smashing the warrior and his sword into a rock wall twenty meters away. Amid flying debris, the body twisted into a grotesque posture wedged in the stone crevice, lifeless.

The battle was over, and silence fell all around.

The red iron young dragon slowly paced, his gaze sweeping the surroundings.

When he spotted a certain place, Garoth suddenly breathed out his fiery breath, sweeping toward the necromancer’s corpse remains. The burning flames carried screams that faded away as the body turned to ash.

“Not quite dead yet.”

Garoth thought.

He wasn’t sure about the necromancer’s exact condition, but those who dealt with death professionally should have more means to survive. So, holding a kill-or-capture mentality, he used his fiery breath to punish the corpse—and unexpectedly hit the mark.

“Adventurers really can’t be underestimated.”

“They are so cunning and treacherous. If he survived and escaped, he would definitely cause me big trouble later.”

Garoth thought.

To prevent the golden-haired warrior from pretending or having resurrection or survival skills, he once again breathed fire, turning the corpse in the stone crevice to charcoal.

The roaring flames illuminated the night,

signaling the end of the battle.

Not long after, Samantha flew back, still holding a figure who didn’t struggle and seemed resigned.

Slap!

She threw the female rogue in front of Garoth excitedly, saying, “My dear brother, I want this person as my slave! I caught her; she’s my spoil!”

Garoth shook his head.

“You’re wrong. If I hadn’t shown up, you would have been captured alive by these people or skinned and dismembered to die a miserable death. Not to mention capturing this human instead.”

He said.

Seeing Garoth’s bloodstained scales and strong physique, Samantha thought this made sense and did not argue.

“So, what do you want to do with her?”

Samantha asked.

“Kill her directly. No need to keep her alive.”

Garoth said calmly.

Rogues were cunning and sly, skilled in ambush and escape. He didn’t believe this rogue would be loyal or that he could keep an eye on her. He didn’t have time to play mind games with her. If she escaped, she might bring more people to hunt him.

Kill her directly, and the matter would be settled.

“Wa-wait!”

“Noble dragon, I want to exchange my life for all my treasures and this map related to legendary alchemical tools!”

The rogue hurriedly took off all her treasures and equipment, then pulled out a map from her bosom and presented it before Garoth.