Chapter 522 - 279: No, How Could It Be You? (2)

Who could it be, to have slain a black dragon in such a short period of time?

Even though it’s an injured black dragon, still...

At that moment, he noticed the drow elves who had been battling them were scattering in all directions, swiftly retreating. This made Kobatain make a decision instantly.

He told the adjutant next to him, "Lead a team of elites to quickly search ahead and confirm who exactly killed the black dragon."

"Yes, General!"

Meanwhile, Kobatain spoke to another adjutant beside him, "You take a group of rangers skilled in tracking and pursue that group of drow elves to ascertain their intentions.

If they turn and engage with you, don’t get entangled. Disengage swiftly."

"Understood, General!"

Watching the two teams of elites begin moving separately, Kobatain nodded slightly and quickly headed to the front of the black dragon’s corpse.

Just as he intended to inspect the fatal wound starting from the dragon’s head, he was momentarily stunned!

Because there was a clear hole on the side of the black dragon’s hardest skull.

Though it was a hole, it was about the size of an adult’s fist, but on the massive body of the black dragon, it seemed relatively small.

Was this a warhammer wound?

...

Elsewhere.

In the mushroom forest, Meredith sprinted, eyeing the hillside covered with thick ferns, as if a thought struck her, and she gestured to Raine beside her.

Raine immediately understood, cast a flying spell, picked up Meredith, and flew onto the hill, almost simultaneously casting an invisibility spell.

Once they lay hidden among the low-standing ferns, they looked down below.

Suddenly, Raine felt a warm, moist sensation emanate from beside his ear.

"Raine, not far behind us, there’s a hidden path leading deeper underground," Meredith whispered close to his ear.

"If... the situation turns unfavorable, we can use the path to escape."

Meredith didn’t have telepathic abilities, so she leaned in to whisper to Raine.

"Then why don’t we enter now?" Raine couldn’t help but ask in a whisper back.

Meredith’s pointed ears flushed slightly, seemingly sensitive in constitution.

"Below is the domain of a beholder, designated as forbidden ground by our clan."

A beholder?

Raine’s eyes widened briefly before nodding immediately.

At that moment, movements below attracted their attention.

Soon, both Raine and Meredith, concealed on the hillside, observed the number and strength of the pursuers.

It was clearly an elite squad from the Urein Empire, seven in total.

Leading were two men in plate armor, wielding sword and shield, seemingly of transcendent classes level.

The remaining five, aside from the last one who held a white scepter and wore a noticeable priest robe, were clad in imperial uniforms but wielded different weapons—bows, daggers, and a two-handed greatsword among them.

It was evident that, apart from an extra sword and shield knight, they were configured as an independent combat unit.

Seeing this, Raine pondered.

Such a small number seemed less likely to battle them and more to identify himself and Meredith.

Quickly, though, Raine realized things weren’t so straightforward.

It wasn’t as though he wished for a fight, nor was he maliciously speculating about the Urein Empire elites tailing them.

Imagining if he stopped, facing their questioning—"Sir, our general invites you for a chat."

How to respond?

Besides refusing, Raine couldn’t think of a second response.

And knowing the Urein Empire’s modus operandi, refusal would not be the end.

The aftermath was apparent; it would inevitably lead to battle.

Another concern was that his classes level was merely level 6; if asked how he killed the black dragon, what could he say?

Could he say: "I possess an almost legendary, epic top-tier warhammer?"

Or that: "The black dragon wasn’t killed by me; I was just passing by."

Regardless of the explanation, the outcome would still undoubtedly lead to battle.

So, given this, there was nothing left to say.

What’s more, his drow elf transformation appeared as the Hernet family guard captain.

Anyways, the Urein Empire long harbored plans to expand into the Underdark; encountering the drow elves’ secondary force a day earlier or later likely made no difference, right?

These thoughts flashed across Raine’s mind.

His appearance began to change rapidly.

The seven from the Empire below had no idea Raine and Meredith were hiding nearby; they continued along the path in pursuit.

Watching the group depart, Raine knew they’d soon return.

"Later, I’ll take the front, you from the side; focus on that priest," Raine whispered to Meredith beside him.

Watching Raine transform into an unfamiliar drow appearance, Meredith’s body stiffened slightly, feeling a little uneasy but soon adjusted her mindset.

"Should I go first?"

"No, I’ll go first." Responding to Meredith’s suggestion, Raine seemed to remember something and shook his head.

He hadn’t yet examined the newly acquired black dragon bloodline.

Just right.

The group would probably be back in a minute or two.

Raine immediately devoted some attention to his sixteen-slot bag.

Even a cursory glance left Raine’s face showing astonishment and delight.

The black dragon’s bloodline talent and spell-like abilities weren’t much different from a white dragon’s, but they were somewhat stronger, corroborating Valzeg Continent’s hierarchy placing black dragons above white.

For instance, physique:

Mature black dragon physiology lv3, effects: Power +16, Constitution +16, Agility +12, Intelligence +6, gaining base-level resistance to all magic except acid magic (with 95% immunity to acid magic, immune to 1-4 level acid spell damage), high-level toxin resistance, high-level piercing defense, medium-level blunt weapon defense.

In contrast, the white dragon is: "Mature white dragon physiology lv3, effects: Power +14, Constitution +14, Agility +10, Intelligence +5...."

The spell-like abilities are also quite similar, with white dragons adept in frost spells, while black dragons specialize in acid and erosion magic.

Acid Breath lv3 (Fifth Level): Sprays highly corrosive acid in a 60-meter frontal cone, massively damaging all targets within and applying a persistent corrosive effect upon contact.

Mass Acid Arrows lv3 (Fifth Level), effects: Fires a flickering green arrow at up to thirty targets within an 80-meter radius. Upon striking, the arrows erupt into a highly corrosive acid mist.

....

Just as Raine was lost in thought, Meredith lightly nudged him, indicating downward:

"They’re coming."

Raine focused his gaze.

Indeed, the empire’s elite squad was doubling back.

Evidently, they realized Raine and Meredith weren’t seen ahead.

Seeing their group spread out slightly, seemingly searching for clues, Raine immediately rose under the cover of invisibility and rushed downwards.

...

"Boom!"

An elite bow-wielding soldier of the empire recoiled violently, his chest collapsed, clearly not surviving.

"Ambush!!!"

The adjutant’s eyes widened angrily, shouting.

"Damn, it’s the drow elves!"

"No, how could it be you?!" The lead adjutant of mid-level transcendent strength, upon seeing Raine’s transformed drow elf visage, looked shocked and wide-eyed.

He remembered, before General Kobatain’s intervention, he was the one entangled with the guard captain Narrell.

While humans might view drow as indistinguishable, particularly same-sex drow, which even brief exposure might not clarify except to seasoned eyes, this didn’t apply to ordinary people.

For the adjutant, a transcendent mid-level, discerning drow elves was effortless; he remembered the opponent’s appearance distinctly.

Thus, seeing Raine’s transformed Hernet family guard captain attack suddenly surprised him greatly.

By rights, shouldn’t he still be behind?

How did he suddenly appear here?

...