——[Chain Lightning]!
——[Frozen Sphere]!
A burst of intense electric light erupted from Leilin's hands, instantly striking the red dragon's wings from behind, followed by a wave of freezing cold.
Leilin skillfully wielded the power of his spells, hurling various high-damage incantations at the red dragon's fleshy wing membranes.
——[Dimensional Jump]!
At that moment, accompanied by a flash of light, Tifa's figure instantly materialized on the red dragon's back, her twin curved blades mercilessly slicing into the base of the dragon's wings.
Empowered by formidable magical force, even the dragon's scales began to crack and splinter, scalding dragon blood spraying outward in all directions.
"Despicable! Despicable creatures! You wretched little insects!"
The red dragon roared, a torrent of crimson flame erupting from its maw with a terrifying intensity that could melt gold and iron.
"Move!"
Leilin conjured several walls of ice in rapid succession, but they only held the breath weapon at bay for a few extra seconds — just enough for him to pull Lafinia out of the cave.
The primary strategic objective had been achieved. Staying behind to fight to the death would be idiocy.
Dragons had wings. Once they soared high into the sky, everyone except Leilin and Tifa would be utterly helpless.
That was precisely why Leilin had chosen the cavern as the battlefield and concentrated fire on the creature's wings, crippling its ability to fly.
Without that advantage, they could slowly wear it down with their superior numbers. Eventually, the red dragon would fall.
"Hurry! Attack!"
The moment Leilin and the other two fled the cave,
"Get in there! Are you deaf?!"
Only after Leilin's roar did the high-ranking professionals finally snap out of their daze, brandishing their enormous weapons and charging forward.
"You wretched insects! I'll tear you to shreds!"
The red dragon Sevarn bellowed endlessly. These human mercenaries had clearly come prepared — their weapons had been specially forged and appeared to be coated in some kind of toxin that even his thick hide and dense muscle couldn't fully resist.
"Hrrraagh..."
A massive dark shadow swept past as the red dragon lashed its tail. Several professionals who failed to dodge in time were sent hurtling through the air, trailing streams of blood. They didn't look like they'd survive.
"Boom!"
The red dragon opened its jaws once more, unleashing another devastating cone of flame. Another dozen or so professionals who couldn't evade in time were reduced to charred husks.
"Roar! Mortals! You will pay for your stupidity!"
The red dragon roared, its fang-filled maw clamping down on one of the professionals. A bone-chilling crunching sound filled the air as chunks of flesh and bone fragments rained down.
The poor soul still had half his body sticking out, emitting a piercing, agonized scream.
Only then did the professionals truly grasp the reality: the creature before them was a legendary dragon. Even the riches that came with slaying one were beyond what they could currently hope to claim.
Under the crushing weight of the dragon's presence, fear gradually overpowered both reason and reckless courage. One professional screamed and turned to flee.
Swoosh!
A blade of light flashed, and the fleeing professional's head detached from his body. Tifa's figure materialized in midair a moment later.
"Per military regulation, deserters are executed immediately!" Tifa's expression was cold and unyielding, and strange flame-like scales began to surface across her body.
"That's... a bloodline bearer! I never imagined Lord Tifa was also a legendary bloodline bearer!"
Tifa hovered in midair, her cold gaze fixed on the enormous red dragon before her. She raised a hand, and several spells flickered into existence.
——[Dimensional Lock!]
——[Energy Drain!]
"As expected! These professionals need a leader to truly hold their ground!"
Leilin showed no surprise at this. He watched calmly as Tifa rallied the other melee combatants to hold the red dragon in place, his expression perfectly composed.
"Ready! Fire!!!"
Under his direct command, the archers loosed their anti-magic arrows. The spell-infused arrowheads rained down upon the red dragon like a hailstorm.
And amid that rain of arrows, there lurked an even more terrifying weapon!
[Ding! Surrounding physical environment data input complete! Trajectory calculations finished!]
Leilin was now operating the single ballista they had, aiming its four-meter-long bolt — as thick as a man's arm — directly at the red dragon.
Bang!
The moment he triggered the mechanism, the entire siege engine let out a thunderous roar.
Amid a sound like an explosion, a bolt of black lightning pierced the sky, punching clean through the red dragon's chest. The attached blood groove tore the wound wide open, and scalding dragon blood gushed forth, quickly pooling into a dark crimson lake on the cavern floor.
"That's a Dragon-Slaying Arrow! How could you possibly still have its blueprints?!"
An incredulous voice escaped the red dragon's lips.
"A gift!" Leilin said, glancing at the now-shattered ballista without a trace of regret on his face.
These had been prepared by the previous high-ranking Beastkin — their ultimate trump card. Unfortunately, it could only be used once.
Sevarn the red dragon now truly felt the ominous premonition of its own demise. It lunged desperately in every direction, unleashing its quasi-spell abilities in a frenzy.
But with Tifa holding the line and Leilin providing magical support, there was no escape. Even the dimensional pathways had been completely sealed, cutting off any chance of retreat.
"Let me go! Sevarn swears by the Dragon God! All my treasure is yours! And I will never seek revenge!"
The red dragon roared.
"Heh... the promise of a dragon?"
Leilin sneered, gripping his massive executioner's blade and charging forward.
"Tifa!" Leilin bellowed.
The legendary powerhouse unleashed her final attack — a devastating wave of corrosive energy that struck the red dragon head-on, causing a massive patch of flesh on its chest to wither and collapse.
"Hah!"
Leilin's executioner's blade plunged directly into the wound left by the Dragon-Slaying Arrow, tearing it open with savage force.
——[Chain Lightning!]
——[Frozen Sphere!]
——[Disintegrate!]
The already horrific wound was ripped even wider. The surrounding flesh took on a scorched, blackened hue. Torrents of hot blood cascaded down over Leilin, drenching him until he was practically a figure carved from crimson.
"The dragon clan will never forgive you!"
The light in Sevarn's eyes grew dimmer and dimmer until it extinguished entirely. The colossal body toppled to the ground like a small mountain, triggering a minor earthquake.
"Never forgive me?" Leilin scoffed. Then he sensed a spectral, resentment-laden aura seeping from the dragon's corpse and lurching toward him.
"So it's something like a curse of vengeance, is it? Heh..."
A profound, unfathomable light flickered through Leilin's eyes, and the resentful spirit was obliterated in an instant — not a trace remained.
Meanwhile, the scalding dragon blood baptism continued, and the mechanical voice of the Chip sounded: [Ding! Host has undergone a Dragon Blood Baptism! Strength +1! Constitution +2! Acquired Resistant Skin! (Partially overlaps with Perfect Body ability — merged!)]
"The power within dragon blood?"
Leilin felt the searing sensation coursing through him. "Such abundant power — even if the Devil's Blood Dagger were still intact, it probably couldn't devour it all..."
As for this dragon blood, for anyone with a Constitution below five it would be nothing short of poison, utterly incapable of resisting the corrosive energy within — a death sentence. But for high-ranking professionals, it was a potent boon, provided they could withstand it.
"Hurry up and collect the dragon blood! Now!"
Dragon blood was an extraordinarily rare wizard's material. Even Leilin felt a twinge watching so much go to waste.
The mountain-sized red dragon was then completely dismembered by Leilin's subordinates. First, every drop of blood was collected. Then came the large, intact stretches of dragon hide — prime material for crafting dragon leather armor.
Dragon bones, dragon crystals, and other such items were all valuable finds.
When the subordinates discovered the rest of the red dragon's hoard within the cavern, the excitement in their eyes became impossible to contain, erupting into outright cheers.
Dragons were always drawn to hoarding shiny objects. While many turned out to be quartz or glass, there was no shortage of precious metals — and even a few magical items, left behind by some unknown, unfortunate soul.
"I'll take the materials from the red dragon. As for the gold and silver, divide it among yourselves!"
Leilin stored the dragon's materials in his dimensional bag, not sparing another glance at the mountain of metal currency before him.
The soldiers' cheers grew even louder upon hearing this command.
That night, a feast was held to celebrate the successful dragon slaying. Having witnessed the birth of a dragon-slaying hero was a boast they could carry for the rest of their lives — and those who had participated felt a special pride in it.
The celebration lasted deep into the night, and every soldier not on watch duty drank themselves into a stupor.
Meanwhile, several dark figures slipped into the dragon's lair.
"Are you sure this is the place?"
Leilin ran his hand along a black wall. The scars of the day's battle were still plainly visible.
"Yes! I'm certain — the entrance to the ruins is right here!"
Helen crouched down and found a distorted symbol in the corner near the base of the wall.
"The legacy of an
A look of keen inquiry gleamed in Leilin's eyes.
Then, a flicker of Arcane Fire bloomed from his hand and sank into the distorted sigil in the corner.
Rumble!
A hidden passage materialized before them. That it had gone undiscovered by the red dragon for so long spoke to its extraordinary concealment.
"Some kind of spatial overlap technique, most likely!"
Leilin nodded and entered the passage alongside Helen, while Tifa stood guard outside.
"The power of the Arcane — how does it differ from wizardry?"
Leilin's eyes flickered with a glimmer of hope.