“Swish!”
A sudden blur sliced through the air and directly smashed towards Linley. Linley, even while boosted by the Supersonic technique, was only able to just barely stop in time.
“Whack!”
A long, dragon tail, as fast and flexible as an iron whip, heavily struck the ground right in front of Linley, perhaps just half a meter in front of him. The earth itself split apart from that blow, as a meter-wide crevice appeared in the ground. Linley hurriedly exerted force with his legs and began to run.
“I’ve been discovered.” Linley’s heart shuddered.
“Growl!” “Growl….”
Two roars in succession. The two Velocidragons that had been sleeping suddenly both rose to stand up. Both of them were four stories tall, and their body length alone was around forty meters, with their tails making up another forty meters in length. Their size was absolutely astonishing.
“They are so huge! These must be elites amongst the Velocidragon race. Most likely magical beasts of the eighth rank.” Linley’s heart trembled.
These were the first magical beasts of the eighth rank which Linley had met here in the valley. As a magus of the seventh rank now, Linley had confidence to tussle with even magical beasts of the seventh rank. But upon encountering a magical beast of the eighth rank, he didn’t even dare to entertain the thought of fighting, because at the higher ranks, the differences in power for each rank grew even more pronounced.
Just from the value of magicite cores, one could tell.
A magicite core of the sixth rank. 1000 gold coins.
But a magicite core of the seventh rank could be worth up to 50,000 gold coins! The gap between the sixth and the seventh ranks was thus easily imagined.
A magicite core of the eighth rank? The price could reach up to 500,000 gold coins!
As for a magicite core of the ninth rank? The value was an astonishing 5,000,000 gold coins!
“These were just the general estimates based upon the books in the libraries. In reality, the magicite cores of some particularly large and powerful magical beasts are extremely rare, and thus even more valuable. Often, you won’t even be able to find them on the market.”
A magical beast of the eighth rank was far more powerful than a magical beast of the seventh rank.
“Growl.” “Growl!”
The two Velocidragon’s of the eighth rank exchanged glances. A look of amusement actually appeared in their eyes, and then they turned, charging at Linley at high speed.
The intelligence of a magical beast of the eighth rank was definitely no less than that of any human being.
“Whoosh!” At maximum speed, Linley began to frantically run eastwards while immediately beginning to chant the words to the wind-style Soaring Technique spell. But since it was a magical spell of the seventh rank, the incantation was quite complex as well, and had to take quite a bit of time to perform.
At this point in time, Bebe didn’t dare to try and show off either.
He could defeat a Velocidragon of the seventh rank, but a Velocidragon of the eighth rank? Just based on their size alone, which was a full size larger than ordinary Velocidragons, Bebe knew very well that his teeth might not even be able to bite through the scales and reach their flesh.
Their huge size signified that they had thick scales as well. Each scale of these Velocidragons of the eighth rank were more than half a meter thick, and beneath that was an even thicker layer of muscles.
To injure them was an extremely difficult proposition.
Possessing the speed of a warrior of the fourth rank boosted by the Supersonic supportive spell, Linley’s traveling speed was still somewhat faster than the rather slow Velocidragons. These huge creatures were rather slow and lumbering, but each step they took covered a large amount of distance. Each step of theirs covered as much distance as ten of Linley’s.
Most importantly…
The iron-whip-like tails of these Velocidragons of the eighth rank. Possessing the speed of lightning, they were even faster than the tails of Velocidragons of the seventh rank. With a flash and a flicker, they could move dozens of meters, and were approximately on the same level as Bebe’s own speed.
The earth shook as those two huge, ponderous creatures continued to chase after Linley. Every so often, the two of them would exchange a strange look with each other.
“Whooosh!”
Linley suddenly flew into the sky. He had finally completed the incantation for the Soaring Technique.
“I’m finally safe.” Linley quickly flew higher. Seeing the two enormous Velocidragons beneath him, Linley finally let out a sigh of relief. “These two Velocidragons of the eighth rank were really sinister. They intentionally feigned sleep in order to lure me in.”
Actually, what Linley didn’t realize was that the two Velocidragons were not baiting him in at all, earlier.
But these two Velocidragons of the eighth rank were extremely sensitive to their surroundings. They were very used to the sound of the wind rustling through the grass. When they heard the frequency of the rustling suddenly change, of course they would immediately become suspicious.
“Growl…”
The two Velocidragons of the eighth rank watched as Linley flew away. They didn’t appear angry in the slightest. Instead, they raised their heads high and roared. That roaring sound seemed almost…happy.
Linley was able to differentiate between a roar of rage, and a roar of pleasure.
“Growl…” “Growl…” “Growl…” “Growl…”
Suddenly, the air above Linley was split with draconic roars as well, one draconic roar following the other. Just from the number of roars, one could tell that there was an extremely large number of magical beasts present.
“They’re above me.” Halting in mid-air, Linley looked up, startled. From within the white, foggy mists, one enormous draconic beast after another began to emerge, every single one of them around seventy or eighty meters long, and with an enormous wingspan of around fifty or sixty meters long as well.
Multiple huge, draconic figures hovered there in the white mist. Linley could tell at a glance how many there were.
“At least a few dozen.” Linley felt as though he couldn’t breathe.
One enormous flying draconic beast after another descended from the skies. Their flame-colored scales were so resplendent, and flames seemed to flicker around their entire bodies.
“Fire Dragons!” Linley knew that the situation had just become catastrophic.
Fire Dragons were considered middle-class dragon-type beasts. Most Fire Dragons were magical beasts of the eighth rank, while elite members of the race could reach the ninth rank in power.
“Two magical beasts of the eighth rank were able to give me so much trouble for so long. Now, I’m dealing with ten that can fly.” Linley felt extremely miserable right now.
And right at that moment….
“Growl…” “Growl!”
Another series of roars began to emanate from a different direction. And then, one flying creature after another, each approximately the same size as a Fire Dragon, began to spread their massive wings and fly in this direction. These enormous, flying draconic beasts had dark green scales that were as clear as jasper.
These flying draconic beasts with green jasper scales were not the slightest bit fewer in numbers when compared to the Fire Dragons.
The two Velocidragons of the eighth rank below Linley began to roar in amusement as well, their eyes filled with a sinister maliciousness.
“Now I know why when I entered this area, I only saw the Velocidragons of the eighth rank and didn’t see anything else.” Linley felt miserable. “Most likely, only magical beasts of the eighth rank are permitted to reside in this area. Magical beasts of the seventh rank don’t dare to enter. This Fire Dragons and Emerald Dragons are all pack-type draconic beasts of the eighth rank. Most likely, these two Velocidragons were just toying with me this entire time. When they saw I was about to fly away and esca
pe, they immediately roared out to have the Fire Dragons and Emerald Dragons to come as well.”
Over a hundred massive flying dragons were circling above him in the sky. Only now did Linley realize what was going on.
But by now, the way out through the skies was forbidden to him!
“Boss, what are we gonna do?” Bebe’s pitiful voice rang out in the back of Linley’s mind.
* * *
Book 4, Chapter 17
* * *
Book 4, The Dragonblood Warrior – Chapter 17, The Gloomy Depths
His head raised, Linley watched the hundred-plus dragons circle above him. The flames surrounding the Fire Dragons raised the temperature around them, while those jasper-scaled Emerald Dragons seemed to emanate a soul-chilling aura.
An amalgamation of the opposites, frost and flame!
Beneath Linley, those two enormous Velocidragons were watching him with amusement. Right now Linley, who was 70-80 meters above the ground, had nowhere to flee. At the same time, those hovering, circling dragons also watched Linley with amusement.
The intelligence of a magical beast of the eighth rank was definitely not inferior to that of humans. Linley knew all too well that to these countless flying dragons, he was like nothing more than an ant. His opponents weren’t at all concerned with whether he lived or died, only….if he could provide them with a bit of amusement.
A game!
Just like how humans might like to play with ants. When they were bored, they would crush him to death.
“Bebe, I don’t want to be an ant.” Linley glanced at Bebe. “Get ready to run.”
“Swish!”
Linley’s body shot downwards, allowing his natural body weight to combine with the Supersonic spell to rocket him forward towards the ground, and then, just before hitting the ground, he brought his body to a sudden halt. This sort of sudden change from high speed to a halt disrupted the flow of blood in his body, causing him so much pain that he spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Good thing I’m not just a magus, I’m also a warrior of the fourth rank and my body can take it.”
“Right now, behind him there were two enormous Velocidragons, while above him there were over a hundred giant flying dragons. He didn’t have the time to care about anything else. Linley immediately began charging towards the empty wasteland in front.
“Roar…” The two Velocidragons began to roar.
“Roar!” “Roar!” “Roar!”
Over a hundred dragons swooped down from the skies. The Fire Dragons and Emerald Dragons were roaring, and the two giant Velocidragons began chasing after Linley, the earth shaking with each step. The hundred plus dragons were also swooping towards Linley, causing the sky to darken as they blotted out the sun.
A single dragon was already enormous, to say nothing of a hundred. They totally covered the sky with their mass. And then, the dozens of dragons all opened their giant maws and began blasting giant balls of flame at Linley.
“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”
One giant fireball after another, each the size of Linley or larger, began smashing down from the heavens. The ‘fireballs’ generated by the Fire Dragons were not like ordinary balls of flame; they contained within them a mixture of magic as well as the innate dragonflame which all Fire Dragons held within them. Their temperature was so high that even the tough scales of Velocidragons of the seventh rank would most likely crack from the heat.
“Boom!”
A particularly large fireball just barely brushed past Linley. The fleeing Linley instantly could smell the smell of burning hair.
“Boss, your hair got burnt.” Bebe’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind.
Linley himself knew very well that his hair hadn’t actually been touched by that ball of fire. It was just that the temperatures the fireball generated was way too high.
Just by passing by him, the temperature was raised high enough that his hair was burnt. Like an agile little monkey, Linley began to run about in unpredictable patterns, constantly dodging those fireballs.
Those Fire Dragons also didn’t just charge forward to kill him. They were just playing around, using fireballs to toy with Linley.
“The difference in power is too great. Even though I’m a dual-element magus of the seventh rank, when facing a magical beast of the eighth rank, I would definitely be destroyed.” Linley could sense how terrifyingly hot those fireballs were, and yet those Fire Dragons could casually blast them out from their mouths, one after the other.
Fortunately, the Fire Dragons weren’t actually trying to kill him as quickly as possible.
Suddenly, Linley felt a cold aura. His body, which had just begun adjusting to the heat, suddenly clenched with the cold.
“Swish!” A translucent, faintly green spear passed by Linley, and then shattered, releasing a terrible, cold aura that forced Linley to instantly and quickly dodge away.
In the skies above, those dozens of Emerald Dragons had also opened their maws and begun vomiting frozen arrows at Linley. To the enormous Emerald Dragons, these projectiles were perhaps just arrows, but to the comparatively small Linley, these three meter long projectiles were not arrows; they were terrifying frozen spears.
With balls of flame and spears of ice raining down upon him from the skies, Linley had to use all of his wits to constantly dodge and dart about in all directions.
It was exhausting!
Linley was feeling mentally exhausted. His mental energy was being worn down to the point of exhaustion. For a short period of time, this level of energy expenditure was fine, but in the long run, he would definitely suffer from mental exhaustion. Linley also had to expend enormous amounts of physical energy in sprinting around so frantically.
“Boom!” A ball of fire clipped Linley on his left shoulder.
A shattering sound could be heard as the Earthguard jadestone armor covering Linley began to splinter and crack. Earth elemental essence began to swirl about the armor, attempting to repair the damage.
“The attack power is terrifying. If struck head on, I expect my jadestone armor will only be able to take one blow.” Faced with certain death, Linley’s latent potential seemed to explode, and he once more upped his speed as he ran about and dodged wildly.
Even Linley himself was amazed at his dodging abilities.
This really was Linley at his absolute peak performance. But unfortunately, even at his peak, there was no chance of success when faced with over a hundred dragons.
“Roar!” “Roar!”
The hundred-plus Fire Dragons and Emerald Dragons in the sky watched Linley with amusement. Seeing him constantly dodge, they felt more and more interested in him. Even the two Velocidragons chasing after Linley would occasionally wave their tails to threaten him.
At this point in time….
Linley was like an ant, an ant being toyed with by an entire group of giants.
If he made just the slightest mistake, Linley would die. These titanic dragons didn’t care in the slightest about whether Linley lived or died; they only cared about one thing. “How long will this little human creature be able to hold on?”
Five minutes!
Linley had managed to survive for five entire minutes as they toyed with him!
Five minutes, ie 300 seconds!
It sounded like a short period of time, but Linley felt as though it had passed extremely slowly. Every single second was a second in which his life was on the line.
“This group of bastards. If I didn’t dodge fast enough, I would have been killed by them, and then they would leave without caring in the slightest, continuing with their leisurely lives.” Linley knew very well that he was nothing more than a slight diversion for these giant dragons.
In actuality, Bebe possessed even higher speed than those giant dragons. If he were alone, he definitely would be able to escape. Bebe was currently perched on top of Linley’s shoulders, his eyes staring at the fireballs and ice spears falling from the skies, tell
ing Linley where the danger would be.
“Boss, careful! Three fireballs!” Bebe urgently warned.
Linley’s facial expression changed.
“Boom!”
A fireball directly struck Linley on his back, and then exploded. The jadestone armor covering Linley suddenly shone with an earthen light, and then with a crack, shattered into its component elemental essence.
“Hiss!” Linley’s hair was, in the blink of an eye, all burnt, and his face was painfully scorched by the heat.
Without the protection of the jadestone armor, if Linley took another blow, regardless of whether it was a fireball or an icy spear, he would definitely die.
“I won’t be able to hold out much longer.” Linley could feel all his muscles quivering, and even his head was splitting. Linley knew that he had already reached his limit. If he continued under these circumstances, he would definitely collapse.”
“Linley, up ahead, 120 meters, there’s a 20-meter high hill. Beneath it is a very deep tunnel. The hill doesn’t actually totally block the tunnel; there’s enough space to fit two people in. Hurry and flee there, it could save your life.” Doehring Cowart’s voice rang out.
While he was being pursued by the dragons, Doehring Cowart hadn’t said a single word, but as soon as he did, Linley found new life and new hope.
Somehow, unbelievably, Linley managed to increase his speed even further. The hope of survival brought incredible things out of people.
Those hundred-plus Fire Dragons and Emerald Dragons circling above all stared at Linley with rather odd looks.
“Hrm?”
When they realized where Linley was going, those hundred-plus dragons, previously amused, all roared with fury. Without any coordination, they simultaneously began to angrily blast out balls of fire and icy spears at the same time, covering an entire area of 20-30 meters.
“Ah!”
At Linley’s current speed, in about 2-3 seconds, he managed to reach the hill. It was just about at this time that the fireballs and icy spears arrived as well.
I Eat Tomatoes - [Coiling Dragon 04] Page 10
