NOVEL NEXT Chapter 426: Hunt
The young man chuckled lightly at this, a faint nostalgic expression flickering across his face, and muttered quietly to himself, "He's truly like a protagonist."
The massive dragon's golden eyes fixed curiously upon him, confusion evident in their depths. "Hmm? What?"
Smiling mysteriously, the young man shook his head dismissively, clearly amused by his own words. "Never mind, it's nothing important."
Turning gracefully, he began walking slowly toward the cliff's edge, casually glancing backward over his shoulder. "I'm going to Zorathal Continent now. The boy should have grown by this time. According to my spies, he was adopted by some powerful old couple from the Human race. I'm curious to see how he's doing."
As his words faded, his form began transforming, rapidly shifting and enlarging dramatically.
His human appearance vanished, replaced by a majestic, colossal Metal Dragon. Yet, unlike ordinary Metal Dragons, his form was distinct and fearsome.
His tail ended in a sharp, gleaming blade, resembling a longsword, while his claws extended into sword-like talons, shimmering ominously.
With one powerful thrust of his wings, he soared upward, the sheer wind generated by his takeoff shaking the entire cliffside.
His sword-like body shimmered brilliantly under the volcanic glow, tearing through the air as even the space shook from where he left.
Left alone upon the cliff, the elder Fire True Dragon watched his departure thoughtfully, his immense golden eyes filled with nothing but indifference.
"Dragon's Blade… Metal Dragons are lucky to have him, a mutated dragon…"
With a low sigh that caused the air around him to ripple visibly, he returned his gaze to the enormous sealed mountain, his daughter's prison. He spoke to himself with a sigh, "I hope you can see we only did this for your own sake."
As his solemn words faded into silence, the volcanic world around him continued its eternal turmoil, oblivious to the destinies now entwining across continents and races, setting the stage for a storm whose consequences would be far greater than any of them can imagine.
Back inside the Zorathal Continent, within the dense and untamed expanse of the Desolate Wilderness, Orion's eyes slowly flickered open after what felt like an eternity of quiet cultivation.
The gentle rustling of wind through lush leaves and the distant roars of mana beasts echoed in his ears. Sunlight filtered through the thick canopy above, casting patches of warm, golden light on the forest floor.
Rising gracefully from his meditation posture, Orion stretched his arms wide, feeling a pleasant, satisfying crack echoing through his bones. A faint, pleased smile spread across his lips as he examined his now nearly fully healed body.
"Mmm, there really are countless benefits of being a dragon," Orion murmured contentedly, rotating his shoulder with ease. "Without my draconic bloodlines, I'd still be bedridden for weeks despite the healing elixirs. And yet here I am, nearly recovered after just half a day."
As his words faded, a bright and playful voice resounded clearly within his Sea of Consciousness.
Lumi's familiar voice filled Orion with a reassuring warmth, as her system screen gently manifested in front of his vision, flickering with a mischievous glow.
[You would have healed even faster if only you hadn't been forced to change your location due to the constant harassment from the mana beasts around here.]
Orion chuckled softly in amusement, his gaze briefly scanning the screen before turning to inspect his surroundings once more.
Despite his confident demeanor, traces of caution lingered in his eyes, reflecting the danger he'd narrowly avoided earlier.
'I really didn't expect such aggressive beasts would be here that they would disregard Dragon's Might and feel so provoked,' Orion replied mentally, shaking his head with a wry smile. 'I even had to use that concealment treasure again just to hide myself from them. I really can't withstand the expenditure of using it again and again. It takes too many Mana Crystals to use each time.'
Taking a deep breath, Orion carefully stepped out of his temporary refuge, the comforting aura of concealment fading as he emerged into the open wilderness once more.
Immediately, he felt numerous eyes, hungry and fierce, lock onto his location. Unfazed, Orion's expression turned subtly eager, muscles flexing in anticipation of the imminent battles.
He didn't have to wait long. Barely had he moved forward a few dozen steps when several mana beasts, ranging from Tier 5 to Tier 6, leaped out ferociously from the shadows, roaring and snarling with undisguised hostility.
Yet, to Orion's heightened senses and refined instincts, their movements were sluggish, their attacks predictable and crude.
With casual ease, Orion dodged the charging assault from the nearest beast, a large feline-like creature covered in dense metallic fur.
Before it could even recover its footing, Orion delivered a single powerful punch, mana surging violently through his fist.
A resounding boom echoed as the beast flew backward, crashing through trees and landing lifelessly far away.
'Too weak,' Orion thought with a slight frown of disappointment, dusting off his knuckles. His blood stirred restlessly, still craving a more challenging opponent.
He proceeded onward, effortlessly dispatching each mana beast that dared confront him, none able to withstand even a single strike from his fists.
As Orion advanced, his thoughts gradually shifted toward those who were surely searching for him by now.
He muttered softly, half to himself, half to Lumi, 'I wonder when Uncle Edgar and Brother Lucan will finally locate me…'
Lumi replied cheerfully, her tone playfully optimistic. [Don't worry, Master! You were careful enough to place the communication crystal into your spatial ring instead of the inventory. It won't block their tracking signal. They'll find you soon.]
Orion smiled faintly in response to her reassurance, feeling the tension in his heart lessen slightly.
Knowing Edgar and Lucan, they were likely already closing in on his location at this very moment.
"You're right," Orion said quietly, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he looked at the beasts that he could now kill freely. "But in the meantime, let's relieve some pent-up frustration. It wasn't exactly pleasant being suppressed in that labyrinth. Time to remind these beasts who stands at the top of the food chain here."
Grinning fiercely, Orion chose a random direction and boldly strode forward, deliberately allowing his draconic pressure to radiate outward fully, openly challenging every beast nearby due to their weak strength.
He knew he was in the periphery of the Desolate Wilderness; beasts above Tier 6 were rare here, while Tier 9 beasts were nearly the kings of all beasts in this area.
And even if beasts above Tier 9 came, he could use the concealment treasure to hide and run away. He had no shame in running away from someone; he wasn't a martial art fanatic who couldn't take a loss.
And just as he released his aura, almost immediately, roars reverberated throughout the wilderness, as if the mana beasts themselves eagerly accepted his bold provocation.
Orion's blood surged with excitement, his eyes blazing with anticipation. Today, he intended to unleash all his pent-up frustration upon whatever beast dared cross his path, reminding himself and every creature in the wilderness exactly who they were dealing with.
And his lips curled up as the most powerful beast he felt was only at Tier 8 in this area.
Just then, Lumi's playful voice echoed inside his SoC,
[Master, you should be careful, if a passing beast at Exalted Grade appeared then you won't have a place to cry at.]
Orion chuckled and restrained all his aura, 'Hehe, I just wanted to figure out where all the beasts were. Now I can go and fight them one by one. My reserves of Meatballs is running low, I need more energy for my evolution. I couldn't find it in the kingdom, after all they didn't have so much meat in storage. But here…'
[Hehe, here you can be unrestrained and get as much high quality meat as you want. It's a pity though, if you could have gotten that Exalted Grade corpse then your evolution would have come closer much faster.]