With a furious roar, the Crimson Lizard King flew out of the Battle Space. Orson jumped onto its head, signaling everyone to follow.
Fortunately, they were inside the dragon's lair, with its incredibly wide corridors. Otherwise, with the size of the Crimson Lizard King, it would have been difficult to fly inside.
Boom!
The Crimson Lizard King unleashed its devastating breath, smashing through the breaking bone door. Spreading its wings, it charged down the corridor with the might of death.
-1100
-1100
...
The Cracked-Mouth Lizard Dragon let out a screech, its body erupting with numerous dark-brown spikes. The Crimson Lizard King adjusted its flight path and endured the attack.
Orson, standing on the dragon's head, took the opportunity to collect loot, and the others, seeing this, immediately reached out to do the same.
"You've obtained a Bronze Key."
"You've obtained a Black Iron Key..."
Empress: "The drop rate for these strange keys is so high... Does this mean...?"
Orson smiled and finished her sentence, "Exactly, there must be treasure chests in the dragon's lair."
The Dragon Lair probably contained a Dragon Cache. In Infinite Dimensions, there were many types of treasure chests, but the highest quality ones were always from dragons.
The chests came in a variety of grades, ranging from Black Iron to Diamond. However, the higher the chest's grade, the harder it was to open.
For example, using a Golden Key to open a Golden Chest only had a 30-40% success rate, and only using a Platinum Key would guarantee a 100% open. Using a Silver Key for the same chest would drop the success rate to 10-15%.
Despite the challenges, many players loved gambling on chest openings, with some thieves using low-quality keys and relying on their skills to achieve miracles.
Orson, enduring the monster's attacks, managed to collect nearly 30 keys. Unfortunately, most of them were Black Iron and Bronze keys, with only one Silver key.
ShatteredCrown and the others didn't even manage to get a single Silver key. This was with the increased drop rate inside the dragon's lair, which meant the drop rate in the wild would be far worse.
Soon, a crossroad appeared before them.
Behind them, the Cracked-Mouth Lizard Dragons were still chasing relentlessly. The Crimson Lizard King's breath continued to blast them into the air.
ShatteredCrown: "Big lizard, you're really amazing... amazing my foot!"
ShatteredCrown, who was about to praise the Crimson Lizard King, had just witnessed it wipe out a group of Cracked-Mouth Lizard Dragons. However, as soon as one batch was killed, the number of monsters doubled.
Empress: "It seems like these monsters can't be killed, and killing more just makes them appear in greater numbers. What should we do?"
"Don't waste time trying to kill them. Let's focus on the mission first," Orson replied calmly.
Having already drawn out most of the monsters, there were only a few straggling minions ahead blocking their way.
Orson checked the map for the mission objective. "The Purple Thunder Fortress main burial grounds are just ahead. ShatteredCrown, your team is in charge of retrieving the Barrier Keystone."
"Left side, all four keystone pillars are there," ShatteredCrown called out.
"And what's on the right?"
Orson mused, glancing at the dark and silent right passage. There were no monsters, but the eerie silence made it feel unnerving. Something was definitely off.
"Let's investigate."
Orson ordered, noticing the Crimson Lizard King had thick skin and could endure considerable damage. It was perfect for attracting monsters while the others focused on the mission.
He quickly led the others to the left and called out to Empress. "You help me retrieve the item. If it's too tough, report the coordinates and I'll cover you."
Then, he turned to BlackStockings: "You protect ShatteredCrown. You two go grab the Barrier Keystone."
BlackStockings arrogantly replied, "I would've done that anyway... And you?"
"I? Of course, I'm going to get the 'dragon eggs,'" Orson grinned.
ShatteredCrown laughed, "Haha, waiting for your dragon eggs, master!"
Empress added, "I also want your dragon eggs, we've already agreed!"
Orson felt a little uneasy with their eager expressions, but he didn't comment. Instead, he quickly dived into the dark passage ahead.
Swish...
As he rushed forward for over a thousand meters, a dark shadow suddenly moved, carrying a heavy scent of blood.
Orson raised his staff and launched a spell, pausing in surprise. "A humanoid unit?"
Critical Hit!
-5500!
Burn Damage - 9000!
The damage numbers soared, triggering his dragon blood bonus.
"Half-dragon warrior?" Orson squinted his eyes as he saw two three-meter-tall figures clad in crimson battle armor, with flames spewing from the joints of their armor.
[Dragonmark Corpse Fiend: Level 40]
[Lord-Class Creature]
HP: 1,000,000
Attack Power: 4500
Skill: Infinite Resurrection
The attack power was high, but their HP was relatively low for a level 40 boss. Normally, Orson could handle two of them easily...
But their one special skill made them incredibly annoying.
Infinite Resurrection — a truly infuriating boss mechanic.
A sudden whistling sound filled the air. Orson evaded, only to be blown away by a gust of violent wind.
Sun Shield!
Orson's eyes flashed, generating a protective shield and using the momentum to roll and land steadily.
A flame arrow the size of a bowl shot into the ground, leaving a terrifying mark where it struck.
"Can't kill them and they're set here?" Orson groaned in frustration. His original plan was to take down a small boss for some loot, but now he was dealing with an unkillable monster.
The two Corpse Fiends—one wielding a giant sword and the other using a bow—were strong enough to easily obliterate most players with a single hit.
"Typical gatekeeper boss design," Orson sneered.
There was a pattern in Infinite Dimensions: wherever treasure chests were found, these annoying gatekeeper bosses were always present.
This only confirmed that he had found the right place!
The giant sword Corpse Fiend roared as it charged forward. Its movements were slow, but the force behind its attacks was devastating.
As it swung its sword down again, Orson saw it coming and easily evaded, casting Ice Prison Ring.
The two Corpse Fiends were briefly frozen in place. However, after a few seconds, they broke free, their resistance to negative effects astonishingly high.
"You all take your time."
Orson didn't bother to fight head-on. Some bosses could be outsmarted, and he knew this was one of them.
With a flick of his wrist, a Chaos Rift tore open, summoning a horde of cursed creatures that swarmed the two Corpse Fiends, wrapping them up and buying Orson precious time.
Orson dashed through the chaos, triggering his Earthquake spell.
Multiple effects triggered, and six stone dragons erupted from the ground, forming barriers and summoning a mire to trap the Corpse Fiends further.
With the bosses momentarily trapped, Orson pressed forward, deeper into the tunnel.
Suddenly, he collided with something solid.
"Ugh..."
Orson's forehead struck something hard, and he felt blood drain from his health bar.
In front of him was a large, blood-red barrier, with magical runes flickering on its surface. Behind it, he could just make out several treasure chests scattered around.
Orson studied it for a moment. The chests were all at least Silver quality, and among the shiny objects, he could see...
Dragon Scales, Dragon Bones, and a few Dragon Crystals!
But what stunned Orson wasn't the materials.
It was the Dragon Eggs!
He couldn't believe his eyes—there were at least a dozen massive dragon eggs, each the size of a human head, embedded in the magical runes. These eggs were surrounded by six Dragon Crystals and other dragon materials, forming a powerful dragon enchantment.
The flowing magma and fire elements continually infused magic into the eggs.
"Just hunting dragons, and I actually lost health—this is unacceptable!"
Orson muttered to himself. He had been aiming for a perfect dungeon run, but taking 500 damage was a stain on his record!
Thus, getting a chest and a Dragon Egg as compensation was more than reasonable!