Chapter 1031: Section 1032: Abyssal Flame Dragon
Bone Crow, a strange magical creature with an exoskeleton. Wrapped tightly by its exoskeleton, it resembles a dead skeletal bird, hence its name, Bone Crow.
Single Bone Crows are not very strong, and Angel could handle them with ease. But now, facing a swarm of Bone Crows like a cloud of darkness, he estimated that if he plunged into it, he wouldn’t last a moment before dissolving into white bones.
At this moment, “swooshing” noises came from below once again. Looking down, he saw those carnivorous plants he had encountered before now burrowed out from underground, transforming into towering Jack’s Magic Beans. Though they added a splash of green to the barren land, they also added a touch of otherworldly terror.
Now, these carnivorous plants growing from the ground were swinging their vines that dangled from leaves, flickering green like venomous snakes, attacking Angel.
More and more carnivorous plants were emerging from the ground, and above, Bone Crows dived towards him.
So much for safety. Where were the assurances of no powerful Magical Creatures?!
Although individually, the carnivorous plants and Bone Crows were not considered very powerful creatures, if their numbers reached a certain level, the quantitative change would cause a qualitative one, giving even an Official Wizard a headache.
Angel sighed, turning his head to look back towards the mountain range’s entrance.
It wasn’t far from the entrance. Fafnir should be able to see the commotion here. Would she come to his rescue?
Angel’s hopes shattered as the Bone Crows closed within a few miles. It seemed that Fafnir had no intention of intervening. With danger from above and below, Angel’s only choice was… to run!
He could say that the one thing he was grateful for was that these creatures were not strong enough to exert any suppressing force on him.
Without any suppression, he could rely on his speed to escape to safety.
Angel thought this, and he acted upon it.
However, he overlooked one thing. Although there were only carnivorous plants and Bone Crows to deal with for now, he was still only on the outskirts of the mountains! As he began to race towards the location of Ice Valley, it was like lighting a fuse in a nest of Magical Creatures, with danger spreading in a chain reaction, growing increasingly terrifying by the moment.
Roars were incessant, and the number of Magical Creatures following him were too many to count.
The Bone Crows had almost been submerged in the horde of creatures.
Angel thought things were bad enough, yet there was always a harsh reminder that things could get worse.
When he was only dozens of miles from Ice Valley, a terrifying oppressive force rose from below!
A fearsome Magical Creature exuding a cold aura and a metallic luster, with barbed bat wings, burst out from a cavern in the cliffside.
It had a lion-like head, sheep horns on its forehead, and a long beard hanging from its chin. Its upper body resembled a muscular human, while its legs were like those of a wolf, and its entire body radiated a gleaming metallic sheen.
Judging by its unrestrained oppressive force, this was definitely a creature of Wizard Level or above.
And Angel recognized its form all too well.
— Dark Gold Gargoyle!
Previously, Angel’s biggest impression of the Dark Gold Gargoyle was that its tongue coated blood was incredibly valuable, as a single drop could turn into a bottle of Blood Ink, a hot commodity at auctions.
Now, with the living Dark Gold Gargoyle before him, Angel couldn’t muster any thoughts of resistance. His only thought was to run!
If he could outrun the speed at which the oppressive force spread, he would be winning!
But this time, Angel had finally hit a dead end. Not long after he panickedly fled, another flock of Bone Crows appeared before his eyes.
They stretched across the sky, and no matter which direction he moved forward, he would run into them.
But chasing him relentlessly from behind was the Dark Gold Gargoyle.
Caught between threats from the front and the back, Angel had only one thought, “Am I really going to fall here?”
Just a moment’s hesitation, and Angel felt the oppressive force crash over him from behind, accompanied by a terrifying roar.
Angel managed to glance back only to see the Dark Gold Gargoyle opening its huge mouth lined with sharp fangs, spewing forth a dark light like a purple star curtain, heading straight for Angel’s face.
Trapped by the oppressive force, he could barely move.
Angel thought this was surely where he would meet his end, but, to his surprise, the expected attack did not hit him.
From the chunk of ice containing a white dragon scale in his arms, milky white glows emerged, enveloping Angel in layer after layer.
It was like a transparent spherical shield wall, on which a distinct “snowflake” pattern could be clearly seen.
The attack of the Dark Gold Gargoyle hit the shield wall and was deflected at a ninety-degree angle. The purple star curtain was reflected onto the ground, kicking up dust and creating a gigantic pit on the spot.
“This is…” Angel looked at the spherical shield wall around him, his eyes flickering with surprise and doubt. The shield was so strong that it reflected the Dark Gold Gargoyle’s attack without any ripples. This indicated how solid the shield wall was.
Moreover, Angel noticed that while inside the shield wall, he could faintly sense the drifting aura of frost, which made him even more pensive.
“Perhaps, this frozen white dragon scale comes from an Abyssal Frost Dragon?”
This thought only circled in Angel’s mind for a moment, he didn’t dwell on it, for escaping from here was of greater importance now.
Taking advantage of the dark gold Gargoyle’s momentary daze, Angel twirled and dashed into the “Bone Crow black cloud.” Now with the spherical shield wall for defense, he was not worried about the Bone Crows’ attack, and he simply barged through!
The way was extremely smooth, smoother than Angel could have imagined.
Neither the Bone Crows nor the dark gold Gargoyle made a move to stop him; as he rushed into the flock of Bone Crows, he actually gave them a fright. Scattering like mice who had seen a cat, they abandoned their previously strict formations and fled in all directions.
Angel glanced over his shoulder with his peripheral vision and saw that not only the Bone Crows but also the dark gold Gargoyle that had been pursuing him retreated as if they had seen a natural predator. Then, under Angel’s watchful eye, it fled back to its own cliffside cave and disappeared from sight.
In less than two minutes, the entire sky, once filled with the pursuing army, was devoid of them, leaving only a baffled Angel, still hovering in mid-air.
Angel looked down at the ice-sealed dragon scale in his hand. Surely a passive shield wall shouldn’t be terrifying enough to scare them this much? He guessed to himself, could it be the aura of this dragon scale that had shaken those cowards?
So Fafnir had left this trump card for him? No wonder she hadn’t been worried about him before.
Angel murmured to himself in his heart, then turned around, preparing to head for Ice Valley.
But as Angel turned his head, his heartbeat suddenly skipped a beat.
—Startled.
A gigantic dragon, with terrifying red flames erupting all over its body, abruptly appeared not far behind Angel, emitting no aura, and even its flames bore no heat.
Mist swirled around its fierce dragon head, its cold vertical pupils silently observing Angel.
To be precise, it was eyeing the ice-sealed dragon scale in Angel’s hand.
For a moment, there were no words between them.
This silent gaze lasted only a few seconds, yet to Angel, it felt as if thousands of years had passed. Swallowing hard, Angel was almost certain that the Abyssal Flame Dragon before him must be Odeclass.
In Fafnir’s words, it was a kin of hers, and a predecessor she respected.
But in the Wizards’ Realm, the Abyssal Dragon of Ice Valley was known as a creature with an unpredictable temper and a chaotic allegiance.
Angel could feel that Odeclass was looking at the ice-sealed dragon scale in his hand with an emotional gaze, one that carried reminiscence, solemnity, and a deep sense of longing that seemed too thick to dissolve.
The fact that so much information could be conveyed through its vertical pupils indicated that Odeclass’s level of concern for this white dragon scale was beyond imagination.
Whose dragon scale could this white one possibly be?
After an unknown length of time, when Odeclass’s flames had evaporated the high atmosphere into a foggy haze, a grand and dignified spiritual will descended upon Angel’s mind.
“Why do you possess the scale of Binaqionse?”
“Esteemed Lord Odeclass, I am not aware of to whom this dragon scale belongs. It was Fafnir who asked me to bring it to You,” Angel replied respectfully.
“Fafnir.” Odeclass suddenly snorted coldly, with what seemed like a flash of concealed anger in the sanguine vertical pupils.
Seeing this, Angel suddenly began to feel uneasy. Could it be that Fafnir didn’t come herself because she bore some grudge against Odeclass?
Odeclass exhaled a flame from its nostrils, enveloping itself and Angel completely.
Within these flames, perhaps due to the protection of the ice-sealed dragon scale, Angel did not feel any heat. Encased in flames like meteors from the heavens, they shot towards the Unmelting Ice Valley at an unimaginable speed.
In a daze, Angel saw the surrounding flames slowly fade away.
He found himself within a palace made of crystal ice, reflecting some of the style of the Demon Monastery, except it was built of eternal ice that would never melt. It lacked the gloomy and sanguine style of a demon’s abode, possessing instead a bold and magical feel.
The palace was huge, but almost without any decoration inside.
The sole decoration was a vibrant mural directly in front of him.
Angel couldn’t make out the contents of the mural clearly because Odeclass’s massive body was blocking the view in front of the painting.
It was peculiar that Odeclass, being an Abyssal Flame Dragon, appeared completely at ease in this eternal ice palace, with its flames not melting any of the surrounding ice.
Odeclass gazed deeply at the mural for quite a while before turning its terrifying head towards Angel:
“Hand over Binaqionse’s dragon scale to Me.”
Without fully understanding Odeclass’s temperament, Angel dared not show any disobedience or negligence and hurriedly but carefully handed over the dragon scale to Odeclass.
Angel’s respectful treatment of the dragon scale seemed to please Odeclass. The subtle pressure he had felt on him before had slightly eased.
From this detail, one could tell that Odeclass might share a deep connection with the “Binaqionse” he mentioned.
Perhaps even a partnership.