Chapter 831

【 DRAGON-BLOODED MAGICAL BEAST 】

“A creature with a Titan bloodline?”

After hearing the receptionist’s words, the trio exchanged glances, becoming somewhat interested.

“Where is it? Is there a specific location?”

They asked with interest.

“Hmm… I’m not sure about that. However… the villager who claimed to have seen the Cyclops is from Torch Tree Village. If you’re interested, you can go there and ask around.”

The receptionist replied.

The three thoughtfully committed the name of the village to memory.

Yeye then took out the map he had purchased after arriving in the Violet Principality and after searching for a while, he discovered that Torch Tree Village was apparently a village near a forest on the border.

If they accepted a quest to hunt magical beasts, it would happen to be along their route.

“We can go and take a look.”

They discussed it in the chat and quickly made their decision.

“Is there any other interesting rumors? Anything from anywhere on the continent will do.”

Four Seasons asked again.

“Interesting rumors…?”

The receptionist frowned whilst she raised her head and stared at the ceiling, falling into thought.

After a moment, the receptionist frowned and said:

“Hmm… Actually there seems to be some rumors coming from the Vols Grand Duchy. Apparently, several noble houses in the eastern part of the Holy Maniya Empire have formed an alliance and are gathering troops. Although no one knows what they’re planning to do…”

“There are also rumors that the nobles are planning to march south and attack the demons’ lairs, reclaiming the territories in the southern part of the Fertile Plains that have fallen into their hands. There are also rumors that Duke Valencia, one of the great lords in the eastern part of the empire, intends to take advantage of the Empress’s illness and the young age of the Empress to provoke a civil war within the empire and expand his territory. There are even rumors that the imperial nobles are planning to make another move against the Vols Grand Duchy and invade the Eastern mainland once more…”

Eastern Mainland was the collective name for the vast region in the eastern part of the continent.

Ever since the Holy Maniya Empire launched its war to unify the continent nine hundred years ago and suffered a setback in the east, this region had remained a thorn in the side of the empire’s nobles.

For nearly a thousand years, the eastern nobles of the empire had never abandoned their ambitions of expanding eastward. They had launched more than thirty invasions against the Volss Grand Duchy, which bordered the Eastern Mainland and the Holy Maniya Empire. Yet every time, they had been repelled by the allied forces of the eastern grand duchies.

By now, however, the imperial nobles had rarely sent troops toward the Eastern region.

Everyone had realized that with the Vols Mountains serving as a natural barrier and the support of the various duchies to the east, the Vols Grand Duchy, the gateway to Eastern Mainland, would remain virtually impregnable…

Historically, it was precisely because of the failure of the eastward expansion that the imperial army had been completely annihilated. The Valencia Household, which had once controlled the Holy Maniya throne through marriage, warfare, and elections, suffered a severe decline in power and lost the throne.

They were replaced by the founding royal family, the Tréiss family, which had remained in power to this day.

Thus… the Vols Grand Duchy had long been known as the Empire’s Graveyard.

Nowadays, whenever the empire’s ambitions toward the Eastern Mainland were mentioned, the people living there generally regarded such ambitions as nothing more than a joke, and they had practically become a source of amusement.

Of course, most players knew little about the history of the human nations in the World of Seigües, so they failed to pick up on the mockery of the empire hidden in the receptionist’s words.

They simply remembered the information and sent it back to their respective guilds, reminding the higher-ups to stay vigilant and prevent themselves from having the fruits of their labor stolen…

The guilds had already sent word that the Church of Life had issued a war campaign to attack the demon strongholds occupying the southern part of the Fertile Plains.

Now that the imperial nobles were also becoming restless, the players needed to remain vigilant and avoid being stabbed in the back by those people.

Of course, the players were not particularly worried, especially now that they had heard that the newly ascended demigod, Kelez, would also be accompanying the army.

With a demigod present, even if the empire really betrayed them after the Fertile Plains had been reclaimed, they would probably just be kicking an iron plate.

In fact, quite a few players were even eager to fight the imperial nobles. In the eyes of many players, the Elven Faction was already completely different from what it had once been. It now had enough confidence to contend with the empire.

It was only after the continental map had been fully unlocked and players had traveled throughout the various human kingdoms that they realized that although human society was fractured and the strongest nation, the Holy Maniya Empire, seemed to be in decline, the overall strength of human society had likewise increased after the resurgence of mana…

Who knew how many new high-ranking experts the human nations had now?

At any rate… Silver-rank experts, who had once been rarely seen, could now be found in every human city. They could not exactly be said to be everywhere, but to ordinary residents, they had become common enough to be considered nothing unusual.

On the other hand, fighting the empire as humans and fighting the empire as elves were two entirely different matters.

The Eternal Church would inevitably intervene. At that point, it would truly mean the beginning of an official holy and racial war.

And without any instructions from the Goddess, the players would not recklessly charge into such a conflict.

However, quite a few perceptive players had vaguely sensed that the Eternal Church was also beginning to stir. For more than half a year, the Eternal Church seemed to have been secretly expanding its strength. No one knew whether it was preparing to completely eradicate the demons occupying the Seigües World or had some other purpose…

Of course, such matters were not something the players needed to worry about.

Or rather, most players simply did not like thinking too much.

They had entered the game for entertainment. It was only because Elven Kingdom was far too realistic and unique that everyone had gradually come to treat it as a genuine second life…

Compared with pondering the situation on the continent, most people preferred to adventure in the game, especially after the entire world map had been unlocked.

Even though traveling around did not allow players to gain experience efficiently, many of them still enjoyed it immensely.

Making a name for themselves across the continent was also a dream shared by every player in the game…

There were also plenty of players who planned to stay in dungeons until they reached a high level before emerging into the wider world, but most of them were new players.

For veteran players, their levels were already sufficiently high. The only things limiting their advancement were advancement slots and class-change slots.

Far too many people were farming the Demon Lord’s Labyrinth, and the drop rate for rewards was not one hundred percent. When all these factors were taken into consideration, it was actually more worthwhile to travel the continent than to keep farming dungeons.

Perhaps they might stumble upon a hidden quest and directly obtain an advancement or class-change slot.

This was not without precedent. Ever since the map of the Seigües World had been unlocked, quite a few players had accidentally triggered hidden quests while traveling and obtained such slots.

Most of these quests were related to resurrected Evil Gods, spreading the elven faith and doctrine, or rescuing local residents and improving the reputation of the elves and the Church of Life…

Returning to the present.

After gathering all the information they could from the Mercenary Guild, the trio accepted the quest to hunt the Golden-rank magical beast and left the guild under the awed gazes of the Silver-rank mercenaries.

Yeye and Nana were already Golden-rankers, and they wanted to challenge a magical beast of similar rank.

Plus, the reward of five hundred thousand gold coins was highly tempting. Not to mention, a Golden-rank magical beast could also provide a considerable amount of experience and valuable magical materials.

The Violet Principality was not particularly large. It was roughly half the size of Maple Moon and covered the entirety of the Violet Highlands. Its territory was long and narrow from north to south and relatively narrow from east to west. The population of the entire Principality was reportedly less than three million.

Like most adventuring parties, their entire party consisted of five people. In addition to Yeye, Nana, and Four Seasons Rain, there was also a Druid and a Hunter, both of whom were at the peak of Silver-rank.

Following the guild’s quest instructions, the group departed from the capital, located in the western part of the Violet Highlands, and traveled toward their destination in a carriage pulled by a dragon-scaled horse.

Just like most of the regions they had traveled through, the resurgence of mana had also changed this small Principality. During the journey alone, the players encountered no fewer than three incidents involving mutated magical beasts attacking villages and towns.

Of course, they had all intervened without hesitation, earning the gratitude of the local residents. Their Fame points had even increased slightly as a result, leaving everyone thoroughly pleased.

The party continued their journey.

In less than two days, they reached the Border Forest in the eastern part of the Principality.

The Border Forest was simply what the people of the Violet Principality called this forest. On the continent, it had another name: the Dragon-Blood Forest.

According to the continental map they obtained, this was a vast forest stretching along the entire eastern coast of the continent. It extended all the way northward, reaching the Dragonkin Kingdom, a nation bordering the Far Northern Arctic and ruled by half-dragons.

The forest was famous for its numerous dragon-blooded magical beasts. It was said that these dragon-blooded magical beasts were all descendants of a Green Dragon whose strength had reached the Mythical rank. The half-dragons of the Dragonkin Kingdom were said to be descendants of the same dragon as well.

That Mythical dragon was named Thistan. According to legend, he particularly enjoyed seeking out various female magical beasts for excitement. He also enjoyed transforming into a handsome human and seducing beautiful demi-human women…

He had even managed to give rise to the half-dragon race, whose population had reached nearly one million.

The entire Dragonkin Kingdom and the Dragon-Blood Forest… well, that was how they came to exist.

It was said that a great mage had once conducted a statistical survey and determined that there were more than five thousand species in the forest possessing Green Dragon bloodlines…

And that number did not even include the species that had gradually gone extinct over the long passage of time.

The Dragonkin Kingdom worshiped this Mythical dragon as their Totem Father and Patron Deity. However, this Green Dragon had disappeared from the continent many years ago, and no one knew where he had gone.

The players had learned all of this from the elderly villagers in Torch Tree Village near the Dragon-Blood Forest.

After hearing about the extraordinary exploits of this Mythical Green Dragon, Yeye and Four Seasons were left completely dumbfounded and deeply impressed.

He was practically the most powerful stud in the entire Seigües World.

Oh, no.

The most powerful stud dragon.

Unfortunately, when the players tried to find the villager who was said to have seen the Cyclops, they were told by the people in the village that it was not there.

The players were somewhat disappointed, but they did not wait any longer. Instead, they decided to enter the forest first and search for the magical beast they had been tasked with hunting.

They had already obtained information about the magical beast that had attacked the village from the guild. Apparently, it was a creature that resembled both a dragon and a bird, and it was enormous in size.

The players speculated that it might be some kind of bird-type magical beast possessing a dragon bloodline.

One of the players accompanying them was a Druid who possessed the skill [Whisper of Nature]. In a forest, this was their home ground. As long as they “asked” the plants, they could obtain information about the whereabouts of powerful magical beasts…

Soon, the players narrowed down their target to a secluded valley deep within the forest.

“The plants ‘say’ that a dragon-blooded magical beast passed through here. It is very likely the creature we’re looking for. I also ‘saw’ scales resembling dragon scales in the ‘memories’ of the trees… It may have deeply awakened its bloodline as its mana increased.”

The Druid player in the party explained.

Everyone slowly nodded after hearing this.

“Let’s be careful. If we can’t defeat it, we’ll retreat immediately. It took us so long to get here. If we die and are sent back to the city, then these past few months of traveling will have been for nothing.”

Yeye, the leader of the party, spoke.

Dragon bloodlines were powerful and any magical beast with a connection to a dragon was generally stronger than others of the same rank.

Following the Druid in their party, the players used [Whisper of Nature] to track their target as they slowly advanced deeper into the secluded valley…

The Dragon-Blood Forest was lush with vegetation. Although it could not compare with the Elven Forest, it could still be considered fertile.

Moreover, because players had not yet wreaked havoc here, the magical beasts had reproduced unchecked and existed in great numbers.

Small magical beasts could be seen everywhere, while traces of medium-sized and even large magical beasts could frequently be found.

However, since they had a quest to complete, the players did not recklessly attack or capture any magical beasts. Instead, they cautiously followed their Druid companion deeper into the secluded valley…

“Look guys! Monster droppings… We should be getting close to its nest.”

The Hunter player in the party pointed toward a large pile of yellowish-green excrement beside a patch of bushes.

Several mushrooms with scales growing on them had sprouted around the excrement. This indicated that the droppings had been left by a dragon-blooded magical beast, and its bloodline was likely quite pure…

Without making a sound, the players collected both the droppings and the mushrooms before continuing forward.

The droppings were excellent fertilizer, while the mushrooms were excellent magical materials even if they were not edible, so there was no reason to leave them behind.

After crossing through a dense stretch of forest, the players finally caught sight of the target they had been assigned to hunt.

It was a colossal creature more than twenty meters long.

At first glance, it resembled a gigantic eagle, but its appearance was far more bizarre and imposing. A long, serpentine tail extended from its rear, bearing a striking resemblance to a dragon’s tail, while its massive claws were no longer anything like ordinary eagle talons. Each one was thick and curved like the claws of a dragon, sharp enough to tear through even sturdy armor.

The feathers covering its wings were shaped like overlapping dragon scales and were a deep, dark green. The feathers covering the rest of its body were the same color, blending together into what looked almost like a suit of natural armor. From a distance, it was difficult to tell where its feathers ended and its scales began.

At present, the enormous beast was lying at the entrance of a cave, its massive body partially blocking the passage. Its eyes were closed, and its breathing was slow and heavy, apparently indicating that it was resting.

Faint snores even rumbled from its throat, echoing through the surrounding forest.

“S-so big!”

The players widened their eyes in shock.

Dragon-blooded magical beasts were not particularly rare in the northwestern forests of the Elven Forest.

However, most ordinary dragon-blooded magical beasts were only three or four meters long. Even the larger specimens rarely exceeded ten meters.

This was therefore the first time they had encountered a dragon-blooded magical beast that was more than twenty meters long.

Its enormous size alone was already comparable to that of an adult Silver Dragon.

Even though they had mentally prepared themselves before coming here, everyone was still deeply startled when they saw the creature in person.

More importantly, the dragon-eagle-like magical beast radiated an unmistakable dragon might.

The oppressive aura was so powerful that it made their hearts tremble instinctively.

This was no longer something an ordinary dragon-blooded magical beast should possess.

The pressure emanating from its body was equally terrifying. Even Yeye and Nana, who were the strongest among the group, could clearly feel an invisible force pressing down on them as they faced the sleeping beast.

Their expressions gradually became serious.

“Be careful! It’s at least intermediate Gold!”

Yeye and Nana exchanged a quick glance, reaching the same conclusion almost instantly.

This won’t be easy…

That was the second thought that surfaced in both their minds.

The two exchanged another glance and quietly signaled the others to remain cautious.

However, the warning came a little too late.

Perhaps because he was too nervous, one of the party members accidentally stepped down too hard.

Crack!

A dry leaf beneath his foot snapped loudly.

The sound was small, but in the unnaturally quiet forest, it was unmistakable.

In the next instant, the dragon-blooded magical beast opened its eyes.

Its heavy snoring stopped immediately.

Those enormous, dragon-like vertical pupils narrowed slightly before instantly locking onto the group of players.

There was no trace of drowsiness left in its eyes.

Only madness and fury remained.

“Roar!”

A thunderous roar exploded through the forest.

The enormous beast suddenly spread its massive wings, sending a violent gust of wind sweeping through the surrounding trees. Leaves and branches were blown aside as its colossal body lunged toward the players with terrifying speed.

The overwhelming pressure spread throughout the area.

The players’ expressions changed drastically.

“Not good! It’s definitely upper-Gold! Everyone, run!”

Yeye’s voice rang out urgently.

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