Chapter 489 - 488: Greenscale Drake

Chapter 489: Chapter 488: Greenscale Drake

More accurately, it wasn’t a standard dragon.

Its body was like a small hill, covered in dark green scales, each the size of a grown man’s palm. The edges of the scales were a withered, yellowish-brown. Its limbs were thick and powerful, its claws digging so deeply into the ground that spiderweb cracks radiated across the surrounding Stone Tablets.

[Greenscale Drake (A-level)]

[Description: A Drake-kin with a faint Dragonkin bloodline. While its strength is not even one ten-thousandth of a True Dragon’s, it is considered a superior specimen among Drakes. It has hard scales and possesses Earth and Poison Element abilities. It has a violent temperament and an extremely strong sense of territory.]

[Weaknesses: ???]

Seraphina Sinclair’s gaze lingered on the "A-level" designation.

’What happened to the B-level Leader we were promised?’

She glanced at the instance notification panel. The objective was still clearly displayed: "Proceed to eliminate the B-level Leader." Nothing had changed.

But the behemoth before her was, without a doubt, an A-level Drake.

Silentrain had clearly seen the system’s rating as well. The knuckles of the hand gripping her Long-handled Axe turned white, her lips pressed into a thin line. Her entire body was like a string stretched to its breaking point.

"A-level..." she murmured, then whipped her head around to look at Seraphina Sinclair. "You chose cooperative mode, right?"

"Of course." Seraphina Sinclair frowned. "So did you."

"Of course I chose co-op." Silentrain’s voice rose half an octave, but she immediately caught herself and lowered it. "Then why would the system give us an A-level leader? Something has to be wrong!"

Her words were cut short by a deep, guttural sound.

The Greenscale Drake moved.

It didn’t open its eyes, merely rolled over.

Its massive body sent a tremor through the ground, and loose stones tumbled from the walls. Its thick tail swept across the ground, plowing a deep furrow into the Stone Tablets.

Gray mist billowed from its nostrils with every breath, filling the air with a sweet, cloying stench of rot.

Silentrain stared at the Drake for a full ten seconds, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.

"Alright, there’s no other way. We’ve already come this far." Silentrain forced her tone back to a semblance of calm, but it was clear something was simmering beneath the surface.

She took another deep breath and whispered with do-or-die determination, "So what if it’s A-level? We’ll only know if we can beat it once we fight."

Seraphina Sinclair quietly watched the shifting expressions on her face. ’This person is actually not bad,’ she thought, ’despite being a little arrogant.’

Anyone else, upon seeing the instance leader suddenly jump a level, would have probably started cursing the system, blaming their teammate, or just given up and quit.

Silentrain had panicked for a moment, but she quickly composed herself and didn’t let any of her negativity show.

That kind of mental fortitude was rare. Seraphina Sinclair appreciated it.

Silentrain suddenly looked over, her gaze sharp. "Where’s your weapon? Or do you not have any Combat Ability and just survive by other means?"

’So she finally noticed.’

Seraphina Sinclair smiled, raised her hand, and made a soft grasping motion. The Moon-Tracking Blade instantly appeared in her grip.

Silentrain was stunned.

She stared at the blade for a long moment. Just as she was about to say something, she caught sight of the stats on the Insight page.

Silentrain’s eyes went wide. Her lips parted and closed twice, as if she wanted to say something but didn’t know where to begin.

An S-Class Weapon.

Silentrain subconsciously glanced at the Long-handled Axe in her own hands. B-level.

She was suddenly struck by a very complicated feeling.

It was like picking up a seemingly useless little beggar, only for that beggar to whip out a black card and say, "I’ll cover everything today!"

"...You have an S-Class Weapon. Why didn’t you say anything?" Silentrain’s voice was a little hoarse.

"You never asked," Seraphina Sinclair said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Silentrain took a deep breath.

’Fine.’

Her gaze lingered on the Moon-Tracking Blade for another two seconds before she forced her attention back to the Drake.

’Now is not the time to get hung up on this.’

"So can you actually fight or not?" she asked bluntly, twirling the axe handle in her palm. "Don’t tell me you’re just going to stand there with an S-Class Weapon."

Seraphina Sinclair took a step forward, sword in hand, to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with her.

"I can fight. But I have one condition."

"What condition?"

"Follow my lead."

Silentrain froze for a second, then frowned.

She opened her mouth, clearly wanting to object. After all, she had been the one charging ahead since they entered the instance, and she had naturally assumed the role of leader.

But as she looked into Seraphina Sinclair’s calm eyes, she swallowed her words.

’But that’s an S-Class Weapon...’

She had spent so many resources, bought so many entry tickets to special zones, and entered so many of them, just to finally obtain a single B-level weapon!

’And this girl? The first weapon she pulls out is S-Class!’

Silentrain gritted her teeth in frustration.

The three words "Why should I?" were on the tip of her tongue, but she forced them back down.

’Strength is everything.’

The fact that she could produce an S-Class Weapon proved she had the skill to back it up. As for why she had been acting like a helpless rookie since they entered the instance...

Silentrain took a deep breath and made a mental note of this grievance.

’We’ll settle this after the fight.’

"Fine." She lowered her axe, its blade pointing to the ground, settling into a ready stance. "I’ll follow your lead. What’s the plan?"

Seraphina Sinclair didn’t answer right away.

If Silentrain had been standing on the other side, she would have seen a Single Lens materialize over Seraphina Sinclair’s eye. She tilted her head slightly, her gaze slowly sweeping over the Drake’s massive body.

From its heavily scaled head to its powerful limbs, and finally to the tail that could snap a person in half.

"It’s still in a deep sleep," Seraphina Sinclair said, her voice soft as if not to startle it. "A Drake in this state won’t retaliate for the first thirty seconds."

"Thirty seconds?" Silentrain frowned. "How do you know that?"

Seraphina Sinclair ignored her and continued, "I need you to get in front of it and draw its attention. You don’t need to do much damage, but you have to make it spray its first mouthful of poison mist at you."

"Poison mist?" Silentrain was even more confused. "And how do you know *that*?"

Seraphina Sinclair shot her a glance.

’Why is she so focused on how I got this information, and not reacting at all to the fact that she has to tank the monster’s first blast of poison mist?’

Seraphina Sinclair didn’t answer. Just as she was about to lay out the rest of the plan, she heard Silentrain force out a skeptical sound from her throat.

"What did you just say? *I’m* supposed to tank its first blast of poison mist?!"

Seraphina Sinclair: "..."

’So it was just a delayed reaction.’