Chapter 524 - 288: The Dragon Knight Returns (Part 2)

Pound demanded, "Are we just going to stand by and watch that bastard get away again? If Baron Constantin doesn’t die, who will avenge Soron?"

"I don’t think you’ll need revenge, Mr. Pound, because Soron’s body is right here."

A silvery laugh suddenly rang out. He turned his head and saw a woman in an evening gown with round, enchanting eyes.

It was none other than Barbara Hestia, the eldest daughter of the Hestia Family.

Several Wizards followed behind Barbara, using their Spiritual Power to levitate several corpses. When Pound saw the face of one of the bodies clearly, the color drained from his face. "Soron!"

Barbara stated calmly, "My people found him at the ruins of the Dragon Family estate. His body was connected to a piece of a Dragon Body—he had clearly been turned into a Dragon Attendant. Judging from the time of death, it was less than an hour ago.

"Combined with statements from other survivors, I deduce that Soron became a Dragon Attendant, disguised himself as Baron Constantin to attack the Lion Eye Knight Order, and was then killed by the reinforcements who arrived later."

Pound still couldn’t believe it. "How could this be... How could Soron have become a Dragon Attendant..."

Barbara looked at Windsor. "Take care of your brother."

She and the Wizards laid down Soron’s body, then found a corner to place the other corpses.

Just then, a commotion arose from the foot of the mountain. Another group had arrived. It was a party of Law Enforcers led by Faith Knight Jiang Ge—the very group that had fought the "Dragon Knight" at the Dragon Family estate ruins. Among them were some Lion-eyed Knights presumed to have died in battle—including the Lion-eyed Knight Commander.

Saint Elvin greeted Jiang Ge, his gaze falling on the gaping hole in the other man’s chest. "You actually survived an injury like that? You Faith Knights really are a strange bunch."

Jiang Ge said honestly, "I used my Secret Silver Heart to endure and transfer all the damage from the man impersonating the Dragon Knight. This is [Mercy]."

"A Secret Silver Heart is incredibly valuable. You can’t forge a new one until you advance to the next tier. You were actually willing to use it up for them?"

"It came at a price."

"Then you must have made a killing," Elvin said with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.

Jiang Ge said honestly, "When I used [Mercy], I had them sign a contract. According to its terms, they are required to donate one hundred thousand USD annually to public charities until the day I am confirmed dead."

"You used up a life just to make them do charity?" Elvin was stunned. "My Jesus Chri— Ouch! My mistake, I mean, my Lord of the Holy!"

Elvin pushed away Battle Sister Lian’s hand, which was pinching his cheek, and mumbled while rubbing his face, "Lian, for someone from Japan, how can your faith in the Lord of the Holy be so pure? I suggest you learn from other people from the East. Pray to the gods when you need them, and when you don’t, just shout ’down with the old feudal superstitions’."

Camilla rolled her eyes at Elvin. "Sometimes I really wonder how an impious scoundrel like you ever became a Saint."

Elvin smiled. "God loves everyone, and that naturally includes scoundrels like me."

There wasn’t a trace of warmth in Battle Sister Lian’s eyes. Cold as an iceberg, she stared at the black-clad figure on the mountaintop and said in a low voice, "Letting Baron Constantin escape last time was my failure. This time, I will atone for my mistake."

The moment she finished speaking, she drew her tachi and charged up the mountain. Her form was like a black swallow flying low, weaving through the battlefield with a speed that was rarely ever seen.

Isabella and the Dragon Slayers clearly hadn’t expected the Battle Sister to move so fast. By the time they thought to stop her, it was too late. The Nun’s tachi had already plunged deep into the Dragon Knight’s chest!!!!

Everyone stared in shock!

A slight smile played on Elder Pence’s lips.

’With a strike like that from the Battle Sister, Baron Constantin is surely dead!’

But no one noticed Lian’s expression at that moment. As her tachi sank into the Dragon Knight’s chest, the sensation from the blade wasn’t like piercing a human torso, but rather like stabbing into a stack of paper!

Sure enough, when she pulled her tachi out, the Baron Constantin before her transformed into a life-sized Paperman!

What!

This sudden development stunned Battle Sister Lian and everyone else present!

A sense of foreboding rose in Lian’s heart. Reversing her grip, she thrust the blade backward. CLANG! The tachi was knocked from her grasp, spun through the air, and landed point-down, quivering in the ground right in front of a Demon Hunter.

By the time that Demon Hunter looked up, Battle Sister Lian had already been seized by the neck and lifted into the air by the Dragon Knight, her graceful curves, like the ridges of a mountain in spring, on full display.

"Constantine, kill her. She has the scent of a Holy One... Kill her, kill her..."

Constantine forcefully suppressed the eerie voice in his mind and whispered an apology to the airborne Lian.

Lian froze for a second, then she was thrown. Camilla caught her and asked, "Are you alright?"

Lian pushed Camilla away and calmly rose to her feet. "His power is even greater than when we last met. I request permission to release my Holy Mark."

Elvin said, "Denied. This is just a job. No need to die for it."

Lian said, "This is a mission from the Great Saint. It’s been over a month since we took on the task of hunting Baron Constantin. We haven’t had any time to smite heretics."

Elvin scoffed, "Smiting heretics is easy. We can just go to the Inner Side and beat up a few Saracens later. What I’m thinking about now is whether the Dragon Witch is actually dead or not."

"If she were dead, then one-third of the [Dragon Law] would naturally have appeared. If she’s not dead... no, wait. What’s suppressed beneath Traitor’s Cliff is the Mad Dragon. No living creature can see the Mad Dragon and survive."

Camilla crossed her arms, a motion that made her already ample bosom appear even more so. Her tone of voice was just as imposing. "So you’re saying the Dragon Law might not be with the Dragon Witch?"

"The Dragon Witch has her retainers all over the world. It’s very likely the Dragon Law is among one of them."

"Then Dragon Knight Baron Constantin..."

"Retainers sign a Blood Covenant. If Baron Constantin were the Dragon Witch’s retainer, he would have suffered a backlash the moment he showed any intention of attacking the Witch."

Elvin said, "In any case, the Dragon Knight probably doesn’t have the thing we need."

......

With Constantine’s instant repulsion of the Battle Sister, an eerie silence descended upon the battlefield.

Even the Law Enforcers who had been clamoring to behead the Dragon Knight and make a name for themselves fell silent.

Isabella’s side also halted their attack. She and the Dragon Slayers looked up at the cliff, where the Dragon Knight still stood quietly, seemingly unconcerned with everything happening below.

Isabella frowned and sent a message with her Spiritual Power, "Why haven’t you left yet?"

Constantine didn’t answer.

’It wasn’t that he didn’t want to reply, but that he couldn’t right now.’

His mind was currently in the throes of a bizarre internal war.

It seemed to be the eerie voice of the Mad Dragon. One half was shouting in the left side of his brain, "Constantine, kill them! Baptize our return with their blood!"

The other half, however, was speaking in the right side, "Red Dragon... why must you stop me again? Is my return not a salvation for the Dragon Race?"

’It feels like my mind is splitting in two.’

’Caught in the middle, I feel like my head is about to explode. Thank goodness I strengthened my Mental Power with help from the Starry-Eyed Monster, otherwise I’d really be losing my mind... That’s right, the Starry-Eyed Monster!’

Constantine remembered the Spiritual Vision enhancement he’d gotten from the Starry-Eyed Monster. He used his Spiritual Vision to look inside himself and, sure enough, found a wisp of an aura that shouldn’t have been there. If he wasn’t mistaken, it had to be the Mad Dragon’s aura!

’This is terrifying. I never even got close to the Mad Dragon. At most, we just exchanged a glance. How could I have been tainted by its aura from just that?’

He controlled his Spiritual Sense to touch the wisp of aura suspected to be the Mad Dragon’s. The instant he made contact, the aura sank directly into his Spiritual Sense and vanished.

And with that, the mad whispers that had been echoing in his mind also disappeared.