Translator: Dragon Boat Translation  Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

***

Gunter’s solidified characteristic of recruiting a glorious-level soldier was priceless.

Not only did this represent a mobile soldier’s lair, but as long as there were enough dragon corpses or mixed-blood dragon corpses, they would be able to recruit skeleton blood dragons.

‘Was this the true potential of an A-rank hero?’

Richard took a deep breath to suppress the excitement in his heart.

He could only explore the matter of the two-footed wyverns after leaving the dungeon. Right now, the key was how to deal with the dungeons.

His eyes gradually regained their clarity.

His gaze looked towards the battlefield that occasionally lit up the fog.

The battle between the templar dragoons and the great demons was still intense.

But no matter who wins later, they would positively check back.

They would ultimately overturn this lake if they discovered the dragon’s corpse was missing.

They couldn’t stay here any longer and had to leave!

The tightly bound Third and Old Brother watched as Gunter transformed the dragon’s corpse into a skeleton blood dragon. They instantly felt their hearts bleed.

They were the first to arrive…

They thought that this dungeon would end there.

However, unexpectedly, the undead wrapped in a blood-colored bandage rode away on the blood dragon and ignored them.

The two looked at each other and felt they had survived a nearly-death experience.

Were they safe?

They felt the chains on their bodies tighten as soon as this thought appeared in their minds. Then a powerful force pulled them into the lake depths.

That threw the little joy in their hearts thousands of miles away.

“You even got the dragon’s corpse. Why don’t you let us go… Don’t be too cruel.”

Third Brother gritted his teeth and said, “F*ck, we might not be able to escape this time. When we see each other, we’ll directly crush that gemstone!

“Let that NPC kill the opponent!!”

When Old Brother heard this, he was stunned and said anxiously, “Third Brother, this NPC said we could only use the gemstone once. Now that we’ve used it, what should we do when we get close to that mission item? Touching that thing will kill us…”

“When the time comes, I’ll go and get it. If I die, the curse will be gone!”

Third Brother’s eyes revealed a hint of coldness.

“If we don’t make a move, we won’t have any chance at all!”

After a brief conversation, their eyes quickly brightened.

‘Splash!’

The two popped their heads out of the water.

Water droplets flowed down their wet hair, and their vision became blurry.

They shook their heads violently and shook off more than half of the water droplets before they could distinctly see the scene in front of them.

Not far away was a small island in the middle of a lake. On the side of the island, a troop of mummies climbed from the water…

Then, they saw the figure sizing up the skeleton blood dragon.

“Qingqiu!!!”

The two were shocked.

This player ultimately didn’t leave. And he even dared to loot under the lights during the battle between the demons and the dragoons…

This player was practically going to the sky.

No wonder his points didn’t increase for the whole day. It turned out that he was hiding here.

Both of their emotions were exceedingly complicated.

They were both humans. Not only did the other party obtain several points within a few hours of entering the dungeon, but they were also unharmed in pursuit of the demons. Now, they could easily occupy the corpse of the giant dragon.

Yet, they were fine. The two had finally provoked the battle between the dragoons and the demons. But in the end, they did not obtain anything and lost themselves.

“What a f *ck!”

Why were they so unlucky??? Did the goddess of misfortune deliberately push them?

Third Brother glared at Richard unwillingly after exchanging a glance.

He lowered his voice.

“Follow my instructions later!! It’s enough to drag the lord with the highest points out and bury him with us!”

******

The skeleton blood dragon was much smaller than the level-19 templar dragoon, but its wingspan was also 20 meters.

Rubies carved out the bones all over its body, which made it look exceptionally high-class.

The dragon wings did not have flesh or a diaphragm. They were broken everywhere. It looked like the wings of a bat weathered for decades.

However, it did not affect its flight after solidification with flying magic.

The barbs on the front end of the dragon wings were sharper than spears, and the bones were like cleavers. It was positively an absolute killing weapon.

The wings of the dark gargoyles seemed to have come from a giant dragon.

The soul fire burned in the head while it stood on the ground.

The strapping dragon’s sturdiness made the mummies around feel a monumental pressure.

Other than the magic puppets and dark gargoyles, the other soldiers did not dare to approach the giant creature.

Although the skeleton blood dragon was no longer an ordinary giant dragon, it was still domineering and gave people a strong visual impact. It was not famous for being a skeleton blood dragon.

Richard was proudly satisfied.

When he saw the desert dragon in the desert, he decided to get a dragon as a mount.

Although Gunter had resurrected the skeleton blood dragon from the dragon’s corpse, it could have fulfilled his wish.

It seemed that after a few glances at the skeleton blood dragon, Richard finally turned his attention to the two players tied up by the gravel ropes.

The strength of a Beyond A-rank skill was not something an enemy could escape.

As Richard grabbed the moment the troop crawled out of the water, he beckoned, and the gravel dragged the two to him.

He had seen players for the first time since he entered the “Shining Era”.

The two wore black leather wallets. There was a long sword on their waists. However, they did not look like high-level players.

They looked like players from the human camp, judging from their appearance. Other information was unknown.

He opened the stats panel.

[Name: Third Brother]

[Name: Old Brother]

Only two names were displayed. There was no way to find out more.

Richard recalled the system notification that allowed him to use his Forum ID to hide his information when he entered the dungeon.

A blood-colored light erupted from Third Brother’s body just as Richard was about to speak.

‘F*ck!’ Launching a sneak attack without saying a word?!!

His body suddenly retreated. With a thought, the two heavy sword warriors beside him immediately protected him from the rear.

The skeleton blood dragon spread its wings instantly, and a powerful breath condensed in its throat.

In the blink of an eye, the blood-colored light on Third Brother’s body condensed into a figure with dark runes engraved on its face.

The figure floated in the air and emitted efficacious magic energy fluctuations. It looked indeed extraordinary.

The figure opened its eyes and saw dozens of giant magic puppets and dark gargoyles eyeing it.

A death dragon with a wingspan of 20 meters condensed its breath.

Two mummified mages with strong auras not far away condensed their spells.

Question marks seemed to have suffused its eyes when he saw this scene. “What was going on?”

[Phantom]

[Level: 9]

[Description: Able to bear a portion of the mage’s power.]

“Level 9?!”

Richard’s expression turned extremely interested after he looked at the other party’s attributes.

He thought these two players would recruit some terrifying existences.

He even thought a Fire Elemental Lord would appear.

But after all that, a Level 9 Phantom?!

Third and Old Brother, who had wanted to use this trump card to turn the tables, were dumbstruck.

“What the hell is going on? Didn’t that NPC summon him when he encountered an invincible enemy after discovering that mission item? Why is he only level 9?”

Third Brother was going crazy.

Old Brother stuttered.

“Third Brother, could it be that… this NPC has a special way of keeping the mission item regardless of how powerful it is. After all, templar dragoons besieged the other party and are still in a near-death state…”

Third Brother felt as if lightning struck him when he heard this.

Who would have thought of this when they heard this?

That was an NPC that could escape from dozens of level 19 templar dragoons?… How could they not?!!

The shadow turned to look at the village, his expression increasingly changing.

“Why did you call me out now?!!”

There was indescribable anger in his tone.

He thought that the other party had completed the mission. What the hell were these two idiots trying to do now?!!!

Who were these undead soldiers?

When Third Brother heard this and said with his last hope, “Lord Ferguson… We need your help! Those undead soldiers have captured us, and I need you to save us!”

What if the other party was just hiding his strength, and he was still holding on to his last hope…

The phantom in the air felt that it had received 10,000 true damage.

Condensing this phantom had used up all his last bit of strength, and he still wanted to recover some by retrieving his items.

‘In the end, you’re telling me this?!’

He wished he could strangle these two idiots to death!!!

When Richard heard this, his expression became extremely interesting.

These two sand sculpture players were top-notch.

Before he took out his trump card, he wasn’t sure if it was the 3 of clubs or the king of spades.

Seeing that the troop had already come out of the water, he didn’t want to waste any more time.

The skeleton blood dragon prepared to spit out the dragon’s breath with a wave of his hand.

But at this moment, a change occurred.

The phantom in the air suddenly waved his hand, and a transparent blade slashed out.

But the enemy wasn’t attacking the Twilight City troops, but the two players who had summoned him…

‘Plop!’

The slash destroyed their souls. And their bodies fell dead without any wounds.

Third and Old Brother widened their eyes. They would never have thought they would leave the dungeon in such a way…

The two heard the system notification say who had killed them after their resurrection in the main plane. They immediately looked at each other and saw each other’s almost distorted faces.

Grief and indignation shrouded their hearts.

“F*ck!” What the hell is going on?!… This is too f*cking depressing. If I had known earlier, I would have let Qingqiu kill me!”

When Richard saw this scene, his interest tremendously increased. There seemed to be some hidden reason behind this.

He waved his hand and asked the troops to delay their attacks.

He spoke seriously.

“Sir, please tell us your origins…”

The phantom felt even more resentful after it killed the two idiots.

Why did he give the task to these two idiots at that time?

He looked at Richard. The energy in his body could not hold on for much longer. If he could not get the item, he would lose everything.

He suppressed the anger in his heart and said in a low voice as if he was trying his best.

“Lord from the desert, I am the vice-president of the Scarlet Council—Ferguson.

“Yesterday, I was besieged by the templar dragoons. I left a valuable item in the village ahead.

“The dragoons are extremely sensitive to my aura. I can’t enter it now. That item has a time-limited effect. If we delay any longer, it might lose its effect.”

A broken ruby floated out of the two players’ arms.

“I need you to sneak into it and retrieve that item… As long as you find that item, I will give you a generous reward!”

The moment the other party’s voice fell, a system notification sounded.

[Ding~ You have triggered an A-rank mission—Lost Keepsake.]

The Scarlet Council’s vice-president, Ferguson, was about to execute a valuable mission. However, templar dragoons discovered him on the way. As a member of the evil faction, Ferguson had attracted the attention of the dragoons.

He accidentally left behind a valuable item during the battle.

[You need to retrieve that item. Mission Reward: Scarlet Council’s favorability, Ferguson’s special reward.]

An A-rank mission?

Richard’s pupils constricted. No wonder these two players would appear at the bottom of the lake.

The other party did not attack after they saw the dragon’s corpse. Instead, their goal from the beginning was to sneak into the village guarded by several demons.

He recalled that when he entered the dungeon yesterday, the templar dragoon had left from the direction of the village… And after he entered, he also witnessed the traces left behind by the dragon’s breath.

All of this matched up.

But he was not in a hurry to agree.

Sneaking into the village now, if this was not courting death…any dragoon or supreme demon would be too much for him to handle.

As his thoughts raced, Richard suddenly thought of the Fire Elemental Lord.

The deal he made with that boss back then had given him a bountiful reward.

The reward wouldn’t be small, judging from the difficulty of the A-rank mission.

He stared at the phantom.

“Strange existence, I need to know what price you can pay.”

“You should know what’s going on outside. The templar dragoons are fighting against the supreme demons. Going out now is similar to courting death.”

“And I can’t trust you either. What guarantee do you have that you’ll pay me after I have completed the mission? At the same time, won’t you attack me after the mission?”

These words were merciless.

But the phantom heaved a sigh of relief.

At least, the other party could still talk.

Moreover, this lord who possessed the power of the desert had a troop countless times stronger than the idiot he had just killed with his own hands.

For a moment, the despair in his heart ignited hope again.

The two fools who had received the mission from him yesterday did not even say a word before they eagerly went.

Their despicable attitude made him disdain them.

At this moment, this lord of the desert’s attitude was like he was talking about something.

His gaze became solemn.

After a silence, Ferguson slowly said, “We can sign a covenant of death. Those who violate the covenant will have their souls taken away by death…”

As he spoke, a hint of heat flashed in his eyes.

“As for the reward…” He pointed at the skeleton blood dragon brewing its dragon breath.

“I can turn it into a powerful heroic unit!”

Richard turned to look at the skeleton blood dragon… A giant dragon hero?

His heart raced.