The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Chapter 716: Chapter 0713: The Fainting Dragon (First Update)
 

His entire body felt uncomfortable.

The Light Green Gemstone Dragon’s head swam dizzily, yet it dared not pause for even a moment; its body was already in tatters, and its bonded Dragon Knight had perished on the spot.

For the dragon, who had lived more than four hundred years, it was the bleakest moment of its life, one even more difficult than when it had to hide in its youth.

It did not like the sea.@@novelbin@@

Yet, due to Carlo and the Eagle Kingdom, it had no choice but to fly over a thousand miles of ocean to fight a bloody battle here. Had it been victorious, it could have enjoyed the fruits of its victory. Unfortunately, it suffered a crushing defeat, nearly leaving its own life on the battlefield. The Archmage who rode on the shell, and that insane Fire Dragon Knight, both made its heart tremble with fear.

“Carlo is nothing but useless waste!”

“If it weren’t for the Dragon Knight succession plan, how could I have willingly let such a hothouse flower ride me! Fighting alongside him, I was unable to exert my true power, it’s infuriating, so infuriating!”

“Roar!”

The Light Green Gemstone Dragon roared in anger, and as it opened its mouth, a deep roar erupted.

But it tugged at the wound on its neck, and another spray of dragon blood gushed out, frightening it into clamping its maw shut, fearful that it might indeed bleed to death. Even dragons at the peak of their power feared death, and at least in its prime, the Light Green Gemstone Dragon didn’t wish to die.

“I must leave!”

“Leave this place, return to the Eagle Kingdom!”

“I need time to recuperate now, and only the Eagle Kingdom can offer me the best sanctuary!”

The Light Green Gemstone Dragon continued to fly, but its wings grew heavier with each beat, and its eyelids felt as if they weighed a thousand pounds. It wished to fly among the clouds, but its body kept pulling it down, forcing it to fly low above the sea. With every flap of its wings, it felt a tearing pain throughout its body.

Pain, though unbearable, was still not as powerful as the creeping drowsiness.

“I must not fall asleep, plunging into the ocean would mean certain death!”

The Light Green Gemstone Dragon kept reminding itself, trying to shake off the sleepiness and muster its spirit. But the more it struggled, the more powerless it felt to resist, much like in the previous battle of Magic Baptism when Carlo’s frantic struggles led it to be trapped between the combined assault of the Archmage and the Dragon Knight, unable to break free.

It didn’t know how long it had flown.

The Light Green Gemstone Dragon only knew that the sky had grown pitch-black, with stars winking above the clouds. Deprived of nourishment, its body failed to recover, and flying was a considerable drain on its strength. It could feel itself weakening, slowing down.

Sleepiness, like a persistent maggot gnawing on bone, invaded when it was most vulnerable, nearly causing it to fall asleep midflight.

Memories from its youth to adulthood flickered through its mind like a fast-forward scene – its confusion and curiosity about the world when it was newly born, its life in the Wild Forest ducking and hiding during its youth, and the encounter with a knight from the Eagle Kingdom when it was nearing adulthood.

It was not a pleasant encounter.

The knight and his team came to capture it, and ultimately, it fell into the knight’s trap. It held its head high, refusing to submit. But it could not overcome the sweet allure of the gifts offered: countless Magic Potions, delicacies, and Bone Burning Wine, which led it to lose itself and allow the knight upon the Dragon Tooth Platform.

After the Mind Battle, it became the knight’s mount.

Thereafter, they fought together for sixty years until the knight passed away. The dragon then took up residence in the Dragon Nest built by the Eagle Kingdom, becoming the kingdom’s guardian dragon. Whenever there came candidates of superior talent for the role of Dragon Knight, passing the tests it set out, it would easily engage in a Mind Battle with them.

In the following three hundred years, it worked with four Dragon Knights. Carlo was the recently partnered sixth.

“These knights, each generation is lesser than the last; you cannot raise a qualified Dragon Knight in a greenhouse!” The Light Green Gemstone Dragon no longer cared for the bond between dragon and rider.

Perhaps it still yearned for the first Dragon Knight who rode it, the one with whom it had achieved mind melding for the first time, an experience deeply etched in its memory for life. The subsequent Dragon Knights were merely fulfilling a duty, unable to open their hearts and achieve a deep connection.

“Was it Carlo’s panic or my disdain for him that led to the collapse of our mind melding, beginning a cycle of mutual obstruction?” it wondered, somewhat perplexed.

What followed was an even stronger sense of drowsiness.

It shook its head vigorously, not caring if the wound on its neck worsened, just to regain a bit of alertness. At that moment, a distinctive scent drifted into its nostrils, causing its already unfocused eyes to glaze over, and its movements became stiff, gradually deviating from the intended direction.

The moon was directly overhead.

It was now the dead of night.

The Light Green Gemstone Dragon, lost in its confusion, had unconsciously followed the scent and arrived at a small rocky island, surrounded by craggy rock walls, with only a small forest at the top. In the centre of the forest seemed to be a large pit, in the middle of which a small sapling with only two or three leaves stood.

The scent was emanating from the sapling.

At this moment, the Light Green Gemstone Dragon was exhausted. It barely managed to land in the woods on the island and collapsed beside the small sapling.

Warm dragon blood seeped from the wound on its neck, flowing through the crevices in the rock ground towards the little sapling. Under the dim starlight, the sapling seemed to suddenly flicker with iridescent hues.

…

Time rewound to the afternoon sea bathed in sunset.

With Carlo Violet’s demise, the Light Green Gemstone Dragon fled, the battle scene changed in an instant, everything happening unexpectedly.

“Carlo!”

Seeing Carlo plunge into the sea, Alonso Xiankelai was heartbroken. He had come with his head held high, never anticipating that a high and mighty Dragon Knight would perish over these seas.

But now was not the time to question Carlo’s death, but a moment of crisis concerning whether he himself could escape.

He didn’t dare linger in the battlefield marked by the Magic Baptism; the massive spells, unleashed after the Light Green Gemstone Dragon’s escape, now swept towards him. This, together with the restraint from Sapphire Dragon Knight Andrew Sapphire, and the turnabout and charge from Fire Dragon Knight Liszt Tulip, made the scene even more dire.

With such an imposing line-up, one misstep could lead to the same fate as Carlo, falling into the sea.

The Bronze Dragon roared in defiance, quickly turning around with Alonso, braving several heavy blows, relying on its thick scales for protection, and forcibly broke free from the battlefield of Magic Baptism. Without looking back, it fled towards the direction it had come from, not daring to stay a moment longer.

It didn’t even offer a bitter retort.

“Ach, chase!” Liszt called out, riding on Little Fire Dragon Leo, who was panting with fatigue. They pursued for several kilometers, only to see the Bronze Dragon fading into the horizon, beyond reach.

As for Ach.

Being unable to fly, there was no use in catching up.

And so, they had to let Alonso escape. Reluctantly gazing at the clouds in the sky, Liszt quickly grabbed handfuls of Magic Potion from his Space Ring and threw them over. Leo opened its mouth and swallowed all the Magic Potions along with their glass containers, the medicines slowly rejuvenating its exhausted body.

Liszt himself quickly consumed a few Magic Potions to replenish his depleted Dou Qi.

Only then did he call to Ach, “Let’s go back.”