Chương 126: Reborn as the Dragon — Chapter 126 - The Fall of the Black Beast Mercenary Group

Su Nian couldn't be bothered with Gus, the mercenary leader who'd thrown that spear. The fourth-tier warrior showed no signs of running yet. If Su Nian went after him now, the rest of the mercenaries would scatter. That would be a total waste. Sometimes people just shouldn't be too confident in themselves. Take these flying spears, for instance. Su Nian swept one dragon wing and batted them aside. What a joke. Deathwing-grade armor. Sure, just the basic version.

But if it couldn't stop a few toothpicks, Deathwing himself wouldn't be able to live with the embarrassment. He'd probably claw his way out of a spacetime rift just to blast Su Nian and the System both to ash with one breath. Because that would be absolutely pathetic. Seeing his attack fail again, achieving nothing, Gus's expression darkened by the second. The humanoid mercenaries around him looked just as bleak, despair rising quietly in their chests.

"Must I use that move?" Gus closed his eyes. A bitter smile crossed his dark face. If they weren't on the absolute brink of annihilation. That move, he really didn't want to use it.

"Leader, could it be...?" Hope flickered back to life in the hearts of the surrounding mercenaries. At that moment, the robes behind Gus billowed without wind, and his silhouette seemed to grow larger, more imposing.

"Is it that move?"

"You know which move?"

"I don't know — I thought you knew!" The mercenaries buzzed with excitement, faces flushed red.

"Everyone," Gus said, opening his eyes. His gaze was full of resolve.

"We've known each other for years, fought side by side for years. Now let me teach you one final move."

"Leader, you..."

"Leader, don't! The Black Beast Mercenary Group can't lose you!"

"Wah wah wah, I still remember when the Leader caught me all alone, quietly taking care of myself, and he went and rewarded me with a female slave anyway — wah wah wah..." Gus ignored all of them. He reached into the leather pouch at his waist and fished out a small spherical object.

"Watch closely! The strongest move!"

"Watch well. Learn well." He roared and slammed the sphere down onto the ground. BOOM! A muffled blast. A ten-meter radius vanished instantly under a rolling cloud of thick black smoke. The surrounding mercenaries choked on it, tears streaming down their faces. When the smoke finally cleared, Gus was gone. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Gus had run.

If even his secret technique Remote Chain Spear Strike couldn't scratch that dragon's defenses, what was the point of sticking around? Only someone whose brain had been caught in a door would stay. So Gus made a strategic retreat.

"Damn dragon. Damn Saint Augustus Duchy. Just you wait," he muttered, eyes cold with fury, legs pumping so fast they blurred.

"Wait till I make a comeback, and then..."

"And then what?" A clear, bright female voice cut through the air. Gus's head snapped up. He skidded to a halt. Before him stood a wall of armored soldiers, weapons drawn. At their head was a female knight with golden hair and violet eyes, a longsword in her hand and ice in her gaze. The Knight Princess, who had ridden hard from the first fortress to relieve the capital. Alicia Arcturus.

"You, how did you —?" Gus stared at her like he was seeing a ghost. How had they bypassed the Firinell Holy Wall? He'd left a whole battalion of cannon fodder there. Cannon fodder, sure, but with those siege fortifications, even a pig could have held back a princess's army.

"Because the Firinell Holy Wall has already been destroyed."

"By me." The low, rasping words rolled across the sky like thunder. Shadow swallowed the light. Gus looked up. Filling his vision was the black dragon's massive, ferocious body, pale golden eyes gleaming from within the dark like embers.

Saint Augustus Capital.

"Thank you. Truly. Dragon Lord, your help saved us." Knight Princess Alicia Arcturus knelt on one knee before the black dragon, head bowed, eyes full of sincerity and reverence. The creature before her was a dragon. That didn't matter. It had saved Saint Augustus. Even a slime would have earned her respect for that. When word reached her that the Firinell Holy Wall had fallen and the capital was under siege by the Black Beast Mercenary Group, she'd already given up hope.

She'd ridden through the night expecting to die at that wall. What she found instead was nothing. No defenders. No banner of the Black Beast Mercenary Group. Only char. Scorched stone, the ashes of enemies, the blackened remains of siege engines, all of it already dissolving into the wind. Then a bluebird arrived, carrying a letter from the Saintess, and her confusion was answered. A dragon was helping Saint Augustus. This dragon. The ferocious, immense black dragon sitting before her now.

"No need for gratitude," Su Nian said. He was cradling Anna in one arm, sprawled across the already-crushed throne with complete indifference.

"Mutual benefit. An even exchange. That's all." Saintess Serestina stood quietly at his side, eyes downcast, hands folded over her abdomen. She looked less like a ruler and more like a handmaid waiting for her master's next word.

[Host has fulfilled the request of special S-rank female NPC Serestina. Under the effect of the sacrificial ritual, Serestina's favorability toward you has reached 100.] [A summoning channel has been established. You may now spend 5, 000 System Points to perform a round-trip teleport between the dragon's lair and the Saint Augustus capital, or summon Serestina directly to your location.] [Current favorability status: Fanatic Believer.] [Congratulations, Host. You have earned 3, 000 System Points.] [Congratulations, Host. You have earned a special enhancement: Fierce Dragon Might.] [Fierce Dragon Might] Your dragon might has grown wilder and more intense, now reaching a level visible to the naked eye. It can intimidate enemies and can also be channeled directly into your attacks to amplify their force. ["Fierce Dragon Might" is a special enhancement provided by S-rank female NPC Serestina. It can be loaded directly, no modification required, no pain. Load now?] The gap really is something.

Su Nian shook his head slowly, turning it over. One S-rank female NPC, and the payout was only three thousand System Points, less than half of what Anna had given him. And Anna's special ability was growth-type, something that would keep scaling. Fierce Dragon Might wasn't bad, exactly. But stack it against Devour and it looked modest. And that wasn't even counting the special bond ability he shared with Anna alone. Purple card versus gold card. That about summed it up.

Still, Serestina's real value was map access. And he hadn't even visited the Saint Augustus royal treasury yet. At this point, calling himself the de facto ruler of all of Saint Augustus wouldn't be much of a stretch. He'd come out here, picked up an entire human kingdom on the side, and found a way to treat Anna's condition. This trip was an absolute windfall. The thought settled warm in his chest.

"Load it. Let's see what Fierce Dragon Might can actually do." [Fierce Dragon Might has been loaded.] A low rumble moved through him, a resonant sound threaded through with something that felt like a dragon's roar, deep inside his body. Su Nian himself didn't feel much different. Everyone else did. The loose debris scattered around the hall was shoved outward in an instant, swept back by an invisible pressure. And in the eyes of every person watching, the black dragon before them became something more.

Something harder to look at directly. Dark golden fire coiled around his scales. And those pale golden eyes had changed, blazing now, bright and ferocious, the deep crimson-gold of a sun hanging low on the horizon. ➤ Next: Harvesting Leeks