CHAPTER 658

【 RETURN 】

—

The black dragon was of course none other than Meryer, who had long possessed the ability to take on a human form and had been secretly waiting outside Morningstar City, biding his time for the signal to act.

The players summoned by the statue of the Goddess were all high-level veterans who had accepted the same quest, each standing at the peak of low Silver-rank.

As for Meryer, being one of the most gullible and easy-to-persuade NPCs, he was naturally regarded by the players as their ultimate trump card for this mission.

His price for joining was, of course, ten whole honey-glazed roasted barbecue meats specially prepared by the northeastern brothers.

Having consumed the golden divine blood provided by Evé and absorbed a portion of its power, the once little black dragon had now completely transcended the Gold-rank and ascended to Legendary-rank status.

No, perhaps still calling him a “little” black dragon at this point was no longer appropriate.

At this moment, even among the ranks of legendary-rank black dragons, Meryer’s massive body was imposing and majestic.

The pressure that emanated from him was immense.

Screams echoed throughout Morningstar City as panic spread among its citizens. Even the soldiers and mercenaries stationed outside the city walls were thrown into chaos.

For the soldiers, it was out of vigilance but for the latter, it was excitement.

After all, slaying a dragon was something every major mercenary group dreamed of accomplishing.

However, when the dragon’s terrifying aura spread across the city and its deep, suffocating pressure washed over everyone, immediately every eager mercenary fell silent.

“L-Legendary… rank.”

Many high-ranking mercenaries stared up at the enormous black dragon in the sky, faces pale as they struggled to speak.

The proud dragon lowered its head, its gaze falling upon the terrified nobles and guards below. Just the sheer force of its presence alone made every onlooker tremble uncontrollably.

Under Meryer’s overwhelming aura, all extraordinary beings below the Legendary-rank completely lost their will to resist.

Some nobles even collapsed to the ground in terror, their dignity forgotten in their panic.

Of course, the black dragon hovering above the city lord’s mansion had no interest in such insignificant insects.

In Meryer’s massive, cauldron-sized pupils, there was only the reflection of one man: the legendary archmage, Conrad von Lawson.

This was Meryer’s first battle since ascending to the Legendary-rank.

Accepting the players’ request was not only about the roasted meats, but also about the thrill of combat.

A glimmer of excitement flashed in the black dragon’s eyes.

Meryer puffed out his chest, gathered his strength, and unleashed a torrent of corrosive dragon breath toward the elderly archmage.

As the acidic breath surged forth, a grave expression crossed Conrad’s face.

He chanted swiftly, his thick beard fluttering as an intense magical power gathered before him. The air twisted as countless blades of wind merged to form a massive shield of wind element over ten meters high.

The dragon’s breath struck in an instant. The corrosive acid splashed against the barrier, torn apart by wind blades into droplets that rained down, sizzling as they carved smoking craters into the ground below.

Seeing the old mage withstand his dragon breath, Meryer’s fighting spirit only grew stronger.

The black dragon roared, then began to shrink its massive body until it was about ten meters long, before diving straight toward the old mage.

Changing size at will was one of the new abilities Meryer had gained after advancing to Legendary-rank.

For dragons, having bigger bodies did not always mean being better in combat. Against smaller opponents, reducing one’s size offered greater speed and maneuverability.

As the black dragon dove, Conrad’s expression grew even more serious.

Dragons were renowned for their ability to battle opponents of even higher ranks, and among all the various breeds of dragons, the black dragons in particular were especially feared for their exceptional resistance to magic. Thus, to any mage, facing such a creature was nothing short of a nightmare.

Even as a Legendary-rank archmage standing just one step away from becoming a demigod, Conrad felt an overwhelming sense of pressure.

With a thunderous shout, he raised his staff high as magical energy surged violently around him. In an instant, three enormous magic arrays materialized in the air, and moments later, three colossal earth elementals, each towering like a mountain, emerged within the city lord’s mansion.

Armed with swords and shields forged from solid earth, they charged toward the oncoming dragon.

The two Legendary beings clashed.

The devastation was immediate and catastrophic.

In the blink of an eye, the once-grand city lord’s mansion had been reduced to a rubble.

By now, the nobles had already fled in all directions. Duke Lawson and his foolish son were escorted far away by their guards.

Even then, the Duke did not feel safe until he reached the military camp outside the city, surrounded by soldiers, where he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, the players took advantage of the fierce battle between Meryer and the archmage to evacuate Sophia to a nearby manor, recently abandoned by its owner.

Two players began setting up a one-time-use teleportation array using materials they had prepared in advance, while Moon Jasmine stood guard over the rescued half-elven girl.

The remaining players, brimming with excitement, rushed back into the city.

Watching them vanish from sight almost instantly, Sophia could not help but ask softly, “Where are they going?”

“To search the noble district,” Moon Jasmine replied.

“They’re looking for other enslaved elves.”

After answering, she glanced at the two mage players busy constructing the teleportation array and then gently reassured Sophia,

“Don’t worry. Once the array is ready, we’ll leave here immediately.”

Hearing her words, Sophia nodded quietly.

Her expression dimmed slightly—not from fear, but from a faint sense of emptiness.

Disappointment?

Perhaps.

Seeing the nobles’ disgraceful behavior, and recalling how she had been treated by Duke Lawson and Bishop Santis, Sophia’s disappointment toward the Empire’s nobility and the Eternal Church had reached its limit.

Yet at the same time, the young noble girl felt lost about her future.

She no longer knew what she should do, nor what awaited her ahead in the future.

Reality was cruel.

She was so weak, and so naïve….

In the face of adversity and hardship, she was powerless to do anything but seek help from others.

She could do nothing at all!

All she could do was stare blankly out the window at the black dragon fighting in the distance.

In that moment, Sophia was utterly lost.

Seeing the girl’s vacant expression, Jasmine hesitated for a moment but chose not to speak further.

She could tell that Sophia needed a little silence more than anything else.

Meanwhile, the battle within the city lord’s mansion still raged on.

However, it had long since turned into a one-sided fight.

Having ascended to Legendary-rank, Meryer was no longer the same dragon as before. Against the three elemental giants summoned by the old archmage, he held an overwhelming advantage.

The three elementals, each nearly as strong as a lesser Legendary-rank, were nothing more than oversized toys in the black dragon’s eyes. Meryer toyed with them effortlessly, refusing to finish them off too quickly.

As for Conrad, no matter how many spells he cast, he could not inflict any serious harm on the black dragon soaring through the sky.

There was no helping it.

Black dragons possessed extraordinarily high resistance to magic.

Among all dragon species, they were the least skilled in spellcraft, yet paradoxically the most resistant to it. After reaching the Legendary rank, they became almost completely immune to any magic below the Ninth Circle.

Therefore, to an archmage like Conrad, a legendary black dragon was its ultimate natural counter.

The sky trembled with thunderous roars and resounding dragon cries. Throughout Morningstar City, people could feel the surge and clash of magical energy shaking the very air.

The once-grand city lord’s mansion had long been reduced to ashes. Although Conrad had not yet fallen, currently his mana was rapidly depleting, and his expression grew increasingly grim with each passing second.

Even so, he did not retreat. Instead, he continued to engage the black dragon, as though stalling for time.

Watching the ongoing battle, Jasmine suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

…Is the old mage stalling for time?

Her instincts flared, and she quickly examined the streets outside.

There!

Near the noble district, she saw several guards stationed around the church. The more concerning sight, however, was the soft, glowing light radiating from within the building.

Her brows furrowed slightly.

That light was somehow familiar.

She had seen it before in several of the player-owned cities.Unfortunately, Jasmine was not a priest, nor had she spent much time in those cities. Although she recognized the glow, she could not immediately recall what it signified.

“What is that?” she muttered with a frown.

Hearing the tension and confusion in her tone, the despondent Sophia slowly lifted her head. Her expression was weary, yet when her gaze fell upon the radiant light shining from the direction of the church, the faint color remaining in her cheeks drained away.

“It’s the light from activating the city’s divine defensive barrier…” she said quietly, almost trembling.

The city’s defensive barrier…

Jasmine’s expression hardened, her pupils narrowing as realization struck.

In a vast and well-developed human city like Morningstar, once its barrier was fully activated, even Meryer would not be able to escape its confines and neither would any of them.

Realizing this, Jasmine rushed to the window and shouted up at the sky with urgency,

“Meryer! End the battle quickly! That old mage’s only stalling to buy time for the city’s defensive barrier to activate!”

Her voice carried through the chaos, echoing across the burning rooftops as the golden light above the church grew ever brighter, signaling that the barrier’s completion was only moments away.

Then, she opened the team’s group chat and quickly typed,

“@everyone Stop looting! Get back here now! The Eternal Church is about to activate the city’s defense barrier!”

Hearing her shout, the black dragon’s eyes flickered.

Meryer turned his gaze toward the shimmering church in the distance, let out a powerful roar, and stopped toying with his foe as his attacks grew sharper and more focused.

Currently, the Church of Life and the Eternal Church were still not officially at war, so even knowing what was happening, Meryer could not directly interfere with the barrier’s activation.

Hence, his only option now was to do exactly as Jasmine had said: end the fight as quickly as possible and retreat with the players.

The old archmage was no match for a legendary black dragon, after all.

Once Meryer fought in earnest, Conrad came under immense pressure, and the three earth elementals he had summoned began to crumble under the dragon’s relentless assault.

But just as the tide turned completely, a wave of holy power suddenly surged from the direction of the Eternal Church.

Jasmine instinctively looked up and saw a brilliant pillar of light rising into the sky above the church.

“Looks like they’ve already activated the city’s barrier…” she whispered gravely.

Her expression grew increasingly tense as she turned to look at the two mage players.

“Is the teleportation array ready yet?”

“Yeah! It’s almost done! We’re just making the final adjustments!”

The two mages, drenched in sweat, shouted as they swiftly worked.

After a few more moments, the players who had gone out began to return one after another.

Their faces were glowing with excitement, brimming with satisfaction as if they had just experienced something truly thrilling.

Moreover, each of them seemed noticeably bulkier than before, their armor bulging with the spoils hidden beneath.

However, as for the elven slaves that Jasmine had mentioned, there were none.

That was to be expected. Finding any elves in the noble district within such a short time was nearly impossible.

Of course, the supposed “search” was only an excuse. This was the wealthiest area in the entire city, and what the players truly desired was not to rescue anyone, but to loot as much as they could.

Still, at that moment, Jasmine had no time or patience to question what they had plundered.

Because in the skies above Morningstar City, a faint halo had begun to spread outward, forming what looked like a descending veil of light.

It was the city’s defensive holy barrier, rapidly sealing itself shut.

“Is the teleportation array ready?!”

Jasmine looked back toward the formation and shouted urgently.

“It’s ready! It’s starting up now!”

The two mages responded loudly as they poured their magic power into the array.

A gentle radiance spread across the formation, and faint spatial ripples began to fill the room.

Seeing that familiar glow, Jasmine finally exhaled in relief.

The array was now fully functional, so they could now teleport away from this location.

But at the same time, the barrier in the sky was about to enclose the city completely.

Jasmine leaned out the window and shouted at the dragon above,

“Meryer! It’s time to go!”

Hearing her voice, the black dragon gave a distinctly humanlike nod. Then, diving downward, he tore apart the last of the earth elementals with a single strike.

After dispatching them, he puffed up his chest once more, unleashing a torrent of dragon breath toward the ground.

Without pausing to check the results, Meryer let out a triumphant roar and shot through the final gap in the barrier before it could close.

Meanwhile, the players, carrying the half-elven girl and their bulging storage gear, stepped onto the teleportation array in high spirits.

In a burst of light, they vanished in that instant.

By the time archmage Conrad arrived with the Lawson family’s golden knights, the room was empty except for the dim remnants of the teleportation array.

With a soft cracking sound, the formation shattered into countless fragments.

It had been a one-time-use construct, and its purpose had now been fulfilled.

Only Archmage Conrad and Duke Lawson remained, the latter having arrived under the protection of his guards. Their expressions were grim as they surveyed the devastated chamber and the shattered remnants scattered across the floor where the teleportation array had once stood.

----------------------------------------

〘 PREVIOUS 〙

〘 NEXT 〙

— —

----------------------------------------