CHAPTER 102: BREAKING THE CUP AS A SIGNAL, FIVE HUNDRED GATLING GUNNERS IN AMBUSH

Olga reverted to her original appearance, 1.6 meters tall and utterly unremarkable. Her maid's outfit had been shredded during the evil god’s transformation. Without scales to cover her private areas... well, there was not much to see. Wayne almost pitied her.

Damn capitalists, starving this child and not even giving her some milk. As if starving one generation wasn’t enough, they tried to starve the next generation, too.

He peeled the coat of a random passerby and draped it over the maid. The people slumbering like babies all around him filled him with envy.

The knight’s armor dissolved into light particles and reassembled while maintaining the kneeling posture. The knight’s consciousness remained imprisoned within the armor. She’d thought that she would find release, but it didn’t happen. Even with the dragon blood eliminated, she couldn’t rest in peace.

How vexing!

Looking on the bright side, she’d found a suitable successor. If she could guide him to become the new Sun Knight, she would have honored her goddess’s grace.

Clang!

She picked up the longsword and followed closely behind Wayne.

He had even less fabric on than the maid. In broad daylight, especially when an elegant woman was following behind him, he felt incredibly embarrassed in this state. He selected a pair of pants and quickly stripped them off a poor soul before putting them on. The knight paused. It wasn’t chivalry to bully a defenseless innocent.

“Child, what is your name?”

Oh, so you can speak!

Wayne looked at the ghost-like knight, curious about what she was now. Was she a wraith, a spirit haunting the site, or a weapon spirit?

“I’m Wayne. And you?”

The knight considered seriously for a long moment before shaking her head. With so few of her thoughts remaining, she could no longer remember her name.

“Then let’s call you Valkyrie. You can tell me your name once you remember it.”

He shrugged, giving the knight a temporary designation. Valkyrie was a female divine warrior clad in gleaming armor, perfectly matching the impression the knight gave him. The knight nodded, accepting the name while trying hard to recall her past and her real name.

“Wake up. The sun’s shining.”

Wayne knelt beside Veronica and patted her face. Seeing her frown of displeasure, he pinched her face.

“Heh heh...”

Bouncy.

The knight held her sword forward to remind him to watch his behavior. As knights, they had to uphold a knight’s code of honor.

“You’re being too judgmental,” he muttered. “Veronica loves having her face pinched by me. If I don’t pinch it a few times a day, she’ll feel off kilter.”

***

August twenty-second.

It had been two days since the evil god’s descent. That afternoon, the islanders awoke groggily. They hadn’t caught the ancient god’s treats, and no lucky souls came to understand everything. They conveniently forgot about the incident and continued to play music and dance. Then they went home and returned to work the next day.

Things that couldn’t be explained by common sense, such as the devastation in front of Bart Estate or the collective disappearance of the Bart family, were all attributed to an earthquake.

With the Bart family’s dealings with the demon, all of their descendants on Dragon Heart Island became sacrifices. Without anyone to take over the leadership role, the family was on the verge of collapse.

Kael, a detective, took charge and helped the workers keep their jobs, but he couldn’t do anything about what would become of the family and whether they would lose their family name. It was already a display of great character that he didn’t take advantage of the chaos to steal from them.

Kael was looking for the maid, but didn’t find her. He then looked for Wayne. Same result.

He guessed that Wayne had taken the maid away and didn’t want to meet with him. Even when he knew that Wayne could be hiding in the underground waterways, he chose to leave Dragon Heart Island.

There was no rush. They were both Londaners and both registered members of the White Glove Society. There would be plenty of opportunities for them to meet.

***

Underground waterways.

The elemental dragon had destroyed everything, turning the network of underground waterways upside down. Whether intentionally or not, it had somehow left the magic circles that were extracting the dragon blood intact. The process was still ongoing, squeezing out the last of the island’s essence. There were three to five drops available, about as much as a mouthful of saliva.

Wayne would like to take it, but gave up under Valkyrie’s watchful gaze. The knight’s scrutiny wasn’t the most important factor, though. He wouldn’t care much about her if he could transform into a dragon boy. He deserved a reward after working so hard to defeat a monster.

He gave up because of his constitution. His potential was higher than the dragon blood constitution, so fusing with it would lead to failure.

It wasn’t easy for ordinary people to fuse with dragon blood. If they got even a little careless, they’d be burned to ashes by the scorching blood. The churches had rituals for inheritance, and the evil god had blood magic, while Wayne had the Book of Greed to rely on.

Unfortunately, the book disagreed with the fusion and told him not to be greedy.

He sighed. There was nothing he could do to the golden saliva, so he called Veronica over and offered her the benefit voluntarily. As they said, even tissue or a pair of underwear had their uses[1]. Something as precious as dragon blood had to be better than tissue.

He refused to waste it, so he decided to use it to win some affection points from Veronica.

“You’ve got dragon blood, and this is dragon blood. Perhaps it’ll be useful to you. I’m happy that you came to Dragon Heart Island, Veronica, and I hope I can help you.”

His serious and earnest gaze made it seem like he wasn’t offering dragon blood but a wedding band for a proposal, causing Veronica to squirm and fidget for a good while without giving a response. She was polite but distant with outsiders like the typical young lady; only when she was among friends would she show her true self.

Her way of expressing affection was simple: physical interaction.

She wasn’t so much someone who either loved or hated a person, but someone with a strong possessive tendency. What wasn’t hers, she wouldn’t even spare a glance, while what was hers had to be a hundred percent hers.

Her belief in romance was even simpler. Dating? Just get married!

She found Wayne too unreliable and a scum through and through. If they got married, he would definitely cheat on her with Vera or even Senior Kristen.

She would rather not have the dragon blood!

In the end, she accepted the offer after much hesitation. To prevent Wayne from taking it the wrong way, she said, “This is a treasure you found. I’m just keeping it safe for you. When we return to Londan, Mother may have another way to use it.”

Her thinking was simple: give it to Silvia, and perhaps she could help infuse the dragon blood into Wayne. That would be good. If he got stronger, he would be more fun to beat up. Not like Mr. Lando, who, when Mother hit him...

Wait, what am I thinking?

Shaking away her complicated thoughts, she collected the dragon blood, and a change suddenly occurred. Her heart raced wildly as soon as she got close.

The bloodline in her body remotely triggered the dragon blood and made it spontaneously combust. The flames morphed into a dragon claw and seized her, using the external blood’s heat to purify her internal bloodline.

The process differed from the evil god’s manipulation of dragon blood to transform the maid’s body. Most mages would call it evolution.

Bathed in flames, Veronica found it impossible to move. Her clothes were all burned away while she could neither talk nor move a finger. She could only watch helplessly as Wayne gaped at her helplessly.

“Veronica, you alright?”

He halted. The change happened so suddenly that he had no time to react. At first, he had been worried. But then...

He kept his eyes on her shamelessly innocently. It was an accident. He didn’t want it to happen.

He had just earned affection points from the college girl, and now she farmed even more points from him. Theirs was a perfect teamwork and a perfectly reciprocal relationship.

Pervert, why are you staring with such wide eyes?!

Veronica glared at him furiously, wishing she could punch the pervert to death. Seeing her bashful reaction, he considerately narrowed his eyes. A moment later, he came to an eureka moment, staring at his palm with realization.

Referencing the real thing, he’d figured it out!

The smooth and bouncy things he felt after getting out of the Gate of Truth belonged to Kristen, not Veronica or Vera. It made sense when he thought about it. Senior Kristen was the only one magnanimous enough to give such a substantial feel. Vera was a little lacking, and Veronica even more so. They had the potential, but they needed more time to grow.

“How do you feel? Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“If it hurts, blink.”

He tried to approach the fire. The heat was so overwhelming that normal humans couldn’t endure it at all. He asked after her with a frown, telling her to blink if she couldn’t take it.

Veronica blinked frantically, telling him to get the hell out.

“No rush. Your situation is complicated. Let me ask a few more questions, or I’ll worry.”

They conversed through blinking. Wayne repeatedly confirmed that she was physically fine and even quite comfortable before reluctantly turning to leave, looking back every few steps.

Here was his reward. Before leaving, he planted a few plants around the area to cover the shy girl. It was what a gentleman should do. He didn’t want her to feel embarrassed. If some pervert saw everything, where would she find justice?

“Don’t worry, my vision is connected to the plants. I’ll keep watch so that no one can break in.” He pointed at his own eyes and then at Veronica, indicating that she could trust him as always.

Die!

Die!!

Die!!!

Veronica’s eyes blazed with fury, swearing to beat the scum to death once she could move. And damn plants, look away!

Twenty meters away, on the other side of the waterway, the knight armor was teaching Vera dragonslaying swordsmanship with a wooden stick. It was by Vera’s request. She wasn’t joking when she said that she wanted to be a dragonslayer.

Valkyrie had taken an instant liking to Vera. If the goddess hadn’t chosen Wayne, she would’ve passed on everything to Vera.

She still could now.

Her successor was somewhat lacking in a knight’s honor. His righteousness was hard to observe, and just in case, Valkyrie chose not to put all her eggs in one basket. She entrusted some to Vera, too.

One was willing to teach, and the other was willing to learn. The dragonslaying swordsmanship found its successor.

“So you actually try hard sometimes. I thought you were always a slacker...”

Wayne didn’t understand it. A slayer needed a target to slay, and with no dragon on the Chosen Land, why was Vera so obsessed with the dragonslaying techniques? Had she been bullied by Veronica so badly that she wanted to learn swordsmanship for revenge?

That didn’t make sense, either. It was Vera who stirred up trouble every time. If she didn’t want to get beaten, she just had to keep her mouth shut.

Even so, he was quite fascinated by the dragonslaying swordsmanship, too. He had learned superior riding skills from Julia and could show off the hundred and eight different riding styles on an undead warhorse, but his swordsmanship never improved. He only knew simple thrusting and slashing. That would be enough for small fries, but against powerful opponents...

For example, the Darkness Knight!

His mind conjured the image of the Darkness Knight, the mortal enemy of the Life Alliance in Londan and the Church of Nature’s most terrifying foe. His master, the District High Reverend, had always been particularly wary of the Darkness Knight.

The Church of Nature was destined to clash with the Darkness Knight, and his master treated him too well for him to betray her, turning to the dark side and helping the Darkness Knight as if he were his father. The dragonslaying swordsmanship might just come in handy. With his master’s support, he would take down the Darkness Knight with a slash—a happy ending for everyone.

Wayne loved happy endings and hated tragic conclusions. For that, he was willing to work as hard as he had to.

Red light flashed through his eyes as he conjured a staff of crimson crystals. He bumped Vera aside and charged straight at Valkyrie.

The knight swung her sword slowly, focusing on teaching him the techniques. After a couple of exchanges, she pressed down his crystal staff and asked why he always held his weapon with one hand.

“To keep one hand free for my gun,” he said seriously.

Vera nodded with realization. She learned something new.

Valkyrie had slept too long. As a relic of the previous era, she had no concept of firearms. To demonstrate its use, Wayne retrieved a handgun from a suitcase. After swinging his staff around while huffing, he suddenly fired a shot at Valkyrie from within seven steps.

The bullet phased through her translucent head and hit the rock wall behind, leaving her visibly shocked.

“How was that, Master Knight? Pretty impressive, right?”

“You’re awesome, Wayne!”

“Nah, I can be even more awesome.”

(ꐦ￣皿￣)ง(Ծ‸↼(⇀‸↼;)

The knight got angry, scolding her two students for not applying themselves to the right thing. How could they learn swordsmanship if they got distracted by guns? Firearms were the weapons of heretics. Real mages used swords.

Knight, times have changed!

Wayne grumbled silently. The knight’s methods were outdated. He would boldly predict that in the future, mages would be applying magic to cannons and fighter jets, embracing anti-materiel sniper rifles for direct confrontations. The destructive power of firearms had already surpassed the damage output of a Silver-rank mage. Even Gold-rank mages couldn’t take many shots head-on. Clinging to the old-fashioned ways would only get them crushed by the tide of time.

He thought of the Darkness Knight again. If he organized a banquet and broke a cup as a signal, having the five hundred Gatling gunners in ambush open fire, how would the Darkness Knight respond?

It could work!

***

At the Dragon Heart Island’s harbor, the Lando family’s private yacht docked. Three people disembarked. Auston stepped onto the island with a dark expression, accompanied by two beauties. Both had short, blonde hair.

A few days ago, Veronica went missing—well, he knew where she had gone, and it pained him to his core.

How could you throw yourself at him like that? Not even your mother was as eager back then!

Auston could tolerate Veronica chasing Wayne to Dragon Heart Island, but when Kael returned to Londan and detailed everything that had happened in his report for the White Glove Society, he could no longer sit still.

Wayne had disappeared, too!

What good could Wayne’s missing possibly lead to? Auston could guess what was happening even with his toes. He hurriedly contacted Silvia and rushed to Dragon Heart Island by boat as fast as possible.

At this moment, he only hoped that he would arrive in time, that the pretty boy had gotten punched out of the house mid-pounce like him.

When disembarking, he glanced at the northern part of the island. According to the schedule, the King Kong crew should be shooting in the jungle. Given the celebrity’s charm, she had to have accomplished her mission on the cruise ship. Perfect. Both his wife and daughter were present. This was the ideal time to expose the pretty boy’s true nature.

Bet you didn’t see this coming. She’s my pawn!

1. A quote from the Stephen Chow movie, From Beijing with Love. ☜