CHAPTER 617: CHAPTER 413: ANCIENT DRAGON SUMMIT

Appearing in front of Selene was a rugged uphill path and an unlit bonfire.

"How did I get here?"

She urgently tried to replay in her mind what had happened just now, but ultimately couldn’t understand.

She was just posing for a commemorative photo with those little dragon people...

Wait, posing!?

Selene suddenly realized; if there was any strange action that could have led her here, it would be striking the same pose as the little dragon people.

"I figured there must be some meaning why so many people are posing."

She immediately ran over to light the bonfire, because only the blazing flames could give her a sense of safety.

As soon as the fire was lit, magical symbols appeared before her eyes.

[Ancient Dragon Peak]

"A place I’ve never heard of before."

Since the transformation of Klan into a dragon happened just two days ago, the situation hadn’t spread to a level she would know about yet, so she had no knowledge about Ancient Dragon Peak.

Even if she did know, it seemed useless anyway.

So, what should she do next?

Looking at the rugged mountain path ahead, Selene instinctively sensed the presence of strong monsters, and more than one, definitely not ones she could handle.

The reason she performed well in the Painting World of Yanor Londo was entirely because she had fully grasped all the adventurer’s information; without it, her hastily learned mediocre skills would only serve as an extra dish for the monster’s dinner.

"Should I wait here for Fingerley and the others to come?"

But then, a question arose:

Can Fingerley and the others... figure out how to get here?

At the same time, on the other side.

"Princess? Princess?"

The members of the Hasavi Team called Selene’s name as if they were summoning a spirit, but it was to no avail.

In the center of the meditating little dragon people, Selene sat there in the same pose, but her head was tilted, breathing evenly and long, as if she had fallen into a long sleep.

Strangely, since there is one Selene here, who is appearing at the Ancient Dragon Peak?

"What’s going on? The Princess now looks like she’s ingested a heap of sleeping potions." Matilda asked, "We can’t just leave her here unattended."

[Try moving her away?] Aleya wrote words using hay.

"No, acting recklessly could lead to unpredictable consequences."

Fingerley stared at Selene’s body with a furrowed brow and said gravely:

"Could this be some kind of strange curse? That makes it even more crucial not to act rashly."

Time ticked by, minute by minute.

At the bonfire on Ancient Dragon Peak, Selene wandered around for a long time, timing by counting her heartbeat, until she couldn’t bear it anymore.

"Why is no one coming yet!"

Since there was no one else around, she had no need to maintain her image. Frustrated, she scratched her head and turned her gaze to the mountain path in front of her.

"Forget it, even if no one’s here to help, I can explore on my own!"

Thinking this, Selene boldly marched onto the mountain road.

For now, the impression Ancient Dragon Peak left on her was grayish stones, the occasional sight of tree branches and weeds, and one of the brightest sunshine seen across all Sain Dungeon areas. The brightness was so overwhelming it made one want to nap.

As she walked forward, her view gradually widened, and her mood opened with the view.

Soon, the bright sunshine and vast sky appeared before her eyes, and she felt the grand wind blowing atop the mountain. Looking up, she suddenly felt the insignificance of human existence and the splendor of the world.

Selene suddenly spotted something, gazing far away to see a familiar city between the clouds and mist.

"Is that Yilushier?"

She covered her mouth in surprise. "Did I come to such a faraway place?"

However, before her surprise could settle, fast footsteps suddenly came from her side, and she saw a large, strange-looking "person" armed with a weapon rushing towards her.

The entire creature was covered in dusty ragged cloth, its body hunched like it was severely deformed, armed with a long spear and a big shield. Notably, unlike the shabby spear, the big shield was remarkably exquisite, with a vivid dragon painted on it, wings spread and roaring to the sky.

A strong wind blew, lifting the enemy’s torn cloth, revealing a non-human face.

"Snake-man!?"

Indeed, the hunched posture was not a presumed back but a neck with snake-men all crowded together!

This wasn’t the "Ancient Dragon" peak; why were there snake-men?

When it was just a few steps away from Selene, the neck hidden under the tattered cape suddenly extended, lunging toward her fiercely!

"Whoa!"

Selene dodged to the side, thinking she had avoided it, but the snake-man’s neck turned in mid-air, its gaping mouth biting onto her arm!

An irresistible force immediately pulled her toward the snake-man, and if pulled closer, she’d probably be pierced by the long spear instantly.

She suppressed her urge to scream, desperately shooting a plain fireball at the snake-man since it had the quickest release speed!

"Boom!"

An unexpected situation occurred; the snake-man suddenly let go and screeched after being hit on the neck by the fireball.

Its weakness is the neck? Or does it fear flames?

Whatever the reason, having finally gained freedom, Selene immediately cast the magic to silence her footsteps, [Secret Agent], and without time to cast another spell, she tore open a magic scroll engraved with the Invisibility Technique!

Quickly regaining composure, even though Selene’s figure was invisible, it swept its long neck widely at the place where the Princess had originally stood, as if it really hit her. But she gritted her teeth to hold back from making any noise, and instead released a [sound emission] in the opposite direction.

The Snake-man instantly attacked the place where the sound emission was, and at that moment, a dagger wreathed in flames suddenly pierced its neck. This dagger was of much higher quality than ordinary ones, enhanced with sharp enchantments. Even for Selene, it allowed her to pierce the Snake-man’s scales, not to mention the weakly defended neck.

"Ow!"

The Snake-man struggled violently, but no matter how it attacked Selene hanging at its back, she refused to let go, fiercely stabbing and slashing at the Snake-man’s neck, causing blood to splatter all around.

Finally, the Monster collapsed to the ground, its weapon and equipment turning to ash along with it.

Selene also lay on the ground looking upwards. Although her armor enveloped her like a tin can, she was still quite hurt inside.

"Feels like half my life is gone..."

Endless fatigue surged in, but what followed was a liberating smile.

"That was awesome!"

Selene laughed out loud because she hadn’t felt such excitement in a long time. The events at the Royal Palace were, at best, oppressive.

The battle made her feel the meaning of life again!

"But it still feels so exhausting. The Monsters here are incredibly strong, this one might have been an elite?"

She closed her eyes for a brief rest, soaking in the warm rays of light, feeling extremely comfortable.

This comfort lasted until she was enveloped by several shadows, even blocking out the sunlight.

"What the...?"

She opened her eyes, only to see the scene she dreaded most.

Several Snake-men were standing in front of her, staring at her.

Selene fell silent for a moment, then forced a smile and said:

"Hello there?"

"..."

"Hold on, don’t bite, alright? Don’t bite!"

Shortly after, Selene appeared back at the bonfire, wearing an expression of lingering fear, her chest heaving with rapid breaths.

Whoever said you become desensitized to death after spending a long time in the Dungeon was clearly lying. It was terrifying, okay?

Merely recalling that feeling made her feel like she was going to drop dead!

The most important thing is...

"Why are there so many of those Snake-men!"

Fingerley and the others were still nowhere to be found. If they were here, these Snake-men wouldn’t be much of a problem.

But for Selene, encountering this group of Snake-men meant she was in trouble!

"I can’t give up just like this."

After a few minutes.

A Snake-man was leisurely strolling, suddenly turning its head to look behind.

A breeze blew by; there was nothing behind.

After watching for a while, it left, and Selene standing still quickly used another Invisibility Technique and applied the Secret Agent ability. Fortunately, she still had some magic power left, though she didn’t know how far she could explore before it ran out.

As she slowly went deeper, she could now confirm that the top of the Ancient Dragon Peak was filled with Snake-men, and even Snake-man Mages!

With the lesson learned from last time, she dared not alert these guys again, carefully moving her steps.

The light points on the road, if possible, she would pick up casually, but sometimes there were mishaps.

What appeared as a small light point suddenly became a big shield once picked up.

[Ancient Dragon Painting Shield]

[A wooden big shield depicting an ancient dragon using unique techniques. When worn, it can slightly and slowly restore life force. The dragon design on the shield is exquisitely detailed, a piece born from considerable time invested.]

[The Snake-men, though pitiful descendants of a small scale, can glimpse the appearance of the Immortal Ancient Dragon from this.]

She barely had time to ponder the information contained within the big shield before her weak strength made her unable to lift it, causing the shield to crash to the ground and immediately draw the attention of a bunch of Snake-men.

At this point, even though her Invisibility Technique was still effective, she was inevitably locked on, with four or five Snake-men running over in unison.

No choice, Selene could only run, heading to where there were the fewest Snake-men.

In her line of sight, the place with the fewest Snake-men was an ancient building resembling a large gate. Originally, it should have been blocked by an iron gate mechanism, but someone had activated it, and now the gate was open.

Behind the gate was an extremely spacious area with no Snake-men.

A Summoning Rune appeared near the gate.

[Do you want to summon Assistant "Hawk...]

Being chased by Snake-men, Selene didn’t have time to inspect the summoning rune and dashed straight into the open area.

"Huff, huff...."

With heavy breathing, she glanced back and saw the Snake-men were clustered outside the gate, refusing to enter.

Seeing this, she wasn’t happy but instead was enveloped by a sense of fear.

It wasn’t that the Snake-men didn’t want to come in but that the rising white fog formed a Fog Gate blocking their steps.

"This is bad!"

A resounding dragon roar echoed. She looked up at the sky, seeing a shadow growing larger, heavily crashing in front of her.

[Ancient Flying Dragon]!