CHAPTER 618: CHAPTER 414: ANCIENT FLYING DRAGON AND DISCOURAGEMENT BROTHER

"Mom, what are dragons?"

"Dragons are the most powerful creatures in this world, strong, wise, long-lived. Their beginning is the end for many beings."

"Wow, then the Warrior Country with Dragon Knights must be the strongest nation, right?"

"No, those people have only tamed the impure-blood Flying Dragons, which are small and irritable, even lacking intelligence, incomparable to dragons."

Mom, you’re lying to me.

Looking at the Ancient Flying Dragon appearing before her, Selene couldn’t help but recall the stories her mom told her as a child.

Back then, the little her innocently thought that the so-called Flying Dragon was just as her mom described, merely a big flying lizard.

Yet now she saw something that completely overturned her prior impression of Flying Dragons.

[Ancient Flying Dragon]

This dragon’s grey scales layered like rock strata, its surface covered in volcanic ash-like scorch marks, and erected spikes making it menacing and dangerous.

Its skull rugged like it’s been cut and carved, tusks crossed like sharp blades, each part of its body embodying horror.

Of course, the most unforgettable aspect is its size.

The overwhelming size, like a giant mountain blocking out the sky, amplifies all these features multi-fold!

Standing before the Ancient Flying Dragon, Selene felt herself only as tall as one of its sharp teeth, a single breath from it could blow her away.

Mom, is this the small Flying Dragon you mentioned?

"Roar!"

The Ancient Flying Dragon opened its menacing maw and roared, stepping forward like a moving mountain towards Selene.

Well, mom did say something correct, at least the Flying Dragon really is irritable!

When dangerous things rush towards you, the human brain instinctively urges the body to run backwards, even though running sideways offers a better chance of survival, yet under crisis, many people disregard this.

Selene was completely driven by survival instinct, running straight backwards, her legs obviously couldn’t match the Ancient Flying Dragon’s pace, and she was caught up in the blink of an eye!

"Ah!"

Her footing slipped, falling to the ground just as she was about to be bitten!

Facing the Snake-men earlier, she could brace herself, but facing this Ancient Flying Dragon, it’s fair to admit she was terrified!

This fall surprisingly saved her, allowing her to narrowly escape the Ancient Flying Dragon’s first attack, its massive size preventing free movement, despite missing Selene, it stumbled forward a distance before barely stopping.

When it turned around, the Princess had already risen from the ground and was running away.

"How did you turn around so quickly!"

Selene was running with all her speed when she realized the battlefield was enormous, having reached the edge yet not encountering any fog barriers, not even a Fog Gate in the nearby building, guarded only by a giant Snake-man wielding a Big Axe.

Her eyes focused, she gritted her teeth and charged towards the Big Axe threatening to cleave her in two, narrowly dodging the Snake-man’s attack, successfully entering the building.

The building wasn’t large and couldn’t fend off the Ancient Flying Dragon’s assault, she hadn’t even caught her breath when she felt the earth shaking, the Ancient Flying Dragon crashing into the building, making the entire field tremble.

Selene didn’t plan to hide inside; if she were an adventurer, even knowing she couldn’t defeat the Ancient Flying Dragon, she would explore every possible method, searching for even a sliver of hope for victory.

Another tremor occurred, the Ancient Flying Dragon’s claws tore open the building’s top, its head thrust inside to spew flames, turning the building into a Purgatory Furnace!

Through another path connected to the building came sounds of commotion, as Selene fought off several blocking Snake-men, already escaping the building.

This was in her plan; using the building to attract the Ancient Flying Dragon’s attention, giving herself as much time as possible to explore the field.

This field was the largest she had ever seen in Sain Dungeon, according to her intuition honed by reading countless reports, such a large field surely hid some mystery, it couldn’t be merely vast.

Yet she hadn’t anticipated encountering so many Snake-men here.

Four Snake-men blocked the narrow path, a Snake-man Magician releasing Fireball Magic from afar, while behind her, the Ancient Flying Dragon flailed, ready to break free at any moment.

This scene really seemed like a hellish illustration; without fighting, survival was impossible, unable to pass the path crowded by Snake-men.

At the end of the path were various buildings constructed upon steep peaks, interconnected by vertical staircases, seemingly climbable.

Selene was quite curious about what she might see upon climbing them, so she must get past these Snake-men!

"Let’s go! Hah!"

"Plop—"

Within seconds, she was knocked to the ground by a Fireball released by the Snake-man Magician.

"Why... the speed... of the Fireball... varies too..."

The Snake-men all extended their necks to bite her limbs, she hadn’t yet gotten the same fate as Shang Yang when the Ancient Flying Dragon broke free, its fiery breath from above incinerating Selene along with the Snake-men to ashes.

"Aah!"

Just resurrected at the bonfire, Selene let out a scream.

Falling on the ground, she tightly hugged her arms, her body trembling constantly, as if still engulfed in flames, unable to escape.

This was a normal nerve reaction, you can’t expect someone who died in a raging fire one second to recover in the next, right?

Believing that dying and reviving in the Dungeon exempts all pain surely hasn’t been in the Dungeon, carelessly minimizing the adventurers’ efforts.

Even Leon, an adventurer undoubtedly regarded as a senior, can’t avoid this; he would never risk his life without reason.

After struggling and suffering for a long time, Selene gradually calmed down, her body soaked in sweat, her complexion pale, like she had briefly experienced a Flame Fist.

The post-death agony is something every adventurer has no choice but to endure.

"So this is how torturous adventures are..."

She sat on the ground, gasping for air, suddenly remembering that she once issued a commission, wanting adventurers to help her hunt the Golden Lion, using its pelt to make a coat.

"Now that I think about it, I’m really sorry for the adventurers who accepted my commission. I feel like the reward was too little."

After resting there for a while, she eventually decided to get back on her feet. It seemed that not much time had passed; Fingerley and the others hadn’t come in yet, so she could only continue exploring on her own.

This difficulty can’t defeat her!

Using the same tactic, along with the Invisibility Technique and lurking like a secret agent, she made her way to the Fog Gate before the battle with the Ancient Flying Dragon. This time, she was smarter and wouldn’t impulsively touch any light points, noticing that the Ancient Dragon Painting Shield was still quietly lying not far away.

Hawkwood’s Summoning Rune appeared before the Fog Gate. Selene knew that this person was referred to by adventurers as the "Discouragement Brother" — because he always said dispiriting things, adventurers gave him this nickname.

"I heard he used to be a member of the Fran Undead Team. I wonder what his actual strength is."

Since he was a member of that Undead legion, he must be very strong, right?

With this thought in mind, when the surrounding snake-men moved away, she decided to summon him.

Not long after, Hawkwood’s spiritual body slowly appeared. Aside from not wearing the pointed hat, his attire was identical to that of the Fran Undead Team.

"H-Hello." Selene suddenly felt a bit nervous, as Hawkwood exuded a cold aura.

He looked somewhat different from his image in the Painting World, where he was always downcast. However, at the peak of the Ancient Dragon, he exuded an air of determination, as if he had decided on something and was moving forward relentlessly.

"Hmm."

Hawkwood nodded indifferently. The snake-men nearby were drawn by the commotion and rushed over in a frenzy.

Selene immediately wanted to cast the Invisibility Technique on both of them, but she was refused.

He made a rough count of the snake-men skillfully, eventually realizing that not a single one was missing, meaning Selene hadn’t defeated a single snake-man.

At that moment, Selene saw pity in his eyes.

Yes, it wasn’t disdain for her weakness, but absolute pity, as if asking, "Why do you, who are so weak, come to a place like this?"

She couldn’t refute it; she could only lower her head in shame.

Hawkwood made his move with exquisite swordplay, each move embodying the spirit of the Undead Team. Even when faced with snake-men wielding shield stabs, he could ghostly flank behind them to inflict a killing blow.

Discouragement Brother’s strength was immense, and even a contest of strength with a giant snake-man wielding a Big Axe was no match for him!

These snake-men were no match for Hawkwood.

Selene’s eyes sparkled as if witnessing a Heavenly God descending to earth.

However, the Sain Dungeon implemented a more reasonable reward distribution system based on each adventurer’s performance during their adventure.

As Selene had not contributed at all in the battle against the snake-men, she even, to some extent, burdened Hawkwood. In the end, her share of souls was pathetically in the double digits, and the apparition of light points significantly decreased.

If she performed the same in the battle with the Ancient Flying Dragon, she might not even receive a tenth of the original reward.

"Let’s go."

After dealing with the snake-men, Hawkwood coldly spat out a word and entered the Fog Gate without waiting to see if Selene could keep up.

Selene hurriedly followed him.

The Ancient Flying Dragon descended from the sky again, and the tremor caused by its landing made her body shake, yet Hawkwood remained as steady as a mountain.

"Are we fighting here? Should I stay away? How should we fight? Is there anything I can help with?"

Hawkwood had originally a stern face, but the string of questions caused a twitch at the corner of his lips.

He stared intently at the Ancient Flying Dragon’s movements and acted when it descended from the sky.

He did not attack the monster but instead maneuvered around beneath it, running towards its rear.

When the Ancient Flying Dragon sensed a stronger presence, it turned to attack Hawkwood.

Hawkwood ran up to a high platform in the arena, but that wasn’t enough. He sprinted higher up the mountainside, and when the Ancient Flying Dragon lowered its head to charge at him, he leaped towards it!

In the blink of an eye, he was on top of the Ancient Flying Dragon’s head, and the Fran Greatsword plunged fiercely into the dragon’s skull!

"Roar—"

The Ancient Flying Dragon let out a tragic scream, its roar echoing at the peak of the Ancient Dragon, causing the outside snake-men to stiffen for an instant.

The attack on its weak point, the head, caused its life force to drain rapidly. By the time Hawkwood jumped down from its head, the dragon’s life force had already hit zero....

No, there seemed to be half remaining?

Selene was about to cheer like a dutiful cheerleader, encouraging Hawkwood to press his advantage and finish off the dragon.

However, something astonishing happened.

Hawkwood glanced at her, took out a black crystal, and used it without hesitation.

[Farewell Black Crystal]

[A farewell token given to exiled Undead, allowing the summoned spiritual body to return to the original world, or enabling oneself to return from another world to the original world]

[But if cherishing the bond between people, this item should not be used lightly.]

Selene watched him blankly as he left.

Leaving her and the Ancient Flying Dragon to stare at each other.

"Did he... leave?"