Chapter 296: The Dragon's Blood (Part 1)

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  Suddenly, Ethan's whole body trembled, and he looked up. This time, the light in his eyes was no longer hesitant like before, but instead a sharp glint burst forth. At the same time, one hand moved to his waist.

  At his waist, the small pouch that had always been tied there was gone.

  At the cave entrance, the figure of Lancelot, who had been walking last, flashed and disappeared. In the hand that wasn't holding his sword, he held a small pouch.

  The pouch that held the hilt of The Black Star.

  "Stop." Ethan roared. He crouched, and shot up from the ground like a crossbow bolt, charging straight for the cave entrance above.

  But just as he jumped to the cave entrance and hadn't yet found his footing, he saw a flash of sword light. Lancelot, who should have already entered the passage, suddenly turned back.

  "Leave the thing behind," Ethan shouted, drawing his blade. This time, the blade was no longer hesitant like before. The trajectory of the black blade was like a ribbon of ink, blacker than black, and even the air in the passage seemed to darken.

  Lancelot didn't speak. The pouch was now at his lips. He bit the rope at the pouch's opening with his teeth. Although his right hand was now twisted out of shape, the sword he thrust with his left hand was still as heavy as a mountain and as vast as the sea.

  The sound of the blade and sword colliding this time was no longer light like tearing wind, but as heavy as a landslide. The immense roar and the Battle Qi fluctuations caused a section of the narrow passage to collapse. Ethan, along with a large number of rocks from the passage, fell straight down.

  In the current situation, it seemed he still had the upper hand in Battle Qi and strength, but after all, he had not yet found his footing, and Lancelot had seized upon this very point. So, he could only be shaken back.

  As he jumped to give chase, he also issued a command with his mind, and the two Death Knights moved as well. But they couldn't even move properly.

  Sylka still crouched down in the same way. He jumped. The immense force still made him leap up like a giant, mutated, muscular toad. But the moment he left the ground, a cracking sound came from the spine at his waist, which had already been damaged by Lancelot's previous strike. The lack of coordination between his upper and lower body caused him to lose control of his direction. His massive body flew out diagonally, crashing against the rock wall with a loud boom.

  Rodhart seemed even worse off. Earlier, inside the fire elemental, the high temperature had carbonized and peeled off a small portion of the muscles on his body's surface. Although the damaged muscles were writhing and slowly recovering, the speed was very slow. His movements were like those of a puppet operated by a clumsy puppeteer. He jerkily climbed towards the rock wall, a movement that was clearly ineffective, as he had already fallen from it several times.

  Ethan stood up again. He gathered all his remaining Battle Qi and jumped once more, charging towards the cave entrance. But just as he managed to stand at the entrance and was about to clear the collapsed rocks, he felt a surge of magical power rushing towards him.

  It was water-elemental magic. Even if his Battle Qi could resist the freezing power of the magic, he would still be sealed by the surrounding cold air. Ethan had no choice but to retreat, jumping back down to the ground. When he looked up again, the cave entrance had completely frozen into a wall of solid white ice.

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  The ice could certainly be broken, and it wouldn't take much effort, but that effort should be enough for the Temple Knights to leave.

  "Damn it." Immense anger surged in his heart. Even greater were his disappointment and confusion. Ethan stamped his foot in fury, cursing at the wall of white ice.

  Behind Ethan, the Black Dragon had slowly propped up her upper body. The terrifying wound on her shoulder had basically healed under the effect of healing magic. Her pair of huge, yellow dragon eyes watched Ethan's back with a strange gaze.

  Outside the passage at the top of the cave, Harlan stood beside Lancelot. He had just followed Lancelot's order to condense all his magical power into this ice barrier and release it. Although releasing the Forbidden Spell scroll had nearly depleted his magical power, as a mage among the Temple Knights, the magical power he had recovered in this short time was sufficient for such a minor task.

  Lancelot held the pouch in his hand, a strange light in his eyes.

  When he brushed past Ethan, he had sensed that this thing hanging from Ethan's waist was peculiar. Although the aura it emitted was faint, as a top-tier warrior, it stirred a sense of disgust and fear from the deepest part of his soul. So, almost instinctively, he had made a move to take the small pouch. From Ethan's later desperate attempt to chase him down and retrieve it, he could roughly guess what it was.

  However, if Harlan hadn't been able to arrive in time, he probably wouldn't have been able to withstand the pursuing Ethan. And Harlan, who was supposed to be executing another, more important mission, had appeared in this secret passage where Ethan should have been coming from. Even Lancelot found it somewhat unbelievable. And the other person was even more unbelievable to him.

  "Talise, why are you also here?" The Paladin frowned as he looked at his female apprentice.

  Talise's face was deathly pale in the dim surrounding light. She looked strange and did not speak.

  "You can't catch them. I can sense they have already left the range of the Spatial Lock, and I can also sense that each of them carries a teleportation scroll."

  A deep yet resonant voice came. Ethan turned to look at Moriel, who had already managed to raise her head. The Black Dragon's huge yellow eyes were watching him.

  "Guardian of the Dark Will. Come here. I have something to say to you."

  Ethan looked at the ice-sealed rock wall, sighed in frustration, and turned to walk before Moriel.

  The sword hilt had to be retrieved, but it seemed it would have to be a rather long and complicated process. But before that, the matter with Moriel here also had to be settled. At the very least, Ethan was not clear on what had just happened here.

  "It seems you are this generation's Guardian of Darkness. First, I must thank you. You are the first human Moriel has thanked in thousands of years. I can assure you that my thanks will definitely bring you a surprise."

  The Black Dragon's voice echoed in the cave, feeling very strange, like a block of iron covered in silk. Although it sounded friendly, the underlying, top-down rigidity and authority could not be concealed.

  "There's no need. I don't need any of your thanks..." Ethan shook his head.

  "Oh. I understand what you're thinking, human," the Black Dragon said, seemingly unsurprised. Her thick voice echoed in the space of the cave, making it sound even heavier. "I can see you are very strong. And as this generation's Guardian of the Dark Will, there should be very few things on this continent that could interest you."

  This title from Moriel was clearly aimed at someone from the Necromancer Guild. Ethan opened his mouth, wanting to explain or clarify, but in the end, he said nothing. This passage could only be accessed by the acting guild master of the Necromancer Guild. And the two Death Knights beside him were almost a symbol of his identity. But explaining all of this one by one was too much trouble. And although not exactly pleasant to the ear, Moriel's tone held a strange charm, making one unable to resist listening.

  Moriel paused, then continued, "But I know for certain that you must be interested in the mystery of The Black Star. Am I right?"

  Ethan nodded. This was true.

  "But before that, you must help me with something..." Moriel continued, her voice gradually lowering. "More than ten years ago, a group of people from the Church attacked Nighon. At first, I didn't pay it any mind, but they actually fought their way all the way to the Drow's stronghold. No one in all of Nighon could stop them. I had to go and eliminate them. But shortly after I left my lair, I felt my body become extremely weak. When I hurried back, I discovered that the most important part of the seal Archibald had placed on me, the Dragon's Blood Vial, had been stolen by someone..."

  "I know," Ethan interrupted Moriel, nodding.

  "You know?" Moriel's huge pupils suddenly shrank into a thin black line.

  Ethan sighed and said, "Not only do I know, but I have also brought the Dragon's Blood you lost."

  The Black Dragon's originally grand and incomparably thick voice was actually trembling slightly: "You found the Dragon's Blood Vial?"

  "The vial, no. But the drop of blood sealed within it has been found," Ethan sighed, untying a small pouch from his waist.

  This pouch and the one containing The Black Star hung on Ethan's left and right waist, respectively. He opened the pouch's mouth, revealing some grayish-white powder. From the powder, Ethan took out a black gem.

  This was the black gem found inside Jessica's body. But now, this gem looked different than it had in other places. Here in the dragon's lair, it was trembling slightly, and strands of strange magical power were emanating from it.

  "This should be it. The dragon's blood, made by Archibald's own hand, sealing a part of your life force and soul."

  "Give it to me." A thunderous roar erupted from Moriel's mouth. Her originally very weak massive body leaped up, and her equally massive front claw swiped at the black gem in Ethan's hand. But judging from the force and momentum she used, it seemed she wasn't just trying to grab the gem, but to crush Ethan along with it.