Chapter 1205, Dragon Carcass

Translator: Silavin

 

Fortunately, Jian Ying and the others had listened to Lu Fan’s advice beforehand, spending a lot of time training out in the world. Not that they had seen every manner of harsh environment imaginable, but at the very least, their endurance had grown far beyond what it once was.

 

The environment here was dreadful, enough to turn one’s stomach. Yet, the group managed to endure it.

 

Even so, they could not help but complain about their surroundings with great frequency. After all, they had visited so many Maps by now, including no small number of Forbidden Areas, and not once had they encountered a place like this. It was a place that made a person want to leave the very instant they arrived.

 

“Is this stuff rotten mud or rotting flesh? How can anything be this revolting?” Tao Xiaoman was, without question, the most vocal complainer of the entire group. Every few steps, she would cast her Skill to wash away whatever filth had clung to her.

 

It was entirely futile, of course. The moment she finished rinsing herself off with her Water Element Skill, her clothes and armour would get filthy again. The rotten mud kept creeping back onto her with cheerful persistence, driving her to the very edge of madness.

 

Lu Fan could only look on with a helpless, weary smile.

 

Though Tao Xiaoman chattered and grumbled non-stop, it was understandable.

 

After all, Tao Xiaoman’s Family had once been among the wealthiest in the city. She had been raised from birth in what amounted to a jar of sweets. She was essentially a pampered Young Mistress who had never wanted for anything.

 

Young Mistresses of that sort, even when they went out to Level Up, tended to bring several attendants with them. Dark and disgusting Maps were entirely off their itinerary.

 

With the sort of wealth their Families held, there was never any need to frantically grind Levels. So long as one’s Level reached the point where one could protect oneself, that was enough.

 

And yet, though Tao Xiaoman was precisely that sort of wealthy Young Mistress, she was not in the least bit spoiled or precious about hardship.

 

Compared to the average Young Mistress of her standing, she had already distinguished herself.

 

Facing a Map as thoroughly outrageous as this one, merely grumbling and complaining was, if one thought about it, actually commendable.

 

Tao Xiaoman had barely finished her latest round of complaints when the mud ahead suddenly churned and surged. This was a telltale sign that a Monster was about to emerge.

 

She was already in a foul mood, and the sight of a Monster appearing ahead gave her the perfect outlet to vent the fire smouldering in her heart.

 

“Nobody move! Leave it to me!” She drew her sword and took two running steps forward, fully intending to cleave the thing in half on the spot.

 

Lu Fan, however, was quicker, shooting out a hand to grab the back collar of her armour and have her halt.

 

Tao Xiaoman turned around, baffled. “Lu Fan, what are you doing? It’s just some Monster. I can cut it down no problem.”

 

Lu Fan shook his head and released her. “This is not some small Monster. Take a proper look. If I had let you charge in just now and you’d continue to underestimate that thing, who do you think would have come off worse?”

 

Tao Xiaoman looked ahead, and the colour drained from her face.

 

It turned out, what had been churning and surging a moment ago was only a portion of the creature’s body.

 

Ahead, vast stretches of mud continued to heave and roll, like the surface of a dark sea.

 

From within, a Dragon Carcass some tens of metres in length clawed its way free, letting out a long shuddering roar.

 

A Monster formed from some ordinary creature and a Monster formed from a Giant Dragon were naturally not in the same ballpark. They could not even be spoken of in the same breath.

 

Though this Giant Dragon Carcass had long since lost its former strength, if it were to go berserk, it was still not something Tao Xiaoman could handle on her own.

 

At the very minimum, she would need Jian Ying and Qin Qiu to join her in summoning the Golden Asura King for protection before it would be anything close to safe to attempt killing it.

 

Tao Xiaoman felt a rush of belated fright, suddenly very conscious that she could not afford to let her guard down in a place like this.

 

One moment of carelessness, and she might walk face-first into her death.

 

Fearsome as this Dragon Carcass was, it was not, for Lu Fan and those with him, troublesome to deal with.

 

Anyone present could step forward and deal with it.

 

The Shadow Dragon King let out a cold snort. With a slight raise of a hand, he was about to dispatch that thing himself. However, the Two Headed Dragon, walking at the rear of the group, spoke first. “That Dragon Carcass, it ought to be one of our Brothers from the Valley of Life. Would everyone be willing to leave it to me? Consider it my way of seeing our Brothers and Sisters off properly. We wish to send them off to have a long peaceful rest, freed from the Desolate Ancient God’s enslavement, even if it is only their remains.”

 

No one had any objection to that. Every hand that had begun to move withdrew itself.

 

The Two Headed Dragon offered the group his thanks, then spread both wings with a single sharp beat and surged forward.

 

Both heads opened simultaneously, unleashing Dragon Breath wreathed in the Elements of water and fire. The combined might was quite terrifying.

 

The Dragon Carcass was not the least bit polite about it. Seeing the Two Headed Dragon bearing down on it, it charged to meet the attack head-on, spilling its own Dragon Breath in return.

 

Its Dragon Breath, however, carried none of the Elemental power of Dragon Language Magic. It was just a greyish-green haze, which by all appearances contained lethal poison.

 

That sort of poisonous miasma would have been deadly to an ordinary Player, but against a Giant Dragon, it was simply no comparison to Dragon Language Magic.

 

The Two Headed Dragon’s Dragon Breath suppressed the opposing stream with ease, bearing down on the Dragon Carcass and dealing devastating Damage.

 

Having subdued the Dragon Carcass with Dragon Breath, the Two Headed Dragon then closed the distance, raking it with his claws in a vicious downward strike that shattered the better part of the Dragon Carcass.

 

The Two Headed Dragon’s strength ranked comfortably among the top against Adult Giant Dragons. This Dragon Carcass was simply no match for him.

 

*Crash!*

 

With absolute superiority, the Two Headed Dragon crushed his opponent, reducing it to rubble and sending it back into a pool of rotten mud.

 

The Flame Dragon had not intervened from his position at the rear. Watching this Dragon Carcass return to dust and earth, he let out a slow, involuntary sigh.

 

After all, the Dragon Carcass in its living days had very possibly been a good friend of his.

 

And now, to see it like this, not a trace of its former self remaining, so far gone that even the Flame Dragon could not recognise who it had once been… it was nothing short of heartbreaking.

 

The Two Headed Dragon, having dealt with the Dragon Carcass, did not wear his feelings quite as plainly as the Flame Dragon.

 

He composed himself with some effort, and even went so far as to negotiate with Tao Xiaoman, enquiring somewhat hopefully whether she might use her Water Element Magic to give him a thorough rinse.

 

After all, the Dragon Carcass had been thoroughly coated in filth. Fighting it had left him dirty.

 

Giant Dragons might not be especially fussy in their habits, but they did have a reasonable fondness for cleanliness.

 

Dragging around a full coat of mud was deeply unpleasant even for them.

 

Tao Xiaoman did not refuse, activating her Skill and setting about washing the accumulated muck from the Two Headed Dragon’s scales.

 

Meanwhile, from ahead, a flying insect similar to a firefly came drifting back to land upon Ouyang Bai Ge’s shoulder.

 

The Void Insect communicated everything it had gathered, by means that none of the others could perceive directly to Ouyang Bai Ge.

 

Ouyang Bai Ge raised a hand, and the Void Insect took flight once more.

 

“We are now somewhere relatively close to the Desolate Ancient God.” Ouyang Bai Ge spoke up. My Void Insect has told me that the Ancient God Aura ahead is extraordinarily dense. This ought to be the territory where it moves about most frequently.”