Under the Red Dragon

"Something's not right, something's not right, the situation is very wrong,"

In the five-person team, the purple-haired, leather-pants-wearing youth followed behind the team, frowning and pondering, murmuring softly to his companions.

But none of the surrounding teammates paid attention to him, because they were already used to their teammate's behavior pattern. Basically, every well-formed team has a member who acts as the team's brain.

The purple-haired youth was naturally such a role, but because he was so talkative, many of his words were automatically filtered out by his teammates.

Since the group followed the ranger's guidance, passed the inspection, and put on the marked nameplates, the purple-haired youth, who was particularly perceptive, noticed that the power and perception within him had risen to varying degrees.

In other words, only after wearing these approved nameplates were they truly facing the true face of the world.

Their previous feelings and perceptions were suppressed by the immense will of the forest, making it impossible to accurately judge the rules of the world.

The purple-haired youth's teammates had been admiring the unique customs of this other world ever since they stepped into the dragon's capital city—the Royal Capital.

Although the city's grandeur and size also gave them some feelings of shock, they had seen more scenery and modern metropolises, so they quickly put this feeling behind them, focusing more on the novelty.

Only the steady middle-aged captain was mindful of the city, filled with idle mercenaries and travelers, numerous spellcasters, fierce-looking barbarian berserkers, all kinds of strange races, and a considerable number of mixed-race children.

Looking out over the street, the middle-aged captain could even sense several presences with obscure auras that made even him, a veteran who had experienced several worlds, feel danger.

This made the frown lines between the middle-aged captain's eyebrows, which were already prominent, deepen enough to trap a mosquito.

"What did you say was wrong just now?" The middle-aged captain turned around, asking the purple-haired youth. Only the captain's steady personality allowed him to fully listen to the talkative youth and filter out the useful information.

"The forest will that's suppressing us doesn't seem like the collective subconscious of an ordinary forest, but rather a powerful independent consciousness dominating the entire forest's will,"

"So our previous judgment of strength may have a large margin of error. Didn't you notice the changes that occurred after gaining the territory's recognition?"

The purple-haired youth voiced his discovery, looking at his captain with a serious expression.

"You expect them to notice?" The middle-aged captain quietly approached his team's brain, mocking his teammates in front of them: "One exchanged for a zombie bloodline, a third-generation zombie, only knows how to howl and rush into fights the fastest."

"One is a walking time bomb who cultivates the Blacklight virus with Heavenly Demon Art, and the other wants to exchange for and develop a Death River meat shield vampire. It's good enough that they still have a normal human appearance!"

The middle-aged captain said with dissatisfaction, switching to the team's language, not worrying that others could understand their conversation. In this city where many different races lived together, they didn't need to pay special attention to such details.

"However, the Nephalem blood remnant in my body has become active, but I didn't pay attention to this information because I thought that demons and angels also exist in this world."

"In short, we have to re-evaluate the strength of this world. It is very likely that this world where we accepted the development mission is a very high-level world. We must not be careless!"

Before the purple-haired youth's words could be answered by the captain, the group turned a corner and saw the towering mountains standing far away on the horizon in the Royal Capital.

That was the dragon's lair, the territory's sacred mountain, the deity land of the clansmen.

In the distance, the group had also seen the mountains standing, but they didn't react because they couldn't perceive any information.

But at this distance, they could feel an incredibly terrifying pressure from the thousands-of-meters-high peak, the volcanic lair burning like a huge torch.

That was the will of a supreme ruler overlooking all living beings on the ground, attached to the entire mountain.

As long as you don't actively explore and observe it, it is like an emperor who rules by doing nothing, quiet and inactive, just an ordinary peak.

But the group's bold initiative to probe touched that deep and immense will, regarding all living beings as subjects, just like a overlord sitting high on the throne, casting a overlooking gaze, unavoidable and irresistible.

They could even depict in their minds a huge red dragon coiled on the top of the mountains, turning its head and casting a majestic and cold gaze.

Even from a considerable distance, the faces of the group darkened, oppressed by the dragon's majesty, and they quickly cut off their active mental probing, which relieved them.

"I think this mission is worth discussing. How about we go see the situation with the orcs before making a judgment? This guy seems very difficult to provoke. No wonder the residents in the city don't seem nervous about the upcoming war,"

The yellow-haired girl with fair skin, but at this time her fair face was as black as if smeared with a layer of dark paste, stopped chewing her gum and solemnly suggested.

"I agree," the white-haired high school student quickly raised his hand, expressing his attitude immediately.

"Boss, it seems that this guy is not at the same level as the original target. They are both juvenile dragons, but this guy is actually worth two A-level story lines and 50,000 reward points. I don't think we need to touch this tough nut."

The blonde youth who originally proposed choosing this mission also became serious. He looked at another lair.

That was the dragoness Kraina's lair, also a volcano, but it was only emitting black smoke, and rarely saw flames and magma erupting from the lair.

Although these people hadn't had time to inquire about the details, the team members who had some rudimentary understanding of dragons knew that red dragons liked to sleep in hot environments. Between the two volcanoes, it was obvious which one belonged to the creature specified in the mission.

"What a terrible guy, just the will that has been stained by living in the lair for a long time can have such a powerful oppressive force. According to the information we know, sleeping dragons usually actively restrain their dragon might to ensure that they enter growth wholeheartedly,"

The blonde youth looked at his captain and took the initiative to say: "According to this terrifying will oppression, this guy is indeed worthy of the evaluation of a overlord-level creature. My vampire bloodline is old enough, but under this majesty, I can't even raise the idea of actively resisting. My suggestion is, should we think about it again?"

"No, no, no, I think the main god has other purposes for giving us this mission, but I can't think of it for a while. We can't come to a conclusion so quickly. Give me some time and let me think about it carefully,"

The team's brain shook his head, the purple-haired youth looked thoughtful, swaying back and forth behind the group.

"How about this, we split up and go scout the situation first, collect enough information, and then gather at the tavern in the evening before making a decision. Anyway, we still have a day to make a choice,"

The experienced and prudent middle-aged captain gave the order, watching the team members disperse like birds and beasts, but the blonde youth's hand was grabbed by the captain.

"Ew, what's up, captain? Don't make such a move. You know I'm most resistant to close contact with men. Only fragrant virgins are worthy of touching my noble body,"

The blonde youth, burdened with an ancient vampire bloodline, quickly shook off his captain's hand with a look of disgust, the goosebumps on his skin almost bursting out, and even took out a delicate silk handkerchief to wipe his left hand where he had touched the captain.

The corner of the middle-aged captain's eye twitched, and he said earnestly: "You are now being influenced more and more deeply by the vampire bloodline, Xiao Jin. I still remember when you first joined the team, you liked to hug that warrior's arm the most."

"Tch, what's so good about hugging stinky men? At that time, I was weak and needed to find a backer's protection. What's the matter for leaving me behind? Don't tell me there's another dangerous place for me to be a meat shield. Why don't you find that zombie?"

The blonde youth looked dissatisfied, but he couldn't realize that even his thinking was being subtly changed to some extent.

"That zombie has to howl before every move, which is not conducive to stealth. In case of an accident, he will directly alarm everyone,"

The middle-aged captain looked at the peak spewing flames and magma and said: "Let's go, we have to see the specific situation of our target. Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to formulating a strategy. A sleeping red dragon is difficult to be awakened by some small movements, and dragons will not allow other people to move around their lair,"

"We can climb the mountain as long as we use the Shadow Stealth Charm. After all, this is a good thing worth 1,200 reward points. If it weren't for such a generous reward this time, I wouldn't be willing to use it casually."

"Okay," the blonde youth frowned, reluctantly following beside the middle-aged captain. The two left the city and traversed along the sparsely populated forest.

Both of them were considered elites among veterans, so it was easy to avoid the detection of ordinary kobold guards.

Only when they reached the cleared isolation area did the captain take out a talisman made of twisted shadow trajectories, inputting his power to make the stealth charm last longer.

The two quietly crossed the defense line set up by the Imperial Guard soldiers at the foot of the mountain. However, when crossing the defense line, the leader of the Imperial Guard, the personally guarding Dragonborn Werewolf Saha, suddenly looked in their direction with a look of doubt, which startled the two.

"This guy is definitely a powerful monster, his natural intuition is so terrifying," the two communicated using the team's internal communication method, trying to make their shadow stealth charm exert a stronger effect.

The highest peak in these mountains is now nearly three thousand meters high. Fortunately, both of them had good strength and physical fitness, so they could easily climb the mountain.

However, they still couldn't be too careless, because on this section of the road at the foot of the mountain, resting war treants grew on both sides of the stone steps. These war treants had the ability to communicate with nature, so the two didn't dare to relax too much.

"Wow, this guy is really generous, he actually uses these treants as green belts," the blonde youth's eyes were gleaming with the light of money.

"The heartwood of these treants of this age is a good thing, it can be made into various magical equipment and props with powerful benefits. I really want to dig two back, even if we can't use them, we can sell them, it's very valuable."

Although these treants were no different from ordinary plants in tree form, both of them were not ordinary people and could discover the life fluctuations beneath the surface of these giant trees.

"Don't mess around," the middle-aged captain subconsciously warned his teammate.

Fortunately, as the road climbed, the ambient temperature near the entire mountain gradually rose, and there were no more traces of treants. Only then did the two speed up and climb quickly towards the top of the mountain.

"This guy wouldn't really be sleeping in volcanic magma, would he?" The blonde youth was already sweating from the heat. The two had no choice but to raise a layer of temperature protection on the surface of their bodies. In this way, the shadow stealth charm was likely to leak energy fluctuations.

"Maybe, although according to the information we know, these red dragons, despite their powerful talents, can swim in magma, only fairly mature young red dragons can freely enter the volcano to sleep, but this red dragon's talent is obviously not in line with common sense, so it's not surprising even if he sleeps in magma,"

The middle-aged captain stopped, looking at the top of the mountain, where the entire space was already occupied by flames and heat-boiling magma.

"We can't go up any further. This lair not only has the magic set up by this dragon, but also a super-large barrier, similar to a field. Once we actively step into it, we will be forced to fight against the power of the entire field, and then we will be exposed."

The middle-aged captain took out a small, simple round mirror from his pocket. Maintaining the defense against the temperature and resisting the overflowing field pressure for a long time required him to focus on mobilizing his power. The shadow stealth charm had already been taken over by the blonde youth.

He carefully maintained the power input, inputting his power into this small mirror. The simple mirror suddenly rippled faintly, and a scene appeared faintly on the mirror, as if covered by a faint mist.

What appeared before the two was a scene like purgatory. Countless lava and fire漿 flowed from thick cracks into a huge magma lake. The boiling heat filled the entire space, making both of them seem to feel the suffocating temperature.

There were also cracks flowing with pure elemental energy. These energies exploded, enough to blow the entire mountain into the sky. The terrifying energy fluctuations made both of them subconsciously hold their breath.

The rising magma lake was wide and violent. In the rolling magma, the figure of the red dragon could no longer be seen. Only occasionally, from the fluctuations of the magma, could a few thick dragon horns, as thick as gnarled ancient trees and as sharp as peerless divine weapons, be seen protruding from the lake surface.

Before the two had time to observe carefully, the next moment, in that space filled with heat, on the ground with flames everywhere, countless running and jumping creatures appeared. These creatures were entirely composed of flames, the spirits born from the flames.

In that instant, all the flame creatures turned their heads to look at the mirror, and a feeling of terror beyond compare instantly gripped the hearts of the two.

Crack,

The mirror shattered, falling to the ground from the middle-aged captain's hand.

That night, in the tavern, the reunited team gathered once more.

However, compared to the relaxed attitude of the other three, who had spent the day exploring, the middle-aged captain and the blond youth, sitting in a corner, appeared particularly silent and serious.

The other teammates actively shared the information they had gathered.

"Based on my rough estimate, our strength, compared to the combat power of this world, is probably at the initial stages of the Saint Realm, making us elites to some extent,"

The blonde girl was still chewing gum, two packs at a time, making her mouth always bulge, like a little squirrel hiding food in its cheeks.

The white-haired youth glanced at the captain before speaking, "I found out the information about the original target. The original target, Kleineria, is called the Red King by the residents of the territory. She is the sister of the Overlord Red Dragon and is also very powerful. With our strength, taking her down would be easy,"

"However, there are several other dragons in the territory. The strongest one at the moment is the young Red Dragon Khediraos, who is the town chief of the town of Khediraos in the rear. Besides fighting, this guy spends all day holding unbridled orgies in his territory, with all kinds of races participating. If our target is him, it might be easier."

"My suggestion is to abandon this mission and choose another one. Although the mission to kill the Orc Prince is equally difficult, this time there is no time limit set for us, which means we have almost unlimited time to complete this task,"

The blond youth also glanced at the captain's dark face before slowly saying, "As long as we don't care about the one-to-one time standard and waste a lot of time in this world."

The middle-aged captain also nodded, saying with a heavy face, "We secretly observed that red dragon. Although we haven't seen all of it yet, even just one aspect is an insurmountable mountain for us. His understanding of fire is no longer at the level of the Red Dragon's bloodline talent,"

"He already possesses a true domain. Most importantly, the essence of fire was actually born within his domain. Or, to put it another way that you can understand more easily, in the realm of fire, it's equivalent to the orthodox Daoist art of illusion, or even the manifestation of a spirit."

"We absolutely cannot complete this mission! His level of understanding of power far exceeds his level of life. This is the most terrifying thing!"

Everyone fell silent for a moment, but only the purple-haired youth, after hearing the captain's words, muttered to himself repeatedly, "Unlimited time, unable to resist, I understand, I roughly understand!"

The black-faced team members looked at the muttering purple-haired youth, and said through gritted teeth in unison, "What do you understand? Speak quickly, stop being so mysterious."

"The Main God never sets impossible missions, except in extremely special circumstances. Like our initial target was just another red dragon, which we could easily complete. We were only considering how to escape."

The purple-haired youth excitedly clapped his hands, "But afterwards, for some reason, it changed to a highly tempting but seemingly impossible mission,"

"It has never stood on the side of the Orcs, but it also did not stand on the side of the Dragons from the beginning, until it changed the mission for some reason, and it has been using huge differences in rewards to induce us to make choices!"

"I guess that our pioneering mission hides the Main God's true intention: to obtain the ancestral blood of this red dragon. We don't necessarily have to go through a real battle. We have another way, which is to become a Dragonkin, or rather, to have the qualifications to become a Dragonkin of that dragon!"

The purple-haired youth was somewhat incoherent, but his teammates quickly understood what he meant.

"For us, the Main God is also a god, but for the real gods that exist in this world, it is a heretical god. What method is simpler and more effective to pioneer the entire world than colluding with the gods of the original world!"

"Perhaps, it discovered traces of the Dragon God on this red dragon, and according to this dragon's outstanding talent, it is normal to enjoy the Dragon God's attention!"

"Woo-hoo," everyone gathered around, picked up the purple-haired youth, and threw him into the air.

"I have to admit, you are indeed a tiny bit smarter than me," the blonde girl spat out her chewing gum, secretly sticking it to her teammate's butt, and shouted loudly.