The Defeated Dragon

The weather was dry in early June.

The sun rose early in the morning. Following which, the refreshing cold was swept away and replaced by the blistering heat, which persisted through the entire day.

Wearing the black, magic beast leather armor, having the gem weapon Redblood Sword hang from the waist, the sapphire-colored eyes shining brightly, and the handsome face adorned with a solemn expression.

When Gort, who went to the castle early in the morning to receive his orders, saw the Flower Town's lord, he became absent-minded for a second. Even if it was the Coral Island's count, he still could not compare with the captivating, n.o.ble temper Liszt was currently exuding.

Just in terms of the visual impact, with 100 points being full marks, Liszt might be 1 point short of the full marks because of his pride.

Looks could not satiate a person, but they could make them feel delighted.

Looking into the mirror every morning put Liszt in a good mood.

The gentleman's valet, Thomas, carefully straightened out the creases on Liszt's leather armor. Grooming the aristocrats they served was the main responsibility of gentleman's valets and lady's maids.

“Teacher Gort, according to the plan, the dairy farm settlement's serfs shall be moved to other settlements. A curfew is to be implemented for the entire day. No one, no matter the reason, is allowed to leave their homes. The patrol is to put all activities on hold and await my order of removing the curfew in the administrative office.”

“Understood, Liszt, I am going to pa.s.s down your orders.”

Gort turned and rode away.

Everyone was in the dark regarding their lord's decision, yet obedience had long since been ingrained deep in their bones. Therefore, once the order was pa.s.sed down, the entire Flower Town quickly ground to a standstill.

A silence, which usually would be present at night, permeated the town. Occasionally, only dog barks could be heard.

There were not many people who could afford to raise dogs. Therefore, this bit of noise was insignificant.

The sun was still climbing in the east. Liszt put a mouthpiece on Firedragon so as to stop it from making any noise: “Mr. Carter, do you remember what I said?”

“Master, you said that today the castle's gate must be closed, and Tremblingwoods and the horses must be locked away. We must do our utmost to stop them from making noise. If in danger, the servants are to be taken into the cellar. No one is to go out. Only when Master returns can the castle resume its normal activity.”

“Very good.”

Carter had a worried expression: “Master, is this endeavor going to be dangerous?”

“There is going to be some danger, but I have already done extensive preparations, so there is no need to worry about me, Mr. Carter.”

Thomas hesitated before saying: “Master, you should bring me along. Although I have no ability, but I might still be useful to buy you a bit of time in a time of danger.”

“You saying this pleases me, Thomas. But there is no need.” Liszt lashed lightly with the horsewhip. Following which, Firedragon sprang alike a flame.

Wind whistled in his ears as the hoofs raised a trail of dust.

No one could be seen traveling on the road. Evidently, the commoners stayed indoors after receiving the order.

With a storm raging in his chest, he scurried to the dairy farm. Wearing a mask, Liszt climbed the beacon. Originally, he had planed to have a servant ignite the beacon, but then decided to do it himself in order to reduce the possibility of information being leaked.

There were two jars filled with smoke gra.s.s juice on the beacon.

Liszt raised his hand to block the sun and looked around. No longer hesitating, he opened the jars and poured the juice onto the two old cows down below.

A pungent smell suddenly spread.

In an attempt to escape, the two cows twisted and moved like crazy, but the tightly tied ropes around their necks let them no other choice but to endure irascibly.

Even with a mask, Liszt still nearly vomited from the smell. Restraining the urge to vomit, he quickly ignited the dried smoke gra.s.s atop the beacon. Once the fire rose.

He immediately jumped down.

Riding the similarly irascible Firedragon, he made a beeline to the Thorns Woods.

When he arrived at the Thorns Woods, he tied up Firedragon. He took deep breaths to suppress the urge to vomit. After taking a look around and making sure that it was safe, he took out the jade box with the thorns sprite worm.

“Preparations can only take one so far, now is the moment of truth.” Opening the jade box, he whispered to the chubby thorns sprite worm inside, “Little fellow, come out and settle down your worm stalk.”

With their minds connected.

The thorns sprite worm climbed onto his hand, opened its mouth and spat out its worm stalk. The worm stalk landed amidst small shrubs before quickly taking root and germinating.

Meanwhile, Liszt quickly hid in the tunnel, rushing towards the bunker whilst hunched. The thorns sprite worm's worm stalk had finished growing approximately at the same time as he arrived at the bunker. Liszt forced himself to calm down, then focused his mind and summoned the smoke mission.

The smoke twisted for a moment before forming Serpentines.

“Mission completed. Reward: invasion of the invisible dragon.”

When he confirmed that the mission was completed, he dispersed the smoke without waiting for the new mission to be issued. Operating his qi, he released the Magic Eyes and looked into the sky.

The thick smoke coming from the smoke gra.s.s swayed lightly as it rose into the sky.

In the bunker, he could sense the smell of unwashed socks worn for half a year, preserving his nausea. He could only rely on his sight without binoculars. Below the beacon, the two old cows were frothing from their mouths from the unbearable smell. Liszt was worried that they could die from the smell before the invisible dragon appeared.

Time pa.s.sed slowly.

Liszt was approaching his time limit regarding the Magic Eyes, yet there was still no trace of the invisible dragon to be found.

“In principle, the rewards emerge at the same time as the missions are completed before sooner or later landing in my hands. So why had the invisible dragon not yet invaded the Flower Town?”

“Is there a delay in the emergence of the reward?”

“If the information about the invisible dragon is true, then it should be attracted by the smoke gra.s.s as soon as it emerges.

His eyes were getting tired. Just as he felt like he could no longer sustain the secret skill and was about to dispel it, a faint phantom in the sky beside the column of smoke suddenly attracted Liszt's attention.

The phantom was quite small and indistinct at first; it started to enlarge before finally taking the form of a faint ash-grey dragon.

It had a pair of huge wings and a streamlined body.

It circled around the column of smoke as it descended.

Liszt's mind was in a turmoil: “An invisible dragon!”

“It really is an invisible dragon!” Liszt clenched the Redblood Sword. In order to observe the invisible dragon, he exerted himself greatly to operate the remaining bit of qi in his body to keep supporting the Magic Eyes.

It was the first time he saw a dragon!

Dragons were the representatives of this world's peak powers!

Despite only seeing the dragon's magic power and not the dragon itself, his blood still boiled from excitement: “As stated in the [Earth Knight-Errant Griff's Travel Notes], the invisible dragon is not big. It is only as big as a thatched cottage, or as big as two to three thatched cottages when including its wings.”

Yet its proud stance exuded a prestige unparalleled under the heavens.

Even though there was a considerable distance separating Liszt from the dragon, but he still could feel his body stretch taut because of the dragon's prestige. This was Dragon Might!

According to legend, all creatures would submit wherever dragons pa.s.sed through

“It descended following the smoke exuded from the smoke gra.s.s…” Liszt's Magic Eyes collapsed as he no longer could support the secret skill and the figure of the invisible dragon disappeared without a trace.

The information provided by the smoke missions was correct, the invisible dragon liked the smell of smoke gra.s.s.

After rubbing his sore and swelled eyes, Liszt used his naked eyes to look at the beacon. He could not see the invisible dragon. But the activity at that side indicated that the invisible dragon was tossing about. The smoke was in a turmoil, the old cows were wailing as they lay on the ground, and even the beacon started to collapse and catch fire.

“Roarrrr!”

A strange, sharp, and gooseb.u.mps-inducing howl raged amid the flames. It came from the dragon.