Volume 5: The Great Plains Chapter 163: Legend

  The dragon's lair was on a high mountain deep in the grasslands, and we had been walking for over a month before we saw it from afar. A solitary peak rose abruptly into our line of sight, the mountain was very tall, piercing the clouds, and there were almost no living creatures around the summit. It is said that within the territory of powerful creatures, other animals would not appear. Dakuru said that in their tribe, there had always been a legend about dragons, passed down from long ago, when a dragon appeared on the grasslands, bringing great harm to the people, frequently plundering cattle and humans, and when enraged, often slaughtering the entire tribe.

  Later, the tribe's leader, a great chieftain named Bloodhowl, led the strongest warriors and shamans of the tribe to defeat the evil dragon. The dragon made an agreement with the tribe that it would never invade the beastmen's territory again. Although Bloodhowl defeated the beastmen, he was also severely injured in the battle and died soon after. People remembered his kindness and achievements, and elected his son as the great chieftain of the entire tribe. His son then established a city in what is now Gremma, naming it after his father. The city became the central city of the beastmen tribe.

  The evil dragon, after being defeated in battle, took this solitary peak deep in the grasslands as its lair and hid here, although it often swooped down on cattle and sheep within a hundred miles of the mountain peak, but never harmed any beastman again.

  "It seems this dragon is still a trustworthy one after all." Ivan said with a smile.

  "So why is there a divine artifact there?" I asked.

  "After a hundred years of hiding, one day a human magician passed by the mountain and was discovered by the evil dragon. The dragon had an agreement with the beastmen tribe, but humans were not included in this range. Perhaps it was bored or perhaps it took a liking to the human and wanted to eat him, in any case, the unlucky dragon launched an attack on the magician. Unfortunately for it, it encountered an extremely powerful magician who defeated it single-handedly and forced it to sign a magical contract. The contract stipulated that the dragon would become the magician's guardian beast and could never betray him, or else it would be burned to death by its own heart fire. After signing the contract, the magician handed over a divine artifact and ordered the dragon to guard it, saying that the artifact was incredibly powerful and its energy was enough to kill a god. However, the magician couldn't bear to destroy such a powerful artifact, so he left it in the dragon's care, as dragons on the continent of Aichin had extremely long lifespans and were very strong, making them the best guardian beasts. He warned the dragon that it must guard the artifact with its life and blood, unless his successor came with sufficient reason and bearing his token, even then they would have to defeat the dragon to obtain it, otherwise they would have to pay the price of their own life." Dakuru said.

  Xi Lu was taken aback and couldn't help but laugh, saying: "This really is an unlucky dragon, I wonder what that treasure is? It would be great if we could get it."

  Furei shook her head and said, "The conditions for obtaining the divine artifact are too harsh. Even if we have a token of trust, we still need to defeat that dragon. What's the difference with or without a token? Without a token, as long as we defeat or kill that dragon, will it not hand over the divine artifact out of fear?"

  Evan shook his head and said, "Things are probably not that simple. I reckon the dragon was instructed by that magician to destroy the divine artifact with a special method as soon as it can't resist."

  "If that's the case, how are we supposed to get the divine artifact? This task is simply impossible, forget it, let's just go home!" Just then, Man Chui heard our conversation and immediately shouted out.

  Dakuru said, "Since we've accepted this task, we have to go and see if it's feasible. If we retreat whenever we encounter difficulties, that's not the behavior of a brave warrior. Only when we complete an impossible task can we be called legendary. If you want to go back home so much, why don't you just go now?"

  Mān Chuī's face immediately turned bright red, he glared at Dakuru with annoyance and said: "Who says I'm retreating? I just think this kind of mission sounds suffocating. If it were a fair and square battle, I wouldn't be afraid."

  Seeing the two of them raising their clubs again, Evan hastily mediated in between and said: "Alright, alright, let's not argue anymore. Let's go take a look and we'll know then. If it really doesn't work out, then nobody should force it. But as long as there's a glimmer of hope, we should make an effort to strive for it. We haven't even tried yet and our own people are already quarreling, this isn't good."

  The two people glared at each other and walked away with a huff.

  That night, we camped on the spot and spent the night here. After the tent was set up and the bonfire was lit, when the fragrance of food wafted through the campsite, we saw that the Vatican's team had also appeared not far from us.

  Xī Lù sighed, threw the branch she was using to poke at the bonfire aside and said: "Alas, brother, look, they're following us again. They just won't leave us alone."

  Evan smiled and said, "Don't worry about them for now, let's focus on our own path. Whoever gets the divine artifact will be the winner in the end. Maybe we can even let them go ahead of us to scout out the road, that's not a bad choice either. If their goal is really that divine artifact, then we'll let them go first and wait for them to fight each other. Then, while they're distracted, we can quietly take advantage of the chaos and obtain the divine artifact, which would also be a good choice."

  "Didn't Nanya also sacrifice herself? Can you bear it?" Xilu asked teasingly.

  Yiwen said with a "pa" sound: "When the time comes, I will naturally rescue her, I won't let her go to her death."

  Xi Lu smiled and showed off her good-looking teeth, saying: "I knew you were nervous, Niya. Alright, since you're my brother's friend, I'll help you."

  Aidan looked at his sister, lightly poking her head with his finger and said: "You're the most awesome one, after being with that Alick you've become so gossipy. You should focus on your own affairs instead. I really don't know what's good about that Alick, he has a queen, a child, and is still entangled with that Elf Holy Maiden, what are you going to join in the excitement for?"

  I coughed a few times behind them and said, "Hey Evan, I'm telling you, speaking ill of people behind their backs is not going to get you a good reputation. You're being very immoral. Your sister likes whoever she wants, can you still control that?"

  Xi Lu's face turned red, and she made a face at us, saying: "I'm lazy with you two, neither of you are good things. I'll go help Freya and the others make dinner." With that, she ran off in a flash.

  Aidan looked at his sister's back, shook his head, and was about to turn around to talk to me when a voice called out from afar: "Excuse me, is Mr. Aidan here? I am Cardinal Kate in red, hoping to have a word with you."