Left with nothing but a shambling mess of rags, Tartaglia had long lost his notable image of an eighth level mage. If not for his narrow escape by shielding himself with the dark fog, his body might have been turned to ashes by now.
His intentions were simple: use the dark lances to overcome his opponent. But apart from angering the dragon even more, it didnât have any effect. In desperation, he mustered up his remaining undead creatures to swarm in to no avail. With only a glimpse, all of the undead soldiers and death knights were wiped from existence. Fruitless as it may be, Tartagliaâs suicidal charge did raise a certain amount of fatigue for the Second Prince after forcing him to continuously spew out his dragon breath.
Feeling some of his rage subside, the Dark Mage was nothing but a clown in the serpentâs eye. Nevertheless, Gold Dragon still retains some wariness towards the undead creatures summoned by this feeble humanâŚâŚ This was especially true for that scythe attack. Though the spell didnât cause any real bodily harm, his body still aches with discomfort after being struck.
It was at this moment Tartaglia sensed the sudden change from his bone dragon. Knowing his greatest creation had likely faced misfortune, the first person to come to mind was Du Wei. Coughing up a mouthful of blood from anger and resentment, he completely ignores the Gold Dragon on his tail and charges for Du Wei in a maddening fashion.
Just as he was finishing up his thievery deed, Tartaglia smashes down from the sky: âThank you for the huge profit.â Du Wei chuckles with great pleasure at the fool.
At the end of his mockery, Du Wei disappears into the shadow.
Tartaglia may be a mad tiger at this point, but apart from madness, he should never have forgotten about the terrifying enemy at his back. After all, thereâs no way Second Dragon Prince was going to let him off after insulting the dragon race. Next thing Tartaglia knew, a burst of blood was spraying out from his chest where his heart should be.
âLowly human, this is your fate for your blasphemy!â
Coming down with one claw, Second Prince firmly grips onto Tartaglia and causes the Dark Mage to cough up even more blood.
Knowing his death was inevitable, Tartaglia cries out: âThen letâs die together!â
Using his last ounce of strength, Tartaglia shatters the dark crystal ball in his hand and releases every soul within his possession!
Who knows how many lives were lost in the cultivation process for this crystal ball. Gushing out uncontrollably, not even the Second Dragon prince could withstand the deadly corruption.
Letting out a painful cry, Second Dragon Prince felt like every scales across his body was burning in pain! This gush of darkness not only hurts the physical body; it also burns the victimâs very soul!
Itâs not like he didnât know the danger involved with dark magic, but he didnât expect a suicidal attack like this. Without delay, he lets Tartagliaâs body go and harshly flaps his wing to distance himself from the source. In the end, it was too late. From a brilliant glow to a dimly lit shine, the sheen from his scales were no longer the same after leaving behind the lifeless scene in the background.
It was then Du Wei emerged from the shadows again. Covered in a layer of creamy white light, this spell he used just so happens to be a light spell he recently learned. Though light affinity spells are the natural enemy of darkness, but wonât last long in this area contaminated with dark energy.
Calmly taking out his crystal ball, Du Wei began to ravenously absorb the deceased souls in the air. In this venture, about forty to fifty percent of Tartagliaâs dark energy ended up in Du Weiâs hand.
Watching the ball of darkness in his hand, Du Wei sighed at how glossily dark it was: âItâs a shame Tartaglia shattered his crystal ball, otherwise, I could have swapped this one with his.â
âDidnât you earn enough today?â Semelâs mocking laugh came from his side.
Du Wei puts on an absolute serious face: âYou see the vast tracts of dead souls here? By taking them in, Iâm doing the innocent civilians a favor.â
Semel sneered: âWhatever, just worry about dealing with that dragon.â
Though there are still souls in the vicinity, Du Wei decided it was time to put his crystal ball away because the damage the remaining souls could do to the area was minimal at best.
While Du Wei was doing all this, Watt City was already sent into high alert. Closing their gates and manning the wall with every solider and weapon they had in possession, there was no question the populace was scared of the massive Dragon outside their gates.
Dragon! A real dragon!
Thousands of soldiers atop of the city rampart were watching the behemoth with both fear and awe! After all, the Roland Continent hasnât seen a real dragon for a very long time. For many, probably all of them, the only information they had were from legends passed down through the ages.
But now, a real dragon was just standing there in front of their eyes!
Many officers tried to put up a front but the truth was, they were scared out of their wits. Itâs only natural. Smaller creatures are inherently afraid of anything bigger than themselves, human or no exception.
While the officers struggled to order their subordinates to take up arms and take aim at the Gold Dragon, but based on the strained expression of their faces, these people probably didnât have much desire to fight.
Landing down on the ground outside the city, Second Dragon Prince raises his head high above the city wall like all shall kneel before him. Contrary to how everyone was reacting, Second Dragon Prince completely disregarded the soldiers atop of the rampart like they didnât even exist.
âFormer Du Wei Rowling, the one to humiliate the dragon race, you are now called Du Wei Rudolph, am I right?â
Du Wei shrugged. Even when facing off against this terrifying creature, he did not falter: âYou got one point wrong. I did not bring any humiliation to the dragon race. When your father made the bet with me and lost, he deserves it.â
âSharp tongue eh?!â Roaring out in disdain: âFather said you are cunning, but in front of me, itâs useless. No matter what type of lies and smooth words you use, I will have your head by the time I leave!â
âOh, is that so?â Du Wei mockingly laughs: âThen why did you wait until today to appear?â
âBecause courage doesnât mean recklessness.â The Dragon seems be very good at finding excuses: âYou are very successful tonight. Taking advantage of my anger, you lured me outâŚ.. But donât think just because of that I wonât be able to kill you.â Second Prince slowly lowers his head and eyes down at Du Wei: âYou better listen ⌠⌠My father instructed me not to make a ruckus in the human word! If not for that, I can kill you even if you hide inside your capital. Like right now, I can squash you like a bug in front of all these troops.â
Du Wei continues to smile: âI heard that dragons are very proud creatures. Surely youâre above something like assassination.â
âOf course!â Gold Dragon proudly answers: âI can give you a fair chance to fight. But the opportunity only applies once ⌠⌠I heard you are a good magician. But you know, human mages are unable to compete against dragons! That Dark mage is a good example.â
Du Wei looks at himself and chuckles in surprise: âWho said Iâm going to personally fight with you? My God ⌠⌠Although Iâm a magician ⌠⌠But Iâm mainly fluent in magic pharmacy. My grade is far lower than that guy!â
Just as his voice died down, Hussein was already rushing over from one of the roads. He may not be riding a horse, but that didnât hinder his pace whatsoever. Like a meteor, it only took a few jumps for him to reach Du Weiâs side.
âIs everything in place?â Du Wei looks at Hussein.
âAll of the âpreysâ have been dealt with in the camp.â Hussein replied calmly, but his words exposed the Knightâs dissatisfaction: âYou are too rash.â
âThe greater the risk, the higher the profit.â Quietly tapping his robe, Du Wei smiles satisfyingly. âThe reward today is very good. My only concern now is whether or not our plan will go according to plan.â
Hussein turns his attention to the Gold Dragon: âLet me take care of him then⌠⌠While I keep him busy, you move further away and summon that red monsterâŚâŚâ
âNo, no, no.â Du Wei immediately shook his head: âListen to what I say, brother, the one to lead today will not be you.â
Gold Dragon finally became impatient after arrogantly watching Du Wei and Husseinâs discussion: âAre you two done with your chitchat? Who will fight me? Du Wei, no matter what, you only have one chance. In the end, I will certainly take your head back with me!â
âAh ⌠⌠Oh honorable Gold Dragon, we have come to a decision.â Du Weiâs voice sounded nothing like how one should speak in a life or death situation, more like a friend toasting in a banquet: âThe result from our discussionâŚ. Itâs regrettable, both I and my friend here are not your opponentâŚ.â
Gold Dragon was stunned: âOh, could it be you decided to give up? Then offer up your life.â
âNo, no, no ⌠⌠I think you must be mistaken.â Du Wei repeatedly shook his head, his eyes full of disdain towards the Gold Dragon: âThe way of the humans is to never give up, especially when a chance for survival is in front of themâŚ.. Majority wise, we would usually resort to one optionâŚâŚâ
âWhat?â As expected, Gold Dragon asked out of curiosity.
Du Weiâs face emerged a strange smile. Turning to the thousands of troops atop of the city wall, he takes in a deep breath and began to cry out in the loudest voice he can muster.
Upon hearing the words coming out of Du Weiâs mouth, Hussein felt like an anvil just dropped onto his head. Like a reflex reaction for this prideful knight, he almost wanted to choke Du Wei to death!
The following content was as followed:
âHELP ME!!!!!!!!! HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!â
âStop!! You shanât hurt the Duke!!â A sharp hollering voice came from the distance. Equipped with a set of black armor, this figure wearing a metal mask to cover the upper half of his face was unquestionably Cybuster.
Finally, this person had shown up according to Du Weiâs plan.
Pointing his spear at the giant behemoth, the young general shouts: âNo matter where you are from oh honorable dragon sirâŚ.. You must first answer to my blade before killing the Northwest Armyâs guest!â
With that, Cybuster shouts his command at the city wall: âGeneralâs command, all forces are to protect the Duke!!â
His mouth may be saying this, but inwardly, Cybuster was in great turmoil. The only driving force keeping him going was the absolute trust in his fatherâs decision!
While Du Wei was leisurely smiling, he was suffering from an unimaginable amount of urge of not whistling at this critical moment.
Sure enough ⌠⌠The show was finally about to start.