Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 905 Slaying the Corrupted Dragon

Half an hour later, at the Frankish Fortress, on the first basement level.

"Ugh... Ugh...!"

Meaningless, hoarse shouts echoed along with the cracking of whips, while waves of heat and the scorching sounds of flesh and blood repeatedly fell.

In the underground prison, where not a single living person could be seen, rows of undead, dressed in tattered armor, stood blankly in the corners of the walls or in front of the cell doors.

Inside the prison, where hoarse screams echoed, a group of zombies dressed in bird-beak torture suits were mechanically repeating their assigned tasks of torture, tormenting the already zombie-like prisoners on the execution rack.

As a fortress once guarded by the Night Legion, one of the main forces of the Cathedral of the Deep, Frankish Fortress not only prevented outsiders from entering the depths of the Pilgrim's Path, but also carried out a series of activities that could not be seen in the light, such as torture, execution, and the secret capture of living sacrifices.

As the power of the King Fire weakened, the once fearsome Dark Night Legion was no more, but the dark side of the Frankish Fortress was preserved forever by the curse of the abyss.

And today——

Crunch~!

A quiet, unassuming sound rang out as the main hallway door at the end of the corridor suddenly opened, causing all the zombie soldiers sitting around it to turn their heads in perfect unison towards the entrance. Then…

Wow——! !

[Slayed "Night Soldier", Soul Points +633 (422+211)]

A cold flash of sword light streaked past, beheading the zombie soldier closest to the gate. A black-haired youth, reeking of a strong stench and looking as if he had just swum in a septic tank, glanced at the surroundings and the zombie soldiers staring at him with hostility, then walked forward expressionlessly.

"Ruaaa——!!"

Calm footsteps echoed through the corridor. As the black-haired youth approached, the zombies that had been standing still seemed to be stimulated by the aura of life emanating from him. They all let out hoarse cries and lunged at Xin Lailai with their weapons.

The black-haired youth watched this scene without a trace of panic in his eyes, nor did he show any intention of raising his sword. Instead, he simply swung his left hand as if swatting a mosquito, casually swatting the zombie soldier charging forward with the side of the round shield tied to the back of his hand.

Bang!
[Slayed "Night Soldier", Soul Points +633 (422+211)]

A dull thud resounded as the zombie soldier struck by the shield was smashed like a broken egg against the wall affected by the power of the King's Fire. His head lolled to the side, scattering into countless points of light that entered the body of the black-haired youth.

"Ruaaaa——!!"

However, the deaths of the charging warriors did not deter the remaining zombies. Instead, like a battle cry, it startled all the zombies in the underground level, causing them to abandon their tasks and sprint towards Xin Lailai. The next second—

[The "Night Soldier" has been defeated, Spirit...]

【already…】

【...】

【already…】

[The "Dark Night Torturer" has been defeated, Soul Points +1200 (800 + 400)]

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud...!

In an instant, a dense barrage of shield-slapping sounds filled the air. The black-haired youth strolled leisurely through the underground level, even casually finishing off the zombies bound to the execution racks in the cells.

Bang——! !

[Slayed "The Tortured Heretic", Soul Points +60 (40+20)]

A few minutes later, as the last zombie's wailing abruptly ceased, the entire basement fell silent. Xin Lailai, who had launched a massacre right from the start, glanced at the chaotic scene behind her, shook her head slightly, uttered a few words, and walked straight towards the stairwell entrance.

"That's enough."

Having crawled out of that godforsaken place was bad enough, but the first thing he saw was this scene. He didn't even have the energy to complain to Ling Yuzi anymore. All he wanted to do was get out of here as soon as possible, kill that rotten dragon outside, and vent his frustration.

Tap...tap...tap...!

The steady, deathly footsteps echoed from the stairwell. Xin Lailai calmly and slowly made her way up the steps, finally…

Crunch——!!

As the sound of the iron gate opening faded, and with the opening of the last iron gate blocking its path to the surface, a somewhat familiar stench of swamp, along with the light streaming down from the fortress entrance, entered Xin Lailai's senses.

Finally home.

Xin Lailai gazed at the scene before her, her eyes flickering slightly. Without hesitation, she walked straight towards the entrance they had missed once. Stepping out of the fortress from the suddenly open view, she trod on spell chips and arrived at the center of the open depression that had once sent them fleeing in disarray. She unleashed her aura without restraint, as if making some kind of invisible provocation. The next second—

"Roar--!!"

A deafening roar erupted, and almost at the same time Xin Lailai released her aura, a huge shadow descended from above the fortress. A rotting dragon, its body wreathed in eerie green flames, roared with excitement, like a hunter returning a fleeing prey. It flapped its wings and swooped down from the sky.

As Xin Lailai looked up at this scene, a chillingly gentle smile suddenly appeared on her face.

Hehe, so you really didn't leave?

"This is really... thank you for your persistence!"

Boom——! !

In the next instant, golden light burst forth, and the round shield in the black-haired youth's hand collided heavily with the dragon's claws that were swooping down from above. The orange-red flames in the rotting dragon's pupils flickered violently, and the entire dragon was brought to a stop by the precise block of this attack with a thud. It staggered and crashed into the swamp with a dull thud.

"Roar...?!" A somewhat bewildered dragon roar fell, and the giant dragon, whose head had been shaken twice by the backlash of the protective energy, shook its head. The flames in its eyes revealed a somewhat bewildered look, as if it could not understand what had just happened.

It had only been less than a day, but the black-haired youth seemed to have become much stronger than before, even giving it the illusion that it was facing the powerful monster that had killed it.

"Can't understand it? I suppose so... but these things aren't important to you anyway."

As the oppressive, deep voice finished speaking, Xin Lailai, who had just flown away from the giant dragon using her strength attribute, exhaled a puff of scorching white smoke, grabbed the elemental bottle, and threw it forward.

The next second, a long, drawn-out neighing sound rang out, and the gray spirit horse that had carried Xin Lailai to safety from the rotting dragon reappeared. Xin Lailai leaped forward, steadily mounting the horse, and gazed at the rotting dragon before her, its eyes filled with astonishment and suspicion. She flicked the reins and said indifferently:
"Let's go, Charité, it's time to start the revenge war."

"Hiss—!!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a long, triumphant neigh rang out. The gray spirit horse seemed to sense Xin Lailai's emotions and, without hesitation, lifted its hooves and charged straight toward the rotting dragon amidst the sharp whistling of the wind.

"Roar--!!"

Upon seeing this scene, the rotting dragon on the swamp stirred violently within the flames in its empty eye sockets, as if it had been provoked by the enormous movement of the tiny man and horse before it, which seemed as insignificant as ants. It immediately discarded its fleeting fear and confusion, and instead swung its jaws, spitting out a huge dark green fireball that blocked Xin Lailai's path.

"Charret".

A massive fireball streaked across the sky, but this time, Xin Lailai, who had experienced the power of fireballs before, showed no intention of dodging. Instead, she spurred her legs, commanding her gray spirit horse to leap high into the air, fearlessly charging straight at the oncoming fireball. And then—

Water Surface Slash - Modified!

Zheng——! !

In an instant, the clanging of the sword blades exploded in mid-air. Xin Lailai, who was in mid-air, suddenly drew her sword and slashed. The flashing, streak-like sword light cleaved the fireball, which was more than five meters wide, in two. The rotting dragon, which was preparing to pounce, suddenly froze. Then, out of its remaining survival instinct, it gripped the ground with all four paws like a dog suddenly braking, forcibly preventing itself from rushing to Xin Lailai's side.

boom!
The next second, the dark green fireball, cut in half, exploded from the swamp behind, creating two mud waves several meters high. Xin Lailai, who had successfully traversed the path cleared by the sword light with the help of her spirit horse and magic chip, did not stop at all. Like a knight unstoppable, she rode her gray spirit horse straight towards the rotting dragon.

In terms of physical attributes alone, an increase of 30 to 57 points is only slightly more than double. While this is enough for them to suppress the Rotting Dragon, whose strength performance is around 50 points, it is not enough for them to achieve absolute dominance.

The key is that for those who have developed all attributes without any blind spots, the improvement in attributes brings far more than just changes in physical strength. Energy manipulation precision, mana strength, nerve reflex speed, brain computing power... these derivative contents, which are not so intuitive and obvious, are the biggest improvements they get after their attributes are restored.

Especially in terms of the precision of energy manipulation, due to the limitations of the rules of this world, their use of their own magic power has always remained at an extremely rudimentary level. This has also resulted in many of the skills they developed early on being temporarily unusable when their intelligence attribute is insufficient.

But now, with the significant increase in their intelligence attribute, and thanks to their 'powerful brick-throwing' ability to manipulate energy, they can finally use their magic to perform some early techniques that they had almost forgotten. And this means...

—From this moment forward, the enemies who stand in their way will truly experience the terror of a top-tier mage and skill-based mage!
"Roar--!!"

On the swamp, the roar of a dinosaur, tinged with a hint of panic, faded away. The rotting dragon, which had been cleaved in two by a sword, did not hesitate. It flapped its wings and flew into the sky amidst the rising wind, clearly intending to flee the battlefield and escape from Xin Lailai, who was bringing it an intense sense of death.

Ultimately, for it, which had long been entangled in the curse, the pride of being a dragon was long gone. Although it would occasionally savor the sense of arrogance flowing through its flesh and blood while hunting its prey, when faced with death, running away was its most common choice. This was the most important reason why it had been able to survive the years of coexisting with the Mother of Birth until now.

however……

"Hiss—!!"

The spirit horse's long neighing rang out. In mid-air, the gray spirit horse, which should have fallen to the ground, actually took another step on the platform that had been generated by consuming a lot of magic power. It leaped up from the incredulous gaze of the rotting dragon and completed a double jump that covered a great distance in the air.

"Did I say I let you leave?!"

In the next instant, Xin Lailai's face, illuminated by the eerie green flames and resembling that of a demon god, suddenly appeared. Just like that, in the horrified gaze of the rotting dragon, she descended from the sky and stabbed the head of the rotting dragon, which was less than ten meters off the ground, with great force.

"roar…!!"

The sound of flesh being pierced rang out, followed by an extremely shrill roar. The rotting dragon, its vital organs severely damaged, let out a sharp cry and its body fell heavily to the ground uncontrollably, crashing back into the swamp with a thud. The mud it stirred up caused a light rain of mud to fall around it.

Zhila~!

The eerie green flames spread along the aquatic plants in the swamp, and the spilled mud cracked rapidly under the heat.

In the firelight, Xin Lailai, atop the rotting dragon's head, slowly rose to her feet. She glanced down at the weakened dragon, whom she had forcefully stabbed, then leaped to the side. As she landed near the dragon's eye socket, she activated the magic chip beneath her feet, creating a brief moment of suspended motion. From the dragon's somewhat desperate gaze, she took a sudden step forward, delivering a swift, afterimage-like thrust towards the orange-red flames flickering in its eyes.

The water surface... what a sight!
puff--! !

The next instant, an incredibly clear sound of flesh being pierced rang out, and a large amount of black blood gushed out from the rotting dragon's eye sockets. Its body trembled violently, and the health bar on the status bar slid down significantly.

Xin Lailai, who had landed a successful blow, did not linger. Instead, she used the fact that the opponent's body could instantly heal under the retrograde property to fix herself to the opponent's eye socket with the blade. Only after finding a foothold did she take a deep breath, look at the huge dragon eye in front of her that was half the size of her own body, and suddenly use gravity to slash downwards.

Hiss!

The ear-piercing sound of flesh tearing rang out, and in an instant, jet-black blood gushed freely from the wounds torn open, as if it were free. The still weakened, rotting dragon let out an extremely shrill roar, its entire body struggling desperately, and it seemed poised to soar into the sky once more...

Water Surface Slash - Modified.

A flash of icy sword light, like a bolt of lightning, caused the roar of the rotting dragon to freeze instantly. The dragon's head, which was more than three meters thick, slowly slid off its neck and fell to the side, revealing a smooth, mirror-like cross-section.

Om-! !

[The "Poisonous Dragon" has been defeated, Soul Points increased by 1200000 (800000 + 400000)]

The next second, the enormous dragon disintegrated, turning into ashes and specks of soul light. Xin Lailai casually flicked her sword, drank a mouthful of primal blue potion, and restored her nearly depleted mana bar to about 1/4. Only then did she let out a long sigh of relief, look at the gradually disintegrating dragon corpse in front of her, and reveal a satisfied smile.

Very good, it was worth it for him to hold it in that damn septic tank for so long, he finally got to enjoy himself!

……

(End of this chapter)