Evolving by devouring from a young dragon

Auduin sensed it.

There was an inexplicable chill in his territory.

The chilling aura wafted out of the cave entrance, gliding silently along the mine tunnel, disappearing into the swamp.

It was so faint that even the ventilation runes set up by Grimm were not noticed, and it was extremely fast, arriving near the cave entrance in just a few breaths.

It paused briefly as it passed by Blue, then continued on its way.

The rune on Bru's chest flickered, making him frown, but he did not wake up from the dream.

The aura passed through the swamp, through the trenches dug by the kobolds, and through the traps set by the lizardmen, moving unimpeded all the way.

It was too weak, so weak that all the defenses ignored it.

It saw many things, such as the runes on Blue's body and the fire spirit on the dragon's body, which were things its master wanted to know.

Its owner can't see it; it must leave here and tell him.

We're almost out of the swamp.

Once it leaves this place and reaches the Hill of Dry Bones, it will find its master, and then...

But at that moment, it stopped moving.

A wall appeared in front of it.

It wasn't a real wall, but a barrier formed from pure fire magic. The chilling aura crashed into it, like a moth drawn to a flame, making a soft hissing sound.

It quickly retreated, then slid along the base of the wall, trying to find an opening to go around it.

But the flames gave it no chance, transforming directly into a large net that completely enveloped it. It spun around in the net several times, growing more and more anxious and panicked.

Then it sensed a pair of eyes watching it, and at the same time, a powerful pressure caused its aura to dim.

Alduin watched as the grayish-black aura twisted and deformed under the embers, coalescing into a figure that was extremely pale yet remarkably clear.

Ig's Serpent.

Auduin narrowed his eyes.

As he expected, the soul of the Serpent of Ig had been corrupted by the undead and had become a pawn of the lich.

After killing the bone lich, he originally intended to get rid of this threat, but then gave up, perhaps it would be more interesting to keep it.

A hooded figure stood deep in the dense forest, a wisp of pale gray mist swirling around his bony fingers.

He closed his eyes and stretched his consciousness out through the mist, trying to see what was happening on the other side of the swamp, but all he could perceive was a blurry, dark red halo; he couldn't see anything clearly.

He frowned.

The black dragon's flames... were more domineering than expected.

Even the slightest hint of flame will completely block out one's senses.

His lips twitched slightly beneath the hood, then he shook his head.

This thing was just a random toy of his, so it's normal that it doesn't last long.

"Interesting," he muttered to himself, his voice hoarse. "Caught? But the territory's defenses are known now, and that's enough..."

Auduin watched the little snake struggle and a playful smile appeared on his face.

He had suspected it all along, but he had been waiting for the other party to take the bait. Now, they had finally come to him.

Alduin's vertical pupils narrowed slightly, a glint of dark gold flashing in his eyes.

Instead of burning it, he loosened a corner of the net of embers, making the little snake think it had found an opening.

It fell for the trick and desperately squeezed out of the net. Its gray-black body was burned away by the flames, becoming smaller and weaker, but it didn't care about that and fled desperately toward the hill of withered bones.

Alduin watched its departing figure, a cold smile curving his lips slightly upward.

He then withdrew the embers, and the dragon's might slowly dissipated. He retreated back to his nest, lay back on the pile of treasure, and the fire spirit chick poked its head out from between his dragon horns, chirping as if asking, "Why did you let it go?"

"No rush," Alduin said softly, stretching out his tail to push the fledgling towards the dragon's horns. "Let it run. The farther the better."

Who is the prey and who is the hunter is still uncertain...

Deep in the dense forest, the hooded figure's fingers twitched.

He sensed that the remnant soul he had abandoned had returned.

It wasn't he who summoned it back; it escaped on its own, struggling free from the net of embers, traversing the hills of withered bones and piles of shattered bones, and burrowing into the area he could reach.

A slight smile played on his lips beneath the hood. "We escaped..." he muttered to himself, his voice hoarse and tinged with smugness. "That dragon was nothing special after all."

He hesitated for a moment, then reached out and caught it. The remnant soul danced on his fingertips, and the gray-black mist had weakened to the point of almost dissipating.

He probed his consciousness into it and saw a blurry image.

Dark red light, golden flames, and a pair of cold, vertical pupils staring intently at him in the darkness!

What?!

His expression suddenly changed, the eerie green soul fire beneath his hood began to flicker violently, and his fingertips clenched tightly, almost crushing the remnant soul of the Serpent of Ig in his bone claws.

……

After Alduin sensed that the remnant soul had merged into a skeleton in the Bone Hills and disappeared, he closed his eyes and carefully sensed it.

The scorching flames that burned the soul did not completely dissipate. Instead, Alduin took the opportunity to plant a dragon soul mark on it, which allowed him to sense the approximate location of the other party.

"Finally, they've taken the bait." Alduin's eyes gleamed with amusement.

He had anticipated that the lich would not give up easily, but he had not expected that the other party would use such a clumsy method to probe his bottom line.

The Serpent of Ig was originally a pawn casually crafted by the Bone Lich, but now, severely damaged by Emberfire, it has become the perfect "messenger".

……

Uh ah—

He let out a suppressed roar, hastily severing the spiritual connection with the remnant soul, but it was too late.

The dragon's might caught him off guard, causing him to freeze for a moment. At that moment, the dragon soul mark hidden in his remnant soul suddenly exploded, and the scorching fire magic within instantly entangled his bone claws.

No, this was not a lucky escape at all!

This is a complete trap!

He realized what was happening, and the necromantic mist around his body surged wildly, forcefully extinguishing the embers. His face darkened.

Looking at the dissipated snake spirit, he snorted coldly, then turned and left without lingering any longer.

In the depths of the decaying swamp, deep within the dragon's lair.

A glint of dark gold flashed in Alduin's vertical pupils, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

He had just pinpointed the opponent's exact location using the reverse resonance of the Dragon Soul Mark.

Deep in the Moon Whisper Forest on the northern slope of the Hengduan Mountains.

"Found it."

Alduin murmured, closed his eyes again, and lay down on the pile of treasure, his tail tip gently brushing against the downy feathers of the Fire Spirit chick.

Not urgent.

The Moon Whisper Forest is thousands of miles away, spanning wind-eroded deserts and mountains. Leaving his nest rashly would require a large amount of dragon power. Moreover, his current strength is not enough to kill a complete lich head-on.

But he had already given the other party enough warnings, so things should be much quieter from now on, and he could take this opportunity to grow in peace.

With this thought in mind, Auduin closed his eyes completely and fell into a deep sleep.

The magical furnace in its stomach slowly turned, continuously tempering the dragon's body, and the faint embers surrounding it grew increasingly intense.

Let's make a note of this debt for now.

Once he has enough strength, he will naturally follow the mark and personally go to settle accounts.