I'm in Mota, and they all want me to confess my feelings!

The moment the sword touched the opponent's arm, it instantly solidified into a translucent crystal, reflecting an eerie light in the dim light—before shattering and scattering in all directions!

This sudden change startled Duanmu Yan slightly, then he suddenly realized—

It is Koleta's resonance ability.

Although this crystal swift blade is merely a projection created by her abilities, containing less than one-tenth of the power of her original body, it still inherits some of the characteristics of her abilities.

Duanmu Yan gently brushed away the remaining crystal fragments from the sword's edge and muttered to himself.

"It seems... it's enough to deal with these things." Liu Yi [I%迩8 司咝爸]

The remaining elephant roared and charged at him again.

Duanmu Yan spun around and swung his blade, and wherever the blade passed, the limbs of the remaining elephant solidified and shattered one after another.

He moved through the fog like a bolt of lightning, each strike sending up a cloud of crystallized fragments.

The roars continued incessantly through the fog, and he fought with increasing ferocity, his eyes gleaming with an almost blazing light.

As mentioned earlier, Duanmu Yan's practical experience was extremely scarce, even practically nonexistent.

Strangely, however, his body seemed to be already familiar with combat.

Every swing of the sword, every dodge, is driven by a deep-seated instinct—flowing smoothly and cleanly, without any unnecessary or cumbersome movements.

Even Duanmu Yan himself was puzzled by this.

"Am I really that good at fighting?"

"Roar--!!"

Just then, a deafening roar suddenly erupted, and the overwhelming pressure caused all the remaining images to freeze and become unable to move.

Duanmu Yan couldn't help but feel a chill, and suddenly looked up at the gloomy sky torn apart by lightning—

Amidst the churning, thick clouds, a massive shadow was moving back and forth at an astonishing speed, its shape unpredictable and its presence terrifying.

He gazed at the sky and murmured softly.

"that is……"

"dragon?"

Without a doubt, that was a dragon.

It spread its ferocious wings that blotted out the sky, appearing abruptly from the cold wind and thunderclouds, its icy vertical pupils looking down at the earth as if a god were looking down on ants.

"This is terrible..."

"The Second Miss didn't mention that such creatures exist on this island..."

Volume One: Chapter Thirty-One The Fools' Troupe

In Lina Xita, there are indeed fantastical creatures like dragons.

But Duanmu Yan never saw it with his own eyes.

Almost everyone believes that the dragon is nothing more than a fleeting glimpse of glory in the remnants of the old century, destined to fade away.

Until this moment—

He not only saw it.

Moreover, he was facing a pair of vertical pupils belonging to an evil dragon, burning with the fires of the abyss.

"...They're up to no good."

Duanmu Yan stared at the shadows in the sky, while constantly observing his surroundings, thinking about where he could hide.

But this desolate coastline is empty except for the wreckage of ships torn apart by the waves and dark reefs.

This meant he had nowhere to hide and was completely exposed to the dragon's gaze, as clear as an ink stain on a blank sheet of paper.

Aside from defeating it head-on, it seems there's only one other option left—

"run!"

The thought flashed through my mind in an instant, without the slightest hesitation.

Duanmu Yan suddenly turned around, rushed out of the temporarily stunned herd of elephants, and ran as fast as he could in the distance.

High in the sky, the dragon let out a roar that tore through the heavens, and scorching dragon flames erupted from its ferocious maw, sweeping across the entire coastline like a rain of fire from the apocalypse. The remaining images turned to ashes and vanished without a trace the moment the dragon flames touched them.

Duanmu Yan did not turn around, but he could clearly feel the surging heat coming from behind him, like a scorching wall pressing down on his back.

The dragon roared as it approached, carrying a suffocating pressure, as if the entire sky were collapsing to the ground.

He saw the light around him being rapidly swallowed up, and the enormous dragon shadow spread like a tide, completely engulfing the last ray of light.

There's no escaping it.

"It's too fast!"

In that case——

Duanmu Yan suddenly stopped and turned to face the colossal shadow that blotted out the sky. Just as the dragon was about to pounce, he leaped up and landed precisely on its scaly head.

Without the slightest hesitation, he gripped the hilt of the sword with both hands, raised the sword high above his head, and thrust it down with all his might towards the dragon's head directly below!

The sword tip struck the scales with a piercing clang, but could not advance even an inch further.

The dragon's hide was much harder than imagined; it was impossible to penetrate it with brute force alone.

"Tsk, where's my resonance ability?"

"Now is the time to activate it! Quickly, devour the frequency of this evil dragon!"

No matter how he tried to activate it, the power within him remained as still as stagnant water.

Beneath the sword's edge, the evil dragon remained unharmed, and the resonance he had hoped for never materialized.

The dragon suddenly raised its head and let out a furious roar, then violently swung its body, trying to throw Duanmu Yan off its head.

Duanmu Yan gripped the sword hilt embedded in the dragon scales with both hands, but he still couldn't withstand the terrifying force. He was thrown into the air and crashed heavily onto the beach below.

The soft sand absorbed most of the impact, and he staggered to his feet. Fortunately, he was not injured, except for his numb arms.

"Tsk, trouble."

He quickly gripped his longsword, assumed a fighting stance once more, and frowned deeply as he looked at the roaring, swirling dragon in the sky.

What should I do now?

My own attacks are completely ineffective against it.

As his thoughts raced, the dragon opened its massive jaws once more, and blazing light gathered in its throat, condensing into a dragon flame that could incinerate everything before bursting forth!

Wherever the flames reached, the air twisted and steamed, and all matter was annihilated, as if even space itself was collapsing in the heat.

Duanmu Yan's pupils suddenly contracted, and he instinctively wanted to turn around and run away—but he froze at the last second.

His right hand involuntarily rose up, heading straight for the devastating dragon flames!

"what happened?!"

He tried desperately to pull his arm back, but he couldn't move it at all.

On the back of his hand, the sound marks were shimmering with an unprecedented golden light.

Could it be that……?

Before Duanmu Yan could even think, the destructive dragon flames roared and pounced towards him!

He instinctively closed his eyes, but the expected burning pain did not come—instead, a surging, turbulent wind swept sand and stones towards his face.

He slowly opened his eyes and was shocked to see that the dragon flame that should have devoured everything was actually disintegrating inch by inch in front of him on the right, turning into countless fireflies-like frequencies, which were absorbed by his palm.

Only when the last wisp of flame disappeared into his palm did the shimmering golden marks on the back of his hand gradually subside and return to silence.

"What... happened?"

Duanmu Yan looked at his right hand with a look of astonishment and disbelief.

Although he had guessed that he had a resonance ability, he did not expect that the activation conditions would be so demanding.

—It should only be launched when life or death is at stake.

What if I die because the machine doesn't start in time?

Doesn't that seem rather pointless?

However, Duanmu Yan had no time to think about it now.

The dragon seemed to be stunned for a moment after seeing its breath inexplicably swallowed, but it quickly reacted, let out an even more furious roar, and swooped down towards him!

boom--! !

Just then, several deafening roars erupted from the depths of the island!

Several shells streaked across the sky like fiery meteors, striking the dragon's hard scales with precision and exploding into bursts of flame.

Although such an attack seemed unlikely to inflict a fatal wound, it thoroughly ignited its fury.

The dragon let out a deafening roar, flapped its wings violently, ignored Duanmu Yan on the beach, turned around and sped off towards the direction from which the cannonballs were coming!

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, we're late."

A clear voice came from the thick fog, and several figures gradually approached.

The leader was a young man dressed as a captain, with a hearty smile on his face.

And beside him was a little girl... riding on a box-shaped device with two arms.

Their attire was so bizarre it was almost absurd, completely out of place with the atmosphere of this desolate coast.

Duanmu Yan turned around and looked at them, his eyes filled with wariness and doubt: "Who are you?"

“Let me introduce myself,” the young man stepped forward and gave a composed bow. “I am Brant, the director of the Fools’ Troupe. This is my first mate—don’t let her young age fool you, she’s a very reliable partner.”

"Hello... I'm Rococo." The little girl greeted him timidly. "My name is Rococo."

“We were originally entrusted by Miss Coleta to meet you at sea,” Brandt said, his tone slightly apology. “Unexpectedly, fog suddenly rolled in at sea, and all our terminals malfunctioned. We just received Miss Coleta’s emergency coordinates—so we rushed over immediately. I’m so sorry.”

"It's alright." Hearing Koleta's name, Duanmu Yan relaxed slightly. "However, that evil dragon..."

“Don’t worry, that was actually a decoy we set up. Nobody was there.” Brant smiled and waved his hand. “Before it returns, let’s head back to the base. As an apology, I’d like to offer you, my distinguished guest, some of my treasured wine.”

“What kind of fine wine has been treasured for many years…” Rococo, riding on the trunk, suddenly looked up and bluntly exposed, “Isn’t it just wine that was secretly bought with the theater troupe’s funds?”

“Uh… haha, so you knew all along.” A hint of embarrassment flashed across Brant’s face as he quickly straightened his captain’s hat. “Let’s go, distinguished guest, it’s time to set off for—the Fool’s Path.”

Duanmu Yan nodded, but only when he lifted his foot did he do so.

Then he heard a voice.

"what happened?"

Upon seeing Duanmu Yan suddenly standing there in a daze, the two people walking in front of him turned around and looked at him simultaneously.

Duanmu Yan shook his head and asked in confusion.

Did any of you just say... you were very hungry?

Volume 1: Chapter 32 As Tall as Koletta

Dark clouds surged.

Duanmu Yan followed behind Brandt and Rococo, his eyes cautiously scanning the surroundings.

Scattered along the coast are not only the wreckage of ships broken by storms or reefs, but also many boats flying religious flags—almost intact, yet stranded in droves on the beach, like abandoned giants, silent and desolate.

At that moment, Koleta's meaningful words before he set off suddenly became clear in his mind.

He paused, stopping in front of a sailboat jutting out into the sand, and muttered to himself.

"These ships...could they be pilgrimage ships belonging to a religious order?"

The two people walking ahead turned around at the same time upon hearing the sound.

Brandt crossed his arms, a half-smile playing on his lips, his tone a mix of sarcasm and a certain nonchalant coolness.

“In Laguna, those who break the law are sent to the absolutist court for trial. Those who violate the doctrine are labeled ‘fools’ by the religious order and sent on this so-called pilgrimage ship—euphemistically called retracing the holy path and reflecting on their foolishness.”

"Although the religious order has always claimed that as long as sinners are devout and wait patiently for the right time, they will eventually return to Raguna, in reality..."

He paused, lowered his voice, but spoke clearly.

"This is nothing more than an excuse used by the religious order to cover up its sins."