Red Dragon Monster Hunter Template.

"Praise the rising sun!"

"Praise be to the hope that purifies darkness!"

…………

The enormous red dragon slumbered deep within the underground magma, its body curled up in a ball, its broad wing membranes enveloping it, its shape resembling a perfectly round giant egg.

Since when, faint prayers often lingered in Thor's ears, and invisible forces extended from afar, like hundreds or thousands of transparent threads.

He instinctively followed the silk thread, his gaze instantly traversing thousands of kilometers to see a valley as beautiful as a poem.

At the end of the valley stands a cliff that looks as if it has been melted and then solidified again, with the texture of obsidian. A circular sun disc is carved on the cliff face, and in the center of the sun disc, the outline of a strong red dragon is faintly engraved.

Below the cliff, a large group of people dressed in simple red robes knelt on the ground in devout prayer. They opened their arms toward the rising sun as if embracing its warmth, their eyes glistening with tears of emotion.

These belong to his followers.

These are his people who serve him.

The moment Thor saw these figures clearly, he naturally understood where they came from.

The Valley of Balovia, which was once dragged into the Shadow Realm, returned to the Prime Material Plane after being purified by Thor and guided by the laws of the world.

These people are the original inhabitants of Balovia, who have lived and thrived in the Shadow Realm for thousands of years, and have long since developed extremely strong resilience and endurance.

The surrounding environment changed drastically, but instead of collapsing and sinking into despair, they quickly adapted to the new world.

Logically speaking, as a race born in the Shadow Realm, their bloodline is naturally filled with shadow and negative energy. If they choose to become a Wanderer, Shadow Weaver, or Necromancer, their path to becoming stronger will definitely be twice as easy.

Thor's feat of purifying the demiplane left an indelible mark on their hearts, and instead ignited an extreme fervor for fire and light in them.

After rebuilding their homes, the vast majority of the indigenous people of Balova spontaneously built a statue of the red dragon, and a sect that worshipped the red sun took root in the valley.

On this day, they prayed again at sunrise. When Thor's power had touched the realm of the sun, their intense faith finally found a place to belong.

A continuous stream of fervent emotions surged towards Thor through an invisible bond. If an ordinary legendary powerhouse were to diligently cultivate this faith, perhaps they could ignite a divine fire within it.

But Thor had no intention of ascending to godhood at this moment. He could only channel the surging power of faith into the wheel deep within his consciousness, transforming it into a gradually accumulating essence of spiritual power.

However, the surging power within him, without any deliberate study or prior preparation, propelled him into a completely new realm—godlike power.

The power of gods is a very broad and numerous level of the extraordinary. Some are the sworn enemies of the gods, some have formed alliances with the gods, some have already ascended to the throne of gods, and some were born from the power of the gods.

Their forms vary greatly, including demon lords of the abyss, great devils of hell, elemental gods, exemplars of the heavens, beast lords of the wilderness, and many powerful spirits.

The strong among them, such as the Lady of Pain and the Singularity, possess power comparable to that of powerful gods; while the weak, like the Rabbit Lord, are even weaker than the White Dragon.

Even so, many god-like powers are still revered as guardian spirits by tribes and races and are worshipped by people.

Most of them do not need to rely on faith to maintain their existence and power, but they can bestow divine arts and power upon believers like gods. However, they cannot rely on faith to continuously strengthen themselves like true gods, unless they take the final step and complete their ascension to godhood.

The endless stream of faith flowing along the bond condensed into a pure essence, bringing a faint joy to Thor's heart. The magic emanating from his body also flowed in the opposite direction along the connection, traveling towards the distance.

The residents of Palovia, who were praying devoutly in the distance, felt as if a majestic dragon shadow was faintly emerging in the rising sun, its warm light bathing them and filling their bodies with intense and powerful energy.

Someone subconsciously stretched out their palm, and tiny specks of light emanated from their body, condensing into a bright sphere of light in their palm.

That was just the simplest light spell, capable of illuminating the darkness, without any lethality or mysterious supernatural power.

Looking at the small ball of light in their palms, all the people of Palovia could not hide their excitement, and many even wept with joy.

The crimson sun answered their prayers, allowing their people, who had wandered in the Shadow Realm for thousands of years, to finally touch land like seeds adrift on the sea, and for their wandering souls to find their home.

…………

After a brief moment of consciousness, Thor once again fell into a long slumber.

Liquid gold gushing from the ground surrounded his body, like a pool of golden amniotic fluid, gently undulating.

The elements of fire and earth are highly concentrated here, condensing into countless nascent elemental life forms like specks of light. They have no self-awareness yet, and simply drift around in a daze.

The Starfeather Butterflies attached to Thor were attracted by these specks of light, vibrating their elytra with excited chirps as they darted and chased each other through the lava.

As they swallowed the specks of light, their bodies swelled slightly, and radiating, luminous patterns gradually appeared on their shells, as if something was slowly being conceived within them.

Time passed slowly, and the largest and strongest Starfeather Butterfly, having absorbed enough energy, stopped chasing the scattered points of light and returned to nestle against Thor, falling asleep together.

As the red dragon's magic spread, its metallic shell gradually melted away.

First, the hard elytra turned into molten iron, which slowly flowed down the body, revealing the soft inner membrane and the white skin at the base of the wings.

As more and more of the carapace melted, the skin continued to extend, slowly transforming into a smooth back, a slender waist, long limbs, and a head of long hair that flowed like light.

A naked young woman with beautiful feathers growing on her back, a newborn spirit, slowly appeared.

At birth, she was smaller than an average human, about 1.5 meters tall, and was enveloped in a soft light, with delicate and charming features.

A golden-red rapier lay quietly at her feet, slender and sharp, formed from the horns that had sprouted from the top of her head.

The newly born elytra spirit had not yet adapted to her new form. She staggered to her feet, and the moment her hand touched the hilt of the sword, a sharp light suddenly burst forth from her body.

Chapter 442 The Mad Mage

The Star Feather Butterfly is a unique creation formed by the fusion of the essence of a beetle and the body of an elemental life form. It is not a living being of flesh and blood, and therefore does not belong to the beetle category in biological classification, but rather to the spirit category.

Just like the Beetle Lord in the Beast Garden, the Holy Beetle Elder in the Muhammad Desert, and the Sparkling Imp in the Fairy Wilderness, although they all have the appearance of beetles, their essence is similar to that of fairies.

The stronger these creatures are, the closer their form becomes to that of a human.

The Starfeather Butterfly, which coexists with Thor, is already an elite member of its kind and is now undergoing a large-scale transformation.

One by one, the newly born elytra took flight, like radiant angels, surrounding the crimson-gold dragon and creating an atmosphere of solemn and sacred grandeur.

Whether out of instinctive shyness or a natural fondness for beautiful things, they began to actively collect gold and gems from the lava, using their magical abilities to weave and shape them into exquisite ornaments to adorn themselves.

A faint sense of joy emanated from the mental link, briefly waking Thor from his slumber and causing him to open his pair of vertical pupils, which were like molten gold.

With just one glance, he saw through the true nature of these elytra demons. Unmoved by their alluring appearance, he let out a low growl of displeasure.

The group of spirits, like radiant angels, immediately quieted down, turning into specks of light and drifting down to respectfully surround the enormous dragon.

The deep underground returned to silence, except that every now and then new fire and lava elements would condense and take shape, instinctively approaching Thor, only to be killed and devoured by the elytra beside them.

Despite their outward appearance as pure and gentle women, the Star Feather Butterfly still retains its innate killing instinct deep within them.

…………

The celestial anomalies caused by Thor's slumber this time were far more intense than ever before, even affecting the Crimson City of Golden Radiance built around Mount Doom, which was nearly destroyed.

The rising mountains tore through the earth, and the crisscrossing rift valleys spread out like a spider web, only to be slowly filled by the gushing lava.

The surrounding mountains, large and small, have either risen and bulged, sunk and collapsed, or collided and merged, making it impossible to discern their original outlines.

All the buildings built against the mountain collapsed, and a large amount of gold and silver treasures were buried under the rubble and lava. Fortunately, the casualties were not too serious.

After all, the crustal turmoil caused by the slumber of the Dragon Lord has occurred several times, and the creatures that choose to settle here all have corresponding means of coping.

If an ordinary city-state were to suffer such a catastrophe, it would most likely perish. Putting aside the direct damage, the manpower and resources required for reconstruction alone would be unbearable.

At this moment, the earth giants enslaved from the earth elemental plane came in handy. The mud and rocks in their hands were like soft dough, which could be kneaded and shaped at will.

If it weren't for the aftershocks of the anomaly still intermittently shaking the earth, they would have been able to repair the entire city in less than a week.

Amidst this chaos, an old man with gray hair, disheveled beard, and a somewhat mad demeanor, relying on his powerful spellcasting abilities, ventured deep into Thor's territory.

…………

When the last King of the Mechanists was stabbed to death by Horus on the steps of the palace, the ancient Empire of Imasca was destroyed. Yet, one man survived the long passage of time and is known to the world as the Mad Mage.

This highly skilled spellcaster was once a young man with ideals and a sense of justice. However, the long period of dormancy after the fall of the empire, coupled with years of research into other dimensions, gradually eroded and distorted his mind.

Later, he was commissioned by the goddess of magic to go to Aphrodite in the underworld to rescue the imprisoned Ilminster. After the mission failed, he was imprisoned and suffered long torture in the devil's cage.

But what truly drove him to madness was the tower that Hyrast built with his seven apprentices on the northwestern highlands of Waterdeep.

During the excavation of the basement, he commanded his summoned creatures to dig downwards, and one day they suddenly unearthed the mithril mining hall of the Myleken dwarf clan.

He was pleasantly surprised to find that this underground space was exceptionally vast and connected to the Dark Underworld. He immediately decided to make this place his own territory.

A brutal massacre ensued, and all the grey dwarves and drow elves who had inhabited the area perished at his hands. In the midst of this slaughter, he was also swept up by a strange restlessness.

Unbeknownst to him, deep underground, there existed a vast magical distortion field that continuously emitted radiation that confused and disturbed the mind.

His already damaged mind became increasingly chaotic under the corrosive effects of radiation. He became obsessed with exploring and transforming this underground space. Over the course of a long century, he purged all his opponents and also took in all sorts of monsters.

In order to build this place into his own underground labyrinth, he constantly set up traps and traveled to other continents and other dimensions to capture all kinds of dangerous monsters and imprison them in the labyrinth.

His increasingly obsessive and insane behavior terrified his apprentices, who eventually chose to escape. However, the vast majority of them were captured by him and even transformed into twisted monsters.

By this point, he had completely succumbed to madness, obsessed with collecting ferocious monsters and studying magic to twist and modify them.

When the fire dragon that Thor had bred swept across the airspace of his territory, it instantly caught his eye, and he forcibly abducted the fire dragon into his dungeon.

This was a completely new monster he had never seen before. The more he observed it, the stronger his greed became, and he wanted to obtain more of its kind.

So, taking advantage of the Red Emperor's slumber, he didn't hesitate to sneak into the enemy's territory, intending to plunder it.

…………

Herast left vast wilderness behind, and soon a boundless forest and lush grassland came into view.

This is the animal park designated by Thor, a pasture specifically for supplying prey to the Dragon Lord.

A ferocious roar suddenly exploded, and a Tyrannosaurus Rex, nearly twenty meters long, with bulging muscles, dark green skin, and a thick, long tail, leaped up and slammed a herbivorous behemoth to the ground.

Its wild appearance, with its thick fangs extending beyond its upper and lower jaws, filled Harast with delight. He casually cast several spells to knock the giant beast unconscious, then used magic to drag it behind him.

As he continued deeper into the beast garden, more and more ferocious and dangerous giant beasts came into view, all of which he subdued with his magic.

Only after he had almost searched through all the species in the garden did he take to the air and eagerly head back towards his underground labyrinth.

The park guards who rushed to the scene couldn't catch up at all and could only roar in anger.

"Damn sheep thief!!"

As he flew over the deepwater harbor, the city's powerful figures and rulers sensed something amiss and looked up at the sky, their hearts sinking.

Wait! What did you bring back?

Chapter 443 Awakening

The Mad Mage has been one of the biggest problems facing Deepwater Harbor for a long time. He settled here long before the port city was just a small fishing village.

Over the next 1,300 years, he transformed the dark region beneath Deepwater Mountain into a constantly changing living prison.

They slaughtered the dwarves and drow who originally lived here, allowed otherworldly monsters to ravage the underground, and wantonly manipulated the interdimensional portals.

His abduction triggered a massive portal rampage, unleashing countless otherworldly monsters upon the land of Faerûn.

He betrayed and murdered his apprentices, taking pleasure in the struggles of adventurers; his long-running dimensional experiments continued to leak chaotic energy, polluting the entire Underdark, threatening the safety of Skull Harbor and Deepwater Harbor, and bringing long and disorderly chaos and disaster to the Northland.

Although this person is officially classified as Chaotic Neutral, the disaster he brought to Deepwater Harbor and even the entire Northland is in no way inferior to those notorious large evil organizations.

Faced with such a major threat, successive rulers of the deepwater port naturally wanted to eliminate it and took many actions, but all of them ultimately failed.

This old madman acts erratically, but his spellcasting skills and overall strength are definitely among the top in the prime material plane.

Legend has it that he once traveled to outer planes with his soul, deliberately abandoning his physical body to fake his death, and returned after decades or even hundreds of years, able to reassemble his body.

In addition, his masterful dimensional teleportation and cloning techniques make him a formidable opponent, leaving almost everyone who intends to deal with him feeling powerless.

Fortunately, as he became increasingly engrossed in managing the underground city, the Mad Mage rarely left the underground and gradually faded from the world's view.

No one expected that his reappearance after more than a century would cause such a huge mess.

…………

Inside a secluded council chamber, Lyra Silverhand urgently summoned the masked lords to discuss how to deal with the crisis.

One after another, figures clad in black robes and wearing magic masks entered the hall and sat on either side of the long table.

They are oligarchs in all sectors of Waterdeep, influencing the city's direction in every way. Even the nominal public lords cannot make many important decisions without their approval.

Seeing that most of the attendees had arrived, Lyra Silverhand skipped the pleasantries and got straight to the point.

"You are all aware of what Hyrast has done. Those strangely shaped dragon-like behemoths can only be found in the Red Emperor's territory."