Chapter 149. Transform into a Fire Dragon
"Long time no see, Sessi.
How are things here?"
Duncan watched the surroundings warily.
"Don't worry, it's safe here."
Sessi slid from the top of Duncan's head to his shoulder and nuzzled his cheek affectionately.
"Where's Mist?"
Duncan asked.
He had been here for a while and still hadn't heard Mist's voice.
"Over there!" Sessi answered.
"Walk a few steps forward and you'll see him.
Mist is getting stronger and stronger!"
"Oh?"
Duncan ducked under a crosswise branch, stepped over a moss-covered dead log, and looked in the direction Sessi indicated.
Mist was hidden in a thicket of dense shrubs.
The green leaves concealed his furry body.
His face was set and solemn as he stared straight ahead, as if petrified.
He didn't even blink.
"Mist?"
Duncan murmured in puzzlement and let his gaze follow the line of Mist's sight.
Thick roots arched up from the earth, winding and coiling.
Six wizards in black robes stood among the gaps of the roots, each in a different pose.
Their masks had fallen to the ground.
Their eyes were vacant, their features contorted, their expressions uniformly strange and pained.
"Who are they?"
Duncan asked.
By rights, with the wizards already under control, an Occamy could have dealt with them easily.
There was no need to waste time here like this.
"Mist said these people are very bad, but also very important."
Sessi replied.
"Maybe Newt can interrogate something useful out of them, so he trapped them and planned to wait for Newt to arrive.
He didn't expect you to come, though.
There's no sign of Newt."
"I see.
He's worked hard."
Duncan quickly transfigured a nearby branch into ropes and bound the wizards tightly.
"Mist, that's enough.
You can rest now!"
Duncan called.
A few seconds later, Mist's eyelashes trembled lightly, and he lifted his magical effect.
To keep those wizards trapped, Mist had held intense concentration for a long time, and the sudden relaxation left his head swimming.
The wizards were worse off.
They had been wandering through an endless maze inside an illusion, and now, dragged out all at once, their minds couldn't keep up.
They crashed in unison onto the jutting roots.
Just watching it made Duncan wince.
"Are you all right?"
Duncan hurried to Mist's side, concern in his voice at the sight of his fatigue.
"I'm fine.
Just a tiny bit tired."
Mist's eyes warmed with a smile.
"It's been a while.
How's school?
If anyone bullies you, tell me, and I'll go teach them a lesson!"
"Got it.
But it'd be hard for them to bully me anyway.
They're no match for me."
Duncan said with a grin.
Unlike the other animals in the case, Mist acted with steadiness and was full of care for Duncan, like another Tina.
"Right, Mist, I prepared a gift for you..."
Duncan reached to take out the pretty doll.
But Mist abruptly turned his head, expression grave, and his sharp gaze shot into the distance, where vines hanging from branches were trembling.
Perched high and on watch, Sessi shouted, "Duncan, Mist, someone else is coming.
Do you want me to—"
"Don't move, Sessi!"
Mist said sternly.
"Their presence is terrifying.
You're no match for them!"
Duncan's brows knit tight.
He tried to nudge open the clasp in secret, but the moment he moved, a gale swept in from afar.
The smaller trees all around bowed against their will.
Branches cracked with crisp snaps and spun skyward as they shattered.
Mist flashed aside, hugged a jutting root with his forepaws, and casually wrapped Duncan in his tail to keep him from being blown away.
"Ha ha!
I gambled right.
These creatures really are connected to you.
You actually came.
My waiting was worth it!"
A hoarse, elderly voice rode on the wind.
The speaker's tone climbed higher and higher until he ended shrieking like a banshee.
Shielding his face with his hand, Duncan squinted ahead.
A wizard was strolling along the corridor the gale had scoured through the wood.
"You again?!"
Duncan tensed at the sight of the greying hair, the hunched frame, the familiar mask.
"Without getting you, how could I bear to leave?"
Bishop Charles drew closer step by step.
Mad light leaked from the two round holes in his mask.
"You are the hope of everything I mean to do.
Only with you can I realise my ideal."
"Duncan, who is this lunatic?"
Mist asked in a low, wary voice.
"A wizard we ran into in the canyon.
He seems to be their leader."
Duncan replied.
"Give it up.
Those two magical creatures have no way to save you.
Don't even think about opening the case, or I will kill you on the spot!"
Bishop Charles's voice was edged with icy murder as he studied Duncan carefully, then said,
"But I can give you a chance.
Tell me all your secrets, agree to work with me, and I'll spare your life!"
"What do you want to know?"
Duncan asked, his expression a mix of reluctance and struggle.
He looked like he didn't want to work with Charles at all, but had no other choice.
"You've made the right decision."
Bishop Charles was pleased and even gentled his tone.
"Those magical creatures seem to obey you.
What method did you use to control them?"
What method?
I have a system—scrub a creature's body and I can obtain the magic you dream of!
Would you believe that?
But why does he crave this ability of mine so badly?
What exactly are these people researching?
Duncan's expression didn't change.
His brows stayed knitted.
"I—it's complicated.
I don't know how to explain it for the moment..."
he said, unwilling.
"No matter."
Bishop Charles's lips curled.
Devilish light flickered in his eyes.
"As long as you're willing, we'll have plenty of time to go over it slowly."
"Duncan, he means you harm.
You must be careful."
Sensing the turn, Mist warned him.
Duncan gave the slightest nod, then said, "What do I get?
And why should I trust you?
With your strength, even if you go back on your word, I'd have no way to resist."
"No, I won't.
We can swear an oath."
Bishop Charles said.
"As for what you get—"
His pitch suddenly surged.
He raised both hands, rapturous.
"I can show you the other side of this world.
I can take you to trace magic back to its source.
We will become the most powerful wizards in the world, and everything will be in our hands!"
The source of magic?
Four words sprang into Duncan's mind.
He very much wanted to ask more.
But Bishop Charles, lost in mania, had dropped his guard completely.
It was the perfect chance for a sneak attack!
"The source of magic?"
Duncan repeated, all confusion, while his hand behind his back flashed Mist a big signal.
"It's normal to have questions now..."
Bishop Charles sounded like a kindly professor as he began to explain.
Then a sudden crack of a branch snapped by his ear.
His peripheral vision flicked aside on instinct.
Duncan moved forward.
Veins bulged on his face as if he were bearing great pain.
Puzzlement flickered across Charles's eyes—then gave way to horror.
Duncan's face elongated in a rush.
Saw-toothed fangs crowded his jaws.
His hands and feet turned into razor talons.
Giant pinions unfurled from either side of his body.
Armoured scales with a metallic sheen swept over his skin.
In the time it took for his foot to rise and fall, he had become a fearsome, hideous Fire Dragon.
"Filthy sewer maggot, how dare you—"
Bishop Charles's furious words cut off mid-sentence.
A sky-blotting foot was dropping straight down on the crown of his head.
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