The low, chilling voice echoed relentlessly within Kurose Akira's mind, forcing him to halt in his tracks for an instant.
At the same time, information related to the Sage surfaced once more.
[Clue to the Sage: He revered the great Crimson Dragon, even to the point of sacrificing his life for it.]
"Crimson Dragon…?"
Hearing that title, Akira's brows drew together tightly.
What kind of dragon could compel a Sage to bow in submission?
A demigod?Or perhaps…
"What did you just say?"Luciya caught Akira's murmur and turned to ask him.
"The Crimson Dragon," Akira replied. "The name of the dragon that the Sage's remains are kneeling before."
"..."
Upon hearing the words Crimson Dragon, Luciya fell silent, deep in thought. A faint glimmer passed through her beautiful eyes.
"You know of its existence?" Akira asked.
Luciya nodded. "Yes. But what I know is that the Crimson Dragon is a being of legend. It's said to have fallen thousands of years ago—during a battle against another dragon for godhood."
"Godhood…"Akira repeated the word softly.
That alone was enough to show how extraordinary the Crimson Dragon had been—an existence that once stood at the threshold of divinity, yet ultimately failed to ascend.
Then did this enormous skeleton here… belong to the Crimson Dragon itself?
"Why do you not kneel?""Why do you not kneel!"
The Sage's voice thundered again in Akira's ears. The skeleton stared fixedly at him, eerie light seeming to pour out from its hollow eye sockets, sending a chill straight down his spine.
The sight made Akira's back go cold.
Wait—
A sudden spark of insight flashed through his mind.
He remembered his [Soul Seize] trait—and the fact that its limited-use skill had not yet been expended.
If the Crimson Dragon truly had fallen here… could he use [Soul Seize] to summon its soul and make it his ally?
Commanding a demigod-level soul…
As Akira was pondering this, Luciya's voice pulled him back to reality.
"We need to find the bone dragon first. The Light Blessing only lasts three hours—we don't have time to waste."
"Mm."Akira nodded.
The Sage's remains could be investigated after dealing with the bone dragon.
As they left, the Sage's voice continued to echo faintly in Akira's mind, only fading completely after they had moved more than a hundred meters away.
Soon, Akira led the group deeper into the Dragon's Burial Ground.
The further they advanced, the denser the bones became. Occasionally, enormous dragon remains could be seen lying across the ground.
Yet disappointingly, these bones seemed to have lost all remnants of their former power, rendering them utterly worthless.
"So where is the bone dragon?" Alice asked curiously, scanning her surroundings while holding her massive scissors, their cold sheen flashing ominously.
Everyone else also remained on high alert. Given its enormous size, a bone dragon should have been impossible to miss.
And yet, even as they were close to finishing their exploration of the entire Dragon's Burial Ground, there was still no sign of it.
"It's here," Akira said firmly.
Through the soul crystal ball's perception, he was certain—the bone dragon was nearby.
He looked ahead.
Directly in front of them stood a mountain formed entirely of piled white bones. Compared to the other bone heaps, it was especially imposing—hundreds of meters tall and nearly a kilometer wide.
A sudden thought crossed Akira's mind.
Could the bone dragon be hiding inside that pile?
Yet even after invoking his authority as a player, he still couldn't probe the interior of the bone mountain. All he saw was an empty void, as if the densely packed bones completely blocked his line of detection.
"Luciya, do you have large-scale detection magic?" Akira asked. "I want to scan that bone pile."
Luciya nodded slightly and stepped forward gracefully. The Sun Scepter in her hand swayed gently, and golden, mysterious runes shimmered into existence in the air.
She tapped the scepter lightly.
Golden ripples instantly spread outward, washing over the entire bone mountain ahead.
As the ripples passed through it, the bone pile immediately reacted.
A deep roar rang out—like a howl from the abyss, chilling to the core.
The entire massive pile began to shake violently, as if some colossal force within was struggling desperately to break free.
"It's coming!"
Everyone immediately gripped their weapons, bracing themselves for battle. The tension in the air thickened, their unease growing with each tremor.
Then—With a deafening crash, the entire bone mountain collapsed!
A massive figure shot skyward from within the debris.
The bone dragon finally revealed itself.
The moment it saw humans trespassing in its domain, dark red light flared within its hollow eye sockets. Its enormous skeletal claws slammed down onto the sea of bones as it threw its head back and roared.
ROAR!
The thunderous dragon roar echoed throughout the space, and the shadow of death spread instantly, engulfing everything around them.
[Miasma of the Dead: Non-undead units within range are afflicted with the "Deadbound" status.If the "Deadbound" status persists for one hour, the target enters a state of feigned death.(Leaving the miasma's range will gradually reduce the effect.)]
"Feigned death…?"
Akira frowned.
This bone dragon was even more troublesome than he had anticipated.
Still—as long as they defeated it within an hour, the miasma would dissipate along with it!
Without hesitation, Akira activated the Crimson Dragon Mark.
A terrifying pressure burst forth instantly, bearing down upon the bone dragon.
In the next moment, a phantom image of a red dragon appeared in the sky—so lifelike it seemed real, radiating overwhelming might.
It opened its jaws, unleashing a stream of dark crimson dragon breath straight at the bone dragon.
The breath carried boundless oppression, as if it could pierce through all things and strike directly at the soul.
In an instant, the bone dragon's massive body was engulfed by the crimson breath. A dark red glow spread across its surface—
All attributes reduced by 50%!
"Now!""Yes!"
The guild members moved immediately.
In a flash, Loserine soared into the air above the bone dragon on wings of soul-light.
She swung her sword downward with full force. A moon-white blade arc tore through the air, slamming heavily into the dragon's massive body.
Yet even such a powerful super-tier sword technique only carved sword marks a few dozen centimeters deep into the skeletal frame.
"ROAR!"
The bone dragon bellowed in rage. Its entire body shook violently as red light gathered within its jaws, before erupting in a scorching beam aimed straight at Loserine.
Loserine beat her soul-light wings and narrowly evaded it.
At the same time, the water sprite entwined around her armor spat out a jet of water, striking the bone dragon precisely and granting Loserine an additional 20% damage bonus.
As Loserine successfully pinned down the bone dragon, Ivsha and the others began chanting spells as well.
Brilliant waves of magic rained down upon the skeletal giant, dealing massive damage.
"ROAR!"
Sensing the threat posed by Ivsha and the rest, the bone dragon swiftly shifted its target and unleashed a violent blast of dragon breath toward their position.
Facing the terrifying attack, Luciya stepped forward calmly.
She raised the Sun Scepter, dazzling light blooming forth as a powerful barrier formed instantly, completely blocking the dragon breath.
While everyone fought with all they had, Akira wasn't idle either.
He drew out the Thunderfire Staff and began chanting a fire-element spell. Though his control over magic was far from refined, he still persisted.
"By the grace of the Goddess of Fire…!"
A small fireball gradually took shape in his hand. He hurled it toward the bone dragon.
Pfft.
The fireball struck the dragon's hind leg bone squarely—dealing a pitiful 5 points of damage.
"Some improvement… but low-tier magic really is lacking in power," Akira muttered.
He immediately took out his remaining two high-tier magic scrolls.
When the first scroll unfurled, a water elemental five or six meters tall materialized. As a summoned entity, it unleashed torrents of water, assaulting the bone dragon relentlessly.
Next, Akira activated the second scroll.
A massive meteor appeared in the sky, locking onto the bone dragon at the center of the battlefield before plummeting downward.
BOOM!
The violent impact shook the bone dragon's enormous body, briefly suppressing its movements.
Seizing the opportunity, Ivsha activated Fallen Radiance.
A phantom image of the nun appeared, arms spread wide as it approached the bone dragon—followed by a thunderous explosion.
A relentless barrage of magic slammed into the bone dragon. If its HP bar were visible, it would have already been reduced by more than half.
At that moment, the bone dragon's body suddenly erupted with crimson light.
"Careful! It's about to use its ultimate!"
For Akira, this scene was all too familiar.
In countless games, when a boss's HP dropped below fifty percent, it would immediately unleash a screen-wide phase-transition attack.
Sure enough—
The bone dragon let out an earth-shaking roar as waves of red energy surged outward like a tsunami.
In this critical moment, Luciya swung the Sun Scepter once more.
A golden barrier reappeared, and above it, a miniature sun could be seen flickering brilliantly.
BOOM!
The red energy wave smashed violently against the barrier, producing a deafening crash.
A few seconds later, the crimson energy faded.
The golden barrier still stood—though now it was riddled with cracks.
It had successfully withstood the bone dragon's full-powered assault, allowing everyone to survive.
"ROAR!"
After releasing its overwhelming energy, the bone dragon roared again.
Its withered yellow bones now exuded faint black miasma, while dark crimson flames ignited along its back.
Phase Two—Begin!
Just as Akira prepared to lead everyone into the next stage of the battle, the voice of the Red Dragon Mother suddenly echoed in his ear.
"Please stop! I am not your enemy…"
"Are you speaking to me?"Akira asked the soul within the crystal ball.
"No—no, that wasn't me!" the Red Dragon Mother said urgently."That voice… it really does sound like mine—but it isn't me!"