Chapter 1268: Suffering Knight 2

Garen tiptoed back to the place where Leona and the others were, but realized that all the Dragon Whelps had gone out to grab a share of the spoils.

He was in no hurry, either. It would be even better if he could just pick up his share after they had finished fighting.

He hid alone in the corner and listened to the endless barrage of loud wails and explosions inside, knowing that this was the Spellcraft explosions from the Enchanted Equipment.

Time ticked by, and soon enough, more than ten minutes had passed.

The sounds from up ahead were much softer now.

Only then did he get up. Having sufficiently rested, he walked slowly toward the battlefield up ahead.

As he moved forward, he saw red and white blood all over the snowy ground, and he accidentally stepped on something. It was the front limb of a Dragon Whelp that had already frozen into ice.

"How terrible..." Garen shook his head.

He continued to walk forward, and everything he saw was a chaotic mess. After he entered the large circular area, there were countless dents, holes, and scratches on the icy floor and walls.

Next to the giant Ice Stalagmite in the center, all four Level Four Giant Iguanas had been killed. There were charred marks and pale green acid trails on the ground, clearly the result of Enchantments.

Lastly, there were a few remaining unharmed Dragon Whelps surrounding the last Level Five Giant Iguana.

The Level Five Giant Iguana was now blind in both eyes, and its body was covered in black and green burn marks. It stood on the spot without moving, whereas the three Dragon Whelps around it had clearly finished up their Enchantments. They could only fly around it, occasionally smacking it, but evidently, their claws barely had any effect on the Level Five Giant Iguana. They could not even break its hide.

Looking at the injuries of the seriously wounded Dragon Whelps that littered the floor, they all seemed to have been hurt by the swiping of the Giant Iguana's tail.

Garen himself knew just how powerful the Level Five Giant Iguana's Tail Swipe was. It was not very strong, but it was far too fast. It did not have much of an effect on the muscly, thick-skinned Level Four Giant Iguanas, but it was just enough for Dragon Whelps, with their weaker bodies and lower strength.

The remaining few Dragon Whelps clearly had no other plans. Their claws could not break past the Giant Iguana's defense, so they decided to wore it out, until they wore this Level Five Giant Iguana to death.

Garen walked over to them as stealthily as he could, but he was still immediately noticed by the Dragon Whelps lying on the ground.

"Garen!" It was Boris, lying down in a small crater and being treated by Leona.

"You're just in time, go grab the thing!"

The three Dragon Whelps surrounding the Giant Iguana happened to be Toni, Deth, and another stocky Dragon Whelp whose name Garen did not know. When they heard Boris' voice, all three turned around to look at Garen.

That unnamed Dragon Whelp's eyes shone fiercely, and he actually ignored the Giant Iguana, lunging straight for the Ice Stalagmite in the center.

"Reyman, you!!" Toni instantly panicked.

That Dragon Whelp ignored her completely, dashing straight at the Ice Stalagmite.

He was very confident in his speed. Even if he was injured, he would still be the champion who obtained the Ice Stalagmite first.

The other Dragon Whelps also gave up on the attack and gave chase.

Garen smiled and chased after them as well. At the same time, he picked up a few pieces of ice from the ground.

The Ice Stalagmite in the center of these circle-shaped grounds was more than twice as tall as a Dragon Whelp, and looked like a pale blue, crystal-clear pillar of ice. Its tip was rather sharp, and the top half had already been knocked off, while the bottom half was still embedded into the ice layer.

The Dragon Whelps were chasing after the top half that had been knocked away. That was the true essence of the Ice Stalagmite.

Reyman quickly flew until he was above the Ice Stalagmite, and then he pounced down. A ball of purple light instantly appeared in his claws, and he tossed it backward.

Bam!

The ball of light exploded, turning into a fog of purple smoke that enveloped the two Dragon Whelps, Toni and Deth, behind him.

Only then did Reyman stand on the Ice Stalagmite, turning around to stare at Garen, who was walking up to him slowly. The last Dragon Whelp that had just shown up did not chase behind him stupidly, which was how he had managed to avoid the purple smoke.

"You sure are a vigilant one." There was a black scar above Reyman's left eye, the injury had nearly blinded that eye. As a result, the scar made him look slightly more brutal.

As a Dragon Whelp, he clearly already possessed the despicable and selfish ways of his elders.

"I bet you don't have any more Enchantments now, do you." Although it was phrased as a question, Garen's tone was certain. "In that case, the Ice Stalagmite belongs to me. Hand over the Crystal Cores too, the four Level Four ones and the one Level Five from before."

"What an appetite you have there..." Violence twinkled in Reyman's eyes, and he tensed up all his muscles. His small body was only as tall as half a man, but it gave off a strange sense of power and muscle.

Whoosh...

A faint Draconic Aura spread from his body.

This Draconic Aura was clearly far beyond what Dragon Whelps like Garen who had just experienced it could do.

Garen felt a strong wind blow into his face, and his body actually began to turn heavy, as though he was suddenly carrying an immense burden.

Was this the Draconic Aura's effect?

His heart jolted in surprise. This was his first time encountering the usage of Draconic Aura in actual battle. This Reyman was definitely no ordinary Dragon Whelp, for him to have such capabilities at this age, he must clearly be a high-level descendant from his clan.

"Interesting..." Garen only knew that Draconic Aura could strengthen a fighter's physical fitness. However, he had not known that this thing could actually be used to oppress an enemy in battle.

His muscles tensed and relaxed, and he instantly eased up a part of the pressure from the Draconic Aura. A little bit of oppression pressure was nothing to Garen with his 21 Strength points.

He glanced at his status.

'Safive — Strength 21-1, Agility 15(14)-1, Vitality 12-1, Intelligence 17-1, Potential 19%. Soul Limit 170.

Level 1 Draconic Aura, Level 1 Arcane Art Basics.'

All of his attributes had actually been reduced by an average of one point.

But even if he was being oppressed, he could still 20 Strength points. That made him stronger than regular Dragon Whelps.

Still, the reason he had not leaped into battle at the first chance was that he was slightly worried that the opponent might have saved up some Enchantments. If he got too close and was locked on by the enemy's spirit power, he would not be able to dodge any Enchantments that easily. Instead, he would be forced to take it head-on, and that would really get dangerous.

Reyman looked at Garen, who remained calm, and had an ominous feeling.

He did not know where this little punk popped out from, but he somehow seemed to be unfazed by the Draconic Aura.

Whoosh!

All of a sudden, a white light crashed toward Reyman, aimed straight for his nose.

Reyman was caught by surprise and lowered his head hurriedly. Thankfully, he had trained his combat skills sufficiently and so he could react extremely quickly, just in time to dodge this attack. As soon as he bent over, though, he saw something white come flying at him.

Pff!

Reyman roared in pain and ran straight at Garen. His frustration and embarrassment had turned to fury.

Meanwhile, Garen was now certain that he had no Enchantments left. Putting aside his fear, he went straight at Reyman.

Lowering his head to avoid Reyman's claws, aimed at his neck, Garen lashed out with his elbow, his tail slicing through the wind as he whipped it out. It swiped Reyman's neck with a bang.

Bam!

He pounced forward immediately as well, stomping down on Reyman's stomach. His claws carved out several long and deep wounds on Reyman's stomach. He could almost see the bones in the abdomen.

With merely this little greeting, Reyman — an expert in close combat wrestling among the Dragon Whelps — was instantly defeated. He could not put up a fight at all.

Reyman slid out quite a distance, lying motionlessly in the snow. It was as though an electric current had passed through his entire body, and everything was trembling slightly. This shaking dispersed all of his power, until he could not even get back up.

He looked at Garen in the distance, and saw that Garen had no intention of giving chase. Instead, he landed on an Ice Stalagmite.

Garen flapped his wings, standing lightly on the edge of the Ice Stalagmite. Defeating Reyman was as easy as breathing to Garen. As long as the opponent was not in the same Realm as him, all close-combat battles would only result in instant annihilation, as seen in his eyes. The only reason Reyman could survive was because Garen had been merciful.

"The Ice Stalagmite... is mine now..." He crouched down with a smile, his claws pressing onto the half-pale-blue, semi-transparent Ice Stalagmite. Instantly, a tidal wave of potential aura surged into his claws.

Hiss... Garen could not help but exhale, feeling good. Within such a short time, he had already absorbed 10% of the potential aura.

"Good stuff!"

*********************

Ka-chak.

The black metallic boots stepped down hard on the snow and sank deep.

A suit of black knight's armor, green flames burning in its eyes, slowly landed at the entrance of the tunnel outside the Ice Stalagmite.

"Is this where you ran to..." Its deep voice came from underneath the facial armor, and it strode into the tunnel, taking large steps.

********************

Garen felt slightly bothered.

He did not know why. Looking around him, he did not find any Dragon Whelps that might pose a threat.

The Ice Stalagmite was just by his feet, so he thought about for a while, and then lifted the entire Ice Stalagmite in his arms. But that shudder in his heart made him impatient and uneasy.

His Soul Ring kept vibrating, as though it could fall apart at any time.

"Danger!"

Garen had come across this kind of situation many times now. The Ancient Endor Demon Lords all had overwhelmingly powerful souls, and their bodies fit the laws perfectly as well, so they were extremely sensitive about predicting danger.

A situation like this was surely no coincidence.

Although he did not know why he felt a sense of danger, Garen rapidly calmed himself down and quickly made some decisions. Carrying the Ice Stalagmite in his arms, he decided to just abandon the Level Five crystal cores, flying straight into the distant sky.

He had tremendous strength, and he flapped his wings, diving quickly into the snowstorm.

"Garen!!" Boris yelled from below. But all he saw was Garen vanishing into the sky, without once looking back.

His heart fell. Together with Leona, the one with the lightest injuries, the two of them helped Saszt up.

"Why did he run?" Leona was heartbroken. "Does he plan to keep the Ice Stalagmite all to himself?"

"Forget it, he obtained it by himself, after all. We didn't do much either." On the other hand, Boris recovered quickly.

Just then, he vaguely felt a black light flash before his eyes, as though something had flitted past quickly.

"Did something just fly past just now?" he asked, shocked.

"No..." Leona shook her head. "You must be seeing things."

For some reason, Boris frowned.

"I keep getting the feeling that Garen isn't that kind of a dragon..."

Not far away, Reyman was still lying on the ground, and his eyes showed just how deeply lost he felt.

He was the one destined to become Dragon King. Ever since he was born, he had had immense expectations piled on him. They poured all sorts of training regimes and resources into him, because he had unbelievable natural talent that allowed him to raise his Draconic Aura to Level Three even when he was only two years old. His average physical fitness could defeat even a Three-Headed Dragon Whelp as long as they fought alone.

But in front of that Dragon Whelp just now, he felt as weak as a baby.

"Am I too weak... or is he too strong?" Reyman sank into the depths of confusion.