Chapter 287

The events on the dragon's back were just a minor episode.

Meryer's roar echoed loudly through the air, drawing the attention of those people on the ground as their gaze witness the majestic black dragon soaring across the sky.

The players from Moe Moe Committee, who had already known about their arrival via chat messages and the team's mini-map show no surprise.

However, the native elves and human experts on the other hand had different reactions...

"B-Black...Black Dragon!"

Both sides couldn't help but exclaim almost simultaneously.

For a moment, the elves' faces turned incredibly pale, whereas the pursuing humans wore serious expressions.

There's no avoiding such reactions, as black dragons, in general, have a rather infamous reputation within Saigües. Moreover, among the types of dragons that usually attack settlements and towns, at least seven or eight out of ten are black dragons.

While the local inhabitants stood frozen at the sight of the black dragon, the players burst of excited shouts broke through the eerie silence:

"Meryer! It's good that you finally came! Quickly, help us deal with these humans!"

A clear and cheerful female voice suddenly echoed.

It was Little Salty Cat.

For a moment, numerous gazes turned towards her, prompting instinctive reactions from both elves and humans. Yet, the former reflected surprise and confusion within their eyes, while the latter conveyed fear and vigilance instead.

"Tch, I don't need you to tell me, I'd do it anyway."

A lofty response reverberated through the sky.

Then, to the incredulous gaze of the elves and the horrified look of the pursuing experts, the black dragon with wings spanning dozens of meters puffed up his cheeks and released a thick dragon breath towards the humans on the ground.

"Not good! Quick, dodge!"

The expressions of those human experts undergo dramatic shifts as each of them engages in a flurry of skill and magic, adeptly dodging or defending in response.

For a moment, the ground shimmered with radiant sword techniques and colorful magic shields cast by the human crowd.

In an instant, the strong acidic dragon breath reached its target, spraying onto the mage's magic shield, which was then split by the energy wave generated by several sword skills.

Finally, it splashed onto the ground, corroding the land into terrifying potholes as white smoke dissipated into the air...

This dragon breath, under the combined effort of magic and sword skills, was barely blocked by the joint defense of the human experts.

However, the weakest among the seven experts remained seriously injured in the aftermath and immediately fell onto the ground on the verge of death.

Yet, Meryer's attack did not end there.

While taking advantage of the gap created after exhaling his dragon breath, Meryer swiftly dove down and crushed the injured Silver-ranked expert with his foot before biting a mage who seemed weakened due to his prior attack.

The mage looked terrified.

Having just cast a defensive spell to resist the dragon breath, he now had no time to chant another spell and could only frantically pull out a magic scroll to protect himself...

However, before he could complete anything, Meryer swiftly rushed up and bit his body, effortlessly tearing it into two pieces.

With a scream, the silver mage's two severed halves fell to the ground akin to a lifeless sacks...

A strong aroma reeking of blood then permeated the air in the aftermath.

Seeing this scene, the silver expert dressed as a mercenary narrowed his pupils as he involuntarily exclaimed,

"A Silver-Peak dragon!"

The surrounding players were also shocked by Meryer's strength and violence.

"Damn!"

"Damn!"

Although they knew Meryer was quite powerful, witnessing how he efficiently annihilated two formidable silver experts in the blink of an eye still left them dumbfounded.

Seeing the bright red and horrible mosaic that barely censored the grotesque shapes of broken internal organs, the corners of the mouths of all the players twitched involuntarily.

"This game is great in every way, except the battles are too damn hardcore."

Smelling the pungent smell of blood, a player couldn't help but comment.

Of course, while there were those who found such carnage repulsive, there are also others with twisted tastes whom reveled in it.

"Bloody? I love scenes like this..."

"..."

In addition, there were also some who are grieving:

"Meryer, at least leave us some enemies to kill will you! They're all experience points!"

The rescued elves, on the other hand, were already stunned beyond their comprehension.

Seeing a companion of theirs effortlessly killed in an instant, the remaining human experts changed their expressions as one of them uttered,

"R-Run!"

The mercenary from Sauron turned around and ran without hesitation.

"Ruaah! Don't even think about running away!"

Meryer continued to roar, excitedly chasing after the fleeing mercenary.

The players also followed suit.

With weapons in hand, they eagerly followed behind Meryer, chasing the fleeing experts. It was a somewhat comical scene, considering that just moments ago, it was the other way around, and the latter were the ones doing the chasing.

Meanwhile, Meryer paid no heed to the player's antics as he continued his unstoppable rampage.

Suddenly, he dived down again, slapping a panicking thief with a single palm before casually tossing the half-dead thief in front of Little Salty Cat, who had a look of surprise on her face.

Of course, the poor unfortunate thief quickly turned to ashes courtesy of Little Salty Cat's exploding fireball amidst the envious gazes of the other players...

Next, Meryer let out another long roar and charged towards another human swordsman who had exposed their back to him.

This time, the black dragon unleashed his second dragon breath.

The swordsman recoiled in horror, desperately attempting to dodge the oncoming attack when suddenly, a chilling incantation reached his ears.

At the side, Li Mu and a group of spellcasters brandished their wands as they unleashed their crowd control skills.

Although their skills were only at the third-circle at most and could not fully bind their opponent, even a slight delay proved sufficient enough in this crucial moment.

Several vines emerged from the ground and entangled the swordsman's legs.

Alarm surged through the swordsman, as his panic-stricken roar echoed through the area while he frantically fought to break free from the entangling vines.

—Alas, it was too late.

Before he could free himself, the highly corrosive dragon breath had already engulfed him, immediately incinerating his body into ashes before he could even scream.

Li Mu and the others showed expressions of joy.

The assistance they provided resulted in them gaining a modest increase in experience points...though not a substantial amount.

After eliminating the human swordsman, Meryer turned his attention to an elderly Silver-ranked mage.

With a mere glance from the black dragon, the elderly mage shivered uncontrollably with his long beard even trembling.

Terrified, the old mage pulled out a scroll from his pocket and tore it to summon a silver-rank ghoul familiar before turning around and running without looking back.

However, the familiar he summoned couldn't even withstand Meryer's attack, being bitten into pieces in an instant.

As the summoned familiar died, the old mage who had a contractual connection with it suddenly turned pale and couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

Nevertheless, there was also a hint of joy in his expression.

While the black dragon was preoccupied killing the ghoul, the old mage had already taken out another scroll.

A teleportation scroll!

However, before he could even activate the teleportation magic, a deathly sensation suddenly hit him. He felt a sharp pain in his neck, and then everything went blank...

Silently emerging from the shadows behind the old mage, Boxlunch materialized without much of a sound and sheathed the golden dagger within his grasp.

A few seconds later, the dead body of the old mage subsequently turned into ashes.

This series of battles occurred within just a span of a few seconds.

Most of the current participating players were from the first beta and thus, already experienced beforehand how an operation that usually involves the Black Dragon and Little Salty Cat unfolds.

And so, even without exchanging words, they coordinated perfectly with the little black dragon.

In the blink of an eye, the seven powerful silver experts fell one after another...

Pity these formidable silver experts, which can be considered as mini-bosses, ended up being chased by Meryer and died tragically one after another...

Heck, the players didn't even know their names.

The remaining two surviving experts were horrified after watching their comrades fall under the relentless attack of the black dragon.

As if sensing their fear, Meryer slowly turned his gaze towards them.

These last two experts, including the mercenary from earlier, all had a black hawk emblem upon their chests, signifying their allegiance with the Sauron Household.

Upon realizing the dragon had fixed his gaze upon them, the two wasted no time and sprinted for their lives.

Witnessing their rapid retreat, Meryer unleashed another resounding "Ruuah!" and pursued them with a fierce charge.

With the two being silver experts, their speed was certainly fast—alas, it was only relative to human speed...

How could it compare to that of a black dragon?

Moreover, while their strength was also in the silver-rank, Meryer had completely outclassed them, being a peak silver-rank dragon.

As the black dragon descended, he swiftly closed the distance with them.

Yet, at the moment when Meryer was about to caught up with the two, the mercenary soldier running at the front suddenly turned grim.

He abruptly turned around, and in the shocked and puzzled gaze of his companion, the mercenary thrust a sword through his own body.

Then, he pulled something out of his hand and stuffed it into his wound.

All this happened in an instant, leaving even Meryer and the players bewildered by his actions.

However, they soon understood why.

The mercenary, having inflicted a wound upon himself, contorted in extreme agony, before unleashing an uncontrollable scream.

Innumerable worm-like flesh masses started wriggling across the mercenary's body as it steadily expanded, whilst his skin cracked and morphed into ominous black scales.

Seconds later, a lizard-like tail emerged from his buttocks, while his face, with bulging veins and bloodshot eyes, emitted an evil and dark aura...

In an instant, the mercenary transformed into a monstrous creature nearly seven to eight meters tall.

"W-What on earth is this?!"

Players were astonished by this sudden change.

Meryer also looked serious.

However, his expression carried a hint of uncertainty.

Meanwhile, the rescued elves, who had been shocked by the series of battles, turned pale at the sight that was happening before them:

"S-Scaled Demon! It's a Scaled Demon of Despair!"

"That human... is a follower of the God of Despair!"

— 287 —

[ SCALED DEMON OF DESPAIR ]

— —