Chapter 373

As soon as Boxlunch finished speaking, the group felt an overwhelming presence soaring from above them.

Startled, they all looked up and saw a massive figure, nearly a hundred meters long, flying overhead as it let out a deafening roar.

Its bat-like wings nearly obscured the sky, and each flap produced frightening gusts of wind. The creature's body, resembling a desiccated corpse, was completely pitch black, emitting a shadowy aura that transformed into ashen-black miasma as lingered in the air like a smoke trail.

A Shadow Dragon!

Everyone on the team immediately recognized it, having participated in the defense of Blackrock City Quest in the past.

It's uncanny appearance as well as the cold, terrifying aura it exudes were undoubtedly similar to the Shadow Dragon they had seen before in that particular quest.

It fact, that dragon boss monster was one of the few well known epic-class creatures listed in the official forum's monster guide.

However, this Shadow Dragon was even more larger in size than its previous counterpart previously slain by Godwarden Zero.

In particular, the aura this dragon exudes was far more intense and sinister than that of the first Shadow Dragon they've encountered beforehand.

The very moment it appeared, almost everyone on the team couldn't muster any thoughts of hunting it down. Moreover, it passive dragon aura almost pinned them down into the ground.

The last time they felt such oppression was in Maple Leaf City during that time wherein the Eternal Lord's will had manifested. The the clash between Despair Dragon Nidhogg and the will incarnation of the Eternal Lord had brought the same feeling to the players...

There was no doubt about it!

This Shadow Dragon was also a demigod!

The faces of the five players, including Boxlunch, turned pale upon realizing this.

Under its apocalyptic pressure, they even tried to halt their breathing, fearing that any movement they made might draw the dragon's attention towards them.

However, even as their bodies lay motionless and their breaths held tightly, they all still couldn't help but instinctively activated the game's recording feature.

They discreetly recorded the Shadow Dragon's appearance and whereabouts.

Documenting new or unknown boss-level monsters is an ingrained habit among the players, as organizing and uploading such data to the game system's monster guide can earn them some contribution points.

Fortunately, their actions went unnoticed by the dragon.

The Shadow Dragon seemed unaware of them, or if it did notice their team, then it simply ignored them, flying past with a deafening roar.

It was not until the dragon's figure and its dreadful aura faded into the distance that all the players within Boxlunch's team finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Whew... That was terrifying! This game is great in every way, except for how overwhelmingly powerful these boss monsters feel. I can't fathom how the devs managed to achieve it..."

Calabash shuddered, looking in the direction the Shadow Dragon had flown with his heart still pounding.

The feeling that monster gave him just now was really frightening.

Despite knowing it was just merely a game, he still couldn't shake the inexplicable dread it evoked.

Unbeknownst to him and his teammates, this was the innate suppression of a higher existence over a lower one. This passive oppression stemmed from the vast difference in power, something someone from Earth could not experience.

"Is that a Demigod monster? It feels far more terrifying than Spider Queen Rose. Do wild Shadow Dragons spawn here in the underground? I heard from an NPC that such powerful shadow creatures only exist in the Netherworld."

Optimist pondered aloud.

"I don't know... but it was truly terrifying. I almost thought we were going to die. Even though we're all at level 40, encountering something like that makes me feel so insignificant. Man, the upper-ranked brings in this game sure is just too scary."

Chopin chimed in whilst patting his chest to calm himself.

His face was still a little pale, as if he was still in shock.

Similarly, the expressions of the others mirrored his.

The light-hearted atmosphere from their prior conversation was gone, replaced by a heavy mood.

They realized that even at max level, they were just small fry in Elven Kingdom as there were still many powerful entities out there.

In fact, the higher their level rose, the more they realized the immense power of their Patron Goddess, Evé.

Behind her sacred and beautiful facade was a being of terrifying strength.

"I wonder when we'll attain such power."

IAmInvincible sighed.

"Who knows...perhaps we'll get it when higher levels are unlocked in the future. In any case, defeating boss monsters like this probably require either a whole raid group or the intervention of a powerful being like the Goddess, or maybe are just part of a storyline event since we're merely weak adventurers at the moment."

Calabash said, shaking his head.

After finishing his words, he turned to Boxlunch:

"Isn't that right, Captain?"

But Boxlunch didn't respond immediately. Instead, their captain was seemingly lost in thought, staring in the direction the Shadow Dragon had gone.

"Captain?"

Calabash called out again.

This time, Boxlunch finally reacted.

He slung his backpack over his shoulder and said concisely,

"Upload the data. We're following it."

The rest of the players were taken aback.

"We're gonna follow it?!"

Boxlunch nodded and said in a serious tone, "Let's try to trigger a quest."

A quest?

Hearing this, their eyes lit up, instantly understanding their captain's intention.

In the Elven Kingdom, hidden quests and main storylines could be triggered in various ways. However, players eventually realized that the two most common methods to trigger these events were either exploring new maps or encountering powerful, unknown bosses.

In this instance, there was no doubt it was the latter.

As the saying goes—Fortune favors the bold!

Following the dragon would undoubtedly be filled with peril, but at worst, they could simply die. Fortunately, they had already saved up enough resurrection coins.

But if they somehow got lucky, they could end up on the leaderboard and earn a massive reward!

Everyone on the team quickly formulated a decisive plan as they uploaded their recorded data into the system database, labeling it as "Unknown Suspicious Demigod Shadow Dragon."

Then, they cautiously followed in the direction the Shadow Dragon had flown...

In the divine kingdom of the World Tree.

"Hmm? A suspicious Demigod Shadow Dragon?"

Evé, who was currently engrossed in watching the players' antics within the sandbox surveillance table she had recently built, raised an eyebrow at the new entry in the system's monster database.

The game system was under Eve's control, and any information about legendary or stronger entities uploaded into it would be immediately reported to her.

Thus, when Boxlunch and his group uploaded their data, Evé was also promptly notified of the Shadow Dragon's appearance in the underground.

Curiously, Eve opened the recorded video and saw the monster.

A flicker of surprise crossed her face right away.

"Oh? A Shadow Dragon showing clear signs of intelligence?"

Shadow creatures like these were typically violent in nature, and they have the power capable of corrupting the material world.

As such, the more powerful a shadow creature is, the stronger its corrosive power becomes.

However, this particular Demigod Shadow Dragon had flown without spreading its shadow power.

This behavior indicated that its mind was somehow clear and this dragon can control its powers.

A shadow creature having such a state could only mean one thing:

—It had been tamed by a great being.

"Could it be... a servant of the God of Darkness and Shadows?"

Evé pondered.

Thinking for a moment, she quickly located Boxlunch and his group's position on the sandbox table and focused her mind on the stars representing them.

Upon observing the players' actions and overhearing their conversation, Evé was momentarily stunned.

"Hmm? Are they following it? Do they actually dare to chase the Shadow Dragon?"

But soon, she understood why they did so.

"Ah I see, so it was because they think they might trigger a hidden quest in doing so."

Seeing this, Evé rubbed her chin thoughtfully:

"Indeed, it's strange for a Demigod Shadow Dragon to appear there all by itself. Surely this supposed servant of the God of Darkness and Shadows must have a purpose for visiting the underground."

Eve: "..."

"Hmm... since these five players want to trigger a hidden quest, then I'll grant them one. Moreover, I'm also curious about the purpose of this Shadow Dragon as well."

After some contemplation, Evé adjusted the activity range of Boxlunch and his squad, temporarily removing their 500-kilometer movement range limit.

Then, she used her divine power to assigned them a tracking quest...

— 373 —

[ A DEMIGOD SHADOW DRAGON? ]

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