Chapter 125: Return —— The Fury of the Fire Dragon

In a daze, Rod dreamed of the little dragon, of fighting alongside it, of his own majestic presence, and of becoming the King of Mercenaries, standing at the pinnacle of the world. At that moment, Rod felt as though the entire world was beneath his gaze; the sense of supremacy was truly wonderful.

Unfortunately, good dreams never last long. Just as he wanted to laugh heartily to express his joy, a chill swept over him, followed by a slight dampness, waking him from his dream.

“It was just a dream!” Opening his eyes and looking at the dark cave, he gave a helpless sigh and muttered to himself. Reality was always cruel—Rod knew this well. There was a huge difference. Touching his abdomen, he felt the connection of bloodline, and a glint appeared in his eyes as his confidence soared. He now had a beast soul. Though he didn’t understand the meaning of a living beast, he believed it must be stronger than ordinary beast souls.

He didn’t know how long he had slept. Stretching lazily, he smiled slightly. The little dragon seemed still asleep due to the contract, unable to wake up for now. Looking at the dark cave, he wondered how long he had been there and what was happening outside. With a sigh, he touched his abdomen and, after hesitating for a moment, prepared to get up and leave. It was time to return. Kiro and Alice were waiting for him in Iron Bar Town. Who knew what might have happened during his absence? More importantly, he didn’t know what the fire dragon would do. After discovering that his egg had been stolen, it had left—unknown if anything worse had happened.

“Master, you’ve finally woken up!” Xuan Yuan’s voice came through at that moment, sounding tired and weak.

“I’m fine. I just overused my powers. I’ll lift the barrier now. I was afraid that the dragon or other enemies might sense the little dragon’s birth energy. It should be safe now!”

As if guessing what Rod wanted to say, Xuan Yuan replied right away.

“Mm!” With a look of gratitude, Rod quickly responded. He understood why Xuan Yuan was like this—its thorough care, even though it was already exhausted while he slept, still kept going to protect him. He could imagine the pain and suffering it endured.

“I definitely won’t let you down!” Rod made up his mind silently, his gaze becoming exceptionally sharp at that moment. A gentle breeze passed by, and the elements around him suddenly became active before dissipating. Xuan Yuan ceased to move—clearly it had gone to rest. Rod didn’t disturb it any further. Clenching his fists, he checked everything he carried to ensure nothing was left behind. Then, with a sudden shout, he threw a punch. A loud boom echoed, stones flew everywhere, and light streamed in instantly. He squinted slightly as he heard dripping sounds coming from outside. When he opened his eyes again, it was raining! Light rain slowly poured over the land, bringing with it the scent of soil. Taking a deep breath, he found the moistness delightful. Spring had truly arrived. Unnoticed, another year had passed—there was no trace of the New Year’s atmosphere. Was it because the festival didn’t exist, or because he hadn’t experienced it? His gaze grew distant as Rod sighed silently. It was only then that he realized he had actually lost so much. The wind blew, carrying raindrops that landed on his face, cold and refreshing. A faint smile appeared on his lips. He stepped into the rain, glanced back at the cave that had brought such drastic changes to him, then rushed forward with great strides toward Iron Bar Town. Staring at the light rain, listening to the howling wind, and looking up at the moist trees and lush greenery around him, his mood improved. His speed increased, and everything around him seemed to recede rapidly as if turning into nothingness. Along the way, he encountered no magical beasts or attacks, nor did he see any mercenaries. Everything was eerily quiet, making him feel something was off. But he didn’t care. In high spirits, Rod just wanted to return to Iron Bar Town quickly. Under such circumstances, he easily left Collins Forest, a place known as a forbidden zone. Praying for good luck, he stared in shock at Iron Bar Town ahead. The massive city walls were in disarray, with many large holes that were almost big enough to be passed through. Below the walls, hundreds of soldiers were clearing something under the light rain. The puddles on the ground showed a dark red color, carrying a strong scent of blood. Under the wash of the rain, these red liquids gathered into a small stream that flowed slowly, looking particularly eerie.

“What’s going on!” His heart skipped a beat as he wondered inwardly, quickly heading in that direction. The so-called most formidable defense in the continent had turned out to be in such a mess. Why was there so much bright red liquid—obviously blood? Where did it come from? Why did those soldiers look so gloomy, and why was the atmosphere so oppressive? Too many questions ruined Rod’s good mood. Taking three steps as if they were two, he soon reached the foot of the city wall. “O Almighty God, what am I seeing? This mercenary actually came out of Collins Forest?” Before even reaching the city wall, Rod heard one of the soldiers exclaim in shock. Immediately afterward, he felt hundreds of pairs of eyes staring at him, all filled with surprise. “What’s going on?” Rod asked, feeling uncomfortable under their gazes. “Don’t you know? Good heavens, it’s been five days! How could you not know? O Almighty God, please punish this guy for me!” An independent adventurer mixed among the soldiers shouted exaggeratedly upon hearing Rod’s question. It was then that Rod realized there were many mercenaries and adventurers among the soldiers as well. They were all working together to clean up this mess. What kind of disaster had happened? Rod became even more puzzled. “Young man, you came out of Collins Forest, right? How deep did you go? How could you not even know about this?” A middle-aged adventurer stepped forward from the crowd and asked skeptically. “What exactly happened?” Rod frowned, asking with a bitter smile after hearing their strange questions and seeing their surprised expressions. He truly didn’t know. Five days ago? Had he been away for five days? What major event could have happened in those five days to turn Iron Bar Town into this state? “Five days ago, it was said that someone took on the SS-level task of killing the fire dragon. We don’t know the outcome, but that very afternoon, the fire dragon suddenly went berserk. For some reason, it flew straight toward Iron Bar Town, attacking without discrimination. It led a large group of magical beasts—two at the Martial Emperor level, at least fifty at the Golden level, hundreds at the Silver level, hundreds at the Bronze level, and thousands of lower-tier magical beasts. With such a force, it launched a fierce attack on Iron Bar Town.”

With the dragon’s formidable attack power and those powerful magical beasts, Iron Bar Town was in grave danger. It was only with an urgent message sent out, the Black Tooth Legion stepping in to fight, the assistance of two saints, along with the help of numerous mercenaries and adventurers in the city, that they could barely hold off the attack. The enemy seemed to be fighting to the death; the battle lasted four full days, and it wasn’t until last night that those despicable creatures were finally repelled. The dragon, severely wounded, left with its remaining troops.

“You really didn’t know? Did you not face any danger? It’s said that almost none of those who entered Collins Forest during that time returned alive!” Recalling the events of that day, the middle-aged adventurer still looked terrified, speaking with a bitter smile.

“The dragon went mad? What was the outcome?” To send such a powerful force to attack must mean it was truly enraged this time.

“The losses were huge. We lost hundreds of mercenaries and adventurers. As for the Black Tooth Legion, it’s said they lost thousands of soldiers, three Golden Warriors, one saint-level fighter, along with countless others injured. It was only at such a cost that we managed to repel the magical beast army, leaving behind hundreds of their corpses—37 silver-level, 10 gold-level, and hundreds of lower-tier magical beasts. We also injured the dragon and two Martial Emperor-level beasts! It took all this to drive them away. We don’t know if they’ll return. Right now, Iron Bar Town is on highest defense alert. Damn those magical beasts! It’s said the empire has sent experts here—this is the biggest magical beast attack in 20 years, and the empire takes it very seriously!”

With sighs, several adventurers gathered around and recounted the events in solemn tones.

Rod’s expression darkened. What they said made him realize just how serious and dangerous the situation was. It seemed he had really gotten into trouble this time.

“It’s said the dragon became enraged because someone stole its newly laid eggs. It seems true!” Suddenly, a message from one of the mercenaries made Rod break into a cold sweat. No one seemed to have followed him—how could the news spread so quickly? Had there been a mistake somewhere?

“Well, that’s one theory. We just don’t know who it is. Some say it was those two experts who took on the mission, while others say it was a young man taking advantage of the chaos. Anyway, whoever it is, they’re finished this time. Even if the empire doesn’t pursue them, those organizations won’t let them off!”

As the topic came up, the mercenaries began arguing among themselves.

Next, Rod no longer had the mood to listen carefully to what they said. He was no longer interested in what was happening in front of him; his mind was filled with the words of that mercenary earlier—had it been leaked? What exactly was going on? His mind was brimming with doubts!