Chapter 125: The Two-Legged Dragon Swamp

Evil magic giants are among the most common types of lower-tier divine abominations. Along with multi-armed giants and hundred-eyed demons, they are all descendants of the hundred-armed giants.

Adult evil magic giants possess at least peak silver-level strength, with some elite ones reaching gold-level strength. A very small number of them inherit certain abilities from true gods and are born priests, known as Believers. They can steal the power of faith to cast divine spells, allowing them to reach legendary status—making them extremely powerful monsters of the outer realms.

Gao Man’s lineage certainly did not come from such Believers but from an elite evil magic giant. Therefore, unless something unexpected happened, his greatest achievement in life would likely be gold-level strength, assuming he could fully utilize his innate talents to achieve that.

That’s why Gao Man sought another path—obtaining the power of abyssal demons. Since evil magic giants are also inherently evil creatures, the chaotic evil forces of the abyss would not conflict much with his lineage.

However, as beings who specialize in arcane magic, evil magic giants generally believe that wisdom supersedes everything. They are full of schemers and manipulators, belonging to the evil-neutral faction. This creates some resistance when integrating with the chaotic evil forces of the abyss.

But this resistance mainly manifests in changes in personality, having little impact on strength. That’s why Gao Man, unlike typical spellcasters who are calm and meticulous, often acts recklessly like demons, sometimes taking insane actions. This is all due to his soul being influenced by the chaotic nature of demons.

Having recovered from his injuries and regained his strength, Gao Man was anxious lest someone else seize the treasure first. He lacked the courage to venture into this dangerous continent alone and didn’t want the others in his Blood Sword to know about his secret. So, every few days, he secretly summoned several demons, ordering them to enter the swamp to search for traces of the ruins.

The Two-Legged Dragon Swamp truly lived up to its reputation as one of the continent’s most dangerous places. The demons Gao Man summoned were at least bronze-level strong, with many possessing flight abilities. Yet none of them had ever ventured more than a hundred miles deep into the swamp. Most were attacked and devoured by dangerous creatures in the swamp, while some unlucky demons got trapped in mud pits. Even with their strong physiques, they could only struggle in vain and drown in the years-old muck.

Only once was Goman lucky enough to summon a stomach sac from the abyss—a aquatic demon from the Saltwater Swamp plane, the kind best suited to survive in swampy environments. Yet Goman clearly underestimated how much misfortune would befall him. Just as this demon was thriving in the Two-Legged Dragon Swamp and about to explore its depths, it was captured by a group of two-legged dragons as prey and taken to their nest.

Two-legged dragons may not be the strongest creatures in the swamp, but they are undoubtedly the most dangerous. The fact that this vast swamp is named after them speaks to their significance.

With their massive size, sharp claws and teeth, and deadly toxins, two-legged dragons are as powerful as level-five magical beasts. What’s worse, these dragon-blooded subdragons live in groups—not just in small clusters, but with each tribe numbering in the hundreds or even thousands.

Faced with such large groups of subdragons, even level-eight or nine magical beasts would have to avoid them; only golden sacred beasts of level nine or higher are not afraid of their numerical advantage.

It had been three months since Goman arrived in the Six Southern Towns, yet he hadn’t even seen a trace of the archmage ruins. Unwilling to give up, he continued to waste materials summoning demons to explore.

Fortunately, the cost of temporarily summoning demons wasn’t too high, and it was relatively easy to gather the materials.

However, as a necromancer, he couldn’t fully control the types of demons he summoned. Since the death of that demon from the Saltwater Swamp, he hadn’t summoned any more aquatic demons.

That’s why Goman was so frustrated and disheartened. Though he wanted to explore again, it would take a few days to gather the materials and re-sign the contract.

At that moment, Donald and the others took a airship and flew over the Six Southern Towns, heading deep into the swamp.

Inside the airship cabin, Ferdinand asked, “Donald, aren’t we going to find a guide who knows the swamp terrain? Are we just flying in straight in?”

Donald retorted, “I heard that the Two-Legged Dragon Swamp is full of dangers, and no one can venture deep into it. The place we’re going to is clearly deep in the swamp. So what’s the use of hiring a guide?” Edwina added, “Donald is right. This is a secret mission, and the details about the Arcane Priest ruins must not be known to outsiders. Moreover, the dangers deep in the swamp are beyond your imagination. Having a guide would just be a burden!” Ferdinand had also come to the Six Southern Towns on a mission before and had heard the locals say that the swamp was dangerous, and only the best guides could find safe areas to land in without being swallowed by the vast swamp, which was why he asked this question.

However, after hearing his mother and Donald’s words, he quickly realized that among the eight people traveling with them, four were mages, plus two Silver Masters. Finding a place to land would undoubtedly be much easier than relying on any guide.

But then he grew worried again. “I remember hearing the locals say that the swamp isn’t only dangerous underground; there are also many flying magical beasts in the sky. Once you enter their territory, you’ll face fierce attacks. That’s why few mages dare to fly here!” Hearing this, Donald thought of the swampy wetlands in his past life, which were also habitats and natural hunting grounds for aquatic birds, so he didn’t doubt it. But long before entering the swamp, he had already arranged owls to guard the airship from all sides. If any danger approached, they would detect it immediately, giving Donald time to respond to the crisis.

The Two-Legged Dragon Swamp truly was one of the most dangerous places on the continent, even more so than the Green Cloak Forest. Donald hadn’t expected that they would encounter a level-five magical beast so soon after entering the depths of the swamp.

“As predicted by you, Ferdinand, my pessimistic words! My owls have detected two flying magical beasts approaching rapidly from several miles away. Everyone, fasten your seatbelts—we’re going to land!” With that, Donald immediately ordered the two goblin pilots to steer the airship down. Since goblin airships had no offensive capabilities, engaging in a battle in the air could easily compromise the airship’s safety. If it crashed, the four mages would be fine, having spells like Feather Fall, Levitation, and Flight to escape, but the four swordsmen like Ferdinand would be crushed to pieces.

As the airship descended rapidly, the resulting weightlessness made the four swordsmen in the cabin feel unwell. Experiencing this for the first time, they all suffered from dizziness and nausea to varying degrees.

It was still because they were all highly skilled professionals; if it were ordinary people, they would have vomited uncontrollably long ago, with their nasal passages and ears even becoming inflamed. The mages, on the other hand, had experience flying in the air many times, so their adaptability was slightly better than that of the swordsmen—just a bit. Realizing that their prey was trying to escape by diving downward, the two flying magical beasts also descended along with the airship. But since they were already at some distance from the airship, by the time they got close enough, Donald and the others had already landed successfully. As soon as the airship stabilized at a height of about ten feet above the ground, the four swordsmen, ignoring their discomfort, immediately drew their weapons and rushed out. It was a tradition in this world, passed down since ancient times, for warriors to prioritize protecting casters in battle. It was also experience gained from countless battles where, as long as casters had a safe and stable environment to cast spells, defeating the enemies became much easier. The two flying magical beasts attacked, and only then did everyone realize they were vultures-like magical birds. With their grayish feathers and fierce appearance, they were far from the grace of ordinary eagles or hawks—instead, they looked extremely ugly. “Level 5 magical beasts—scavenging vultures! Don’t let your hands touch their claws; they’re covered in poison…” the old mage Maysel called out from behind. Thanks to Maysel’s warning, the four swordsmen were prepared, swinging their long swords continuously to block all of the scavenging vultures’ attacks. By then, Donald had retracted the airship and immediately summoned two dungeon demons. Two strands of sticky spider webs were shot toward the scavenging vultures fighting the four swordsmen, instantly trapping the two ugly birds. “Wait!” Just as the two silver swordsmen were about to strike, Ferdinand shouted. “It’s better not to shed blood in the swamp—otherwise, it will attract many bloodthirsty creatures. The others are still manageable, but if it’s swarms of bloodsucking leeches and swamp venomous mosquitoes, that would be terrible!” Thinking of being surrounded by a swarm of bloodsucking insects, everyone felt a chill. Ferdinand and the three silver swordsmen looked at the two bird-like magical beasts still struggling in the webs, feeling at a loss as to what to do. Suddenly, Donald had an idea and said, “Teacher, Lady Edwina, these two magical beasts still have some value. I won’t hold back!” With that, he released a shimmering blast of icy frost between the two beasts, instantly turning them into frozen statues.

Then Donald waved his hand, and under the surprised gazes of the swordsmen and the approving looks of the two silver mages, he retrieved the two ice sculptures. He had realized that his storage space could not hold living creatures—once they entered, they would turn into corpses within seconds. Moreover, there was no air or temperature in that space. Although the Frost Nova could not maintain the freezing state for long, once something was frozen and placed in that space, it would remain frozen as long as it wasn’t taken out, and these two flying magical beasts would also die quickly in that frozen state. So he came up with this simple and effective solution to eliminate the two scavenging vultures and any potential threats they might pose after being killed, without fighting.

“What do we do next?” Ferdinand asked. Donald replied, “We can’t continue flying at high altitude. If we keep getting attacked, we’ll have to land every time, which will waste a lot of our time. Walking is also dangerous due to the swamp environment. It seems we’ll have to fly low near the ground. Everyone, get on the airship!”

This decision received strong support from Edwina. For this princess and marchioness, although she was a mage and didn’t have the delicacy of ordinary noble ladies, the muddy environment and foul smells in the swamp were simply unbearable—especially for a woman. As for the other men, though they didn’t have any severe cleanliness issues, avoiding walking in the dirty mud was an excellent option for them as well.