Chapter 20: The Naked Dragon

As Haireding’s footsteps grew farther away, Komer’s magic reached its peak. Faint thunder rumbled in the air. The moment the ice dragon’s presence appeared, “Thor’s Hammer” would rule the land. For dragons, lightning magic was undoubtedly the most deadly. Any dragon, faced with such divine power, would have no choice but to submit and flee. They might not fear any elemental magic, but this divine power, rooted in elemental magic yet surpassing it, was beyond even their strength.

Though a faint dragon breath filled the air, Komer saw no sign of the ice dragon. Given its nature, it seemed unlikely it could remain hidden for so long. Facing just one opponent, the ice dragon should have shown off its might—unless there was one possibility: perhaps, as initially predicted, it had not only been wounded by the Twin Lords of Wisdom but also affected by the jellyfish people’s dragon amber, leaving it too weak to attack.

At this thought, Komer’s heart raced with excitement. Capturing or killing such an ice dragon would bring unimaginable benefits—dragon crystals, scales, sinews, blood—every part of the dragon was a priceless treasure. Especially for magicians and artifact makers, it was nothing short of a miracle. Using dragon materials to create magical artifacts was beyond even the wildest dreams of craftsmen. Every magician longed to possess a weapon or sacred object made from dragon material—a supreme desire, even comparable to those legendary ancient artifacts. The dragon’s powerful energy would multiply the effectiveness of magical artifacts, with even a single drop of dragon blood possessing extraordinary powers.

Summoning his magic to sense the surroundings, Komer activated his heightened senses, spreading his perception everywhere. A cold aura came from the right front—there seemed to be a massive source of ice energy, a hallmark of an ice dragon. Still, Komer kept reciting the spells for lightning magic, aiming to cast them as quickly as possible. After all, he was facing a dragon—a famous ice dragon, not some inferior earth dragon or turtle dragon. A true dragon capable of stirring endless storms.

Pushing aside the reeds and weeds in front of him bit by bit, he found the ground quite moist—this was a typical feature of swampy areas. He could faintly hear the sound of water crashing against the shores of the island in the river. The chill made Koemer shiver several times. What trick was this ice dragon up to? Could it really be true, as those jellyfish people said, that it had come here to sleep?

The green reed stems and leaves were covered in frost, and even the air was filled with icy mist. It must be nearby. Koemer grew even more anxious. The lightning arrow, a lightning-based magic spell, was already formed in his left hand. Once the ice dragon appeared, this spell, though not very powerful, could at least temporarily fend off its fierce attacks and buy time for “Thunder God’s Hammer.” By now, the Heavenly Demon Shield was at its maximum capacity, but Koemer wasn’t sure if it could withstand a single strike from an enraged ice dragon.

The black crystal staff he used to push aside the reeds would make any magician furious—such wasteful behavior was simply unforgivable. But Koemer couldn’t care less now. The powerful dragon breath made him realize the ice dragon was right on the shore surrounded by reeds. Why this creature had come here wasn’t something Koemer needed to worry about; he needed to figure out what state the ice dragon was in.

What he saw disappointed him yet also surprised him a bit. There was no ice dragon in the reed patch as he had imagined. Instead, there was a naked woman lying in a very lascivious pose on a mat made of reed leaves. Though the naked woman on the ground was tempting, Koemer didn’t have the heart to admire her at this moment. His life was more important. The absence of the ice dragon meant his judgment had been wrong. But the ice dragon’s presence couldn’t be hidden from Koemer. Where was this creature hiding? Could this be a trap set by the ice dragon?

He amplified his detection magic and spread it around again, scanning the surroundings nervously. His hand gripping the black crystal staff was covered in sweat. The faint magical glow of the lightning arrow formed in his left hand had reached its limit. With just a thought from Koemer, the lightning magic could be unleashed. But where should it target? Surely not that naked woman lying on the ground?

The detection magic once again told Komer that there were no other objects with dragon breath in the vicinity, at least not within a kilometer. The only target emitting strong dragon breath was the naked woman before him, who seemed to still be deep in sleep. Nothing around her seemed able to disturb her rest. Confused but also slightly relieved, Komer thought that as long as it wasn’t a trap set by the ice dragon, things were much better. Well, unless this was a beauty trap, of course.

But what exactly was going on? With a thought, Komer seemed to recall something. He tried hard to search his mind for information about dragons. It seemed there was some description of the dragon race in King Kenifer III’s memories—some dragons, after suffering severe injuries, would experience a drastic decline in their dragon power, to the point where they might lose the ability to appear in their most powerful dragon form and instead take on the appearance of other races. As the spirits of all things on the continent, dragons were undoubtedly the strongest in terms of individual power. Aside from humans, who dominated the continent in number, no other race seemed capable of threatening the safety of dragons. And indeed, dragons did have the habit of taking on human forms. Could this naked woman be the badly injured ice dragon?

Komer’s gaze immediately shifted to the naked woman lying there in an extremely indecent posture. Although her sleeping position was very lewd and she was completely naked, Komer, after swallowing hard, had to admit that she was the most feminine and alluring woman he had ever seen. Compared to her, Grace, Eve, Lomi, and Tracy could only be considered inexperienced youngsters. Her almost perfect physical features truly defined what it meant to be a woman—this was Komer’s only thought of admiration.