"Damn, that breath of fire from the Dragon Bros is friggin' awesome."
"This is like killing a thousand enemies and losing three thousand of our own."
"Dragon Bro, how can you boss around like this? You really don't care about your subordinates, a tyrant indeed, what a waste of so many loyal and brave soldiers."
The comments floated by continuously, but Morphis didn't care at all about the death and injury of his monster minions—he had no reason to care about expendable underlings.
Qingfeng Lanhuai, however, was watching and fuming with anger.
"Damn, this guy wants to trade those minions for our heads, you Elementals stop messing with the small fry and hurry up to get that barrier up!"
"Roger that!" an Elemental blasted away several goblins that were attacking him with a storm force field and once again activated the Flame Barrier. Several Rangers stood around him to prevent interference from the minions.
However, while the minions could be blocked, the BOSS could not.
When the Black Dragon dove down again, it didn't breathe fire, but instead suddenly dropped in altitude, stretched out its claws, and grabbed the upper body of that Elemental, lifting him up into the skies.
The Elemental hadn't even had time to react before he was already shrieking in midair.
"Aaaaah, no, let me down, let me down!"
Morphis (Black Dragon Lord): "Let you down? Very well, as you wish."
With a release of his claws, the man instantly plummeted screaming from hundreds of meters high and splattered into a pulp upon impact.
The chaotic formation left the Adventurers unable to muster effective anti-air firepower, and Morphis was completely free to attack his targets at will.
As the Elementals who were sustaining the barriers were one by one picked off by Morphis, the remaining Adventurers finally broke down completely, scattering in all directions, but most of them were doomed to a fatal end under the pursuit of the monster minions and the black dragon whelps.
Morphis did not join in the pursuit; he hovered in midair with a flap of his wings, observing the battlefield around him.
(Something's not right.) Mo Fei thought to himself. The appearance of this group of Adventurers felt somewhat out of place. The past few months had already proven that sheer numbers couldn't defeat him—why would these people still come to meet their deaths?
Was it simply out of greed for the loot? It felt odd to him.
He decided to use a Message Spell to send an instruction to his minions guarding the Dragon Nest.
"Varek, go check if there are any 'rats' approaching the nest."
"Yes, Lord Morphis."
A black dragon whelp guarding the instance crawled out of the Dragon Nest and flew leisurely around the mountain peak.
The whelp's intelligence was not very high, only slightly smarter than a Husky, comparable to that of a Border Collie. But, being of the Dragon Race, they could communicate directly, which made them quite useful for executing tasks that weren't too complex.
Now, the black dragon whelp carefully surveyed for any intruders, but all that met its eyes were the desolate wilderness and charred rocks.
When the black dragon whelp flew farther away, a huge rock at the base of the hillside suddenly disappeared, revealing a group of Adventurers.
All of them were high-level Adventurers above level 50.
The person leading the team had a golden crown symbol above his head. He was a Gold Tier hero player by the name of Dawn Divine Sword. This man carried a two-meter-long greatsword on his back, donned a horned helmet, yet wore no armor on his body. Instead, his muscular and well-defined build, akin to that of a bodybuilder, exuded a main character aura.
His whole presence screamed 'I'm strong' and 'I am the protagonist.'
Another hero player accompanied him, cloaked in black, with a pointed hat and a scarf covering his face, leaving only a pair of eyes visible—subdued in appearance, yet the golden crown symbol above his head betrayed his status as well—a Gold Tier hero player named Midnight Mage.
The Illusion Magic just now was cast by him.
(Hero level classification—Bronze Tier, Silver Tier, Gold Tier, Epic Tier, Legendary Tier.)
Watching the black juvenile dragon fly over the mountain peak, the Midnight Mage chuckled, "Tsk tsk tsk, this Morphis really is cautious, huh? There's such a fierce battle going on over there, and he hasn't forgotten to arrange for his minions to patrol."
Dawn Divine Sword nodded, "Qingfeng Lanhuai's side won't hold out much longer. That black dragon is more formidable than we imagined. We need to quicken our pace and make sure we reach our destination before the battle ends."
With that, he waved to the adventurers behind him, and the team once again sprang into action.
Every few minutes, the black juvenile dragon would fly over for reconnaissance, but with the high-level Illusion Magic to cover them, they easily avoided detection every time.
Fifteen minutes later, the team finally arrived at the foot of Dragonfire Peak.
Dawn Divine Sword looked up at the entrance to the dungeon above his head and nodded, "This is the place.
According to the intelligence I've gathered, all of Morphis the black dragon's talent points are invested in Dragon Breath and flight abilities. We stand no chance fighting him in the open, and even if we win, we can't keep him from fleeing. But if we trap him in the dungeon, we can definitely take him down.
However, this black dragon is very crafty, and will escape immediately if anything goes awry, so we only have one chance! Everyone log off; the black dragon will finish streaming at twelve. Let's meet up at three in the morning, and enter the dungeon as soon as everyone's accounted for. Log off now!"
In an instant, dozens of people vanished from the spot.
At this moment, the battle on the Dark Plain was drawing to a close. The invading army of adventurers was nearly annihilated, with only that elf ranger and a few companions desperately holding on. At this point, he had given up on his bow and arrow, switching to two curved swords that danced above and below, quickly felling an ogre to the ground.
The Ranger class was one of the flashiest, not to mention as a Hero—it looked just like a scene out of a martial arts film.
But no amount of flashiness could withstand the onslaught of hundreds of lesser monsters.
Just as his stamina was exhausted, the monsters suddenly retreated to the side, and a colossal beast fell from the sky, landing with a thunderous crash in front of the elf ranger.
The Black Dragon looked down proudly at the bloodied elf ranger, "Tell me, insignificant elf, what drives you to so recklessly offend my draconic majesty, to intrude into my territory? Answer me truthfully, and I will grant you an honorable death."
At the same time, a private message was sent.
(Hey bro, give it to me straight—is there a reason you're here on the Dark Plain to seek death? Speak the truth, and I can arrange to have your loot returned to you after you die.)
The elf ranger glared at the black dragon: "You vile monster, vicious beast, all should seek your destruction! For justice and glory, for the victory of the Alliance, I would rather die than surrender."
(Got too cocky, thought we could take you down just by sheer numbers. Fine, I admit defeat today, but don't get too smug. I visited the temple of the Goddess of Fortune before setting out and got a BUFF, so my gear won't drop so easily.)
The black dragon snorted coldly, "Stubborn fool, your hollow slogans mean nothing to me. Since you are so adamant, so be it."
(Bro, since you've said it, then there's nothing more to talk about. Take care—the exit's yours.)
A Dragon Breath sprayed forth, and the Elf Ranger screamed as he burned to a crisp; a gust of wind blew, and he scattered into ashes without dropping even a single hair.
With the fall of Qingfeng Lanhuai, the battle was declared over. The Black Dragon looked around, and his monstrous minions bowed their heads to the ground. The corpses of adventurers littered the wilderness, with equipment and supply items dropped all around. Dragonfire blazed on, a ghastly sight to behold.
At this moment, in a dimly lit room, Qingfeng Lanhuai took off his gaming helmet, sighing deeply. He hadn't expected the failure, although he was somewhat prepared psychologically. Before setting out, he had harbored a bit of hope—what if they could actually take down that black dragon? Now, with the army utterly defeated, he couldn't help feeling disheartened.
Just then, his phone suddenly sounded an alert. He picked it up and saw the message.
[Transfer Notification: Your friend Qin XX has initiated a transfer to you, amount: 100,000.]
Looking at the string of zeros, Qingfeng Lanhuai whistled excitedly. It was worth leading an entire guild as cannon fodder; this deal was a profitable one. He had completed the task and could only hope they wouldn't let him down when the time came.