Chapter 216 - Plan within a Plan

When Blood Claw brought back the message to the Black Reaper,the great leader Nord laughed out loud three times in excitement, pounding Blood Claw’s shoulder hard and saying, "Well done, you did very well, much better than the other idiots. It’s just a shame you’re not a Jackalwere. Otherwise, I’d definitely make you the second leader of the Black Reaper." Google seaʀᴄh NovᴇlFɪre.ɴet

With a shifty glance, Nord said with a sly smile, "Just so happens, in a few days, we’re going to attack the Fairy Wilderness, where there’s no shortage of the Fae Race and Druids. Once we catch a senior Druid capable of using the Reincarnation Spell, we will directly transform you into a Jackalwere."

As he reached the end, Nord excited himself first, not only talking to Blood Claw but also to himself, "What a wonderful idea, why didn’t I think of it sooner? Heh heh... With this, the Black Reaper can replenish fresh blood faster and develop at an even greater speed.

But the question remains, can these reincarnated beings, not naturally born Jackalweres, withstand the blessing of Lord Yenogu, withstand the pouring of the Power of the Abyss?

Heh heh, this interesting experiment must be tried, must be tried. When the time comes, you’ll be the first test subject."

Blood Claw tried his best to suppress the twitching of his cheeks and said expressionlessly, "If it’s really possible, it would be my greatest honor. By then, not only I but also the Cavalry of the Blood Claw that I lead, will choose to become noble Jackalweres, becoming faithful followers of Lord Yenogu."

This damned race fanatic, does he really think that everyone wants to become a Jackalwere, to follow the Demon Lord?

"Very good, very good, very good," Nord didn’t care whether the other party was sincere or pretentious.

As long as he was strong enough, as long as he could keep them under his feet, they would have to obey him, even if it meant turning them into Jackalweres.

Once the Power of the Abyss was infused into their bodies, their souls would no longer be their own, and then they’d have no say in the matter.

Heh heh, truly a genius idea, only a genius like himself could come up with it.

Nord valued the young Red Dragon greatly and sent people overnight to gather treasures from various tribes according to his demands, packing them into ten large chests.

Most of these treasures were covered with stains, the traces of blood that had dried.

Some accessories were even violently ripped off their original owners, some still with half-dried ears attached.

The Jackalweres didn’t care about this at all, and they believed that the Red Dragon lord wouldn’t care either.

In the ten chests of treasure, only half was in various currencies, with the rest being these bloodied accessories.

The total value was, indeed, more not less than the same weight in currency; they had really put a lot into this.

The next morning, the silhouette of the young Red Dragon was seen hovering outside the camp.

Everyone knew that this was its way of telling them to follow it with the treasure.

The young Red Dragon would certainly not land directly in the Black Reaper camp to collect its fee.

This was the customary caution among monsters when hiring each other—never trust the other side too much, or you might end up dead without knowing how, even the mighty Giant Dragons were no exception, unless they had an overwhelming advantage.

Still leading the way, Blood Claw used two heavy carts to drag the ten chests of treasure, following far behind the young Red Dragon.

Roderick did not take Blood Claw and his men to the previous meeting place but instead arrived at the steep, isolated peak ten kilometers away.

This was where he had handpicked overnight for the trade. In a moment, he would directly take the treasure to the isolated peak and hide it.

The original Dragon’s Nest had been exposed, and it certainly wasn’t safe to bring the treasure back there; nor was he willing to dress up the Devil Half-Elf in riches, so this was the only option.

"Everyone leave, you stay!" the young Red Dragon had become much more cautious after suffering a loss at Gaven’s hands.

Had it been in the past, he definitely wouldn’t have been so meticulous in his calculations.

The one left behind was naturally Blood Claw, who had discussed the contract with him the day before.

After the other Jackalweres and the Hobgoblin left, Roderick directed again, "Open all the chests."

Blood Claw respectfully opened each chest one by one and explained, "The Black Reaper’s goods are all from plunder, so they are mixed and chaotic, it’s impossible to keep the value of each chest balanced, but I guarantee that all these goods combined definitely exceed the hundred thousand in commission I promised yesterday."

"Very well, tie them up with ropes." The young Red Dragon nodded in satisfaction, as any treasure was good enough. Without a single Gold Coin left to his name, he wasn’t too picky, and he’d never been before.

Unalike the mongrel Aivensa, he was of noble lineage, with both a father and a mother. The knowledge required by a Giant Dragon, he had mastered it all, especially in appraising treasures. He’d practiced to perfection in his mother’s Dragon’s Nest, with the greatest joy in his childhood being to count his mother’s treasure inside and out every day.

Though it wasn’t his own, it was still delightful to indulge.

Thus, he could estimate the overall value of these treasures at a glance, and detecting no traces of magic, it seemed there were no traps set.

Blood Claw seemed to know what the young Red Dragon intended to do, and, after tying everything up cooperatively, exposed the handles fit for grasping at the top, then backed away.

Only then did Roderick confidently descend, grabbing two of the chests, and flew towards the lone peak.

Even he couldn’t take all the treasures away in one go.

Luckily, by air, though the lone peak wasn’t low, a round trip—barely over two kilometers—was no burden to the young Red Dragon.

After making three trips without any mishaps, the young Red Dragon’s spirits soared extremely high.

Just as he eagerly picked up the fourth group of chests, preparing to take off, he suddenly sensed something amiss and exclaimed loudly, "Why is that chest lid closed ahead of time? Open it quickly."

Blood Claw, who had been respectful all along, not only didn’t comply but also changed expression and turned to run.

The young Red Dragon cried out in dismay, releasing the chests he was holding and desperately flapped his Dragon Wings, trying to rise swiftly into the air.

Boom!

Immense magic power erupted from the closed chest, sweeping across the space of hundreds of meters.

Roderick only felt a strange Law sweep over his body, immediately turning his Dragon Wings to mere decorations; no matter how he flapped, they could not resist falling towards the ground.

Flight inhibition!

This was a flight inhibition spell!

The chest had been switched, hiding a flight-inhibiting Magic Artifact within.

The young Red Dragon instantly understood what was happening. As he adjusted his body to face the inevitable fall, he twisted his head towards the location of the switched chest and blasted it with a Flame Dragon’s Breath.

The chest simply couldn’t withstand the searing heat of the Dragon Breath and erupted into intense flames instantly.

But such a carefully laid trap—how could it be broken by a mere Dragon Breath?

This treasure chest was meticulously crafted; the wooden material on the outside was merely a disguise, with a layer of fine steel inside.

No one knew how thick it was or what materials were used to make it, but under the flame dragon’s breath, it not only failed to deform but even the change in color was very slight.

Roar roar roar!

At this moment, the howling of jackalweres echoed from all directions.

Countless hyenas, jackalweres, and cavalry of the Slaughter Fang were rushing over.

Leading them was Nord, wielding a magic wand, and the mount he rode, a Fangs of Slaughter, was a size larger than the norm, nearly shoulder-high to a mammoth elephant, with long waist and legs, its speed astoundingly fast as it ran.

The young red dragon, without a second thought, ran in the opposite direction of Nord.

Such anti-flight magic must have a coverage range, otherwise, the opponent wouldn’t have gone through so much trouble to lure him down; they would have activated it right beneath him, and a fall from hundreds of meters in the air would have killed him from the impact alone.

As long as he could get back into the air, the opponents surely couldn’t do a thing to him.

It was another goddamn trap.

Since when had giant dragons lost so much respect?

Does everyone dare to slay dragons now?

The grief and anger in Roderick’s heart were imaginable; he had been extra cautious over and over, yet in the end, he was still outwitted.

Little did he know, when his greed was hooked, he had already placed himself on the edge of danger.

"Still trying to run? Stay for me!" Nord’s hand flashed with a rich black glow, and the thick dry octopus tentacle he held turned into black mist on the spot.

At the same time, countless black mists surged from under the young red dragon’s feet, transforming into black octopus tentacles as thick as an adult’s arm and three to four meters long, covering an area of about ten meters around him.

The black tentacles frantically thrashed, entwining Roderick’s limbs and dragon wings, trying to trap him on the spot.

Fourth-level spell—Evvard’s Black Tentacles.

These black tentacles were remarkably resilient, and the young red dragon had to exert his full strength to barely break them.

But from all sides came more of these black tentacles, and unable to fly even a meter, he found it impossible to escape, his movements extremely hindered.

Instinctively, Roderick blasted the black tentacles with a flame dragon’s breath that had just recovered.

To the young red dragon’s surprise, these black mist-formed tentacles were magically immune, and his dragon breath could not harm them at all.

Roderick, not giving up yet, bit into one and wildly thrashed about.

Although he managed to break it, it wasn’t the result of his immense biting force, but instead, he had torn it apart with sheer force.

This thing was immune to attacks.

The only effective method was to use brute force to physically tear it apart.

But by the time he had struggled to the edge of the black tentacle zone,

A new area was already lying in wait for him.

It was over; he was going to fall here today.

Roderick thought in despair.

"Hold on, help is on the way," a voice rang directly in the young red dragon’s mind.

Just a few minutes earlier, this voice would have been one of the last he wanted to hear.

But now, it was like the music of heaven.

The Devil Half-Elf was nearby.

If he was around, then that chatty Red Copper Dragon must also be nearby.

Could there be an army of Gnolls or Yaling nearby too?

As for why the Devil Half-Elf knew so much about his whereabouts, the young red dragon could no longer afford to ponder that.

Emboldened, he stopped running and stood his ground.

He waited for the jackalweres to come to him.

These black tentacles were not only an obstacle to his escape but could also serve as a protective barrier; the jackalweres, once they rushed in, might also get trapped by the tentacles, so they surely wouldn’t act rashly.

However, the young red dragon underestimated the madness of the Black Reaper pack of jackalweres.

They had blood-red eyes devoid of much reason, filled only with rage and the desire to kill.

Nord, the great leader of the Black Reapers, knew that he was facing a giant dragon, even if it was a young red dragon.

It was a formidable deterrent to most creatures, and few would dare to charge at him recklessly.

Thus, he engaged beasts imbued with the Power of the Abyss, dominated by the most twisted and evil bestial nature.

Not only dragons, but even a True God here would be charged at without hesitation by these creatures, eager to take a few bites.

The ones charging in front were ensnared by the black tentacles, and those behind simply stepped on their backs and kept moving forward, piling up one after the other until they had paved a path right to the young red dragon.

Thehuge hyenas, exuding the stench of the abyss, howled as they bit at the young red dragon’s neck.

Flame dragon’s breath.

The dragon breath that had been building up, burst forth.

The leading giant hyena was blown away.

The flame dragon’s breath might have been ineffective against Evvard’s Black Tentacles, but it was still highly effective against these abyssal beasts.