Chapter 420 - The Remaining Power of Slaying the Dragon

"Take it to the shore," Gaven said to the Red Dragon Wraith.The Red Dragon Wraith sorrowfully took over its own body.

Not only had it been blasted to death, but its very dragon soul had been enslaved.

Now it had to assist its enemy, transporting its own corpse.

What fate awaited its corpse, it knew without asking; it surely could not escape being skinned and deboned.

The Red Dragon Wraith couldn’t help but sink lower, submerging most of its body into the water.

Being in a ghostly state, it still had some strength, but it was significantly weakened, and even carrying its own body was somewhat difficult.

Gaven didn’t care about the Red Dragon Wraith’s feelings, and turned to ask, "Why are you here?"

This bipedal dragon was none other than the Black Dragoness Shanoba.

With respect, Shanoba answered, "There was a problem on Stephanie’s end. The thread broke, and I could only come back to find my master."

"The thread broke? What do you mean?" Gaven asked with confusion.

"A group from the Santarin Association attacked Stephanie’s monastery, uprooting her martial monk organization. Even she was gravely injured and fled. Fearing she might be tracked, I didn’t dare to continue with her. Hearing that my master was in this area, I came on my own. But since my master wasn’t around these past days, I didn’t dare to show myself," Shanoba said apologetically. "Failing to complete master’s task, I ask for master’s punishment."

"This is not your fault, what blame do you have?" Gaven consoled. "On this matter, you did very well. Stephanie must have become a disposable piece in the Santarin Association’s political strife. I miscalculated this affair. After we robbed the Santarin Association’s goods, we should have cut this thread."

Success because of Xiao He, and failure because of Xiao He.

Many of Gaven’s successful dealings relied on the foresight from memories of his past life.

But as he changed more and more events, the fates of some people began to distort.

Relying on past life memories to judge the fate of those whose lives were distorted would lead to serious errors.

Stephanie was one such case.

He had only thought about her future rise and her connections with important figures in the Santarin Association.

But he forgot, because of him, her mission in the Rocklands was a complete failure.

Especially since his double-crossing had accelerated the timeline of the Bane Church’s first massacre by the Santarin Association.

The internal conflict between the Shylock Church and the Bane Church had been brought forward to the surface.

As a frontline executor, Stephanie was very likely to get caught in the crossfire.

Whether the Heartbreaker Nun lived or died, Gaven didn’t care.

But Shanoba was a thread that could lead back to him. He had been intending to reel her in for a while but didn’t want to startle the others prematurely.

Fortunately, she was smart enough not to hang herself on the twisted tree that was Stephanie.

"Thank you for your mercy, master," sighed Shanoba with relief.

Coming back this time, she had been somewhat on edge.

She had stubbornly tried to stop the young Red Dragon, in part to make amends for past failures.

"Hide yourself for now, and I will summon you for a detailed talk when I am free. It is not convenient for you to appear at the moment." As they approached the shore, Gaven instructed the Black Dragoness.

She would still need to be kept hidden for a short while.

Shanoba responded with a nod and slipped back into Yewen Pond.

"Lord is back, he’s come back with that Red Dragon’s corpse! He killed that Red Dragon!"

"Not only did he kill that Red Dragon, but he turned it into a ghost, a Giant Dragon Ghost!"

"Dragon Slayer, our Lord is now a Dragon Slayer!"

"Dragon Slayer Gaven!"

Still a fair distance from the shore, Gaven could already hear the tumultuous cheering.

It was as thunderous as a tidal wave.

As terrifying as the reputation of a Giant Dragon was, the title of Dragon Slayer was equally prestigious.

Just how formidable the young Red Dragon had been, many had seen with their own eyes.

And now, that imperious Red Dragon had become a dead dragon, one that was dragging its own body.

One man and his steed had slaughtered a young Giant Dragon. Even a legendary novel wouldn’t dare write such a tale.

"Wait a moment, concerning that bipedal dragon, do not mention it to anyone else," Gaven instructed the Half-Moon Colt.

"Okay," Luna responded, not in the mood to ask why, appearing completely dazed and incredulous.

Even with the corpse right before her, she still couldn’t fully believe they had slain a Giant Dragon.

She clearly saw that Gaven had fired no more than five shots from start to finish.

When did Giant Dragons become so fragile?

By the time Gaven hurried back to shore, the battle there had basically concluded.

Those mercenaries had either become ghosts under the ninth-ring spell Revenge Storm, or they were terrified into surrender, becoming prisoners.

A small number took advantage of the chaos to flee into the wilderness, only to quickly realize they were surrounded by a Wild Wolf Pack.

They would either become wolf food or be herded back obediently to become prisoners.

There was a small group that managed to board three Troop Transport Longships. Amidst the pursuit of the Demi-Human boatmen, they meandered in search of a chance to escape.

"Follow me," Gaven called out to the Red Dragon Wraith, charging fiercely towards those three Troop Transport Longships.

"Don’t attack, don’t attack, we surrender, we surrender."

"We wish to surrender, we wish to surrender!"

"Idiots, stop rowing, do you want to die? Have you not seen that Giant Dragon Ghost? Do you think you’re stronger than that Giant Dragon?"

"Those who don’t want to die, just obey. We’re just mercenaries getting paid to work. We haven’t harmed them; they won’t make things difficult for us."

"That’s right, surrender is our only way out. Struggling will only hasten our demise."

The debate amongst the mercenaries on the three troop transport longships was brief before they unanimously decided to lower the sails, stop rowing, discard their weapons, and, with hands clasped over their heads, kneel on the deck to signal their surrender and to show they posed no threat.

These mercenaries were sincerely terrified; upon seeing the Red Dragon Wraith, they made the wisest decision of their lives.

A Red Dragon had been slain in less than ten minutes by others.

What could they possibly use to contest such a foe?

Especially since this Red Dragon had been transformed into a ghostly state.

"Steer the ships, return to shore, and you shall not be killed," Gaven bellowed.

With the Red Dragon Wraith as a backdrop, his command carried an infinite deterrent force.

Soon, the three mercenary troop transports were on the move again, only their direction had changed, heading towards the banks of Yewen Pond.

Once at a suitable location to moor, the mercenaries within disembarked voluntarily, jumping onto the shore to join the ranks of their previously captured comrades.

It seemed from their comrades’ eyes that they saw schadenfreude.

A look that said, "See, the choice I made was the smartest. You struggled in vain, only to end up with the same fate as us."

On the other side, Thornspike and his team had already moved into the water, attempting to salvage the corpse of the young Red Dragon.

"Daphne," Gaven called out loudly.

"Present, Lord. What are your orders?" the Dwarves Ghost Knight ran over and replied.

"Find a way to extract all the blood from his body for me," Gaven didn’t know if she had the capability, but in his urgency, she was the one who came to mind.

Compared to the others, this Dwarves priestess was the most cunning and the most likely to complete the task.

In truth, most of the Dragon Blood had already been lost over time and immersion in water.

But the corpse of the young Red Dragon was massive enough that even the remnants, once extracted, would amount to a considerable quantity.

The Magic Power contained in the blood of Giant Dragons of different ages was not the same, and the effects of the Dragon Blood Potions created from them also varied.

This had already been verified with both the Young Red Copper Dragon and the juvenile Red Dragon.

However, as the age difference between the two was minimal, the difference in effects was not pronounced.

This near-adult Red Dragon was a full two age stages above the juvenile - separated by an adolescent stage.

"I assure you, the task will be completed," Daphne replied, not daunted but rather looking as if she had been handed exactly what she needed.

Her hands moved rapidly, accompanied by complex incantations.

Numerous dark mists converged within the corpse of the young Red Dragon, especially around the blasted-open skull, obscuring it thoroughly and stopping the intermittent blood flow.

When the spellcasting was finished, Daphne respectfully reported, "I have performed preservation on this body. For a week, it will remain exactly as it is now, including the blood which will not coagulate. We can bring it back to the manor to process it slowly, as Dragon Blood requires specialized containers."

Formerly a sacrificer to the Goddess of Undead Vengeance, she was most adept at dealing with corpses. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on ɴo(v)elFɪre.ɴet

Leaving the task to her was most appropriate.

"Good, excellent job," Gaven praised repeatedly, then added, "I entrust you with the responsibility of transporting it back to the manor for safekeeping, and when there is time, we will discuss the method for processing it. The surrender of these mercenaries will also be under your full command."

Delegating authority to Daphne was a decision made out of necessity.

In terms of commanding officers, especially ones with full competencies, he was significantly lacking.

Thornspike’s personal combat and execution abilities were impeccable.

However, his command abilities were problematic.

The previous charge with the Enlightened Tree was a serious mistake.

If Gaven had not coincidentally returned in time, and if the young Red Dragon had entered the field, the losses to the Enlightened Tree would have been catastrophic.

As the operations he oversaw continued to expand, he was bound to spend most of his time on the move. Over the next half-month, his focus would likely turn to the direction of Thacel, to establishing factories there and dealing with the mass migration.

He needed to find a sufficiently cunning deputy.

After consideration, only two came to mind: the Dog Demon or Daphne.

As the Dog Demon was to follow him and serve as a means of transportation, it could only be Daphne.

"As you command," Daphne vocalized her readiness, surprise and delight written all over her face.

The desire for power among Dwarves Elves, particularly among the priestesses, was notorious.

The whole Dwarves society was rife with their struggles for power and influence.

This trait was rooted both in the societal structure of the Dwarves and in the influence of their primarily worshipped deity, the Spider Queen, Rose.

Daphne was no exception.

But she had the self-awareness to realize that due to her unique race and status, earning Gaven’s trust would be exceedingly difficult. Having some autonomy was already quite an achievement; to dream of wielding substantial power was, for her, but a fantasy.

Yet, to her surprise, that dream had one day come true, so quickly and on such a large scale.

Gaven did not dwell on Daphne’s complex emotions; a plethora of tasks awaited his attention.

Of the utmost urgency was to claim the treasure of the slain young Red Dragon before news of its demise spread.

But before that, he needed to acknowledge his guest.

The war had ended so cleanly and efficiently, in no small part due to Zalanda’s Revenge Storm.

Reading Attributes was one thing, but witnessing their effects on a battlefield was another matter entirely.

Gaven felt his own Death Roar to be on par with a Divine Artifact, but when compared to the actual Path of War, validated by the Goddess of Strategy and imbued with the force of Law, there was still a great distance to bridge.

Zalanda alone, with just a scroll, could match the impact of ten thousand armies.

Before Gaven could seek out Zalanda, Zalanda, driving the Dog Demon, approached him first.

While Gaven was in awe of the terrible power of the Path of War on the battlefield,

Zalanda’s shock was no less profound than Gaven’s.