377 Dragon Mountains
Arthur could tell where the Dragon Priests were because of their connection but also using his Emperor Eye, which was a heavenly eye to track down people.
Valethar was still hurt because of the attack he received. However, he was good enough to fly. He was still in good condition to fight, all thanks to the healing spells Arthur cast, those of the wood element, and the mixture of alchemy ingredients he made, closing the wound and healing it more after each passing second.
Before the battle even started, Arthur had told the Dragon Priests to move toward the northern mountains, as that’s where the other dragons were, and that would be the safest place for them.
Arthur sat cross-legged on Valethar’s back and pointed out a direction from time to time.
“How can you track them so easily?” Valethar asked.
He knew about the connection Arthur had with his Dragon Priests, but that was limited, but Arthur was tracking them down so quickly that it made Valethar wonder what the trick was.
“That is a secret I cannot share. We are getting close now,” Arthur said.
“How do you know that?”
“Look ahead.”
Valethar looked ahead and saw the adventurers flying, presumably chasing down Garry, Larry, and Terry.
“What will we do when we find them?” Valethar asked Arthur.
“You can fly faster than them even hurt, right? Let’s get the three Dragon Priests and fly toward the mountains to meet with the other dragons. I don’t believe those adventurers will cause problems there.”
That was the plan Arthur had in mind, but there was one way the plan could fail: if there were no dragons in the mountains! Arthur did not believe that was the case, but what if? Then he would have to flee somewhere else, but with Valethar hurt, the adventurers would catch up eventually. Or worse, stronger adventurers could go after them!
“I understand.”
~~~~
“We are almost catching up to those three. Hehehe, the inheritance will be ours.”
p、A,nd A-n、o、ve,1 Nykka, Tarinne, and Yeva were there with the other adventurers, but they did not want to get that inheritance, and they disliked the greed in their eyes.
They turned around to see if something was chasing them, as that was something they often did, and then they saw an enormous red dragon flying toward them, with a seemingly ordinary elf on its back!
“Something is chasing us!” Nykka yelled.
She disliked those adventurers who were driven by greed, but there was no way she would let them die for nothing. Different from them, she was a good person.
When all the adventurers looked behind their backs and saw that dragon chasing them, they all wanted to scream and beg for their lives.
It was scary; everyone knew how powerful dragons were, and they were the strongest race in the demon continent! No one wanted to mess with them, but they also wanted the inheritance, creating a stalemate.
“Let’s keep chasing them! And if they go with the dragons, let’s kill them all! We have the higher number!” the leader said.
Arthur and Valethar got closer and closer until they passed above them like a bullet. Arthur saw the three Dragon Priests flying away carrying a blood crystal.
They quickly noticed Arthur — not that hard considering Arthur was on the back of an immense red dragon — so instead of running away, they changed directions, flying toward Arthur!
It took them a few minutes to meet, and the three brothers hopped on Valethar’s back and could finally rest.
“That was crazy! Did you see their killer eyes? Worse than many beasts I hunted!” Terry said.
“Greed is the name of it… Anyway, what is our plan now? If we keep running away, more and more adventurers will come after us,” Garry said.
Arthur smiled and said, “we are going toward the northern mountains to meet with our friends!”
~~~~
The adventurers saw the three hunters hop on the dragon’s back, but that did not discourage them from chasing and made them work even harder to catch up with them.
But, as they kept flying, they passed through the desert area, forests, rivers, and cities. As they kept going, and the distance between the two groups did not change by much, the leader of the adventurers had a bad feeling about the situation.
“There’s nowhere for them to run, and with that dragon hurt, we will catch up eventually! Everyone, keep on going!” he yelled, increasing their morale.
They had dismissed the idea of meeting with the other dragons, as those dragons never came out, and people often forgot about their existence. But when the leader of the adventurers saw those immense mountains, the tallest on the demon continent, with its peak passing through the clouds and their surface covered with snow, he remembered!
“N-No way, right? Fuck, we will not get them….”
“What do you mean, leader? The dragon is slowing down, and we are closing the distance!”
“You don’t get it, do you? Of course not, you are young and don’t know about the world. You see those tall mountains there? This is where the last dragons live… They are going there to meet with their kind, and there is nothing we can do to stop them.”
“What? Are there more dragons? Fuck!”
Most adventurers did not know about these mountains and what creatures lived there, as they were too young! The dragons never left their mountains, only to catch prey to eat, but there was nothing in a radius of 1000 km, so no one went there in the first place, so no one saw the dragons!
If you are not seen, you are forgotten, so only the older adventurers knew the stories behind that place, and the leader chasing Arthur was one of them.
All of them stopped, and even with their greed, they were not stupid to go further.
“We shall go back and speak with the higher-ups to see how we should proceed, but please, don’t get close to that mountain, or you will die!”
Then, the adventurers turned around and left.
~~~~
“They are not chasing us anymore!” Larry said as he looked behind and saw no one.
“Well, that is obvious. We are in dragon’s territory now, and no one is stupid enough to chase us here,” Garry answered his younger brother.
At that moment, a dragon flew from the top of one of the mountains and intercepted Valethar.
“Name yourself, now!”
The dragon had a blue color and a power similar to Valethar.
“I am Valethar, a dragon trapped in the desert, but now my lord has rescued me.”
“Your lord? Us dragons only have one lord, and that was Placidusax a thousand years ago!”
Arthur, who was on Valethar’s back, jumped and stopped mid-air.
“Placidusax? Yep, that is me!”
Then, he transformed into his true form, that of a dragon! He went from a frail elf to a gigantic dragon, at least three times bigger than Valethar or the blue dragon in front of them!
The aura he emanated was one of a lord, and the blue dragon recognized the black scales, and deep down, he knew that aura belonged to his ancestor!
“L-Lord?”
Unconsciously, the blue dragon lowered his head in respect.