Chapter 445: The Earthly Python's Bloodline

Chapter 445: The Earthly Python's Bloodline

However, instead of responding to Quelrut, Rayen turned to Lambert and spoke seriously.

"Lord Lambert, thank you for your help this time. I'll take it from here."

Lambert was startled but quickly smiled and replied, "Lord Rayen, you're too kind. I merely did what I promised to do. I'll leave it to you now."

As he spoke, Lambert spat out another mouthful of fresh blood.

His complexion was still somewhat dark due to the lingering effects of the poison, and after the recent intense battle, he appeared to be in a rather poor state.

"Hmm, try this medicine," Rayen nodded, and took out several bottles of medicine from his pocket and handed them to Lambert.

These were detoxification and healing potions provided to Rayen by the headquarters of the Swordbearers, and they were quite effective.

They were crafted by master alchemists from the Royal Alchemist Academy, and even the Swordbearers headquarters received only a limited supply, so they were distributed only to a select few Swordbearers.

"Thank you!"

Rayen slowly lowered the little elf girl Aixa from his arms. Aixa, seemingly following Rayen's instructions, quickly ran towards Anna.

At this moment, Rayen slowly stood up and turned to face his opponent.

Quelrut, who had been waiting for Rayen's response, grew increasingly displeased with the lack of acknowledgment. When had he ever been ignored like this!

Even though he still couldn't understand the meaning of Minos's last words before his death.

But he had already decided to launch a probing attack.

In an instant, a substantial willpower field began to sweep towards Rayen, Lambert, the captured elves, and the centaurs.

The next second, except for Anna, Aixa, and a few others who were at a distance, everyone within the field suddenly had a giant python shadow appear on their bodies.

Instantly, the giant python shadows began to coil around their prey, tightening their grip, including Rayen.

However, Rayen's body was protected by the steel armor formed by the Tier 3 Composite Spell, which kept the python shadow at bay.

But sensing Rayen's strength, the python shadow grew thicker, even causing the steel armor to emit a groaning sound under the strain.

"A powerful domain, indeed an Epic-level powerhouse," Rayen thought.

Since his opponent was an Epic-level powerhouse, Rayen saw no need to hold back.

His muscles rapidly expanded, and dark dragon scales appeared on his skin. His back skin suddenly split, and a pair of fleshy wings sprouted, along with a thick, powerful tail that lashed about.

In an instant, Rayen's height surged to around fourteen meters, and the giant python shadow coiled around him seemed unable to grow any further, perhaps due to some kind of limit.

During Rayen's transformation, the python shadow, like an overburdened rope, was instantly torn into several pieces and dissipated into nothingness. At the same time, Rayen, transformed into the third form of the Dragon King, also entered the Epic level, and a powerful aura blocked and repelled Quelrut's willpower domain.

It was as if a thousand-year-old reef stood firm against the raging waves on the coast!

An invisible energy field clashed violently in mid-air, like two giant bubbles pressing against each other, crushing the scattered leaves in between into powder.

The captured elves and centaurs, who had been entangled by the python shadow, suddenly found themselves free, and they gasped in relief.

Lambert and Anna were somewhat prepared, as they had a rough idea of Rayen's strength.

But the pure-blood elves and centaurs who had just been rescued were in awe, staring at Rayen, who now stood at fourteen meters tall, and then at the hooded man of normal height across from them. It seemed like they were beginning to understand the situation.

At this moment, Rayen appeared more like a villain or a monster than their savior.

Aixa, the little elf girl, had her mouth agape, her beautiful eyes wide with shock as she watched, "Sister Anna, is Brother Rayen a monster?"

"Of course not," Anna replied, shaking her head as she held Aixa. "We shouldn't judge a person by their appearance but by their heart, right?"

Even as she spoke to Aixa, her eyes remained fixed on Rayen.

"Yes, my mother taught me that too. I think Brother Rayen is a good person!"

In the center of the field.

"Bloodline transformation? Melee Dragonkin? Imperial royalty?" Rayen's transformation made Quelrut ponder.

As the Vice-Patriarch of the Serpent Sect, Quelrut had extensive and well-informed channels, so he was privy to many secrets.

He knew that those with Dragonkin bloodlines were likely descendants of the Dragoon Empire's royalty.

Although there were rare cases of commoners possessing Dragonkin bloodlines, these instances were so scarce that they could be disregarded.

Of course, if it was only after the bloodline transformation that one gained Epic-level strength, Quelrut didn't consider this opponent a significant threat. What interested him more was the opponent's royal identity.

Quelrut was aware of the transformation's weakness: it couldn't last long. Regardless of the bloodline category, transformations rapidly depleted the body's stored energy.

Once the energy was exhausted, the transformation would be forcibly undone, and the user's strength would plummet, returning to their original state! This was true even for the Dragoon Empire's royalty, who possessed Dragonkin transformations.

Moreover, the crucial factor was that if a royal descendant of the Dragoon Empire were offered as a sacrifice during the prayer ceremony, the blessings would undoubtedly be more abundant.

And as the possessor of the legendary giant python bloodline, 'Sladran', he is also an expert in close combat!

So, as Ren transformed, Quirut suddenly swelled up!

His body suddenly grew taller, and the hood covering his head tore open, revealing a middle-aged yet sinister face, which instantly transformed into a snake head.

In just a second or two, an enormous spotted python appeared, coiled before everyone's eyes.

The python's head was as large as a carriage, and its body exceeded thirty meters in length. At this moment, coiled on the ground, it was level with Ren in his Dragon Man King form, and even slightly taller.

The massive body of the coiled python, resembling a small mountain, sent chills down everyone's spines!

This sudden transformation in size made the hearts of the onlookers skip a beat once again.

"Swish!"

Quirut, in his transformed state, immediately launched an attack. The massive python head darted towards Ren like lightning, and in the next instant, its huge mouth opened wide, and Ren could almost smell the stench from its mouth at that moment!

Facing this bite, Ren's flesh wings flapped, and the entire Dragon Man instantly dodged the attack.

"Boom!!!"

The giant python head, as big as a carriage, plunged into the ground, and a huge pit with a diameter of five to six meters suddenly appeared, sending up clouds of dust!

The power of this casual bite was astonishing! Among those present, only Ren's expression remained unchanged.

He didn't perform the fourth stage of Dragon Beast transformation not because it was extremely exhausting, but because after advancing to the stage of Dragon Blood Mage, he had never properly tested the power of Dragon Soul Strike.

Previously, in the Witchcraft testing room, he had directly destroyed the testing device with a single spell, and that was without activating Dragon Soul Strike.

And before that, with just a brief activation, he had instantly defeated 'Evil Serpent', the top-ranked serpent agent among the twelve.

That wasn't a proper test either.

So, the reason Ren, uncharacteristically, retreated and chose to cast spells instead of engaging in close combat was this: he wanted to test the power of Dragon Soul Strike.

Ren quickly began casting spells from a distance.

"Thorn Iron Ball!"

A giant thorn iron ball with a diameter of more than two and a half meters appeared in front of Ren.

"Sizzle! Sizzle!"

The surface of the iron ball was covered in dense, uneven spikes, creating sparks as they scraped against the ground. Although it looked powerful, compared to Quirut's current size, it was about the size of a basketball.

Quirut's coiled body rose, and he looked at Ren, who was casting spells, with a puzzled expression.

"Huh? The Dragon Man isn't engaging in close combat?"

"I've never heard of a Dragon Man from the Dragoon Empire's royal family having such a situation!"

In an instant, Quirut felt like he'd taken off his pants, only to have his girlfriend get her period—a feeling of utter disappointment.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

As Ren's dragon claws moved, a 'whoosh' sounded, and the giant thorn iron ball, emitting sparks, shot towards Quirut's transformed python like lightning.

Ren continued casting spells.

"First-Tier Witchcraft: Metal Transformation!"

"Second-Tier Witchcraft: Cutting Net!"

"Third-Tier Witchcraft: Sawtooth Ring!"

"Crystalized Kill Move: Sawtooth Slash!"

Six high-speed rotating silver metal rings suddenly appeared in front of Ren, following the thorn iron ball and rushing towards Quirut!

This made Quirut slightly more serious, as the other's witchcraft energy fluctuations almost reached the level of Dawn Witchcraft, or fourth-tier witchcraft, and its power was not to be underestimated.

Of course, he had already planned how to respond.

When the iron ball came towards him, he would use his tail to flick it back, like swatting a fly, using the other's witchcraft against them.

Perfect!

But when his massive snake tail touched the thorn iron ball, Quirut's huge snake body twitched.

Because in that moment of contact, he felt his soul being pierced, as if struck by lightning, and his body went rigid.

When he regained his senses, multiple parts of his body simultaneously felt intense pain, as if he had been struck by lightning six times over!

"Roar!!!"

Quirut could no longer hold back and let out a painful howl.

From the bystanders' perspective, they saw Quirut's massive snake tail hit the thorn iron ball, but his huge snake body twitched, and without any defense, he took the six high-speed rotating silver metal rings.

In an instant, six silver metal rings cut into the snake's body.

"Shh!"

The large, light-colored snake scales shattered, blood splattered, and the sawtooth metal rings, still rotating, had penetrated nearly half a meter into the massive snake body, and they continued to spin.

It was at this moment that Quirut understood what 'Evil Serpent' Minos had been trying to say.

Too bad it was a little too late.

In an instant, Quirut suffered a severe injury.

It wasn't a physical injury, but an extremely painful wound to his soul, difficult to heal.

And Ren had truly tested the power of Dragon Soul Strike.

The results were excellent!

Of course, Dragon Soul Strike also had its drawbacks, namely, its high consumption of mental strength.

When he activated Dragon Soul Strike and cast the Crystalized Kill Move, the doubled mental strength consumption directly depleted nearly a third of his mental strength.

However, seeing the other's pain, Ren was confident that two more Crystalized Kill Moves would be enough to defeat Quirut, the Vice-Patriarch of the Serpent Sect.

(End of Chapter)

A few minutes ago, in the southern skies of Ferdinand Forest, a sleek long-range airship was flying at high speed. Due to its incredible velocity, it had already reached the airspace above Barashan in no time.

At that moment, a colossal roar from Quelrut reverberated through the ship's cabin, causing Boris to furrow his brows and exclaim, "That kind of roar..."

Zoiler, on the other hand, immediately peered out through the porthole. The next second, his face filled with astonishment, he cried out, "Such a massive serpent!"

"No, that's the Serpent Sect's camp. I recognize it; it's Vice-Patriarch Quelrut's bloodline transformation."

As one of the three captains of the Slave Capture Squads, Zoiler was well-informed. He knew that Vice-Patriarch Quelrut was leading the Serpent Sect's forces this time.

In the camp, a giant serpent of such magnitude could only be Quelrut, leaving no room for doubt.

"Hey, that Dragon-Human fighting with Quelrut, isn't that Ren, the one you're looking for, Lord Boris?" Zoiler exclaimed again.

"Hmm?" Boris immediately followed Zoiler's gaze, looking into the distance.

Indeed, a massive serpent, clearly visible even from dozens of kilometers away, was engaged in combat with a Dragon-Human!

"This is a Stage Three Dragon-Human transformation, and the color of its scales seems unfamiliar. No wonder..." Boris seemed to understand something.

He now comprehended Buchanan's earlier words, realizing why the Second Imperial Prince valued Ren's bloodline so highly.

"Go! Full speed ahead!"

In the camp, just as Ren was about to pursue his advantage, a bloodfeather in the sky suddenly screeched.

Ren turned to look, and he saw an extremely slender airship flying at incredible speed, casting a massive shadow over the camp.

At that moment, everyone else also looked up, their gazes fixed on the airship that had suddenly appeared in mid-air.

Suddenly, the cabin door opened, and a robust human figure emerged, filling almost the entire doorway with his imposing stature.

The next second, to the astonishment of the onlookers, this colossal figure leaped from the airship, which was dozens of meters high!

"Boom!!!"

With a piercing whoosh, the figure plummeted like a meteor, crashing into the ground.

Instantly, the ground shook, followed by a circular wave of dust that swept through the area.

"Pfft! Pfft!"

Several shocked Serpent Sect followers, caught off guard, inhaled a mouthful of dirt.

However, they had no time to worry about that now. Seeing the design of the airship, they knew it wasn't from their sect; it was likely an Imperial reinforcement.

As the dust settled, a giant appeared before them, clad in massive iron shoulder guards and half-covered in leather armor. With a chuckle, he looked at Ren and asked, "You're Ren?"

"Although I have no desire to collaborate with the scum of the Serpent Sect, if it means an easy completion of my mission, don't blame me for taking advantage of the situation."

"Remember my name, Boris!" he declared, raising his hand to the sky. A massive blade spear was thrown down from the airship.

The spear, approximately twelve to thirteen meters long, had a single-edged blade nearly two meters long at its tip and a long handle. Its unusual length surprised onlookers.

The next second, the giant Boris charged towards Ren.

With each step, his body underwent a dramatic transformation; his height soared, red dragon scales appeared on his skin, and his muscles expanded. In an instant, he became a towering Dragon-Human, standing at around seventeen to eighteen meters tall.

Like Ren, he also had wings, making his appearance almost identical to Ren's current form.

However, the color of his scales was noticeably different.

Moreover, what was particularly striking was that he had three inverse scales on his chest, each in a distinct color: red, yellow, and green.

At this moment, everyone realized that the length of the blade spear was perfectly suited to his current height.

"Another Epic-level opponent?" Lambert, witnessing this scene, was left speechless.

Initially, he had thought it was a Guardian from the Empire coming to their aid, but it turned out to be an enemy!

"Ren's strength is formidable, but his ability to provoke opponents is also top-notch," Lambert commented.

Upon seeing Boris's transformation, Ren's eyes narrowed slightly, and he had a good idea about Boris's background.

Additionally, he noticed something peculiar—a fleeting moment of chaos in Boris's aura during his transformation.

Logically, if Boris were a descendant of the Red Dragon bloodline, his aura during transformation should be as scorching and intense as molten lava. On the other hand, a descendant of the Yellow Dragon bloodline would have an aura as heavy and solid as the earth. Yet, Boris's transformed aura became increasingly chaotic.

This connection sparked a realization in Ren.

"Did he achieve Epic-level power by relying on..."

As Ren pondered, Boris charged towards him at full speed, his blade spear slicing down with tremendous force. A ten-meter-long flame slash suddenly appeared, rushing towards Ren.

This was a hybrid attack that incorporated the Red Dragon's innate flame ability with an extraordinary combat skill.

Meanwhile, the heavily injured Quelrut took advantage of the situation, curling up his massive serpentine body. He turned his head towards his followers, and in the next second, he took a deep breath.

Accompanied by a scream, shadows and streams of blood were extracted from the bodies of the Serpent Sect followers, all of which were swallowed by Quelrut's gaping maw.

In an instant, although his spiritual wounds remained unhealed, his physical injuries were mostly mended.

Quelrut's venomous snake eyes fixed on Ren, and in the next second, he lunged forward with all his might!

End of Chapter.

Chapter end