pappabearbooks Chapter 92 : The Lost Dragon Root! Abandoned Piece!
Chapter 92 : The Lost Dragon Root! Abandoned Piece!
Chapter 92: The Lost Dragon Root! Abandoned Piece!
A Level 4 Underground Lord.
Leo had never heard of such a Beastkin, but just from the name alone, it sounded extremely powerful.
Tita was well-informed and spoke with certainty. “We can’t defeat it. That’s a highly toxic monster. It’s said that Goblins are born from the Underground Lord.”
“Why do I feel like the poisonous fog is dispersing?” Tita’s senses weren’t as sharp as Leo’s.
Leo, however, could sense that visibility within the poisonous fog was gradually improving.
The poison fog was indeed dispersing.
But when Leo looked over, there were no longer any living creatures inside.
Several guards’ corpses lay scattered in disarray.
The ground had been torn open into a massive crater, rubble strewn everywhere—it was nothing short of ruins.
At that moment, the sound of hoofbeats rang out from the castle gate.
The gates opened, and Laforin led the Quasi-Knights back into the city in grand formation.
“We won!” Excitement flashed in Tita’s eyes.
At this moment, Laforin had blood at the corner of his mouth, one arm hanging limp, yet atop his blade rested a massive head.
No—not a human head, but the enormous head of a Centaur.
Under Laforin’s leadership, they had defeated that group of Centaurs.
However, the cost had not been small.
Three Quasi-Knights had died, and nearly half were either lightly or heavily injured.
Laforin himself had also sustained serious injuries.
Fortunately, they had held the line.
“You…” Laforin quickly approached the stables with Eve Sova and Clarsen.
He looked at the pools of blood on the ground and the Blood Cores that hadn’t yet been collected.
“Sir Laforin.” Tita knelt and saluted. “I heard this place was under attack and came to reinforce. I encountered over a hundred Blood Goblins. Fortunately, Leo arrived in time to support.”
Laforin looked at the blood-covered Tita, then at Leo, who was leading a white horse, completely clean.
Tita added, “More than half of the Goblins here were killed by him.”
Laforin glanced at the Beast Bone Longbow on Leo’s back and his two empty quivers, then nodded.
He then loudly announced, “Good. All Beastkin slain this time will be counted with double Merit Points.”
“Long live Blackstone City!”
“Long live Blackstone City!”
But at that moment, a panicked voice rang out—
“Someone come quickly! Sir Anthony! He… he… he’s dead!”
……
That night, outside Anthony’s bedroom.
Laforin, Clarsen, Eve Sova, and Anthony’s attendant Tita—five people waited anxiously for news from inside.
Although they had withstood a large-scale Beast Calamity,
Blackstone City had paid an unprecedented price.
Anthony, the third-ranked Mid-tier Knight in the city, had been poisoned during the battle with the Level 4 Underground Lord.
His life now hung by a thread.
Laforin’s face was ashen.
Anthony’s accident was undoubtedly a massive blow to him.
Although Anthony ranked third in strength within Blackstone City, only Laforin knew just how important he truly was.
Among the Five Great Knights in external operations: Laforin was the spear, Ross the shield, Ray handled reconnaissance and ranged attacks, Clarsen filled gaps.
Among the five, the most crucial one—
was Anthony, the battlefield commander.
Even after Eve Sova had advanced to a knight, Laforin felt that his own importance didn’t surpass Anthony’s.
Within the city’s internal administration, Anthony also led the specific affairs of the Knight Hall.
As the central core of Blackstone City’s operations, this chief strategist had always played an extremely vital role.
At this moment, Laforin was the one most worried about Anthony.
“He’s out! He’s out!”
Amid Eve Sova’s shout,
Lady Manta walked out from inside, a thin layer of sweat covering her forehead.
“How is he!” Laforin quickly stepped forward.
“Fortunately, his life is preserved.”
“That’s great!”
But Lady Manta sighed. “The Underground Lord’s poison is too strong. And Anthony was poisoned for too long. Although I’ve done my best to use potions to remove the residual toxins, if he wants to fully recover, it will take at least half a year.”
“Damn it.” Eve Sova slammed her fist against the wall.
She clearly cared deeply for her former Strategy teacher, knowing what half a year meant to a knight.
A knight’s cultivation was a race against time—if one didn’t advance, one regressed.
Once age reached its limit, further progress became impossible.
Anthony was no longer young.
Half a year was extremely precious to him.
“Is there no other way?” Clarsen asked with a stern expression.
Lady Manta shook her head. “Unless we invite an Alchemy master of Level 4 or above from the kingdom.”
Laforin sighed.
He knew such hope was slim. A Level 4 Alchemist, within the Danlun Kingdom’s Alchemist Association, was among the few whose names were widely known.
There was likely no one in all of Blackstone City who could mobilize such resources.
“Damn it!” Laforin clenched his fists. “Tita, during this time, investigate thoroughly. Both the inner and outer city encountered incidents—I feel this Beast Calamity is far too suspicious.”
At that moment, coughing sounds came from inside the room.
With slow footsteps, the bedroom door opened.
Anthony, dressed in a single garment, leaned on the doorframe as he slowly walked out.
His face was pale green, clearly weak.
“Anthony!” Laforin hurriedly supported him.
Publicly, Anthony’s status in Blackstone City was critical.
Privately, he was one of the first geniuses Laforin had personally cultivated—the student and comrade he was most proud of.
Seeing Laforin, guilt appeared on Anthony’s face. “Boss… I’m sorry. The Dragon Root is gone.”
“Don’t say more.” Laforin had deliberately avoided mentioning it.
In the stables, they had always kept a young Dragonblood Horse.
This kind of horse was also called the Dragon Root.
The reason the Dragon Root was so valuable wasn’t just because, upon reaching adulthood, it could awaken its dragon bloodline and transform into a dragon—
but also because of a legend.
A legend only circulated among the kingdom’s upper ranks.
On the day a Dragon Root awakened, there was a chance to awaken memories buried deep within the dragon bloodline.
In other words, through those bloodline memories, there was a possibility of locating the homeland of dragons.
And there lay a passage to another world.
Laforin’s Dragon Root had been raised on behalf of a duke. According to legend, the closer it was to its birthplace, the higher the chance of awakening memories.
It could be said that this horse had been Blackstone City’s protective talisman for a time.
And today, that talisman—
was lost.
This also meant that Blackstone City’s final safeguard was gone.
Moreover, in the eyes of that duke, Blackstone City’s status would plummet.
Laforin felt heavy-hearted, yet forced a smile. “Focus on recovering.”
The more Laforin thought about this incident, the more suspicious it felt.
It was as if everything had been orchestrated.
The Beastkin didn’t have such complex minds—this Beast Calamity felt more like something man-made.
Anthony exchanged a glance with Laforin.
Laforin could tell Anthony had something to say. “All of you, leave first. I’ll stay here tonight to take care of Anthony.”
After that, the others greeted them and left one by one.
Laforin’s expression grew increasingly grave—he felt Anthony had something important to tell him privately.
“Anthony, what exactly happened?”
“Laforin… I saw a Three-Eyed Crow in the poisonous fog.” Anthony’s face was serious.
“A Three-Eyed Crow…” Laforin’s expression also sank.
Ray had mentioned before that a Three-Eyed Crow had appeared in the city.
Rumor had it that Three-Eyed Crows brought calamity. Others said they were messengers of the Black God Church.
When Laforin first heard it from Ray, he hadn’t taken it seriously.
But now, hearing Anthony mention it again, his expression became clearly solemn. “You mean… this Beast Calamity is related to the Black God Church?”
“Cough, cough, cough!” Anthony coughed repeatedly.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll investigate everything thoroughly.” Laforin helped Anthony sit down, gave a few instructions to the attendants outside, then hurried toward the Knight Hall.
Anthony watched Laforin’s broad back.
He could tell that Laforin had also suffered significant injuries in his battle with the Centaur Chieftain.
“Investigate… once you find out, you’ll be heartbroken. You would never imagine that the attendant who has always followed you is my piece.”
Anthony picked up the black rook from the chessboard and placed it directly among a group of white pieces.
This was an abandoned piece.