At the very brink of death—
Shhhrrrk—!!!
A shriek, sharp enough to shred eardrums, as if space itself were being torn open, erupted suddenly from behind and to the side.
It ca so fast that the sound nearly struck at the sa instant as the attack.
Lo Quen barely had ti to blink before he saw it: a jet-black arrow wreathed in fire, trailing a blazing tail like a teor ripping through the night sky. It shot forward at a speed beyond the eye's ability to follow and slamd straight into the eye of one of the monstrous bird's three heads.
Scalding scarlet blood burst out, splattering like crushed sumr fruit.
The arrow punched clean through, from one eye to the other, embedding itself deep within the creature's skull. Crimson flas clinging to the shaft leapt onto the bird's purple feathers, racing upward with the wind until everything above its thick neck was burning like a torch.
The once-dominant beast howled in sheer agony, thrashing wildly through the deadwood, trying in vain to shake free from the fire that clung to it like maggots on bone.
All it managed was to kick up clouds of ash and ignite more brittle branches.
Smoke and fire roared skyward, painting the forest in a furious red glow.
Lo Quen and Janice had just thought to flee when the sound of heavy, urgent footsteps broke through the crackle of fire. Leaves and branches snapped beneath them, the clang of tal against armor ringing out from within the smoke-choked woods.
Snap! Crash!
Burning branches were kicked aside.
A striking figure burst through the curtain of fla and smoke.
Tall and lithe yet brimming with strength, she was clad in ancient, full-body armor of burnished copper, etched with spirals, strange pictographs, and lines like star paths across the night sky. In the firelight, the engravings shimred faintly, tallic and alive.
The armor fit her fra perfectly, offering both protection and a breathtaking outline of power and grace.
A copper helm with nose guard and cheek plates obscured most of her face, leaving only her eyes visible—violet gems, sharp and predatory as a hawk's. In the flickering glow, they glead with a calm, commanding brilliance.
A thick black belt girded her waist. On her left hip hung a heavy one-handed broadsword, its scabbard carved with runes. On her right, a quiver held seven or eight black arrows. A dagger, gleaming with cold light, was strapped to her left calf.
But the weapon in her hands demanded all attention—a massive bow, over five feet long.
Its body was a grayish-white, semi-translucent material, not tal, not wood, but like the bone of so colossal beast. Intricate runes and spirals covered it, far denser and more mysterious than those on her armor. In the firelight, they pulsed faintly with crimson light, like veins beneath skin.
The bowstring, nearly transparent, shimred silver-white when it caught the flas.
With a sharp crack, the warrior slamd the bow's end into the ground. Her left hand settled on the hilt at her hip, poised to draw in an instant.
Her gaze swept quickly over Janice, confirming she was unhard. Then those cold, severe eyes locked on Lo Quen, who still held Janice in his arm.
"Put down my sister, or you will not leave here alive."
Her voice was muffled by the helm, but the anger and worry inside it rang clear.
Janice's face lit with realization—her sister Jaelena thought Lo Quen ant her harm. She hurriedly wriggled free and pleaded, "Sister, this is Lo Quen! He isn't a bad man. He saved from the Scaleclaw monsters and helped escape this chira's pursuit..."
She rushed through their tale, and at last Jaelena, Valkyrie-like in her bearing, allowed so of her suspicion to ease.
Lo Quen, however, was left completely adrift, unable to follow a word.
And then the purple-feathered monster stirred again, a fresh shriek splitting the night.
Screeeeech—!!!
This ti the sound dripped venom, thick with hatred and killing intent.
All three turned to see the beast rising once more. To stop the fire from spreading, it wrenched off its own burning neck with its claws.
Blood and pulped flesh gushed from a wound wide as a bowl, grotesque and horrifying. The two remaining blood-red eyes now blazed with a rage hot enough to burn away reason, locking unerringly onto Lo Quen and the sisters in the distance.
"Janice, co with now!"
Ignoring whatever Janice was saying, Jaelena seized her tightly and bolted into the forest, paying no attention to Lo Quen.
Lo Quen froze. He had thought this powerhouse of a woman would strike again, finish off the monstrous bird, and leave him to reap the rewards by claiming the Dragon's Soul.
But seeing Jaelena fleeing, it was clear his hopes had been dashed.
The purple-feathered monster bird now seed certain Jaelena was the one who had fired that arrow. Its hulking body swept past Lo Quen, ready to give chase.
Lo Quen's eyes narrowed. How could he let his prize slip away?
He focused sharply on the data deep within his consciousness:
Purity of Dragon Bloodline: 1.03%.
Magic: 2654/10340.
During his desperate flight, he had frantically absorbed Dragon's Souls from the battlefield. From the corpses of more than a hundred scaled-clawed beasts, he had drawn nearly ten thousand Dragon's Souls. His bloodline purity had finally pierced that critical 1% threshold, and his maximum magic power had soared to 10,340 points.
Even more importantly, in his mad dash he had devoured the magic of countless ghost grasses, bringing his current magic to 2654 points!
The Ultimate Skill [True Dragon's Descent] required 1000 magic points to transform, with 1 point consud every second to maintain the form.
With 2654 points, he could sustain his dragon form for nearly half an hour of battle.
And with bloodline purity at 1%, his true dragon form would reach three ters in length!
'Dragonfla Breath!!!'
A thunderous roar burst out like a sudden clap of thunder, erupting from behind the monster bird.
A blazing crimson pillar of fire slamd into the defenseless hindquarters of the purple-feathered beast.
BOOM!!!
The flas roared to life, the already charred and mangled feathers and flesh serving as perfect fuel.
The raging inferno consud the bird's massive hindquarters, filling the air with the stench of burning flesh and singed feathers.
When the flas subsided, Lo Quen hurled his sword with deadly precision at the bird's rear.
The trendous force sent the steel blade flying like a red-hot iron spike, driving deep into its fire-scorched tail and splattering blood high into the air.
"SKREEEEEEEEEEE!!!"
A soul-piercing shriek erupted from the monster bird's beak.
The two remaining heads whipped around violently, twisting in agony and rage.
Four blood-red eyes, blazing with fury, locked on the tiny human who had dared to wound it.
Overwhelming wrath drowned its last shred of reason. It abandoned the vanished sisters.
Both massive beaks opened wide, their throats glowing with twin orbs of searing crimson fla, and unleashed them in a torrent toward Lo Quen.
The crimson flood of fire swallowed his figure whole.
The dead branches littering the ground lted instantly under the unbearable heat.
Lo Quen's silhouette vanished completely within the raging sea of flas.
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