[This Chapter Is Sponsored by Emilio Gonzalez! Everyone, please thank him in the comment!]
"Brother, I trust Lin Yi."
The always silent Argenta spoke up.
In just a few minutes, his sister began to show her bias, and Geraint helplessly shook his head.
"Alright."
"What I can do for you is to completely lift the seal of the Dragon Clan's holy land. The rest is up to you."
Geraint nodded and suddenly clutched his chest. A hot light emerged, a brilliant golden glow that was dazzling.
With a loud bang, the icicle sealing the dragon's claw was shattered, the claw clenched tightly. The next moment, countless cracks broke open on the ice wall, and the dragon emerged from the ice, but it was suddenly attracted by the light, like a luminescence bound by a black hole, unable to move.
It was immediately absorbed into the gem on Geraint's chest.
"Roar!"
Geraint was suddenly filled with terrifying power, he looked up and roared loudly. The sound was so loud that the surrounding glaciers shattered, as if the world was ending.
Changes appeared on Geraint's body, golden dragon scales faintly emerged on his arms, and his eyes turned into dragon eyes.
For a moment, he struggled to control the power within him.
Lin Yi watched from the side, feeling the changes in Geraint's power. By now, Geraint's half-dragon strength seemed to be on par with Yoshimura.
However, Yoshimura, as an SSS-level species, had terrifying regenerative abilities, and Geraint might not be a match for him.
In this Dragon Clan's holy land, who knows how many dragons were frozen like this.
"Huff... huff..."
Geraint was panting heavily.
"Brother, are you okay?" Argenta asked with concern.
"I'm fine." Geraint shook his head, "I need some time to get used to the dragon's power."
While speaking, the dragon scales on Geraint's body gradually faded, and his dragon eyes returned to human form.
"Lin Yi, how long will it take for you to absorb this Dragon Clan's holy land into a different space?"
Geraint asked, "I've inherited the dragon's power and can completely lift the seal here..."
"Very soon."
Lin Yi squinted.
On the other side, at the glacier's exit, the area was covered in snow and ice.
Karacule was using fire magic to clear a path, but her mage attack was nothing compared to the hundreds of meters high ice wall.
Liya also knelt in front of the snow, desperately digging through it with her hands.
"Liya! Liya!"
Nerwin tried to comfort her.
"What you're doing is useless. You have to trust Lin Yi. With his strength, he'll be fine."
Velskud looked gloomy.
If it had been earlier, he might have suggested giving up on Lin Yi and the others and proceeding with the dragon-slaying mission.
But over time, he had come to accept Lin Yi as a partner.
"Liya, we have to think of the bigger picture. We have to... we have to go now, or we won't make it to our appointment with Kuke."
In the end, under everyone's urging, it was Barnac who reluctantly spoke up.
"No, are you guys planning to abandon our companions?"
Liya immediately rejected the idea.
As an argument was about to break out, suddenly a deafening noise rang out, and everyone quickly took cover as another collapse occurred at the exit.
Karacule and others almost thought the entire iceberg was falling.
"What happened?"
"What was that noise?"
Nerwin said, still in shock.
"It was us."
Suddenly, they heard a familiar voice. They saw Lin Yi, with one hand supporting Geraint and the other holding Argenta, walking out.
"Geraint!"
"Lin Yi!"
Karacule's eyes lit up.
"Are you all right?"
Nerwin asked.
Geraint shook his head.
"I was slightly injured, but fortunately Lin Yi saved us. However, we were just entangled by that group of dragon guardians and were forced into a fight. We narrowly escaped with our lives."
That was the agreed-upon story between the three of them.
Although Velskud was somewhat suspicious, he met Lin Yi's gaze, received Lin Yi's signal, and chose to remain silent.
Liya looked at Lin Yi, who was holding Argenta's hand, her eyebrows furrowing.
Geraint knew the situation well and quickly let go of Lin Yi, moving to Barnac's side and allowing Barnac to support him.
This was a delicate situation; he couldn't intervene.
"There can only be one."
Liya tried to be angry, but thinking of the pain of almost losing Lin Yi, she threw herself into his arms, whispering softly.
Lin Yi breathed a sigh of relief. He managed to charm both.
He thought he would have to waste a lot of words.
"Dawn is breaking."
Velskud, who was standing by, was obviously focusing on another matter. He wasn't interested in these trivial love affairs.
Their agreement with the Kuke army was on the night of the new moon, which was tonight.
As soon as the sun rises, the Kuke army will launch its attack. Humans and elves, along with the priests from the cathedral and the witches from the Lotus Marsh, a total of one hundred thousand troops, will launch an attack on the black dragon's lair.
To divert the attention of the main force of the monster army.
Only then would they have the chance to sneak into the back of the black dragon's lair.
"...We need to speed up."
Right now, their main mission was to slay the dragon, so Lin Yi also had a chance to get out of this tricky situation. But seeing both Liya and Argenta, one on his left and one on his right, refusing to leave, he knew he had to keep a low profile.
The group rested at the foot of the mountain, waiting for dawn to start climbing.
The plan went smoothly. The monster army had already assembled on the front mountain, ready to confront the allied forces. The battlefield was in chaos, and a great battle was imminent.
Only a few hundred monsters remained in the lair. The group encountered little resistance.
When they met monsters, they killed them swiftly and decisively.
They sneaked into the inner part of the black dragon's lair without alarming the black dragon.
Finally, they saw the silhouette of the black dragon.
Compared to the giant dragon's physical form in the dragon's sacred land, the black dragon was massive, like a mountain, reaching a height of a hundred meters. Its body was dark purple, with scales resembling crystals covering it.
"Oh my God."
Lambert exclaimed, he was in shock.
He couldn't believe this creature was their opponent.
"We need to speed up. If the black dragon is awakened by Kuke's army, we'll be in danger." Nerwin urged.
Everyone saw it. There was a basin-sized purple gem on the black dragon's chest, but no one dared to approach.
That was the Black Dragon Gem. Possessing it meant having unparalleled power.
"Lin Yi, it's your turn."
In the end, Geraint spoke.
"You said it yourself, the power of the Black Dragon Gem is evil, but the main reason it can influence the host is because of the host's weakness."