---

Chapter 13: Malicious Fang

Not to mention anything else, this fully-equipped adventurer party composed of two Ink Steel and two Earth was quite formidable. They slashed their way through various challenges and eventually arrived at the depths of Dragonfall Valley successfully, though it took some effort.

According to the information compiled by predecessors, at the center of Dragonfall Valley there exists a powerful magical beast lord on par with legends, guarding the “treasures of the giant dragon.” Beneath it, there are four magical beasts each watching over the four entrances to the core valley.

The beast resembling a giant boulder is the guardian of the western entrance, its strength reaching the pinnacle of the fourth tier, equivalent to the highest level among humans, or Heaven-level. It is clearly not something that two Earth-level and two Ink Steel-level adventurers can deal with casually.

Francis intended to employ a clever tactic to secretly draw away this so-called “Boulder Beast,” then take the opportunity to enter the valley’s depths.

Alas, due to some unexpected circumstances and underestimating an opponent of Heaven-level, the group of four hiding nearby was predictably discovered by the Boulder Beast…

The lure worked, but unfortunately, the bait turned out to be themselves.

Edwina believed that the four of them combining efforts might stand a chance to fight, but Francis had no intention of fighting hard for just a single task. The other two merely followed his lead, and in the end… this led to the earlier situation.

If not for the chance encounter with Miss Vilyric and her timely intervention to stop the Boulder Beast, the chase might have continued for a very long time.

“Is that so…”

The process turned out to be quite similar to what Vilyric had guessed; it was merely a case of reckless humans attempting things beyond their abilities, ending up burning themselves in the process.

From Francis’s demeanor, it was entirely likely for such a scenario to occur.

However…

Did Edwina say this “Boulder Beast” had the strength of a Heaven-level?

Vilyric had seen the West Territory’s General Layton, and the aura he emitted post-recovery was significantly mightier than this magical beast. The Boulder Beast was likely barely at the threshold of Heaven-level.

These people were completely scared off by the so-called rumors and the beast’s massive size. In reality, if they worked together, dealing with the Boulder Beast shouldn’t be too difficult.

Were the rumors incorrect?

It didn’t seem so. A sharp person like Francis would certainly devise actions only after obtaining accurate information; there’s no way he could misjudge the level of his opponent.

Then, there could only be one other possibility.

The magical beast was injured.

To confirm this deduction, Vilyric approached the gigantic beast that Xiao Guang had stunned with a clever tactic.

Having lost consciousness, the beast’s thick, intertwined yellow and red scales that protected its body had loosened, exposing its relatively delicate internal tissues as it lay on its back.

Overall, this creature resembled a pangolin from Blue Star; it had thick, short limbs, a flat and long tail, and a pointed head with two tiny eyes. Its claws were similar to those of a dragon, and its blood-red scales resembled dragon scales, though they did not cover its entire body.

This was a hybrid magical beast that had arisen from a biological mutation, an incompletely evolved form.

Vilyric reached this conclusion.

What concerned her more was that the beast was indeed injured.

Several wounds existed on its soft abdomen; upon closer inspection, some scales were damaged, but it seemed they had already begun to heal and scab over, indicating that these injuries hadn’t been recently inflicted.

Combining this with the timing of the magical beast riot, it was evident that half a month ago, something had struck at the core of the valley, leading to a battle with it as the guardian beast.

That about wraps it up; the clues and evidence had been neatly organized.

“Let’s go, Xiao Guang.”

After giving a nod to the little dragon daughter following behind, Vilyric stepped around the unconscious Boulder Beast; it was time to enter the true Dragonfall Valley.

“Eh? Wait a moment, Miss Vilyric!”

Having been left out for a while, Francis panicked upon seeing her heading towards the valley’s interior.

“What now?”

The Priestess frowned, her eyes flashing with cold light, though she barely contained her annoyance and anger.

“Uh, may I ask where you’re going, Miss Vilyric?”

Francis shivered, instinctively wanting to shut his mouth when met with Vilyric’s icy glare, but thinking of the enormous reward in coins pushed his courage back up from an unknown source.

“What’s it to you?”

With that, Vilyric ignored him and continued walking.

“Miss Vilyric… now look here, you must be investigating the cause of the anomaly as an adventurer! How about we cooperate?!”

“Please consider it! I haven’t seen you all in Flame Dragon City, so you must be outsiders. It would be really beneficial for the investigation to have us locals guide you!”

“Wait! How about a 70-30 split? No, let’s do 80-20, that’s fair, right?!”

The annoying clamor from Francis kept coming from behind, but Vilyric paid him no mind, quickening her pace.

How ridiculous, this guy really thinks too highly of himself! Does he think “cooperation” means he can just get a piece of the pie? Who isn’t entering the core valley for the first time? Local, my foot… does he think everyone’s as easily deceived as some Holy Knight?

“Vilyric, don’t push it too far!!”

Hearing the man’s flustered voice devoid of elegance, the Priestess finally chuckled, stopping in her tracks and turning her back to Francis.

Each word was pronounced clearly.

“I’m pushing it, and what will you do about it?”

“…Unappreciative wench, I’ll make my move!”

The roar hadn’t yet faded when a bright, gleaming dagger appeared against the Priestess’s neck, ruthlessly stabbing down toward the artery.

At the same time, a whistling sound and a blast of heat rushed from behind Vilyric; it was a massive fireball shot from Francis’s staff!

The mage and assassin attacked simultaneously, their coordination was impeccable, clearly not their first time working together.

“Unappreciative?”

Vilyric turned her head, her lips still holding a lingering smile, but her silver-blue eyes had turned as cold as ice, exuding a chilling glare.

Slowly, the girl… reached out two delicate, white fingers, effortlessly pinching the assassin Marlon’s full-force strike assassination with just two fingers.

Her smile… seemed to mock the absurdity of the person before her.

In truth, as soon as she separated from the Boulder Beast and turned around, this guy had already stealthily approached under Francis’s secret orders.

Perhaps Marlon thought that with Vilyric’s back turned to him, she wouldn’t notice. But in the perception of a level 110 player, such childish stealth was utterly transparent.

Vilyric intentionally didn’t tear apart his ruse; she wanted to see if they would dare to act.

Even if, by a slim chance, the highest green quality dagger struck her neck, it wouldn’t inflict any harm. Instead, it would shatter into a mess from the shockwave of 【Glaraya】’s counter; the Priestess merely didn’t want the shards to fall on her.

“What!? ”

As an assassin, Marlon, realizing he’d missed his strike, planned to retreat immediately. Yet he found, to his horror, that the dagger clutched between the black-haired girl’s two fingers was as immovable as if it had been stuck in real Ink Steel, no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t budge!

In fact, an eerie power flowed through the weapon into his body, leaving him frozen in place?!

At the same time, the fireball summoned by Francis finally reached its target.

Boom!

The girl’s figure was engulfed by flames, even the immobilized assassin beside her faced some backlash, as this guy… had obviously intended no mercy, even if it meant injuring his teammate to achieve a kill on the black-haired Priestess.

Flames erupted, the massive fireball crashed against Vilyric’s back, creating a surge of scorching heat, making the Priestess’s black hair and robe ripple as if she were covered in a radiant halo of flame—a truly spectacular sight.

However… it was bizarre that the searing temperature couldn’t ignite anything on her, and even herself pulverized into fragments in the ferocious impact and blaze, leaving only wisps of warm wind and scattered sparks in the air.

“This… how is this possible…”

Francis’s expression changed dramatically, unable to believe his eyes, staring at the black-haired girl who remained utterly unscathed, only slightly turning her head to look back at him with scornful indifference.

That was a fourth-tier fire explosion spell! Francis was using his strongest single-target attack! He firmly believed that even those who had ascended to legendary heights could never withstand it with their bodies.

No matter how strong, a human body couldn’t possibly become as indestructible as true metal; moreover, it’s merely an evolution of mana reserves, technique, and attack power unless…

“A monster! You’re not human, are you?! No human could do this!! An advanced magical beast dares to infiltrate the borders of the United Human Kingdom! When I report this up the chain, you…”

“Haah… Failed to ambush, and now you’re starting to frame me, huh? I’ve never been described as a monster before; to be honest, it’s a bit unpleasant…”

“So, can I ask you to die?”

Growing tired of Francis’s shrill cursing, Vilyric let out a light sigh, twisted her fingers to take the dagger from the assassin, casually snapped it in two, and tossed the pieces aside, then…

She spun around and delivered a kick to the utterly bewildered and immobile Marlon.

Bang!

In an explosion of noise, the thief flew through the air like a cannonball, smashing directly into the terrified mage on the other side!

What’s fair is fair; since they came with the mindset of killing her, Vilyric wouldn’t show any mercy.

Report to your superiors? Ha… this guy doesn’t really think he’s walking out of Dragonfall Valley alive today, does he?