The atmosphere all over the Lord Rift had changed. Nothing looked the same as before.
The Mountain range was towering tall against the horizon, but it didn't feel like a symbol of peace anymore. On the contrary, its once clouded peak was not veiled in a dark cloak of ash and smoke.
Rivers of molten lava streamed down its sides with an ominous, fierce intensity. The air all over the Lord Rift held the scent of sulfur, and the ground trembled with the echoes of the mountain range's unleashed fury. Or that was what it felt like to Michael as he stared at the mountain range that turned out to be a volcano, which had erupted not too long ago.
But even if the erupted volcano and the streams of molten lava were already fearsome, and a bad omen of what awaited the Lords in the last hour until the Lord Rift would close, the being soaring through the vast expanse of the crimson sky was far more terrifying.
The being had fearsome blood-like scales that shone brightly in the sunlight, and expansive wings that seemed to spread across the entire sky.
Its eyes were like ponds of molten gold, gleaming with intelligence, wisdom, and fury, causing Michael to feel a chill running down his spine as its heads surveyed the Lord Rift.
The being was a mythical creature, a monstrous existence with an appearance of a red-scaled lizard having enormous wings, large horns jutting from its head, a serpentine-like neck that moved gracefully, and a majestic presence that commanded reverence, evoking a sense of fear and admiration.
It was a dragon soaring through the sky with effortless grace!
"Fuck…was that the 'it' the Librarian mentioned earlier?" Tiara cursed in a low voice when she regained her composure.
She had activated her Transformation Soultrait instinctively, growing silver fur all over her body. Tiara's wild instincts had reacted subconsciously. However, even after the Silvarean Transformation, Tiara didn't feel secure. On the contrary, the fear sweeping through every inch of her body intensified.
Her wild instincts told her to run away as far as possible if she wanted to survive. But instead of moving, her eyes locked onto Michael. She tried to suppress her growing fear of the monster by digging her claws deep into her palms.
Contrary to Tiara, Masked Saber didn't even think about running. He stayed by Michael's side and waited patiently to see what Michael was going to do. However, Michael was staring at the sky cluelessly, wondering what orders to give to his team.
Seeing the Red Dragon was enough to turn his already hurting head into a complete mess. It was difficult to arrive at a definite conclusion, especially after they witnessed the Red Dragon diving down to the densely grown forest where it released searing hot flames.
The Red Dragon's flames turned everything in its way into ashes. The dragon breath didn't even leave behind remnants of the beings it burned alive. Bones, flesh, and organs, everything was reduced to a crisp.
Witnessing the Red Dragon's power, Michael's first thought was to flee. However, where were they supposed to flee to? Was there a place to run? Could they escape the Red Dragon if it discovered them running across the small plain?
Michael was certain that the Red Dragon would discover them if they were to run wildly through the wilderness. Thus, instead of running away, it was much better to hide.
The Red Dragon had yet to pave its way to the abandoned town, creating a perfect opportunity for the trio to rush to the smithy before finding a place to hide.
Michael forced himself to run even though he was still not feeling well. They reached the smithy in no time, and both Michael and Masked Saber entered it quickly. Meanwhile, Tiara was left outside to observe the Red Dragon's movements. They had to be prepared once the Red Dragon decided to change its target to the abandoned town, after all.
Reaching the Relic of Draka, Michael picked up the sword that had just been forged. He immediately sensed that the sword was powerful and that it had effects similar to a Tier-2 Artifact. That was exceptional, and it caused Michael to momentarily forget about his worries.
Unfortunately, the Red Dragon was not quiet. It roared out loudly, pulling Michael back to his senses.
'Should I leave the Relic of Draka behind to ensure that it doesn't become an unnecessary load weighing me down? But will that change anything, in the first place? If the Red Dragon finds us, we'll be dead, either way…'
No matter how Michael looked at the situation, the presence of the Red Dragon was comparable to the mythical serpent in the Untamed Jungle. The Red Dragon was definitely not a Mythical Creature at the 2nd Tier. Even if it was, Michael wouldn't be confident to kill the Red Dragon. It was probably impossible for him to even inflict a shallow scratch in the Red Dragon's scales, if he was able to reach its scales, in the first place.
Feeling weak and powerless in the face of the Red Dragon meant that it would kill him one way or another.
"Just take the Relic. We'll definitely be fine," Masked Saber said encouragingly before adding,
Michael looked over to Masked Saber and he lifted an eyebrow at Masked Saber's next words.
"Even if something happens. I'll make sure that you will survive!"
Michael could tell that Masked Saber was dead serious. He would do everything to ensure that Michael would survive.
It encouraged Michael to unleash three layers of Enhancement on Extraction before he targeted the Relic of Draka – the Magical Smithy.
But at the same time, Michael had a premonition. He could tell that something was wrong with the way Masked Saber spoke. It was a very familiar feeling, which was a little different from the way Masked Saber spoke usually.
Yet, before Michael could ask something, he got distracted by a surprising fact. He realized in slight astonishment that Extraction was not powerful enough to extract the Relic of Draka.
This forced Michael to add more layers of Enhancement to Extraction. He had already been using the strongest form of Extraction to extract the Relic of Draka but it still didn't seem enough. As a result, layer after layer of Enhancement was added until a total of seven layers of Enhancement had been applied to the Symbol of Extraction.
It was the highest number of Enhancements Michael had applied to a single object, or Soultrait until now, and both the energy consumption and the effect were terrific.
Michael's origin energy was rapidly drained, but Extraction was only able to extract the Relic of Draka by the time seven layers of Enhancement strengthened the 6-Star Extraction Soultrait.
He extracted the Relic of Draka in one go and stored it inside his War Rune's storage. By the time the Relic was stored, Michael stopped using Enhancement and Extraction. Yet, what he didn't expect to happen was sudden exhaustion and the agonizing headache to resurface.
Blood gushed out of his pores again, and the world around him turned dark for a moment.
Michael's legs gave in, and he slumped to the ground.
"You've overworked yourself, but you got it. You're definitely the Lord, who benefited most from the Lord Rift. Good job!" Masked Saber commented, giving him a thumbs up.
In response, Michael smiled weakly. He tried to get up again and move with Masked Saber and Tiara to a more secure location to hide until the Lord Rift closed when Masked Saber patted his shoulder soothingly.
"Don't worry, we're just as safe here as everywhere else in the abandoned town. There is no need to keep moving for the time being. I'll protect you, just rest a bit longer!" He said reassuringly.
Michael merely heard Masked Saber's last words before the tension accumulated in his body was released. His vision tunneled and he fell unconscious the next second.
Masked Saber looked at Michael, and a heavy sigh escaped his lips.
"To think that you would risk your life just to ensure that your territory can prosper. You really don't want to lose your territory to the Zentika Empire, do you?" He asked, staring at the sleeping Michael for a long time.
"Just what makes you strive for strength that much? It's not like you could survive and live a nice life without that much stress if you worked a little bit less," He mumbled, scratching the back of his head with a thin smile on his lips.
"But I guess striving toward strength and finding out more about our ancestry is one of the things everyone in our family desires. It's just sad that this desire lets us forget about what's truly important sometimes," Masked Saber sighed, shaking his head lightly before he looked down at his clothes that were slowly being worn out by the ever-increasing temperature of the Lord Rift.
"...To enjoy life as much as we can while we're still alive…"
Masked Saber pressed his lips together in a thin line and touched his mask which showed signs of cobweb-like cracks forming all over it.
"No matter what happens, I will make sure that you get out of here alive. You are the most precious in my life, after all!"
**
[A/N: The Author is back in the game. First of all, I want to thank everyone for the great support until now. I hope y'all have been enjoying the novel until now. For the last few days I've been wondering how to write these chapters, so I hope you guys will enjoy everything I've prepared for y'all ;D]
