Chapter 31: That Guy Just Flipped the Chessboard!
A dark blue giant dragon zipped through the night sky, flapping its wings and creating a thunderous sonic boom.
Under its claws lay the head of a fellow dragon.
The poor thing was in ruins, and its owner had long since shuffled off to the great dragon lair in the sky. But a bunch of old geezers from the Empire had turned it into a pitiful, chaotic monstrosity.
Fair was at a loss for words to describe his feelings at that moment.
It wasn’t that he felt sorry for Constantine; dragons rarely develop such mushy emotions for their own kind outside of their tribe.
He was just worried—would his future end up like Constantine’s? Even in d*ath, he wouldn’t be able to rest in peace?
“Rave might be right. Once you’re tangled up with the Empire, it’s tough to make a clean getaway…”
Fair silently recalled the time he spent in the Extreme North Land, where Rave had discussed the Empire with him many times.
Essentially, Rave, the dragon king skilled in spatial magic, didn’t trust the Empire.
But for various reasons, he was forced to cooperate.
In the end… he met his demise due to his uncontrollable spatial magic.
And tonight, witnessing the Empire’s stance and Constantine’s fate only solidified Fair’s desire to pull out.
He just needed to wait for the right moment.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t be hard for the Empire to turn Fair into a common enemy of both humans and dragons.
“I’d only heard that the Iron Wing Dragon King was super fast. I didn’t expect to experience it firsthand.”
The human man riding on the dragon’s back said casually.
“Mr. Scott, the resurrected Constantine, whom you all had high hopes for, has once again fallen to Leon Casmod.”
Fair reminded him, “I’m pretty sure Mr. Andi will care about this, right?”
Implied meaning: You little red-headed man, don’t just stand around chatting. Think about how your master will torture you when you get back.
“Care? Well… he definitely will, but it’s not a big deal.”
Scott was a bit anxious, yet he pretended to stay calm, “The resurrected Constantine was just a test product of the fusion technique. If he’s gone, he’s gone. The Empire has plenty of materials left to create more ultimate beings.”
Fair knew what Scott meant by “materials.”
Apart from various Dangerous Species’ organs, there was the crucial—Heartguard Dragon Scale.
That was the key ingredient to perfectly integrate Constantine’s dragon head with other Dangerous Species’ organs, unifying the powers of different bodies while eliminating rejection between organs.
To be honest, Fair didn’t know that his kin’s dragon scales had such functionality before this.
You could say that those humans were, in some ways, even crazier than dragons.
Their thirst for power, in another perspective, was just as fierce as the dragons’.
Cooperating with such a race… Fair figured one day he’d be treated as fodder for their power, right?
Fair was a smart dragon, and compared to the potential rewards, the risks in this process were simply too much for him to handle.
So… bottom line, he had to make a slippery escape!
Meanwhile, Scott was still blabbering away about the Empire’s future plans, saying something like the fusion technique would be perfected, and based on this experience, the next resurrection of Constantine would certainly take out Leon or something.
Fair’s mind began to wander.
But then, all of a sudden, he felt a surge of power.
He looked down and widened his dragon eyes in disbelief.
That power surge… was coming from the head he was holding!
“Constantine… could it be… you’re still… alive?”
He didn’t expect that his internal question would actually get some sort of response.
He listened closely to the whispers from the dead.
As a fellow dragon, even if there was no need for sympathy, it wouldn’t hurt to lend a hand, right?
“I understand, Constantine. I hope you can fulfill your revenge.”
The dark blue figure sliced through the night sky, racing toward the human Empire.
…
In the Empire’s royal city, fusion technique laboratory.
Scott hurried in, his heart racing and a bit uneasy.
When he had taken Constantine to the Red Dragon Holy Temple, Lord Andi didn’t put any pressure on him, mentioning that it wasn’t a must to take out Leon, just a test after all.
But Scott knew that boss’s words were only half-truths; otherwise, he’d be in hot water later.
So, he had gone in with the mindset of “I absolutely must k*ll Casmod.”
But now, Leon had gotten off scot-free, and poor Constantine was just a head!
Not to mention losing so many high-tier Dangerous Species’ organs, plus the dragon scales!
That was a significant loss; with Andi’s foul temper, he might just blow up on Scott.
But who knows? After all, Andi had said this was just a test.
I mean, it’s a test… some loss here and there isn’t that abnormal, right?
So when he saw his boss, Scott planned to first share the good news about this little excursion to the Red Dragon, followed by the bad news.
Although there was hardly any good news… but there had to be at least a bit, right?
Finally, after an intense mental battle, Scott stood at the laboratory door.
He bit his lip, raised his hand, and was about to knock when he heard Andi’s voice from inside.
“Who can tell me what the hell is going on here?!”
“If I don’t understand the reason tonight, you all can look forward to the gallows tomorrow!”
The voice behind the door sounded less like Andi and more like a raging bull.
Scott’s legs began to tremble uncontrollably; he could already envision Andi’s furious expression as he scolded those royal sorcerers.
But what happened?
It seemed serious enough to talk about the gallows!
No matter what, Scott felt that it would be best to sneak back home immediately and wait a couple of days before reporting about Constantine.
But just as he turned to leave, the laboratory door suddenly swung open.
“Scott?”
It sounded like the grim reaper whispering, sending chills down Scott’s spine.
He gulped and nervously turned around, “M-Master.”
“When did you return?”
“Uh, I was—”
“How did things go?”
Scott’s eyes darted around, stammering and afraid to answer.
Seeing his evasive gaze, Andi snorted coldly, “You’re really useless. Where’s Constantine? Did you bring him back?”
“I-I brought back Constantine… but nothing else.” Scott stuttered, trembling.
Andi frowned, “What do you mean, nothing else?”
Scott scratched his forehead, then snapped his fingers.
Next, two attendants rolled in a cart holding Constantine’s head.
At the sight, Andi facepalmed in exasperation, “You’ve got to be kidding me…”
Andi suddenly felt a strong urge to summon Nacho back.
Both he and Scott could fail, but at least Nacho wouldn’t fail so comically.
“What about the dragon scales? Did you bring back Blay’s Heartguard Dragon Scale?” Andi asked, sounding a bit urgent.
Scott leaned back a little, “Uh, about that… the Heartguard Dragon Scale was also blown up by Leon.”
“Blown up?”
“Yeah… it seems like he used some kind of ranged magic to blow up Blay’s Heartguard Dragon Scale, and then Constantine… went to pieces.”
Scott paused, quickly adding, “But, but, sir, I fought tooth and nail to bring back Constantine’s head! As long as we have his head, plus the other Heartguard Dragon Scales in the warehouse, we can still create even stronger fusion beasts, right? Next time we definitely—”
“There won’t be a next time, Scott.”
“W-what? Master, you—Master! Have mercy!”
Before Scott could finish, the tall and burly Andi grabbed his collar and dragged him into the laboratory.
Once inside, Andi tossed Scott onto the ground.
“Leon Casmod didn’t just blow up that one batch of dragon scales.”
Scott slowly raised his head and looked at the stone platform that once held the Heartguard Dragon Scales.
Right now, it was nothing but ashes.
Andi’s voice grew colder, sending shivers down Scott’s spine.
“He blew up the other five dragon scales you brought back last time, and the chain reaction from the explosion destroyed the other dragon scales in the warehouse too.”
“In just a moment, that j*rk destroyed years of the Empire’s hard work.”
“If he was a variable that stepped out of this chess game earlier—”
“Then now, he’s just flipped the whole chessboard on us.”
“Leon Casmod will never know what kind of existence he has angered.”
“Next, the Empire will stop at nothing to k*ll him.”
“Until… there’s nothing left but dust!”
