58 Chapter 58

Vesuvius looked at the hunters under him. Their formation was in disarray, with a large portion of them being dead and lava swatches separating the remaining hunters into multiple groups. Without their captain, balistae and chains, they were like sitting ducks. Once the Vesuvius reached a sufficient height from the ground, they lost all means to deal damage to him.

'It's pitifully that this advantage will be diminished at higher levels when there are plenty of skills and items that even melee warriors can use to attack flying targets. Still, I should be much more maneuverable and faster with my wings and capable of easily crossing large distances.'

Knowing they couldn't run from the dragon with his wings, the hunters steeled their resolve and once again brought up their crossbows. They released another swarm of glowing bolts that pierced the air and stabbed into the hard volcanic stone around the dragon's body.

Their desperation returned as they saw the beast above them not even flinch under their bolts. "How is this possible? We were more than prepared... We had lots of experience."

"Hahaha, that is correct. You were prepared with more than enough weapons to slay me. You also had lots of experience... but it was experience against drakes." dragon's tone changed into an enraged one sending the shivers through the bodies of everyone on the battlefield, "But how dare you to compare me with a stupid beast like drakes. I am elder wyrm, smarter than you lowly humans, and you thought I would fight you head-on like an idiot."

The dragon had enough of it and opened his mouth, an orange glow flickered through the night sky, and a thick stream of magma descended. With their mobility already limited by the swatches of lava littering the ground, the hunters had no way to dodge. The magma swept through their ranks. Runes on their armours flickered, but they couldn't stop the immense heat that melted the armour cooking the people inside in a bath of molten metal and stone. It only gave them an extra moment to feel the pain and scream. Horrible screams passed through the battlefield, and the dragon enjoyed the feeling of the massive influx of XP passing through his body together with happiness that he finally killed the trespassers.

[+180]

[+170]

[+200]

[+220]

[+210]

...

Vesuvius looked at the two groups of players fighting. His dragonkins were easily culling enemies' ranks with their powerful bonuses, but they were still losing under enemies' superior numbers.

He opened his mouth once again and sent out a small puff of flames at the enemy players. For a moment, a thought of trying to recruit them passed through his head, but he refused it, 'Why would I want these that decided to go against me in my ranks... that would only undermine the cohesion of my faction.'

The flames reached the players, burning through their feeble defences, killing a small group of them in an instant.

[+130]

[+150]

[+140]

[+150]

Ding!

//

You are now level 18

All stats increased!

+5 stat points

+1 ability point

//

The masked players immediately took the initiative, attacking and overwhelming the enemy's disrupted formation. Vesuvius kept looking at it with slight regret, as he could imagine pretty good XP for killing them by himself, 'I need to think in long-term profits. I may be able to gain more XP currently, but I need to let my minions gain the feeling that they contributed too. My investment will return in future where they will be farming XP by themself, and I will be gaining a portion of that.'

The dragon landed on the ground towards the pond of lava where the hunters were before and brought his snout towards it. Then he sniffed, and his mind went to stars as he smelled a great value out of it.

'I will dig it out after it cools down. If it is gold, it should just melt and drop to the bottom and form a lump. I should be able to cut it out later.'

Then he realised something, 'My quest still isn't finished.'. His reptilian eyes swept through the battlefield until they stopped at the still-moving hunter. His armour was partially melted, and a strong odour of healing potion kept drifting from him as he crawled away. Suddenly the dragon's stomach growled.

'It looks like I need a small snack after a fight.' the dragon grinned and opened his mouth, slowly walking towards the hunter. Each of his steps was loud, making the hunter crawl faster.

"Let me be!" the hunter looked behind him at the massive dragon slowly closing on him. His exposed face was malformed in desperation.

Vesuvius opened his mouth and took the hunter in, snapping them close. His teeth crushed the hunter, turning him into a flashy paste as he kept chewing before gulping him down.

[+220]

Initially, he had qualms about eating humanoids, but as he spent more time as a dragon, he stopped to care, 'Meat is meat!'

Ding!

//

Quest accomplished!

Rating: A

Reward: Instant Level UP, Magic item: [Fire Drake Ring]

//

Ding!

//

You are now level 19

All stats increased!

+5 stat points

+1 ability point

//

Suddenly loud cheers came from behind him, making him look at what had happened. The player with the spear penetrated the heart of the last remaining enemy, marking it as the end of the battle.

The dragon flapped his wings and rose high into the air, "Good job, my minions, victory is ours! Now go and plunder everything. Don't leave anything that has value. Put it on their cart and take it back to our base."

The dragon himself sniffed in the direction of the tents and caught a whiff of gold and silver... a large amount of it. He dived straight toward the source. It was a big plain white tent. He swapped his front limb, tearing the cloth away.

It revealed a sleeping bag and a small table. However, his dragon eyes caught something else too. It was a small transparent chest that kept moving as if it was a water surface.

'Hmmm, the illusion that means that it will probably be worth something.'

A glowing blue hand move towards the chest, slowly lifting the lid. Suddenly the transparent chest turned into a plain wooden one, and a beautiful shine of gold came out. The dragon's heart was pumping so much that it felt like it would soon explode.

'Of course, they were hired as mercenaries, and this is probably their payment from the baron... It even makes me like humans more. They already come to me twice causing trouble, but both times they brought adequate compensation.'

He quickly grabbed the chest, and then it vanished, the dragon grinning as it safely entered his magical pouch hidden in a crevice of his volcanic armour.

It was something that he noticed a long time ago. The magma in his mouth and the heat radiating out of his body behaved strangely, not burning his food or treasures. However, his breath and other forms of direct attacks were undiscriminating, destroying everything in their path.