Online Game: I Started with Max Charisma and Caught the Goddess's Eye - Chapter 498 498: Blood Dragon
The moment Luca stepped through the door at the back of the hall, he suddenly realized he had returned to the front entrance of the abandoned manor.
Before he even had time to take in his surroundings, he heard Lucas’s panicked voice.
“Why are we here? Wasn’t that hall supposed to be buried deep underground? Don’t tell me… the door we just passed through was actually a teleportation gate?”
Lucas was, of course, utterly shaken.
He had originally thought this mission would be nothing more than troublesome—something that might test their patience, but not their lives. He never expected the reality to far exceed his worst assumptions. At this point, he was convinced he could very well die at any moment.
Luca, however, remained far calmer than him.
He didn’t bother answering Lucas’s question. Instead, he quickly scanned the area.
Aside from the corpses of the ordinary soldiers they had brought along, and the scattered arrowheads lying near them, there was nothing else of note.
That meant the enemies who had been hiding in the shadows, firing arrows at them from ambush, must have already withdrawn.
“This is the perfect chance for us to finish the mission!” Luca said sharply to Lucas.
In his mind, there was no way those hidden enemies could have entered the underground hall and then left again so quickly. This was their opportunity—to wipe out all the monsters infesting the abandoned manor without interference. After that, they could head straight back to the Black Forest camp.
Even if the officers at Black Forest asked questions, he and Lucas could confidently claim that the task was completed. After all, those elusive, phantom-like enemies who had been shooting from the dark weren’t even part of their assigned mission.
Lucas’s voice broke, disbelief and fear lacing every word.
“What the hell are you talking about?! Our situation is extremely dangerous right now. The only thing we should be concerned with is staying alive. Forget about the mission!”
It was obvious—Lucas had been completely rattled.
Luca, on the other hand, spoke coldly.
“If you only care about your safety, then leave. Walk out that door, follow the path we came on, and you’ll make it back to Black Forest camp quickly enough.
But is that really what you intend to do? Because if you do, it means this entire operation is a complete failure. Sure, you can try to excuse yourself by saying unforeseen circumstances arose during the mission…”
“But I think everyone else will completely lose faith in us. After this, we’ll never get another chance to carry out a mission on our own. And of course, we won’t be able to earn any further merits in the battles to come, either.
I didn’t join the Crimson King’s army just to drift through life. I want to earn more achievements—and in turn, claim greater rewards.
So if you plan to walk away, then go. I won’t stop you. But I will stay here and finish this mission!”
With that, Luca strode off alone, quickly disappearing deeper into the abandoned manor.
Lucas stood at the entrance, brow furrowed as he watched Luca’s retreating back.
Just as Luca’s figure was about to vanish completely, Lucas finally made his decision.
“It’s nothing to fear. If the mission fails, at worst I’ll die! But if I run away now, I’ll live forever under the scorn of others!”
Summoning every ounce of courage, he rushed after Luca.
Luca didn’t ask him anything. He simply gave Lucas a quick rundown of how they would split the search area between them.
The two of them swept through the manor at high speed, checking one area after another. Along the way, they encountered a few bat-shaped monsters.
But these creatures were pathetically weak. The two of them dispatched them with ease.
When they had finally searched the last area of the abandoned manor, Luca turned to Lucas and said quickly:
“Our mission is complete! Let’s get out of here immediately. The longer we stay, the greater the danger!”
Lucas nodded firmly.
Then the two of them sprinted toward the entrance of the manor at full speed.
When the gateway came into sight, both of them finally allowed themselves a small sigh of relief.
“It’s not as bad as we thought. There were some unexpected turns, sure, but in the end we finished the mission and we’re making it back alive.”
Lucas smiled as he spoke.
Luca, however, showed no such expression. His face was cold and wary, eyes darting sharply over their surroundings. He didn’t believe for a second that he and Lucas would be allowed to leave so easily.
And sure enough, just as they reached the entrance, a crimson light suddenly burst forth from the ground.
A massive crack split open beneath them, spreading until it completely sealed Luca and Lucas inside the abandoned manor.
On instinct, Lucas shifted into his Great Bear form.
He intended to use the immense physical boost of that transformation to leap across the yawning fissure ahead.
The moment Luca saw what was happening, he acted at once. He grabbed Lucas firmly by the shoulder.
“That’s a trap!” he said coldly.
Lucas hesitated, a flicker of doubt crossing his face—but he still chose to heed Luca’s warning and held back from acting rashly.
Just a moment later, a torrent of crimson liquid surged out from the fissure. That liquid was unmistakably blood.
Both of them instinctively stepped backward.
At that instant, Luca drew the Dragon-Slayer Greatsword. He was certain that a brutal battle was about to erupt.
Lucas also braced himself immediately, preparing for combat.
The river of blood pooled and swirled, slowly shaping itself into a humanoid form.
The moment that form solidified, it let out a terrifying voice.
“You two will not escape! I will avenge my subordinates. I will drown you in your own blood! Only then will the world tremble before me, only then will they all fear the name of the Blood Dragon!”
While the enemy spoke, Luca finished his final preparations for battle.
The instant the last word fell, he charged, Dragon-Slayer Greatsword in hand, rushing straight at the Blood Dragon.
As he surged forward, he activated the Shadow Magic Runes.
The runes cloaked his body in a ghostly veil, making him difficult to perceive, and at the same time, they granted him a burst of acceleration.
In less than a second, Luca closed the distance.
He swung the Dragon-Slayer Greatsword in a vicious arc, bringing it down directly upon the Blood Dragon.
His speed was so overwhelming that the Blood Dragon had no chance to defend himself. The great blade cleaved into his body.
The Blood Dragon let out a wretched, agonized howl.
He had never imagined that the weapon in Luca’s hands could inflict such grievous harm on him.
For the Blood Dragon was a Berserker of the dragon race.
In battle, he excelled at turning his enemies’ blood into his own vitality.
Under normal circumstances, he feared no opening strike. For he could always defend, counter, and swiftly turn the tide in his favor.
But the Dragon-Slayer Greatsword carried a unique bane against the dragon race.
Any member of dragonkind was fragile before its edge. With every strike it landed, the Dragon-Slayer Greatsword inflicted not only wounds of the flesh—but damage upon the very soul of the dragon it struck.
The Blood Dragon could no longer maintain his humanoid form.
He dissolved into a pool of blood and rushed swiftly toward the fissure.
Luca, of course, had no intention of letting him escape so easily. Gripping the Dragon-Slayer Greatsword tightly, he gave chase without hesitation.
It was only then that Lucas snapped back to his senses.
“Wait for me!” he shouted, running after Luca as quickly as he could.
The blood that the Blood Dragon had transformed into poured into the fissure. Directly beneath that fissure was the very hall where Luca and Lucas had been earlier.
Without the slightest hesitation, Luca leapt in after him.
Lucas lingered for a moment at the edge of the crack.
He truly did not want to return to that hall again.
But staying here was useless—he couldn’t provide any support to Luca from above. And besides, he knew that if he didn’t follow, he would surely be despised by the others later.
So after a brief struggle, he too jumped in.
When Luca landed in the hall once more, the sight before him left him stunned.
The black sphere that had once hung in the center of the chamber was gone. The entire ceiling of the hall was now bathed in a blue radiance.
And the skeletons that had once filled the chamber now bore flesh upon their bones. Not far from these newly fleshed skeletons lay several dragon race warriors who had just lost their flesh and blood.
“Have these long-dead nobles stolen the flesh of the dragon warriors? Or… is this the work of the Blood Dragon?”
Luca frowned, a trace of confusion flickering across his face.
Before he could make sense of the situation, a blood-forged arrow shot toward him from behind.
Although his reflexes were swift, the arrow still grazed his shoulder, leaving a shallow wound.
“You think you can defeat me with a sneak attack?”
Luca immediately activated his defensive magic runes. A silver-white shield shimmered into being around him as he shouted loudly into the chamber.
He had already guessed the Blood Dragon’s intent.
The Blood Dragon planned to use the terrain of the hall to his advantage and defeat him here.
“You think all I’ve done is give you a little scratch on your shoulder?”
The Blood Dragon’s sinister voice echoed from every direction at once.
“You are far too naïve! That wound on your shoulder will never heal. From that gash, I will endlessly draw your blood. I now stand in an invincible position, and any action you take will be utterly futile.”
As the Blood Dragon spoke, Luca was silently assessing the state of his injury.
He was forced to admit that his opponent was not bluffing. He could feel his own blood seeping from the wound on his shoulder—slow, but unstoppable.
Just as he was about to speak, a spectral Great Bear descended from above.
Lucas had finally arrived on the battlefield.
