Chapter 1197: 184. Illusion

“Is that the Dragon-Slaying Team you were talking about? Hiss...... My god, that’s fucking incredible.”

At the Proxy’s residence, Muen looked at the hundred mighty figures standing proudly in the sky and felt the powerful auras they released. He only felt as though even his soul had been shaken, and he directly sucked in several breaths of cold air.

“Heh, what? Are you afraid?”

Morton no longer had any of his previous panic. Even though he was still restrained, his entire person was calm and composed, filled with confidence.

“Knowing perfectly well that the evil dragon would return once again, how could we possibly do nothing? To tell you the truth, from the very beginning of New Tars’s establishment, the question of how to oppose the evil dragon had already been placed on the agenda.”

“Of course, we were actually very uneasy back then as well. After all, the evil dragon had already destroyed Tars once. We were very afraid that everything we did would be futile, especially after the great heroes prophesied that the evil dragon would definitely descend again and destroy New Tars.”

“But afterward, as New Tars gradually developed, more and more powerful people appeared in the city, and the terrifying existences that had once threatened us were eliminated one after another. We began to realize that the evil dragon was not unbeatable. No matter how powerful she was, she was still only a living creature. As long as we became powerful enough, we would definitely be able to defeat her.”

“Therefore, under this kind of thinking, the Dragon-Slaying Team was born! We selected the most talented people among us, concentrated our best resources, and even begged the great heroes to personally train them! To grant them unimaginable power!”

“Although the great heroes were also very pessimistic at first, they did not approve of our struggle and believed that everything we did was futile. But the brave people of New Tars did not become discouraged because of this small setback and continued struggling without stopping!”

“And not long ago, our efforts, our resistance, and the strength we had gained after long training finally moved the great heroes!”

“The great heroes began helping us, guiding us, and supporting us. Under that strict instruction, our strength once again underwent a qualitative leap!”

“That’s right! It was not merely a small improvement, but a leap in level. In just ten short years, eight Fifth-Rank experts were born, and among them even appeared someone bathed in dragon blood like Kran!”

“He defeated the earth dragon that once occupied the underground of Tars, proving that defeating the evil dragon was not some impossible fantasy! New Tars now possesses unprecedented power, and the story from eight hundred years ago will absolutely not repeat itself!”

The more Morton spoke, the more impassioned his tone became, and the more excited his expression grew. It was as though, at this moment, the evil dragon’s descent was not some disaster, but merely a small setback before New Tars broke free from its cocoon and became a butterfly.

That was right, a small setback.

As long as they crossed it, this “carefree place” filled entirely with beauty would definitely move toward an even more beautiful, even more “carefree” future...... as long as they crossed it.

And in Morton’s view, after the entire city had worked together with such unity, crossing this threshold was naturally only to be expected!

“Running dog! Release me now, and considering that you have not yet committed any great evil, I can still deal with you leniently. If you continue stubbornly refusing to repent, what awaits you afterward will be the judgment of all New Tars!”

Morton wriggled his way onto the desk and looked down at Muen from above. He was clearly the one restrained, yet now it seemed as though Muen was the pitiful person who had nearly reached the end of the road.

“Repent!”

“......”

Speechless.

Utterly speechless.

There was only shock.

Muen, whose mind had been twitching ever since earlier and who appeared extremely dazed, looked at the arrogant Morton standing on the desk, then moved his gaze past him and looked toward the distant “dragon-slaying” battlefield.

Countless thoughts rose and sank within his mind, yet like thoroughly mixed bean-curd dregs, they could never gather into shape.

After remaining silent like this for a long time, Muen finally continued from his earlier exclamation and asked his first question.

“So...... where are your Crowned Ones? Are they hiding? Are they planning to use these people as bait, then suddenly charge out and catch her off guard?”

“Crowned Ones?”

Morton looked extremely confused.

“What is that? Do you mean people wearing hats? New Tars has no habit of wearing hats. It is very warm here.”

“Hiss......”

Muen once again sucked in a breath of cold air.

“Then...... you must have at least ten Truth-Rank mages hidden away, using all of New Tars as a formation to construct an unprecedented spell. As long as you sacrifice more than a hundred **, you can unleash a terrifying extermination attack against a natural disaster!”

“Truth Rank?”

Morton became even more confused.

“What is that? Isn’t the peak of mages the Radiant Rank? We do indeed have more than ten Radiant-Rank mages here. Hmph, hmph, the magic they arranged has long since been fully prepared. The evil dragon will definitely tremble because of it!”

“......”

Muen completely froze in place. His mouth gradually opened into an “O” shape, as though some muscular brute were stuffing something extremely large into his mouth.

But where was there any muscular brute before him? There was only the gray-haired Proxy jumping around excitedly on top of the desk.

Or rather, what Morton had just said was, in a certain sense, that muscular brute.

Muen felt as though his brain had been forcefully f*cked.

“Evil dragon! I will be the first to fight you!”

A vigorous shout came from the distance, and the Proxy became even more excited.

“It is Kran, the one bathed in dragon blood! He is the captain of the Dragon-Slaying Team. It seems he intends to first test the evil dragon’s quality!”

Lightning still flashed across the sky, outlining the courageous figure of the one bathed in dragon blood in a breathtaking afterimage.

At this moment, in this office, on the streets, in the sky, and throughout all of New Tars, countless pairs of eyes stared fixedly at this scene.

There was worry in those gazes, and there was anticipation, but even more than that, there was excitement like they were witnessing history.

After eight hundred years, in the story where the evil dragon had once run rampant, someone had finally challenged the evil dragon once again.

A new hero was about to be born before their very eyes!

“Certain victory!”

The trench coat decorated with earth-dragon blood snapped loudly in the wind. Kran tightly gripped the dragon-slaying sword and finally arrived before the evil dragon!

Countless pairs of eyes widened at this moment.

He raised his sword! He attacked! He......

“You reek of lizard all over. Don’t come near me. Get lost!”

Along with a cold and disgusted voice, he directly returned along the same path at ten times the speed he had come!

Bang!

The great one bathed in dragon blood smashed directly into the plaza like a sandbag, sending countless clouds of dust into the air. Whether he was alive or dead was unknown.

Those countless gazes followed him as he rose into the sky, then followed him again as he fell to the earth.

The sudden reversal unfolded like a play.

And the people who had watched this play also displayed the reaction they ought to have.

Everything fell completely silent.

“Huh?”

After a brief silence, it was now Morton’s turn to gape blankly, as though a muscular brute had forcibly stuffed something both huge and winning into his mouth.

“Th...... this is impossible. That was Kran, our strongest person bathed in dragon blood! His strength at the peak of the Fifth Rank...... How could he be defeated in a single exchange?”

Morton could not believe it.

“I must be hallucinating...... That’s right, an illusion. This is the evil dragon’s conspiracy. This must be the evil dragon’s conspiracy!”

Clang.

Something fell to the floor, and Morton suddenly felt his entire body lighten.

He lowered his head and discovered that the shackles suppressing his power had actually unlocked themselves.

“Wh...... what?”

He turned around.

“What is the meaning of this?”

Muen said nothing. He remained sitting there and then...... casually beckoned at him.

“You!”

Morton’s mind had already suffered an enormous blow in the face of such an unbelievable reality. Muen’s contempt at this moment was even more like a massive hammer, smashing fiercely into the confidence Morton had built up over so many years.

No matter how good his upbringing was, he could no longer control himself. Morton’s expression immediately became ferocious, battle aura surged throughout his body, and he suddenly lunged at Muen.

Bang.

A muffled sound abruptly echoed beside his ear.

Then came intense pain.

The gathered battle aura was instantly dispersed. Morton’s gaze moved downward, and he saw an ordinary straight punch that had somehow already struck his abdomen.

That straight punch was perfectly ordinary and did not appear to contain anything elaborate. Yet even so, he had completely failed to react...... Or rather, he had not even seen how the other party had moved second yet arrived first, or how he had thrown the punch.

“Do you still think it is an illusion?”

Amid the pain tearing through his internal organs, he saw that handsome face move close to him, revealing a standard wicked smile like a villain.

Their eyes met. Those pupils were pitch-black, a deep and profound black, as though they intended to swallow his soul.

“To be honest, the one who should feel as though he is hallucinating is me. After all, that so-called Dragon-Slaying Team you claim can defeat the evil dragon, even when all of them are added together...... seems unable to get past even me, a mere evil dragon’s running dog who only knows how to cling to someone powerful.”