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Chapter 50: Black Dragon’s Forest (1)
[The dragon lair of the Black Dragon Arkardian is located at the entrance of the Ebiwood Mountain Range. Beyond the Black Dragon’s Forest lies a massive cliff. At the base of the cliff, there’s a large cave—that’s the dragon lair. To safeguard the dragon summoning ritual, awakened individuals from our neutral faction are dispatched to the Black Dragon’s Forest. Of course, the Uruks would never dream that Arkardian plans to open the Gate of Chaos.]
After capturing the fortress, the updated strategy guide proved quite useful.
Black Dragon’s Forest.
Past the Ebiwood Fortress lies the Black Dragon’s Forest, with a fairly wide path running through it.
It’s an area where large monsters gather.
“Black Dragon’s Forest… It’s a man-eating forest created by Black Dragon Arkardian. It’s infamous for its monstrous trees, trolls, ogres, and other such creatures.”
“Can’t we just burn it down?”
“That would be difficult. The forest is managed by Arkardian’s underlings, the Dragonkin, who have a natural affinity for consuming fire.”
This might be trickier than I thought.
The path was wide, likely used by the Black Dragon’s army, but the atmosphere of the forest was ominous, to say the least.
Since I wasn’t familiar with troop formations, I left it to Dwarf Lord Ambrosian, Ranger Commander Reblo, and experienced hunters.
After inspecting the forest, they whispered among themselves and stationed warriors to guard the outer perimeters.
“May we request you take the vanguard?”
Ambrosian had become much more polite after I sliced through the fortress gate with ease.
I wasn’t expecting this nodwarf to address me so formally, but even when I told him to speak freely, he insisted it was out of respect.
“Very well. Shall I scout ahead?”
“We’d appreciate it.”
“Alright. I’ll lead the Flame Chariot out. Signal me if there’s any trouble.”
“We will. If there’s an emergency, we’ll fire two flares into the sky.”
Dwarves and their signal flares, huh?
I nodded and summoned the Flame Chariot.
‘It’s as big as the one Liana summoned.’
The chariot was massive, drawn by four horses.
With Skill Level 3, the mana consumption while riding it wasn’t even noticeable.
I drove the chariot forward at a leisurely pace—leisurely by my standards, though to others, it probably looked like the horses were sprinting.
The dark forest allowed very little light to penetrate.
The trees stretched endlessly, their leaves a deep green.
It seemed like monsters would jump out at any moment, but after an hour of travel, there was nothing, and I found myself yawning.
Whoosh.
A sharp sting on the crown of my head—suddenly, a branch whipped down like a lash from above.
Slash!
I drew Yeoui and sliced it in two.
Immediately, branches started flying at me from all directions.
The attacks didn’t spare the Flame Chariot.
While the branches ahead burned and vanished upon contact with fire, those on the sides and rear kept coming.
“Grow Yeoui. Phoenix. Ignite with the power of fire.”
[Understood.]
Yeoui extended.
At the same time, the Phoenix imbued the blade with flames.
The moment the branches touched the sword’s flames, they ignited and burned completely.
The fire spread rapidly, consuming the branches and even the tree trunks.
“Servant of the gods.”
“Devour the flames.”
Emerging from the dense forest, a group of Dragonkin revealed themselves.
On the left stood twenty in black armor; on the right, twenty in red armor.
The Dragonkin in red armor confidently opened their mouths, inhaling the flames burning the trees.
“Krrr.”
“Phoenix’s power. I can’t consume it.”
While some spat fire back out, most of those on the right focused on extinguishing the forest fire.
Meanwhile, the Dragonkin in black armor hesitated, unable to consume the flames.
Left with no choice, they charged at me.
“Die, apostle!”
All at once, they lunged, jaws wide open.
You lot were my prey even back when I was D-class…
Whoosh.
I swung the extended Yeoui in a wide arc.
The Phoenix’s flames burned fiercely as divine power infused the blade.
Despite their attempts to jump or duck to avoid it, the blade grew larger mid-swing, striking them directly.
Slice!
“Divine power!”
“Aghhhh…!”
The dark armor was sliced like paper, the Dragonkin crushed entirely.
The moment the blade touched them, they let out agonized screams before disintegrating into dust.
So weak to divine power… Are these Dragonkin corrupted by Chaos?
“What’s this?”
“Why are they… vulnerable to divine power?”
The Dragonkin on the right looked confused.
They realized it wasn’t the fire but the divine power that had destroyed their comrades.
“Those are servants of Chaos. Aren’t you the same?”
“What nonsense!”
“Chaos? How dare you insult us?”
“Hmm. You did consume the sacred flames… I assumed all Dragonkin under Arkardian were servants of Chaos, but it seems not.”
I retracted Yeoui and looked at the Dragonkin on the right.
Killing them would be easy.
But since they weren’t aligned with Chaos, I was curious.
Could they be useful?
Let’s try sowing some discord.
Or rather, just tell them the truth.
“Black Dragon Arkardian seeks to open the Gate of Chaos, commanding liches, death knights, and corrupted Dragonkin. But you don’t seem to be corrupted Dragonkin.”
“Arkardian is…? That can’t be…”
“Impossible…”
Oh?
Their reactions suggested disbelief but also lingering doubt.
Let’s push further.
Fortunately, I wasn’t labeled a bat-like Awakener anymore but a Champion of Kevrian.
My title even conveyed the Blessing of Neutrality, which earned the favor of Kevrian’s natives.
These Dragonkin must count as natives, right?
“I am an apostle of Order and a servant of the Earth Goddess Skadi, blessed by neutral gods. Both the gods of Order and Neutrality are watching this situation closely.”
“This human… has the scent of the earth. Skadi’s blessing is evident.”
“This can’t be… Are you truly an apostle of the goddess?”
“This is a familiar energy…”
Good.
My title has its uses.
“Indeed. To stop Arkardian’s schemes, the gods of both factions have granted me their favor. If you serve the gods, you must lend me your strength.”
The Dragonkin exchanged hesitant glances, unsure of what to do.
While they acknowledged my divine authority, they were reluctant to trust me completely.
Unlike those of Order, these weren’t easily swayed by divine charisma alone.
I pulled out the strategy guide.
[The Arkardian Grand Magic Circle has four axes in total. The central axis is the Arkardian Dragon Heart. The other three axes are located at Griffon Cliff in the Ebiwood Mountains, the Trent Colony in the Black Dragon Forest, and Dragon Rock by the Ebi River. Each site has a Chaos Magic Circle drawn there. We need neutral faction awakeners to destroy the three magic circles, but honestly, destroying all three is nearly impossible. We entrusted the Dragon Rock site to Grosh and a small group of orcs loyal to him, while the awakeners targeted Griffon Cliff. The Trents... oh boy, they’re too strong to handle.]
The Trent Colony...
Are the Trents those attacking trees I saw earlier?
So they gather in groups, huh?
I’ll take care of the magic circle in the Trent Colony myself, but as for Griffon Cliff and Dragon Rock...
"Griffon Cliff, Trent Colony, and Dragon Rock. These are the locations of the Chaos Magic Circles created by Arkardians. I’ll destroy the one in Trent Colony myself. You two head to one of the other two sites."
“Head there?”
“Go and destroy the Chaos Magic Circle if you sense its presence. See it with your own eyes!”
“See it with our own eyes...?”
“That’s right. Aren’t you also followers of the neutral faction? You know what kind of hell will break loose if the Chaos Gate opens, even without seeing it firsthand, don’t you?”
“Hm... Give us some time to discuss.”
“Fine. You saw how I dealt with that corrupted dragonkin earlier, didn’t you? Taking you down here wouldn’t even be a challenge. I’m only giving you a chance because you haven’t fallen into corruption yet.”
Hearing my words, the dragonkin trembled as they recalled the corrupted one I defeated earlier.
Yeah, these guys are pretty strong, so they give decent SP and mana.
But shaking them up from the inside will be more effective than taking down 20 of them.
After several minutes of deliberation, the dragonkin approached me cautiously.
“We’ll check out Griffon Cliff. If what you say is true, we’ll destroy it.”
“But if it’s false, you’ll face our wrath.”
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“Sure. Don’t just glance around. Inspect thoroughly. Take your comrades with you. I’ll soon turn this forest into a sea of fire.”
The dragonkin nodded and obediently backed off.
Surprisingly successful.
Without divine blessings, they wouldn’t have backed down so easily.
Perhaps they had a hunch about something.
Anyway, now that the creatures that would devour my holy fire are gone, it should be safe to ignite the forest.
First, I need to send the troops back out of the forest.
“Phoenix, retrieve that fire. Let’s evacuate everyone before we start burning.”
[Understood.]
The phoenix soared toward the flames the corrupted dragonkin had failed to consume.
Opening its mouth, it absorbed the spreading fire all at once.
This creature keeps growing into a monster, especially with enhanced mana.
Good.
Keep growing like that.
After extinguishing the fire, I returned to the main unit, where I found signs of battle.
Scattered around the camp were the corpses of massive monsters and charred remnants of huge trees.
It seemed like a fierce fight, but fortunately, the main unit hadn’t suffered significant losses.
“Did you come under attack?”
“Yes. Ogres and Trents joined forces to attack us. Their offensive wasn’t too overwhelming, so we didn’t fire a signal flare.”
“Well done. I encountered enemies while advancing, too...”
When I mentioned meeting two groups of dragonkin and letting one go, Ambrosian was astonished.
“They believed your words, Apostle?”
“Yes. They probably had some reason to.”
“An astonishing outcome. If the dragonkin are gone, we can burn the forest without hesitation. Elf, are you okay with this?”
“...Yes. We must prevent the Chaos Gate from opening.”
With the agreement of Reblo, leader of the elves, all units retreated from the forest.
Once safely outside, we began the full-scale burning operation.
“The wind is against us. Have the mages focus on wind magic, and let the archers ignite the flames with fire arrows.”
“Divine flames are more effective. I’ll drive a Flame Chariot through the forest.”
“Good. That will help suppress the corrupted dragonkin.”
“Phoenix, assist in spreading the flames.”
[Hah, this will be fun.]
I summoned Flame Chariot and deployed the phoenix.
The archers and I focused on igniting the flames, while the mages controlled the wind.
The dwarves, who work well with fire and earth spirits, summoned fire spirits to help spread the fire.
Though visibly displeased with burning the forest, the elves reluctantly assisted with wind spirits due to the dire situation.
“I’m not ordering you to set the fire yourselves. Just summon the wind spirits.”
“Understood...”
With the command given, the operation began.
Warriors formed the front line, while the archers simultaneously loosed fire arrows.
Woosh.
The forest barely caught fire with the arrows alone.
But as the Flame Chariot sped through and the phoenix spewed flames from above, the fire quickly spread.
“Wind!”
The mages collectively cast wind magic, changing the wind’s direction and propelling the flames forward.
I also cast wind magic to assist.
“Graaaaah!”
As the fire consumed the forest, monsters began pouring out chaotically.
Small ones like goblins, larger ones like green orcs, and massive ones like ogres and trolls—all fled in disarray to escape the flames.
“Kill them!”
“Let’s level up!”
Burning and disorderly monsters versus our perfectly arranged formation.
Everyone, brimming with confidence, crushed the enemies.
I considered using lightning magic in case of danger but refrained due to the massive mana consumption of the fire chariot and phoenix.
Instead, I stuck to wind magic, observing from the sidelines.
They’d manage fine with the setup I gave them.
“Graaagh!”
“Humans, how dare you set fire to the Black Dragon Forest...”
“Where are the dragonkin...?”
Goblins and orcs screamed in agony as they fell.
Those who fled the flames were swiftly subdued by our weapons.
Large monsters were taken down with the combined effort of archers and mages.
“There are so many ogre and troll corpses. May we harvest them? We’d like to craft equipment from their bones and hides as gifts for the Apostles.”
“Oh, sure.”
The dwarves, delighted by the quality of the large monster corpses, began butchering them, while the others maintained the formation.
My experience bar visibly climbed, and I even leveled up for the first time in a while.
Burning a massive forest and slaughtering the monsters inside—it was only natural.
“Leveled up.”
“Me too!”
“Wow, this is way too easy.”
“And the army experience bonus is insane. Even kills by the commander are credited to us.”
The Apostles’ unit rejoiced at the burning forest and the rising experience points.
Those not part of the unit looked on with envy.
The dwarves, too, were thrilled with the high-quality large monster remains.
Only the elves wore grim expressions.
“Reblo, I apologize to the elves. But our unit’s safety takes precedence.”
“Oh, it’s fine. We understand the necessity. But watching the forest burn... it’s nauseating and repulsive for elves. That’s probably why their expressions are so sour... I’m sorry. Hey, you lot! Hurry up and summon the wind spirits!”
I genuinely meant to apologize, but did it come across as pressure to work faster?
Rolling up his sleeves, Reblo began kicking the elves into action, urging them to summon wind spirits.
Not what I intended, but it worked out.
The fire raged for more than four days.
The flames could have spread further, but on the fourth day, torrential rain suddenly poured down like a monsoon.
The downpour gradually extinguished the flames.
Given that the fire was created by a fire chariot and phoenix, this wasn’t ordinary rain.
Perhaps a dragon summoned the rain?
It’s possible, considering the magic they wield.
Still, the forest burned thoroughly enough to clear a path, making our advance much easier.
“Let’s move forward.”
“Yes. All units, march!”
With clearer sightlines and wider paths, we mounted our horses and advanced swiftly.
For four days, we marched with no obstacles, nearing the end of the Black Dragon Forest.
At last, we encountered an unburned part of the forest.
“Sinister magic is radiating from there.”
“That must be the Trent Colony.”
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