Chapter 20: Chapter 20 The Battle of Water Marsh - Lionheart Appears (Part 2)
Seeing the humans fighting amongst themselves, the Water Monster didn't strike immediately; instead, it seemed to enjoy watching the turmoil.
As for Lu Hong, he was truly annoyed by several Mages, but he was entangled by the faction leader and his supporting lackeys, unable to break free. Moreover, with several healers behind the faction leader, it was hard to inflict substantial damage on the group unless it was a fatal blow.
What could he do in such a complicated situation? Grinding his teeth, Lu Hong plunged with a splash into the lake.
"Boss, what do we do about the kid jumping into the water?" a lackey hurriedly asked.
"What else but follow him!" But before the lackeys could follow the boss's order, the Water Monster watching from the sidelines couldn't stand it anymore. Seeing a human daring to invade its lair, it flew into a rage.
"Damn it!" cursed the faction leader. Disgusting—a Demon Beast even learned to launch a surprise attack. Seeing the Water Monster attack, he quickly raised his shield high with the power of Holy Light shielding him, barely blocking the water arrows spat out by the Water Monster. Of course, his lackeys weren't so lucky; the majority of them were killed instantly.
"Quick, group up and defend!" The boss watched as another batch of his lackeys fell, feeling the loss keenly. Although they were not high level, each one had been hard for him to win over; their deaths were truly a pity.
While the faction's remaining members assembled to resist the Water Monster's wrath, Lu Hong had already dived deep beneath the water. As an offspring of the Dragon lineage, the Water Monster inevitably inherited the dragons' greedy habits. Since no one was chasing him, Lu Hong decided to search for treasure first.
With Fighting Spirit shielding his body, Lu Hong could stay underwater for some time. Not long after continuing his descent, he reached the nest of the Water Monster.
Indeed, he was correct: the place was filled with sparkling and translucent gemstone items, most of which could serve as materials for forging weapons.
But these things were of no use to Lu Hong. The weapon in his hand was a level six weapon specially forged by the elderly man for him, already one of the strongest among low-level weapons. To obtain better weapons, he had to collect some special materials. Though the Water Monster's nest contained decent materials, they weren't to Lu Hong's liking.
"Hmm?" Lu Hong swept his gaze across the area and spotted something unusual—a drop of solidified blood.
"This is real Dragon Blood?!" Lu Hong was shocked to discover that the Water Monster had concealed a drop of real Dragon Blood. Where had it come from?
Dragons in this world were not exactly rare, but each dragon was almost always a level eight or above Demon Beast. Finding a drop of dragon blood in the nest of a low-level, level four Water Monster was nearly impossible, yet Lu Hong had stumbled upon it as if he had hit the jackpot in a lottery.
Dragon Blood Body Refinement! Lu Hong didn't care; what he found was his. In his previous experience playing Skyrim, he had taken on some side quests to strengthen his body, one of which was to swallow Dragon Blood essence to fortify his body and enhance his Fighting Spirit. How could he miss such an opportunity given by fate?
Without hesitation, Lu Hong swallowed the drop of Dragon Blood. If he didn't make a breakthrough now, it would be difficult to survive once he surfaced. Since he was no match for the Water Monster, it was better to take the risk.
As soon as the Dragon Blood entered his stomach, Lu Hong's body gradually became scorching hot, like a volcano erupting within him. The surrounding lake water instantly evaporated, releasing a massive amount of steam.
Pain! Excruciating pain! Lu Hong felt his body being torn apart by countless claws. He knew he had to endure it; if he could withstand this pain, he would be successful. If not, death was certain. In fact, in Skyrim, Lu Hong had died ten times before surviving the highly fatal Dragon Blood Body Refinement.
Although the method of Dragon Blood Body Refinement was simple—just find dragon blood and consume it—the death rate was incredibly high, and not many would gamble their lives on it. But Lu Hong chose to take the gamble, not only to break free from the predicament onshore but also for the beautiful Danni. How could he win over the heart of a beauty without being strong? Moreover, having experienced Dragon Blood Body Refinement ten times in the game, he had some mental resistance and experience, daring to try the gamble—take a chance for the bike to turn into a motorcycle!
Regrettably, Lu Hong still overestimated himself; within half a minute, his spirit completely collapsed. Death seemed to be just a second away, but how could Lu Hong, the protagonist, die just like that?
"The boss can't hold on any longer!" a few Priests from the faction gritted their teeth, and then the Water Monster unleashed another blow which completely shattered the Priests' constructed Holy Light Barrier.
"Bastion Strike!" The faction leader used all his strength to unleash a Bastion Strike, colliding fiercely with the claw that had smashed the barrier. With a mournful howl, the faction leader flew back like a deflated balloon landing heavily a hundred steps away.
"Boss!" The seven remaining lackeys who had somehow managed to survive the Water Monster's furious attack quickly rushed to check on their leader. Naturally, the Water Monster wasn't going to stop there; its gaping maw opened slightly as dozens of water arrows began to form.
It was at that moment, from within the lake, that an angry roar sounded, not quite human, evoking the fear of a primordial Fierce Beast.
The Water Monster itself was startled by the sudden roar. Before it could react, Lu Hong burst out of the water like a phantasm and landed a punch directly on the Water Monster's jaw.
The force of the punch was not to be underestimated, and it sent the Water Monster stumbling backward several steps.
"Roar!" Lu Hong, like a wild beast gone mad, was once again engulfed in blazing flames and charged toward the water beast.
The water beast, having dominated for so many years, had never suffered such humiliation and frantically drew upon the power of its Demon Core. Guided by the force of the Demon Core, the entire lake began to churn, whipping up a colossal water spout that smacked down viciously at Lu Hong.
But Lu Hong dove headfirst into the water tornado without a second thought, allowing it to tear at him. Then, a miraculous power surged from his heart and, as if responding subconsciously, he turned this energy into a roar that thundered forth.
The roar's power was immense; the ferocious water tornado came to a sudden halt in the face of the roar and dissipated in the next instant. The gang members on the shore bled from their seven orifices and died from shattered hearts. As for the water beast, it fared no better. Lu Hong's roar, like a tangible ring of sound, spread outward, pushing the water beast into the mountain. Then, the surrounding mountain walls began to crumble, effectively transforming the ravine into a plain.
Yet the power of the roar showed no signs of stopping as it continued to spread in all directions. Demon Beasts were annihilated in its path, as though the end of the world had come.
"Lionheart's Roar!" The old man was shocked. Although he was far from Lu Hong, the roar still reached him.
"The orc royal family has ventured so close to the imperial capital's outskirts?" The old man rallied his Fighting Spirit to withstand the damage of the sound wave, then immediately streaked toward the source of the sound.
"Lionheart's Roar?" Lu Hong's roaring sound wave did not reach the imperial capital, but Vili, the Tower Master of the White Tower in the Seven Towers of Kain, sensed it. Vili, a grand Mage of space, had an extremely wide range of perception. Naturally, Lu Hong's roar put him on alert. However, the grand Mage then chuckled, "Just a young lion," before he dismissed it and returned to his research.
Apart from the Tower Master of the White Tower, Danni, the beautiful lady, also sensed it. As a druid, Danni had a particularly high affinity with plants, and the deaths of a large number of Demon Beasts in the Frostleaf Forest were conveyed to her through the voices of the plants. As Frostleaf Forest was the region closest to the imperial capital, Danni immediately set out towards Lu Hong's location without a second thought.
Roar! The water beast was also enraged. Lu Hong's shout made it bleed from every orifice, but as soon as the roar passed, it charged at Lu Hong.
Lu Hong's slender figure boldly met it head-on, and with just one punch, he sent the water beast reeling back. The water beast again conjured a surging flood to strangle Lu Hong, but its power was greatly reduced.
Now that its power had weakened, it couldn't harm the current Lu Hong at all. Lu Hong plunged into the flood and, when the water beast was not looking, descended from the sky and punched its head to smithereens. With that, the water beast's body collapsed heavily to the ground, blood gushing forth.
"I need its blood!" The last shred of Lu Hong's rational mind longed to bathe in the water beast's blood. Subsequently, the searing heat of his body finally subsided under the drenching of the water beast's blood. Lu Hong's blood-red eyes also began to clear, and a wave of weakness washed over him. He closed his eyes and fainted on the spot.
Soon, the old man arrived at the scene. Seeing Lu Hong fainted next to the water beast, his face paled, and he hurriedly checked Lu Hong's condition. Fortunately, there was no danger to his life.
"Was this Lionheart's Roar made by the young master?" All around was silent, with no one but Lu Hong left breathing; naturally, the old man's suspicion fell on Lu Hong.
"Indeed, if there were no accident," Danni, the beautiful lady, appeared behind the old man at some point and said calmly as she looked at the fainted Lu Hong.
"Green Tower Tower Master Danni?" The old man's face darkened.
"Greetings, Lord Prolusius," Danni replied icily.
"I heard that my young master was saved by you previously. Do you know his identity?" The old man asked gravely, as the matter was of utmost importance.
"Tu-kulu is a half-orc, and I was not aware of his orc bloodline before. But now I know. It is that of the Lionheart royal family."
"Lionheart royal family..." The old man fell silent, contemplating whether the Tower Master of the Green Tower, as the empire's number one Guardian, would take action to kill him and how he might save the young master if she did.
At the same time, Danni, the beautiful lady, was also pondering how to persuade the old man to spare Tu-Kulu's life and keep his secret.
"I...," Both began to speak at the same time, creating a moment of awkward tension.
"You go first, Lord Prolusius."
"I ask you to spare him and keep this secret," the old man said gravely, "In return, on behalf of the Prolusius family, I owe you a favor, even if it involves the choice of the next emperor."
"There's no need. Since Lord Prolusius holds the young man in such high esteem, I shall take my leave. Rest assured, I will help seal the news of this incident." Danni turned and left. The force of nature within her permeated into the Frostleaf Forest, and moments later, the entire forest seemed to come to life, entwining the dead Demon Beasts and human corpses and slowly dragging them into the depths of the earth, burying all traces of what had happened here.