Chapter Seventy-Four: Kill This Wretched Woman

The red dragons had fallen into internal strife, and the night elves, driven by their own conscience, launched a rescue mission to save the younger red dragon. Linley crouched alone in the corner, his silhouette lonely and desolate.

“Boss, what’s wrong?”
“Yeah, why do you look so sad?”
“Boss, it’s not working! The elder red dragon’s firepower is too fierce—we can’t rescue the younger one!”

As the night elves launched their assault, they kept glancing anxiously at Linley. Linley felt a twinge of failure; that beauty trap the Night Queen had deployed was truly a masterpiece—even a bear could be paired with a dragon! Teddy had been by his side for so long—how had he never thought to use it to lure a few male dragons?

But, fortunately, before the queen’s beauty trap could close, the new king had already hijacked it for his own use.

This outcome gave Linley a little comfort. She was clever, but her execution so poor—clearly, he was the more cunning one.

He pulled himself together and looked outside. The night elves’ rescue attempts had all failed; the elder red dragon’s flames were simply too powerful—none could get close. Yet, thanks to the night elves’ interference, the younger red dragon’s life seemed safe for now.

“All right, let me handle this!”

Linley prepared to charge, but before he could act, laughter erupted from another room—Eli had recovered.

“I’m back!” he cried, bursting from the room and appearing outside the cage. With a flash of his sword, the cage was shattered.

The night elves cheered, “His Highness is amazing!”

But their jubilation was cut short as the elder red dragon’s flames engulfed Eli.

When the fire faded, Eli, protected by his battle aura, laughed heartily. “Your flames are useless against me.”

He was unharmed—though his clothes had vanished.

“Ahhh!” Several female night elves shrieked, covering their eyes but peeking through their fingers at Eli’s body.

“Hera!” Eli looked down, his face flushing scarlet. “Did you remove the defenses from my clothes back at the tavern?”

The implications of this were staggering. Many night elves froze—what had the prince and the chief astrologer been doing in the tavern?

While they gossiped, the younger red dragon, now free of the cage, spread his wings and, furious, rammed into his elder brother. “You’ll never steal my goddess!”

Caught off guard, the elder red dragon was sent flying, his tail sweeping through five or six houses, tearing off all their roofs with a thunderous crash and gouging a massive pit into the earth.

A chill ran through the night elves’ hearts as they realized saving the younger brother might not have been wise—their battle could kill them all.

“You dare strike me!”
“You hit me first!”

The two red dragons, eyes blazing, tore into each other. Their immense bodies smashed buildings with every movement, sending the night elves fleeing in terror.

“Boss, do something!”
“Boss!”
The night elves called to Linley for help. He gazed at the battling red dragons, his thoughts still on the beauty trap.

These two foolish dragons could be useful. As Teddy’s former master, could he now take over and play the beauty trap himself?

The idea excited Linley. He scampered over, calling out, “Esteemed, handsome red dragons, please stop fighting! I have a way to make the goddess fall for you.”

“You do?” At the mention of the goddess, both dragons immediately stopped, turning to Linley. “You know our goddess?”

“Of course,” Linley thumped his chest. “I used to be her master!”

“Her former master? Come to think of it... the goddess once told me she was tormented for years by a humanoid demon—was that you?”

“Brother, I remember the goddess saying a black-haired, black-eyed guy bullied her all the time, made her sleep with him, and had such terrible sleeping habits he’d fling her into the wall!”

The two red dragons stared intently at Linley. He felt a chill—this was not going well.

“Black hair, black eyes! It’s you, you little wretch! So, you’ve come right to our door!”

“You bullied our goddess, made her do all sorts of unspeakable things—did you think we wouldn’t know?”

Their gazes grew savage.

Linley waved his hands frantically. “It’s a misunderstanding! I didn’t do anything—at most, I just used her as a pillow, that’s all!”

“What!”
“You used our goddess as a pillow!”

Their fury only deepened. “Our goddess is so beautiful, and you only used her as a pillow?”

“She’s pure and kind, yet you humiliated her so?”
“The person the goddess hates most is you—brother, let’s kill this scoundrel!”

“That’s right! If we bring her this scoundrel’s head, she’ll be delighted!”

The two dragons forgot their own feud, their killing intent now focused entirely on Linley.

Reacting instantly, Linley turned and fled. “It’s a misunderstanding, truly a misunderstanding!”

“Misunderstanding, is it!”
“Brother, after him!”

The elder red dragon spewed fire as he chased Linley, while the younger one picked up a stone, hurling it at him as he flew.

The three figures quickly disappeared into the distance amid thunderous crashes. Only when they were far away did the night elves dare to emerge, staring after them in stunned silence.

“What just happened?”
“Why are they suddenly chasing the boss?”

Everyone was confused, but some elves caught on quickly.

“The boss is so noble! He must be deliberately luring those two dragons away for our sake!”

“That’s right—if they kept fighting, they’d have killed us all. It was so dangerous just now!”

“The boss is a true hero, a real champion!”

The night elves were moved to tears by Linley’s willingness to act as bait. Saving him had truly been worthwhile—he was the very model of self-sacrifice.

“But now that the boss is gone, what should we do?”

“Your Highness, you should take command!”

The night elves turned to the prince, who held the second-highest prestige.

“We should head to the Hall of Destiny—it’s not far now.”

Eli turned to the right, where a purple spire stood, encircled by frost and storms—the Hall of Destiny lay not far ahead.

“We’ll go there first. The boss will surely join us later,” Eli said. Though the night elves were worried, their trust in the boss won out, and they followed Eli toward the Hall of Destiny.

Soon after, Eli stood near the entrance to the Hall of Destiny. “So, it’s at Crescent Lake.”

Before them lay a crescent-shaped lake, with the purple spire at its center. Yet, there was no path across the water; though the surface was calm, Eli sensed it teemed with dangerous spells.

“To reach the Hall of Destiny, we’ll have to travel by boat.”

Eli’s expression grew grave. The Hall’s location often shifted, but whenever it appeared, powerful Twin Moon Guardians would always accompany it. Yet this time, none were in sight.

“Be careful, everyone. This lake is definitely dangerous—it may be the most perilous path yet.”

Its dangers could far exceed his imagination, and if he had the choice, Eli would rather not cross at all.

The general walked to Eli’s side, facing Crescent Lake with him.

“Your Highness, it’s dangerous ahead... shouldn’t you dress first?”

“I didn’t bring any spare clothes.”