Chapter 240
Chapter 240. Inviting a Wolf Into the House
After ending the communication crystal call, Greg continued gathering those black boxes. Yet as the black boxes were removed from their original positions, faint traces of magic power actually began to appear within the royal capital.
But when Greg placed the last black box into his bag, the chill on the box’s surface had not yet faded from his fingertips when fine cracks spread across the bluestone tiles beneath his feet.
At first, it was only a faint tremor, like muffled thunder rolling in from the distance. In the blink of an eye, however, a rumbling roar surged up from the depths of the earth.
The ground of the royal capital split open like a shattered mirror. Amid the smoke and dust, the palace spires tilted and collapsed. Within the thunderous crash of falling brick and stone were countless cries of alarm and weeping screams.
A glaringly obvious gaping hole appeared before Greg.
Cries and wails rose from within. The voices of the elderly, children, women, and men intertwined, and the aura surging out from the depths was terrifyingly violent.
He hurriedly ordered the giant dragon to retreat. His gaze pierced through the spreading dust, and he saw shadows rising from the bottom of the abyss.
The sound of flapping wings drew closer and closer, carrying a damp, fishy stench. An enormous crowned creature floated upward from the darkness, its scales reflecting an eerie ghostly light.
Its roar made the air tremble. Its empty eyes locked firmly onto Greg.
“Give me magic power... I want magic power...”
The instant its sharp claws swept toward him with a raging gale, Greg saw the chains wound around its neck. They were engraved with runes exactly the same as those on the black boxes.
Before he could think any further, the enormous creature charged straight at him, and the two sides clashed.
The giant dragon’s breath exploded against the creature’s scales, sending up white smoke.
After several exchanges, Greg could still see scorched wounds where its flesh had split open at first. Yet in the blink of an eye, those wounds closed as though the tide had receded, leaving only pale-pink new flesh behind. Not even the faintest scar remained.
His heart sank. The knuckles of the hand gripping his dragon sword turned white. This was already the seventh time. The power of his attacks was weakening, while the other party’s counterattacks grew sharper each time.
“Roar...”
The enormous creature suddenly swung its head. The old wound on its neck had only just healed when it opened its mouth, filled with sharp teeth, and bit toward him.
Greg dodged sideways, but his shoulder blade was still struck by its tail fin. Agony instantly spread through him, as though even his bones had been shaken out of place.
He staggered backward and crashed into a broken stone pillar. When he raised his head, he saw the creature’s compound eyes glowing with ghostly light. There was no anger in them, only a nearly numb greed.
“Its regeneration is getting faster.”
Greg wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and suddenly understood.
“You are absorbing the giant dragon’s magic power?”
Every time the creature endured an attack, a faint halo would rise across the scales on its body. That was clearly the energy fluctuation of dragon breath.
So it was not adapting. It was converting the attacks. This monster was turning his own power into nourishment for itself. It was simply inconceivable.
The enormous creature did not answer. It merely lunged at him again.
This time, earth-like patterns appeared across its forelimbs. It had clearly absorbed the dragon breath Greg had released earlier.
The pupils of the giant dragon Greg was riding suddenly contracted. It shot upward, narrowly avoiding the claws covered in earth patterns. Earth spikes instantly condensed across the wall, spreading outward along the brick and stone.
“There is no need to remain tangled with it any longer.”
As this thought crossed Greg’s mind, a ruthless edge appeared between his brows.
He turned slightly and gave a low command to the giant dragon beneath him, signaling it to immediately carry him away from this perilous place.
However, that enormous creature, with its oppressive, massive form, showed no intention of retreating at all. Its huge eyes, flashing with greedy red light, fixed firmly on Greg. Clearly, it had no intention of letting him leave so easily.
The endless, pure, and abundant source of magic power within Greg was exactly what it most desperately needed at this moment. How could it possibly watch the “prey” already at its mouth escape?
Far away, atop the peaks of a continuous mountain range, fierce winds howled and whipped Marcus’s black cloak.
He stood with his hands behind his back. Beside him stood the Second Princess, her expression wooden. Together, they gazed from afar at the breathtaking battle above the royal capital.
The Second Princess was clearly in an abnormal state. Her eyes, once lively and bright, were now hollow and lifeless, as though her soul had been drawn away. She merely followed Marcus’s gaze mechanically toward the distant battlefield.
Just then, a blinding light erupted above the royal capital, accompanied by a deafening roar.
One of the enormous creature’s thick arms was blown apart in an instant by the giant dragon’s breath. Its broken stump was a mangled mess of flesh and blood, and black fluid splattered outward.
This scene entered the Second Princess’s eyes with perfect clarity.
Two streams of tears suddenly slid down her expressionless face without warning. They flowed silently along her cheeks and fell onto the front of her clothes, yet she still showed no emotional fluctuation at all, as though even her weeping had lost its sound.
Marcus, who stood beside her, turned a blind eye to it. The corners of his mouth even curved into a cold arc. He turned his head and glanced at the Second Princess, his tone carrying undisguised mockery and indifference.
“Your royal father truly is an exceptional vessel. The magic power he contains far exceeded my expectations.”
“If it were not for the sake of collecting those precious experimental data, I truly would have been reluctant to leave him in the royal capital. After all, such a perfect ‘container’ is not easy to find.”
When she heard those words, the Second Princess’s body suddenly trembled. A trace of light appeared in her hollow eyes.
Her hand rose without warning, darting like swift lightning toward Marcus’s neck. Her knuckles turned white from exertion as she clamped down hard and continued increasing her strength.
It was as though she wanted to strangle to death, on the spot, this man who had defiled her father and controlled her.
However, Marcus did not even furrow his brow. That calm and cold smile still hung upon his face. He allowed her hand to exert force around his neck, as though that bit of strength was nothing more than a breeze brushing past him.
He even lowered his head slightly and leaned close to the Second Princess’s ear, his voice carrying a trace of playful cruelty.
“Oh? You still possess the will to resist? It seems I underestimated you. As expected, you are a clever person. You actually knew how to hide your true thoughts in front of me and pretend to be completely controlled.”
“But did you think I would have made no preparations?”
He paused. His gaze swept over the Second Princess’s body, trembling slightly from rage and struggle, and the mockery in his tone grew even heavier.
“From the moment you fell into my hands, how could I possibly not have placed a few measures on you? This little resistance is nothing but futile.”
In the next second, the Second Princess’s hand suddenly loosened, as though some invisible force had drained away all her strength.
Her originally expressionless face was finally overtaken by pain. Her brows twisted tightly together, her lips pressed into a trembling line, and bead-sized drops of sweat slid down from her temples.
But the stubbornness in her eyes had not gone out. She still raised her head and stared fixedly at Marcus.
Her body trembled violently from unbearable pain, yet she still struggled to stretch out her hand, trying to seize the man controlling her once more, as though trying to grasp the last trace of hope for resistance.
Marcus watched her futile struggle without the slightest ripple on his face. He merely closed his eyes slowly and began continuously chanting obscure, incomprehensible incantations.
Those syllables were deep and strange, as though carrying some kind of magic. They circled and spread through the air.
As the chanting gradually grew louder, the painful expression on the Second Princess’s face slowly faded, as though washed away bit by bit by the tide.
The stubbornness and fury in her eyes gradually dissipated, replaced by hollow calm.
Her body stopped trembling as well. Her outstretched hand fell powerlessly, and her entire person returned to that original expressionless state, like a puppet whose soul had been drawn away.
Obediently and motionlessly, she stood beside Marcus, her gaze blankly fixed upon the distance, without the slightest ripple remaining.