Ch. 27
Chapter 27: Non-Human Species Are Also System Targets?
Li Kainan had no desire to let an enemy like Carabosse escape—yet every time he tried to give chase, Aurora would block his way, and in the end he could do nothing but watch helplessly as Carabosse fled.
After Carabosse's escape, Aurora—having completed her role of covering the retreat—spread her wings and made to take flight, preparing to withdraw as well.
But Li Kainan was furious at having let the enemy get away. How could he possibly allow Aurora to leave now?
Quick as lightning, Li Kainan lunged forward and grabbed Aurora's tail with both arms.
Then, muscles erupting across his entire body, he wrenched with tremendous force—and with that inhuman, terrifying strength of his, he physically hauled the dragon down.
A thunderous boom rang out as Aurora's massive body crashed heavily into the ground.
The impact shattered rock and sent clouds of dust billowing outward.
Even under the control of Carabosse's magic, the sudden, crushing blow made Aurora instinctively curl her body inward, thrashing and writhing in pain.
And it was at this moment that the Retainer Knights came charging in.
Faced with the dragon pinned to the ground, the lead Retainer Knight called out orders in a steady stream of commands.
Rather than launching a direct assault on Aurora, the Retainer Knights took aim at the dragon's wings instead.
Compared to the thick, tough hide of the rest of her body, Aurora's thin membranous wings were indeed a weak point!
The 60 Retainer Knights split at once into 2 groups, then rode the momentum of their cavalry charge to drive the lances in their hands hard into Aurora's wings.
Aurora, who had just been struggling to rise—had her wings pierced by the lances and was pinned flat to the ground!
Strictly speaking, the strength possessed by the Retainer Knights was nowhere near Li Kainan's level.
These lances pinning Aurora's wings down could, at best, restrain her for a short while.
As Aurora thrashed in pain, some of the lances that hadn't been driven deep enough were already being pulled free.
Given a little more time, Aurora would absolutely break free of the restraints on her own.
But one mustn't forget—Li Kainan was still here!
The Retainer Knights' tactic had been designed from the start to work in coordination with Li Kainan—buying just enough crowd control for him to act.
For Li Kainan, that was more than enough!
Seizing the moment while the dragon was restrained, Li Kainan launched himself into motion—and in the blink of an eye, he had appeared directly above Aurora's head.
His weapon was destroyed?
No matter. Li Kainan's left fist hit hard—and his right fist hit even harder!
Li Kainan sank his weight low, the bones and sinews throughout his body erupting with a sound like rolling thunder as he summoned a terrifying force.
Power enough to shatter mountains and cleave peaks condensed onto both fists. His punch tore through the air with a sharp crack as it came crashing down upon the top of Aurora's head!
A muffled thud rang out, and Aurora—still struggling just moments before—had her head driven hard into the ground once more by the blow.
The dull, sinister yellow pupils in her eyes—at this moment, under the force of Li Kainan's fist—actually reverted, restoring themselves to those vivid, beautiful violet dragon eyes!
Li Kainan paid no attention to that, however, and brought his second fist thundering down.
Then Aurora's vivid, beautiful violet dragon eyes rolled back—and she was knocked out cold.
And just as Li Kainan was drawing back for a third punch, he suddenly noticed a green name had appeared above the dragon's head—the green of a friendly unit.
【Aurora (15%)】
Hm, why did a name pop up over her head?
Li Kainan's brow shifted slightly, and he lowered his arm in some surprise.
【Prompt: With your assistance, Aurora—who had been under the control of evil magic—has finally awakened. Your heroic act of rescuing her from the evil Witch's control has caused her to develop a natural fondness for you.
A beautiful and powerful dragon can make your harem richer in terms of species diversity, and considerably higher in prestige as well!
Complete the conquest and successfully bring her into your harem, and you will receive an exceptionally generous reward……】
……
【Prompt: *with your assistance, under the control of evil magic awakened……, you rescued her from control
****powerful dragon, can make your *******, considerably higher in prestige as well!
****successfully bring her into ****, you will *******, receive an exceptionally generous reward……】
System—so even non-human species fall within your recruitment range?
Li Kainan thought it over briefly, then abandoned the opportunity to earn himself the legendary title of "Dragon Slayer," and jumped down from Aurora's head.
A legendary title, while very likely to boost Li Kainan's world renown—making it easier for him to develop and more attractive to talented individuals—
—was ultimately nothing but a system reward at the end of the day!
And if he could successfully recruit a dragon, he wouldn't only earn a system reward and gain a "Dragon Talent"—
—he'd likely also pick up the legendary title of "Dragon Knight," which would boost his world renown just the same!
Thinking it through this way, Li Kainan was actually starting to feel a little regret.
That second punch just now might have been a bit too hard……
……
Seeing that Li Kainan had settled the battle, the Retainer Knights came riding together from all directions.
They dismounted, came before Li Kainan, and dropped to one knee, saluting with absolute deference:
"My Lord!"
Li Kainan swept his gaze across the kneeling Retainer Knights before him and gave a deeply satisfied nod.
The sheer courage they had shown in daring to charge a dragon just now, along with the sound tactics they had adopted in coordination with him—both spoke to the elite caliber of these Retainer Knights.
Their numbers were a little small, admittedly, but they had the traits of constant morale and constant numbers.
All he could say was: worthy of being the elite unit rewarded by the system!
Li Kainan's mood immediately lifted considerably—even the frustration over Carabosse's escape had largely dissipated—and he gave a broad wave of his hand:
"At ease!"
All things considered, though he hadn't killed Carabosse and had left himself a lingering threat, and had even lost the sword he'd brought with him from his transmigration—
—just for this elite unit standing before him, this Dungeon had already been well worth it!
Oh, right—if he could successfully recruit the girl called Belle, he'd earn a system reward as well.
If the reward turned out to be exceptional, he wouldn't just break even—he'd come out ahead!
With that thought, Li Kainan immediately set off to find Belle.
The battle between him and Carabosse had been an absolute chaos, and he'd also been tied up in a prolonged struggle with the dragon—collateral damage to the surrounding area was inevitable.
Many parts of Prince Adam's castle had been damaged during the fighting.
Li Kainan hadn't had any attention to spare for Belle during all of this, and now his worry was that she'd had the misfortune of being caught up in the collateral damage by accident.
Right now, the most important thing was to find her first!
And seeing Li Kainan turn to leave, the lead Retainer Knight hastily spoke up:
"My Lord, what should we do with this dragon?"
"Post someone to watch over her here, and notify me when she wakes up!"
"Yes, My Lord……"
……