Westminster Bank

Isabella’s sudden return to lucidity caught Baron and the others completely off guard.

’Wasn’t it a Blood Curse? Wasn’t she supposed to have lost her mind? What’s going on?’

Baron looked silently at Denero, but Denero was just as dumbfounded. "I... I don’t know either."

BOOM!

A sudden clap of thunder lit up the world in a flash of white before it was plunged back into darkness as inky clouds rolled in.

A low rumble of thunder rolled through the clouds, squeezing out rain. The downpour finally began, a steady patter that drummed against the ground.

The rain washed over Isabella’s scaled claws and draconic tail, sending up wisps of white steam. The fine scales on her face slowly receded. Reverting from her Beastification, she picked up her gun and said to Baron, "You wasted your chance."

Baron froze for a moment, then understood. He said nothing, simply following close behind Isabella, using his Blood Faction ability to keep the blood from his hand from spilling.

"Hold it!"

Roy called out to them from behind.

Isabella raised an eyebrow. "Are you still trying to stop me?"

"How about we make a bet?"

His gaze fell on Freyja, who was not far away. "What if the stakes were Miss Freyja Lancelot?"

Hearing this, Freyja’s delicate brows furrowed. Her expression soured, and she unconsciously tightened her grip on her Magic Staff, ready to defend against a sudden attack from that "madwoman" Isabella.

She still couldn’t understand why Isabella held such deep animosity toward her.

Roy shook his head. "Miss Isabella, I can’t stop you from doing what you want. I just want to ask Master Jack here to do one thing for me."

Isabella glanced at Baron. "What do you want him to do?"

Roy said, "The Dragon Gate at the entrance between the middle and inner circles is occupied by a group of Comet Dragons. We can only open the gate and enter the inner circle to hunt High Tier Dragon Descendants if we lure them away... Mr. Jose and Mr. Tune have been trying with some other Trial Takers, but they haven’t made a breakthrough due to a lack of manpower. So, I’d like to ask Master Jack..."

"No," he said, suddenly looking at the Dragon Guides of the surrounding Trial Takers. "I would like to ask all the Dragon Guide masters to go to the Dragon Gate together to lure the Dragons and breach the gate."

Isabella looked at Baron. He silently gave her a look, imploring her to refuse.

’Are you kidding me? I’m not a Dragon Guide. I don’t know the first thing about luring Dragons to breach a gate.’

He just wanted to quickly complete his deal with Isabella, get some Dragon Scales for an upgrade, earn some spare cash for himself or his sister, and then head north and leave this dangerous season behind.

But after seeing his expression, Isabella turned to Roy and said, "Master Jack agrees."

"I have no... objections." Seeing Dragon Scales begin to appear on Isabella’s face, Baron obediently changed his tune.

.........

「Outside the Dracul Mountain Range, at the entrance to the Barrier.」

Battle Sister Lian cleanly decapitated a Seventh Generation Jade Dragon Beast. The headless corpse spurted scorching hot blood as it fell.

Isabella’s Household Servant, Bass, immediately shouted for a large group of Attendants to bring wooden buckets to collect the Dragon Beast’s blood.

Dragon Beast blood was good stuff. Besides being used in potions, it could also be used to refine alchemy items. A single gallon was worth about a hundred British Pounds. For both Dragon Slayers and Poachers, Dragon Blood was the most important thing to collect aside from Dragon Scales and a Dragon Heart, because it was valuable.

Moreover, if the hunted Dragon Descendant was a Fifth Generation Species or higher, had been dead for no more than five minutes, and a Dragon Guide happened to be present, the proportion of Dragon Blood in its lineage would be enhanced. Through specific techniques and rituals, the Dragon Blood could be condensed into a Dragon Crystal.

Dragon Crystals were the power source that drove a Wizard’s Staff and its Magic. They were far more valuable than ordinary Magic Crystals, with the cheapest ones costing over a thousand British Pounds.

If not for the Barrier that only permitted Trial Takers and Dragon Guides to enter, the Dragon Slayer Clans, led by the likes of Beowulf, would have long since sent their clan’s Dragon Hunting Teams into the mountains to pick up the scraps.

.........

As the days passed, most of the guests who had been invited for the opening of the mountain season began to limit their activities to small banquets, little balls, and games of golf within Beowulf Manor.

Most who remained were Law Enforcer teams, stationed there to deal with a potential Dragon Calamity.

Their main task was to stand guard at the Barrier’s entrance and deal with the Dragon Descendants that were either driven out by the Trial Takers advancing deeper into the mountains or frightened into fleeing by that mysterious subspecies within.

They were quietly awaiting the outbreak of the Dragon Tide and the Dragon Calamity.

Lian flicked the blood from her tachi and meticulously wiped the blade clean with a handkerchief.

"You still have some blood on your face."

Before Lian could react, the buxom, green-haired Nun Camilla had already gently licked her cheek with a delicate tongue. Licking her lips, she said, "Dragon Blood tastes different from human blood. It’s hot."

Sighing dramatically, she hugged Lian tightly, pressing the Battle Sister’s arm into her chest—a sight that would make men green with envy and women sigh in resignation. She let out a cute little sigh.

"Ah, I’m so bored. Who knows when they’ll finally start the Dragon Spear Trial... I’m still waiting for the Dragon Calamity to break out so more people die and I have something to pray for. And I wonder where our dear Mr. Baron Constantin is right now..."

"Were the higher-ups’ orders wrong...? Ah, I don’t want to wait anymore. There are so many men waiting for me to redeem them."

Lian used her handkerchief to wipe the saliva Nun Camilla had left on her face and said quietly, "Only Elvin knows."

"That guy has already seduced two girls from the Old Blood Clan in the past two days. He’s nowhere to be seen now. He’s probably holed up in some guest room in the manor, ’performing an exorcism’ on some noble lady... Forget about relying on him."

Camilla idly twirled a strand of her long hair. "All the other men here want to sleep with me, but they’ve got the lust without the guts."