Westminster Bank

Baron moved through the darkness, following the scorch marks the Little Flame Demon had left behind during the day.

Rain clouds were gathering in the sky, and with no moonlight, everything was pitch-black. Fortunately, Baron’s Blood Faction ability, Blood Eye, allowed him to clearly see the dark scorch marks on the tree trunks.

Since he was in the inner ring, Baron retracted and sealed his Red Dragon Aura to prevent it from leaking and triggering a Dragon Tide.

The farther he went, the higher the Tier of the Dragon Descendants he encountered, and the scenery grew more magnificent, bizarre, and chilling.

The scent of blood—a scent that had been stolen from him by the Dagda Cauldron and was now gradually returning as his own bloodthirsty instincts reawakened—wafted from the distance, growing ever stronger.

Unnameable, vividly red birds flapped their wings in the darkness, flitting through an unnameable, ever-thickening canopy. Their sharp beaks seemed to hold large, equally unnameable insects.

When these blood-red birds grew more numerous, Baron halted.

It was a natural cave at the foot of a tall mountain. Most people would have a hard time finding it, as its entrance faced the habitat of the Comet Dragon Snakes and was shrouded in vines and tropical ferns. Even if they did find it, they wouldn’t dare approach.

This was where the Little Flame Demon had ultimately vanished—its Spiritual Power had run out.

After using his Red Dragon Aura to scare away the swarm of Comet Dragon Snakes at the entrance, Baron entered the cave. It was deep. Seemingly bottomless.

Stalactites hung precariously from the ceiling, interwoven with a savage growth of thick, dense vines. These creepers were blood-red, their color growing more vivid the deeper he went. Clinging to the cave walls, they made it seem as if one were walking through the belly of a giant python.

Faint light appeared as he ventured deeper, a glow that seemed to emanate from the red on the vines themselves. Torches were set in rows along the cave walls, looking like rows of red flowers.

Luckily, he didn’t encounter anyone on his way into the cave. As the light spilling from up ahead grew brighter, Baron finally saw the altar the Dragon Devourer Cultists had mentioned.

He instinctively held his breath, his eyes widening in shock.

The so-called altar was, in fact, a series of pits within the cave—some dug out, others naturally formed—all filled to the brim with Dragon Blood.

The corpses of Dragon Descendants and humans bobbed in the pits of blood. Chains anchored to the pits’ edges bound their bodies. Doused in Dragon Blood, their charred forms grew slick and swollen, like overinflated balloons.

The "Dragon Guides" were using special tools to meticulously strip the skin and bone from the Dragon Descendants. Then, slowly and forcefully, they began "installing" them, piece by piece, onto the humans nestled inside the Dragon Descendants’ bellies.

This continued until the human and Dragon Descendant merged into one, becoming a type of monster Baron had once seen in a newspaper at the Bagins Family’s home—a Dragon Attendant.

This was an Alchemy Monster, said to have first originated from the Rhine River in Germany.

Under orders from Hitler, a German Alchemist, inspired by the tale of Siegfried bathing in dragon blood to gain power from the *Nibelungen Ring*, combined this idea with the burgeoning Dragon Feast movement of the time and created this very Alchemy Monster.

The monster was originally conceived for deployment on the Eastern Front to break the stubborn Soviet Union. To achieve this vision, Hitler was even willing to risk exposing the existence of the Inner Side—a secret that nearly all major heads of state had been privy to since the First Industrial Revolution.

Unfortunately, the war ended before the experiments were complete. By the time Germany was defeated, the Law Enforcement Organization had intervened in the investigation, ultimately discovering the completed Dragon Attendants in a secret chamber beneath Hitler’s bedroom.

The photograph Baron had seen in the newspaper at the Bagins Family home was taken at that very moment.

’Are these Dragon Devourer Cultists planning to create Dragon Attendants in the Dracul Mountain Range using Trial Takers and large numbers of Dragon Descendants?’

Baron quickly deduced the Dragon Devourer Cultists’ objective.

’But the newspaper said the "Dragon Attendant experiment" ultimately ended in failure. The Dragon Attendants lacked the most crucial component: a soul. And a soul is something that cannot be created from thin air.’

SPLASH.

The sound of something hitting liquid.

Hiding in a corner, Baron’s eyes flew wide.

The "Dragon Guides" were committing suicide with their own blades! After igniting themselves with a strange fire, they leaped, one by one, into the pits of blood!

The blood pits churned and bubbled. The motionless "Dragon Attendants" suddenly snapped their eyes open, their golden Dragon Eyes flickering with violence, agony, and struggle.

’Is this... a soul?’ Baron was dumbfounded.

One of them immediately grabbed a Dragon Guide who hadn’t retreated in time with its Dragon Claw. CRUNCH. Human blood mixed with the contents of the pit.

Since it had a human head and couldn’t eat the body, the Dragon Guide’s corpse was simply tossed aside.

At that moment, the purpose of the chains became clear. No matter how the Dragon Attendants struggled, they could not break free from the pits of blood.

「Ten minutes later.」

The Dragon Attendants stopped struggling.

「Twenty minutes later.」

A Dragon Attendant began to perish, its body dissolving into bone and melting into the blood pit.

「Thirty minutes later.」

Only three of the Dragon Attendants in the blood pits survived.

Just then, several more people emerged from a corner.

The man in the lead wore the same Sunlong High Priest attire Baron had seen on Ben Mountain. He looked at the remaining Dragon Attendants and sighed. "So many corpses, and only three successes. Of those, only one’s power barely reaches the Bronze Tier..."

"Dragon Spear Plaza will soon manifest. This meager amount, even with the Dragon Heart Transformation, won’t be enough. Tell the remaining cultists in hiding that they must accelerate their collection efforts. We absolutely must assemble enough Dragon Attendants before the baptism begins."

"And another thing. Go ask if the Bone Department is ready. Now is the critical time for him to merge with the corpse of that Fierce Dragon. The final ritual depends on him to achieve our ultimate goal..."