CHAPTER 627: CHAPTER 421: WHO RANG THE BELL!

"What does the final trial mean?"

Fingerley and his party followed Hawkwood down the mountain, stepping onto a path they had never traveled before.

However, judging from the various details along this path, along with a bit of seasoned adventurer’s intuition, they could vaguely sense that this path might be the so-called main road.

Even the monsters along the way were getting stronger.

"That is the ultimate power every person who steps onto the Ancient Dragon Path longs for, to transform oneself into a dragon."

Hawkwood raised his sword to deflect an arrow shot by a Snake-man, pointing at the meditating Little Dragon People sitting like sculptures by the roadside.

"They are beings who have used the Dragon Head Stone and Dragon Body Stone to transform themselves into dragons. For ordinary people, achieving this is already the pinnacle."

Fingerley fended off a Snake-man attacking from the side and asked,

"So there’s something unusual we need to do?"

"That’s right, something we’re about to do now."

Hawkwood bent low, maneuvering swiftly to flash behind a giant snake person, slicing through its slender ankle with a sword, and then delivering another blow to pierce its skull.

As the giant snake person collapsed, the path suddenly cleared, and the blinding sunlight poured down from the sky ahead. People squinted their eyes, and when they opened them, they finally saw what lay at the end of the road.

It was a path leading to a higher place on the Ancient Dragon Peak, with sunlight bathing every step, and standing on those steps were countless Snake-men.

In terms of both number and strength, this group of Snake-men seemed different from the ones they encountered before, clearly several degrees stronger.

Even Fingerley was amazed by the number of monsters. In comparison, his own pitiful group of five felt like grains of sand before a mighty wave, or rather, four and a half, as one particular princess was too frail to count as a full person and couldn’t be relied on in battle, only hoping she might occasionally pull out some useful rare items.

Gazing beyond the Snake-man legion, all the way upward, catching the dazzling radiance, they saw...

A cliff?

But upon closer inspection, it was an altar built on the edge of the cliff!

Hawkwood spoke eagerly,

"In ancient times, those who sought the power of the Ancient Dragons had to endure arduous trials to transform into dragons. However, it is different now; the wavering of the Primordial Flame leads everything into decline. The Radiant Dragon Stones, once obtained only after enduring countless hardships by Dragon Seekers, are now available on the altar by merely passing through these Snake-men, the final trial!"

With his explanation, people understood what the reward of the so-called final trial was.

It was the enhanced version of the Dragon Head and Dragon Body Stone, the Radiant Dragon Head/ Body Stone!

Capable of bestowing even greater Ancient Dragon power!

Thinking about it, they felt pretty lucky to obtain the Radiant Dragon Stones easily.

However, some also thought of a concern.

"Since the difficulty of passing the trial has decreased, what about the power of the Radiant Dragon Stones? Has the power we can obtain also diminished?"

Hawkwood shook his head. People thought he was going to say something negative, but he only said,

"I don’t know, maybe."

"..."

Fingerley fell silent, then refocused on the Snake-man legion, gasping slightly as he doubted his small party could defeat them.

Besides the Snake-man-filled path to the altar, there was actually another route to take.

It was a staircase leading to the highest peak, and at the top...

There was a giant bell!

Selene looked at the bell, her heart pounding, as according to Hawkwood, ringing it could summon the Nameless King, or perhaps the Sun Elder Son?

What kind of feeling would it be to meet Ornstein’s friend? She was so excited!

In comparison, she had lost all interest in the Radiant Dragon Stones, focusing her gaze on the path leading to the giant bell while others were discussing strategy.

This path seemed to be void of enemies; was it because the Snake-men had gathered at the altar?

There were a few giant snake people patrolling, so it was still quite dangerous.

But it felt like she might be able to walk over herself...

While she was lost in her thoughts, Fingerley and the others had already devised a strategy and turned back to remind her, "Stay hidden here until we return."

"Mm!" Selene nodded obediently.

The strategy Fingerley and the others came up with sounded complicated but could be summarized in simple terms—

Charge head-on!

They rushed towards the group of Snake-men!

As soon as they approached, the mages within the Snake-man legion shot fireballs of various sizes into the sky, their speeds varying. The rain of fireballs filled the sky, blocking every possible escape route. It was impossible to dodge simply.

However, they neither evaded nor defended, but instead charged forward recklessly. Were they launching a suicidal attack?

"Crack, crack—"

The ground suddenly split open, and numerous vine-like tendrils as thick as water tanks burst out, flaunting their presence on the ground. As soon as they appeared, they wrapped the nearest Snake-men and smashed them around, while the majority surged toward the sky.

Using these tendrils as a foundation, giant mushrooms larger than adults suddenly grew from them, their surfaces covered with a hard shell that could barely withstand fireball impacts. Only after being hit by three or four fireballs consecutively did they shatter, but new mushrooms grew in their place.

The vine severed by the fireball fell to the ground, and colorful plants immediately sprouted—explosive ones, parasitic ones, poisonous ones... As soon as these vines appeared, they disrupted the front half of the battlefield, making it a chaotic mess.

Without a doubt, these were all Aleya’s handiwork.

After creating such a spectacular scene, she wasn’t happy; instead, she knelt on the ground silently channeling magic power to the plants, with a teary expression on her face.

This was her full effort, even beyond her limits, as the magical plants she carried with her erupted in large numbers, enough to make her heartache for several days.

"Well done, Aleya, I’ll buy seeds to fill ten carriages for you when we get back!"

Fingerley praised, seizing this hard-won opportunity to break into the battlefield with his companions. The magic plants were useful, but they relied on Aleya’s magic power to maintain, and it was obvious she couldn’t sustain it for long.

Facing these massive horror plants, the Snake-men were not defenseless. Concentrated fire from the Snake-man Mages could sever several vines in one salvo, and the giant snake people, originally stationed near the altar, also arrived. Strong and powerful, each axe swing could cut down a vine.

Fortunately, after hitting the ground, the vines could give rise to other plants with different functions; otherwise, they would have been easily overrun by the monsters.

These plants looked formidable, but unfortunately, they couldn’t serve as a main force and could only be used as sudden attacks to disrupt the battlefield, quite different from their magnificent appearances.

On the other side, Fingerley and his team, engaging the Snake-men, couldn’t make an easy sweep either. Each of the Snake-men here had been strengthened, and even Hawkwood couldn’t manage to take down a Snake-man with a single strike as before.

"Hah!"

Fingerley clashed his weapon against a Snake-man’s, shattering the opponent’s weapon. He intended to follow through with a swift attack to disembowel the Snake-man, but his blade’s power exhausted before it struck, indicating even the Snake-men’s weapon quality had improved!

A massive axe from a giant snake person descended from above, forcing him to retreat to avoid the edge. However, he realized he was surrounded by Snake-men, with no room to dodge, so he had to raise his dual blades to block.

The intense clash numbed his arms, and he pushed the axe aside through effort, finally having a moment to check on his companions.

Both Matilda and Hawkwood were bogged down in battle.

Sure enough, once the number of monsters increased, the difficulty was no less than dealing with a leader, and the adventurers here lacked tactics for large groups.

Matilda unleashed Hell’s March, immediately summoning numerous red phantoms to fight, temporarily easing the pressure. She realized then that Hell’s March had no effect on Hawkwood.

Clicking her tongue, she had hoped to summon the Fran Undead Team.

Hawkwood showed unprecedented enthusiasm towards the altar, his killing momentum becoming much stronger.

But Fingerley, after analyzing the situation, felt the odds were fifty-fifty. If any changes occurred midway...

"Roar!"

A dragon’s roar echoed through the sky, and a colossal shadow descended from the heavens—a Flying Dragon landed before the altar!

In that moment, Fingerley wanted to slap himself for jinxing them with his crow’s mouth.

The probability of victory, initially fifty-fifty, plummeted when the Flying Dragon appeared, likely dropping to just two or three in ten.

Then, a hard and lean figure leaped down from the Flying Dragon—an active Dragon-man.

Clad only in a loincloth, much of its rocky body was exposed, carrying a large sword as it approached the crowd.

This guy is strong!

The two or three out of ten chance of victory halved again!

Fingerley couldn’t help glancing back at Hawkwood; was this the "simplified" trial he mentioned?

I’ll need to call on ten more adventurers to have a chance of breaking through!

The Dragon-man made a move; the Flying Dragon behind it spewed flames, and he raised his long sword at the forefront.

When the flames extinguished, and people peeked out from their hastily constructed defensive shields, they saw the Dragon-man wield the fire-enshrouded sword, a fiery blade qi scattering everything ahead and surging towards them!

"So strong?" Fingerley found it quite troublesome; he hadn’t expected the enemy to have combination skills.

Hawkwood charged fearlessly, colliding with the fiery blade qi. In an instant, the ground shook, the flames dispersed, and he had already engaged the Dragon-man in combat.

Fingerley wanted to go help, at least to help distract the Flying Dragon’s attacks, but the Snake-men surged again. He then noticed Aleya’s plants, weakened by the earlier flames, were now too wilted to disrupt the battlefield.

The phantoms summoned by Hell’s March quickly dissipated, and the Snake-men pointed their spears at them, leaving no time to drink a potion amid the dire situation.

Behind them, the Flying Dragon was brewing flames once more, ready to unleash them!

The probability of victory approached zero!

Never mind, I don’t want to fight these things anymore!

Fingerley had already closed his eyes, imagining the searing flames almost upon him.

"Boom... Boom..."

Loud bell tolls suddenly resounded.

At the moment the bells rang, the activity of the Snake-men ceased.

He opened his eyes in surprise, discovering the summit bell had been struck!

Hawkwood, who was fervently battling the Dragon-man, also froze.

He looked at the grand bell with a ghostly expression and hurriedly searched his body for the Farewell Black Crystal.

Who rang the bell!?

Endless clouds surged towards everyone.