Dragon Raja 2; Chapter 199: Deadly Sword for Every Dragon King (11)

Dragon Raja 2

The dragon wailed in madness. Pain that could have destroyed a person hundreds of times over surged into his brain like a thousand sharp blades.

Lu Mingfei let go of the hilt of “Wrath” and leaped off the dragon’s head, soaring into the air like the beautiful youth Icarus from Greek mythology, who flew toward the sun with wings of feathers sealed with wax. With arms spread wide, he welcomed the fiery rain in the darkness, as if wanting to embrace a nonexistent sun, reveling in its blazing light, unafraid of his wings being burned by the heat.

He did not fall—he was lifted by a raging wind. Enormous skeletal wings spread behind him, forming a massive cross with his body as he stood in the void and darkness. His golden eyes shone with rage, hatred, and the cold punishment of a king. He extended his hand towards the dragon below and pronounced the words of the final judgment:

“Upon my return to the world, all traitors shall perish!”

Old Luo, holding a blood-red greatsword, stood at the center of the scorched wasteland, adjusting the perspective to look at the dragon nearing the end of its life. The dragon had been engulfed by its own death aura, burning with blue-violet flames. A swarm of reapers with scythes circled around it, waiting to harvest its soul. It swayed and roared in agony.

The entire server was in an uproar, with the public channel continuously broadcasting the same highlighted news: “The Dragon King Fenrir has been defeated for the first time globally by ‘Lu Mingfei Ricardo.’”

“Did our server get the world’s first kill this time?”

“No way, who was that awesome? Such a massive raid.”

Old Luo ignored the cheers, flirtations, and nonsense in the guild channel. He simply stared at the virtual beast. Despite this monumental achievement, he felt an ancient, unending sense of desolation in that moment.

“Amen,” he said softly, starting to quote Rilke’s long poem in the channel, “This is the mine of the soul, obscure and distant. They pass silently through the darkness, like hidden silver veins. Blood surges from between the roots of the rock, spreading to the human world. In the eternal night, it weighs like a boulder…”

“Besides this, there is nothing red.”

At that very instant, all the flying Kamaitachi turned into bronze-colored dust, as if they were all powered by a single energy source, and that source had just reached its end.

Suddenly, the absolute clamor was replaced by an absolute silence—a silence so profound it chilled one’s heart, a deathly stillness. Dust fell upon Caesar and Parsi’s shoulders. They absently wiped the dust from their black hunting knives, looking around at the rest of the Emperor Team, all of whom were collapsed on the ground.

“Is it over?” Caesar asked.

“Probably, though I’m not quite sure what just happened,” Parsi replied, sheathing his hunting knife and glancing at the devastated building. “It seems the massive losses will have to be accounted for by the family.”

“Hey, Caesar!” Nono leaped down from the second-floor railing, her red wedding dress like a scarlet cloud. Her hair, originally tied up, now hung loosely over her shoulders, with a hairpin clamped between her teeth.

Caesar hugged her tightly. “You look like a runaway bride right now.”

“Hey! Let go!” Nono snapped, “If I really ran away, you think you’d catch me?”

Parsi watched them silently, then turned and walked towards the exit.

“Hey, do me a favor.” Caesar tossed something to Parsi—a piece of quartz containing the Philosopher’s Stone. “Dragon King’s blood or ultimate battle weapons or whatever—return it to that interesting uncle of mine. I don’t need this kind of help from the family.”

“Understood.” Parsi nodded.

“I’ll remember this favor.”

“You owe me no favors; protecting you is my duty and responsibility,” Parsi bowed slightly.

“It’s a responsibility given by the family, not your own obligation. To me, you’ve helped me this time, and I’ll return this favor. This is a favor from Caesar Gattuso, not from the family,” Caesar said with a smile, giving him a thumbs-up.

“But I was born for you…” Parsi whispered in a voice too soft for Caesar to hear.

Lu Mingfei woke up slowly, and the first thing he saw was the dragon rising in the darkness. He jumped up in shock, his calves cramping.

No way, not again? Can I get a break? This time, he was sure he couldn’t fight anymore—he hadn’t even been the one who fought earlier. His whole skeleton must have been shattered and then pieced back together by Lu Mingze, and now he hurt so much he felt like jumping off a building.

He looked around, but there was no sign of Lu Mingze’s ghostly figure. Was the guy unreliable this time too? Wasn’t this supposed to be an all-in-one service? How could he disappear before the dragon was dead? Chu Zihang over there was probably already a goner. This time, he was truly stuck between a rock and a hard place, with no backup.

The dragon began to cough violently. It seemed like it was also in bad shape—both of them were at the end of their ropes… but even in such a weakened state, Lu Mingfei didn’t think he stood a chance against a dragon.

The dragon started retching, spitting out large pools of blood, and amidst the bloody mess was… a pale human body.

Xia Mi! He hadn’t swallowed her, just kept the girl in his mouth.

“Sister…” The massive creature stretched out its tongue, gently licking Xia Mi’s face. “Wake up, wake up… play with me, play with me… wake up, wake up… play with me, play with me… wake up, wake up… play with me, play with me…”

“Hey big guy! You’re really annoying, aren’t you? Are you some kind of talking parrot?” Lu Mingfei said softly, his tears silently rolling down his cheeks. So, the final boss didn’t even understand what had happened. His limited intelligence couldn’t comprehend the complex twists in this story. Even after being beaten by his sister, he still depended on her. Was this thing even a dragon? Didn’t the Black Emperor feel embarrassed giving birth to him? He was truly the shame of all dragons!

He had power and authority, but he was only fit to be a pet.

The dragon licked all the blood from Xia Mi’s body, restoring her to that pure, spotless girl. Then he gently took her in his mouth and staggered away aimlessly. He seemed to want to leave, but he couldn’t see the path. His gradually receding figure looked like a lone wolf leaving the pack. He only managed a few steps before his massive body collapsed, transforming into a bronze-colored skeleton.

He was dead.

This Nibelungen was collapsing, with massive bronze stones falling from above, but no Kamaitachi flew out anymore. The ground was splitting, everything turning to dust, swept away by the howling wind, erasing everything.

All life here had been extinguished. The only two remaining beings were Lu Mingfei and Chu Zihang—maybe they were the only ones left, as Lu Mingfei could no longer tell if Chu Zihang was still breathing. He dragged Chu Zihang to lean against a stone pillar and sat beside him, watching the apocalyptic scene before them. Surprisingly, he found he could accept it.

“Well, Senior, it looks like we’re done for. I never thought I’d die next to a man.”

“Alright, I think I like Nono. She’s all I can think about right now.”

“Do you think anyone will ever know that the two of us worked so hard to save humanity?” Lu Mingfei’s gaze was dazed. “It’d be kind of nice if someone knew how awesome we were… Like if Nono marries Caesar, she could name their kid after us or something. ‘Chu Lu Gattuso’—doesn’t that sound like a dashing Italian guy?”

“I don’t even know why I’m still making jokes at this point… Maybe making jokes is what my life is all about or something…”

“Is there really no other way?” Chips’ voice trembled.

“To pull him out before the Nibelungen collapses, we’d need to be able to breach it, either by having a mark or being chosen by one of the two dragons. But the ones who could choose are already dead, and none of us have a mark.” Mai leaned back weakly in her seat. “The rules of that world are collapsing, and they will be completely erased along with the rules, leaving no trace.”

“If Lu Mingfei dies, the boss will go insane, won’t he?”

“I can’t even imagine what might happen,” Mai said softly.

In the dark tunnel, the headlights of a brand-new SFX02 subway train came on. The bright carriages were empty. A man with a KFC family bucket on his head, holding a Beijing metro card between his fingers, walked up to the driver’s cab. He kissed the card, tucked it on the windshield, and patted the new stainless-steel body. “Hey, buddy! Don’t lose this—it’s your visa to venture into the dragon’s den!”

A simple metro card glowed with a faint golden sheen, as if tiny specks of gold were embedded in it.

“Friends, I ran through every subway station in Beijing to swipe cards for you guys! Don’t forget you owe me one.” Mr. KFC looked towards the end of the tunnel, speaking softly.

“That stupid dragon set up such a childish and troublesome entry method—it nearly killed me!” He flipped his demeanor instantly, cursing loudly.

He pulled down the power lever, shifted the speed to the highest gear, then stepped onto the platform and disappeared around the corner. The empty subway train sped rapidly into the depths of the tunnel.

Lu Mingfei believed that he would remember this moment for the rest of his life. That brightly lit subway train, scattering debris and bones as it went, stopped right in front of them along the still-red-hot tracks, with all the doors slamming open.

It was light piercing the darkness, a Transformer piercing the universe, the Cassiopeia piercing through time, a knight in white armor piercing through enemy lines to save the day, absolute badassery piercing through death!

Someone had spray-painted a crooked line of text on the stainless-steel body: “COME ON, BOY! GO HOME! Don’t cry, okay! Open those little eyes and see clearly—this is your destined SOUL BROTHER’s epic support!”

Damn it, why does that goofy tone sound so familiar?

He mustered all his strength to hoist Chu Zihang onto his back. “Don’t die, Senior.” He spoke hoarsely, each step as heavy as a thousand tons. “We’ve already killed the Dragon King. Once we get back, we’ll be legends! Don’t die here, damn it! When we go back, we can brag all we want! Credits, scholarships, girlfriends… anything we want… You can still look out for me for another two years. You know how unreliable my boss is… Don’t die! I don’t have many friends…”

He wiped the tears from his face, mustered more strength, and kept moving forward, step by step, not noticing that Chu Zihang’s body was slowly warming again. An unbelievable healing was taking place. His pupils were being repaired first, followed by the regeneration of his lens. Blood flow accelerated, his heartbeat quickened, and the ribs that had been lodged in his lung were being pulled out by powerful muscles and returned to their rightful place, reconnecting like welded steel.

The fist Chu Zihang had held tightly against his chest suddenly relaxed—a sign that his muscles were recovering from rigidity to softness. At that moment, a silver glint fell from his palm.

“Senior, I think you’re the real idiot here.” Lu Mingfei glanced at the object and muttered.

It was Xia Mi’s key.