Black Hearted Mage

Chapter 346 Hunting the Earth Dragon 4

The puppy's ears pricked up, its moist nose twitching slightly, its stubby tail wagging gently in the scorching air. Its thickly padded paws treaded the smooth volcanic rock, as silently as if it were a soft carpet. Caesars held his breath, his leather boots carefully avoiding the raised basalt corners. With each step, he tested the stability of his footing to avoid any unpleasant cracks.

As they continued deeper, the light within the passage was completely swallowed by the thick darkness, leaving only the faint red glow of scattered fluorescent minerals on the rock walls. A faint blue magic shone in Caesar's eyes, and his darkvision allowed him to clearly see the puppy's wagging tail in front of him.

Heat waves surged in, evaporating the sweat as soon as it seeped out of his skin. Even breathing began to burn. He had no choice but to pull out the ice array disk. Crystal-clear frost patterns flowed on the metal disk, forming a thick barrier of cold air around him.

The puppy, on the other hand, lolled out its tongue contentedly, its dark red fur gleaming metallically in the heat. It occasionally paused to use its front paws to poke at the thin streams of lava flowing on the ground. The liquid, powerful enough to melt gold and iron, was nothing more than warm bathwater to it. The passage branched off into several paths, and the dog's keen sense of smell guided it to choose the leftmost path, the steepest downward slope.

Suddenly, a gust of hot, sparking wind blew towards him, its acrid sulfur mingling with the faint scent of rust. Caesars paused and retrieved a photo stone inscribed with intricate runes. The puppy, understandingly, leaned forward, nudging its master's trembling hand with its moist nose. Then, its nimble figure quickly vanished into the swirling heat around the corner. Caesars slowly retreated, noticing suspicious dark red marks on the rock wall, slowly wriggling in the heat.

Kaisas used his magic tentacles to explore. The lava tunnel's boundary wall was magma, and it could collapse at any time. If he made a move here, the magma would spread throughout the tunnel, and he would have no chance of escape.

The lava channel here is somewhat special. It is a translucent crystalline state of high-temperature resistant obsidian. This obsidian is very hard and also very brittle.

Kaesus pondered for a moment, then cautiously moved toward the lava outlet. Scorching air surged through the tunnel, the steaming heat distorting his vision. In this treacherous environment, he was acutely aware of his absolute disadvantage. The moment he stepped out of the lava tunnel, he heard a rustling sound behind him—the plump puppy had followed his scent, clutching the image stone in its mouth. The puppy shook its ash-covered fur and spat the image stone at Kaesus's feet with a soft, plop-plop sound.

Caesars leaned over and picked up the image stone, a pale blue magical glow emanating from his fingertips. He first cast a cleansing spell on the stone, causing fine dust particles to fall under the magic. Then he injected some magic power, and the surface of the image stone immediately rippled with a halo of light. A five-foot square curtain of light slowly unfolded in the air.

Initially, the light screen reflected only a dim, blurry image. As the puppy in the video explored further, the obsidian stones on either side of the passage began to illuminate, casting an eerie red glow. Amidst this blood-red light, the lava tunnel ahead seemed completely blocked by some massive object, revealing an unsettling, pitch-black outline.

As the image gradually cleared, Caesars couldn't help but gasp—it wasn't just any ordinary roadblock, but a pile of rugged, hideous red "stones." These "stones" were covered in cracks, with jagged, sharp edges. Even more terrifying, they were undulating in a strange rhythm.

"Damn it! Is this a sleeping ground dragon lying prone?!" Kaisas' voice trembled slightly with shock. He stared intently at the slow and rhythmic trembling of the "stones" in the light curtain, each subtle fluctuation revealing the terrifying life hidden beneath.

The puppy was startled by this sudden question, and its fat body trembled three times. It nodded hurriedly, and the ups and downs of its big head brought up a breeze.

"This is too much!" Kaisas swallowed hard and pointed at the faint outline in the light curtain. "Even when it's lying down, it's over twenty meters tall!"

The puppy let out a trembling groan from deep in its throat, clearly frightened when it first saw the giant creature in the lava tube. Recalling the scene, its short, thick tail unconsciously tucked between its hind legs.

Caesars suddenly grinned, revealing a somewhat crazy smile: "But speaking of which..." He patted the puppy's round belly, "There's so much meat on it, enough for you to eat for several years, right?"

This old dragon was no match for him. Just getting it out of its lair was a daunting task. Kaesus crouched at the entrance to the scorching lava tunnel, the scorching air searing his cheeks. He lowered his voice to the puppy beside him and said, "Damn dog, we can't fight in such a narrow lava tunnel. It's too big. Just turning around could knock down the rock wall. You have to find a way to lure it out to the open!"

The puppy immediately stood up, its short, powerful hind legs firmly supporting the ground. It slapped its furry chest with its front paws, making a dull "bang bang" sound, and the force was so strong that people worried that it would break itself apart.

"Gentle!" Caesars quickly held down its paw. "You stupid dog, if you keep hitting it so hard, you'll break your bones!"

The puppy snorted in dissatisfaction, its stubby front legs gesturing in the air. It pointed toward the end of the deep tunnel, then made a fire-breathing gesture, before frantically imitating an enraged earth dragon. Caesars understood its meaning—this creature could indeed lure the old dragon out, but he had to retreat to a safe distance first. If the earth dragon were enraged, the entire lava tunnel could be destroyed by its raging force, and the boiling magma would inevitably erupt, transforming the area into a sea of ​​fire.

"Don't worry, stupid dog, I can fly!"

The puppy waved its stubby front paws and then rushed into the huge lava channel. Kaisus also followed the direction of the lava channel and tried to stay away from the area that might collapse.

The puppy darted through the lava tunnel like a flash of lightning, its nimble frame seemingly at ease in the intense heat. In less than a quarter of an hour, the dark red figure had approached the sleeping ground dragon. The elderly dragon had curled itself into a small hillock, its head hidden in the tunnel, its thick tail coiled at its side, its entire body rising and falling slightly with its breathing.

The puppy deftly and lightly stepped, and the intricate, high-level magic patterns on its body suddenly illuminated with an eerie red light. Instantly, the fire element within the entire lava tunnel began to surge frantically, forming countless tiny red points of light that converged on the puppy like rivers flowing into the sea. Even more terrifying, even the fire elemental energy flowing beneath the old dragon's scales was forcibly drained, transforming into wisps of red mist that seeped out from its body.

The temperature of the once blazing lava tunnel plummeted, and the magma crystals on its walls quickly dimmed, losing their luster as if drained of life. The earth dragon's scales, once vibrant as blazing fire, faded at a visible rate, from a dazzling fiery crimson to a dull red, and spiderweb-like cracks began to appear. Those scales, hardened by the baptism of time, now cracked like parched earth.

"Roar--"

With a deafening roar, the dormant Earth Dragon suddenly awoke. It keenly sensed the rapid drain of the fundamental power within its magic core, and this sense of plundering infuriated it. Seeing the situation was dire, the puppy turned and sprinted towards the tunnel exit. Behind it, the Earth Dragon's heavy footsteps and furious roars echoed, and the entire lava tunnel trembled under the old dragon's fury.

At the same moment, Caesars, observing from the surface, suddenly stopped. His keen ears picked up a terrifying roar from deep beneath the earth. Then, the ground beneath his feet began to tremble slightly, and tiny gravels danced restlessly on the rock surface. He stared at the ground warily, realizing that the earth dragon had been enraged.

Along the blazing lava river, the cracked ground suddenly began to wriggle strangely, forming rolling waves of earth as if alive. With the rustling sound of tumbling gravel, a puppy, covered in volcanic ash, sprinted out of the lava tunnel. Its fur stood on end and it howled, its crimson eyes reflecting the increasingly violent undulations of the ground—it was using all its strength to warn Caesars.

Just as the puppy's chubby body reached safety, the volcanic rock layer exploded with a deafening crack. The first thing to break free was a ferocious head, as sturdy as a battering ram. Dozens of age-worn scars crisscrossed its dark red scales, and one eye was missing. Most terrifying were its shattered horns—the right one was completely severed, while the left, along with part of the skull, vanished, exposing the cranial tissue enveloped by fire elementals. Vibrant orange-red energy bodies moved within the skull like living creatures.

"Ugh——!"

The puppy's whine suddenly rose in pitch. The ground dragon's claws, as big as a house, pierced the rock and smacked the ground. Claws, savaged the puppy with a sulphurous scent. The defensive magic patterns on Caesar's robes instantly illuminated. His left hand traced a pale gray path, summoning the Mage's Hand. A transparent force field pulled the puppy away just before the claws landed. His right hand simultaneously cast a double spell, a pale cyan Swiftness spell and a silver-white Agility spell, piercing the puppy's body in quick succession.

"Dead dog, look at its head, there's a huge hole there!" Caesar's roar was a little distorted in the heat wave.

The ground dragon, now completely out of the ground, stood like a mobile fortress, its spine, covered in spurs, casting a jagged shadow in the lava. As the behemoth twisted its neck, Caesars could clearly see the fire elementals covering its wounds suddenly surge violently. This monster, nearly sixty meters long, with its barbed tail alone accounting for over thirty meters, now turned its massive head towards them, carrying a destructive aura.

"Damn dog, let's separate, one in front and one behind!"

Caesars shouted at the pup. He could feel the ground beneath his feet trembling. The behemoth had completely emerged from the ground, emitting a sulfurous breath. The scorching air distorted his vision. Its single eye—the other had long since become a hideous scar from a past battle—locked on him and the pup, and a low, almost boiling roar emanated from the depths of its throat.

"run!"

Caesars growled, and the pup had already leaped out swiftly, its claws whizzing like the wind. Its Swiftness and Agility spells made it so fast that it was practically a shadow. But the Earth Dragon's speed was equally astonishing. Its sturdy limbs suddenly exerted force, the ground instantly cracking, and its massive body burst out like a cannonball, heading straight for Caesars!

Kaisas didn't panic. He had already rehearsed the scene of hunting the earth dragon countless times in his mind. He raised his hand suddenly, and a tangling spell burst out from his fingertips.

Magical vines instantly sprouted from the ground. As soon as the ground dragon's giant claws touched the ground, the vines crazily spread along its limbs, attempting to pin it in place. However, the old dragon's strength far exceeded expectations. With a furious roar, its fire element suddenly erupted, causing the vines to rapidly evaporate under the intense heat, sending white mist rising into the air.

"Sure enough, I can't trap you..."

Kaisas gritted his teeth and retreated quickly. He had to get out of the range of the earth dragon's breath.

The puppy swerved in the distance, stopping forty meters behind the Earth Dragon. Its high-level magic patterns lit up, and it desperately plundered the surrounding fire elements. The Earth Dragon, enraged once again, its massive body crushing the ground as it spun. It considered the puppy its greatest threat.

As the Earth Dragon turned, its spiked tail swept across, unleashing a terrifying gust of wind. Caesars realized his magic shield couldn't withstand such an attack. He quickly chanted a spell, preparing to strike downward from the air. Pitch-black elemental wings quickly unfolded, carrying him skyward.

The pup fled again, and the Earth Dragon began to chase it, while Kaisas in the air began to mark the Earth Dragon's head with spells.

Arcane Missiles was quickly cast, accurately hitting the top of the Earth Dragon's head. At this moment, the Earth Dragon chasing the puppy stumbled to a stop, and then twitched violently on the spot as if it had a cramp.

Caesars didn't stop, continuing to cast arcane missiles, the second and third. Violent energy raged within the Earth Dragon's skull, and the Earth Dragon roared in agony, its massive body convulsing in pain, its movements suddenly slowing.

The puppy took advantage of the time when the ground dragon had no time to pay attention to it and climbed onto the tail full of spikes. It climbed along the tail to the back of the ground dragon and then climbed onto the huge head.

Caesars has stopped, the earth dragon's brain has been shattered, and all that remains is to wait for it to die.

The puppy looked at the wound wrapped by the fire element. The fire element here was a little special. It seemed to have life and was protecting the brain inside the head of the earth dragon.

"Pfft!"

The puppy's front paws ignored the fire element and pierced the ground dragon's skull. The fire element instantly lost control, gushing out wildly from the wound. However, it couldn't escape the restraints of the high-level magic pattern and was completely absorbed by the puppy. The ground dragon let out a final, shrill wail, and its massive body collapsed to the ground with a crashing sound, shaking the ground violently and sending dust flying everywhere.

The puppy drilled directly into the wound on the ground dragon's head, and then a "click, click" sound was heard.

"A fat, greedy dog!"

Kaisas landed on the ground, drew out the magic blade from his waist, and said something helplessly.