Assassin at Range: The Sniper's Lethal Power-Chapter 113 - : The Pragmatic Shadow Dragon

"This place is still too small," Tristan muttered, a hint of regret in his voice.

At a distance of fifty meters, even with his Sniper God skill upgraded to level 2, the amplification was only ten times, which wasn’t enough to deal the million-damage blows he was hoping for. If he had a hundred or two hundred meters, he felt confident he could have taken the Shadow Dragon down in one swift strike with a flying dagger.

But no matter, the Shadow Dragon only had five million health. A few more Shadow Daggers and it would be finished.

On the other side, while Tristan felt a slight regret, the Shadow Dragon’s emotions were far more complicated.

It had initially thought the weakening of the seal was a good thing. It assumed some idiot had accidentally undone the seal, thinking it would soon be free again.

It was wrong.

Instead of releasing it, the intruder was here to kill it.

"Damn it! The old white-bearded mage who sealed me said this seal was his lifetime’s work, something no ordinary person could break!" The Shadow Dragon roared inwardly.

"Cunning humans! To think they’d deceive poor Seltus!"

After a furious mental outburst, the Shadow Dragon resigned itself to the reality and said in a sincere tone, "Outsider, you’ve earned Seltus’ friendship. Please help me break the seal, and I will reward you with all my wealth."

Even if a mountain of gold awaited, it wouldn’t matter if it was dead.

Seltus, ever the pragmatist, opted for his life.

It knew about the human custom: spend money to avoid disaster.

Tristan’s voice echoed through the air, "What if killing you means the wealth becomes mine?"

The Shadow Dragon shook its head rapidly. "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Seltus’ wealth is hidden in..."

Suddenly, the Shadow Dragon stopped speaking.

It realized that revealing its treasure was a mistake. Keeping silent gave it some room to negotiate. Once it spoke, it would have no bargaining power left.

Tristan raised an eyebrow in surprise. Despite being imprisoned for so long, the Shadow Dragon was still sharp enough to avoid giving away its treasure’s location. But it didn’t matter. Tristan already knew where it was.

As he moved, he spoke slowly, "Your treasure is in Blackstone Mountain, guarded by the Black Iron Dwarves, right?"

"HOW DO YOU KNOW?!" The Shadow Dragon shrieked.

But it quickly realized its slip-up and hurriedly corrected itself. "No, no! That’s not what I meant!"

Tristan didn’t reply but instead threw another Shadow Dagger and activated his Shadow Stealth.

He’d been waiting for his skill cooldown to finish, engaging in a few words with the Shadow Dragon. But now that the cooldown was over, it was time to get down to business.

When the second Shadow Dagger struck, the Shadow Dragon realized that Tristan wasn’t after its treasure—he was after its life.

After taking another few hundred thousand damage, the Shadow Dragon was livid with fury.

Enraged, it roared.

But it couldn’t harm Tristan. All it could do was get more frustrated.

"Outsider, speak! What do you want from me?"

"Can we talk? Can we communicate, huh? I’m asking if we can communicate!" The Shadow Dragon raged.

"Violence won’t solve anything! We should sit down and talk, lay everything out on the table!"

"My lord, spare me! I’ll serve you like a beast of burden without question!"

Under the threat of death, Shadow Dragon Seltus lowered itself as much as possible.

Tristan had no interest in listening to more of its rambling, but a system prompt appeared that caught his attention.

Ding! You have triggered a choice quest. Please choose carefully.

Option 1: Accept Shadow Dragon Seltus’s loyalty. Reward: Special mount Shadow Dragon Seltus. Option 2: Kill Shadow Dragon Seltus. Reward: +100 Fame in Eldoria City.

Tristan hadn’t expected the Shadow Dragon to be so straightforward. Realizing it was about to die, it threw its pride aside and offered to become his mount.

Tristan had to admit, he was a little tempted.

Having a giant dragon as a mount would definitely be a showstopper.

While killing the Shadow Dragon would give him Dragon Blood and Umbra Energy, he had already concluded that Umbra Energy wasn’t as useful as his own Shadow power.

At least, it hadn’t met his expectations. After all, he had been expecting a tough battle, but it had turned out to be quite easy.

Even the Dragon Blood was something he could obtain elsewhere if needed. If things went wrong, he could just kill another dragon.

But a Shadow Dragon like this—one who understood the situation—was a rare find.

Once missed, getting a dragon mount again wouldn’t be so simple. Even in his previous life, where he ranked among the top ten players worldwide, he had never obtained a dragon mount.

And it wasn’t just him. No one in Terra had succeeded in that feat.

Across the entire ExoGenesis world, there were barely any such cases.

Dragons were too proud. They would rather die in battle than submit.

So, Tristan hesitated.

Who didn’t dream of becoming a Dragon Rider when they were a kid?

Moreover, having Shadow Dragon Seltus as a mount wasn’t just cool—it had practical benefits too. Special mounts could participate in battles.

With the Shadow Dragon’s abilities, most battles wouldn’t even require Tristan’s involvement. One breath of its dragon’s flame, and the battle would be over.

Even if Tristan didn’t need its combat strength, he could station it at the guild base to defend against small-time thieves. It was truly a win-win.

Seeing that no more attacks came, the Shadow Dragon felt immense relief. It had made the right call.

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Although being someone’s mount was humiliating, with its life on the line, it was ready to throw its dignity away.

And besides, Seltus wasn’t planning on serving forever. One day, it would rise again!

Seltus, seizing the moment, put on a fawning expression and said, "My lord, having a dragon as a mount is a dream come true for many humans. It’s something they long for!"

After a brief moment of hesitation, Tristan deactivated his Stealth and revealed himself.

He wasn’t worried about an ambush from the Shadow Dragon. If the dragon tried anything funny, it would regret it immediately—he had Shadow Leap ready for just that.

The Shadow Dragon understood this too.

As soon as it saw Tristan, it briefly considered attacking, but immediately dropped the idea. If Tristan had voluntarily revealed himself, he clearly wasn’t someone to be taken lightly.

The Shadow Dragon straightened up. "My lord, may I ask your title?"

Tristan thought for a moment, then said, "Just call me Shadow."

Being a wandering figure, having multiple aliases was important.

The Shadow Dragon’s eyes widened. "Shadow!?"

It was stunned. It had never heard of such a title.

But the title "Shadow" wasn’t something just anyone could use.

Considering Tristan’s previous actions, the Shadow Dragon’s dragon blood heated up. It tried to suppress its excitement and asked cautiously, "My lord Shadow, may I ask if you have mastered..."

It didn’t finish its sentence.

As a dragon, it knew the importance of not discussing the gods too much—even their power forms could be dangerous to mention.

Too many words would be risky. If the gods detected it, things could turn ugly.

Tristan responded casually, "Mastered? Not really, just a beginner."

The Shadow Dragon gasped sharply, causing the temperature in the dungeon to rise a few degrees.

The long-lost Shadow power was resurfacing. This world was about to get a lot more exciting.

And it, as Shadow’s chief mount, would surely be remembered by the world.

As for its promise to return?

No need to joke. Umbra Energy was an inseparable part of Shadow power. Seltus had been born to serve Shadow!