The Paladin in the Abyss-Chapter 538 - 562 Inside the Dragons Nest

Chapter 538: Chapter 562: Inside the Dragon’s Nest Chapter 538: Chapter 562: Inside the Dragon’s Nest Lancelot made the slightest movement to retrieve a fist-sized, spherical stone from his Dimensional Bag. The stone’s surface bore mysterious yet uncomplicated golden patterns, which began to faintly glow as he concentrated slightly. He immediately hid it beneath his chest to cover the flashes of light.

“What’s that?” The motion of the Human Knight piqued Bruto’s curiosity, “What new trick have you got there?”

“Perception Stone,” Lancelot answered in an extremely soft voice, “Tijana got it for me from the Lady in Disfavor. It can record everything I see and hear for a short time.”

Bruto nodded and did not press further, turning his attention back to the situation at the bottom of the Dragon’s Nest. Among those imprisoned female Giant Dragons, there was an exceedingly special one: a Red Dragon that was still rebelling continuously, trying to break free from the chains.

Even by Lancelot’s human aesthetic standards, this Red Dragon was remarkably beautiful. She had backward-sweeping wavelike horns atop her head (as opposed to Tijana’s upright horns), and her large amber eyes were reminiscent of adorable kittens; while the prominent, layered spiny crown on the latter half of her head emphasized her noble status. Her figure was extremely slender, though she appeared somewhat skinny and bony, and her scales were fine and tight, with a gradient of colors: starting from the bright yellow of flames on her underside, darkening towards the blood-like red on her back, extending all the way to the tail adorned with orderly Thorns.

Yet this beautiful, noble Red Dragon, the strongest amongst colored Dragons, was now sullied with iron chains, her graceful wings pierced by several giant Iron Hooks, and several Fencer Trolls were pulling with all their strength on the metal chains connected to the Iron Hooks, using pulleys at the edge of the pit to force her to spread her wings to an extremely distorted angle—a mere look from afar was enough to make one’s shoulder blades painfully twinge.

Despite such a state, the Red Dragon kept on roaring and spewing flames, charring the ground before her into pure black. Lancelot then raised his head to take another look at the White Dragon above, guessing how the black spots on its tail came to be.

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But the other prisoners within the Dragon’s Nest did not possess the Red Dragon’s fierce fighting spirit. In three nearby pits, a Green Dragon, a Blue Dragon, and a Black Dragon lay respectively; their bodies similarly bound with thorn-like iron chains, their wings also pierced by Iron Hooks linked with chains. At this moment, they all obediently lay on the ground, looking as though they had given up all resistance and did not wish to attract the prison guards’ attention in any way.

Nevertheless, any individual who observed these female Dragons closely for more than ten seconds could not fail to see the undissimulated spite and hatred hiding beneath occasionally fluttering eyelids.

Yet even more eye-catching was the enormous mound of Treasure at the center of the cave. Beneath a transparent layer of ice, countless coins, gemstones, and ornately decorated chests formed a small hill, shimmering with a star-like radiance under the light. The sight was so alluring that even Lancelot, who had just convinced himself that money meant nothing to him, could hardly pull his gaze away from the pile of treasures.

“Huff, huff, by Moradin above, did you all see that?” Bruto whispered breathlessly, his gaze almost capable of melting the ice layer atop the treasures, “There must be at least a million Gold Coins there…”

“Svafnir had fled from Warrior Village to this plane back in the day, but surely didn’t bring its own treasury along,” Kalalin interjected with an equally fervent voice, “Which means every single Gold Coin there is the spoils of its raids following Kostcheqi, direct evidence of the Abyssal Lord’s accumulated bloody debts…”

“It’s despicable, these blood-stained treasures must be confiscated, handed over to heroes who fight for love and justice like us.” Bruto said with conviction, then turned to ask Alamir beside him, “Elf, can you tell how old that Red Dragon is? If she wasn’t bound, could she beat the White Dragon above us?”

“She’s surely of age, but not more than two hundred years old—a very young lady indeed,” Alamir replied softly. “But this is the lair of the White Dragon, and she is gravely wounded. If they were to fight, the Red Dragon would certainly be no match.”

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“But what if we helped her?” Bruto’s voice sounded impatient. “Look closely, the key to her bindings is those two chains on her neck. We could launch a long-range attack from here, just need those Fencer Trolls holding the chains to slip up a bit, then the Red Dragon could turn her head and burn the pulley system on both sides. When that happens, we go up and help, quickly undoing all the chains that bind her…”

“No,” Lancelot said, cutting him off decisively. “We don’t know if the Red Dragon will cooperate. Perhaps the first thing she’ll do upon gaining freedom is to let loose a Dragon Breath on us. And after dealing with that White Dragon, would the Red Dragon agree to share the spoils with us? What if the real master, Svafnir, returns?”

“But…” the Dwarf tried to argue, but Lancelot suddenly placed his hand over his mouth, silencing him effectively.

“Calm down, this isn’t the place to argue.” Lancelot stared severely at Bruto, and only after ensuring he calmed down did he gently remove his hand. “I’ve memorized the layout of the nest using the Perception Stone, now everyone retreat back into the tunnel. Move as stealthily as possible, don’t alert the beast above that a few little bugs have crept in.”

Everyone followed Lancelot’s orders well, and when they finally escaped the White Dragon’s line of sight, each one couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

“This is such a good opportunity,” Bruto couldn’t hold back, feeling a temporary safety, he began to pitch his idea to Lancelot again. “The Red Dragon surely hates her captor more and has no reason to attack us. Besides, don’t Dragons look down on all other creatures aside from themselves? Even if Svafnir comes back, he would definitely target the Red Dragon first…”

“Don’t forget what our real purpose is for coming to the Iron Ice Plains. Dain Frostbeard, does that name remind you of anything?” Lancelot spread his hands in resignation. “Even if everything goes well and we manage to thaw some treasure and stuff them into the Dimensional Bag before the ancient White Dragon finishes, what then? It wouldn’t help us entering the Glacial Fortress at all.”

“I know what you’re saying makes sense, but I just can’t stand it,” Bruto grumbled as he sat down on the ground, wistfully looking toward the tunnel exit. “We’re missing out on the chance to become Dragon Slayers…”

“We’ll have our chance, I promise you,” Lancelot said consolingly, patting the Dwarf’s shoulder. “Once we’ve also set up a Teleportation Formation near the Glacial Fortress and need to lure Svafnir away, we’ll come back to kill that rapist’s son.”