Chapter 309: The Power of Will, Converging into a Dragon

Chapter 309: Chapter 309: The Power of Will, Converging into a Dragon

Nieve was dragged away again by the Cat Girl Philis, who had just returned from the front.

The two of them ran off toward the temporary kitchen to see if the old Chef and the other Spiritual Chefs had made any new and delicious desserts.

After the two girls left, Lance finally let out a sigh of relief.

Just then, Julius walked over with a broad smile, holding two unopened bottles of ale.

He followed Lance’s gaze to Nieve in the distance, who seemed much more vibrant than before.

Julius’s eyes were filled with the gratification of a doting father.

He sat down next to Lance and handed him a bottle.

"Thank you, Lance."

Julius said with a sincere tone.

"Thanks to your care during this time, I can see Nieve is becoming more and more like a normal person."

He paused, as if finding it hard to say, but brazenly continued anyway.

"In the future... if she does anything thoughtless, I might have to trouble you to keep looking after her."

Lance took the bottle.

With a tacit understanding, the two of them clinked their bottles and each took a large swig.

Putting down his bottle, Julius turned to Lance and suddenly asked a question.

"But speaking of which, when are you two planning on getting married?"

"PFFFT!"

Lance mercilessly sprayed out the mouthful of ale he had just taken.

He choked and coughed repeatedly, staring wide-eyed at Julius.

Seeing Lance’s violent reaction, Julius just burst out laughing.

He pointed toward a bonfire in the distance.

A group of Silver Hand members was there, rowdily goading a young Knight into drinking.

The young Knight’s face was beet red, and he could barely stand, but he kept drinking cup after cup with a foolish grin.

"Look at that silly kid."

Julius said with a smile.

"His name is Thomas."

"He’s planning to officially retire after this Summer Crown ends."

Just as Lance was feeling a little curious, Julius waved and loudly called the drunken young Knight over.

Julius clapped the young Knight firmly on the shoulder and introduced him to Lance.

"This kid is in a hurry to go home and get married."

The young Knight scratched his head shyly, emboldened by the alcohol.

He carefully took out an exquisite metal box, similar to a pocket watch, from an inner pocket.

Opening the box revealed a somewhat yellowed Alchemy photograph set inside.

In the photo was an Ordinary human girl with a few freckles and a very sweet smile.

"Her name is Clara. She’s a helper at a bakery in White River City’s Lower City District."

"When I retire, we can open our very own bakery on a street corner in the Lower City District."

Hearing this simple and unadorned vision, Julius turned to Lance and said with a smile.

"You hear that, Lance? Whether you’re a Knight or an Adventurer, once you reach this age and have someone to care for, you should start thinking about settling down and starting a family."

Lance held his bottle, quietly listening to the young man’s plans for his future.

A wave of emotion suddenly washed over him.

’That’s right. This is the true life of most Ordinary Adventurers.’

’Although they were fortunate enough to become Professionals who wielded Extraordinary Power, the vast majority of them probably had no desire to climb the Ascension Ladder in pursuit of eternal life.’

’They were just a group of Ordinary people struggling to make a living.’

’They might walk this Professional path until they reached a stage they felt was stable enough, and then willingly stop.’

’To start a family, run a small business, and live a simple life, working from sunrise to sunset.’

’In the novels I read in my past life, everyone was a murder-hobo obsessed with killing and leveling up. That kind of thing really only exists in fiction.’

Lance thought to himself.

However, emotions aside, as a Transmigrator, Lance looked at the blissfully happy young Knight before him and couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

’Why do I get the feeling... this guy is covered in death flags right now?’

Lance muttered to himself internally.

’Going home to get married after this war is over... If this were an anime, that classic line would mean he’s definitely getting killed off in the next episode.’

Then he thought about the Crimson Bell of Death’s squad over the past few days, how they completely ignored the normal clearing progress and single-mindedly pursued slaughter.

It all gave Lance a vague, uneasy feeling that something was wrong.

’No, for tomorrow’s final battle, I should team up with a squad, just to be safe.’

Lance made up his mind.

As it happened, over the past week, he had been taking Nieve out every night to power-level like crazy in the various zones.

With a massive infusion of experience,

Nieve had successfully reached Level 4!

Furthermore, using a set of equipment borrowed from the Guild, she had successfully participated in and cleared a challenge for an Iron Guard slot, earning her own special reward.

As for Lance himself,

he was just a visibly small sliver of a progress bar away from the experience cap for Level 4.

All he could say was, the experience bonus mechanism provided by the [Pale Guard] Professional Trait in an environment where he was constantly under siege was truly terrifying.

Even though he needed a staggering 20,000 experience points to reach Level 4, the high-intensity monster grinding over the past few days gave him the illusion that the bar was about to be filled in an instant.

In this world, every Profession actually concealed its own unique method for rapidly gaining experience and achieving breakthrough leveling.

And the answer was clearly written in the initial experience bonus description for every Profession.

For example, a Thief needed to constantly perform backstabs and assassinations, while a Caster needed to improve their Spell models.

However, Lance’s current situation just happened to perfectly fit the Pale Guard’s leveling model of "guarding in a desperate situation."

The only regret was that the variety of Demons that spawned in this Underground City was far too limited and scarce.

The monsters appearing in the new zones were mostly just variants of the basic Demons he had encountered in the First Area.

As a result, he couldn’t farm any new Talents.

Lance cleared his complicated thoughts.

He stood up, raised his cup, and solemnly clinked it hard against the one in the young Knight’s hand.

The crisp sound of the impact rang out across the noisy plaza.

"Then let me be the first to wish Clara’s bakery great success!"

Lance looked at the young Knight and gave his blessing with a smile.

"If I ever get the chance to visit White River City, I’ll definitely go to the Lower City District to try the bread you make with your own hands."

Receiving Lance’s personal blessing, the young Knight was so moved that he nodded emphatically. With a foolish grin, he tilted his head back and downed the harsh liquor in his cup in one go.

Seeing this, the surrounding Silver Hand Knights, who had been heckling him, all raised their cups and started cheering loudly.

"For the bakery!"

"To making it home alive!"

The atmosphere reached a crescendo.

At that moment, Julius suddenly stood up straight. He raised his cup, full of ale, high in the air and shouted.

"And!"

"For the Red Dragon!"

In that instant, the noisy plaza fell silent.

Everyone’s eyes all turned at the same time to the black-haired young man standing at the edge of the firelight.

Feeling the countless pairs of trusting eyes around him,

Lance smiled and took a deep breath.

He raised his cup high, his voice not loud, yet it carried clearly to everyone’s ears.

"For the Red Dragon!"

The next second,

the tens of thousands of people present—

be they nobles or commoners, Casters or Warriors—

simultaneously raised their wooden cups, iron bowls, and even water flasks high in the air.

With all the strength in their chests, they let out a single, thunderous roar.

"FOR THE RED DRAGON!!!"

The sound, like a crashing tsunami, echoed long and loud within the vast mountain belly.

Even Bazzer, who had been standing in the crowd, couldn’t help but feel his own blood burn as he was swept up in the heart-pounding atmosphere.

Tens of thousands of people.

For the same goal of survival.

In this moment, they cast aside all prejudice and division, willingly uniting into a single, indivisible whole.

The feeling was truly exhilarating!

His eyes reddened slightly as he raised his cup high, unhesitatingly joining the roar.

And next to Bazzer,

Lilia was staring with wide eyes, her gaze fixed on Lance, who seemed to be at the center of the entire world’s embrace.

As she watched,

this time,

she no longer saw the back of a lonely traveler.

She saw clearly.

Behind the black-haired young man, amidst the intertwining flames of the soaring bonfires and the faith of ten thousand people,

the phantom of a Red Giant Dragon, so immense it was suffocating, was slowly unfurling its wings that blotted out the sky.

It raised its proud head and let out a silent roar!