Chapter 101: Dragon-eagle Knights
Chapter 101: Dragon-eagle Knights
In truth, even though the dragon-eagles had the word ‘dragon’ in their names, they were a far cry from actual dragons. They might be only facing an illusory dragon formed from nothing, but it was still enough to give the dragon-eagle knights pause.
The dragon-eagle knight regiment sent a squad speeding over, and two of them watched Xiao Lin and Song Junlang, blocking any exit routes they might have had. Another squad landed on the platform, and a fully armored man jumped down to communicate with Bella and the others.
They were speaking in English, so Xiao Lin could not really understand. With the dragon-eagle knights there, he knew they would not be able to escape. However, they were still from Dawn Academy, so the Americans could only observe them for now.
Xiao Lin paid more attention to the fight happening in the skies. There were about forty to fifty people on the knights’ side; the dragon-eagles had large and lengthy bodies and a pair of strong-looking wings, which made them seem like small dragons. Their heads looked like eagles, and their bodies were covered in red feathers instead of dragon scales, which made them look weaker since it offered less protection.
The dragon-eagles surrounded the dragon and took turns to dive at it, while the knights used their lances to strike at it, but it was hardly doing any damage. Whenever the lances would hit the dragon, it would cause a ripple to appear on its body. Even though the knights seemed to be immune to the pressure brought forth by the draconic power, the surges caused by the ripples were enough to force back any dragon-eagles that got too close.
Song Junlang shook his head. “An illusory dragon is a body of energy, physical attacks are basically useless to it.”
Xiao Lin touched the jade pendant. “Can’t this thing reabsorb it?”
Song Junlang did not know whether to cry or to laugh, “Do you think that thing is your pet! Didn’t I tell you; that thing is only an illusory dragon, and the draconic power was kept in the jade. It’s a limited-use object, it will stop working once the draconic power is exhausted.”
“Are you telling me I can only use this once?”
“That would depend on how much power the dean stored in it.” Song Junlang could not help but be a little envious. “I thought that the dean had only put some Gold-rank protection spells into the jade, but he actually stored draconic power in it. Now I’m really beginning to wonder if you’re his bastard child!”
Xiao Lin ignored that last part and asked curiously, “Is it that hard to extract draconic power?”
“Of course it is! Simply put, only a handful of people could possibly extract the power of a giant golden dragon in all of the academies put together! Even if the dean is protective of his students, this is just way too much.” Song Junlang could not help but regard him with some suspicion, trying to see what was so different about Xiao Lin.
The battle in the sky was not going well, just as Song Junlang had said. The physical attacks from the knights were not doing much visible damage to the giant golden dragon but, on the other hand, the dragon had very few ways to attack since it was made out of energy, and could not stop the dragon-eagles.
Everyone was worried for the outcome of the battle; it was a densely populated city, so even if the knights had prepared magic attacks, they were hesitant to use it because they were worried it would cause collateral damage to the city; not because of their own spells, but rather they were afraid the dragon would unleash its draconic power.
“They’re afraid of enraging the dragon. It might just be an illusory dragon, but the pride of dragons is something that is burnt into their blood. If it were to go crazy, it might be able to destroy half the city before they manage to eliminate it !” Song Junlang had a serious look on his face.
“How long will this dragon last?”
“Between five minutes to half an hour, it depends on how much draconic power the dean extracted.” Song Junlang hesitated before patting Xiao Lin on the back, consoling him. “Don’t worry about it too much. Even if the worst comes to be, I can still guarantee that we will be able to get back safely. Don’t forget, I have someone powerful on my side!”
Song Junlang kept saying that, but it felt like he was really serious this time. Despite the ferocious battle in front of them, Xiao Lin could not help his curiosity. “Department Head Song, who exactly is your backer?”
Xiao Lin always thought it was the dean, but it did not seem to be the case now. No matter how clueless he was, he still understood that New Washington was the capital of the Judge Academy in the New World. If half the city were to be destroyed, even the dean of Dawn Academy would not be able to deal with the aftermath.
Song Junlang could only shake his head in silence.
Thanks to the dragon-eagle knights, the dragon was not able to descend into the city. After a few minutes, the knights suddenly scattered.
Xiao Lin curiously said, “Huh? Why did they run? Are they going to abandon the city?”
Song Junlang did not have to answer this time; Xiao Lin saw the answer himself. Surrounding New Washington were a few sharp and tall towers which suddenly shot many blue streams of water toward the giant dragon. There were more than a hundred streams in total which all centered on the giant golden dragon.
“Did they finally activate the magical defense array? But what is this spell?” Song Junlang furrowed his eyebrows and talked to himself.
The gigantic dragon made for a very good live target; the streams of water seemed to hit it without much difficulty. The jets of water were extremely powerful and the draconic power which formed the dragon’s body was constantly and intensely pulsing. Every single pulse seemed to deplete the dragon’s energy by just a bit more.
After the water stopped, the thoroughly soaked dragon was noticeably smaller than it was earlier, but even the remnants of draconic power managed to maintain the form of the giant dragon. The more horrifying thing was that it seemed to have been enraged. With a roar, the dragon opened its mouth and started to gather a faintly golden energy ball.
The water had not fully dissipated from the air, and as it flowed down, the water began to gather into countless droplets and stopped in midair. All the droplets slowly morphed into long and sharp arrow-like shapes, facing the giant dragon as before.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Without a warning, tens of thousands of arrows fired!
In the blink of an eye, the entire sky was littered with sparkling water arrows–no one knew if it numbered in the millions or billions. The initial salvo of arrows did not pierce through the dragon, and the ripples they caused could not compare to the prior jets of water, but the sheer number of water arrows was terrifying.
Slowly, the dragon began to shrink again. If one were to make a comparison, it was like ants against an elephant; the arrows were like ants, but with enough ants, even an elephant could be bitten to death.
After ten minutes, the illusory dragon started to get fainter before finally disappearing. The arrows turned into vapor, and after gathering for a while, it turned into a downpour, completely enveloping half the city in a veil of rain.