Ancient Red Dragon

The inn in White Horse City was bustling with people.

In fact, as soon as Soren arrived, he heard some bad news: the monsters in the nearby wilderness seemed to have gone mad, and a mass migration had occurred, blocking all roads in the southeast direction of White Horse City. Various creatures living in the plains and hills had migrated into areas of human activity, causing the combat situation around White Horse City to escalate. Even the army garrisoned nearby had been deployed to patrol outside.

The Adventurers' Guild had even issued a B-rank investigation mission, offering a reward of 12,000 Gold Thaler to anyone who could find out the reason.

There was no need to solve the problem.

Just finding out why so many creatures were migrating would earn the 12,000 Gold Thaler reward.

Unfortunately, the results brought back were not good.

The first few batches of adventurers who set out couldn't even enter the Black Mire and were directly beaten back by a group of ogres.

Adventurers who dared to take on a B-rank mission were naturally not simple. The entire team consisted of high-rank professionals of Tier 3 or above, including native wizards. Yet, such a powerful adventurer team retreated in utter disarray with two dead and three injured. They had encountered a group of ogres. This was not the main issue, as ogres did not have a high challenge rating. The problem was that there was a Two-Headed Ogre among them.

And it was a Two-Headed Ogre Wizard!

Its multiple spellcasting ability directly killed the mages in the adventurer team, and then it commanded the ogres to surround them. In the end, only three managed to escape by sheer luck with the help of some items. Moreover, on their retreat, they saw enormous footprints. Some suspected that the Mountain Giants in the southwest had also been driven here by something, and another adventurer team might have been completely wiped out.

Over a hundred merchant teams were trapped in White Horse City.

Some merchant teams with strong escorts tried to pass through another direction, but they encountered a large group of Gnolls (150-300 of them). Less than a tenth of those who went out returned alive. Now, half of the roads in White Horse City were sealed off. Except for the road Soren came from, all directions, whether towards Fallen Leaf City or towards the sea, were occupied by various monsters.

Goblins, Kobolds, Gnolls, Ogres, Lizardfolk, and so on.

It was as if some terrifying existence had suddenly driven out all the creatures in the Southern Region near Mount Dormal.

There were already rumors that a dragon had appeared there.

Unfortunately.

No one had yet brought back concrete news, and no one had actually seen the dragon's figure.

The muddy road.

Soren walked on the dirty street, holding Vivian. He had entrusted his travel horse to the Mule and Horse Market. Because too many merchant teams were stranded in White Horse City, all the inns in the city were full. Even with double the price, it was difficult to find lodging in the city. In this era, outsiders were very much rejected. Soren had no choice but to take Vivian to the Old City District (Slum). More and more merchant teams were blocked in White Horse City. Unless they were willing to travel back a long distance, they could only wait here for the trade routes to be cleared.

This was also very bad news for Soren!

His original route had also been cut off by these migrating monsters. If he were adventuring alone, it should have been relatively easy.

But with Vivian, it was very troublesome. Soren could not guarantee her safety during a battle.

Ancient Red Dragon.

This was the first thought that popped into Soren's mind.

Besides an adult dragon, he couldn't think of anything else that could command so many monsters.

Moreover, the center point from which the monsters were driven out was similar to the location where the Ancient Red Dragon appeared in Soren's memory.

Because the speed of information transmission in this world was relatively slow, if White Horse City slowly found someone to investigate the cause of the monster rampage, the timing would indeed coincide with the appearance of the Ancient Red Dragon. This dragon had ravaged the south for more than two years, killing countless people. It had also cunningly disguised itself as an ordinary red dragon. It wasn't until players deduced from its strength that its level was far beyond that that everyone realized it was an Ancient Red Dragon with a Challenge Rating of 25.

If it hadn't foolishly provoked a Saint who had descended from the gods in the Year of Upheaval, there would have been almost no one in the entire Southern Region capable of defeating it!

"Ancient Red Dragon [Dragon] (Seventh Tier)."

"Challenge Rating 25, Creature Level 34, Mighty Dragon Breath."

"Attribute Estimation: Strength 42, Agility 10, Constitution 35, Intelligence 25, Perception 24, Charisma 24."

"Special Feats: Ancient Dragon, Legendary Spell, Giant Creature, Mighty Dragon Breath???"

"Challenge Difficulty: S+."

This was part of the Ancient Red Dragon's stats from Soren's memory.

Its challenge difficulty was on par with a Lesser God. The only difference was that it lacked divinity and divine spark, only possessing the strength bonus of an Ancient Dragon. Someone had once fancifully planned to defeat it using human wave tactics, but dozens of people were killed by a single Dragon Wing Strike, and hundreds were killed by a single breath of dragon fire, directly extinguishing any idea of defeating it through human wave tactics.

Even so, some people still wanted to sneak in because it stored the entire wealth of an Ancient Red Dragon.

Over five million Gold Thaler, various extraordinary items, and at least ten Legendary Items. Artifacts were rarely found lying around. Unless the god who created them had fallen, even an Ancient Red Dragon might not be qualified to possess one. Therefore, it was impossible to determine if there were any artifacts in its dragon lair.

The only thing that could be confirmed was.

Someone had indeed entered the dragon lair using harassment tactics and obtained one or two Legendary Items.

This was the key to successfully slaying the god later!

Soren's current Professional Level was only 5. Without the spell buff to resist fear, he couldn't even stand in front of it.

He naturally wouldn't be brain-damaged enough to set his sights on the Ancient Red Dragon. But the problem was that the monsters blocked the road, and he couldn't take Vivian to Fallen Leaf City. This red dragon had been lurking for a long time, meaning the road blockage would last for a considerable period, unless others killed all the forced migrating monster swarms.

Otherwise, Soren would have to cross the White Horse Plain by himself.

The inn was in an uproar.

Soren entered with Vivian. Adventurers with swords and some small merchant teams were everywhere.

"Those damned Gnolls!"

A burly big guy slammed his wine glass on the table and said in a deep voice, "They just ate Miyard like that. When I finally found his body, I couldn't even put his head back on his neck."

Almost all the adventurers were complaining.

The sudden attack caught everyone off guard. In some areas near the Black Mire, human villages were forced to migrate.

This was because the Lizardfolk living there had begun launching frequent attacks!

Some terrifying existence had forced them out of the swamp, and they needed new territory to live in, so the humans who originally lived nearby became their enemies.

A figure, staggering as if drunk, approached Soren.

"Sorry!"

As if pushed, the figure bumped into Soren, and a hand nimbly reached for his coin pouch. But before the hand could touch the pouch, Soren frowned, instantly gripping the opponent's wrist. He then twisted it, flipping the opponent to the ground. At the same time, he stepped on his knee joint, pinning him down.

The entire inn fell silent instantly.

Only the thief's pained screams remained. Soren's move was merciless, directly dislocating the thief's arm.

"Keep your eyes open."

Soren put Vivian down. With his other hand, he pulled out his saber and coldly gestured with it over the thief's arm. Several people nearby had their hands on their waists. It was impossible to tell if they were the thief's accomplices, but they were approaching Soren.

"That's enough."

A man sitting at the bar counter stood up. He first frowned and looked at Soren, then pointed at the thief on the ground and said, "Break one of his arms, then throw him out directly."

"To dare steal in my establishment, you must be tired of living!"

Crack.

The men who had approached Soren from the sides of the inn nodded at him, then grabbed the thief's arm and twisted it, followed by a sharp scream. Two of the men lifted the thief and threw him directly into the foul-smelling ditch outside the inn.

These were the inn's thugs.

It seemed this inn didn't have a clean background, but then again, there probably weren't any clean establishments in the Old City District.

"Youth."

"You seem skilled. Do you want lodging here?"

The big guy at the bar counter gave Soren a deep look. His gaze brightened when it fell on Vivian, and he said in a deep voice, "Two Silver Thalers a night."

"If you're not satisfied, find your own place to stay."

Soren glanced around, reached out, and threw two Silver Thalers onto the table. He then picked up Vivian.

The big guy looked up and gestured to the side, sweeping the Silver Thalers over.

Soon.

A heavily made-up waitress walked over and led Soren towards the second floor of the inn.

These were part-time waitresses. They acted as servers in the inn's tavern and also provided Special Service for guests who could afford it.