Its body was now a whole size larger than before. Its once-red scales had turned grayish white, as if its entire body were clad in thick bone plate armor.
Between the gaps in the bone armor, crimson corruption patterns flowed.
Most striking was its head. What had once been a somewhat lizard-like head was now completely encased in an exoskeleton, forming a sinister dragon's head.
Deep in its eye sockets, two clusters of blue Soul Fire burned!
Its appearance brought to mind both the Corrupted Dragon from Old Man Ring and an undead bone dragon.
[Mount: Revered Corrupted Earth Dragon · Tina Sanks] [Level: Lv. 20] [Note: Can undergo one stage of evolution every 10 levels.] [Attributes: Strength 120, Constitution 150, Agility 70] [Skills: Nether Breath, Corruption Domain, Brutal Charge, Steel Scales, Death Roll.]
"Holy shit..." Su Li stared at the dazzling status panel and couldn't help swearing.
"These stats are so damn overpowered, they could knock a cow off a telephone pole!"
Su Li circled Tina Sanks several times, liking her more with every look.
The contrasting design of pale bone armor and crimson corruption was exactly his kind of aesthetic.
"Right, let's try the recall function." Su Li focused his thoughts.
With a soft hum, Pipi Dragon instantly turned into a streak of red light and darted into the back of Su Li's hand.
"Come back out!"
"Roar!" The giant beast appeared instantly, shaking the ground beneath them.
Unable to contain his excitement any longer, Su Li scrambled up onto Tina Sanks's back.
Though the bone scales were hard, they turned out to be surprisingly comfortable to sit on.
"Pipi Dragon! Let's go! Let's show this mountain range what speed and passion look like!"
"Roar!!!" Pipi Dragon let out a mighty bellow, then charged out of the cave like a huge truck.
"Woohoo!!!"
Riding on the dragon's back, Su Li felt like even his Soul Fire was about to get blown backward.
The sensation of speeding along like the wind was absolutely addictive!
He galloped around the wasteland twice, scattering the low-level monsters nearby in terror, then returned to the cave entrance, still wanting more.
Just then, Pipi Axe and Pipi Finger, who had been standing guard at the entrance, came over.
Seeing his two veteran underlings, Su Li's excitement cooled a little.
"Ah..." Su Li sighed.
As he leveled up, his enemies grew stronger and stronger. Pipi Axe and Pipi Finger's fighting strength was clearly no longer keeping up.
"If I can't find a way to make you stronger, you'll probably have to go back home and retire. Or..."
"Forget you two—even I don't know what I'm supposed to do next..."
Just then, it was as if the system had heard his thoughts.
[Quest Triggered: Find Equipment] [Description: As the saying goes, clothes make the man and a saddle makes the horse. How can a noble Dragon Knight go without a well-fitting suit of armor? Running around with nothing but bones may keep you cool, but it also makes it easy to break a bone.] [Option One: Explore deeper into the Undead Mountain Range. Difficulty: S] [Reward: Strength +10, Constitution +10, Agility +5, Experience +1500, Unknown High-Tier Equipment.] [Option Two: Explore deeper into the Corrupted Cave. Difficulty: A] [Reward: Strength +7, Constitution +7, Agility +7, Experience +1000, Crimson Corruption-related Equipment.] [Option Three: Stay where you are and dig a hole to bury yourself. Difficulty: None] [Reward: None, and a stray dog might pee on you.]
Su Li looked at the three options, rubbing his chin with a finger bone.
"Option Three is an instant pass. As for Option One..."
Su Li glanced at the sinister depths of the Undead Mountain Range.
Every quest involving the depths of the Undead Mountain Range had started at S-rank difficulty.
There was a good chance the area's Big BOSS was lurking there.
"Fortune favors the bold, but I'm cautious, not suicidal. That leaves Option Two."
The Corrupted Cave was where he'd made his fortune. And as a Revered Corrupted Knight, he'd have home-field advantage there.
"Everyone, follow me! We're going to raid the place!"
He waved, and Pipi Axe and Pipi Finger immediately scampered after Tina Sanks's enormous rear. The whole group set off for the Corrupted Cave in grand fashion.
Meanwhile, at the Wild Wolf Squad's base.
The female werewolf Mara was smiling as she looked at the two distinguished guests before her.
"Heh, Lady Seraphina." Mara ran her tongue over her lips.
"Just as I said, that skeleton is unusual. Not only does it wield the power of Crimson Corruption, I even caught a hint of dragon in its scent."
Sitting across from her was a young woman in a pristine white priest's robe.
She had a head of brilliant golden hair and features as exquisite as a statue in a temple. An air of holiness surrounded her.
One of the Candidate Saintesses of the Holy Church of Light—Seraphina.
At the words "dragon," a flicker of surprise crossed Seraphina's blue eyes.
"Undead carrying the scent of a dragon are indeed rare," she said in a soft, melodious voice.
"In that case, I'll have to trouble you, Captain Mara. If you can find it, whether it's dead or alive, the Church will pay you a reward you'll find satisfactory."
"Of course. I trust the Saintess's word."
Mara stood and held out a hand, its skin covered in calluses and scars.
The female guard standing behind Seraphina frowned at once, her eyes full of distaste. She clearly didn't want her own saintly lady touching this filthy beastkin.
But Seraphina acted as if she hadn't even noticed Vivian's expression. She naturally reached out her white-gloved hand and gently clasped Mara's.
"Then, I hope we have a pleasant partnership."
Mara's lips curved. "Saintess, get a good night's rest. We'll set out first thing tomorrow morning."
As soon as Mara had left, Vivian couldn't hold back any longer. "Fina! Why did you shake hands with someone like that?"
Vivian pulled out a handkerchief and rather forcefully wiped Seraphina's glove, her voice full of reproach.
"Why come all the way to this remote place to look for a filthy undead creature? And why work with a greedy beastkin? You'll dirty your sacred hands!"
"Vivian, you're being too sensitive."
Seraphina let Vivian wipe her hand. She still wore her gentle smile, though a hint of helplessness had crept into her eyes.
"We came here to investigate the nature of the undead. Why did the God of Light drive them away all those years ago? Are all undead creatures truly evil? We can only find out by seeing for ourselves."
She walked to the window and gazed at the gloomy Undead Mountain Range in the distance. "Besides, the God of Light's Holy Favor should be bestowed equally upon all living beings. Humans and beastkin alike—perhaps there's not such a great difference between them in the eyes of God. You shouldn't discriminate against them."
"You..." Vivian was left speechless.
"It's because you're always like this that His Holiness the Pope gets so angry his beard sticks straight up! Do you know what they call you in the Church? The Heretic Sympathizer!"
"All right, all right, Vivian. Forgive me, please?"
Seraphina suddenly turned to Vivian and winked. Then she pressed her palms together, her voice taking on a hint of playfulness.
"I knew Vivian was the best. You definitely won't be mad at me, right?"
Seeing her saintess act so shamelessly adorable, Vivian's anger immediately evaporated.
She sighed helplessly. "...Just this once."
"Yay!" Seraphina cheered and threw her arms around Vivian. "I knew you cared about me most!"
Vivian stiffened, then gently patted her back, though her eyes remained wary as she watched the window.
"I hope nothing goes wrong this time."
At the same time, in a dilapidated attic in Twilight Town.
The atmosphere there was far less congenial.
Rosalia stood nervously in front of a table piled with various alchemical materials.
Across from her, an old woman with a deeply wrinkled face and hair like a bird's nest gave her a once-over as if inspecting a piece of merchandise.
This was Karonna, the town's only reclusive mage, known for her eccentric personality.
"Little girl, you mean to tell me..."
Karonna picked up the spellbook Rosalia had once cherished and waved it around. "You managed to summon a skeleton with this fake book, the kind you could buy for two copper coins from a street vendor?"
Rosalia nervously swallowed. "Y-yes, Grandma Karonna. I also signed an equal contract with her."
"An equal contract?"
Karonna reacted as if she'd heard the funniest joke in the world. She slammed her hand on the table. "Are you kidding me?! Huh?!"
"This is a bunch of scribbles made by a market peddler to trick children! Every spell in it is wrong! The logic is complete nonsense! And you expect me to believe you learned from it?!"
The old woman pointed at the door, spittle flying. "Get out, get out! I hate nothing more than little brats who lie! Take your trashy book and get out!"
"But... but I really did succeed!" Tears welled in Rosalia's eyes.
But she didn't back down. Instead, she stepped forward. "I really did summon her!"
"You're still making things up!" Karonna sneered.
"Unless you're a natural necromancer, reciting a jumbled-up spell like that couldn't possibly work! Even a genius would've been drained dry by magical backlash!"
"I... I can prove it!"
Rosalia bit down hard on her lip, her eyes filled with stubborn determination. "Grandma Karonna, please give me a chance. I can prove it to you!"
Karonna stared into the girl's determined eyes and paused for a moment.
She fell silent, then suddenly laughed in exasperation. "Fine. Very well."
She grabbed a handful of bone powder and a few cheap magic stones from beside her and tossed them onto the table.
"Then prove it to me! Use the spell in that lousy book of yours!"
Karonna narrowed her eyes, her voice grim. "If you can summon an undead creature again, I'll teach you everything I've learned in my life!"
"Really, Grandma Karonna?" Rosalia's eyes lit up at once.
"Don't call me Grandma! I'm only 180 years old! I'm in the prime of my life!"
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