Half-Elf

A tyrannical voice erupted from the Dragon Lion's maw; it seemed to have failed to grasp the situation, still assuming the Divine Wind Bear was merely a level-nine Magic Beast.

"Purple-scaled ugly freak! Who are you talking to?"

Bill's voice was crisp and tender, though his tone was equally unpleasant!

"Hm? A Saint-level Divine Wind Bear?"

Sparks and smoke swirled within the Dragon Lion's mouth, its mood clearly volatile.

"Even a Saint-level won't save you—die!"

Fiery red light surged across the Dragon Lion's body as it opened its maw to spew a massive ball of scorching flame, which fanned out and extended rapidly through the air.

"BOOM—"

A gale erupted, and a violent storm manifested out of thin air, with thunder and lightning flashing in its center beneath a shroud of dark, heavy clouds.

A radius of several kilometers became a domain of storm and lightning.

That speck of flame hadn't even spread ten meters before it was instantly extinguished by the gale.

"ROAR—"

Seeing that its magic was ineffective, the Dragon Lion transformed into a black shadow and charged at Bill.

As if teleporting, it suddenly appeared right before Bill.

Bill transformed into a twenty-meter-tall giant beast, standing on his hind legs. His bear paws shimmered with purple lightning and sparks as he delivered two slaps directly at the Dragon Lion.

"BANG—BOOM—CRACKLE!"

The Dragon Lion's form was blasted out of the black shadow, sent flying hundreds of meters away, its entire body emitting blue smoke accompanied by the crackling of electric light.

The Dragon Lion's eyes were already blood-red; it flipped itself up, dug its hind hooves into the ground, and charged again in an instant, turning into a blur.

"BOOM—SNAP—"

A ball of lightning struck the Dragon Lion, blasting it out of its high-speed dash and sending it crashing to the ground. It convulsed all over, purple electricity crackling across its body.

Just as Bill's bear paws had sent the Dragon Lion flying, he had already begun condensing a lightning orb; how could a peak Saint-level expert be anything but fast when casting magic?

At this moment, the Dragon Lion no longer possessed its earlier momentum. Though there were no wounds on its body, its internal organs were severely damaged.

The destructive power of lightning-type magic was immense, and having taken two hits in succession, the Dragon Lion—while not dead—had lost all combat capability and was now at the mercy of others.

"Can we speak properly now? Is my master someone you can bark at?"

Bill Cleveland strolled over to the Dragon Lion and looked down to speak.

Even with such a ferocious appearance, it couldn't hide the inherent cuteness about him.

My Divine Wind Bear really is adorable!

Lei Mo thought to himself.

If Bill knew his master viewed him this way, he would surely cry himself to sleep in the bathroom.

After putting in so much effort to defeat a powerful enemy and transforming into a tall, fierce beast, he was still just changing poses to act cute.

"Someone stole my child. I followed the scent to this area and ran into you, My Lord!"

The Dragon Lion was very sensible and chose to submit; Lei Mo and Bill had the power to kill it instantly. Children could be replaced, but one only had one life.

"Tell me about the situation in the surrounding area. Are there any powerful beings? Magic Beasts count too."

Lei Mo looked at the Dragon Lion and asked, his posture suggesting that if the answer wasn't satisfactory, he would extract its magic core.

The Dragon Lion's attitude became even more humble. It had already concluded in its heart that its child definitely hadn't been stolen by this lord.

"Within tens of thousands of miles, besides our family, there are only those Spirit Rock Leopards deep in the Elf Forest. There are hundreds of them, most of which are level eight or nine."

"But their leaders are two Saint-level Spirit Rock Leopards. Their strength is formidable, their speed is extremely fast, and they excel in wind and earth magic. Their attack, defense, and speed are all top-tier; they are rare Magic Beasts with no obvious weaknesses."

"The rest are of no consequence; there are no other Saint-level Magic Beasts. As for human experts, I am not aware of any, My Lord!"

Compared to the Divine Wind Bear, this Dragon Lion was indeed quite ugly. It only had "Dragon" in its name because its scales were somewhat similar to those of a dragon.

But that was all. Lei Mo had no intention of taming this Magic Beast.

"I won't do anything to you. Do you know who might have snatched your child?"

It was true that Lei Mo didn't intend to tame the Dragon Lion, but being dragged into this for no reason was still annoying, so he asked this question.

"I suspect it was that half-elf. I saw her twice in this area before."

The Dragon Lion replied respectfully, a glimmer of hope rising in its heart.

"A half-elf? Isn't it said that this place is very far from the core territory of the elves? How could there be a half-elf here?"

Lei Mo expressed his confusion. Wasn't it said that the elf population was small?

"My Lord, you may not know this, but while the elf population is indeed small, there are quite a few half-elves."

"Elves generally have very long lifespans; even an elf below level nine can live for eight hundred years. With such a long life, some elves will inevitably leave the Elf Forest."

"Elves, regardless of gender, are extremely beautiful. It is very easy for certain well-known things to happen, leaving behind bloodlines."

As the Dragon Lion recounted this, Lei Mo learned that because the offspring of elves usually possessed high talent, these half-elves were often illegitimate children, yet they held high status, with some even being named heirs to their families.

This created a trend where any elf who stepped out of the Elf Forest would be treated as an honored guest by humanity.

Especially the males; once they emerged, they would be dazzled by all sorts of temptations. Some families would even offer up their legitimate daughters, or even the wives of their legitimate sons.

All of this was just to obtain elven bloodlines, and many elven males were completely unaware that they had one, or even many, such descendants.

Everything the Dragon Lion spoke of were tidbits of information it had gathered, intentionally or otherwise, over its long lifespan—a trend known even to a Magic Beast.

It was evident that this trend had likely been established for quite some time.

Could it be that the Saint-level peak expert Tagore Keaton mentioned earlier—Natalia Saavedra—was also a case like this?

Did her elven father have no idea that such an illegitimate daughter existed? That was truly a possibility.

It seemed that no matter the race, a man could never keep his lower half in check.

"What is your name? Do you know Natalia Saavedra?"

Lei Mo asked, though he held little hope; the Dragon Lion's strength was still somewhat lacking, so it might not necessarily know Natalia Saavedra.

"My name is Zachary Agul. As for Natalia, I seem to have heard the name a few hundred years ago, but it was so long ago that I can't recall the details, My Lord!"

Zachary replied respectfully. It was only because he was a Saint-level expert that he remembered anything at all; an ordinary person would have long since forgotten something heard in passing centuries ago.

"Follow me for now. I will help you retrieve your child; you cannot be wronged for nothing!"

Lei Mo had developed a keen interest in this half-elf.

He had Franklin release his divine sense to scout, and also deployed quite a few Saint-level souls.

"Master, I see a little girl. I am not sure if she is the half-elf Zachary spoke of?"

Franklin's voice echoed in Lei Mo's mind.

"Zachary, what does that half-elf look like, and what is she wearing?"

Lei Mo asked the Dragon Lion, who was following him like a small truck.

"Elven hair is typically silver, and it is the same for half-elves. This is one of the primary ways to distinguish whether someone has elven blood."

Zachary said hurriedly.

That had to be the little girl then; she had silver hair and the age matched, but he did not see where the little Dragon Lion was.

"I have found the half-elf, but I do not see your child."

Lei Mo told Zachary.

"Humans have concealment magic arrays. She likely carries a concealment magic scroll and has hidden my child somewhere."

Zachary the Dragon Lion said with great certainty.