The Air Suddenly Fell Silent

Time passed bit by bit, and in the blink of an eye, it was the morning two days later.

Over those two days, the monster army searched the entire area three times, yet found nothing.

All three dragons assumed the enemy was not in their territory and relaxed considerably. After discussing it, they decided to return to the cave and rest for a while.

The moment they entered the cave, the White Dragon—Kashi—flopped onto the ground.

Yaligris frowned.

Noticing his companion's expression, Jose felt a little awkward. He had not expected to come back, and sheepishly headed toward the deepest part of the cave.

Let the flames purify everything~!

From a long distance away, Jose slightly opened his mouth, closed it again, and walked back. Once outside the cave, he took a deep breath of fresh air before returning.

To the Sanctuary Guardians, the Red Dragon's behavior was utterly baffling.

"What is that Red Dragon doing?"

A moment later, they found out.

Surging Dragon Flame poured from the Red Dragon's mouth and rushed toward the innermost part of the cave.

"Holy crap!" The Sanctuary Guardians sprang up from the ground in fright, but the cave was only so large. There was nowhere to hide.

Fortunately, they had a Mage!

Captain Oluk, the red-haired Mage, reacted quickly and raised a transparent Energy Barrier. Like a reef amid crashing waves, the Energy Barrier sheltered everyone from the raging flames.

A pile of something turned to ash, and the Concealment Magic Array failed with it. The Magic Power Detection Crystal Ball in the Golden Dragon Loli's hand flashed.

The Golden and White Dragons abruptly raised their heads, but their view was blocked by the Dragon Flame. Jose, however, spotted the Energy Barrier that had suddenly appeared amid the flames, and ten thousand mud horses thundered through his mind.

The enemy had actually been hiding right in front of him!

He did not dare stop and continued spewing Dragon Flame.

Gritting his teeth, the Mage maintained the Energy Barrier with one hand while removing a scroll from his waist with the other. With a flick, the scroll unfurled.

Dragon Binding Spell!

A flash of white light swept past. Jose felt as if his body no longer belonged to him; he could not move, and his dragon breath ceased.

The Dragon Binding Spell had originally been invented by mages to deal with underage dragons. It could affect even Young Dragons to some extent, let alone a Dragon Hatchling.

Captain Oluk's heart bled. Dragon Binding Spell was a Master-level spell, and the scroll was difficult and expensive to make. After the war against the Red Nest Matriarch broke out, demand for Dragon Binding Spell scrolls had surged, sending their prices skyrocketing.

When he came to the Red Nest this time, he had pulled strings and paid a high price to buy one for emergencies. He never expected to waste it on a Dragon Hatchling, but he had no time to mourn the loss now.

The Dragon Flame ended, and Yaligris and Kashi stared blankly at the scene in the deepest part of the cave.

Before the motionless Red Dragon stood a large group of human adventurers hiding behind a staff-wielding Mage. Among them was an Altar that looked immensely impressive for reasons unknown.

The air inside the cave suddenly fell silent.

The two dragons' minds went blank, but the Sanctuary Guardians did not freeze. Weapons in hand, they charged at them.

Yaligris snapped out of it and realized the enemy could not be fought head-on. She hurried toward the cave entrance, while the White Dragon—Kashi—seemed to have lost his mind and actually roared as he charged deeper into the cave.

It was like an egg smashing into a rock. Everyone swarmed him and knocked Kashi to the ground.

A magical glimmer flashed from the ring on Captain Oluk's index finger, and his figure vanished from where he stood.

"Miss Golden Dragon, if I were you, I would not act rashly."

The voice sounded nearby. Yaligris's running body stiffened, and she turned to see the red-haired Mage beside her. He had pointed his staff at her. Judging from the pebble-sized ruby at its tip, the staff was undoubtedly worth a fortune.

And the Multiverse had a universal truth—the strength of a Mage was directly proportional to his wealth.

"I surrender."

"A wise choice. Don't worry, you're different from them. As long as you cooperate obediently, we won't hurt you." Magic was poised within his staff as Oluk tilted his head, signaling for Yaligris to walk toward the inside of the cave.

Yaligris complied. She saw the two captured dragons: Kashi was pinned to the ground with a gleaming Double-Bladed Great Axe held against his neck, while Jose had been immobilized by magic and remained frozen in the pose of breathing fire with his mouth open.

"If possible, please don't hurt them either. They're my friends."

"Don't worry. They're very valuable. I couldn't bear to hurt them."

Nearby, Jose struggled with all his strength upon hearing this, but it was useless.

He was frantic. According to the records in the Dragon Heritage, Dragon Hatchlings who fell into human hands rarely met good ends.

Being forced into unequal contracts or raised as pets and mounts was the mildest outcome. If they fell into the hands of mages with a taste for research, they could be skinned, bled, physically modified, and injected with chemical additives of every color...

Just thinking about it made his scalp tingle!

Oluk forced the Golden Dragon into a corner as well, handed her over to his companions to guard, and strode toward the Priest, who was stamping his feet anxiously.

"Your Eminence, there is still some time before the agreed time. Do we have a backup plan?"

"Bishop said we could activate the Sacred Altar early, but we must not do so unless absolutely necessary." The Priest clutched the Mage's sleeve as if grasping his last lifeline. "Captain, can you hold out for this final hour?"

"I can't do anything either. The Concealment Magic Array has been destroyed. The nearby Dragon Commander has probably already detected the magical fluctuations here and will arrive soon. Activate it."

The Priest gritted his teeth, walked before the Sacred Altar, and knelt down. He crossed his hands over his chest, lowered his head, and rapidly recited a prayer.

"Everyone, bring the Golden Dragon and White Dragon over to the Red Dragon. Once the Sacred Altar activates, we teleport out immediately." As he spoke, the red-haired Mage took an enormous scroll from his Dimensional Bag. It was the Mass Teleportation Scroll issued by the allied forces.

Before long, a golden pillar of light shot up from the Altar, piercing through layers of rock and soaring into the clouds.

"Quick! Gather and get ready!" Captain Oluk spread out the scroll in his hand. Pale blue Arcane energy flowed from it, sketching an enigmatic dark-blue three-dimensional Magic Array across the ground and through the air.

At the same time, an angry dragon roar rang out from afar. It belonged to the commander of Greystone Fortress, O'Neal, who was rushing over.

But judging by the sound, he was still far away. By the time he arrived, it would be far too late.

The Priest ran into the range of the Mass Teleportation Magic Array. In just a few seconds, the array would activate, carrying the Sanctuary Guardians out of danger—and dragging Jose and the other dragons into Living Purgatory.