Chapter 17: The Celestial Flame Dragon's Breath Reappears! Lin Yi, Like a Deity!
Lin Yi had no idea just how many people in Azure City were stunned by his sudden, spectacular takeoff.
Soon, he soared high above the city, the vast sky opening before him.
Azure City lay stretched out beneath his gaze, every detail visible.
The surrounding leveling zones were also clearly in view.
With a single glance, Lin Yi spotted a barren, shadowed expanse hundreds of kilometers south of the city’s outskirts.
That must be the Land of Silence.
Guiding his wind wings, he began flying at full speed toward the Land of Silence.
...
Meanwhile, within the Land of Silence,
the place was far from silent.
A multitude of adventurers, like bloodthirsty sharks sensing a kill, converged toward the center.
That was the spawn point of the world boss, the Death Knight.
Yet they faced fierce resistance.
“The Thunder Guild has reserved this area—non-members, please stand clear!”
“Starsea Guild’s restricted zone ahead. Leave immediately!”
Countless adventurers clad in the uniforms of various guilds stopped any stragglers daring to approach the center, refusing them even a step closer.
“Damn it, does your guild own the world boss?”
“Yeah, why can’t we get in?”
The guild guards sneered maliciously.
“That’s right, it’s the Thunder Guild’s domain. Try to cross and see what happens.”
Faced with such arrogant and unreasonable behavior, many adventurers seethed with anger but dared not speak out.
Thunder and Starsea were the two dominant guilds in Azure City.
They often carved out exclusive leveling zones in popular areas, reserved solely for their members, disregarding whether others could continue leveling.
Some had tried to resist.
But both guilds were led by formidable adventurers at the fourth or even near-fifth tier of advancement, commanding elite troops in great numbers.
So this status quo had persisted.
At this critical time when the Death Knight was about to respawn, both guilds naturally intended to monopolize the experience and loot, dividing it exclusively between themselves.
Boom! Boom!
Suddenly, the center of the encirclement echoed with countless clashes of skills.
Everyone knew—Death Knight Ravendale had reappeared!
Elites from Thunder and Starsea guilds had begun attacking the boss.
But this time, something felt different.
...
Because those sounds of skill clashes soon ceased.
Then, thick, deathly black plagues began spreading across the Land of Silence.
The guild guards stationed at the perimeter, tasked with barring others, turned pale.
They received distress calls from their comrades over the guild channel.
“Something’s wrong, the leader is requesting backup—let’s move!”
In an instant, members of both guilds rushed toward the center.
Those they had herded outside eagerly followed!
A world boss differs greatly from a dungeon boss.
The experience and skill points after the kill are distributed based on contribution.
The more damage you deal, the larger your share of skill points and experience.
Loot drops depend only on who lands the final blow.
The multitude surged into the heart of the Land of Silence.
The scene before them made everyone feel as if Death itself gripped their throats, silencing them utterly.
Countless adventurers wearing Starsea and Thunder guild uniforms lay sprawled in desperate flight, strewn across the ground soaked with plague-blackened water.
Their weapons were broken, faces contorted in agony, eyes wide open in death.
Clearly, they had suffered unimaginable torment before dying.
“Guild leader!”
“Boss!!”
At the perimeter, the guards recognized their own leaders among the corpses.
Disbelief froze them.
A mere level 90 world boss!
They had slain it dozens of times before.
How could this happen?
A total wipeout?!
Before they could ponder further,
the heavy pounding of hooves crashing against the earth resounded.
They saw the culprit of this devastation.
A heavily armored knight clad in jet-black plate wielded a gigantic sword four to five meters long, mounted atop a skeletal warhorse devoid of flesh.
Ghostly blue flames flickered in the hollow eye sockets of both horse and rider.
Death Knight Ravendale’s form had grown more than tenfold in size.
Wherever he passed, the ground was stained with inky plague waters.
“Run!!”
“H-he’s mutated!”
Every soul trembled with primal terror.
Legend held that world and dungeon bosses had a minuscule chance to be affected by abyssal forces, awakening into a mutated state.
In this form, their level and skills would be monstrously amplified.
Bosses that once barely topped levels 30 or 40 could break past level 200.
The result was inevitable: team wipes, sometimes entire guild losses.
...
Flee!
Run for your lives!
Only this thought remained.
The hunter and prey roles reversed in an instant.
The Death Knight, once felled countless times by their swords and spells,
now returned from the grave.
Ravendale tugged the reins of his warhorse.
With a piercing neigh, the skeletal mount struck the earth with all four hooves.
A wave of necromantic magic rippled outward.
The once dry soil beneath countless feet was instantly submerged in endless black plague waters.
Within that dark flood, countless skeletal hands clawed at the ankles of those desperate to escape.
They sank into the swamp of death, unable to move an inch.
As the black waters spread,
a scene that chilled their blood unfolded.
The corpses that had lain scattered on the ground were now infused with necromantic energy.
They rose once more.
Grasping broken swords and muttering familiar spells,
but this time, they fought for the Death Knight.
Dark mist cloaked the sky.
Black, acidic plague rain poured down, thick with the scent of death.
Despair engulfed all.
They wailed and screamed,
yet no sound escaped their lips.
The rain curtain obscured all, destined to return the Land of Silence to its name.
“Giiin—!!!”
Just as all seemed doomed to drown in the black flood,
a piercingly clear dragon’s roar rang in their ears.
In the next moment, scorching heat swept away the chill of death.
The dark clouds and rain ceased abruptly.
An orange-yellow blaze of brilliant fire tore through the gloom!
A dragon!
A colossal, blazing dragon radiating overwhelming heat appeared high in the sky!
Its breath poured forth like a cascading waterfall of fire!
Ravendale lifted his head.
In his ghostly blue eyes flickered the reflection of a lone figure shrouded in relentless gale winds behind the celestial fire dragon.
The final battle was about to unfold.