Alger led the two to the entrance of Giant's Mouth Cave. Singo made a stylish landing on his wyvern, while Mantou arrived belatedly.
"This is the place. I will take you to see the master."
They stepped into the cave, instantly engulfed in sweltering heat. The air hung thick with the sulfurous tang of brimstone and pumice, making it feel like the caldera of an imminent volcanic eruption.
Mantou still had lingering fears. "There isn't going to be another trial, is there?"
Singo, however, said calmly, "No. If I had to guess, this is probably the lair of our faction leader—the red dragon. Did you notice the strange smell and the abnormal temperature? According to the intel I gathered, dragons can even alter the environment around them."
Mantou clicked his tongue in awe. "If he ever turns into a boss, he's got to be a world boss. He'd wipe out players by the truckload."
Mantou had no idea his guess was spot-on.
They walked along the narrow rock tunnel.
Soon, the space opened up before them, and the two laid eyes on the master of this domain—the red dragon.
What greeted their sight was a colossal sixteen-meter-long body, its frame packed with thick, corded muscles and sheathed in hardened, dark-red scales that gleamed with a metallic sheen along their edges.
Upon that hideous, enormous skull, golden vertical pupils brimmed with overwhelming majesty, glowing like molten lava. Two thick, backward-sweeping, bone-white horns rose like a crown.
The red dragon lay coiled in the center of the cavern, his mountain-like bulk rising and falling with each breath. Plumes of white vapor occasionally hissed from his body. Merely gazing upon him, one could feel the blistering heat radiating from his flesh, like a volcano poised to erupt.
This was their first time seeing the true form of their faction leader.
Mantou couldn't help but gasp, "Holy crap..."
He racked his brain, but with his limited vocabulary, he couldn't conjure any poetic descriptions. He could only lamely tack on: "He's so damn huge!"
The two adolescent wyverns, meanwhile, were frightened into flattening themselves directly against the ground by the immense bloodline pressure. Their bodies pressed flush against the warm stone, low gurgling sounds rumbling deep in their throats. No matter how much Mantou patted his mount, it refused to lift its head even an inch.
Noticing their arrival, Cassius slowly rose, his golden slitted pupils looking down upon them from seven or eight meters in the air.
"We meet again, Starfallen."
"Are you... prepared?"
Alger dropped to one knee, lowering his head, and reported, "Master, they have completed the trial you set."
Cassius narrowed his eyes slightly and lowered his head a fraction. "Very good. This has already exceeded my expectations."
As he spoke, the two could almost feel a blast of sulfurous heat wash over their faces. The sheer pressure radiating from the behemoth before them filled them with instinctual dread.
The red dragon continued, "The Redscale Conquerors shall be the keenest blades at my command. From this day forth, you shall shed this weak, powerless human husk and become the most loyal claws of the Cinder Nest."
Mantou muttered under his breath, "A pity my handsome face has to be ruined here."
Singo cursed in a low whisper, "Do you want your affinity to drop? If not, shut your trap."
Cassius paid them no mind, merely speaking in a cool, detached tone: "Alger, prepare to begin."
The half-dragon knight stepped forward, reciting the oath prepared beforehand: "Before the Lord of Cinders, the great red dragon Cassius, do you swear your allegiance to dedicate your entire lives to being the loyal claws of the Cinder Nest? Regardless of good or evil, right or wrong, will you conquer all for your master with your flames?"
"Are you willing to become Redscale Conquerors?"
The quest information on their interface refreshed.
[Do you accept the faction subclass: Redscale Conqueror? If accepted, please proceed according to the ritual.]
[Note: Once a faction subclass is selected, your faction will be locked, and you will be unable to switch freely.]
A string of oath text appeared beneath the prompt.
"I, Mantou (Singo), swear allegiance to my lord, Cassius Claudew Norixius. Pledging unwavering loyalty, I shall be the vanguard of my king, burn his enemies to ash, and conquer all."
Both players dropped to one knee and recited in unison.
"Very well. Follow me."
Alger blindfolded both of them with crimson cloth, then led them and the wyverns deeper into the cavern, arriving at a secluded grotto.
*Bloodline Boon—*
*Half-Dragon Transformation.*
Cassius willed it in his mind. Several droplets of scalding dragon blood floated in the air at his command, then merged into the two players' bodies.
The moment the dragon blood made contact with fragile flesh, it produced a sharp sizzling sound, even releasing wisps of white smoke.
"Argh!"
As the scalding blood entered his mouth, Mantou couldn't help crying out, thrashing violently on the ground.
"Holy shit, I set the pain threshold to five percent, so why does it still hurt this bad?!"
"Turn off pain! Turn off pain!"
Singo's breathing also grew ragged, his entire body turning flush red.
White vapor billowed from their pores, filling the air around them.
Beneath their skin, the joints at their elbows, knees, and spine bulged madly, piercing through flesh and cloth to form sharp, barbed bone spurs.
Crimson scales grew at a visible rate across their entire bodies—chests, arms, and even their faces—violently tearing through skin.
The faces that had originally been scanned from reality were distorted by draconic bone structure and scales, leaving behind only faint traces of their original features, now resembling savage dragon heads.
Even though the pain system had been shut off in time, Mantou was still scared out of his wits. Notifications rapidly flashed across his panel.
[Acquiring data...]
[You have obtained the special racial template: Half-Red Dragon.]
[Note: This racial template is permanent. Resurrections will also be executed according to this template.]
[Your attributes have increased substantially. You have gained Natural Armor, Fire Breath, and other half-red dragon abilities...]
Blindfolded and still undergoing the transformation, Mantou watched the continuously scrolling prompts, feeling an exhilarating rush. If he weren't currently unable to control his body to speak, he definitely would have blurted out an emphatic "Awesome!"
Beside him, the wyvern Noodles was likewise undergoing a metamorphosis. It hissed and thrashed relentlessly as the red scales covering its body grew denser and harder, its slender frame thickening and expanding into a much larger beast.
Fundus vessels began forming within its flesh, its bloodstream radiating searing elemental energy.
Moreover, an even more elusive change was taking place...
[Digitizing...]
[Digitization complete!]
[Verifying parameters...]
[Parameter verification complete!]
[Detected that the wyvern 'Noodles' is your special subclass mount. It will be treated as part of the player's class system. Therefore, should the mount perish, you may resurrect it from an ancient magic circle at the cost of items of equivalent value.]
*The mount can be resurrected?!*
*Holy shit!*
*This class—is utterly broken!*
Browsing the prompts in the darkness, Mantou couldn't help marveling from the bottom of his heart.
Chapter 90