Chương 222: Reborn as the Dragon — Chapter 222 - Players vs. Black Dragon (1)

The sight of the Platinum Treasure Chest floating in the seawater made every player's breathing turn ragged. But now, the Black Dragon had become the obstacle in their way. As for the Black Dragon's instant kill on the Storm Worm King, the players weren't all that surprised. The Storm Worm King had already been on its last legs. Getting deleted by a Boss of the same level was perfectly normal.

Faced with the Black Dragon's threat and the treasure chest's temptation, the players, each with their own agenda, quickly split into two camps. One camp was led by Tagoshi Shishi. They believed everyone should work together to kill the dragon and claim greater rewards. Their earlier success in nearly killing the Storm Worm King by sheer numbers had filled them with confidence. The other camp was led by McCree. The last-hit reward had already been stolen by the Black Dragon Boss. He had lost badly.

Now his only hope was to protect whatever reward was inside the chest. A Platinum Treasure Chest was useless in a monster's hands. This Black Dragon probably wouldn't even bother taking it away. So when this Black Dragon and Tagoshi Shishi tore each other apart, wouldn't it be sweet to just grab the chest and run? As for the Tianchao player Li Chen, he had hidden himself away. He watched the Black Dragon circling overhead, spewing flames, with a cautious look. A trace of memory flashed in his eyes.

He had seen this Black Dragon before. Back when he had been undercover in the Black Beast Mercenary Group, it was this very dragon that had burned the mercenary camp outside the Sacred Wall of Felinir to ashes. It hadn't been that long, and yet the Black Dragon before him had already grown to this extent. He instinctively felt that this Black Dragon was somehow different from the other monsters in this world. Maybe it was hiding some secret. But now, with Tianchao's No.

1 Newbie Town far too distant, he had no way to send the information back. He could only watch and wait. Most of the players who had come to kill the Storm Worm King were fairly elite. Facing the overwhelming dragon breath, they all reacted effectively. This was where the wisdom of elite players showed. The mage players shielded themselves in a more careful way, using the weakest Water Shields, but stacking several layers of them.

The usually most useless Water Shield now did an effective job of reducing the damage from the fiery dragon breath. As for the warrior players, they dove straight into the water, using the coastal terrain to avoid the dragon breath's damage. Su Nian's first wave of breath had also been a test. Sure enough, these players were much more capable than the Sakura pigs he had met before. Look at that ability to adapt under pressure. Now that was finally a little like players.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. There was also a small group standing off to the side, watching the tigers fight from across the river. Their eyes kept darting toward the Platinum Treasure Chest on the sea. Su Nian knew exactly what they were thinking. They were waiting to profit from the chaos and pick up a windfall. In that instant, every kind of living creature's nature was laid bare.

"Then let's see what you elite players are really made of!" Su Nian sneered. He circled once around the nearby shrubbery, then dove back down and unleashed another wave of dragon breath. This time, he increased the dose. The breath fluid was thicker, and far less stable. While Su Nian was soaring through the air, the warrior players had already jumped back onto shore from the water. At Tagoshi Shishi's command, they also took grappling hooks out of their backpacks.

"We have to hold this wave of dragon breath!"

"Priest players stay in the water. All you need to do is shield the warriors and heal them. The moment the dragon breath sweeps over, dive into the water." Tagoshi Shishi's plan was simple. Take the dragon breath head-on, stick two or three thousand grappling hooks into the Black Dragon, and drag it down no matter what. Once this Black Dragon hit the ground, the battlefield would become the players' home turf. The entire coastline, including the nearby cliffs, was already packed with warrior players.

They swung the grappling hooks in their hands, eyes shining with excitement. There should have been even more of them. Unfortunately, many had already died in the battle with the Storm Worm King. They had been sent straight back to their own newbie villages.

"It's coming!" Tagoshi Shishi tightened his grip on the Muramasa in his hand. In his field of vision, the massive Black Dragon drew closer and closer. The dragon breath it spewed was like a crimson pillar, supporting its body and linking it to the ground.

"Grappling hooks ready!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Release!" Tagoshi Shishi roared the command. At the same time, every player in the team channel heard it. Those with shields put up shields. Those ready to heal held their healing spells at the ready. The warrior players locked onto the Black Dragon. And threw out their grappling hooks. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! A harsh metallic scraping rang out. There were so many hooks that the sound even drowned out the waves whipped up by the Black Dragon's wings.

Countless grappling hooks connected to the Black Dragon like black threads, making the huge dragon look like an overturned hedgehog on the ground, or a prey animal trapped in black spider silk. Dragon breath raged through the black web. The warrior players' HP plummeted at once. The 10% pain setting let them clearly feel their bodies starting to melt. The priests' healing speed couldn't keep up at all, and even the mages' Water Shields were barely effective.

That strange dragon breath could burn fiercely even on the surface of the sea. Scalding steam surged upward. The people nearby began to blister from the heat on their faces and bodies. Even so, the players were still fired up.

"We've got him pinned!" A warrior player roared. His HP was burned dry right then and there. But before he died, he still did everything he could to hook the other end of the grappling line onto a huge reef. A large number of warrior players were burned to death, and the pressure on the priests to shield and heal them dropped sharply. They quickly became more comfortable. On top of that, the mages kept casting ice magic to lower the temperature around them, and the situation seemed to gradually stabilize.

"Nice work!" Tagoshi Shishi clenched his fist tightly, excitement surging through him. This was the first time he had ever commanded such a large battle. The flying behemoth before him and the tension of the battlefield had his blood boiling. This was what a man of the Tagoshi family should do. War. War. And more war.

"Everyone, pull with all your strength!" Su Nian really was delayed for a moment by those grappling hooks. Mostly because they had gotten caught in his scales, and it was annoying. At first, he had wanted to test the players' quality, so he hadn't used the draconic language for armor removal. He hadn't expected to almost suffer a setback because of it. Seems like after turning into a human and doing too many pleasurable things, he had gotten a little too smug. But that was all it was.

His weight of over ten thousand tons wasn't easy to move. Even though those thousands of grappling hooks each carried a force of a thousand catties, all they could do was slow him down.

"Heh heh heh..."

"So badly do you want me to come down?" Su Nian's crimson-gold dragon eyes blazed even brighter through the black smoke. He suddenly folded his wings in tight. The grappling hooks on them snapped at once. Then, as he spread his wings again, hundreds of warrior players still gripping the other ends of the hooks were flung away like rag dolls.

"Since you want me to come down."

"Then I'll come down and play with you!" Magic and dragon breath had always been Su Nian's weakest points. His real strength was close combat. ➤ Next: Players vs. Black Dragon (2)