Chapter Forty: Striking the Fallen Dragon
As soon as Shaya finished speaking, his eyes widened in shock! He had finally spotted Ada, and the scene before him was eerily strange.
Just as the high-ranking magician was slowly approaching the dragon, behind him, what had seemed like a mere stone on the ground suddenly stirred, then silently flipped over—revealing a person! Ada was covered in dust, curled up like a rock—though to be fair, his disguise wasn’t particularly convincing. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, no one had noticed him before. Despite being huddled right there, it was as if he had vanished from everyone’s sight. Only when he moved did he suddenly become visible.
The peculiarity of this sensation filled Shaya’s heart with unease. But stranger things were yet to come.
Ada stood up, stretching as if to loosen his body. The dust clung to him, and his gaze locked immediately onto the magician ahead. The magician, oblivious to Ada rising behind him, continued to move forward, staff raised, approaching the dragon in silence.
Ada moved as well.
His figure was like a gust of wind—or rather, like a wisp of smoke. He glided silently toward the magician, his steps touching the ground without making a sound. Even as he moved, to Shaya watching from afar, it was as if he were witnessing a phantom drifting across the land.
In broad daylight, Ada walked right behind the magician, yet the magician remained utterly unaware. For a fleeting moment, Shaya felt as if Ada had become the magician’s very shadow!
He was right there, but he gave off an uncanny sense of “nonexistence.”
The distance between them shrank from seven or eight paces to three or five, then to just a single step. At the last moment, Ada was nearly pressed against the magician’s back. Yet the magician, as if bewitched, sensed nothing at all—Shaya thought Ada’s very breath could have touched the back of the magician’s neck!
Unbelievable! It was as if he were witnessing a ghost in broad daylight!
Shaya felt a sudden urge to shout and warn the magician—the suffocating suspense unbearable.
Then, Ada’s next move shook Shaya to his core.
Ada’s body twisted in a bizarre motion, his hand reaching forward holding something sharp—Shaya saw clearly: it was a pointed tree branch!
Ada’s movements were astonishingly swift, so fast that Shaya couldn’t follow every detail.
The action was singular: stab!
Three thrusts in quick succession!
Thud, thud, thud!
Clean, efficient, and lightning-fast—no hesitation or wasted motion!
The magician, still stepping forward, suddenly paled as three transparent holes appeared in his body!
His expression twisted in agony, he whirled around, eyes wide in terror at Ada behind him. As he opened his mouth to scream, Ada delivered the final blow.
Thud!
The sharpened branch plunged directly into the magician’s mouth, bursting out through the back of his skull!
Such uncanny, rapid, and decisive assassination left Shaya’s eyes wide in shock, then quickly narrowed in awe.
The magician crashed to the ground, the commotion instantly alerting the dragon, who lifted its massive head and opened its jaws, baring its fangs…
Ada, however, suddenly relaxed. He stepped forward, his feet making noise now—no longer concealing his presence.
Then, to the dragon poised to unleash its breath, he smiled and spoke.
He uttered a brief phrase, which made the dragon shut its mouth instantly:
“It’s me.”
…
…
Such a simple phrase, yet Ada’s tone carried the familiarity of an old friend—calm and unhurried, with a deep undertone of mockery. That was Ada’s habitual way of speaking.
But the dragon immediately closed its mouth, raising its neck, its entire body tensing at the sound. A low, wary whimper issued from its throat.
“You recognized my voice, didn’t you?” Ada’s mocking tone was undisguised as he approached, smiling.
Yet Shaya’s keen eyes caught Ada’s gaze—it was cold as ice!
“You must be curious why I speak to you in this language… hm.” Ada stopped five steps from the dragon’s head—close enough that the dragon could swallow him in a single lunge.
Yet facing this colossal beast, Ada showed no fear; his smile grew gentler, his eyes colder.
“It’s been such a long, long time since we last met,” Ada said, patting his hands. “Ever since you cursed me into this form!”
“You never imagined I would come for you! You probably thought that, now stripped of all my powers, I’d never have the strength to seek revenge.”
“How laughable. Now that I see you—see your miserable state—I suddenly find you quite pitiable.”
“Do you know how much effort and time I spent finding you? Tracking your movements took me fourteen years—by human reckoning.”
“I lived in these mountains for six years, sitting beside the flaming marshes, calculating the eruptions, distances, directions—four hundred and thirty-one days spent meticulously tracking you!”
“And you, my dear, I know you well. I knew that recently, you’ve been at your weakest. You bear that punishment and curse; I calculated the timing, and now, at this moment, your powers are less than half their usual strength.”
“Oh, and… half a year ago, I deliberately told an adventurer on the Wildfire Plains about the dragon in these mountains. I knew the rumor would spread and lure greedy humans!”
“As expected, things unfolded just as I planned. These magicians weren’t particularly powerful, but luckily, you’re even weaker than I anticipated.”
As Ada spoke, Shaya and the others listening from afar were stunned—the revelations were earth-shattering!
Ada approached the dragon, placing a hand gently on its massive flank, smiling softly. His voice was gentle, almost musical, yet tinged with a chilling undertone.
“Beautiful Dora, proud Dora, noble Dora… Seeing you like this brings me such joy!”
The dragon lifted her head in defiance, emitting a series of mournful sounds that finally transformed into a deep, hoarse human voice. Her tone was thick and weak, with a feminine touch, filled with bitterness and mockery:
“Darwin, you can only speak in human tongue now, can’t you? Hahaha! You can’t even speak properly anymore!”
The dragon’s booming voice carried clearly to Shaya and his companions, even at a distance.
“Oh… you still use magic to mimic human speech, so your magic isn’t entirely spent.” Ada scratched his ear and smiled. “You’re right—I can no longer speak dragon tongue… I’m in human form, and the human throat is different from ours. And thanks to you, though I appear human, my soul remains that of a dragon. I can’t learn human magic, nor can I use dragon magic. So I can’t mimic our own speech. All of this, thanks to you!”
A dragon!
Ada was actually a dragon as well?!
Shaya was stunned.
“Hahahahahahaha!” The dragon suddenly let out a despairing laugh, raising her head high and roaring at Ada in fury: “I know why you’re here! You want me to lift your curse? Proud Darwin! My noble Darwin! At last, you’ve come to beg me! But I will never do it! You’ll be trapped forever in this human body, never to reclaim your noble dragon form! Hahahahaha! As long as I refuse to lift the curse, you will never regain your dignity!”
Ada lowered his head with a smile. “You’re wrong—I never intended for you to lift it.”
He paused, then raised his head, speaking calmly: “That day you tricked me into swallowing the ‘Tear of Eternity,’ cursing me into human form, I knew you’d never lift the spell. I knew then you hated me to the core. I never harbored that foolish hope. My only wish is to see you die with my own eyes, to watch you take your last breath, and then… I will ensure your soul never returns to the sacred tomb! You should know, as a dragon, if your soul isn’t entombed, someday a passing magician may dig up your body and use the remnants of your soul to craft undead creatures. You might become an ugly bone dragon… Hahaha! Beautiful Dora, becoming an ugly bone dragon—how amusing that would be!”
The dragon suddenly flew into a rage, her body trembling with fear, and with a roar of fury she lunged at Ada: “Die!!”
“Damn!”
Shaya, who had been watching from the sidelines, saw the dragon attacking and sprang into action. Without a second thought, he hoisted a massive stone and hurled it at the dragon!
Whoosh!
The boulder, propelled by Shaya’s monstrous strength, flew like a hurricane. The dragon lifted her head just as the wind struck, and with a thunderous crash, the stone smashed into her skull, twisting her neck and knocking her to the ground—her face nearly caved in.
Shaya leapt up, shouting, “Damn it! No matter what Ada is, right now he’s my Sosso! Touch my property without asking? Not a chance!”
He grabbed his fire fork in one hand and hugged the pitiful creature in the other, with Dodoro hanging from his belt. Like a giant bear, Shaya charged forward, face fierce and imposing—truly a formidable sight.
Yet inwardly, he was thrilled: This dragon is done for—heaven-sent opportunity! If I don’t strike now, when will I? The gods have smiled on me—finally, Shaya’s luck has turned!