Chapter 20 – O, Great Dragon!

Louie descended the jade steps into the underground room. After turning a corner, his eyes were dazzled by the light gleaming off gold, silver, jade, and gem treasures. He also took note of the potent magic power radiating from metals he had never seen before.

The rare metals flashed with colorful lights, but without the dazzle of gold. The gold coins had almost filled up the entire basement. With his 4-meter-long body, the quantity didn’t seem that much, but if he were a human they’d probably form a mountain of glittering brilliance.

Louie could almost feel his irises turn into dollar symbols. His instinctive greed awoke the desire to jump up and down and roll around in his newfound wealth. Fortunately, his human soul helped suppress the urge.

At this moment, he noticed that there was actually an intruder within the room. It was an old mage wearing unorthodox magical robes. His entire person stank of poverty as he crazily stuffed gold into his pockets, and when he met Louie’s eyes, his face stiffened and he let out a smile that was uglier than crying.

…….

Marches cursed his terrible luck.

He originally wanted to participate in the Theocracy’s decadal invasion so that he could catch a beautiful noble elven girl who he’d then sell to a noble. This way he could make a fortune and recover from his bankruptcy after failing several magical experiments.

The Theocracy had been invading inhuman enemies for more than hundreds of years now. When facing the powerful races, their battle would only end in skirmishes, but when facing weaker races, they would launch true invasions. In these many years, the Theocracy and other races had been fighting back and forth in low-intensity battles.

It was because of this lower danger level that a powerful seven ring mage like Marches decided to join the war. He even received preferential treatment from the Holy Iris Knight Commander and enjoyed the worship of some of the low-rank mages.

However, no one could imagine that in this show of strength, the army would actually encounter a primordial dragon that was only mentioned in legends. Moreover, it was a demigod!

Marches knew that the Silver Moon Kingdom’s demigod queen would summon a legendary creature every time there was a war in order to reduce the casualties. In his mind, although such a creature was strong, the legendary rank knight commander would be able to face off against it. So long as he could sneakily kidnap a beautiful elf and then run away, wouldn’t the little risk be worth it?

However, that was not the case in this war without precedent. An actual demigod dragon had appeared, changing the situation completely. Let alone a seven ring mage like him, even the legendary rank warrior was finished off quickly. The dragon could overwhelm a legendary rank warrior with its physique alone.

Just as Marches imagined, the knight commander was killed in two rounds, but fortunately, the commander had provided him enough time to escape the battlefield and return to the Central City.

Clearly understanding that the enemy was a demigod dragon, Marches did not feel that the city could put up much resistance. Thus, he did not think too much before deciding to escape before the dragon reached the vicinity. In any case, he was a seven ring mage. Normal wild creatures were not his enemy, and so he could guarantee his own safety.

However, he was too greedy in the end. Discontent at his lack of achievements, his latent avarice had erupted in full force. Rather than escape in advance, he chose to take advantage of the chaos to plunder the church. Given that the dragon would be the scapegoat, he had little to worry about after all.

Just as Marches expected, the senior priests and clergymen in the cathedral ran away without bringing anything after learning of the demigod dragon. He took this chance to break in like nobody’s business, and with the help of his own magic, he broke the traps leading towards the treasure room.

After seeing the dazzling treasure room, Marches kept his basic reasoning. He knew that if he took the items that emitted magic fluctuations, he would probably be discovered by the dragon, but if he took some gold and jewels, then there shouldn’t be any problem.

However, he never could have imagined that while he was filling his pocket with gold and jewels, he would meet the dragon face to face.

The dragon in front of him was slightly strange. His body had actually turned to that of a baby dragon, and it had lost the demigod might that could suffocate its spectators. However, Marches knew that dragons of its level could freely change their size and even race if they wanted to sow their seeds. In addition, the dragon’s massive frame could not fit into the palace, and so it made sense for it to shrink itself.

The golden scales that glittered like gold told Marches all that he needed to know and then some. The baby dragon in front of him was unmistakably the Demigod dragon from earlier.

Marches didn’t even think before throwing back the gold and jewels in his hand back into the pile. He got on both knees and kneeled as he cried out, “…… Mighty dragon, I am not here to covet your treasures. I simply wished to prevent vile thieves from laying their hands on your belongings whilst you displayed your noble, supreme, and magnificent visage above. I am only here to guard your treasures! Ah, I just wanted to see the purity of these gold coins, and whether they could match your supremacy. Please rest assured that the gold coins here are all imperial goods of the highest quality. They are the only ones that can match your noble and elegant golden luster!”

Marches hugged the dragon’s leg and cried out.

Oh my God, how dared I lust after a dragon’s treasure?! I have truly gone crazy!

It was already too late for Marches to regret.