Chapter 70: I Only Have Eyes For You
"Hmp!!"
Gritting his teeth, Ethan clutched his crossbow with grim determination, his eyes sweeping across the chaos unfolding around him, tracking every shift in the battle line before he let himself settle on a plan.
He wasn’t alone in this, at least. The black flame basilisks had already surged out in full force, rallying behind their wounded leader without hesitation, their combined presence turning the cave mouth into a churning wall of scale and fire.
Smoke curled up from where several of them had already exchanged blows with the light dragons circling overhead, the acrid smell of it settling low over the ridge, mixing with the metallic scent of blood already thick in the air.
Even if that vindictive creature had come specifically for him, it wouldn’t reach him easily through this.
If anything, this was the opening he’d been waiting for.
Raising one hand into the air, Ethan gave a set of precise hand signals toward a streak of light cutting across the distant sky, the gesture deliberate, unmistakable even from a distance.
Stay back.
Without hesitation, the approaching light slowed its descent and pulled away, choosing instead to settle along a rocky mountainous edge some distance off. From there, a returning signal flashed downward, brief and clear, acknowledging the message had landed.
It wasn’t trust, exactly. More an understanding built quickly out of necessity, the kind that formed fast between people who needed each other functional and alive for the next few minutes.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Meanwhile, above the churning battlefield.
"Roar!!!"
A storm of black flame tore into the sky, aimed squarely at a dragon wrapped in shifting green scales. In response, the mind dragon pulled back sharply, releasing a burst of its own fire, not to overpower the assault, but simply to block it, to buy itself another few seconds of breathing room before the next wave came.
Its true advantage had never been raw strength.
It was the mind. The ability to reach into other creatures and bend their instincts sideways, to turn allies against each other with nothing more than suggestion and fear.
It had used that same trick on the light dragons every time it came here, forcing them into conflict they never wanted, framing the basilisks as the aggressors through pure manipulation.
None of them had ever fully understood why the fighting kept starting. Only the mind dragon knew, and it had never once felt the need to explain itself to creatures it considered beneath it.
Even now, mid-battle, it was still playing that same game, working every angle it could find to reach the human hidden somewhere behind the surging wall of basilisks.
’Wear yourself out, big guy. Then I’ll have your time.’
Ethan allowed himself a faint smile, watching from a distance as the creature strained against the tier 6 basilisk’s relentless pressure, its movements growing visibly more labored with each exchange, wings dragging low with every beat.
He was still occupied breaking the will of one basilisk at a time, methodical, patient, aware that reaching tier 7 before facing the mind dragon directly would shift the odds dramatically in his favor.
Especially if the giant basilisk managed to land real damage on it first.
But Ethan wasn’t the only one aware that time mattered here.
Without warning, the mind dragon unleashed a wave of raw mental energy across the entire basilisk horde, sending a ripple of pain and confusion crashing through their ranks all at once. It seized the opening immediately, diving straight into the disoriented crowd, aiming for a single human figure crouched low atop a beast’s back.
It meant to end this in one clean strike.
But as it closed the final few meters, a massive serpentine maw erupted from the chaos without warning, fangs sinking deep into the dragon’s neck and driving it hard into the ground, the impact throwing up a wide spray of dust and broken stone.
Ethan’s smile widened at the sight.
He abandoned the basilisk he’d been riding without a second thought, sprinting forward toward the spot where the two beasts now grappled violently against the stone.
Without hesitation, he fired two shots in rapid succession, the bolts narrowly threading past Hela’s black serpent and slamming into the dragon’s body, sending visible shockwaves rippling across its scales.
’You were always my target.’
Ethan’s expression twisted into something colder as he closed the remaining distance, hovering just above the struggling beast, the crossbow already reloading itself in his hands out of pure muscle memory.
Ever since the dragon altar, he’d been pushing this creature relentlessly, chipping away at it piece by piece. Its injuries had compounded steadily with every encounter, not only from the basilisks, but from Ethan himself, each clash leaving fresh damage layered over the last.
The wound along its neck from Hela’s serpent was still bleeding freely, dark blood trailing down across scales that had once looked untouchable.
Under normal circumstances, attempting to break the will of a tier 6 beast would have been reckless beyond reason. The gap between his own strength and a creature of that tier was not something confidence alone could close.
But seeing it beaten down this thoroughly, bleeding and cornered, walking away without trying would have been the greater mistake.
Dragon dive.
Ethan summoned Morgana, her form settling directly atop one of the nearby basilisks, several rock drakes falling into formation around her without needing instruction.
At the same time, Hela and the rest of the group arrived in full, securing their position as the wider battle between the basilisks and the flying light dragons continued to rage across the ridge, fire and light trading back and forth overhead.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Inside the mind of the mind dragon.
’Fucking human, do you know who I am? Get your summon away from me, or else I’ll kill everyone you hold dear!!!’
’Can you hear me?! Do you know what death looks like?!’
The mind dragon thrashed violently against Morgana’s invasion, its scattered intelligence flaring back to life in sharp, desperate bursts as it tried, uselessly, to threaten Ethan into retreat.
The threats meant nothing from where they came. Whatever fear the words might have carried on the surface, they arrived as nothing more than noise, filtered through a connection Ethan had no access to and no way of feeling.
Ethan, standing well outside the beast’s mind, remained completely unaware of the war raging inside it. All he could do was wait, holding his position steady, trusting Morgana to finish what she’d started.
Then, without warning—
[ Congratulations!! You have fulfilled Morgana ley freys evolution requirements]
[All summons under your liege have evolved]
[Vlad Dracular tepesh has become a Vampire count]
[Morgana ley Frey has become a Dragon Enchantress]
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