The Handbook for Completing Demi-Human Girls

The Southern Branch Mountain Range before them resembled towering, cross-cutting walls that pierced the clouds. Even to Fisher and Eimhart, who had not yet entered and were merely observing from the gateway, the naturally imposing mountain range still appeared as an exceptional strategic stronghold. No wonder it could serve as the chasm standing between the Red Dragon Court and the Green Dragon Court.

Eimhart floated beside Fisher, inquiring about his next move. Fisher clearly had no intention of waiting any longer; he just wanted to quickly head inside and search for traces of Raphaela.

"Looking at the situation outside, it's been a while since the Green Dragon Court and the Red Dragon Court had a large-scale, head-on conflict. Grass has already grown out from the wreckage and trenches on the frontline battlefield. Has it been a few months, or half a year? But it's hard to say about the interior of the mountain range. Maybe the Green Dragon Court has been continuously infiltrating it?"

Eimhart swept a glance over the situation outside the mountain range and spoke to Fisher.

Fisher recalled the map of the Southern Continent he had seen in the past. The Southern Branch Mountain Range stretched hundreds of kilometers both horizontally and vertically. Exiting the Southern Branch Mountain Range and heading south for another few hundred kilometers was a stretch of wilderness, followed by the southernmost tip of the Southern Continent: Sunset Valley, the place where the Bat-Man Species had lived for generations.

If Raphaela's Dragon Court was located south of the Southern Branch Mountain Range, then the Bat-Man Species of Sunset Valley were likely already the Red Dragon Court's minions, serving Raphaela.

It was unknown whether the Naris army had ever attempted a naval attack from the south, but as a Dragon-kin, Raphaela's Rank was undoubtedly higher than many other Demi-human Races. According to Ingrid's earlier description, Raphaela also led the charge in the war, which meant she was probably at the frontline. Entering the mountain range to search for her should be correct.

"We will enter the mountain range directly. She should be at the frontline combat position of the Red Dragon Court. It would be best to find her directly; if not necessary, I do not wish to expose myself to the rest of the Red Dragon Court people."

"Why?"

Fisher glanced around. For some reason, a sudden gust of hot wind blew from the north behind him, giving him an ominous premonition.

But he didn't pause. Very soon, he took Eimhart with him and leaped from their spot, heading towards the Southern Branch Mountain Range ahead.

"Because I am a human, and furthermore, a Nari Person."

"Aren't you a fugitive?"

"To them, I am not."

"Hmm, that makes sense. They've been severely bullied by the Naris-backed Green Dragon Court. It's truly impossible to guarantee what their mindset is like right now. Do you think that when you go over, that Raphaela or whatever will also stab you?"

The expression on Fisher's face was very faint. He merely shot a glance at Eimhart, breaking his usual silence to explain a bit more to him,

"Her feelings towards humans certainly wouldn't be entirely hatred. I am willing to believe that when she left to establish the Dragon Court, it was to fight for the freedom and future of her own clan, not purely for revenge against humans. The Dragon Court is her life's blood, but it doesn't solely belong to her. I don't want my appearance to force her into a difficult choice: 'Who is more important, me, or the Dragon Court?' I only came here because I wanted to see her and was worried about her; that's all."

"Hmm, you're right. Though now I am quite curious about how you two met. I know how you laid your murderous hands on all those ladies after we met. Elizabeth was completely deceived by you early on, Baimon deceived you, I don't dare ask about Renee's, so what about this Raphaela?"

Fisher landed once more, this time already within the bounds of the Southern Branch Mountain Range. The thousands-of-feet-high mountains ahead stretched endlessly, seemingly showing no signs of living beings other than animals. He could only search bit by bit.

"She is the daughter of the Patriarch of the Southern Branch Tribe of the Dragon-kin. Originally, due to negligence, she and her sisters were captured by a human slavery squad and sold, until they were eventually bought by me. Originally, I planned to bring them back to Saint-Nazareth, but a few things happened in between, so, ultimately, I gave up. I let her go, based on my own selfishness and greed."

"Oho, the daughter of a Patriarch, huh... Hmm, I'll give her a six. The other ladies have too much background, this point puts her slightly above Alajina."

Eimhart's book pages began to flip again, golden light surging within. Who knows if he was recording some unwarranted list again.

Fisher looked at him expressionlessly and asked,

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing, just recording... Oh, you mean the score? I just felt that without some quantification, it would be impossible to know the relative strengths and weaknesses among those ladies. I feel that the higher they are ranked, the more likely they are to stab you."

Eimhart snickered, looking thoroughly like a villain whose petty scheme succeeded.

Seeing this, Fisher unhurriedly countered,

"Then where does Helaire rank?"

Hearing that accursed name, Eimhart's entire body stiffened. Even the flipping pages in his belly stopped moving, and he spoke as if his defenses were entirely broken,

"...Your mom! I told you, you're not allowed to mention her!"

Fisher smiled faintly and didn't speak further. Anyway, as long as the topic shifted to Helaire, Eimhart would immediately be silenced and the topic terminated; this trick worked every time.

Perhaps in the future, when he was in a crisis and this guy was about to turn coat and spill all the bad things he had done, he would only need to mention "Helaire" to break the heavy siege...

Fisher's movements were very fast. To him now, even the past Sema Mountains of the Northern Border were nothing. Of course, this excluded the Spatial Turbulence generated by the roots of the World Tree. So the current Southern Branch Mountain Range was merely a relatively tall mountain.

He and Eimhart chatted while quickly scouting for clues that might trace back to the Red Dragon Court, without making any terrifying commotions.

"Did you just say that along with Raphaela, you also bought a few of her sisters?"

"Not exactly sisters, not by blood, but they shared a very deep bond."

"Strange. Did a guy like you not make a move on those other sisters?"

"...I am not that kind of person."

As they spoke, Fisher, having already crossed one mountain range, arrived at a mountainous jungle between two transverse ridges. Here, a clear spring trickling down from the mountain range they had crossed behind them nourished a variety of plants, including materials used for creating magic.

He stood by the stream, only noticing his reflection when he happened to glance at it. He was still wearing the tattered white robe brought back from the Sanctuary, looking almost like a beggar from nowhere, except with a cleaner face.

He forgot this matter because he was in too much of a hurry, but Fisher had no other options right now. It's not like he could gather some leaves to cover himself, right?

"Fisher, look over there!"

"..."

Fisher shook his head and withdrew his gaze from the stream. Right at this moment, Eimhart on his shoulder suddenly spoke up, pulling his gaze back towards the direction Eimhart indicated.

In the dense forest slightly further away from the stream, the corpses of quite a few Demi-humans and human soldiers wearing the Green Dragon Court's flag lay haphazardly. Fisher guessed that not too much time had passed, perhaps within a few weeks, because even the corpses hadn't completely turned into clean white skeletons.

Fisher walked over slowly and found that the equipment on their bodies had basically been completely looted. Some ancient trees nearby were snapped in half, while others still bore bullet holes—likely the combat traces left by these Green Dragon Court soldiers before their death.

Fisher touched the point where a massive tree was broken off, then spoke softly to Eimhart,

"We should have arrived."

"Hmm, there are basically no obvious traces of combat at the mountain range ahead. The Green Dragon Court people find it hard to come up, and the Red Dragon Court people find it hard to get out, so it's all traces of small-scale guerrilla warfare. The forest ahead is at least a hundred kilometers deep, not to mention this terrain; without putting in immense effort, it really is difficult to enter. Those guys are funded by Naris; didn't they use magic?"

"They did, but it probably wasn't a large-scale, all-out offensive. Moreover, the Dragon-kin are not without magic; as early as the Femabaha Dragon Court era, magic was already being utilized by them."

Fisher lifted his eyes and looked further into the distance. On the mountain ranges even further away, many withered trees hung from the cliffs. Looking closely, it seemed to be the traces left by a massive fissure and crater that spanned several kilometers. High-ring magic penetrated the thick forest and mountains, sweeping trees that originally grew on the ground up onto cliffs hundreds of meters high, where they still hadn't fallen.

"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."

"Buzz, buzz, buzz..."

It was in this extreme quiet, seemingly devoid of living creatures, where only the "rustle" of the breeze brushing through the hills and woods remained, that Fisher's Rank—which surpassed ordinary life—allowed him to hear an incredibly subtle sound.

He raised an eyebrow, then abruptly took two steps back.

Coinciding with these sudden two steps back, two iron blades riding the wind rapidly sliced through the space he had just been standing in, plunging sharply into the broken tree ahead.

Fisher looked over and sure enough, they were embedded inches deep.

"There's—woo, woo!"

Eimhart was just about to say something, but Fisher expressionlessly shoved him into his coat. Immediately after, Fisher seemed to sense many lifeforms approaching his location from afar. Yet he acted as if he hadn't noticed at all, merely waiting in place for something, as if he didn't dare to act rashly.

"Whoosh, whoosh!"

The dense forest nearby shook from far to near. Fisher raised his eyes to look, only to see two grappling hooks tearing through the air towards him.

Fisher suddenly grabbed the grappling hook and gave it a light tug. On the other end of the hook, two figures uncontrollably crashed through several trees as they sped towards his direction.

"Crash! Bang!"

In pain, they could only temporarily let go to escape the control of that immense force, but this also delivered their weapons into Fisher's hands.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

The dense sound of musket fire rang out in the forest again. Unhurriedly, Fisher raised the grappling hook he had just snatched. The iron grappling hook spun rapidly in the air, swiftly creating a visual impenetrable barrier, deflecting all approaching bullets.

"Quickly, use magic! (Dragon Court Language)"

In the woods, from a direction where it was impossible to tell where anyone was with the naked eye, an urgent yell suddenly came. This seemed to be the first time Fisher heard a voice from this group that he could distinguish.

He immediately stopped the grappling hook spinning in his hand and looked towards that direction.

In the distance, about a hundred meters away, a figure completely covered in leaves had just brought a stone densely inscribed with Crests to their mouth. Just as the crimson Dragon-kin magic was about to light up, the human man's gaze, almost tangible, aggressively locked onto him.

He looked blankly, feeling as if the man's entire body was writhing, completely losing human form, instead resembling a black ocean surging with an incoming tsunami.

The figure's face paled, his Soul suffering an unknown impact. His head hurt intensely, as if countless steel needles were driven into it, and even the magic about to be activated in his hand became exceedingly dim.

"Ahhhh!"

He screamed, quickly attracting the attention of his other companions.

"Capone!"

In the distance, the other person who had just shouted "Quickly, use magic" sped towards Fisher, seemingly still gripping some sharp weapon flashing with silver light.

But Fisher didn't even look at him. He simply gave the grappling hook in his hand a shake, and the hook crashed toward the flying figure like a mountain. The person hastily raised his weapon to block, but was still swept up by that immense force and smashed into the forest behind him, breaking several more trees in the process.

"Crack, crack, crack!"

Fisher didn't look over there; having reached the Mythic Rank, he naturally knew how much force to apply. He only wanted the other party to lose the ability to resist and stop moving, not to kill them, so it looked terrifying but wasn't life-threatening or even severely injuring.

Then, he stomped hard on the ground, wielding the grappling hook in his hand and slamming it toward the earth.

"Rummbbbllleee!!"

Instantly, it was as if a mountain had been completely pierced through. The shockwave splashed up by the terrifying power even caused the distant forest to start uneasily waving its head, searing the might of this attack along with the wind into the minds of those assailants.

This should make them quiet down, right?

Sure enough, more figures in the distance, seeing the terrifying battle scene here, showed signs of retreating, which was exactly Fisher's goal.

He wanted to beat the opponent into retreating; they would certainly go back to pass on the news and request backup. At that time, successfully sneaking after them would push the boat along the current, allowing him to find Raphaela or the location of the Red Dragon Court's higher-ups...

Watching as most of the personnel on the opposing side began to retreat—even abandoning the two wounded individuals not far beside Fisher, ready to flee themselves—it was right at this moment that a hysterical roar abruptly rang out from over there,

"Ahhhhhhh!"

Fisher paused slightly and cast his gaze over. A blue shadow, fast as lightning, shot out furiously from the retreating figures. Ignoring the startled cries and attempts to stop her by her companions beside her, the figure fiercely brought two streaks of silver light towards Fisher.

Those two streaks of silver light were two sharp Daggers.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss!!"

That blue shadow stomped heavily on a standing tree, her entire body erupting with massive amounts of burning hot steam. And as that steam surged, the Scales on that blue figure's body reflected an electroplated glimmer like an illuminating source. Both her speed and strength began to significantly increase, and she shot towards Fisher like a high-speed spinning top.

Yes, based on these Traits, Fisher quickly realized that this was a blue-scaled Dragon-kin.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

As those two streaks of silver light spun over like electricity, Fisher paused for a second, his movements turning sluggish as if he hadn't reacted in time.

Got him!

This thought flashed through the mind of the spinning blue Dragon-kin, after which she used all her might with the rapidly spinning blades, preparing to pierce the chest of the person before her.

But the next moment, the situation abruptly changed.

The human with flowing long hair abruptly reached out his hand and caught the rapidly approaching Daggers, yet he didn't grip them tightly to constrain her movements.

When blade and skin made contact, no matter how one thought about it, flesh and blood should have been torn apart. But what pierced the ears of the blue Dragon-kin was only an extremely grating friction sound.

"Screeeeech!"

This guy is absolutely a monster!

In this brief contact lasting only half a second, Fisher also finally got a clear look. The one charging at him was a petite, blue Dragon-kin wearing a veil over her head. However, since her entire body was currently obscured by the erupting steam, her figure appeared quite blurred.

She didn't look at Fisher; having this strike blocked only merited an extremely brief moment of surprise from her.

It would be great if this strike landed of course, but even if it didn't, it didn't matter, because her original goal was—as a secondary option—the two abandoned wounded comrades behind Fisher.

Even though she wasn't an adult yet, this blue Dragon-kin was already a battle-hardened warrior.

Fisher glanced at the other person hidden beneath the cloak, yet lacking any "Dragon Horn"-like accessories, he abruptly thought this.

The next second, the blue Dragon-kin before him relied nimbly on the reactive force of the collision between their two powers. Like jumping on a trampoline, she leaped into the air again, passing straight over Fisher, heading towards the wounded comrades in the forest behind him.

Of course, Fisher knew her objective, and originally had no intention of stopping her. But when he saw the back of the Dragon-kin, he seemingly thought of something and abruptly changed his mind.

This Dragon-kin's rich combat experience, agility, and decisiveness in action—if an ordinary enemy encountered them, they might truly fail to react in time. Yet every 'if' crumbled before the Mythic Rank.

Fisher didn't even turn his head back. His wrist merely flicked slightly, and the grappling hook in his hand felt that immense force and whipped out violently. Up above, right as the Dragon-kin was about to leap into the forest, it sharply caught her ankle.

"What?!"

The moment that Dragon-kin felt something entangling her, she had already looked back in shock, only for the terrifying long-haired man to give a gentle tug, sending her flying uncontrollably in his direction.

"Bump!"

"Damn it!"

That Dragon-kin slammed hard into the ground. Seizing the moment, she was about to use her Dagger to cut the rope of the grappling hook, but before she could do that, that terrifying figure heavily pressed down, instantly pinning her two wrists.

"Captain!"

"Danger!!"

In the distance, all the people who were about to run away entirely ran back, while the Dragon-kin beneath him struggled even more frantically. The continuously erupting high-temperature steam was such that she even jerked her head sharply, lifting her mask slightly, ready to open her mouth to bite Fisher's neck.

"Roar!"

But Fisher only stared blankly at her. After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked tentatively,

"...Lar?"

The roaring girl paused slightly, and even the scalding hot steam abruptly became a bit gentler. Naturally, this also smoothed out her face that had been set for a desperate fight to the death.

"Let go of our Captain!"

"Let her go!"

The group of soldiers behind who had initially ran away all ran out again, leaving the cover and concealment of the forest to confront Fisher.

Looking closely, these guys were either tied with dense leaves all over their bodies or simply bundled in dried tree bark, looking as hilarious as a thousand-year-old ancient tree group tour.

But it had to be said, this camouflage effect was still very good. If it weren't for Fisher, for whom ordinary perception was already meaningless, you might not even know from where they would pop out.

Fisher paid them no mind, only looking in disbelief at the blue Dragon-kin pinned securely beneath him, who had slowly grown up to become sturdy.

Her originally pretty face, tainted with many traces of living in the wild, still couldn't mask her astonishment.

She opened her mouth, stammering for a long time, before finally dredging up a name from the ocean of memories—a name she thought would never be mentioned again,

"Fi... Fisher?"