The curtain of rain and the cover of night became perfect camouflage for Logan, the Black Dragon.
His tempered claws sliced through falling droplets, his massive shape all but melting into the jungle shadows.
A subtle flick of his tail kept him balanced.
His rear legs moved forward, claws fully extended.
In that instant, he was like a raptor diving from the sky.
The strike came too fast to react.
The mage didn't even have time to scream before a crushing force slammed into her, sending her sprawling into the mud.
Logan's claws sank deep into her shoulder, pinning her to the ground.
She froze in terror, utterly paralyzed.
Raised in the sheltered luxury of nobility, she had never truly faced death.
Now all she could see was a black dragon's maw closing in.
Up ahead, the Knight-Captain was still locked in combat with the mercenaries. He hadn't even turned around.
A second later—
CRUNCH.
Logan bit down.
His razor fangs tore through flesh and bone, crushing most of the mage's shoulder and part of her neck in a single bite.
Blood exploded into the rain.
Pah—tch.
[Killed Level 18 Human Mage.
Gained 10 Upgrade Points.]
Logan lifted his head. His slit-pupiled eyes shone coldly in the storm.
The Mage's body was already getting cold.
His draconic instincts whispered to him: beauty, power—it didn't matter. If it was a threat to what he was protecting in the nest, then it had to be killed.
That was where his treasure lay.
His first kill.
There was a flicker of dissonance deep down inside him.
But only for a moment.
Back on Earth, Logan might've been lawful good. But since his soul blended with Vorthras's draconic body, that line had been blurred.
Now, he was true neutral—chaotic at heart.
Killing? Fine.
Eating people? Hard pass.
"It's a black dragon!!"
Someone among the Night Viper mercenaries finally woke up and screamed.
The Knight-Captain spun on his heel.
He saw the Mage lying dead in a pool of blood.
"...Selene."
The name ripped off his throat in a snarl.
Bloodshot veins bulged around his eyes. His hold on the longsword was so tight that it screeched against the hilt.
He locked eyes with Logan, his face twisting into pure rage.
"I'll kill you... I'll fucking kill you!!"
[Status Tag: Knight-Captain in Critical Rage (Level 21 - 30)]
[Insight (Basic)] flashed over his head in bold red.
Logan cast one look and made his call.
Going head-to-head now?
Not worth it.
No hesitation.
He twisted aside and dodged the slash from the Knight-Captain. The blade scraped on his scales and sent sparks.
At the same time, his tail came out whipping hard.
His black form shot low across the ground like a hunting panther, and headed right for the dozen or so Night Viper Mercenaries who hadn't quite processed what was going on.
Before the boss fight—clear the mobs.
In the rain-water soaked night, the true hunt had just begun.
Once a fifteen-foot black dragon started charging, that alone was enough to break the spirits of mere mercenaries.
And Logan could fly.
The mercs had just barely managed to steady their formation, shields and swords up and bracing for a head-on clash - when the black dragon suddenly beat its wings and got airborne.
His huge body cleared the ground and kicked up a mist of rain water in his wake.
Their blades lanced through nothing but air.
Logan used the momentum to catapult sideways, landing on a thick tree trunk. His claws dug deep into the bark as he perched above them, eyeing the group of them like a predator eyeing its prey.
"Rrraaaagh--!"
His low guttural roar echoed through the rain-soaked night.
He'd planned to save the acid breath he'd been building up - but against this crowd there was no need to hold back.
Grrrrrrr...
His throat swelled up, a deep rumbling through his chest.
After a short charge-up, Logan spread his jaws wide open.
HSSSSHH—
A fan-shaped spray of acid burst out, not thick but wide, raining down from above and mixing in with the storm as it drenched down the formation of mercenaries.
"AAAHH--MY FACE!"
"MY EYES! I CAN'T SEE!"
"COVER UP! DAMN IT, KILL THAT THING!!"
Screams erupted instantly.
The breath only lasted a second -- less, even -- but in the downpour, the acid spread fast. The rain diluted it just enough to seep through armor seams, trailing across the skin and into every gap.
Agonizing pain broke their formation.
Only a few of the mercs standing farther back escaped the worst of it.
Meanwhile, the Knight-Captain was coming fast from the distance.
The window had opened.
Logan's eyes narrowed. He took off from the tree in a steep dive, snapping the crowd with a sharp burst of [(Insight)].
[Martin: Level 16 Mercenary | Vision: Intact]
"You'll do."
Target locked.
His hardened claws tore through the leather armor, and punched into the lining beneath it, and through the man's throat.
Blood sprayed into the rain, and then disappeared into the mud.
Logan tore through the crowd like a living storm.
Sometimes he skimmed low, wings flaring to avoid counterattacks.
Other times he came down hard, using his mass to knock the mercenaries like bowling pins.
Not even one could withstand a direct hit.
The Night Viper Mercenaries had heard of the black dragons before.
In their minds black dragons were brutal but dumb-beasts that relied on brute-force and blind charges.
But this one was different.
It knew how to go diving and disengage.
It relied on the rain and darkness to cover its movements.
It picked them off one by one.
It even used its tail to grab a mercenary and block an attack from behind.
If not for the black scales and telltale acid breath, they might've thought they were facing a crafty green dragon.
But they did not have time to think anymore.
Most of them were writhing on the ground with eyes burnt out by acid.
The few who could still see were hunted down one by one.
In less than thirty seconds,
the forest fell silent again.
Rain fell upon the leaves and corpses alike. The air was thick with the cold heavy scent of death.
...