Chapter 7: Then I Ask You, Why Is Your Tail Pointed?
Seeing this, Enesyin immediately understood Yonglan’s plan.
“That straight sword, it seems to be a rune weapon of Everlasting Blessing, of quite excellent quality.”
Yonglan pointed at the Ghoul Knight with one hand and said to Enesyin, “I’ve encountered this fellow before. While I hate to admit it, I’m hard-pressed to defeat him alone. However, with your help, the situation is a bit different.”
Enesyin gripped her silver sword tightly. “What should I do?”
“Wait for my first strike, then you flank and sneak attack. Or vice versa,” Yonglan concisely stated their battle strategy and then quickly walked towards the towering ghoul, who was kneeling with a sword planted.
“Creak, creak—”
As he approached within a certain range, the Ghoul Knight’s rusty body began to move, shaking off Dust. His grayish-white armor scattered, and his helmet’s visor returned a scarlet gaze towards Yonglan.
Yonglan’s fighting spirit ignited. He rested the heavy sword he had picked up on his arm and laughed heartily, “Ah, yes, that’s it! Let us fight to the death!”
“You die, I live!”
The Ghoul Knight naturally did not respond to Yonglan’s provocation. He simply acted on his instinct to kill and raised his straight sword.
“Bang—”
The blade arced through the air with a whistling sound, clashing with the heavy sword in a dull thud. The tall knight’s slash was powerful and heavy; in terms of strength, he was absolutely superior to Yonglan. However, Yonglan, who was prepared, had deliberately chosen a thick greatsword, using the weapon to compensate for the difference in Stats.
As Yonglan and the tall knight were locked in a stalemate, Yonglan glimpsed Enesyin out of the corner of his eye. The Platinum-haired Dragon Maiden, as planned, had circled behind the enemy and launched a rapid thrust at the unsuspecting Ghoul Knight.
“Pfft—”
The sturdy armor was pierced by the silver sword. Although the towering knight was aware, he was unable to move due to Yonglan’s restraint and was impaled through and through. For an ordinary human, a damaged heart would likely render them unable to fight, but for a walking Ghoul, a penetrating wound was far from enough.
The Ghoul Knight let out a hoarse roar from his throat, shoving Yonglan’s greatsword away and rapidly retreating to the side. Seeing Enesyin’s sneak attack succeed, Yonglan immediately laughed, “Knight, do not blame me for being treacherous. This is all for the sake of victory.”
‘I can do it! With Enesyin’s cooperation, defeating this powerful enemy is easy!’ Yonglan clenched his fist. He and Enesyin, one in front and the other behind, confronted the Ghoul Knight. Whichever one the latter attacked, the other could deliver a backstab.
The ghoul’s scarlet eyes flickered as he ran his damaged gauntlet along the blade.
“Chiiii—”
The runes on the straight sword glowed, and with a heat that distorted space, fiery orange flames instantly enveloped the blade.
‘Is the engraved rune from the [Flame] school? In that case, it’s better for Enesyin to attract its attention. As a Dragonborn, her resistance to fire is quite high. This pure flame rune should be mostly immune to her.’
Yonglan formulated a counter-strategy and immediately signaled Enesyin with his eyes.
However, Enesyin did not respond immediately. Instead, she froze, as if wanting to say something but hesitating. This slight lapse in attention was seized by the enemy. The ghoul, though lacking reason, had combat instincts that surpassed normal. He immediately turned and swung at Enesyin.
A surge of scorching flames washed over them. Enesyin snapped back to reality, quickly parrying with her silver sword, barely blocking the attack. Seeing this, Yonglan breathed a sigh of relief. The Dragon Species’ Stats were on par with the tall knight, so a stalemate was no problem. Moreover, the flame enchantment was practically a joke to a Dragon Species. As everyone knows, Dragon Species are the kings of fire control; using flames against a Dragon Species is like a dog eating a meat bun. Enesyin could easily counter it by unleashing her Dragonflame.
‘Wait… something seems wrong!’
Before Yonglan could celebrate, he noticed the Dragonborn girl’s strangeness. The Ghoul Knight continuously activated the runes, and crimson sparks continuously splattered onto the Dragon Maiden’s face and arms. The scattering sparks sizzled on the Dragonborn girl’s fair skin, causing her to tremble all over as she gritted her teeth, as if enduring the searing pain. And when the Ghoul Knight activated the flame-imbued sword again, the Platinum-haired Dragon Maiden finally couldn’t hold on and let go of her silver sword. The Ghoul Knight then charged up and raised his straight sword, swinging it down from above.
“Be careful!”
At the critical moment, Yonglan rushed over, pushed Enesyin, who was frozen in place, aside, and took the blow for her.
“Chii—”
The severe pain of being beheaded instantly made Yonglan’s vision black, and his consciousness blurred.
…
[Sync Failure]
[Rebooting…]
When Yonglan revived, the first thing he saw was Enesyin’s face, full of deep guilt. The Platinum-haired Dragon Maiden knelt on the ground in a posture of near atonement.
“I’m sorry… my incompetence led to defeat.”
Yonglan rubbed his still phantom-aching neck and said, “It’s just one failure, why so serious? Get up. But what was that just now? Did you make a mistake?”
“No, it’s not like that… Actually, I’ve been hiding something from you.”
Enesyin bit her lower lip, and after a difficult internal struggle, she stammered, “I… I don’t have the Talent Artifice for fire control.”
“???”
Enesyin’s clear and beautiful eyes were clouded with gloom. She lowered her gaze slightly. “I… I don’t know Dragonflame.”
‘Huh? What do you mean you don’t know?’
At this moment, Yonglan suddenly remembered something and looked at Enesyin’s status panel—there was indeed a description of her inability to summon fire. ‘Oh, incredible. You’ve even broken through the underlying code of a Dragonborn.’ Although he had only crammed some professional knowledge today, combined with the previous two weeks of familiarity, Yonglan understood what could be considered “common sense” quite well.
First, it must be understood that this is a thorough, idealistic world. The underlying logic that constitutes the world view is [Spirit Matter]. As the name suggests, [Spirit Matter] is the integration of soul and matter. Any material and consciousness are constructed from it, and the art of using [Spirit Matter] is collectively called Artifice. The strength of an Artificer depends only partly on their innate physical strength; it depends more on the amount and quality of [Spirit Matter]. The fundamental way for a transcendent being to become powerful is to sublimate their [Spirit Matter] and research their Artifice.
However, not all Artifice is learned; some Races can awaken Talent Artifice from their bloodline. For example, Dragonborn, as a top-tier superior race, their Talent Artifice is [Dragonflame]. At the pinnacle of the [Flame] school, it encompasses the Authority of tempering, burning, annihilation, and purification. [Dragonflame] is the ultimate combat Talent. Even Saintly beings flowing with Golden Blood cannot compare to Dragonborn in terms of pure destructive power and combat ability.
As for a Dragon who cannot conjure fire… then I ask you, do you consider yourself a Dragon? Then I ask you, I ask you, why is your tail pointed? If you are a Dragon, why can’t you breathe fire? A Dragonborn claiming they cannot conjure fire is like saying they cannot breathe!
