School Transmigration: I, Chosen as the Saint by Dragons at the Start-Chapter 140 --The Black Protodragon Reappears, Overwhelmed by a Sense of Powerlessness
Crucially, this protodragon bore an exact resemblance to the artifact spirit of the Heart of the Ocean.
The only differences were: one was large, the other small; one black, the other white.
Despite its diminutive size, the white protodragon was fully formed, lacking nothing of what it should possess.
It swam increasingly fast within the gold artifact, as if aware that the space inside was becoming insufficient for it.
The Red General then tapped the gold artifact and pointed towards the sky, commanding, "Go."
The white protodragon, unable to contain itself any longer, took to the wind and soared high into the sky.
Upon leaving the gold artifact, its size expanded with the wind, reaching at least forty-five meters in length as it ascended.
What difference was there between it and the black protodragon, aside from their colors?
Even more astonishing, as it ascended, it was accompanied by a towering mist that spread instantly.
What had been clear skies suddenly turned dark with dense clouds, obscuring all light.
The dragon coiled and twisted among the clouds, which grew increasingly low and dark, nearly touching the mountaintops.
The Red General instructed everyone to step back several meters before extending her jade-like fingers to lightly tap the gold artifact a few times as if skimming the surface of water.
Each tap she made caused the clouds in the sky to burst into thunder, creating a resounding boom.
With a wave of her hand, she conjured clouds and rain, and with a flick of her fingers, she summoned thunder.
The lightning illuminated the clouds, also revealing the shadow of the black protodragon hidden within them.
Then came a torrential downpour.
The snow leopard immediately leaped back several steps, fearing the rain might touch its fur.
In fact, everyone was outside the rain’s reach; the rain fell only atop the mountain, covering a small area.
Only the Red General stood in the rain, while everyone else remained dry, untouched by a single drop of water.
The raindrops were actually red.
The guards looked down to see the white snow on the ground melt immediately upon contact with the rain, while the lichen and roots beneath quickly turned from yellow to gray and then rotted away to their roots.
Looking at the two pine trees by the mine’s entrance, they began to shed leaves after being drenched in the rain, and soon even their branches withered.
The soldiers thought to themselves, "Lucky we dodged in time."
...
Inside the mine, Owen and his companions had retreated to a dead-end path.
This was not a forced decision but a strategic choice made after discussions between Owen and Jonathan.
At this point, finding an exit was meaningless; without eliminating the leader of the flesh fortress—the River Crossing Demon spawn—they couldn’t leave this dungeon.
Thus, facing death to seek life was the only way, and finding an opportunity to eliminate the River Crossing Demon spawn was their only chance of survival.
They fought as they retreated.
Although cornered at a dead end, needing to defend only from one direction rather than being surrounded was, in fact, good news for them.
Jonathan’s role as the commander came to the forefront.
He divided the team into two groups: the outer group consisted of Feldin, Brawny, and Owen, who were to withstand the pressure from the Skeletal Golem army, meaning the path couldn’t be too wide.
The inner group included Monkey, Willow, and the others, responsible for casting spells from behind to protect the frontline, so the path also couldn’t be too narrow to prevent the River Crossing Demon spawn from sneaking through and injuring someone.
This arrangement, with a wider inside and narrower outside passage, was just right.
Smashing those frenziedly howling Skeletal Golems turned out to be futile, as they quickly reassembled and became even more ferocious.
At this juncture, the only option for everyone was to employ a tactic of entrapment.
Feldin’s slowing spell continued to be highly effective, and with their lives on the line, Jiplin no longer held back.
His arcanergy flowed as he sat cross-legged on the ground, chanting incantations while the others protected him.
The River Crossing Demon spawn, sensing an opportunity, attempted to launch stealth attacks twice but was repelled by Owen and his companions each time.
Fortunately, it lacked its sibling’s ability to drag people at will; otherwise, Jiplin would have been pulled underground by now.
Furthermore, after a long battle with these spawns, the group noticed some premonitory signs before the spawns emerged from the dungeon, such as slight bulges and wavy tremors on the ground or the rock walls, for reasons unknown.
This indicated that the River Crossing Demon spawns indeed could traverse through the dungeon, though at what cost remained unknown to the group.
As for the youngest spawn, Owen was at a loss for words.
Clad in thick bone armor, it was formidable, matching Owen blow for blow.
Aside from Owen, it posed little threat to the others, significantly increasing Owen’s pressure.
What was even more unreasonable was that whenever the youngest spawn’s bone armor shattered and its flesh was battered to a pulp, it would retreat into the rock walls and emerge anew, fully restored.
Ready to battle Owen for another three hundred rounds.
Owen’s pupils constricted, while Willow exclaimed, "Carnivorous vine, do you want us all to die here?"
Jiplin, pale-faced, managed a bitter smile, "I have my methods."
The carnivorous vine’s surface spikes could both draw blood and probe.
Once a living creature approached, the vine would coil around its prey like a python, ensnaring it tightly before injecting toxins with its spikes to drain blood.
These creatures were typically placed atop city walls to teach climbing enemies a lesson.
Resistant to acid and fire, with astonishing vitality, they were considered excellent partners in defending city gates.
For instance, the border city of Toka in the Kingdom of Laine had many carnivorous vines cultivated along its walls.
Naturally, these Skeletal Golems had no blood to offer, but the vines’ entanglement could still immobilize them, preventing any advance.
This was precisely the outcome everyone desired.
Jiplin was drenched in sweat as if he had been in a fierce battle for an hour, clearly indicating the effort required to deploy this spell was far from easy.
"The carnivorous vine can only last for an hour," he said, searching through the patrol’s supplies for restorative potions, "Everyone, make haste." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
He then muttered, "It’s just too unfair. We’re here in spirit, so why do we still feel tired?"
Willow replied, "It’s all because those teachers thought realism was better."
Monkey grumbled, "If only we could bring our gear in as well, this state is really annoying."
Jonathan, catching his breath, said, "Let’s talk less, rest more. We have a tough fight ahead."
Brawny plopped down on the ground with a thud, "Wonder what’s happening outside."
Feldin suddenly turned to Jiplin and asked, "How did you survive?"
The question instantly chilled the atmosphere.
All of Jiplin’s teammates had perished, leaving him as the sole survivor—an undeniably conspicuous situation.
Clenching his teeth, he said, "I saw my teammates couldn’t detonate themselves and were being dragged away by Skeletal Golems. Realizing something was amiss in the outside world, I smeared myself with the blood flowing from the walls and lay atop the tunnel. The Skeletal Golems seemed blind to my presence, likely distracted by you all at the time, allowing me the chance to escape."
The River Crossing Demon spawn’s actions grew increasingly fierce.
Fortunately, it hadn’t fully developed its intellect and didn’t know any war array maneuvers, attacking in mere disarray.
It couldn’t even reach the group before being targeted by collective fire.
Time still sided with it.
Whenever injured, it would burrow into the walls, reemerging fully revitalized and spirited as if nothing had happened.
Despite being souls, the realism of this world was overwhelming.
Owen and his companions were profoundly exhausted.
Even Owen, whose soul strength far surpassed the others, began to feel a trace of powerlessness.
This time, however, he swung his blade as before, severing the River Crossing Demon spawn’s bones, then followed through, brutally cutting off the youngest’s legs.
With a painful scream, the youngest grabbed its severed limb and plunged into the wall.
Leaning against the wall, Owen gasped for breath, the weight of their dire situation pressing heavily upon him.
