School Transmigration: I, Chosen as the Saint by Dragons at the Start-Chapter 160 --Ambushed

Dinesh chuckled, "This is also a stroke of fate for you, Your Highness. The Heart of the Ocean is a divine artifact that one can only hope to encounter by chance. To obtain the Heart of the Ocean, your fortune is truly against the heavens."

Owen waved his hand dismissively, "I almost lost my life for it."

Dinesh fell silent again, seemingly pondering where to place Owen.

Now, Owen had come to understand the elder’s temperament.

Not much for words, he often fell into silence mid-conversation, preferring to mull things over.

"I’ll go to Loveflow City," Owen volunteered.

"It’s adjacent to the angel race’s territory, where the conflict has erupted quite severely."

Dinesh was taken aback, not expecting Owen to take on such a significant task right away.

"That’s possible," Dinesh nodded.

"The city is under the command of Sandeck, leading the beacons and the tranquil race. All are brave and skilled in battle; you’ll have no problems gaining experience there."

"Beacons and tranquil race?" Owen repeated.

Dinesh explained, "Both are intermediate races. The beacons excel in using fire-based magic and ranged attacks, while the tranquil race is a hybrid of the human race and some special bloodlines, possessing evenly distributed strength, making them particularly adept at slaying enemies on the battlefield."

Owen remembered, speaking slowly, "I see, the tranquil race are the vanguards on the battlefield, many races’ personal guards are from their ranks. Their strength is unified and balanced, making them perfectly suited for executing war arrays."

"Exactly," Dinesh said.

"With the assistance of these two guard units, the pressure on Loveflow City has significantly decreased. It’s currently in a stalemate. If you go, you could help by transporting some supplies."

"No problem," Owen took on the task.

After finishing his conversation with Dinesh, Owen hurried off towards Loveflow City.

Along the way, Isaac was visibly excited; whereas war instilled fear in most, for him, it represented a golden opportunity to achieve glory.

Traveling on foot, as Owen and his company did, was necessary to gather resources along the way.

Many intermediate races lived near Dragon Echo Valley, most of which were vassals to the dragons, and some even vassals to those vassals.

In Owen’s possession was the token of Dragon Echo Valley—a dragon scale.

This compelled the leaders of these intermediate races to reluctantly part with their resources.

Having been under the dragons’ protection, they naturally had to make sacrifices now in times of difficulty.

Owen’s journey to collect resources was surprisingly smooth; no intermediate race dared to challenge him.

He even visited the territory of darkveil, taking Nina with him.

Since coming under Owen’s protection, darkveil had not suffered attacks from intermediate races, and their lives had significantly improved.

Owen was welcomed with great pomp during his visit, with darkveil offering up their finest goods.

Nina had grown up, no longer the thin figure of before.

Knowing she was Owen’s person, darkveil had taken good care of her.

Owen imparted to Nina a darkveil arcana—Thousand Illusion Path, sufficient for her to cultivate to the grandmaster-tier.

Reaching the grandmaster-tier meant that all further cultivation would be a matter of personal insight; advancement depended solely on oneself.

Nina was ecstatic, kneeling in gratitude, which Owen did not stop.

He left with Nina and some resources in tow.

The frontline war demanded substantial provisions, and had it not been for the dragons’ substantial reserves, the battle array might have failed before even commencing.

Throughout the journey, Owen expanded his mental force, enveloping everything around him.

This sensation was profound; he could clearly perceive everything within a five hundred meter radius, capturing the minutest details with his mental exploration.

Such mastery over his surroundings enthralled Owen.

At the academy, he could never unleash his mental force so freely.

The leaves on the road, rocks beneath cliffs, even the mist of breath Isaac exhaled, and the peculiar shadows on the mountain walls—all lay within his grasp.

Hmm?

Suddenly, Owen halted, his voice booming like the first thunder of spring: "Stop, ambush!"

His proximity to his companions, combined with the arcanergy in his shout, exploded like winter thunder, buzzing in everyone’s ears and instinctively making them scatter.

Isaac froze, "My lord, what’s..."

Before he could finish, a giant boulder smashed into the ground right in front of their carriage, creating a deep crater.

Not stopping there, it rolled forward, plummeting off the mountain road.

Seconds later, a heavy crash echoed from the chasm.

Nina and Erin turned as pale as death.

Erin managed to speak, "Who would dare attack us on dragons’ territory?"

They had just received resources from the mudgrass tribe and were descending a winding mountain path.

Unexpectedly, halfway down, they encountered an enemy attack.

A shadowy figure streaked across the sky, a massive form descending from above to land with a "bang" in front of Owen.

The surrounding earth shattered with the impact, and the nearby mountain walls trembled.

Now, under the cloak of night, Owen’s gaze was piercing, clearly discerning the newcomer.

This time, it was not a boulder, but a colossal brown giant ape.

Standing at four meters tall, its body was packed with muscles that seemed ready to burst at any moment, weighing at least over a thousand kilograms.

Its body bore scars, and around its neck was a thorn collar, the kind Owen had only seen on fierce dogs to protect against wolf and tiger bites, yet here it was, encircling the neck of a giant ape.

Even more bizarrely, it donned a dismal grey plate armor covering its vital areas, not appearing to be made of metal but rather some sort of bone.

Without a moment’s hesitation, the giant ape charged at Owen like a cannonball, swinging its iron fist with a gust that headed straight for Owen.

Owen, with agile movement, leaped to the side, dodging the lethal blow.

The giant ape’s fist smashed into the rock, sending shards flying.

Owen seized the opportunity to counterattack, aiming his claws at the giant ape’s eyes, but it deftly swatted them away with its massive palm, sending Owen staggering.

"So strong?" Owen was shocked, thinking to himself, "This kind of strength must be at least at the peak of the master-tier, and specialized in power at that."

However, Owen was far from discouraged; dragons had never been outmatched in strength.

The battle escalated in intensity.

Utilizing his speed and agility, Owen continuously sought openings within the giant ape’s assaults.

His claws grazed the giant ape’s skin, managing only to leave shallow marks.

The giant ape roared in anger, its attacks growing more ferocious with each swing, pressing down on Owen with suffocating force.

This giant ape was terrifyingly powerful.

Owen stepped back, attempting to find a better angle for his attack.

He noticed that although the giant ape possessed immense strength, it appeared somewhat clumsy when turning.

Thus, he began to circle the giant ape, looking for an opening.

Suddenly, the situation took another turn.

Erin shouted, "There’s something in the woods!"

Then Berkeley yelled, "Isaac, get down!"

Isaac, somewhat dazed, stared into the dark woods, seeing nothing.

Ahead was a large rock, towering over three meters taller than the exposed surface, with a mountain path winding by its edge.

Before Isaac could divert his gaze, a shadowy figure appeared atop the rock, diving down with the posture of a raptor preying.

It charged directly at Isaac as if harboring a personal vendetta.

Isaac quickly ducked, and the shadow, missing its grab, continued its momentum but extended a snake-like appendage, relentlessly pursuing Isaac.

A hit would undoubtedly spell disaster for the victim.

Berkeley, tense, pulled out several sheepskin scrolls from his ring, ready to unleash their magic at a moment’s notice.

However, the shadowy figure dodged every attack with agility, evading flames, ice arrows, and even air blades.

Berkeley’s heart sank as he watched Owen’s fierce battle, "There are forces behind us trying to assassinate our lord."

Isaac had no time to react; he tumbled forward and rolled into the bushes.

The snake-like creature came within thirty centimeters of him at its closest, only to grow more distant afterward.

The shadowy figure touched down and leaped up again, light as if weightless, spinning to pursue Isaac again, disregarding everyone else.

Isaac was bewildered, "Who have I offended to deserve this?"

The shadow paused briefly, allowing everyone a clear view of its true form.

"Is this... a werewolf?" Berkeley was taken aback.

Its head resembled a wolf’s, but with a notably shorter snout, a broad face, and four strikingly large canine teeth; its body was humanoid, slender and elongated, but its knees bent backward like a leopard’s hind legs.

Most bizarrely, its tail sprouted directly from the back of its head, as long as its body but unlike the fluffy tail of a typical wolf.

It was slender like a whip, its tip even shimmering with a metallic sheen.

The snake-like object that had attacked Isaac was, in fact, this tail.

Standing upright, it resembled a human, but on all fours, it could run as swiftly as a tiger or leopard.

Now, with its front paws gripping the ground, it whipped its body through the air in an arc to correct its direction and charged again.

Its speed was like an arrow shot from a bow, almost too fast for the naked eye to track.

"Why is it fixated on me?" Isaac lamented inwardly.

Only Berkeley understood: The person behind the scenes intended to kill them all.

Yet, he was powerless to intervene directly; as an arraymancer, combat was not his forte.