Fruity’s plan was simple. Since it would take three days to travel from the Ancestral Burial Site to Chaos City and another two days to cross the border, he aimed to put a half-a-day head start between himself and the Dark Flame Chaos Dragons. He set the illusion to break four days after he left the burial site.
This meant that if his companions hurried, as they did, allowing them to reach the city in two and a half days, Fruity would have crossed the border long before the news of the missing horn reached the border patrol.
However, the illusion he set at the mine lost its power three days after he left, causing the situation to escalate faster than he had anticipated. But this, too, was within his calculations.
He had already dealt with any suspicion that might arise had the blacksmith realized his son was missing, so the only thing left was to make sure his tracks were clean before leaving.
This meant he couldn’t leave any witnesses behind, including the border patrol. He could have escaped by flying away in his Blue Horn Hawk demi-hawk form, but he knew it would only prolong the chase as long as there was information about his whereabouts.
There were shamans and seers with divination abilities who could locate him if they caught sight of him. Of course, Fruity knew the chances of that happening were low, as he couldn’t be tracked while using the Forbidden Diagram to disguise himself.
But he wasn’t willing to take any chances, so he decided to do the only logical thing—murder.
He gazed at the twenty Tier 7 Dragons, all in their demi-dragon forms, an evil smile curling on his lips. Over the months spent traveling to the northern region, Fruity had killed so many monsters that his demeanor had started to change.
He had become more evil than he realized. Yuying had noticed this, and she began trying her best to lighten his burdens, hoping that reducing his kills would help. But it didn’t change anything—his bloodlust had grown too chaotic.
Of course, Yuying had already made plans to deal with that before he became a killing machine devoid of emotion.
“Stand back and consent to a search. You can then remain here until the lockdown is lifted,” the young man, who seemed to be the leader of the border guards, said, ignoring Fruity’s earlier comment.
“And what if I don’t consent?” Fruity asked.
“Then we will use force,” the leader replied.
“That’s more like it. Why don’t we get straight to that, then?” Fruity smirked, and without even blinking, his disguise vanished, revealing his human form.
“Sentient… Kill!” It took just a single glance for the leader of the dragon guards to give the order to kill him. The sight of Fruity’s true appearance had triggered something primal in them.
What Fruity doesn’t know is that the Dark Flame Chaos Dragons have been defending their ancestral burial site for many years against various demon races attempting to steal their horns.
The main reason they were made a target for trials to join a Witch Temple was due to their refusal to submit to the Witch Temples’ rule. Unlike most monster races that surrendered, the Dark Flame Chaos Dragons, along with some other demon races, chose to remain independent.
This defiance led the Witch Temple to use them as pawns in their selection process for new members. In the Tormented World, although there are no humans, there is a demon race that resembles humans, known as Sentients.
These Sentients are among the strongest races in the world and the key members of this Witch temples, and for years, they have plagued the Dark Flame Chaos Dragons. To the dragons, Sentients are like a plague that must be eradicated.
When Fruity revealed his human-like form, it triggered an immediate response. The dragons, seeing him as a Sentient, descended on him with weapons and attacks, all aimed to end his life.
“Tsk…” Fruity smirked, and with a thought, a green mist of ice gushed out, covering a 1-kilometer radius. The twenty Tier 7 dragons attacking him were immediately devoured by the hypnotic ice.
“Giant Bone Mountain Descent,” Fruity muttered coldly, activating one of the skills he had gained after the hypnotic ice reached the Realm Rank.
At once, a huge mountain of bone and ice descended upon the green mist, crashing down on the defenseless dragons who had fallen under his illusion.
They were only Tier 7 dragons, not very powerful when their mental fortitude was taken into account. Fruity, whose hypnotic ice has become more powerful than ever and whose mind and soul were stronger, easily subdued them.
Of course, this wouldn’t have worked on someone like Velgorn, who possessed a powerful mind and soul. But because these Tier 7 dragons were mentally weak, their minds were instantly dragged into an illusion Fruity created.
Inside the illusion, they believed they were ganging up on him and beating him senseless. This, of course, made it easy to take over their minds, as that was exactly what they had been hoping for—to kill him.
They hated Sentients so much that they wouldn’t hear reason the moment they saw one. Fruity just picked the right illusion trapping them in it.
Before they could snap out of it, they had already been crushed by a huge boulder that drained a large sum of Fruity’s Star Qi. But it worked—they were flattened while lost in dreamland.
One thing about illusions is that once you fall into them, it becomes difficult to break free. In combat, even a second of vulnerability can cost you your life. Fruity had more than enough openings to kill them, and he didn’t waste any.
Fruity, who hadn’t moved a single finger, simply gazed at the flattened bodies. With a sigh, the devouring flame activated, consuming their remains and extracting the energy into the Immortal Ice—the only element he had yet to upgrade to the next rank.
“It’ll take them at least five hours to get here. After all, there are six borders, and no one knows I came through this one,” Fruity said before taking to the sky.
Now that he was a sage, his speed had increased several times, even in the air, so he left hastily, leaving no trace behind.
A while later, ten Tier 8 dragons arrived at the border, but to their shock, there were no guards in sight. It was as if the place had been abandoned for a long time. They searched for a while, but after finding nothing, they left.
A day later, they informed the king, who immediately issued an order to hunt down whoever was responsible. Men were deployed across the Tormented World to search for the stolen horn. News quickly spread throughout the Northern Region and soon reached the other regions. Continue your adventure at empire
The horn that was stolen wasn’t just any ordinary horn—it belonged to the king’s brother, who had died in combat while they were fighting the Witch Towers to maintain their independence.
It had been a crazy and chaotic battle. At that time, the current king was a prince, and his brother—whose horn was just stolen by Fruity—was supposed to become the king. But to secure the future of their race, his brother fought bravely and died a hero’s death.
So the theft of his horn was a huge insult to the Dark Flame Chaos race. The section of the burial site from which the horn was stolen was reserved for the dragons who fought in that battle.
This enraged the Dark Flame Chaos Dragons. If the horn isn’t returned within a few years, they may declare war on the Witch Temple. After all, it had been 670 years since a horn was stolen from their Ancestral Land, and this time, it was the horn of a martyr.