Chapter 276 Powerful Roar
âIf you are so sure, letâs leave it at that, Headmaster Astoria,â Aeliana wasnât interested in arguing with her.
It didnât matter where the Fallen Witches came from or who was backing Elvira; she still had to die.
âRight, come and look at these shadow fragments of the Thousand Fog Illusion Dragon,â Vaan called them over.
Shortly after the three ladies gathered at his location, Astoria made her inquiry. âDid you discover something, Teacher Raphna?â
âIâve simulated the Thousand Fog Illusion Dragonâs reconstruction in my mind and came up with an appearance similar to the red dragon weâve seen from a distance back outside Misty Leaf Town,â Vaan mentioned.
âHowever, whatâs important is that Iâve compared Thousand Fog Illusion Dragonâs shadow fragments to the Fog beastsâ carcass, but they are nothing alike on a fundamental level. Fog Beastsâ carcasses still have material flesh after death, but Thousand Fog Illusion Dragon is completely comprised of mana.â
âIn other words?â Hester urged Vaan to continue.
âIn other words, the Thousand Fog Illusion Dragon isnât a Fog Beast at all. Itâs just an illusion spell. A very intricately constructed illusion spell,â Vaan claimed.
âBut illusion spells have no offensive power whatsoever.â Astoria frowned before she asked, âHow did the Thousand Fog Illusion Dragon manage to scare Headmaster Tabitha off the upper regions if it doesnât pose any threat?â
âAlthough there are no records of it, Iâm assuming itâs not just a pure illusion spell, but a hybrid illusion-attack spell. If itâs the dragons of old, they should have the wisdom to create such a powerful spell,â Vaan guessed.
Shortly after, he pointed out several destroyed magic circles engraved on the surrounding trees in the area.
Astoria, Hester, and Aeliana all went up to inspect the magic circles they had overlooked on the trees.
âAlthough the magic circles have been destroyed, I can still make out some of the patterns and symbols on them. These patterns and symbols are indeed part of several illusion and attack spells,â Astoria confirmed.
âSo what can we learn from this?â Aeliana asked.
âNot much, actually. But something is still better than nothing,â Astoria casually replied before adding, âWhile these clues donât tell us much about the Fallen Witchesâ strengths, at least we know they have an illusion expert within their group.â
âI see,â Aeliana uttered.
Nevertheless, after looking around for a bit longer, they quickly concluded that there was nothing left that they could learn from the traces left behind by the Fallen Witches.
âLet us head back for now and plan our next steps,â Vaan urged after devouring the Thousand Fog Illusion Dragonâs shadow fragments.
Although it was a broken attack-illusion spell, it was still full of concentrated mana. As such, the shadow fragments were useful for expanding the Heaven-Swallowing Space.
âAlright,â the group quickly agreed to leave.
However, things donât always go according to plan when exploring the unknown.
Roar!
An extremely mighty dragon roar suddenly shook the entirely ninth mountain.
Although the source appeared far away, it was powerful enough to affect everyone on the ninth mountain.
No one was spared from the mighty dragon roar, which seemed to be filled with fury. Their sense of balance was shifted, and while their eardrums rang, they didnât hurt.
Even so, the dragonâs roar shook them to the core like a soul attack, causing their heart to palpitate with instinctual fears.
It made them feel like a behemoth dragon as large as the mountain itself just gazed directly into their souls and suppressed them like how a superior being would look at lesser beings it could crush at any time.
The dragon roar was none like any other dragon roars they have heard. It was on a whole different level of impact and grandness.
Everyone who heard the dragon roar was briefly stunned for some time.
Vaan was the quickest to recover, followed by Astoria, then Aeliana. Hester only regained her sense and movements after two breaths passed.
âWhat kind of roar was that? It was nothing compared to the red dragonâs roar weâve heard back at Misty Leaf Town,â Hester exclaimed with shock.
âMaybe because the red dragonâs roar wasnât directed at us. However, this time, it targeted everyone on the mountain, and it was filled with fury,â Astoria said with a solemn look. âI think the Fallen Witches may have angered the dragon.â
âAnd not just any dragon either. Its roar stunned someone at my level for a whole breath of time. I should be at least a Peak-level Rank 4 being, if not a Rank 5 being,â Astoria added gravely.
âThatâs not a being we can handle, even with our strengths combined,â Vaan commented before urging everyone, âWe better leave quickly before we get involved in the Fallen Witchesâ mess.â
Although everyone agreed, they only managed to take several steps before it was too late.
Swoosh!
The thick fog in the area revolved like a hurricane and revealed the clear skies above before several huge shadows descended.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ground rumbled as each shadow landed and occupied a corner, surrounding Vaanâs group at the center.
âR-Red dragons!â Hesterâs eyes widened with disbelief.
Everyone immediately felt unprecedented danger, dread, and pressure emanating from the four huge True Dragons gazing down at them.
They were only separated by thirty yards, and everyone could feel the True Dragonsâ immense strength and mana pool; the four True Dragons were at least Peak-level Rank 4 or higher.
That said, they werenât strong enough to gauge the True Dragonsâ strength accurately; they could only make rough guesses silently.
Nevertheless, while there were significant gaps between each True Dragon, there was no opening at all. If they make any attempt to escape, they will most likely die much faster.
âHumans! You have intruded on our sacred mountain, brought destruction to land, and killed our subjects! Normally, such transgression against our Dragon Tribe warrants death on the spot! However, our benevolent Lord of the Ninth Peak permitted you all to be taken in for a trial!â one of the red dragons spoke in a middle-aged manâs voice.
âYou speak our language?â Aeliana raised an eyebrow in surprise, overshadowed by her tense mood.