I Save The World In A Doomsday Text Game

Chapter 195-1: Bloodline Dragonkin, Black Calamity Dragon (1)

[In front of you, the Dragon Nest’s construction takes the form of a vast ring-shaped stone wall built entirely from black megaliths. The enclosed area is so enormous that, from this end of the canyon, you can only see one corner of the wall.]

[As you continue forward, you draw near the base of an arched gateway in the wall. The archway is massive and spacious enough for over a dozen carriages to pass through side by side, yet compared to the Dragon Nest’s towering walls, even such a colossal entrance appears insignificant.]

[Perhaps it is because the oppressive aura emanating from the Dragon Nest itself serves as the best defense and screening mechanism, there are no guards stationed around the gate, allowing you to pass unimpeded into the sacred ground that every half-dragon dreams of reaching: the Dragon Nest.]

[The moment you step through the arched gate in the stone wall, that suffocating draconic pressure abruptly vanishes.]

[Your eyes take in a space of astonishing scale. The entire Dragon Nest is empty, save for a single low, black mountain in the distance, where faint traces of habitation can be seen.]

[You continue walking…]

[Before long, you stop in your tracks.]

[A sheer cliff blocks your way forward. A bottomless abyss yawns beneath you, and in the darkness stands a solitary, towering peak.]

[What you took for a small mountain was actually the uppermost crest of that lone peak, rising above the level of the cliff.]

[You peer down into the abyss and vaguely discern countless enormous shadows circling the spire. Every so often, one of the shadows emits a bone-chilling roar that makes your hair stand on end and your body tremble.][You understand, this is fear rooted in the depths of your bloodline.]

[A suspension bridge spans the gulf between the cliff and the solitary peak. You look around and find the nearest bridge, stepping onto it…]

[Cold winds from the abyss buffet the bridge, causing it to sway. As draconic roars echo beneath your feet, you cross the long span with your heart pounding, finally arriving atop the lone peak.]

[At the summit stands an enormous black dragon statue. Like the Ancient Hermit Dark Dragon you saw before, yet unlike that sculpture, this statue’s head no longer bristles with countless eyes. Instead, it has only a single pair of austere draconic pupils, within which countless pinpricks of starlight gleam brilliantly.]

[You step closer and see dozens of pureblood half-dragons prostrated around the statue in reverent worship. Their bodies are far larger than yours, a newly minted noble, and their robes are much finer and more resplendent.]

[At the tail end of the line of worshippers, a female pureblood half-dragon about the same size as you notices your arrival.]

[She hurriedly pulls you into the line to join her in worshiping the Hermit statue.]

[After a long while, the ritual ends. The half-dragons descend the mountain along the spiral stone steps. As you watch carefully, you see that many caves have been carved into the peak, apparently serving as dwellings for these half-dragons.]

[The female half-dragon who had brought you into the ceremony has not yet left. She approaches to speak with you.]

[She tells you that at a glance, your unfamiliar face makes it obvious you are, like her, a newborn descendant of a Bloodline Dragonkin, attending the ancestral rite for the first time and naturally feeling overwhelmed.]

[Since you are a newborn descendant, your assigned dwelling must be very near the summit, correct? As it happens, her cave residence is nearby too. If you are not in a hurry, she would like to invite you in to discuss the philosophies of dragon life together.]

[Do you wish to accept her invitation?]

???

Lin Xun slowly typed three question marks.

What the hell is ‘discuss the philosophies of dragon life’?

[A shadow circling below abruptly surged upward. As its wings beat, a gale howled across the peak. The enormous form flew to the summit overhead.]

[It released a deafening roar before diving down again, disappearing into the darkness of the abyss…]

[You have discovered the Hermit’s Descendant – Black Calamity Dragon!]

[You and the female pureblood half-dragon beside you were both so terrified by that earth-shaking draconic bellow that you collapsed prone, not daring to move.]

[The female half-dragon’s expression was filled with fear, yet her eyes brimmed with envy.]

[Staring into the darkness where the dragon vanished, she could not help but sigh in longing. Her greatest wish in this life is to elevate her bloodline and become a mighty Black Calamity Dragon…]

[Do you wish to accept her invitation?]

Lin Xun weighed it for a moment and pressed ‘Yes.’

The dragon that had just shown itself was the Hermit’s Descendant – Black Calamity Dragon, something he had never encountered before. Judging by the name, it seemed to be a lineage somewhat inferior to the Ancient Hermit.

Even so, a lower-ranked dragonkin was still far beyond what he could contend with now.

If he could infiltrate the enemy’s ranks, there was absolutely no reason to fight them head-on.

[You follow the female half-dragon down the spiral steps, soon arriving at a cave dwelling adjacent to the summit.]

[The female pureblood half-dragon’s cave is not as spacious as the hybrid overseer’s, but several hybrid half-dragons serve as slaves within.]

[She leads you to the back of the cave and offers you a lavish spread of meat.]

[The female half-dragon dismisses her attending slaves, instructing them not to enter no matter how much noise they might hear later.]

[After the slaves depart, she carefully inquires which Bloodline Dragonkin you are descended from…]

[You gloss over the question vaguely, making small talk as you try to glean useful information from her.]

[Perhaps your evasiveness raised her suspicions, because you were unable to learn any details about the Dragon Nest’s interior.]

[What will you do?]

[1. Immediately bid her farewell and leave the cave, lest you say too much and expose yourself as an impostor.]

[2. Remove your robe and use your special talents to dispel her suspicions and obtain information as compensation.]

[3. Take out the Ancient Dragonfang Greatclub and subject her to torture until she divulges the Dragon Nest’s layout.]

Lin Xun narrowed his eyes.

Decisively choosing the third option.

[You abruptly drew out the Ancient Dragonfang Greatclub, the massive and savage weapon leaving the female half-dragon dumbstruck and trembling.]

[You pressed the brutal implement against her head, threatening that if she did not truthfully reveal everything she knew about the Dragon Nest’s interior, she would suffer torture too cruel for any dragon to endure.]

[Under your coercion, she had no choice but to divulge all she knew…]

[Within the Dragon Nest, newborn descendants like you and her were the lowest-ranking among the dragonkin. Above them were their parent generation, the Bloodline Dragonkin.]

[Bloodline ascension was a process of gradually approaching the great ancestors. The purer the bloodline, the more one came to resemble the progenitor.]

[The Hermit’s Descendant – Black Calamity Dragon you had just witnessed was the stage beyond the Bloodline Dragonkin, and it represented the highest degree of bloodline ascension attainable.]

[The Dragon Nest was governed by a strict hierarchy. Newborn descendants like her could only dwell near the summit, and their permitted range of activity was limited to the area from their caves up to the mountaintop. They were forbidden to approach the middle slopes.]

[Because in the Dragon Nest, the deeper you descended, the nobler the dragonkin who resided there.]

[At the base of the mountain, deep within the abyss, lay the dwelling of the highest-ranking dragonkin remaining in the Dragon Nest: the Ancient Hermit – Dark Dragon.]

[These were progenitor scions who had survived since the ancient era, eternal and undying existences…]

[As the female half-dragon spoke to this point, she could not help but drop to her knees and worship.]

“…This evolutionary chain is ridiculously long!”

Lin Xun couldn’t help but complain.