novelraw Chapter 251: Raphaela's Phone Call (Two in One)
Chapter 251: Raphaela's Phone Call (Two in One)
Ever since the humans of the West Continent entered the Southern Continent, they had frantically plundered the inexhaustible, massive resources there like they were mad.
However, after all, a single continent was incredibly massive, and the West Continent still had a mountain of its own issues that hadn't been fully resolved yet. Most of the people who could come over were merchants acting in a private capacity. Naturally, relying solely on that small number of people and power, it was impossible to completely occupy the Southern Continent; otherwise, those humans wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to build cities in the wilderness to enclose themselves.
But judging from the overall trend, the fangs and claws of humanity were still expanding outward under the drive of greed.
Previously, the eviction of the Dragon-kin from the South Branch tribe of the Southern Continent might have seemed like a milestone achievement in their eyes, but absolutely no one could have imagined that this would be the first shovel used to dig their own graves.
The eastern coast of the Southern Continent had always been surrounded by complex primeval forests, and the overall scope was too broad. As a result, the communities of magical creatures and demi-humans residing within had become very complicated. It was precisely these naturally advantageous geographical conditions that blocked the expanding fangs and claws of humanity, allowing the demi-humans inside, led by the East Branch tribe of the Dragon-kin, to live quite comfortably.
Yet, to everyone's surprise, it wasn't the humans who came knocking first; instead, it was their own compatriots who paid a visit ahead of time. Moreover, these compatriots were even more lethal than the humans.
Because their leader was a Dragon-kin with crimson red scales.
"Boom!"
"How much longer until Lady Raphaela arrives?!"
In the dense jungle, Faxir, covered in white dragon scales, hid behind a massive tree, gripping a spear in her hands. The scales on her body were stained with blackened marks from the battle just now.The forest ground was constantly trembling. Every time the fierce sound of artillery fire rang out, it would carry a powerful shockwave that blew away countless charging South Branch Dragon-kin.
The physical stamina of the Dragon-kin was very strong. Although the manpower on both sides was far less than that of humans, their war appeared quite spectacular. Once the two tribes clashed, it was as if they were renovating the forest.
"I don't know! Lar said there are ambushing troops of the East Branch to the south, so she went to deal with them first. We have to hold on a bit longer!"
On Kexir's white hair, a thick, glowing dragon horn appeared exceptionally striking. Last month, both Kexir and Faxir also came of age, growing the dragon horns that symbolized the caliber of a Dragon-kin.
"Those damned bastards actually started doing business with humans and even bought this many muskets!"
Relying on the human's temporary inability to enter the primeval forest, the East Branch Dragon-kin took the initiative to interact with them, using the resources and demi-humans in the forest to exchange for quite a few weapons and artifacts from them.
The West Branch tribe had already fallen under the claws and fangs of the Red Dragon; their chief was killed by Raphaela, and the entire tribe was absorbed into the South Branch. Originally, according to her plan, she was supposed to march north to attack the North Branch tribe first. However, upon hearing that the East Branch had begun asking for human assistance after learning of Raphaela's matters, she changed her route midway and charged straight over here.
At this moment, just as Faxir wanted to poke her head out, the tree beside her instantly exploded with a bullet hole. The flying wood splinters grazed her skin, leaving behind one or two drops of searing hot fresh blood. Gritting her teeth, she took out a piece of cloth engraved with Dragon-kin magic that Raphaela had given her. She wrapped the cloth around her spear, then aimed at the East Branch Dragon-kin who were continuously firing in the distance.
"Kexir! Follow me!"
The twins Kexir and Faxir had a perfect mutual understanding. Upon seeing the magic-entwined spear in her hand, she already understood. With a flick of her tail, she leaped out from behind the bushes. The two scimitars in her hands deflected the incoming bullets like a whirlwind. Amidst the dense clinking sounds, Faxir's pupils shrank as she fiercely hurled the spear ahead toward where the East Branch tribe was clustered together.
"Boom!"
A massive amount of flames poured out in mid-air like a giant snake, opening its merciless maw and completely devouring all the trees and living beings in the surroundings.
"It worked! Let's continue advancing!"
"Sister Faxir! Sister Kexir!"
Just as Faxir landed from mid-air and revealed a happy expression, a shout suddenly came from the bushes behind her.
They turned their heads at the same time, only to see a blue-scaled Dragon-kin, who had grown a bit taller, appearing atop the bushes at some unknown point. That Dragon-kin wore a monocular with a cracked lens on her body and carried a tooth-shaped short dagger at her waist. With a smile, she stood on her tiptoes and waved at Faxir and the others very excitedly.
That Dragon-kin, who was half a head taller than before, who else could it be but Lar?
"What's going on? Why are you back from Lady Raphaela's side? Did something happen?"
"No! Lady Raphaela has already reached the entrance of the East Branch tribe; she asked you to halt the attack temporarily!"
"Huh?!"
Faxir and Kexir glanced at each other. The two of them had brought the entire main force of the South Branch to attack the front, yet Raphaela had already fought her way to the enemy's doorstep, making them look like the covering team instead.
"Rumble!!"
Meanwhile, in the distance, a trembling sound like thunder violently rang out, frightening everyone present into shivering. Faxir looked into the distance in disbelief, only to see the towering trees far away toppling down one after another. Billows of steam, akin to flames, surged into the sky, making it seem as if a train was barging about recklessly through the jungle.
Both Faxir and Kexir revealed expressions of lingering fear. They sighed at the same time and said,
"Lady Raphaela... seems to have gotten angry again."
Further away, on the southeast side of the East Branch tribe, several Dragon-kin from the East Branch tribe were smashed together by a tremendous force and sent flying backward madly, knocking down giant trees one by one. By the time they stopped, the bodies of those Dragon-kin had already been smashed into a single mass by that tremendous force, indistinguishable from one another.
"M-monster..."
When the other East Branch Dragon-kin saw this scene, they all backed away with weak legs. That indescribable fear spread among their ranks, spreading wider and wider like a virus.
Before their eyes, a massive amount of steam continuously surged up, obscuring their line of sight like a curtain. And within that steam, a pair of emerald green eyes suddenly lit up, flickering with an extremely dangerous light.
"You... bastards of the East Branch tribe, do you know what you are doing?"
That seemingly calm, yet earth-shattering female voice akin to ten thousand bolts of thunder rang out. The silhouette within the steam gradually became clear. The first thing to catch the eye was that pair of crimson red, sun-like radiant horns, followed by the red Dragon-kin whose scales were raised high, continuously surging with boiling steam.
That was the head of the South Branch tribe... no, the Queen, Raphaela.
Looking at those East Branch Dragon-kin who were showing cowardice on their faces, Raphaela pointed a finger at the wooden cages beside them. A significant number of demi-humans who had also lived in the primeval forest of the eastern coast for generations were locked inside, among them many underage demi-humans.
Those were all the "goods" that the East Branch tribe was about to hand over to humans.
Raphaela took a deep breath. Her body was akin to an eternally restless walking steam engine, making everyone present feel as if they were being stared down by a monster the size of a mountain. Even the troops she brought along stayed slightly further away from her, deeply afraid of being injured by her terrifying combat capabilities.
"Every Dragon-kin tribe swore under the gaze of Fafnir to protect other weak living beings, and you did the same! But now, you disgusting animals have betrayed the vows you once made! You deserve to die!"
"Enough!"
Just as Raphaela was about to strike again against that group of fearful East Branch Dragon-kin, a violent gust of wind suddenly struck. A massive figure abruptly appeared before Raphaela, standing in her way with arms crossed.
The scales all over that tall Dragon-kin were azure. His overall build was quite a bit taller than even Raphaela. The muscles on his body were thick and hard as steel, continuously emitting large amounts of steam.
"Lord Chebur!"
"Father!"
The moment that figure appeared, everyone from the East Branch tribe cheered excitedly. For no other reason than the fact that this tall Dragon-kin was Chebur, the chief of the East Branch tribe, and also the strongest Dragon-kin in the entire East Branch tribe.
That tall Dragon-kin took a deep breath, looking down at the young Raphaela before him with his height advantage, and then he said.
"Heh, vows... can you still not see the situation clearly right now? We Dragon-kin are already unable to fend for ourselves. What does it matter to sacrifice these lower beings for the future of the Dragon-kin tribes? Besides, they have always been the parasites of our Dragon-kin."
"Raphaela, your tribesmen won't last much longer. Once I capture and kill you, your South Branch tribe will completely vanish into the long river of history... For the sake that we are all fellow tribesmen, withdraw. I won't hold you accountable for today..."
Just as the tall Chebur was about to say something else, Raphaela, standing before him, slightly raised her emerald green pupils, staring deadly at this tall Dragon-kin in front of her.
A feeling of extreme icy danger and fatal peril instantly surged into Chebur's heart. Just as he realized something was wrong and was about to react, Raphaela's fist was already flying toward his face, carrying a fierce rushing wind.
The speed of that punch was simply too fast. The very moment the thought of trying to react appeared, Chebur's face had an intimate encounter with Raphaela's fist.
"Boom!"
"Crack!"
A tremendous force, accompanied by boiling steam, conducted through his bones. In just an instant, accompanying the tragic sound of blood and bones exploding apart, under the gaze of everyone from the East Branch tribe, the head of the strongest Dragon-kin chief spun a full three revolutions on his spine before coming to a stop.
"Fa..."
Everyone was frightened by Raphaela's sudden violent outburst. Some Dragon-kin hadn't even reacted to what happened when the chief's neck was twisted into a perfect knot like fried dough twist.
"Thud."
As Chebur's massive figure collapsed, all the Dragon-kin of the East Branch tribe dropped to their knees in terror, their legs giving out. Even Chebur's biological son unavoidably fell to the ground in fear.
That red Dragon-kin... no, that absolutely isn't a Dragon-kin! That's just a monster wearing Dragon-kin skin!
Raphaela let out a breath and very disdainfully pushed away the already dead Chebur in front of her, letting his massive body fall to the ground.
"Noisy."
The crushing combat capability transformed into almost tangible psychological pressure, easily destroying the mental defenses of this East Branch tribe prince. Frightened, he hurriedly knelt on the ground and begged the Raphaela in front of him for mercy.
"N-no... I'm sorry. But this was all my father's fault. I tried to dissuade him many times to no effect. I... this has nothing to do with me, please spare me..."
Raphaela shot him a glance, and the steam on her body gradually subsided quite a bit.
At this moment, the battle was decided.
The main buildings of the East Branch tribe were not affected by the battle between the two tribes and remained intact. Raphaela also did not slaughter the Dragon-kin who did not participate in the war. At this moment, they were all hiding in their homes, looking in fear at that red Dragon-kin sitting in a strange carriage.
In the center of the East Branch tribe, the corpses of Chebur and his son were incredibly conspicuous, extinguishing any thoughts of resistance the remaining Dragon-kin might have harbored.
Countless South Branch tribe Dragon-kin uniformly and orderly followed Raphaela into the East Branch tribe. Several East Branch Dragon-kin were leading the way in front, guiding Raphaela toward a certain direction within the tribe.
"It-it's over here, Chi-no, the things Chebur exchanged with humans are in his house, and the other slaves he imprisoned are all over there."
"You guys really are..."
Faxir and Kexir looked at these East Branch Dragon-kin leading the way with disgust. Raphaela, however, merely sighed and cast a glance at Lar. Lar immediately understood implicitly and led a team of people toward another direction, while Raphaela herself took the majority of the people to the place where the slaves were imprisoned.
What was interesting was that despite how much the Dragon-kin and demi-humans resented humanity for plundering their compatriots and homelands, now, these people of the East Branch tribe were suddenly doing the exact same dirty work.
Raphaela arrived at the cages on the outskirts of the East Branch tribe and assessed the situation inside, only to suddenly spot several familiar figures.
At the far end of the cages, a massive spider figure was leaning weakly against the bars. Beside her, there was a chain embedded with sparkling minerals. It was a chain made of Electro-stone, highly effective against certain species capable of turning intangible. In the past, Dragon-kin frequently used it to capture ghost monsters—transparent magical creatures with invisibility, whose flesh glowed at night and could be used to draw totems.
However, at the same time, this thing could also capture the Brain Demon race, who could similarly become intangible.
Indeed, appearing in Raphaela's vision at this moment were precisely the demi-humans she had met previously, the Spider-Person Siya and the Brain Demon Kelili. Besides them, there should also be Famacy, that Pangolin-kin girl. Back then, they had robbed the carriage containing her and Fisher on the road. As the price, they helped arrange her coming-of-age ceremony in the wilderness.
Among them, the Brain Demon Kelili, who was on the verge of death, suddenly noticed something. She weakly raised her eyes and looked at the crimson red Dragon-kin outside the cage. Then, she smiled with some surprise and greeted her.
"Ah, I didn't expect to actually meet you here... Ah, I was about to forget your name, is it... Raphaela?"
"Why are you here?"
Raphaela broke open the cage imprisoning these slaves, then walked to Kelili's side and shattered the chains wrapped around her body.
After the chains were broken, Kelili finally seemed able to breathe smoothly again. She shot a somewhat sarcastic glance at Siya, who was resting with her head down nearby, and then laughed.
"Heh, how ashamed I am... Originally, after we bid farewell to you all, the three of us planned to go into seclusion somewhere and never come out again. But perhaps it was because we met you guys that we wanted to do something before humanity completely occupies this continent. Thus, we came to the East Branch tribe... However, these Dragon-kin only wanted to sell us to the humans, these bastards..."
"I don't even know where Famacy has been taken anymore. I thought Siya and I would meet the same end... What about you? And that human named Fisher, is he not here?"
Upon hearing Kelili's words, Raphaela opened her mouth. It was unclear what she thought of, but the scales on her body flattened a bit, and she said in somewhat of a daze.
"He's not here... he went back."
Kelili looked at her and didn't speak again.
With the help of Faxir and Kexir, those slaves on the verge of death inside the cages were all taken out to be treated. It wasn't until Kelili and Siya were also taken away that Raphaela slowly snapped back to her senses.
She turned to look outside the cage. Lar had appeared outside at some point, holding a small item shaped like a sigil, looking at her with considerable concern.
"Lady Raphaela... are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Did you find the sigil of the East Branch tribe?"
"Ah, yes, found it in that guy's room. It seems every tribe really does have this thing, but what can we do after gathering them all? Can we summon the Dragon God Fafnir?"
Looking at Lar's naive appearance, Raphaela took the East Branch sigil from her hands, patted her head, and laughed.
"Unfortunately, no. If the Dragon God Fafnir still existed, we wouldn't have been reduced to our situation today."
Having her head patted, Lar subconsciously revealed a comfortable expression, but this expression only lasted for a second before stopping. She angrily pulled down Raphaela's hand that was patting her head, then yelled.
"I'm not a little kid anymore, I'm a scout who went to the battlefield together with all of you! Neither you nor my mother can pat my head anymore!"
Raphaela chuckled disdainfully upon hearing this, easily neutralizing her defense and continuing to pat her head, teasing Lar until she ran away wanting to cry but lacking the tears.
Watching her gradually distancing figure, Raphaela tucked the sigil in her hand into her clothes, then walked out of the cage, heading toward the place where the East Branch tribe stored the items they got from humans.
"Lady Raphaela, look over here quickly!"
In that decently sized warehouse, there were many items exchanged from humans, including such things as cannons and muskets, and even human magic... Even though she had already witnessed it earlier, she hadn't expected there to actually be so many cannons here that hadn't been pulled out.
And the reason was very simple: humans were very smart. They sold many cannons to the Dragon-kin, yet simultaneously provided a relatively small amount of ammunition. This way, the East Branch Dragon-kin could only stare at weapons they couldn't use. This was exactly why there were so many firearms left here that hadn't been deployed to the battlefield.
Under Raphaela's teachings, these Dragon-kin from the South Branch tribe had already undergone a change in their impression of these human weapons. They had been shot by muskets before, so they naturally knew the degree of danger of these weapons. Without waiting for Raphaela's orders, they began packing these remaining weapons box by box, waiting for Raphaela's personal designation before they could take them away along with the other East Branch tribe Dragon-kin.
Yes, what Raphaela was doing right now was precisely to relocate all these Dragon-kin from other tribes to a single location. Only in this way would it be easy to arrange future matters... Other races could be scattered across the Southern Continent like stars, but only the Dragon-kin had to be uniformly united. Only under the leadership of such a Dragon-kin race could the demi-humans have a future.
Watching the boxes of supplies being moved away, Raphaela walked alone through the warehouse of the East Branch tribe, observing those items exchanged from humans. Among them, there was no shortage of items engraved with magic.
Seeing these items, Raphaela suddenly remembered seeing Fisher use similar items before; he seemed to have been a magician capable of engraving magic.
During this period, Raphaela had obtained more intelligence about the humans of the West Continent, including the nations there, their social structures, and so on. Naturally, she also knew that magicians who could use magic held a very high status there...
But Raphaela was extremely confident in herself. She firmly believed that one day she would catch up to that person's footsteps, making him thus stop by her side, never to separate again.
For this goal, Raphaela still had quite a long way to go.
Continuing further back, upon seeing a certain strange item placed atop a box, Raphaela stopped dead in her tracks.
She seemed to recognize it. This was an item humans called a "telephone." As long as one pressed the numbers corresponding to a location, one could send their voice to a very faraway place.
Thinking to this point, she slowly walked in front of the phone. Next to the phone was a notebook for recording numbers, likely included as an accessory with the phone.
She recognized the Naris language, so she could read the text on it easily. Her fingers slowly traced over the numbers in the phonebook, eventually stopping at the word "Naris".
"Naris, Saint-Nazareth—001."
Raphaela's finger pressed against the numbered dial of the phone, and subsequently inputted these few numbers. She then took the receiver resting on the phone off and placed it against her ear.
Her heartbeat sped up slightly, and she even began to conjure how to converse with the human on the other end of the phone, asking them to help her find a human named "Fischer Benavides."
But after waiting for a long time, not a single sound rang out from that phone.
Raphaela looked at the phone in her hand with some disappointment, unable to understand why the call couldn't be connected.
As a Dragon-kin, she naturally didn't know that human telephones couldn't connect across the ocean, nor did she know that the so-called 001 was just the beginning of an area code, which required a string of specific phone numbers to follow. Much less did she know that these phones sold to the East Branch tribe by those humans were all broken, shoddy products from the very start...
So, as a matter of course, it naturally could not respond to this crimson red Dragon-kin girl's simple wish to hear the voice of that human man Fisher once more.