Surviving The Fourth Calamity

”By the way, teacher, do Chromatic Dragons have a ’reverse scale’?” Russell asked, a little confused, holding a scroll in his hand... it was a section from Hilbert’s Book of Dragons that Hill had given them to popularize some basic knowledge.

”No.” Hilbert answered simply.

”Then what is he...” Russell had thought this dragon was some brand‑new species!

He always remembered that reverse scales were a trait of serpents!

It’s actually just the fine scales around the heart.

”He’s just using that word as a substitute for his heart, which is fine in itself.” Hilbert gave a faint chuckle. ”A dragon’s heart is indeed under the chest, but in fact the bone in front of their chest also undergoes certain special changes.

Just like a reverse scale, it doesn’t look special on the surface, but it is actually extremely sturdy.”

”Then why did he say it like that?” Russell asked curiously. ”Doesn’t he care about people comparing him to serpent‑type creatures?”

”He’s trying to pass himself off as a rather special kind of Giant Dragon from the Styx.” Hill couldn’t help but laugh. ”This dragon must have had contact with a Stygian River Dragon and knows that that kind of Giant Dragon, which looks somewhat serpentine, feeds on Purgatory Creatures.

On top of that, he also displayed a bit of Rust Dragon traits, but his Intelligence is clearly too high—Rust Dragons don’t have that kind of brain.

But he can completely sell himself as a mutated Rust Dragon... those things don’t have any particularly noteworthy abilities, aside from being cruel enough, but their Destructive Power against metal is extremely strong.

Most Plane travelers are really unwilling to run into them.

But for Devils, both of these species are actually quite a hassle.

Including those Fallen Angels.

They’re good at using metal weapons... whether it’s the Rust Dragon’s Innate metal‑corroding nature, or the Stygian River Dragon’s terrifying Acid mist, both are very effective counters against them.

Moreover, the Stygian River Dragon’s bites and tail strikes all carry Styx Force... you should know, the breath of the Styx is extremely damaging to living beings.

Even a Duke of Demons whose abilities aren’t quite up to par will still come down with Styx weakness... that’s a disaster of rotting muscles and shedding hair.

If it were some other Devil, they might still risk it and go in for close‑quarters combat with this dragon, but Rosero and that Battle Angel?

Heh~

Neither of them wants to see their own bodies rotting all over.

If they suspect that this dragon’s true identity is a Stygian River Dragon, they absolutely won’t dare keep fighting him.”

”Then... does this mean...” Russell, however, focused on another point. ”That this Giant Dragon gentleman and that Black Robe person still don’t have enough strength to take on Sia Tower, teacher?”

Hilbert nodded. ”The Styx Force is clearly still very weak. It may be enough to support them appearing in public, but probably not enough to support them in a full‑scale war.

That is to say, he... the two of them probably have decent combat intensity, but their endurance isn’t enough.”

Russell nodded slowly. He understood the implication in their teacher’s words... that Black Robe is now an Envoy of the Styx; all his power comes from the Styx.

But the influence of the Styx on this world still isn’t strong enough, so that person only has short‑burst explosive power.

And this dragon up in the clouds clearly isn’t going to risk his life for the Black Robe... so he just put on a terrifying front, trying to scare the enemy into retreating without a fight.

If this trick was used against some other Duke of Demons, it might not work so well.

But whether it’s Rosero or that Fallen Angel hiding in the shadows, they probably don’t want to mess with a Stygian River Dragon.

Especially that Fallen Angel... for him, it’s not just about rotting all over, he’d also be losing his feathers!

Carpenter felt a chill in his heart. ”That move is a bit too vicious.”

Hilbert glanced at them... he didn’t quite get what exactly these two kids were empathizing with, but he was very clear that if that Battle Angel withdraws from the field right now and stops entangling himself, then Asmodeus probably won’t be able to hold on.

This Battle Angel’s presence here is only to deter these people belonging to the Styx, to try to keep them from having any ideas about looting a burning house.

So... the fact that this dragon is taking the initiative to confront the upper echelon of Sia Tower, instead of just running away as he did in the past, probably means he’s gotten some information.

-----------------

Aislin clearly hadn’t figured out what this Giant Dragon was hinting at.

So unlike Rosero, she didn’t instantly jump back once she understood.

But this lady still understood one thing very well... it’s fine if she can’t figure it out; she just has to follow Rosero’s lead.

So the two people who quickly pulled back ended up exposing the utterly bewildered Delphus and his few subordinates... that Ninth Ring Female Mage didn’t come out with him.

Obviously, once Delphus no longer even had the chance to remain in Sia Tower, their little ”lover contract” naturally dissolved... looks like that lady, though scammed pretty badly, wasn’t stupid enough to sign that kind of all‑inclusive contract with Delphus.

However, any lover agreement that is voided the moment someone leaves Sia Tower is, in essence, most disadvantageous to that lady.

Delphus probably never imagined that one day the one forced to leave would be him.

But at this very moment, standing all alone at the very front, Delphus would definitely be regretting it, right?

If he could still understand Rosero and Aislin deserting at the last minute, then the way his subordinates, upon noticing something wrong, immediately pulled back behind him... that was truly spectacular.

”Yo‑ho‑ho~” The black Giant Dragon in the Cloud Realm let out a mocking laugh. ”As expected, the outcome for traitors is always the same.”

Hilbert couldn’t help looking up at this bragging Giant Dragon... even if his betrayal of Tiamat could be considered somewhat understandable, in the eyes of the Chromatic Dragon Queen he’s still a traitor!

Every single thing this dragon says can refresh how much those in the know think they know about him.

Hill was now starting to doubt whether he really chose this path of no return for his daughter’s sake... anyone who can pull off something like the Felunryel world must know a lot about the God System.

And dragons are actually the ones who believe most in destiny and Prophecy... the reason the Dragon Worship Church could rise was also closely related to their continuous faith in so‑called fate.

So, the fact that this Red Dragon hid himself along a tributary of the Styx in this world—could it also be because he’d received some sort of revelation of destiny?

What kind of future would make him make such a firm decision... a Chromatic Dragon betraying the Chromatic Dragon Queen is truly rare.

If he wasn’t really driven mad by his lack of offspring... While this reason is hard for other races to understand, for Chromatic Dragons it’s very real.

Just think about that Black Dragon in Deepwater City who, after becoming a Dragon Lich, was unwilling to accept it and kept trying to restore his reproductive ability!

For a male Giant Dragon, going an entire lifetime without even a single egg is the greatest humiliation.

Even if they’re Undead and immortal, it’s the same.

Human Liches generally don’t have that feeling because they think their continued existence in the world is Eternity itself; there’s no need for some kind of bloodline legacy.

They find it hard to understand a dragon’s mad obsession with their own offspring.

So Hill genuinely believes this Red Dragon is one of those driven‑mad types.

But it’s still a bit hard to wrap his head around.

A Giant Dragon that can create a world like Felunryel would actually completely break down over this... Hill has always found it a bit... incomprehensible.

But offspring strong enough to become a World Master, even a spokesperson for the Styx, and then add on some unknown beautiful Prophecy—sure, that really could make an Ancient Red Dragon work hard to fulfill that Prophecy.

No wonder he doesn’t care about offending the Toril Gods.

The Deities of Toril are very good at reading the situation; any mess in Felunryel would absolutely be pinned on the Chromatic Dragon Queen... of course, as the Main God, Tiamat couldn’t shirk that responsibility anyway.

But the Red Dragon who should have been punished along with her could definitely be ”mildly” forgotten so long as he’s hiding in the Styx.

After all, they haven’t actually offended that truly terrifying kind of Red Dragon.