Giant Dragon Lord: Starting from Daily Intelligence

Chapter 546: Chapter 417: Flame Star River and the Gangrene on the Bone

However, just as they exited the forest and arrived at a relatively open plain,

Kado, who was walking at the very front of the group, suddenly stopped in his tracks.

His eyes, like great bronze bells, narrowed slightly as he gazed at the sky behind them.

”My Lord.”

His voice carried a hint of gravity.

”I think... something is following us.”

Raylo had already sensed it, but the warning had come from Moonlight.

He spurred Baofeng into the sky and looked back.

There, at the edge of the sky several kilometers behind them,

a crimson dot of light was hanging, neither far nor near.

That familiar aura...

It was the Blazing Phoenix!

It had actually managed to reform its body so quickly and had tailed them all this way!

The color instantly drained from Raylo’s face.

That crimson speck of light was like an ominous scar branded against the backdrop of the sky, stubbornly hanging on the distant horizon.

It didn’t draw closer, nor did it fall back.

It just maintained a subtle, deeply unsettling distance, like the most patient of hunters silently observing its prey.

Raylo’s heart sank bit by bit.

He knew this Blazing Phoenix hadn’t given up.

It was waiting for an opportunity.

An opportunity to strike a fatal blow and reclaim the Sun Crown Stone.

”Damned Flame Bird!”

A roar full of fury came from behind Raylo.

It was Kado.

He had obviously recognized the Phoenix’s aura as well.

Without another word, he pulled a massive Javelin from his back. The muscles on his arm bulged like coiling dragons as he prepared to hurl it in that direction.

”Wait, Kado!”

Raylo stopped him just in time.

”It’s useless.”

Raylo shook his head, a trace of helplessness in his voice.

”It’s too far.”

The Blazing Phoenix may have been severely weakened, but it was still a Domain Level Peak existence.

As long as it was determined to dodge, with its terrifying speed, a Giant’s Javelin posed no effective threat to it.

”Then... then what do we do now?”

Kado scratched his head, agitated.

”We can’t just let it keep following us, can we?”

Raylo fell silent.

He knew all too well how dangerous it was to be targeted by such a powerful and resentful Magical Beast.

Moreover, it was clear this Blazing Phoenix was astonishingly intelligent.

And the more intelligent a Magical Beast, the more it held a grudge.

It was like having a time bomb strapped to their side, set to go off at any moment.

Everyone in the group was now in constant danger of a sneak attack.

And Sun, in his extremely unstable state, was its primary target.

”Let’s pick up the pace!”

Raylo shouted to Kado.

”Yes, My Lord!”

The entire group’s marching speed abruptly increased.

The Giants broke into their fastest stride, running across the plain.

The earth beneath their feet boomed like war drums, THUD, THUD.

However, no matter how fast they ran,

the crimson speck of light behind them followed like a shadow.

It was like a maggot clinging to bone, impossible to shake off.

As darkness began to fall, the group had no choice but to stop and make camp.

After days of constant running, even the Giants felt exhausted.

The atmosphere in the camp was exceptionally tense and oppressive.

Everyone’s eyes would, from time to time, dart toward the pitch-black night sky behind them.

Although they could no longer see the dot of light under the cover of night,

everyone knew it was still there.

The three Domain Level Giants—Kado, Gordo, and Ug—took turns standing watch with their Javelins.

The night passed peacefully.

When the group set out again the next day,

that relentless, crimson speck of light reappeared behind them, hanging there, neither far nor near.

It was like this for three straight days.

Raylo felt a surge of frustration.

’This Blazing Phoenix is too patient.’

He had tried having Moonlight cast Clone Magic again, summoning Sun’s clones to help encircle it.

He had also tried sending Kado and the other two Domain Level Giants to ambush and kill it.

But the Phoenix, having been caught once, had become exceptionally wary.

It would flee at the slightest sign of movement, giving Raylo no chance to surround it.

Facing such a powerful enemy—one he couldn’t defeat, couldn’t catch, couldn’t drive away, and who was relentlessly persistent—Raylo felt a profound sense of powerlessness for the first time.

Sun’s massive body cut through the clouds, flying in silence.

The gash torn open by the Phoenix’s talons, running from his neck to his chest, was still a gruesome sight. The golden blood had clotted, but during the strenuous flight, the Dragon Scales at the wound’s edge would occasionally peel back, revealing the dark red flesh beneath.

He was enduring.

Enduring the searing pain of his wound, and even more so, the burning of the Sun Crown Stone inside him.

Streams of violent Solar Power that he couldn’t fully suppress would occasionally leak from between his scales, bathing his draconic body in a golden radiance.

His aura was extremely unstable, at times so powerful it made even Raylo’s heart pound, and at others as faint as a candle sputtering in the wind.

He needed to rest.

He needed a safe place to digest the fortuitous opportunity he had obtained at the cost of grievous injury—an opportunity that should have been his.

”ROAR!”

A low, pain-filled dragon’s cry rumbled from Sun’s throat.

Raylo patted Baofeng’s neck, signaling him to move closer to Sun.

”Just hold on a little longer, Sun.”

Raylo’s voice was broken by the wind.

”We’re... almost home.”

Sun’s enormous head turned slightly. His golden eyes glanced at Raylo, a silent response to his words of comfort.

Time passed in silent travel.

When the imposing, stark silhouette of Black Stone Castle finally appeared on the horizon, everyone in the group subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.

As they drew closer, the details of Black Stone Castle became clearer.

On the castle walls, patrolling soldiers spotted their returning Lord and the Giant Dragon, immediately sounding the Horns.

”BWAAH! BWAAH!”

The desolate, drawn-out call of the Horns echoed over the Black Stone Territory.

Raylo didn’t land immediately.

He kept Baofeng hovering high in the sky.

Then, he saw that several kilometers away, on the western horizon, the crimson dot of light had also stopped.

It didn’t come any closer, nor did it leave.

It just hung there silently, gazing at Black Stone Castle from a great distance.

”ROAR!”

Sun let out a low growl.

His massive body landed in the Dragon’s Nest at the top of the castle.

The moment he landed, the entire foundation of the Dragon’s Nest let out a groan, as if overburdened.

A visible heatwave radiated out from the Dragon’s Nest, distorting the surrounding air.

Sun folded his Dragon Wings, his enormous body curling up as he buried his head deep beneath his belly.

The golden light on his body gradually subsided, and only a searing heat proved he was engaged in a bitter struggle with the rampaging energy within him.

He fell into a deep sleep, and a transformation began.

Raylo, riding Baofeng, slowly descended into the castle’s main square.

”My Lord!”

Ed immediately rushed forward, his face etched with urgency.

”Are you injured? Lord Sun, he...”

”I’m fine.”

Raylo leaped off Baofeng’s back.

”Sun is injured, but it’s not life-threatening. He swallowed a rare artifact and needs time to digest it.”

As he spoke, he looked up at the Dragon’s Nest atop the castle, his brow deeply furrowed.

”Relay my orders!”

Raylo commanded.

”From this moment on, Black Stone Castle is on highest alert! All Knights are to cancel their leave and prepare for battle!”

”Yes, My Lord!”

Ed turned to relay the orders.

”My Lord, that damned big bird is still out there.”

Kado said in his booming voice, his rugged face filled with irritation and frustration.

”I know.”

Raylo nodded, looking at Kado, Gordo, and Ug.

”Kado, starting today, the three of you will lead the Giant Legion on rotating watch. If it shows any sign of approaching Black Stone Castle, drive it back with Javelins immediately!”

”Understood!”

The three Domain Level Giants responded in unison.

Raylo stood in the center of the square and looked to the west again.

The crimson speck was still hanging there.

Raylo knew that the turning point depended on the golden figure sleeping at the top of the castle.

For now, he could only wait.

Wait for Sun to master the power of the Sun Crown Stone, for the moment of Dawn to arrive.