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It didn’t matter where the Fallen Witches came from or who was backing Elvira; she still had to die.

“Right, come and look at these shadow fragments of the Thousand Fog Illusion Dragon,” Vaan called them over.

Shortly after the three ladies gathered at his location, Astoria made her inquiry. “Did you discover something, Teacher Raphna?”

“I’ve simulated the Thousand Fog Illusion Dragon’s reconstruction in my mind and came up with an appearance similar to the red dragon we’ve seen from a distance back outside Misty Leaf Town,” Vaan mentioned.

“However, what’s important is that I’ve compared Thousand Fog Illusion Dragon’s shadow fragments to the Fog beasts’ carcass, but they are nothing alike on a fundamental level. Fog Beasts’ carcasses still have material flesh after death, but Thousand Fog Illusion Dragon is completely comprised of mana.”

“In other words?” Hester urged Vaan to continue.

“In other words, the Thousand Fog Illusion Dragon isn’t a Fog Beast at all. It’s just an illusion spell. A very intricately constructed illusion spell,” Vaan claimed.

“But illusion spells have no offensive power whatsoever.” Astoria frowned before she asked, “How did the Thousand Fog Illusion Dragon manage to scare Headmaster Tabitha off the upper regions if it doesn’t pose any threat?”

“Although there are no records of it, I’m assuming it’s not just a pure illusion spell, but a hybrid illusion-attack spell. If it’s the dragons of old, they should have the wisdom to create such a powerful spell,” 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.

“Although 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,” Astoria confirmed.

“So what can we learn from this?” Aeliana asked.

“Not much, actually. But something is still better than nothing,” Astoria casually replied before adding, “While these clues don’t tell us much about the Fallen Witches’ strengths, at least we know they have an illusion expert within their group.”

“I see,” 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.

“Let us head back for now and plan our next steps,” Vaan urged after devouring the Thousand Fog Illusion Dragon’s 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.

“Alright,” the group quickly agreed to leave.

However, things don’t 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 didn’t hurt.

Even so, the dragon’s 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.

“What kind of roar was that? It was nothing compared to the red dragon’s roar we’ve heard back at Misty Leaf Town,” Hester exclaimed with shock.

“Maybe because the red dragon’s roar wasn’t directed at us. However, this time, it targeted everyone on the mountain, and it was filled with fury,” Astoria said with a solemn look. “I think the Fallen Witches may have angered the dragon.”

“And 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,” Astoria added gravely.

“That’s not a being we can handle, even with our strengths combined,” Vaan commented before urging everyone, “We better leave quickly before we get involved in the Fallen Witches’ mess.”

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 Vaan’s group at the center.

“R-Red dragons!” Hester’s 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 Dragons’ immense strength and mana pool; the four True Dragons were at least Peak-level Rank 4 or higher.

That said, they weren’t strong enough to gauge the True Dragons’ 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.

“Humans! 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!” one of the red dragons spoke in a middle-aged man’s voice.

“You speak our language?” Aeliana raised an eyebrow in surprise, overshadowed by her tense mood.