Blood Nemesis-Chapter 134: Dead

BOOM!

A blinding red flash and a deafening explosion ripped through the quiet, dark forest. The thunderous roar startled the slumbering creatures across the entire island, causing them to turn towards the source in a panic.

Meanwhile, Oliver felt warm bits of meat and blood splatter against his face. The shockwave had unleashed a torrent of dust, debris, and gore in his direction. Fortunately, he reacted quickly. He dropped to the ground, belly flat, and covered his head, allowing the majority of the debris to fly over him.

"Phew! That really blew up."

Perhaps the dragon’s body had acted like an enclosed container, amplifying the explosion. Despite the red crystal being smaller and less mana-dense, it had detonated with far greater power. He thought, ’It was a good idea to push it into its mouth.’

Once the explosion cleared, Oliver lifted his head and looked at the boulder. The flood dragon’s body was gone. In its place, beneath the boulder, a new crater had formed. The crater was shallow but had displaced more earth than the boulder itself. As he focused his eyes, he saw blood oozing from beneath it.

"Half the body is under it. But where is the other half?"

Oliver scanned his surroundings. The explosion seemed to have launched the dragon’s carcass through the air. There was no doubt about it. Just before the blast, he had seen the creature’s enlarged belly split open near the base of the boulder. Half of the twenty-meter-long dragon was trapped beneath the boulder, while the rest had been obliterated.

’It wouldn’t have turned to dust. After all, it’s a dragon,’ he mused.

Oliver’s eyes were wide as he continued his search. Root approached with the boat, casting more light on the area. Finally, Oliver spotted a ten-meter-long serpentine body hanging from a nearby tree. It was the flood dragon. The ferocious creature was limbless, and most of its stomach and underbelly were missing. Its eyes, once filled with madness, were now hollow and lifeless.

’It’s deader than a sushi roll,’ Oliver thought, pushing himself up from the ground. He flicked his hand, dusting off the blood and gore, and walked closer for a better look.

"As expected," he muttered nonchalantly as he observed its condition.

The dragon had been torn in half by the explosion. Its underbelly and surrounding scales were shredded, revealing a bloody mix of meat and bones. Only the visible ribs attached to the spine held their shape. Oliver’s eyes moved to the head: a broken horn, lifeless eyes, and a wide-open jaw. He could see its razor-sharp teeth covered in black and red soot. Still, the head was in relatively better condition than the rest of the body.

"The dragon core should be inside the skull."

The explosive light and heat seemed to have forced their way out through the softer underbelly, ensuring the dragon core would be undamaged. Besides, the dragon core was a crystalline solid that wouldn’t burn or break easily. With the skull still intact, there was even less reason for it to have disappeared. Oliver had calculated all of this before opening the flood dragon’s mouth to force the crystal inside.

"Root, come down," he said, walking closer to the creature’s head.

At the same time, two people descended from the sky and landed beside him. Their eyes met for a moment, but Oliver continued forward. They followed him, unsure of his intentions.

"The flood dragon is dead. Most of the meat and bones are damaged. But I want that," Oliver stated before they could speak, his eyes gleaming with a determined light.

Lin Yue and the elder widened their eyes. Contrary to their expectations, Oliver hadn’t asked for the flood dragon’s most valuable part—its core. Instead, he opted for the blood and meat. Though valuable, these didn’t come close to the core’s worth.

Oliver seemed completely different. Just minutes ago, he had demanded an exorbitant sum in compensation, so they anticipated strong resistance from him. In fact, they had prepared to pay him off if necessary to secure the dragon core.

’Does this young man not know the value of the core? Or perhaps, he didn’t even know of its existence?’ The elder was confused. He rubbed his injured, swollen chin and pondered.

Oliver noticed the subtle change in their expressions and understood their thoughts. ’I’m not stupid, okay. I know the value of this stuff. But I’m sure you won’t let me have it.’ Still, to maintain his image as an impetuous young man, he added, "About the dragon core, we can come to an agreement later."

Oliver rubbed off the chunk of meat sticking to his face. He was never going to hand over the core that easily. He intended to extort a significant amount of money from them for his contribution in hunting the beast. His initial words were merely his opening demands. He genuinely needed the dragon flesh for something specific. After all, it was the best bait for the creature he intended to catch.

Oliver’s mind drifted back to his initial plans for coming to Infinity Lake. First and foremost, he wanted to train Root. Secondly, he aimed to improve his blood storage limit. Currently, it is around 40,000 liters. With the abundance of giant, yet weak, fish in the lake, he believed he could easily reach a hundred thousand liters before the Hero Academy Entrance Exam. And the third, equally important, goal was to catch a special fish—not just any fish, but a mythical beast spoken of in legends.

The ancient temple and ruins within the city held detailed engravings of it: a mythical creature, a flying fish that could grow into a limitless behemoth, capable of swallowing the sun and the moon. No one truly believed these engravings, considering them mere myths. But Oliver knew better. He knew that beast existed. Though a fleeting glimpse, he had personally seen the creature devouring an S-rank beast as if it were a mere worm.

’The creature should have hatched when the titan died years ago and escaped the confines of the ancient temple,’ he thought. ’Now, it would be lurking in the infinitely large lake, consuming whatever it can to grow.’

’I need to catch this beast.’

Ambition swelled in Oliver’s mind. The thought of taming such a creature made him clench his fist tighter. The only clue he had to finding the creature was the very island he stood on. He had heard stories from fishermen about a giant shadow lurking in the waters surrounding the island. At the same time, they had noticed the disappearance of the silver crabs in the region. Thus, Oliver theorized that it was the legendary creature that had eaten all the silver crabs, hunting them to extinction. Once the silver crabs disappeared, the creature too had vanished from the nearby waters, further validating his theory.

Perhaps it was all just a hopeful wish. Nonetheless, Oliver felt he had to try. The legendary beast would be in its infant stage, and he truly had a chance of catching it. By hook or by crook, he was going to catch it. That was why he had searched for the silver crabs. And since silver crabs liked to eat rock eels, that’s why he had bought the eels and made bait from them. Everything was planned out in sequence to achieve his wish of catching the legendary beast.

He knew his plan was a long shot, an unreasonable gamble that might never work. Hence, he hadn’t put much effort into it until now. But with the flood dragon carcass, his chances for capturing silver crabs would increase tremendously. Perhaps even the gluttonous legendary beast would be attracted by it. So, he decided to secure the meat first.

"...young man. Hello." Oliver heard the elder’s voice calling out to him. "...young man. What are you thinking about?"

Lost in thought, Oliver shook his head and cleared his mind. "Nothing."

The elder nodded. "We agree." Then he said in a calm tone.

"You agree to give me the flood dragon’s meat and blood?" Oliver raised his eyebrow. Like them, he hadn’t expected it to go this easily. He had thought the Lin clan was filled with all sorts of psychos. But the people he had met in this life didn’t seem that bad.

’Is it just this old man?’

Oliver glanced at Lin Yue, who was still covering her head with her hooded robes. ’Is she cosplaying as a mage from fantasy novels? Is this a frigging D&D quest?’ Oliver wore an annoyed look and turned back to the elder when he noticed she was avoiding his eyes. This was not the Lin Yue he knew. She was supposed to be the kind who would stare him down and burn him alive.

’Maybe something knocked her head and fixed her personality,’ he thought.

Then he turned to the elder and said:

"If you are okay with it, I am okay.’

Oliver turned to look at the boat floating down from the sky.