"OH, but don't worry.  We won't attack you all at the same time.  We will do it in batches of four.  If we don't, the four of you might just die.  And where's the fun in that, right?" the red dragon said with that face that's starting to get really, really annoying.

This bastard.  Luo Yan really wanted to roast him in heavenly fire and then feed his burnt carcass to the lower-class monsters he'd been looking down on.  Just the thought of it could already put a smile in his face.

He shook his head.  But this was hardly the time for that.  What's up with this stupid trial?  They would attack us and we just had to survive?  What a load of crap.  It's just like silently telling them that they would kill them here to make sure that they were not the group of people in the prophecy that the dragon clan's oracle foretold.  After all, if they died here, how could they endanger their clan?

If that was the case, then wouldn't this 'trial' be quickly solved if they showed these dragons that they were not a threat?  A surefire way to do that was to lose on purpose and let them see that they're not as strong.  But in doing so, they would risk the possibility that these dragons would just kill them. 

He and Shen Ji Yun would be fine.  They could still respawn.  They might drop some items or whatnot but that wouldn't really affect them.  But Luo Yan couldn't say the same thing for Eclipse and Dusk. 

Eclipse might have a master-pet contract with him, but it didn't really say there what would happen to the other if he died.  Dusk was on a worse situation.  At least, Eclipse had a chance of still being alive because he's contracted to Luo Yan.  But Dusk was technically an NPC.  If he died here, he might really 'die' in a real sense.  As if having his codes erased.

It didn't help that they were doing a hidden task.  Because in a hidden task, the narrative that one had weaved would be permanently part of Arcadia's story.  Of course, this narrative all depended on the choices one made while doing the hidden task.  So, if Dusk died as a part of the narrative, then, not only would they be unable to complete the task, the black dragon's existence in the game would also vanish.

So, at the end, they couldn't let these dragons beat them.  Which was not really such a bad thing.  Because there's no way any member of their party right now would agree to purposely lose and bow down to these dragons.   

"Shall we teach these dragons a lesson?" he said, not really asking anyone in particular.

As an answer, Shen Ji Yun simply pulled the sword strapped on his back.  Its thin katana-like blade was already surrounded by purple electricity.

"Yes, Mashter!  Let's do that!  Eclipse had been wanting to smash their faces since earlier," the little boy beside him said with a pout.

"Do you even need to ask?" Dusk said with an annoyed scoff.

Luo Yan grinned.  He was actually already expecting this kind reaction from the three.  He first thought if he should warn Dusk not to show his full power.  But he thought against it.  Considering that they were already in trouble, what's the point of not letting these dragons know that there was another dragon in their midst?  Dusk might as well just run amok.

He took out both his daggers.  Yes, they should all just have fun.

The red dragon seemed to dislike the fact that they didn't show any fear at all.  "Why don't we show these ignorant fools the might of the dragons?"

The dragons surrounding them growled, if that was even the right term, at them.  Then the red dragon flew back and four dragons standing on the stage rushed to where they were standing.  Their speed was so fast that, they almost looked like four streams of light.

"Let's spread out," Luo Yan said, because it was quite obvious that this first batch was trying to surround them.  "Eclipse, you're with me."

"Yes, Mashter!"

This was a good chance to polish their team work more.  It would even be better if they could level up from killing these dragons.

He ran to the right, Eclipse following behind him.  He saw Shen Ji Yun going to the left and Dusk jumped back.  Surprisingly enough, two dragons went after Shen Ji Yun while there's only one dragon who went after him and Eclipse.  It obviously showed just how much he was being underestimated.

Luo Yan almost let out a laugh.  What a joke.  "Eclipse, let's show them that one dragon is not enough to stop us."

"Eclipse is just thinking the exact same thing, Mashter," the little boy said with a grin.  "Are we going to use the 'burn them all' strategy?"

Luo Yan shook his head. Eclipse really could come up with the weirdest name sometimes.  But he still understood what the other meant.

"Yeah, let's do that."

After he said that, he rushed forward to meet the incoming dragon.  He was actually kind of glad that these dragons were fighting using their humanoid form.  At least, it would be less of a hassle than fighting them in their huge beast form.

The dragon seemed to be surprised by his initiative to attack.  Then he smirked at him, as if thinking how foolish his actions were.  Well, let's just see whose action was more foolish.

The dragon swung his arm to his direction when their distance lessened.  The moment the other did that, the arm bulged and turned to a dragon arm, complete with scales and claws. 

Luo Yan did not dodge and instead faced it head-on, defending himself using his daggers.  The dragon looked surprised that he wasn't blown away by the attack.  It was then that he felt a heat source from behind.  He smiled and jumped up.

Before the dragon could notice what was happening, he readily used one of his newly-acquired skill, [Shadow Cutting].  It's a skill that could 'cut' the shadow of an opponent from their body.  Doing so would lower all their stats depending on how big the size of the shadow that was cut.  In short, the bigger the shadow, the more that their stats would be lowered. 

Because of the black flames that were now surrounding Eclipse, who was standing behind him when he rushed towards the dragon earlier, Luo Yan could see clearly the long shadow behind the dragon.  And the shadow was as big as they could get.

He waved one of his daggers downward and the dragon's shadow was cut off from its body.  After that, he shouted, "Eclipse, now!"

The flames that were just surrounding Eclipse attacked the dragon.  It was not real fire, but fox fire.  It wouldn't burn you but it would give you the illusion of being burn.  But unlike ordinary illusion, one could still feel pain from it.  The more one believed that they were being burn, the more pain they would feel. 

This was just one of the skills Eclipse had acquired when he absorbed the power of Elementum.  And because he was more attuned to the element of 'shadow', it also increased Luo Yan's affinity to the said element. Which was more than helpful, by the way.  Considering his skills set and all.

"Ahhhh!!!" the dragon shrieked.

Luo Yan landed behind the dragon and stabbed him on his heart.  For good measure, he also stabbed him on his head.  It wasn't a surprise that the dragon's humanoid body slowly turned into dust, a sign of death.

He turned to where Shen Ji Yun just in time to see the other stabbing a dragon. Purple lightning emerged from the sword and struck the whole dragon's body from within.  Turning the dragon into a crispy charcoal. Since the other dragon that attacked Shen Ji Yun was nowhere to be seen, Luo Yan could only assume that it had already died.

The same could be said to the dragon who attacked Dusk. Since the other was now patting down his clothes as if to removed unnecessary filth.

Luo Yan then looked at the red dragon whose face was now turning purple probably from too much anger.. He smirked, "Looks like you dragons are not so mighty after all."

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