novelhk Chapter 283: Dragon Knight
Chapter 283: Dragon Knight
The true dragon's natural physical gifts were undeniably exceptional.Gauss's iron fists, infused with dragon claw energy, struck the drake's tough skull like repeated hammer blows.
Even though the creature looked battered and miserable, its powerful body could still erupt with a terrifying force.
The drake went from roaring in fury and struggling desperately to emitting a continuous stream of painful whimpers, its throat forcing out broken sobs.
The proud golden vertical pupils that once burned with rage were now utterly extinguished, leaving only a numb submission.
Gauss maintained the dual burden of bloodlines. Although the buffet of energy before him replenished some reserves, the extreme consumption still left his face slightly pale.
Finally, after a seemingly endless flurry of punches, Gauss stopped.
He knelt on one knee with his weight on the drake’s thick neck, breathing heavily.
Seeing the massive beast beneath him utterly devoid of the will to resist and barely clinging to life, a trace of hesitation flickered across Gauss’s eyes.
The drake seemed to sense the end of the assault. With the last of its strength it wearily lifted its eyelids and looked at Gauss.
A humble plea had crept into its gaze.
“Roar—”
A faint whimper escaped its throat.
It understood that its life was now completely at the mercy of the man before it.
The survival instinct turned the once ferocious drake meek as a housecat.
Gauss watched the scene intently.
At this moment he truly felt conflicted.
When he initially learned there was a drake here, his first thought had been to slay it and add it to his bestiary.
This wasn’t because he lacked ambition or the dream of becoming a dragon knight.
There were many reasons not to rush into such a thing.
Most importantly, it was simply unfeasible.
Some weaker young dragons might submit to stronger dragons, but that did not mean they would willingly become mounts or servants of another species.
A dragon’s pride is embedded in their bones, especially red dragons—fiery-tempered, domineering, and fiercely possessive.
In truth, when they submit to other dragons it is often out of sheer helplessness.
The enormous disparity in power robs them of the capacity to resist or harbor other intentions.
Dragon inheritance also contains contractual mechanisms—like an “employment contract”—that can safeguard mutual interests.
But for humans, forming a contract with a dragon is far more difficult;it requires extremely high-grade contract scrolls.
Even the celebrated dragon knights from stories, according to whispered rumors, often signed brutally harsh “equal” contracts, and in some cases the arrangement bordered on a one-way tribute from knights to dragons.
Those secret records and rumors flickered through Gauss’s mind.
Dragon knights and the families behind them paid massive fortunes and rare magical materials to achieve a limited-term, mutually beneficial partnership with a great dragon.
Even then, the chance of success was slim—first you had to find a dragon that did not loathe humans. Most of the Five Chromatic Evil Dragons naturally look down on humans.
They prize violence, act selfishly and cunningly, and center everything on themselves. Even their devotion to their deity, the five-headed Tiamat, is shallow;most chromatic dragons are utilitarians and hypocritical believers.
If that’s how they treat their gods, humans are nothing but slaves, valuables, or food in their eyes.
Metallic dragons, by contrast, value order, protect the weak, and uphold justice.
In stories they sometimes act, openly or secretly, to defend civilization—walking the world in human form, guiding heroes, opposing evil.
But that does not mean they are willing to sign contracts with humans.
To Gauss, a metallic dragon’s benevolence felt like a paternalistic brand of justice.
They shepherd civilization and enlighten heroes from a lofty distance, acting as mentors and sages guided by their concepts of order and justice.
Most humans seemed to them like short-lived children or cute pets. Their aid was genuine but inherently unequal—why would they consent to become a human’s mount?
Moreover, metallic dragon families cherish their kin;it’s rare for young dragons or drakes to be exposed to humans, closing any path for humans to be “angel investors.”
Set aside all those obstacles—suppose a prospective dragon knight meets a dragon and they take a liking to each other—many other conditions must still be met.
First, the compatibility between dragon and rider must be very high, otherwise the contract will fail.
Second, the rider’s faction must possess strong, stable finances to supply the dragon regularly with food, treasure, and rare items.
This is orders of magnitude harder than Gauss acquiring a luxury supercar in his previous life.
So when Gauss first detected the red drake through clay magic, the fleeting thought of becoming a dragon knight passed through his mind and was immediately dismissed.
His current strength clearly could not subdue this red drake permanently.
Even if he subdued it temporarily through a special state, what then?
Contract scrolls capable of binding a drake are of such high caliber that low-level adventurers never encounter them.
Nor did he have the resources to sustain it.
If the drake recovered, it would be a ticking bomb with a high chance of backfiring.
How could a red drake come to genuinely submit to a weaker human?
Would Gauss have to stay perpetually ready to enter a superposed state and constantly watch it?
Then the drake would be less an asset and more a massive liability and threat.
Ultimately, it came down to insufficient strength.
If he already had the sustained combat power of a level 9 or 10 professional, he could have easily dominated this dangerous drake.
But...
During the face-to-face fight with the red drake, Gauss’s thinking shifted.
The change came because the white egg dormant inside him conveyed a unique sensation.
It could help him.
More precisely, this was not purely help—it was a yearning.
The existence of this red drake seemed beneficial to it.
So the white egg, which had been sleeping inside Gauss, proactively awakened and began communicating with him.
“All right, let’s give it a try.”
Gauss exhaled.
After that encounter in the Dark Forest and the memories tied to it, he had a vague understanding of the white egg’s function.
The white egg acted like an “experience amplifier.” It could steadily provide extra aid so that an adventure that once yielded a single unit of experience might now yield one and a half units.
Gauss was not ungrateful. Though the white egg was effectively “rent,” it had truly helped him. He didn’t mind consulting it on matters that posed no harm.
If it failed, the red drake was already beaten senseless and gravely wounded—he could end its life anytime.
Sensing Gauss’s “change of heart,” the white egg sent back ecstatic emotion, like a child who finally persuaded a parent to buy a long-desired toy.
With the drake’s panic-stricken, pleading eyes on him, Gauss bent down slowly.
He pressed his palm gently against the drake’s spine.
A mysterious energy flowed out from within the white egg.
“Dai dai dai!”
Brilliant golden chains unfurled from Gauss’s palm.
They were not solid chains but woven from countless fine, ancient runes, radiating a warm, sacred aura—an unquestionable presence of authority.
The golden chains made the red drake shudder.
It tried instinctively to flee, but having been pummeled into near immobility, it lacked the strength to resist.
A bloodline instinctal terror surged through it;the sacred chains felt like a higher-level force that instilled deep dread.
“Whine…”
It emitted a low, nearly inaudible keening.
The chains, as if alive, slowly wrapped around the drake’s body.
At last they tightened.
“Dai dai dai, dai dai!”
The golden chains did not deal physical wounds to its scarred body;instead they pierced its scales and flesh and merged into its form.
Gauss faintly sensed a strange connection forming between the drake and—no, between the drake and the white egg inside him.
Before his eyes, the red drake’s presence rapidly “weakened.” Its eyes closed and it slipped into sleep.
Gauss began to piece things together.
Though he didn’t know exactly how the white egg achieved it, it had temporarily suppressed and sealed the drake’s strength—reducing it to roughly the level of a common level 6 professional—while siphoning the remainder to periodically nourish itself.
Of course the white egg did not forget Gauss;it allocated part of that nourishment to him.
Thus, the red drake would find it difficult to muster a rebellious will against him.
Gauss exhaled in relief as the drake beneath him fell into slumber.
This white egg was pure “organized crime” energy—but he liked it.
With the drake controlled by the white egg, he in effect controlled it.
That meant that from this moment onward—
He was a noble dragon knight!
After all, a drake was still a dragon.
“Heh.”
Gauss could not help but laugh softly.
He didn’t plan to fuss over the red drake’s wounds for now.
Left unattended, it would slowly self-heal.
He turned his attention to the other side of the battlefield.
Now there were only them left!
The fight between Gauss’s squad and the goblin-like army had been tense, but it hadn’t reached catastrophic levels.
After all, the strongest Dragonborn Goblin had already been slain earlier;the remaining goblins would not find it easy to defeat Albenia and the others in the short term.
He glanced at the drake asleep beneath him.
If it still had full combat capability, clearing the goblins would have been simple.
But for now, the task still fell to Gauss’s squad.
Gauss had no naive intention of controlling the goblins through the red drake.
A vassal’s vassal is not my vassal.
Moreover, breeding and ruling over monsters was a world-shaking taboo.
Even if his Sturdy Scale Bloodline could temporarily dominate them, that wouldn’t change their attitude toward humans.
If those wild, untamable goblins escaped and terrorized surrounding areas, he would be held responsible.
Besides, if large-scale monster breeding were discovered, he would become a target of public hatred.
Fanatic inquisitors and paladins would deem such acts a grave challenge to the sacred order, equating him with those who worship evil gods or demons.
He could not bear that cost.
With his remaining energy not yet fully spent, Gauss dared not cancel the Ghost Form overlay.
He flashed forward and streaked toward the goblin army.
Gauss’s arrival tipped the balance of strength.
His suppression of the goblins was absolute.
Even the clay constructs created by his clay magic benefited from this augmentation.
With his entrance, the battlefield quickly turned into an efficient slaughter.
Upon learning the drake below had been subdued by him, the goblins began fleeing. Once morale collapsed, even their raw abilities were hard to mobilize.
After the engagement, the sandy ground fell quiet.
Goblin corpses lay scattered in disarray, the thick stench of blood lingering in the air.
“Gauss, are you all right?”
Aria reached out and supported the pale-faced Gauss, asking with concern.
Gauss was wrapped in pale energy, half-man, half-dragon in appearance, though clearly weakened.
“I’m okay. Listen to me first.”
Gauss gasped, forcing down the weakness in his body as he hastily gave instructions.
“That red drake has been subdued. Don’t worry about it rebelling.”
“Aria, try to see if you can put it into a Living Bag later.”
“Do not expose it casually for now.”
“Search the goblins for loot.”
“After I end this state there may be some side effects. I’ll need you to handle what comes after.”
“Albenia...” Gauss’s gaze shifted toward the tall, burly woman in their ranks.
To be honest, he still felt somewhat uneasy, but he had to trust her.
The drowsiness creeping through him was growing deeper.
“Please, take care of them.”
“Don’t worry, Lord Gauss.” Though somewhat perplexed by the request, Albenia scratched her head and still promised.
Gauss sighed inwardly.
He released both Ghost Form and Sturdy Scale Bloodline.
It felt as if the bones that had been supporting his body were pulled away;an all-consuming weakness flooded him like a tidal wave, sinking into his marrow.
The pale-blue scale armor and ashen energy around him shattered, and the burning golden vertical pupils quickly reverted to their usual appearance.
“Ugh...”
Gauss emitted a stifled groan he could not hold back.
The aftereffects were worse than he had expected.
He lost strength throughout his body.
Just as he was about to say more, his vision suddenly blackened.
“Gauss!”
The last impression he retained was several terrified shouts nearby.
Darkness washed over him like a tide and completely swallowed him.
After he collapsed, Serlandul quickly conducted a diagnosis.
“These injuries are quite severe.”
From Serlandul’s perception, Gauss’s internal condition was dire—muscle tissue severely torn, scarcely an intact patch of flesh;multiple major organs and the heart and lungs had suffered violent impacts.
A typical professional with such wounds would likely already be dead.
What puzzled him, however, was a warm, potent energy now protecting Gauss’s heart.
It was slowly releasing energy to help repair the grievous wounds.
“But it should be okay.”
Relieved upon sensing that, Serlandul wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Aria, you guys go search the spoils. I’ll stay here and take care of the captain.”
Serlandul unfolded the Fold House.
Although a mysterious restorative energy was at work, he could not stand idly by and intended to cast recovery magic to heal Gauss as well.