Chapter 451: Facing the Fire Dragon’s Skull

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The flames roared fiercely.

Liszt regained consciousness and was shocked to find himself in an underground lava cave, perched on a rock adrift in the magma.

The searing heat drenched him in sweat.

The bubbling magma and the endless flames surrounding him made him feel as if he were plummeting into the abyss of hell. He tried to channel his mana to fend off the scorching air, but he felt utterly drained. He couldn't even unsheathe the Sky-Splitting Greatsword strapped to his back.

"What... what's going on with me?"

Liszt was petrified, his mind a chaotic void.

At that instant, the flames before him abruptly split apart, revealing a massive head emerging from the inferno.

It was a head as large as a house, its reddish-brown skin ablaze with patches of fire, shaped like a triangle adorned with five curved horns. Its scales gleamed distinctly, flanked by two golden-flamed eyes and a slightly parted, crimson maw. Rows of razor-sharp teeth lined its mouth, and though no tongue was visible, flames danced within.

The head halted less than ten meters before Liszt, its golden-flamed eyes scrutinizing him with an almost human-like intensity.

Everything below its neck was shrouded in flames, rendering it indistinct.

But Liszt instantly recognized it—it was the head of a dragon, a Fire Dragon.

At first glance, it appeared grotesque and menacing, but upon closer inspection, every contour exuded a rhythmic, otherworldly beauty of power, an image unique to dragons.

Trembling barely captured Liszt's current state of mind. Confronted by the dragon's head, his only desire was to flee, his usual dragon-riding bravado nowhere to be found. But at this crucial moment, his legs turned to jelly, and he found himself immobilized, as if ensnared by a paralysis spell or as though his legs no longer obeyed him.

"I..."

He was utterly petrified.

Only dragon knights and mages could muster the courage to face a dragon; for most, fear was insurmountable. Yet, beyond fear, his mind was a void, his thoughts sluggish and disjointed. Though he didn't sense the dragon's oppressive aura, his body reacted just like animals paralyzed by dragon fear.

The dragon's head simply stared him down.

He stood frozen on the rock, too terrified to move.

The flames around continued to burn, and the magma still bubbled.

But soon.

Liszt's mind gradually cleared, and he began to recall that he had woken up from a coma. But the place where he had been unconscious wasn't here—it was in a... collapsed sinkhole.

"That's right!"

"I activated the dragon bone magic circle, condensed a seed of magic power, and then... that seed entered my body, went to my heart... it seemed to burn my heart. Something's wrong, am I dead or alive?"

His thoughts were still somewhat chaotic.

But after taking a few deep breaths and carefully sorting through his flickering thoughts, he finally pieced together the current situation: "Either I'm dead, and this is the scene of hell after death; or the magic seed triggered a magma eruption, filling the collapsed sinkhole; or... all of this is just a hallucination from the coma, influenced by the magic seed!"

After death.

As expected, almost nothing would remain, only in rare cases would one exist as a soul. This world doesn’t have a concept of hell either; souls either persist like Virginia or are banished to the land of exile.

So, this scene doesn’t match what happens after death.

As for the magic power sparking a magma eruption and even summoning a Fire Dragon, it makes even less sense. Black Horse Island is a volcanic island, sure, but the volcano’s been dormant for who knows how long, and the Fire Dragon’s been reduced to a few scattered remains. There’s no way a Fire Dragon that massive could just reappear.

"So, is this all just a dream I’m having while unconscious?" At this thought, Liszt felt the fear gripping him suddenly fade away.

He took back control of his body.

He straightened his back.

He unsheathed the Sky-Splitting Great Sword, glaring coldly at the Fire Dragon’s head, which was still locked on him, his voice cold as ice: "You’re nothing but a projection of the magic power! It’s strange—my body’s still unconscious, but my mind’s in this hyper-realistic environment, even this phantom body feels so lifelike."

The Fire Dragon’s head tilted slightly, its golden, flame-like eyes gleaming with menace.

Its jaws slowly parted, flames as hot as the sun churning within, as if it might unleash its fiery breath at any second, reducing Liszt to ashes.

But Liszt was fearless.

He found further proof for his theory—this Fire Dragon had no real power—it was all show. He’d felt the invisible dragon’s power firsthand, that terrifying, suffocating force, deeply etched in his memory. The Fire Dragon before him lacked that.

"Roar!"

The Fire Dragon’s breath didn’t come out, but instead, it let out a piercing roar, sharp and peculiar, impossible to describe.

Liszt didn’t cover his ears, just raised the Sky-Splitting Great Sword, ready for any possible crisis.

Even though he guessed this was a dream influenced by the magic power, he didn’t let his guard down. Staying here meant danger could strike at any moment.

Fortunately.

The danger didn’t materialize.

After the roar, the Fire Dragon’s eyes flickered with an indescribable emotion. Then, it slowly retreated into the flames, vanishing without a trace. Following that, the surrounding flames began to die out, the magma darkened, and everything plunged into darkness.

The heat dissipated.

Liszt felt waves of exhaustion wash over him, closed his eyes, and drifted off.

...

Hunger.

Ravenous hunger.

An overwhelming urge to devour even himself to ease the hunger.

His eyes snapped open, and Liszt woke up, driven by hunger, his mind foggy, consumed by the gnawing emptiness. He ignored the growling protests from his stomach and surveyed his surroundings.

A crystal lamp cast a faint glow, barely illuminating the area.

It was still the collapsed sinkhole cave.

The five dragon bones that had been thrust into the ground were gone, leaving five channels leading to the surface, with faint light filtering through.

"Phew."

He let out a long sigh of relief: "It really was just a dream, a dream influenced by the magic power... I’m starving, I can’t take it anymore, I need to eat something!"

He couldn't wait to take out the monster meat and dragon milk from the gem space, wolfing down the meat and gulping the milk.

After eating about five pounds of monster meat and three large cups of dragon milk, his hunger finally eased, and his mind cleared.

"What's going on with me? The amount I just ate is probably equivalent to two of my usual meals," he said, rubbing his bloated stomach in surprise.

His appetite was already enormous, with one meal equating to two or three meals for others.

After all, the generation of a knight's mana relies on the conversion of the food consumed. Even though he had made some progress in the mana technique "Mana Conservation Technique," which effectively controls the rate of mana loss, his appetite remained huge. However, he was very mindful of healthy and reasonable eating habits, rarely overindulging.

He usually ate more frequently instead of stuffing himself in one go.

It was rare for him to experience such ravenous hunger: "Have I been unconscious for several days? Otherwise, why would I be so hungry... By the way, why hasn't my squire knight come to rescue me after such a long period of unconsciousness? And what happened to that magic seed that got inside me?"