Chapter 782: Discovery of the Archipelago

"Let the storm come fiercer!"

Man and dragon became one, their resonance as dragon and rider soaring to the heavens. Liszt gripped the five-meter-long dragon lance—Wrath of Thunder—his heroic ambition soaring to the skies.

Dragon Aura surged around him, evaporating bean-sized raindrops before they could even touch him. Wherever the dragon knight passed, even the fiercest storm was reduced to swirling mist, carving a hazy trail through the tempest. A third hue blazed forth between heaven and earth—a path torn asunder by water and fire.

Leo, a Fire Dragon, disliked stormy weather, even the ocean itself.

Yet its past self had died at sea, and its rebirth had taken place in the very waters it loathed, forcing it to endure harsh conditions far from its ideal habitat.

This made it roar in fury: "Roar!"

Liszt, minds linked as one, understood its thoughts and guided them: "Rage is the weakest weapon, Leo. You must learn to conquer it! Fate made your past life end in the sea you feared most, so in this life, you must learn to master the ocean from the start!"

"Roar!"

"Yes, mastering this storm is only the first step for you and me in conquering the sea. Once we’ve conquered the waves, what in the Legendary Continent could hope to stand in the way of our footsteps and wings!"

"Roar!"

At this moment, neither man nor dragon harbored any fear or hatred for the storm—only the burning determination to shred through the gales, thunder, and lightning.

Suddenly, Leo wheeled into a spiraling dive. Liszt tightened his grip on Wrath of Thunder, following Leo’s motion as he channeled Dragon Aura in rhythmic bursts. Rippling rings of fire spread, relentlessly shredding the storm-laden sky.

Even the storm-charged magic crackling through the air shattered upon colliding with the dragon knight’s assault.

As Liszt and Leo dove from a kilometer above Dragon Turtle Island, their descent slammed into the far shore. The darkened sky, veiled by storm clouds, was illuminated by the lingering trails of their attack—countless flames suspended in the air, scorching the storm itself.

"Boil the Sea!"

"This is the fourth technique of my Dragon Aura Manual, and currently its most powerful strike!" Liszt directed the dragon knight’s assault toward the coastal rocks, blasting a crater as if struck by a meteor. The aftermath melted stone into shimmering fields of glass.

Most of the rocks here were quartz.

After a long while, the flames in the sky slowly faded, and the massive crater was filled by the rising tide. The storm smoothed over the dragon knight’s devastation. Liszt, astride Leo, hovered silently by the shore, studying the furious storm. He pondered: "If this technique were fueled by Fire Dragon super magic, could it burn itself permanently into the skies above Dragon Turtle Island?"

It was just a thought—Leo, at this stage, wasn’t strong enough to waste Fire Dragon super magic as a regular attack. The eruption of Dodo Island’s volcano had already drained much of its reserves.

With a flap of its wings, they returned to the Thunder Dragon Turtle. The colossal sea monster, bathed in lightning, shrank from Leo’s presence, though Liszt restrained the dragon’s aura. Acheronides soothed the Thunder Dragon Turtle, preventing it from fleeing into the sea. Even as a Supreme Dragon Beast, it could only cower before a true dragon.

Despite the Thunder Dragon Turtle’s hundred-meter diameter, Leo might as well have been a sparrow in comparison.

Thud!

Liszt dismounted, leaping from Leo’s back onto the turtle’s shell. Leo burst into flames and vanished, retreating into his body to recuperate.

"Once the storm passes and the Thunder Dragon Turtle finishes its cultivation, Acheronides, have it search for new islands… This Dragon Turtle Island isn’t worth developing. But those ordinary dragon turtles—perhaps we can select the larger ones and attempt to tame them. They might serve as draft animals for ships."

He left unspoken another thought—next time, they should hunt a few dragon turtles to taste. If their flesh proved tender and nutritious, they could serve as good magical game meat.

...

By the time the Thunder Dragon Turtle completed its cultivation, three days had passed.

The expedition fleet had resumed its voyage, continuing to search the uncharted seas.

Liszt and Acheronides continued to direct the Thunder Dragon Turtle to search for islands it had visited before. However, to his great frustration, the Thunder Dragon Turtle kept veering eastward toward the Devil’s Sea. Most of its former habitats were in the Devil’s Sea, not the coastal waters.

The Devil’s Sea was not yet within Liszt’s plans. If even the outer islands could withstand three days and nights of storms, the horrors of the Devil’s Sea spoke for themselves.

Thus, their focus remained on the coastal waters.

Only after Acheronides overruled it multiple times did the Thunder Dragon Turtle finally pick a new direction—southwest. With Acheronides manipulating the currents, after seven hours, a new island appeared on the horizon—a green island.

It wasn’t large.

But the outlines of several other islands were visible nearby.

“This is an archipelago!” Liszt’s pulse quickened with excitement. An archipelago meant hope—the hope of founding a nation.

Acheronides handed him a grid paper: “Brother, here’s the location map of this archipelago.”

On the map, starting from Black Horse Island, together with Dragon Turtle Island and this new archipelago, they formed an obtuse triangle, with Dragon Turtle Island now at the obtuse angle. When connecting the islands, Acheronides had also marked the distances, showing impressive precision.

The distance from Black Horse Island to Dragon Turtle Island was 1,850 kilometers, and from Dragon Turtle Island to the archipelago was about 1,300 kilometers. From Black Horse Island to the third island was 800 kilometers, and from the third island to the archipelago was roughly 2,500 kilometers. In other words, the distance from Black Horse Island to the archipelago was close to 3,300 kilometers—well clear of the Sapphire Archipelago.

At such a distance, relying solely on sailing ships, even with favorable winds, it might take around twenty days.

“Acheronides, take the Thunder Dragon Turtle ashore to investigate. Leo and I will observe from the sky to see how many islands are nearby.”

“Mm.”

As they soared on dragonback, the world unfolded beneath them. One island after another came into view—this was indeed a vast archipelago. However, the further Liszt flew, the more disappointed he became. They counted over a hundred islands near the archipelago, yet none rivaled Black Horse Island in size.

These islands formed an arc, scattered along and around it, stretching for two to three hundred kilometers.

“This archipelago was useless for nation-building. Even if all the islands’ areas were combined, they might not even equal Red Crab Island.”

Liszt returned to the Thunder Dragon Turtle’s location, expressing disappointment with the results of this trip. He hoped the Thunder Dragon Turtle would continue leading him to new islands.

However, the Thunder Dragon Turtle indicated that this was the farthest it had ever been—its other habitats were all in the Devil’s Sea.

With that settled, Liszt could only accept it regretfully and make a new decision: “In that case, let’s guide the expedition fleet here and have them use this archipelago as a reference to continue searching the surrounding areas. Since we’ve found a new archipelago, there might be an even larger one nearby.”

“Still, a chain of islands like this was a valuable find. We can thoroughly search them and see how many spirit bugs, magic herbs, and magical beasts we can gather!”