Night Ranger

Marvin was hoping to chance upon the Black Dragon on the 2nd floor.

He wasn’t sure if he could emerge victorious against the other Ancient Chromatic Dragons.

Although their strength would be substantially reduced under the restriction of the Shapeshifting, they were still equivalent to Legend Wizards with powerful bodies.

Only Black Dragons had no magic abilities, so Marvin could deal with them.

This was said to be the reason behind the Black Dragons’ betrayal.

Although Marvin was interested in the ancient history, this wasn’t the most important thing right now.

His current priority was to get to the library.

As for the Nightmare Boundary, although he volunteered, he wasn’t part of the main force.

With people on the level of Blade Master Kangen and Professor taking charge of this matter, Marvin went with the attitude of being an extra and wanted to see if he could get any benefits.

After all, although the underground temple was dangerous, it was also hiding a lot of precious resources, one of which was the library.

Moreover, the underground temple was quite complicated. Finding the entrance to the next floor wouldn’t be so easy.

Marvin believed that even the Chromatic Dragons wouldn’t find those easily. At least, that’s what the intelligence of the Metallic Dragons suggested.

...

Marvin judged that entering the library would still be quite troublesome, based on the information he had.

Librarian Fati was a formidable caster in charge of the entire library and was guarding the entrance.

If an outsider wanted to enter the library, he would have to ask her permission.

The Dragon Soul warned Marvin that after the Dragon God’s fall, Fati became extremely moody, leaning toward wickedness.

She was a subordinate of the Dragon God, so it would have been reasonable for her to follow him in his fall.

For some reason, she kept on living, but became twisted.

This descendant of the Human and Dragon Races was able to use very powerful Draconic Spells while also being a Divine lifeform. She was basically an overpowered Divine Servant.

Marvin wouldn’t be worried about ordinary Divine Servants, because most of them were casters and most of their knowledge was focused in Divine Spells and Magic Spells.

Their physical bodies were their weak points, but because of the Divine Power’s protection, they would neglect this.

After all, weapons with the Divine Restraint property were rare in this world.

Marvin’s [Azure Leaf]s were among them.

Thus, he would love to hunt Divine Servants.

But the problem was that not only was Fati a Draconic Sorcerer, but Hartson also modified her body.

It was said that Hartson gave her some of his blood and Divine Source, which contained strong vitality.

Marvin wouldn’t joke with any being that possessed Divine Source.

Previously, he had to kill Dark Phoenix so many times...

If Marvin had made a mistake once, he would have died instantly.

In fact, he did give Dark Phoenix a chance, and if not for Eve’s timely arrival, Marvin wouldn’t have been able to slay her.

It showed quite clearly how fighting an opponent that could resurrect was a very troublesome matter.

Marvin didn’t want to fight Fati.

Thus, he needed a helper.

And Black Dragon Ikarina was clearly a good choice.

...

Faced with Marvin’s request, Ikarina hesitated a bit before choosing to agree.

In fact, she was helpless about this.

Any Dragon in Human shape wouldn’t be able to refrain from shivering when threatened with the Dragon Slaying Spear.

They could hear the voices that other people couldn’t, the grief-stricken howls of Dragons that had been killed by the Dragon Slaying Spear.

Ikarina even heard the cries of quite a few Black Dragons.

They were pleading her to avenge them.

But she could only bitterly choose to cooperate with Marvin.

"Can you put your spear away?" Ikarina asked without a hint of worry. "My husband’s life is still in your hands, you don’t need to worry about me doing anything against you."

Marvin smiled. "In order to have pleasant cooperation, I think we need to sign a contract."

Ikarina became vigilant. "Contract? What contract?"

"If it’s an enslavement contract like Izaka, I’d rather die."

Marvin shook his head and said, "No. It’s only a contract to guarantee our cooperation."

Marvin wasn’t planning on getting the Black Dragons as his servants.

Although he really did have the ability to do so.

He subdued Izaka back then because of the circumstances.

White River Valley had been in a crisis. Enslaving the Black Dragon was a hit to the morale of his opponents and a boost for that of his own forces.

Black Dragons were very powerful, and it was reflected in the following battles.

Apart from the three Dragon Slaying Weapons, very few things could really harm the Black Dragons’ bodies.

Despite the fact that Izaka was seriously injured and hadn’t completely recovered yet, White River Valley’s army of Black Dragons kept any potentially hostile forces in check, even though that army was just a result of people mistaking the Shadow Dragons for Black Dragons.

...

Marvin only wanted to get Ikarina’s help right now.

Of course, it would also be good if he could stop the Chromatic Dragons from opening the Nightmare Boundary.

Professor said that the Nightmare Boundary not only needed the Green Dragon’s key, but also the gathering of the Chromatic Dragons. There was even a mention of the Black Dragons’ return in the prophecy.

If Ikarina was hindered by him, this would be beneficial to Professor and the others.

They would have more time to plan and make preparations.

...

The contract between them was a one-time contract. The time period was three days.

Within these three days, they couldn’t act against each other. Ikarina had to keep Fati busy for Marvin, while Marvin promised that if Ikarina held true to her side of the contract, he would allow Black Dragon Izaka to go free within three months.

This contract seemed a bit unfavorable for Marvin.

Ikarina only needed to attract a Librarian’s attention and would get a lot of benefits.

But if one was meticulous, they would notice that Marvin wasn’t at a disadvantage.

Moreover, he also used a cheap trick in the contract. He explicitly promised that if Izaka wished to cancel the enslavement contract, Marvin would take the initiative to annul it.

But because of what happened back then, Marvin had already seen through Black Dragon Izaka: He would cling to everything he could to preserve his life. He would bully the weak and fear the strong!

Why did he agree to use an enslavement contract with Marvin?

There was only one reason: Fear!

Although he could be ordered by Marvin due to his slave contract, the contract also restricted Marvin, preventing him from acting against Izaka!

This was a kind of hidden protection.

When the time came, if Marvin leaked just a wisp of killing intent, Izaka would most likely be against cancelling the contract...

After all, if the contract was cancelled, nothing could stop Marvin from immediately using Weeping Sky against him.

This was the helplessness of the Black Dragons.

This was also Marvin’s scheme. He had dealt with the Devils many times in the game, so he was well-versed in the art of making contracts.

....

’It should be a lot easier with Ikarina’s help.’

’For better or worse, Izaka is her husband and twin brother. She wouldn’t play with his life, right?’

Ikarina was in front of a dark entrance, while Marvin was hiding in the shadows on the side, silently pondering.

Ikarina glanced at him before slowly proceeding into the entrance.

This place was another hall. It was only two hallways away from the one they were chatting in earlier.

The number of Biting Books increased exponentially, making Marvin’s head tingle.

If not for Ikarina making a move, he might have been bitten quite a bit.

Unless he turned into the Fierce Asuran Bear.

But that would create too big of a commotion, and would have definitely alerted Librarian Fati.

Marvin learnt some things from Ikarina while they were progressing.

She extinguished those flames earlier because of the other powerful Monster on the 2nd floor. The flames were [Warrior Roger]’s monitoring eyes.

The entire 2nd floor was under the control of Warrior Roger.

If Librarian Fati was the type that wouldn’t do anything unless you tried to break into the library, then Warrior Roger was one that would act against any intruders on the 2nd floor.

The Chromatic Dragons clearly had more information. Professor didn’t mention this at all. Most likely, he didn’t know about it.

Marvin wanted to learn more from Ikarina. Unfortunately, the Black Dragon only casually mentioned that Warrior Roger was a pet kept by Dragon God Hartson.

It was a very deceitful Salamander with formidable strength. No one knew where it came from, and no one knew what it wanted.

In any case, after learning that Warrior Roger could use the braziers to survey the areas around them, Marvin couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat.

He had seen so many braziers beforehand. He was lucky nothing happened.

This underground temple was filled with danger.

Yet, the Dragon Soul didn’t remind him about Warrior Roger... Did he really not know?

Or did that Dragon Soul have another motive?

Marvin had his suspicions.

This underground temple was full of surprises, and these kinds of uncertain things would greatly influence his decisions.

Right now, he could only slowly walk forward.

...

Ikarina knew the direction of the library.

However, Black Dragons weren’t too interested in libraries. Unlike Humans, they didn’t crave for knowledge.

So when Marvin asked whether he could trade for the pages falling from the Biting Books, the Black Dragon magnanimously gave him everything.

Marvin was in disbelief.

He counted the number of pages he had. After adding Ikarina’s pages, he was only a few pages short of completing a whole book.

The name of the book was –Bireger’s Theory of Barriers–.

Apparently, in ancient times, a Wizard named Bireger wrote down his experiences concerning Barriers, force fields and similar spells.

Because it was a Wizard Book, Marvin was unable to understand it, but he still gathered the pages. If he wanted to read it, he would need foundational Wizard abilities like [Spellbook Deciphering], [Rune Knowledge], and so on...

As someone who depended on his ice-cold daggers, there was no difference between him and someone illiterate in front of these books.

...

Marvin waited calmly.

Soon after, an angry shout came from the dark entrance.

That shout was followed by a shadow sweeping past, apparently fleeing.

That was naturally Ikarina.

Chasing behind her was a red-colored shadow whose speed was faster than Ikarina’s!

Marvin’s eyelids twitched. Was that Librarian Fati’s real speed?

He could only see a shadow even with his current level of ability?

This meant that the other side was faster than him when buffed!

’Time is tight! I don’t know how long Ikarina can hold on!’

Marvin knew that he had to be quick.

He didn’t hesitate; after the tiger was lured away from its mountain, Marvin sneaked in.

He rushed into the darkness.

Behind the entrance was a huge space.

Countless bookshelves filled the area.

These bookshelves seemed to spread endlessly.

But the books on the shelves were only there to confuse people.

If not for the Dragon Soul’s reminder, Marvin would have still checked the bookshelves, only to find a pile of useless books.

He might have come across a pitfall or triggered an alarm, or maybe even died to a trap!

Indeed, this space with bookshelves was fake.

This definitely wasn’t the real library of the Dragon Race.

’Entrance!’

’Entrance...’

Marvin quickly rushed by the bookshelves while mumbling, "39th row, 39th row..."

"72nd bookshelf..."

...

Two dark shadows were quickly running away from the entrance.

Ikarina suddenly stopped.

"This should be good enough."

The Black Dragon sneered as she looked at Fati, "Is your mind that simple? You think I’m really interested in those books?"

Librarian Fati was a very ugly woman.

She was very fat and looked like a balloon, and had warts covering her face.

She said in a deep voice, "Traitor, you’re still trying to trick me?"

"The entire Black Dragon Clan are degenerated betrayers. Even if you have no interest in the library, I will still kill you."

The Black Dragon smilingly jeered, "Oh? And what if I tell you that there is a youth secretly entering the library right now?"

Fati’s expression changed. "You are lying!"

Ikarina unhurriedly took out a mirror. The scene of Marvin rushing between the bookshelves appeared on it.

"He is very interested in the library. If you wish to do your job, you should kill him."

The Black Dragon arrogantly raised her head, "But sadly, he is a lot craftier than you imagine. I even doubt whether you could catch him in the library."

"Thus, I intended to help you. Of course, this will be a deal."

"You tell me where the entrance to the 3rd floor is and I’ll let you keep this mirror. Don’t be too suspicious, Fati. This mirror is merely a common Alchemy Item. I left something on him, and thus it can track him."

Librarian Fati coldly said, "You think your plan is quite good?"

"I could kill you first before going for that human. I don’t believe that a human will so quickly find..."

Her expression suddenly became unsightly!

As the Librarian, she could feel the reaction of the library entrance in her mind.

When Marvin found the secret door mentioned by the Dragon Soul and used the secret code to open it, Fati noticed.

She then shouted, "Give me the mirror!"

If Marvin entered the interior of the library and she couldn’t find him fast enough, she might suffer the greatest penalty!

Although the entire library was under her control...she still had blind spots.

If Marvin entered those places... she didn’t dare imagine the consequences.

The Black Dragon beamingly said, "Lead me to the next floor’s entrance."

"You must be aware of it."

...

Library.

Behind the secret door was a desolate world.

When Marvin opened his eyes, he was stunned.

Turned out the Dragon Race’s library was actually like this.

It was an island.

There was a tall mountain peak on the island and the surroundings were split into four different terrains: Desert, Lake, Forest, and Mountains.

Marvin was currently standing on the peak, overlooking everything.

The island was surrounded by endless blue ocean.

’This is... an external plane?’

Marvin nearly choked.

It this really was an external plane then this place might be far more dangerous than he had thought.

And the Dragon Soul’s [Book of Forgiveness] and the [Wisdom Chapter] that was said to be able to suppress the Book of Nalu were hidden in some secret place on this island.

’How could this be considered a library? This is clearly a book island,’ Marvin couldn’t help but quip.

He then got on the move.

First, he checked if the mountain peak also contained books.

He saw many caves on his way down. The caves were densely packed and sealed with Divine Power.

Through the transparent Barriers, Marvin could see some lights continuously impacting the seal.

These were books dating from who knows when. They had absorbed some Divinity and gained some wisdom.

If he had time, Marvin would like to take some books back with him.

No matter which books he picked, even though they weren’t as fearsome as the Book of Nalu, they were still treasures.

Unfortunately, Librarian Fati wouldn’t let him do as he wished.

He could only quickly search for what he needed.

From the Dragon Soul’s explanations, the Book of Forgiveness and the Wisdom Chapter were buried east and west of the library.

But Marvin already lost his sense of direction in this space, so he could only casually choose a direction and quickly run that way.

...

After leaving the tall mountain, he went through the mountainous area.

These few mountains were very interesting. There were many stone tables there with some books scattered on them.

This book collection seemed messy, but it actually secretly followed a certain pattern.

Each book had annotations next to it in Draconic, Elven and Common.

It was fortunate that there was Common, allowing Marvin to identify them.

He quickly swept past the tables but didn’t rashly touch the books.

If he touched a book, he would trigger an alarm.

Marvin didn’t know that the Black Dragon had betrayed him and that Librarian Fati was already on the way.