FPD Chapter 282 – Machine Sliced Bread

Fighting the Dragon

*ROOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRRR!!!*

The roar of the dragon shook the forest. Every person that heard it was paralyzed in fear.

Its hatred, anger, and killing intent was so intense that it seemed to freeze the heart itself of its victims. With just roar, it showed the might and pride of the ruler of the skies.

“… Damn.” Alan’s face paled when he heard the roar of the monster. Involuntarily, he took three steps back.

Then–

*WHOOOOOSH!!!”

A powerful dragon breath lit the entire hill on fire.

“Your highness!” The three beyond-twelfth-layer powerhouses acted instantly. They stood in front of Alan, Bryan, and Christine and used their powers to resist the breath of fire.

But unfortunately, they were unable to protect all the men Alan brought with him. Half of them were instantly killed by the high temperatures of the fire.

“T-This is…!” Alan stuttered.

“Take the princes and miss Christine away!” The fourteenth-layer powerhouse shouted. He then took a step forward and slashed towards the dragon.

*ROOOOOOAAAARRRR!!!*

The dragon let out a roar of pain. Blood flowed from its wound, and its body was pushed several meters away. But in the next instant, it used its tail like a whip and attacked the group.

“Damn it!” The fourteenth-layer powerhouse hurriedly used his sword to stop the attack. But unfortunately, his physical strength was far from being comparable to a dragon.

*BOOM!* with an explosion-like sound that made the forest tremble, the fourteenth-layer powerhouse was sent flying away.

Even although his cultivation was two mana layers higher, no dragon was easy to defeat.

“Your highness, let’s go!” The two thirteenth-layer powerhouses did not hesitate. They grabbed the two princes and Alan’s fiancée and ran away.

But the dragon did not want to let them escape. It roared in fury and attacked then with a ray of fire.

Fortunately, the fourteenth-layer powerhouse returned at that moment.

“Stop!” With a cry, he slashed the ray of fire into two, successfully protecting the others.

The two thirteenth-layer powerhouses nodded in thanks before resuming their escape. Although they were confident that their companion could defeat the dragon, they knew it was not going to be an easy fight, and the aftershocks of the battle were enough to kill Alan and the others easily.

Thus, they needed to take the princes away.

Alan gritted in hatred. His plan, the plan he had worked for so many days and nights, had been destroyed just like this!

“How in the hell did he escape!?” Alan bellowed. “What happened!?”

“It was probably the rock he crushed,” Christine said while trying her best to not show her fear. “Probably a teleportation stone or something like that.”

“Damn bastard!” Bryan’s face was completely purple of the fury.

His hatred for Claus was as high as the skies. He hated the bastard that was always causing him trouble. He hated the bastard that dared to steal his woman. He wanted to cut his skin in a thousand pieces.

However, he knew it was impossible now.

Now, he could only wait for the next opportunity.

“Let’s go!” The two thirteen-layer practitioners retreated orderly. One of them grabbed Alan and Christine, and the other grabbed Bryan.

Then, they lead the remaining black-dressed men to escape from the dragon’s attacks.

But at that moment, they discovered something terrifying.

The monsters that until now had been watching the hill in a daze, were growling towards them.

As soon as they saw the black-dressed men, the monsters bared their teeth and attacked.

“That damn dragon! He ordered them monsters to attack us!”

“Forget about them! We need to leave this place now!”

The other thirteenth-layer man nodded. The two thirteenth-layer practitioners then released their mana in the shape of a barrier and used it to cover themselves and the princes they were protecting.

The next instant, they kicked the ground and rushed towards the monsters, using the barrier and the power behind their charges to crush them into meat paste and open a path between the monsters.

The other black-dressed men, though, were not so fortunate.

Many of them were ganged up by several monsters that used their teeth and claws to tear their bodies apart, making the area surrounding the hill into a festival of blood and flesh.

Alan cursed in his mind again when he saw that scene. His men, the men that he, his mother, and his uncle had spent so much effort into training, had been so severely crushed that no more than a few of them remained.

‘All of this is that bastard fault!’

Alan swore he was going to kill him as painfully as possible. Remembering that bastard smile when he left filled him with rage.

The fourteenth-layer practitioner was still fighting the dragon. Unfortunately, it seemed as though the dragon did not care for its life. Instead, it wanted to bring as many people down with it as it could before it died.

Due to it, although the dragon was fighting the fourteenth-layer practitioner, it attacked several times in Alan’s direction and continued chasing after them. It probably knew it could not kill the fourteenth-layer practitioner, so its goal became to kill as many of the others as it was possible.

At that moment, one of the thirteenth-layer practitioners scowled. “Dammit! The dragon is focusing its attacks on us! I think it’s better if we separate!”

“Good idea!”

Thus, the two thirteenth-layer practitioners parted ways. One went to the right, and the other went to the left.

Strangely, nobody seemed to doubt that decision.

In such a situation, remaining together would have been the best choice. That way, they could support each other in case the dragon attacked.

But it was as though nobody thought of that. Even Alan and the fourteenth-layer powerhouse fighting the dragon seemed to find that choice normal.

It was such a strange phenomenon.

The thirteenth-layer practitioner protecting Bryan frowned. Since a while ago, he had the feeling something was wrong.

‘What is it?’ He thought about everything that had happened trying to find anything wrong. But no matter how he tried, he could not find the origin of that feeling.

At that moment, he heard Bryan screaming.

“Stop! Stop right now!”

“Prince? What is it?”

“I just saw Iris,” Bryan said with crazed eyes. “That slut, I’m sure I saw her!”

The thirteenth-layer practitioner frowned. The feeling that something was wrong was becoming stronger and stronger.

“I’m sure! She was in that direction! Let’s go before they escape again!”

The powerhouse frowned. However, he could not think of any reason to refuse.

Besides, there was certainly a reasonable chance of the teleportation stone Prince Claus crushed teleporting him around here.

Thus, the thirteenth-layer powerhouse nodded.

“I understand.”

Then, he rushed in the direction Bryan was pointing.

And just after one minute, he found them.