Ignoring Karu’s confusion, Gernassa charged straight toward where the figure had fallen.
Karu stayed behind, a tiny head full of big question marks. (O⩊O)?
“Was that my hit just now? That’s so weird, hmm…”
She scratched her head, feeling like something was off, but couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
Aishi felt the same, but could only sigh helplessly.
“Maybe it was that Dragon Breath you let out when you got mad? It was obviously way stronger than before—it couldn’t have been Gernassa’s, right.”
She had that feeling, but the more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed, so she didn’t pursue the thought any further.
Karu had the amplification item Geli gave her, and in a fit of rage, it wasn’t impossible to unleash an attack like that.
In the end, she gave up thinking about it, and followed Gernassa over to the lich.
At this moment, the lich who had just landed was once again getting the ever-loving daylights beaten out of him by Gernassa.
And as an added bonus, Gernassa snatched the book-like artifact from the lich, and even had time to name his own slaps.
“Taste my Fire of Happiness +18! Hmm, that doesn’t sound very good… Dragon’s Happiness? Fire’s Delight? Hmm… Hmm! Dragon’s Ecstasy! Heh heh!”
Once he thought of a good name, Gernassa resumed slapping him relentlessly.
“Dragon’s Ecstasy—Ultimate Slapdown!”
“If you’re going to slap, just slap! Why add ‘Dragon’s Ecstasy’? What does it even mean? Is it related?”
“Of course it is! How can I feel ecstasy if I don’t slap you? Taste my—hmph—my +18 Dragon’s Ecstasy! Take that!”
He was fragile, but hard to kill—that was Gernassa’s evaluation of him.
The lich was utterly dumbfounded. The fog was his doing, so he could clearly see what had just happened.
“And why the heck can a red dragon like you—pfft—”
Before he could finish, another Dragon’s Ecstasy shut him up, leaving the lich full of grievances.
It was one thing for the dragon to spot him through the fog—he could chalk that up to some freakish dragon-eye talent.
But why on earth could a red dragon use a Gold Dragon’s Breath?! That’s just not right! Mixed blood shouldn’t mix like this!
“What are you asking so much for? Go to hell!”
Gernassa opened his mouth and started gathering Red Dragon’s Breath, aiming it right at the lich’s head, ready to end him once and for all.
Seeing this, the lich quickly pulled out another weapon to defend himself.
He grabbed a string of amethyst necklaces, hiding it under his body.
Hmph, do you really think I have no means left? This is a Reflect Damage Necklace—when you hurt yourself with your own attack, I’ll escape!
But what happened next was completely unexpected—Gernassa stopped charging up, and with a single swipe, snatched the necklace away.
“Eh? This looks pretty fun. You can’t play with it—I’ll play with it.”
Gernassa injected mana to activate the necklace, and a purple defensive barrier appeared.
The lich was stunned again. The battle had already shown that Gernassa’s eyes weren’t ordinary, but he hadn’t expected even this could be noticed.
“Damn it! Damn it, damn it! You—you’re impossible… If I die, I’m dragging you with me!”
Suddenly, he pulled out a palm-sized, purple-black bead oozing with dark energy, swirling with a sinister light.
The air around them instantly turned cold.
From the lich’s grim expression, it was clear this was something even he didn’t want to use.
But desperate times called for desperate measures. With a “perish together” mindset, he made his move.
“Die! All of you, die! Pfft—”
Gernassa, for the umpteenth time, slapped him across the face with a Dragon’s Ecstasy.
“I’ve put my dragon all over your face and you still want to fight back? But this also looks like a nice item—it’s mine now, hand it over!”
The bead was clutched tightly by the lich, but Gernassa’s claws seized it, trying to yank it away.
“Hey! Let go! That’s my treasure!”
He was panicking now, gripping the bead with all his strength, refusing to let go—even as he was dragged around and slammed into things, he wouldn’t release it. Clearly, this thing was precious.
But the more he clung to it, the more excited Gernassa became.
“Yours? I said it’s mine! Let go! Hand it over to me, now!”
“You shameless beast! You animal!”
Karu and Aishi arrived, exchanging glances. Then, Karu headbutted the lich, sending him flying.
“Hmph, bad guy, trying to bully us again.”
The lich, now sprawled on the ground, looked absolutely pitiful.
Now you’re the ones bullying me!
He wanted to shout this, but after being headbutted, he couldn’t say a word for a while.
Gernassa felt no pity at all. Staring at the bead in his claws, his face split in a wide, self-satisfied grin.
“I told you, it’s my treasure.”
He grabbed it tight, and instantly began to refine it.
Just like that, the bead became Gernassa’s property.
Watching his treasure get refined right in front of him, the lich opened his mouth, hesitating to speak.
Mouth agape for two seconds, suddenly his emotions collapsed—he dropped to the ground, crying and wailing.
“My Soul Devouring Pearl… My Soul Devouring Pearl! My Soul Devouring Pearl—!”
Gernassa paused for a moment at the name.
“Soul Devouring Pearl? Let me see.”
After activating it, he saw that apart from dense death energy, the bead was packed with an enormous number of undead.
They were all low-level, common undead, but there was no denying the bead’s value.
“Oh-ho! This is a real treasure! Soul Devouring Pearl, you say? Nonsense—this is clearly my Dragon Emperor’s Pearl! What’s wrong with taking back what belongs to me? Huh? Is that wrong?”
Those utterly shameless words nearly drove the lich to unconsciousness in a fit of rage.
And Gernassa wasn’t done with him yet.
“Aishi, little sis, strip him bare—let’s see if he’s hiding anything else valuable.”
“Got it! Robbing the baddie time!”
“Uh… alright then.”
Three dragons closed in, step by step. The lich, a withered old man, scrambled backwards in terror.
“What do you want?! Don’t come any closer! Stay away, stay away!”
“Mine! All mine! It’s all mine!”
In the end, even his underpants were stripped off, and the lich completely lost it.
His hysterical screams echoed through the vast forest:
“Bandits! You’re just a bunch of bandits! Ahh—!! Ahh—!!”
Gernassa, unable to stand the racket, raised the Soul Devouring… Dragon Emperor’s Pearl and aimed it at the lich.
“You can go in here too.”
As a half-undead, the lich could also be sucked into the Soul Devouring Pearl.
A beam of purple light shot out, and the lich was drawn into the pearl.
“Ehehe, so fun~ So entertaining~”
Along with that, the army of undead he had summoned all vanished, dissipating after losing their connection to the summoner.
Honestly, they’d never seen an undead mage so thoroughly humiliated.
First, he ran into a Gold Dragon and didn’t dare attack, thinking to scare them off, but then some old rascal started a fight the moment they met.
Then the real fight broke out, and their side had a weird White Dragon who, after stealing his staff, rendered his undead army completely useless.
But the most unexpected thing was that old rascal Red Dragon—not only could he see through the thick fog,
He could even use Gold Dragon Breath! Nearly beat the lich half to death.
In the end, his dignity gone, even his underpants lost, with nothing left,
Not even himself—he got sucked into the Soul Devouring… Dragon Emperor’s Pearl, stolen from him by Gernassa.
“Ugh, turns out he was just a broke fool.”
Gernassa looked at the magic storage pouch in his hand, face full of disdain.
There were a few scattered silver and copper coins, barely any gold, and the rest was just some ordinary materials and scrolls.
The only truly valuable things were the magic staff and this Soul Devouring Pearl.
This Soul Devouring Pearl was a rare item that could grow stronger over time—no wonder the lich had howled so miserably when Gernassa took it.