Chapter 6: Dragon Flame

Chapter 6

The car is soundproofed and glides silently forward, the magic and mechanics paired together to minimize vibrations during the ride, almost indistinguishable from the car assigned to Shi An.

Shi Rui looked away from her body.

The teenager in front of him rested his jaw, his eyes slightly narrowed as he looked intently out the window, as if he had an overriding interest in the ordinary street scene.

Spots of light weaved through the window, skimming over the tips of his fine, limp hair, and the pale side of his face was shrouded in a light golden halo of harmless light.

But ...... somehow there seems to be an elusive air about him.

This makes Shi Rui inexplicably feel uneasy.

The vehicle quickly arrived at its destination.

"In case you didn't know, the demons in the academy's entrance test are real," Shi Rui stepped out of the car and stood beside Shi An.

He said to Shi An with an impeccable smile on his face:

"But since this place is a simulation, so most of the inside is are all the magical creatures virtualized with magic facilities? brother, you don't have to worry, you're absolutely safe here."

Shi An withdrew his gaze from the huge building in front of him and looked at Shi Rui with some confusion:

"...... You call me brother?"

Speaking of which, the human seemed to be rambling on about brothers and whatnot before he left, had he been talking to him?

At those words, the smile on Shi Rui's face froze.

--Is this an aside to say you're not worthy?

He gritted his teeth and said somewhat grudgingly, "If brother doesn't want to, then I won't shout like that from now on."

After saying that, Shi Rui made a "please" gesture towards the door in front of him, "However, before you enter, you may need to re-check your magic level again."

There was an oddly shaped sphere sitting in the doorway that looked very similar to the school's testing apparatus from that day, but with slight subtle differences.

Shi An puts his hand up.

The instrument lit up and the door in front of them opened to reveal a long corridor that could only pass a single person.

Looking at Shi An's back being swallowed up by the corridor, the smile on Shi Rui's face disappeared like thin snow, his eyes staring fixedly at the closed door with a gloomy expression.

The instrument this time was one that he had specially commissioned someone to find, it had not been tampered with in any way, and although it could not measure the specific upper limit of magic power, it was one hundred percent accurate in the aspect of whether or not the person being measured possessed magic power.

So ...... is true.

Shi An, the son of the Toki family and the rightful heir, is truly possessed of magical powers.

Shi Rui's face was somber, his lips pursed in a stereotypical line, and thick, dark negativity grew wild like weeds under his eyes.

He will not let what will be his be taken away from him again.

Father's favor and attention, the status of all.

...... everything.

Shi Rui pulled out his cell phone and dialed towards a certain number, gritting his teeth and saying it word for word:

"Get ready."

*

At the end of the corridor was a wide, silver-white hall, and the employee in charge of operating the simulation facility looked over at Shi An and asked, "Which part of the mock exam do you need?"

Shi An winks, "Is there a lot of links in this ......?"

"Yes." The employee said, "The first level is a written test, the second level is an interview, and the third level is where the magical creatures are put to the test."

Shi An let out an "Oh."

Thinking for a long time, he asked, "Where is the security at?"

Employee: "...... huh?"

Shi An, thinking the human in front of her hadn't heard, raised her voice and repeated, "What part of security?"

Employee: "......"

The corner of his mouth twitched, but he answered, "Written test."

"Then this is it." Shi An clapped her hands.

Employee: "...... Okay, just a moment."

This was the first time he had seen this kind of ghostwriter who used expensive simulation equipment to simulate a written test.

After the setup, the staff exits and leaves, leaving Shi An alone in the hall.

The demonic worm burrowed out of his sleeve and gasped.

It looked toward the huge, iron-gray, gate-like device not far away and squeaked excitedly, "Yes, yes, yes, that's the one!"

Shi An tucked in his magic bug and walked over, but before he could get close, the surface of the gate lit up with a red light and a loud alarm sounded.

He thought for a moment and tossed the magic worm into the distance.

The gate immediately fell silent.

"Worthy of being a Demon Dragon Lord! The human facilities really couldn't detect your dissimilarity!" Not far away, the Demon Worm staggered and struggled to stabilize himself, and subconsciously began to frantically blow rainbow farts.

Shi An, however, had a scowl on her face and didn't seem very happy.

Even the ugly bug was recognized!

But he himself was categorized by that junk instrument and ordinary humans!

He swept his eyes up towards the demonic worm who was still preparing to continue his ass-kissing, his bad mood almost overflowing.

"?!"

Under the other party's unkind sight, the demonic worm shivered and the rainbow fart came to an abrupt end.

Shi An narrowed her eyes and lifted her chin slowly, "Go ahead and try."

Magic Worm: "????"

Shi An has a harmless expression:

"What's the matter, you don't want to?"

As if feeling the heat of the flames, the demonic worm suddenly had a jolt:

"Yes yes yes!"

It switched forms stiffly and tried to sneak closer to the past from all angles, but every time it was only just halfway there when the gate started alarming, seemingly not eating it at all.

It craned its head surreptitiously to look at Shi An, who was not far away.

Shi An found a seat and nestled down.

He slumped bonelessly over the back of his chair, matter of factly knocking his chin on his arm lazily:

"Go for it."

Devil Worms want to cry: "......"

For fuck's sake, if I knew how to blend in, would I be in this position!

Shi An watched its painfully struggling back with interest.

He certainly didn't expect it to find its way in on its own.

However, as a dragon who hadn't been outside in tens of thousands of years, most things were still very new to him.

--especially things like torturing and tormenting little devils.

But as she watched, Shi An grew a little sleepy.

He should know that he used to sleep for hundreds of years, but this recent period of time in order to adapt to the human work and rest, so he could only sleep for ten hours a day, but it was really too much to get used to.

Shi An yawned and adjusted to a comfortable position, closing his eyes contentedly amidst the frequent sirens.

--Then it's a good time to catch up on some sleep.

*

The other side of the door.

Shi Rui's expression was so gloomy that it seemed as if it could ooze water as he gritted his teeth and asked, "So, when exactly will that good brother of mine make it to the third round?"

Since it's a live round, it's the best round to start with.

But he waited and waited, and still didn't get the notice that Shi An was going to the third round.

The employee wiped the sweat from his forehead and after inquiring, he was equally a bit incredulous as he slowly said, "That ...... Mr. Shi An is still conducting the written test ......"

What?

Shi Rui could hardly believe his ears.

Three hours had passed, and the other side was actually still writing the test!

What's there to do for three hours on those basic topics?

Shi Rui's heart suddenly thumped.

Is it difficult ...... to say that the other party has discovered their intentions?

The more Shi Rui thought about it, the more wrong it became.

He clenched his teeth and his heart - now that it was over, he had no choice but to carry on:

"Cut off the surveillance and get right to it."

"But ......"

Shi Rui grimaced, "Didn't you hear me?"

"...... is."

Looking at the other party's disappearing back, Shi Rui's expression was gloomy.

--in any case, if done properly, nothing can be found out.

*

The sirens were loud.

Shi An's eyelashes twitched as she slowly opened her eyes.

Only a few very familiar looking bugs landed a few paces away from him.

-- dark, hard armor, vicious black eyes.

Saliva dripped from the sharp fangs and dripped onto the ground.

But compared to the time of the banquet, the bugs, once the size of a fist, were now more than half a man tall and looked hideous and numbing.

But it was as if they were scrupulous about something.

Huge, thick tentacles pounded the ground agitatedly, the desire to attack and instinctive fear fighting in their eyes for a long time.

At that moment, a scream came from not far away:

"My lord! It wasn't me this time! It really wasn't me!"

Shi An's eyes twitched as she looked toward the panicked sphinx not far away.

He nodded good-naturedly, "I believe you."

The Demon Worm, who had expected to be killed immediately, froze, "...... Eh?"

Did Chiron-sama actually trust me that much?

Suddenly an inexplicable feeling rose from its heart.

"--I fed you with my blood, you're already my belonging." Shi An said lightly.

A citizen? What?

The ancient term had long since been forgotten with the disappearance of the fantasy species, and it took several seconds for the magic bug to recall the meaning of the words.

It's a contract.

The strong give protection and the weak offer loyalty.

Most importantly ...... it is one way, coercive and unequal, the life and death of the subordinate people is controlled by the master, whether it is betrayal or disobedience, it will be punished a hundred times.

Isn't that a sellout!

Grass.

Magic Worm hugged himself sadly.

Woo-hoo.

The ground is so scary, I want to go back to the abyss.

At that moment, one of the bugs let out a furious hissing sound and suddenly lunged towards Shi An!

Shi An stepped back.

Only heard a loud "click", the tables and chairs in front of the strong impact was shattered, confetti flying, into a blue point of light, in the blink of an eye disappeared in mid-air.

In a grotesque interplay of light and shadow, the teenager silently rested his palm on the bug's dark, hardened tentacles.

His slender fingers and fair complexion contrasted with the uneven and ugly armor underneath in a strange sense of visual conflict.

Shi An smiled.

His features were soft, his eyes were rounded, his cheeks were white, the corners of his lips were hooked upwards, and the corners of his eyebrows were colored with a bit of a smile, making him look extraordinarily innocent and harmless.

There was a loud bang.

The next second, blazing as a red lotus flame wildly rose several meters, crimson dragon flame burst out amazing heat, it rolled, roared, devouring, relentless and wanton display of horrific aggression - the bugs let out harsh screams and hissing, limbs twisted, struggling in vain.

Everything went dead silent.

The only thing left in the air was the odor of burning coke echoing through the air, not even a body left behind.

It happened just too fast.

If it weren't for the residual heat in the air, one would almost suspect that everything was just a hallucination of one's own.

The golden-red ashes fluttered in the air, reflecting in the depths of the teenager's dark eyes like blazing, burning sparks in the night.

Not far away, the Demon Worm crouched stiffly in a corner, staring stonily at the scene in front of him.

...... days.

Is this, is this a fantasy species.

It hardly dared to imagine how terrifying Shi An would be if he fully recovered his strength.

Shi An blinked, the little bit of scarlet disappearing under her eyes.

He mentally counted them.

Perhaps it was due to this time of close contact with the abyssal species, one could now control the flames for fifteen seconds.

Thinking about it, when he was just waking up, it was hard for him to even have a second or two.

Shi An is very happy with the speed of her recovery.

He lowered his eyes and scanned his palms, then froze slightly.

Only a layer of pitch-black scales floated shallowly at the fingertips that belonged to a human, shimmering in the light and taking on a metallic, hard and cold texture.

Not a magical illusion ......

Rather, real, scales.

Shi An opened her hand incredulously and gripped it repeatedly.

It really wasn't a hallucination!

Wait, did ......

Burning abyssal species still has that effect?

At that thought, Shi An slowly raised her eyes and looked deeply into the few remaining bugs not far away.

His eyes were amazingly bright, as if someone who had been starving for a long time had finally seen a big meal, a pair of beautiful black eyes moving along with the bug's movements, the look underneath his eyes yearning and longing, transmitting a kind of extremely sincere and passionate feeling.

--Crap, it's creepy.

After making an objective assessment, the Demon Worm shivered and cowered into the distance.

*

Outside the door.

The sun was sinking in the west and darkness was creeping over the land.

Shi Rui, who was waiting outside, was becoming increasingly agitated.

With the surveillance cut off, he couldn't observe what was actually happening inside, and could only repeat over and over again in his mind to confirm his plan - it was fine, it was absolutely foolproof.

At the banquet that day, Administration over there didn't find the control source of these bugs proper.

This also means that that control source is perfectly capable of parasitizing into anyone's body.

And Shi An is the closest person to the source of the pollution.

At that time, the entire mansion was cleared of thousands of Demon Worm corpses, and in the end, only five of them were barely considered alive.

After being properly bred, and even maliciously catalyzed, they became what they are now - unintelligent, out of control, and all but dominated by the desire to attack, the

Everything today could have been completely dismissed as an accident if it had been set up perfectly.

--The egg parasitized in the teenager's body was agitated by the magic within the enclosed space and broke out, then tore everything within the entire space to shreds, destroying even the video records of the day.

However, it has been such a long time, Shi An's so small body should have been chewed up long ago, and according to the habits of these few magic worms, it should have already been time to break out of the door.

But nothing has happened until now, what's going on in there?

Shi Rui's patience was at an end.

He gritted his teeth and finally decided to take a risk and send someone to check out the situation, "...... Unlock the door and go inside."

"...... Yes, yes!"

The man obeyed the order to go forward, his face changed after he opened the door, and he was shocked to take two steps back steeply, "You ......"

"Ah, it's open."

Shi An, who was drumming her head down on the door lock, raised her eyes and cocked her head as an afterthought, "I was wondering how I was going to get out."

Shi Rui hardly knew how to manage her expression, her face white with shock.

After a brief moment of panic, he barely composed himself and said dryly with a bit of an ugly smile on his face:

"Brother, we've been waiting for you for a long time, is everything still going well?"

"Uh-huh." Shi An nodded absently.

He yawned and stepped forward with a flourish, glancing around, "Where's the car? I'm going back."

Shi Rui was shocked, "Where is ...... going"

Shi An glanced at him, seeming a bit confused as to why the other was making such a fuss, "Go home, I'm tired."

Shi Rui gave a stiff smile:

"The car is waiting outside."

Shi An let out an "oh" and headed out the door.

After losing sight of Shi An's back, Shi Rui turned his head in the direction of the door.

After the probe was over, the employee came out in a panic and shook his head at Shi Rui, "...... No, no more!"

Shi Rui froze, "What?"

The other party swallowed dryly and looked a little dazed, as if he had not yet recovered from such a strange surprise: "Ri, there ...... is nothing left inside."

The simulation is automatically turned off when the time expires.

No simulations, no magic bugs, no blood, no bodies.

The entire huge metal silo was empty, clean and cold - nothing was left.

It's as if it never happened.

*

When she got home, Shi An went straight back upstairs.

Once inside, he threw himself heavily onto the bed.

Shi An yawned greatly, her long, dark eyelashes wet with tears and dropping down a little.

-Sleepy.

Since just now, this sleepiness that penetrated deep into his soul had spread little by little from the depths of his body, waves washing over his limbs and pulling him downward.

The feeling was completely irresistible.

The moment Shi An closes his eyes, a heavy, blazing atmosphere is released from within his frame.

Being a sensitive species of the Abyss, the Demon Worm struggled to escape from Shi An's sleeve and fled on six legs to the corner of the room, pressing his back dead against the wall, desperate to build himself into it.

It looked toward the bed in horror.

Only the teenager's eyes hung stoically.

The brilliant glow reflected on his face like golden waves that seemed to flow.

No, not flow.

A layer of metallic scales floated shallowly across his pale cheeks, looking strange and ghastly, and the air became sticky and heavy, as if something was writhing in the depths of the darkness.

*

Mu Hang walks into the room.

He took off his gloves, folded them and dropped them on the back of his chair, hooking his fingertips around his collar and loosening the collar that was fastened around his neck.

The room was empty and dead, without a trace of human presence.

Suddenly, he seemed to sense something and raised his eyes to look not far away.

Only an ancient and elegant silver longsword hung on the wall, its hilt faintly humming.

It seemed to announce the silent awakening of some mysterious being.

Mu Hang's eyes flickered with a strange wave, breaking his consistent appearance of indifference.

How is this ...... possible?