Chapter 664

【 AN EXTRA TASTY MEAL TONIGHT 】

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A gentle sunlight drifted lazily over the winter lands and caught the winding, ice bound rivers with a brilliant sheen.

The vast forest had shed most of its colors. In their place lay a blanket of pristine snow, so smooth and untouched that it seemed as if the entire land had been wrapped in a sheet of silver frost.

The endless coniferous forests rose like glacial towers, their branches heavy with ice. Together they formed a frozen wonderland of silver and white that stretched as far as the eye could see.

This was the northern region of the Elven Forest, a wide expanse wherein temperatures during winter often fell far below freezing.

It was also the region in the game known for drawing the largest number of sightseeing players each winter, partly due to such scenery.

Then, without warning, a golden radiance flared across the clear blue sky. The light expanded and shimmered, and three enormous portals opened in midair.

With several resonant dragon cries that rippled through the sky like rolling thunder, three colossal figures emerged from the heavens.

They were the three mythical dragons, Mars, Venus, and Mercury.

The trio soared high with broad, gleaming wings and swept their gazes across the boundless landscape below. Their golden or silver vertical pupils shimmered with unmistakable excitement.

“This must be Emerald Forest. It has to be. Such rich fluctuations of mana and expansive woodland, there is nothing else it could be but the Emerald Forest!”

The silver dragon Mercury spoke with clear enthusiasm, his tail flicking as he took in the view.

“Nowadays, it should be called the Elven Forest.”

Beside him, the gold dragon Mars shook his long golden whiskers as he spoke, equally excited.

The silver dragon Venus observed the snowy landscape beneath them with a hint of admiration in her gaze.

“Such an enchanting frozen landscape. Even after more than a hundred thousand years, it still remains just as pleasant as ever. This should be the northern part of the forest.”

“Indeed. It seems Her Grace Evé has transported us to the north. I see there are few people here. Perhaps she thought that our presence would draw too much attention and easily cause panic among the elves,”

Mars replied.

The two silver dragons nodded quietly. Mercury then glanced toward the terrain in the distance and said:

“Oh, but there seemed to be traces of civilization over there, perhaps somekind of settlement. They might belong to the elves Her Grace mentioned.”

“Should we take a look?”

Venus asked eagerly.

“Why, of course. Quickly familiarizing ourselves with the world of this era is exactly what we old bones need to do.”

Mercury answered with a nod.

The two silver dragons came to an agreement and turned toward their leader, Mars.

“Lord Mars, would you like to come along?”

Mars gazed into the distance for a moment, as if weighing the scenery before him, then lightly shook his head.

“I would like to transform into an animal first and wander on my own, so I will not be traveling with the two of you.”

The two silver dragons were not surprised.

When journeying through mortal-inhabited lands, gold dragons often preferred to assume the shapes of animals rather than humanoid forms, unless necessity demanded otherwise or something particularly unusual captured their interest. ⱤΆΝǑβƐs

“Then we shall go ahead. Lord Mars, until next time,” Mercury said with a courteous nod.

With that, he and Venus wove their dragon magic around themselves, disguising their presence before soaring toward the distant settlement where faint traces of humanoid life could be sensed.

Once the two silver dragons had left, Mars circled gracefully in the air before descending toward the snow covered ground.

A couple of seconds later, his body then shrank and shifted continuously until he became a majestic stag.

This was the innate shapeshifting magic of the dragons, the spell that allowed them to transform into any living creature they desired.

Looking around at the sweeping winter scenery, Mars took in the forest in its full splendor. He silently observed the icicles hanging glitteringly from the branches, shimmering like gemstones under the pale sunlight. The snow-laden boughs swayed gently in the crisp wind, sending tiny showers of frost sparkling to the ground below.

After pausing to savor the tranquility for a moment, Mars finally bounded across the snowy forest floor with an easy and relaxed gait, his newly assumed stag form moving gracefully over the powdery snow. Each step left a delicate imprint that the wind soon softened, preserving the pristine calm of the landscape.

The surroundings were utterly silent. Perhaps because of the cold season, no other creatures could be seen stirring in the white expanse.

However, as a demigod, Mars possessed extraordinary senses. He could still detect the sleeping or hibernating animals in the vicinity.

And beyond those familiar signs of animal life, he could also sense some more stronger presences. Their strength ranged from Iron to Silver rank, and they moved in discernible groups.

Mars felt a subtle stir of curiosity ripple through him.

Creatures traveling in groups during the harsh winter could not be ordinary animals, and there was no trace of wolves in this area.

Could these groups be composed of a humanoid race, perhaps?

He recalled the elves mentioned by Her Grace Evé.

With growing interest, he moved toward the direction of those presences.

After passing several ancient trees and pushing through a thick patch of shrubs, Mars finally caught sight of the group.

They were more than a dozen tall humanoid figures clad in gleaming armor, their presence radiating an aura that made Mars swallow unconsciously.

Humans?

Mars wondered, his curiosity tinged with caution.

However, as he drew more closer and examined their features, he immediately dismissed his initial assumption.

Their skin was smooth and pale and even by a dragon’s discerning standards, their features were extraordinarily refined, almost ethereal for a humanoid race.

Not to mention the elegantly pointed ears on each of them, delicate yet unmistakable.

Their appearance bore a resemblance to the Goddess of Life and evoked the image of the fluttering elemental fairies Mars had seen in the Garden of Eden, though these beings were larger, taller, and lacked wings.

In addition, Mars could also sensed a vibrant life force emanating from each of them.

Currently, the group were staring excitedly at the sky as if searching for something while speaking rapidly in a language he could not understand.

They must be the so-called elves…

After some consideration, he secretly cast [Language Proficiency], which was an innate spell of the dragons that allowed them to instantly understand the speech of other races.

In the next moment, he finally understood what they were saying.

“Dragons! Did you see those humongous creatures in the air earlier? Those were definitely dragons!”

“Yeah, I saw them, I saw them! One gold and two silver, right? Dude, they were so huge—maybe even bigger than Meryer!”

“Forget Meryer. I think they were even larger than those adult dragons that deliver eggs from Dragon Island.”

“Did you see which direction they went? Are they new NPCs?”

“Hmm, I’m not sure. They vanished in an instant.”

“Those three must be the ancient dragons that was mentioned in the recent server-wide quest announcement.”

“Quick! Let’s search the surroundings. We’re totally gonna be rich if we find them.”

The humanoid group chattered excitedly, their faces full of anticipation.

But unbeknownst to them, one of the dragons they were searching for was quietly eavesdropping on them.

Nonetheless, even though he now understood their language, Mars still felt that he could not fully grasp the topic of their conversation.

NPCs?

Server-wide?

Quest announcement?

And what’s that about dragons delivering eggs from Dragon Island?

What did any of this even mean?

Mars was completely bewildered, his golden eyes narrowing as he tried to make sense of the group’s rapid chatter and strange sounding words.

Hearing all these nonsensical terms made him realize just how much the world had changed.

Slumbering for two hundred thousand years really had left me far behind the times, huh?

With that thought, Mars ceased concealing himself and began moving toward the beings he assumed were elves. At the same time, he discreetly cast [Appraisal] on each individual, letting his innate magic assess their identities and strengths.

As the spell took hold, their true identity became clear before his eyes.

Just as he had suspected, they were indeed elves—the very race Her Grace, the Goddess of Life, had mentioned.

Moreover, Mars observed that a significant number of them were druids, which implied that they have high affinity for nature and likely enjoyed the company of animals.

This presented a valuable opportunity for communication.

Deliberately making his presence known, Mars stepped on a dry branch, letting it snap loudly under his weight. Instantly, the elves’ heads turned toward him, their cautious gazes scanning the forest as they sought the source of the sound.

However, when they saw him, their vigilance quickly shifted into delight.

“Oh, a stag! There are still deers in this area?”

They spoke excitedly.

Seeing their joy lifted Mars’s mood as well.

It seemed his choice had been correct. These elves with high affinity for nature indeed holds great affection for animals!

But just as the mythical dragon felt pleased and was about to approach them further, all of a sudden, the elves drew the bows on their backs and aimed directly at him.

Mars: “…”

“Hehe, looks like we’ll be enjoying an extra tasty meal tonight.”

One of the druid elves licked his lips as he raised his staff.

In the next second, the male elf cast [Entangling Roots] at Mars.

Mars: “…?”

Under the bewildered gaze of the ancient gold dragon in stag form, more than a dozen elves grinned, showing their gleaming teeth as a barrage of arrows and spells poured toward him like rain.

Mars: “…”

He froze for a second, then felt a surge of anger, realizing they had mistakenly seen him as a hapless prey, intended to be eaten!

His immediate reaction was to reveal his true form.

However, recalling the strange words they had said earlier, he forced himself to endure and turned to flee instead.

If he had not misheard it, these long eared creatures were searching for him and his companions.

So if he revealed himself to them now, he might give them exactly what they wanted.

In that case, he would simply go seek out the other elves.

Such was the nature of a gold dragon.

As a righteous and benevolent individual, although he disapproved of the elves attacking him without warning, he did not consider them his enemies, since their actions had not reached the level of true malice.

After all, he was the one who had chosen to take the form of a stag in the first place, and most humanoid races reasonably regarded such creatures as prey.

Even so, the fact that they dared to attack him clearly showed that he was not meant to have any connection with this group.

A mythical being was still a mythical-rank being.

Although he had changed his appearance to a lesser creature, once Mars decided to avoid this group of elves, just a few swift leaps from his powerful stag legs were enough for him to vanish from their sight entirely.

The sight of him easily evading their attacks left more than a dozen elves standing with weapons raised, their mouths agape in shock.

“W-What the hell? How could it run so fast?”

“Did that deer evolve into a magical beast?”

༺⟐༻

Having given up on communicating with those elves, Mars resumed his wandering through the Elven Forest.

At that moment, he was feeling slightly displeased.

“The elves Her Grace mentioned seem far too aggressive. They do not resemble those warm and kind little elemental fairies in Eden at all,” he muttered quietly before shaking his head.

“Never mind, I should look for other elves.”

He had already memorized the elves’ unique aura, and their presence seemed fairly common within this forest. With just a slight extension of his senses, he immediately detected several more groups scattered within a ten-kilometer radius.

Choosing one direction, Mars decided to head toward it, his hooves crunching softly on the snow as he moved.

After a few steps, he reconsidered and shifted forms again, this time transforming into a wind wolf.

Unlike before, he now took on the shape of a magical beast, its sleek fur shimmering faintly with an ethereal glow. Being stronger and more imposing than ordinary animals, he was confident he would not be mistaken for prey so easily this time.

Satisfied with his new form, Mars let out a lone wolf’s howl that echoed through the trees before dashing swiftly toward the location he had sensed, the wind whistling past him as his paws barely touched the snow-covered ground.

A few minutes later:

The gold dragon once again found a new group of long eared figures.

This time, there were fewer elves, perhaps seven or eight.

However, as soon as Mars revealed himself, they all brightened with excitement and, once again, almost instinctively raised their weapons to hunt him.

Mars: “…”

“Whoa, a huge wind wolf! We’ll have an extra-tasty meal tonight!”

“Guys, I call dibs on its fur. I want to make a coat.”

Mars: “…?”

Do they eat magical beasts too?

Astonishingly, a sense of déjà vu washed over him, as a wave of spells and arrows immediately rained down upon him again.

Mars let out an angry roar and twisted his body as he fled once more.

“W-What the hell, how could it escaped so fast!”

“Is that a mutated wind wolf?”

Mars: “…”

༺⟐༻

After narrowly escaping yet another hunt, Mars began to question his life choices.

Were these really the so-called elves Her Grace Evé had mentioned, the ones she claimed would certainly grow to be likeable?

Honestly, if it were not for the fact that they were under the Goddess’s protection and entirely unaware of his true identity, he would have already been tempted to teach them a lesson by now.

“Hmph. Fine, I will choose an even more stronger magical beast form this time.”

He took several deep breaths and made his decision, casting draconic magic once more and this time, transformed into a powerful mountain bear.

After locating another group of elves, Mars slowly approached them.

A few minutes later:

“Wow, a mountain bear!”

“What great luck! We can have roasted bear paws tonight!”

“Hey guys, give me its bear skin okay? I want to make a fur coat.”

Under the excited stares of the elves, another barrage of spells and arrows came flying at Mars, along with several magical bullets.

Mars: “…”

༺⟐༻

Mars tried several times to communicate, yet failed each time.

He shifted through a variety of forms, from simple, ordinary animals to magical beasts, from low Iron-rank creatures to intermediate Silver-rank ones. But no matter what form he assumed, the results were always the same.

For some unknown reason, these elves seemed driven by an overwhelming urge to hunt any creature they encountered.

Therefore, every time they came across him, they attacked immediately, leaving no time for greetings or introductions.

This relentless behavior left the gold dragon utterly speechless.

And their motives were always consistent.

Most of the time, it was for food.

Why… why did these elves feel the need to eat everything?

Mars was thoroughly exasperated.

If they were not attempting to devour him, they sought to use his fur to make clothing or equipment, or even capture him to form a contract as a mount.

He began to suspect that every elf he met was a false druid since despite their supposed high affinity for nature, they were far too unfriendly and aggressive.

If Mars had a favorability meter, his affection for elves would have plummeted to absolute zero by now.

Even so, he reminded himself of the instructions given by the Goddess of Life.

Since Her Grace Evé had said he must get along with the elves, as a contracted servant bound by a thousand-year oath, he had no choice but to obey.

“It seems I will have to take a humanoid form instead. Since Her Grace Yggdrasill is a respected and revered benefactor, and these elves are her believers, they must surely possess some admirable qualities. I must simply be approaching this matter incorrectly,” Mars muttered to himself.

With that realization, he changed his strategy entirely. Giving up his preferred animal forms, he instead transformed into an elf himself.

His golden dragon scales shifted seamlessly, becoming an impressive and stylish suit of armor modeled after the elves he had previously encountered.

After completing the transformation, Mars chose another direction and walked forward with measured patience.

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