Attracted by the smell of blood, a dozen swamp crocodiles and two swamp dragons crawled over from afar. In life, they feared Katoblepas, but the bloodied corpse of their king didn't scare them away. Their appetite was so voracious that even a dragon would not be refused.
Rody cast a few spells, but these greedy creatures, enduring the pain, scrambled to devour the corpse of Katoblepas. They dragged it towards the water to avoid the annoying human who was shooting bone spears at them. Facing these thick-skinned and greedy creatures, Rody had to admit defeat.
Seeing more swamp crocodiles approaching, he quickly had Marcus and Emma lift the head of Katoblepas and retreat from the area.
Once in a safer location, Rody faced a dilemma. Should he merge Marcus with the giant head, or should Nicholas be the one to merge? If Emma didn't increase her strength, she would eventually have to be destroyed and discarded. Considering a earth magic caster with a pair of soul-seizing eyes seemed a good choice. At least, all melee troops preparing for a surprise attack on a long-range mage would be in serious trouble.
After hesitating for a long time, Rody first turned the ugly head of Katoblepas into his servant of darkness. To his surprise, he felt an unprecedented resistance. However, it was fleeting, and the magical contract was instantly successful. Now, looking into the ugly head's eyes, Rody no longer felt heart palpitations. Instead, he sensed something akin to enlightenment. This delighted Rody, as understanding the magic principle of the soul-seizing eyes would be a dream come true.
Merging with a servant of darkness was not an easy task. It took Rody two weeks to merge the bone pet rabbit with the dark man-eating vine, and nearly ten days for the two mantises to merge with the blood-sucking bats.
For Katoblepas, the king of the swamp, Rody estimated it would take at least three months. However, he wasn't in a hurry, as time was on his side.
Moreover, at this moment, what Rody desired most was not the strength that would come from merging two dark servants, but the secrets of the soul and the mysteries of soul-seizing magic. He decided to keep the new acquisition, now named 'Kato,' for further study and not to rush into merging.
After discarding many magical beast pelts and herbs and even throwing away Marcus's bone shield, Rody barely managed to fit the new dark servant, 'Kato,' into his storage space. With this unexpected gain, he no longer cared for the beast pelts and herbs he had painstakingly collected earlier. Picking the best two, Rody happily started his journey home, having completely forgotten about the snow leopard pelts and red-beaked swans the succubus sisters had requested.
Having walked half a day, Rody was about to find a safe place to rest and explore the secrets of the soul when he suddenly heard a faint roar from a great distance.
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As soon as the unknown roar sounded, animals of all sizes rapidly fled, sweeping past Rody like a tide. The roar also caused Rody an inexplicable palpitation, making him wonder what kind of magical beast could exert such power with just a roar.
Then another chilling howl responded, frightening the fleeing animals into a frenzied escape. Some of the more timid animals even died of fright on the spot.
"My God, what kind of magical beast is it?" Rody's curiosity was piqued. Despite knowing the extreme danger, he really wanted to see what kind of creature could scare animals to death with its roars. He sent the bone pet rabbit ahead to scout, following carefully about fifty meters behind.
After walking about two kilometers, Rody discovered that the loud roar came from a valley. The closer he got, the more dead animals he found.
In a distant thicket, a fierce fire was still burning fiercely. Clearly, at least one of the beasts in the valley was a fire-type magical beast.
Rody hid behind a rock at the valley's cliff, not wanting to stick his head out and have his hair burned like the bushes. He controlled the bone pet rabbit to hop onto the top of the valley and sneak a peek using its view.
This glance almost made Rody's heart leap out of his chest. He barely controlled himself from crying out in shock. In the valley below, there were two terrifying magical beasts that he could not provoke at all. One was an immense black dragon, and the other, a hydra with nine heads.
The two were engaged in a fierce battle, for reasons unknown, attacking each other with difficulty in determining the victor.
Dragon flames furiously spewed, setting ablaze everything on the ground.
The nine-headed beast was equally formidable, with each of its nine heads capable of casting different spells. Its movements were incredibly agile, not only dodging the direct blasts of dragon fire but also using its several necks to grapple with the black dragon's sharp claws and enormous wings.
Either of these colossal creatures, if let loose outside, would be a destructive force for humanity.
Yet, for some unknown reason, they were attacking each other, fighting as if their lives depended on it, far beyond a mere show of intimidation. Rody's first instinct was to flee, to escape far away, but another thought in his mind compelled him to stay despite his fear. He was waiting for the moment when the two would fight to the death or be seriously injured. In such a battle of titans, there must be a loser. Could he possibly gain some advantage from this battle?
Rody's heart pounded with excitement.
You see, whether it's the black dragon or the nine-headed beast, both are ultimate, powerful high-level life forms. The black dragon, the most ferocious and attack-oriented of the dragon species, utterly fearless of magic, is an absolute nightmare for all humanity. Of course, if someone could obtain something from its body, it would be an incredible stroke of luck. Even a drop of dragon blood, a dragon scale, a whisker, a tooth, or a claw segment, whatever one could get, would be a high-level magical material of sixth grade or above.
Acquiring the dragon's eye, gall, or horn would undoubtedly be treasures of the seventh or eighth grade.
As for the dragon crystal and dragon soul, they are rare treasures of the ninth or tenth grade, something mortals can only dream of owning. If Rody could now possess a dragon soul, then the ultimate summoning spell of a necromancer, the supreme existence of all dark slaves, the legendary bone dragon or ghost dragon, might be within reach.
Though the nine-headed beast is less famous than the black dragon, it is also full of treasures.
Rody swallowed nervously, hoping that the black dragon and the nine-headed beast would perish here, yet fearing that after being severely injured, they would wisely cease fighting and leave, leaving him empty-handed and still waiting here, risking discovery and danger to his life.
Not to mention the black dragon and nine-headed beast, born with the strength of a third-grade magical beast, even ordinary flying dragons, earth dragons, or sub-dragons were beyond Rody's ability to provoke.
Fortunately, this black dragon had not transformed into a human, and the nine-headed beast had not morphed into a human form either. They were clearly still at the seventh-grade noble or eighth-grade lord level, not having reached the terrifying existence of a ninth-grade king. Otherwise, Rody would have had to flee as fast as he could. To play tricks with king-level magical beasts, who could transform into humans and had wisdom comparable to the sages of humanity, with hundreds or even thousands of years of life and experience, would undoubtedly be suicidal.