In the end, after a long, angry howl, Witherbone had no choice but to honestly sniff out Castro's lingering trail, relying on the mental imprint Li De left in his mind to barely sense their direction and give chase.
At the same time, this undead mage was thoroughly frustrated.
Did he not know Castro's strength?
Only Li De could've made it happen. Recalling the visibly upgraded armor on Li De, especially the power fluctuations that clearly exceeded Perfect-grade, his heart filled with envy. Transcendent-grade armor... I want it too.
Despite all his years, Witherbone truly didn't own any transcendent-grade armor. Not because he didn't want it, but because anything marked with 'transcendent' instantly became extremely rare.
Castro's armor had cost nearly 80 pounds of mithril, was forged personally by a dwarven Grandmaster Smith, and refined using the faith energy that only deities could wield, that's what produced a transcendent-grade set.
The gap between Perfect ★★★ and Transcendent ★ was only one step, but even Perfect-grade armor couldn't compare to Transcendent, not even close.
But all Witherbone could do was envy, after all, Castro was obviously the favored son.
Seated behind Castro, Li De was experiencing supersonic flight for the first time. With a single flap of his bat wings, the transcendent-armored Castro tore through the air with explosive force.
The earth raced by beneath his feet at blinding speed.
And Castro's body was incredibly agile. Even at such high velocity, he could flip and spin midair with ease. It was truly fierce.
No doubt about it, the 500,000 Gold Pucks spent on that transcendent armor was absolutely worth it. After casting Dragonscale Shield on himself, Li De began enjoying the thrill of the ride.
The distance from Green City to the Far Mountain Range was roughly 500 kilometers, and from the edge of the Far Mountain Range to Dawn City was nearly 600 kilometers.
Altogether, the straight-line distance from Green City to Dawn City was over a thousand kilometers.
But with Castro's wild speed, in less than a single sun-hour, Li De had already caught sight of Green City's towering walls that loomed like a mountain range.
As for Witherbone, he was long gone from sight, clearly left miles behind.
Another half a sun-hour later, the twenty-blade wingspan, deathly-aura-carrying bone dragon finally came into view.
Li De glanced at the approaching Witherbone with a half-smile, said nothing, and simply waved his hand.
"Enter the dimensional plane. You don't look suitable for public appearance."
Witherbone huffed twice, then looked back at his massive form. The frustration from earlier, being outclassed by Castro, vanished in an instant.
He declared proudly, "The great Lord Witherbone will scare those Green City weaklings senseless~ I am a bone dragon! A mighty bone dragon!! Gahahaha~"
Li De's face darkened. This absurd thing, give him an inch and he'll take the sky.
Too lazy to bother with the undead, he had Castro drop him to the ground, then placed the now-miniature Castro on his shoulder.
Up in the sky, Witherbone howled proudly for a while, but realizing no one was watching him, quickly grew bored and tore open a rift into the dimensional plane, quietly following behind Li De.
Dark Pact's stronghold, Black Rose Manor.
Li De's figure appeared at the entrance of the fortress-like manor walls, where Grote had been waiting for some time.
"Majestic Iro, Grote welcomes your arrival!"
The northern warrior respectfully placed a hand to his chest and bowed.
Majestic Iro, the dark legend who once made Wales Ronal, the Level 19 Mind Eater and president of Demon Heart, tremble with fear, had returned.
The surrounding members of Dark Pact revealed expressions of extreme fanaticism the moment they saw the sharp fangs at the corner of Li De's mouth.
Majestic Iro, an existence personally acknowledged by Mind Eater Wales as transcendent, and of course, their master.
Li De nodded and said nothing more, motioning for Grote to lead the way.
He wasn't here for idle chatter. His purpose was the sudden appearance of the goblin.
After passing through the vast estate that resembled a palace, turning several corners, they finally arrived at a massive room.
Grote pushed open the white door carved with a relief of a giant dragon and invited Li De inside.
Upon entering the hall, Li De's eyes narrowed slightly. At first glance, he saw the gnome-like creature seated at the long oval table in the center of the room, its expression showing a hint of panic. A goblin.
This goblin wore a compact leather vest and stood about 1.3 blades tall, even shorter than dwarves.
It had an oversized head disproportionate to its body. Its facial features were not much different from a human's, and its two black eyes flickered with timidity.
Its skin was light green, and its ears were like bat ears, twitching and flapping. One glance was enough to see the stark difference between this being and a human.
Upon seeing Li De, the goblin stood up and looked nervously toward Grote. "Lord Grote…"
Clearly, Li De's bared fangs had filled the goblin with immense fear.
Vampires were extremely dark beings. They didn't just hunt humans, any lifeform they found displeasing could be slaughtered without hesitation.
Humans feared vampires, and other races feared and hated them just as much, if not more, especially the weaker ones.
Goblins lived in the Underground World, but they were fundamentally of the Neutral Alignment, not aligned with darkness or light. They belonged to themselves.
Grote stepped forward two paces, bowed again to Li De, then turned to glare at the goblin. His massive 2.2-blade-tall frame exuded crushing pressure on the tiny creature.
"Yor Graymount, the one before you is the master of Dark Pact, the vice president of Demon Heart, the great Majestic Iro.
Speak to the Majestic with your utmost respect," Grote said, his tone merciless and even somewhat threatening.
Disobey? Then die. The weak have no right to choose.
Upon hearing this, Yor Graymount, the timid goblin, trembled all over. He cast a fearful glance at Li De, then immediately dropped to his knees and pressed his head to the ground.
"Great Majestic Iro, on behalf of the Graymount Tribe, I offer you our most respectful greetings."
The name 'Iro' had a Legend Rating of 10 in the Underground World of Green City. That high rating had activated several powerful traits. Most beings went weak in the knees at the mere mention of Li De's name. The moment Yor heard it, he was scared stiff.
Goblins as a race combined two extreme traits, prideful arrogance and cowardly timidity. In this moment, the little runt clearly had no right to be proud.
"Rise, Yor Graymount. You came to see me. What is it you want?"
Seated in the main chair, Li De locked eyes with the goblin, as if he had no idea how the creature had even gotten here.
But then, the timid goblin who had just met him uttered something that caught him completely off guard.
"Majestic Iro, the Graymount Tribe begs your aid in rescuing our tribe and our allies, the Risel family.
You have reached the transcendent tier, surely you have the power to stop those damned beastmen.
In exchange, I am willing to offer information known to the Graymount Tribe regarding the Twelve Magic Scrolls, a divine artifact, to the great Majestic."
The Twelve Magic Scrolls??
Weren't those the very divine artifacts that the original president of Dark Pact, the mysterious Viscount Berna, had gone to great lengths to steal from a transcendent mage of Green City??
How did the goblins know about the Twelve Magic Scrolls?
Li De immediately couldn't stay still. He hadn't expected this little runt to bring such explosive news. It was completely beyond his expectations.
That was a divine artifact! In front of one, even transcendent equipment worth 500,000 Gold Pucks was like the rags of a beggar.