Chapter 415: The Green Sea Ruins (Part 8)

“Dragon scale?” Charlotte studied the object over and over under the firelight, still unable to believe it.

“I can’t think of any other possibility,” Wu Qingsong replied.

When he first saw it that afternoon, he thought he might’ve been overthinking. But after prying it out of the rubble and examining it carefully, he was convinced this was the most plausible explanation.

It was larger than his palm, extremely hard, but astonishingly light—almost weightless.

He tried placing it over the fire, but it didn’t burn or even conduct heat. Even after throwing it directly into the flames for half an hour, it came out completely unscathed.

“So… this place was attacked by a dragon?” Charlotte asked.

“Most likely.”

There was another thing Wu Qingsong didn’t tell her. He suspected the obsidian jackal god statue had been shattered during a battle with a dragon. When he reexamined the ruins with that idea in mind, everything suddenly made perfect sense. All of it lined up.

Those columns? Snapped by a dragon’s charge. The destruction of the city? Caused by powerful draconic magic. The deep gouges in the stone? Left by dragon claws.

As unbelievable as it sounded, this new interpretation made it clear this wasn’t some glorious beastkin counterattack against the elves. Rather, this was a unified retaliation by the beastkin, including the elves in their earlier form, against an invasion by the dragons. Perhaps other races had been involved too. But time had buried everything, leaving only fragmented clues behind.

The Batiz people—destroyed by the elves—had once fought side by side with them? It felt like a cruel irony, yet the evidence before him seemed to point to exactly that.

He once again recalled what the Flame Overlord had said.

Who rules the surface now? The winged ones? The scaled ones? The beastkin? The dragons? The elves? Those long-eared, hairless creatures, are they even beastkin anymore?

Maybe they really had once worked together to drive the insectoids underground. And maybe, afterward, the dragons became the common enemy of all the other races.

“Have you ever heard any legends about them?” Wu Qingsong asked Charlotte.

“Plenty,” Charlotte replied. “Most of the time, they’re the ultimate villains in old stories. Greedy, powerful, foolish, and always defeated by elven heroes. But I always thought they were just myths. No one’s ever seen a living dragon or even anything related to dragons.”

“I think maybe they have become myths,” Wu Qingsong said quietly.

Considering what had happened to the birdfolk, to the Batiz, to the magicborn beastkind… Wu Qingsong had no doubt that once the elves became the dominant power, they would never allow creatures as dangerous as dragons to survive.

Leave a few dragon eggs, like in that one famous TV show?

No way.

Knowing how ruthless the elves were, they’d probably smash every egg, boil them, and eat them. Only then would they feel at ease.

A chill ran down his spine. The entire process by which the elves rose to power had practically unfolded before his eyes. As a highly intelligent and powerful race, they had toyed with all other peoples in the palm of their hand, eliminating every rival one by one, until they finally became the rulers of the world.

Long-lived. Powerful. Ruthless. Shameless. Intelligent. And most of all, patient and persistent.

Did he really have the strength to oppose such a terrifying race?

Charlotte, however, had no such thoughts. She simply continued turning the dragon scale over in her hands, treating it as their first truly valuable find from the ruins.

“According to our agreement, this belongs to Dark Moon, right?” she asked.

“If you like it, take it,” Wu Qingsong replied.

Perhaps they had accidentally uncovered a truth long buried by history. But it wouldn’t change their current predicament. After chatting a bit more about dragons and elves, they returned to the most pressing concern.

“No matter how we ration it, our dry food won’t last more than a few days,” Charlotte said. “If we can make it back to the big rock, we might stretch it longer. We could even butcher the horses if we have to, it might get us to a populated area.”

“What do you think your subordinates by the rock will do?” Wu Qingsong asked.

“They might come looking for us with some supplies and gear,” Charlotte said. “Leave the horses behind.”

“They’ll probably use machetes to cut their way in,” Wu Qingsong muttered.

Charlotte nodded.

If that were the case, they might’ve already been swallowed by the forest.

“We need to interrogate Maylen again,” Wu Qingsong said. “We can’t use your methods anymore.”

He glanced back at the young wolfman. He looked just as anxious as the dogkin. There was no visible sign that anything was off. But Wu Qingsong couldn’t shake the feeling that the boy knew far more about these ruins than he had let on.

“Do we do it now?” Charlotte asked.

“Tomorrow morning,” Wu Qingsong said, stealing another look at the wolfman.

He needed to see every subtle expression on Maylen’s face to judge if he was hiding anything, and that was impossible in the dark.

***

“Maylen, come here a moment,” Wu Qingsong called to the wolfman.

Charlotte had already informed the dogkin of their decision. No one objected.

“Lord Tagraedi?” 

The young wolfman looked around at the others in confusion, hesitating a little before standing up.

“We’d like you to try to recall anything your grandfather might have told you. Every detail counts. You understand this might be our only chance of getting out of here alive,” Wu Qingsong said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“But, Lord, Miss Charlotte… I really told you everything I know.”

“Every single detail?” Wu Qingsong asked.

He had no soul fragments to use, which meant he would have to strike the boy’s soul directly with his own spiritual power. He’d never done this before. If he messed up, he might not survive the backlash. It could lead to mental collapse or even death. If the wolfman cooperated, he’d rather avoid taking such a drastic step.

“I’m asking you to try, one more time,” he said. “Even something you think is nonsense, or unimportant. If your grandfather said anything connected to this place, just say it.”

The wolfman thought seriously for a while, then replied, “There’s really nothing else. My lord, I told you everything before we left. And anything I remembered along the way. I already said it all.”

“Then…” Wu Qingsong sighed softly and gave a subtle nod to the dogkin nearby.

They immediately stepped forward and pinned the wolfman to the ground.

“This will be painful. Possibly even irreversible,” Wu Qingsong said. “Maylen, this is your last chance.”

“My lord?!” the wolfman panicked. “My lord?! What are you doing?! I really don’t know anything. I’ve told you everything!”

“Then… I’m sorry.” Wu Qingsong placed his hand on the boy’s head and began to focus.

The wolfman screamed, pleaded, and begged. The dogkin held him firmly, unmoved.

Moments later, Wu Qingsong steadied his breath and condensed his spiritual energy into a sharp needle, then stabbed toward the wolfman’s soul.

Suddenly, Maylen’s scream turned shrill, inhuman. It sounded like a beast from the depths of hell. The dogkin were so startled they loosened their grip, and in that instant, Maylen broke free.

Wu Qingsong felt like his spiritual force had slammed into a spiked iron ball. The recoil made him grunt in pain.

One dogkin tried to grab Maylen again, but Maylen slashed his throat in one swift motion.

Blood sprayed like a fountain onto the dogkin across from him, leaving him stunned. Maylen took that chance to break free completely and bolted toward the forest.

Wu Qingsong snapped out of the backlash and immediately unleashed all his remaining spiritual power to pursue the fleeing soul. But it was blocked effortlessly, and Maylen vanished into the woods without even slowing down, disappearing into the plants as if he’d never been there.