Reborn As a Pirate - Chapter 43

Chapter 43: The Crimson King!
Ryan watched as the Static Thunder Dragon beat a hasty retreat, his grip tight on his sword, his expression steely and unreadable. Though outwardly unfazed, inwardly, he exhaled a silent sigh of relief.

The power of thunder dragon was formidable. Had the battle continued, Ryan’s chances of victory were slim.

The Thunder Dragon, in its volatile “explosion state,” was a blur of speed and raw strength, its electric charges capable of paralyzing an opponent on contact. Only the chilling frost from Ryan’s [Big Sword·Ferocious Ice Flower] had countered the dragon’s electric assault, preventing the lethal conductivity. It was an unlikely retreat for a creature in its empowered state.

Ryan acknowledged the turning tides of the encounter as favorable but knew he needed to evolve into a being as formidable as the Static Thunder Dragon to truly dominate such a beast.

As the gap between the retreating dragon and Ryan expanded to a safer span of twenty meters, a sudden piercing screech split the air.

The canopy above trembled violently as a titanic bird, boasting a wingspan of ten meters, swooped down. Its talons, sharp and unyielding, sank deeply into the unsuspecting Thunder Dragon’s back.

Ryan’s eyes narrowed, recognition dawning. This was the same colossal bird that had previously stolen the giant crab carcass from the beach.

Now, under the cloak of the forest canopy, Ryan could discern the creature’s striking features: its body armored in silver-white scales, a vivid red face, and fierce yellow eyes. A long, pointed beak and a majestic crown resembling a fan embellished its head. The bird’s muscular hind limbs, ending in lethal claws, now clutched the dragon, one talon embedded in its back, the other pinning the junction of tail to torso.

The Static Thunder Dragon writhed in agony, its scales bristling, thwarted from entering its explosive defense by the sudden onslaught. The giant bird wasted no moment of advantage; its beak parted in a violent hiss.

“Boom!”

A fiery orb erupted from its mouth, scorching the Thunder Dragon’s back to a charred black. Overcome by pain, the dragon roared shrilly, flipping over in a desperate move that pinned the avian assailant beneath its bulk.

A spectacular duel of monsters unfolded before Ryan’s eyes.

Though too distant to identify this mysterious new combatant with its umbrella-like crown, Ryan understood the peril of lingering near such volatile combat. Yet, as he contemplated retreat, another thought sparked within him, hinting at opportunities amidst the chaos.

As the old adage wisely notes, when the snipe and the clam are locked in battle, it is the fisherman who reaps the rewards.

Under ordinary circumstances, Ryan knew well he stood no chance against the formidable Static Thunder Dragon. But a weakened dragon? That presented a tantalizing uncertainty.

With this thought in mind, Ryan stealthily retreated to a nearby colossal tree, concealing himself within its hollow, his eyes fixed on the unfolding chaos between the bird and the dragon.

The animosity appeared deep-rooted, the confrontation between them nothing short of cataclysmic. Mud and debris were hurled into the air, amidst a dance of electric arcs and bursts of flame.

The skirmish raged intensely for a relentless minute. The Thunder Dragon, already compromised by its injuries and the bird’s ambush, faltered under the strain. Its breath grew labored, saliva dripping uncontrollably from its maw.

Despite bearing scars of electrical burns, the mysterious bird seemed the lesser injured, its vitality starkly contrasting with the dragon’s dire state. The outcome seemed inevitable, the Thunder Dragon’s demise loomed near.

From his arboreal hideout, Ryan let out a sigh of melancholy. “It seems the Thunder Dragon meets its end today…”

Observing the fight, it was clear both creatures were evenly matched in might, maintaining a delicate balance of power. But his accidental intervention had tipped the scales, wounding the dragon and giving the opportunistic bird a lethal advantage. Unwittingly, Ryan had allied with the avian.

Now was not the time for him to engage. The Thunder Dragon, though teetering on the brink of death, still possessed dangerous potential. To intervene could make him the focal point of their wrath.

Better to wait, he reasoned, until the dragon succumbed, then confront the bird. Even if the bird took flight, it would be a loss, but not one of great consequence.

However, fate often delights in the unforeseen.

Just as the bird prepared to deliver its final blow, the forest’s canopy erupted into violent movement, and a thunderous roar filled the air, a roar imbued with such regal authority that it sent involuntary shivers down Ryan’s spine, distinctly different from that of the Static Thunder Dragon.

At the climactic moment of their battle, both the strange bird and the Static Thunder Dragon froze, terror evident in their wide, fearful eyes.

Without a moment’s hesitation, the strange bird abandoned its nearly defeated prey and took flight, vanishing into the dense undergrowth in the distance. Equally desperate, the Thunder Dragon mustered its remaining strength and hobbled away in the opposite direction, leaving a trail of luminescent blue blood in its wake.

Merely five seconds after their frantic escape, the air grew tumultuous, whipped into frenzy by a sudden, powerful wind. A colossal creature descended, its presence so imposing that even the sturdiest branches of the giant trees snapped like twigs under its might.

As it unfurled its majestic wings, gusts howled through the forest canopy.

From his hidden vantage point within the tree hollow, Ryan gazed upward, his expression a mix of awe and fear.

“Is that… a dragon? A real freaking dragon?!”

This was no mere Jingleitosaurus, often mislabeled as a dragon but truly just a glorified crawling lizard. What soared above was the embodiment of a real dragon as depicted in countless books and films, a massive beast cloaked in scales of fiery red.

Its formidable body stretched over 20 meters from snout to tail tip, nearly 15 meters even without its tail. When it spread its wings, each beat showcased the impressive ten-meter span of its leathery membranes.

This dragon’s build was robust, a stark contrast to the slender form of the strange bird. Its body, a fortress of thick, muscle-laden scales, dwarfed the combined mass of both the bird and the Thunder Dragon.

It was as if a crimson king had descended, surveying his realm with regal disdain. All creatures of the forest cowered in silence, daring not to draw the sovereign’s ire.

Ryan clung to the shadows of his arboreal refuge, his body quivering with an instinctual tremor. This was the visceral reaction of a human faced with a force so overpoweringly superior that resistance seemed futile.

What were the Static Thunder Dragon and the strange bird in comparison to this titanic entity? They were but mere footnotes in the presence of such overwhelming supremacy.

After circling the skies briefly, the giant crimson dragon, finding no prey worthy of its effort, ascended back into the skies. The oppressive aura of its dragon might lingered for a moment before finally dissipating, leaving the forest to slowly reclaim its quietude.

Ryan exhaled deeply, his breath catching after holding it through moments of sheer terror.

“Is this the true terror lurking in the ancient forest?” he muttered to himself, his voice barely a whisper amidst the quiet that had reclaimed the woods.

“Could that giant crimson dragon be the sovereign of these lands?”

As his breathing steadied and his pulse slowed, Ryan’s mind raced. He had believed the Static Thunder Dragon to be a formidable force, yet here, it seemed merely a middling player in a much larger, more brutal hierarchy.

“Caution… must always be my ally here,” he admonished himself silently, the lesson etched deeply in his thoughts.

A tense ten minutes crawled by as Ryan waited, ensuring the “Crimson King” had indeed departed. Only then did he dare to emerge from his arboreal hideaway. He made his way to the battleground where the Quiet Thunder Dragon and the strange bird had clashed.

The ground was littered with remnants of their ferocious encounter, scales, feathers, and other debris.

Bending down, Ryan picked up a light red scale. As he examined it, a description materialized in a translucent gray font before his eyes:

[The scales of the Fire Umbrella Bird: Derived from a bird-dragon species indigenous to the ancient forest. These scales are valuable as crafting materials for equipment, requiring five spiritual points each. The Fire Umbrella Bird resembles a crane, covered in scales, and sports an umbrella-shaped crest on its head. Capable of rapid short-distance flight, it possesses specialized organs for storing and unleashing fiery assaults.]

“So, it’s called the Fire Umbrella Bird,” Ryan noted aloud, a hint of fascination in his tone.

He gathered the scattered materials, each displaying its description in the same gray font, and stored them in his space ring. His gaze then shifted to a trail of dried blue blood staining the forest floor, snaking into the distance.

“Static Thunder Dragon…” he murmured, a slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth as he followed the trail.

Ryan was not one to harbor grudges for long; he preferred to settle them swiftly when the chance arose.

The memory of the pain inflicted by the Static Thunder Dragon attack was still fresh, a stinging reminder of the unforgiven vendetta that now drove his steps forward.