DSMC Chapter 122.2

Yan Jiyun heard Daniel’s voice, ordering the guards to bring them back alive.

But the formation still showed no sign of activation.

As Chu Mo wedged more wooden planks against the door, he said, “Could it be the formation just doesn’t work?”

Qi Feng wasn’t certain, but he remained calm. “It’s possible. Magic is too fantastical. If it fails, we’ll have to fight our way out.”

Yan Jiyun glanced again at Lucifer, the fire-breathing dragon. Since this was a Western fantasy setting, the formation should have some use… maybe it wasn’t meant for them, but for the dragons?

Leaning over the rooftop edge, he shouted, “Lucifer! We can send you home!”

Lucifer and the other two dragons were still busy dealing with the knights. They clearly wanted revenge on those who had imprisoned them.

But Lucifer understood him. It turned and began flying upward. However, the knights had come prepared. Losing a few tools didn’t matter; they still had plenty of weapons.

Just as Lucifer was about to reach the rooftop, several rope-bound arrows shot toward all three dragons.

Lucifer failed to dodge in time. One arrow pierced its softer underbelly, where the scales were thinner.

The knights below cheered, “We hit it! Shoot again!”

Yan Jiyun saw Lucifer crash halfway onto the rooftop and crouched down to avoid being struck by its massive body.

“Damn, these guys are really obsessed with the dragons.”

The arrow had lodged into Lucifer’s side. Yan Jiyun rushed forward to check, while the knights below tried to use the rope to drag the dragon down.

Lucifer could still fly, but the pain in its abdomen made it increasingly agitated.

Qi Feng dropped the charcoal, drew his sword, and cut the rope connected to the arrow. “Break the shaft. Better yet, pull it out.”

Yan Jiyun said, “There might be barbs on the arrowhead. Pulling it out will tear flesh.”

Qi Feng replied decisively, “Better than letting them drag it. It might be poisoned. If we don’t remove it, it’ll die.”

Chu Mo braced the door with his back as the knights slammed against it. “Hurry up! I can’t hold them off much longer!”

Yan Jiyun handed the task to Qi Feng. “You’ve got steady hands, better you do it.”

Qi Feng was stronger too, he could probably pull it out in one go.

Turning back, Yan Jiyun soothed Lucifer, who was trying to charge back at the knights. “Lucifer, stay still. We’ll get it out right away.”

Qi Feng didn’t waste words. “Alright. Keep it calm.” He pressed down on the wound and yanked the arrow out in one swift motion. The wound had already widened from the knights’ pulling. His force only completed the job.

Dragon blood dripped onto the formation Qi Feng had just drawn.

Yan Jiyun was about to lament that the formation had been ruined, when suddenly, the dark red blood began flowing along the lines, activating it.

A faint glow emerged from the formation.

As more dragon blood dripped in, the light intensified, spreading outward.

Yan Jiyun looked at Qi Feng in surprise. “Your formation worked.”

The silver and red dragons in the sky also noticed the growing glow. They turned and rushed toward it, as if irresistibly drawn.

Yan Jiyun saw Lucifer gradually calm down. He realized the arrow must have been coated with some kind of anesthetic.

He stepped in front of Lucifer, looked it in the eyes, and gently stroked its head. “You can go home now, Lucifer.”

If its blood could activate the formation, then it didn’t belong here. The formation was its only way out.

Qi Feng’s formation was large enough. As dragon blood seeped in, its energy surged, enveloping Lucifer and both dragons in the air. 

A violent wind began swirling within the formation. Meanwhile, Chu Mo was still holding the door, but he was about to be overwhelmed.

Seeing the activation, Yan Jiyun immediately shouted, “Chu Mo, forget the door! Get over here, we’re leaving!”

Chu Mo dashed toward the formation, diving in just as the symbols began to spin.

The formation was a teleportation gate, their exit from the Dragon Door.

Lucifer’s blood proved powerful. Once it activated the formation, a raging whirlwind erupted, sweeping all of them inside. 

Yan Jiyun felt like his face was about to be torn off by the wind. He hadn’t expected things to escalate so quickly and could only cling tightly to Lucifer’s neck.

Chu Mo, ever the complainer, still found time to grumble, “I don’t think this is the way out! Why are we just spinning?! I’m gonna throw up!”

The wind lashed at Yan Jiyun and Qi Feng, making their faces sting. They could barely keep their eyes open, let alone respond.

The whirlwind truly felt like it would fling them into the sky.

Was this… the legendary teleportation portal?

The gale was so strong, it could even suck in dragons weighing over a ton.

Yan Jiyun couldn’t help but doubt whether this magic circle was really meant to send them back to Angel City.

Inside the whirlwind, the three of them were swept upward. Yan Jiyun grew dizzy from the spinning; in the process, he was struck by Lucifer’s swinging head. Before he could even feel the pain, he passed out.

Just before losing consciousness, the roaring wind in his ears gradually faded, and he saw Qi Feng and Chu Mo drifting farther and farther away from him.

When Daniel rushed in with his men, what he saw was a rooftop with no dragons and no people, only a patch of scorched ground and the faint outline of a used magic circle.

Daniel crouched down, brushing the charred dust on the ground, and muttered, “The dragons have finally returned to where they belong.”

Soon after, his memories of the dragons began to fade. Not long later, he stood there blankly.

Daniel looked confused. “Huh? Why am I standing here?”

Yan Jiyun was awakened by the smell of freshly baked bread.

Alarm bells rang in his mind, and he immediately opened his eyes. ‘Don’t tell me I’m still in the church kitchen?’

When he opened his eyes, he realized he had turned back into a cat. Not daring to move recklessly, he first examined his surroundings. Thankfully, he hadn’t moved. He was wedged between two very narrow walls. What kept him from falling were two beams protruding from the wall on his right. If he shifted even slightly to the left, he would fall straight down.

This magic circle was seriously ridiculous.

The gap between the two walls was less than 30 centimeters, and they were tall, at least ten meters high. If he carelessly jumped, one mistake would turn him into a splattered mess.

How did he even end up here?

Where were Qi Feng and Chu Mo?

And had the three dragons returned to where they belonged?

He didn’t rush to climb down from this dangerous spot. Instead, he opened his temporary prop panel. There was an extra information card inside. When he checked it, it was a card depicting a majestic black dragon.

According to what Daniel had said when he first entered the Dragon Door, gladiators were supposed to fight dragons, perhaps only by defeating the black dragon could one obtain the card.

But now, they had obtained the information card without needing to defeat it, without risking their lives unnecessarily.

He heard nearby players discussing leaving Angel City. That confirmed it. They had indeed returned through the magic circle.

Not only that, he also heard a familiar crying voice.

Yes, crying.

“Waaah, thank goodness, we actually made it back!”

“It’s so great not to die at the hands of those barbarians. I can finally be useful again!”

Wasn’t this that player who claimed to clear stages using only his brain, with zero physical ability, the one who cried all the time?

How did he get out too?

But after thinking about it, the explanation was simple. There were no dragons left in the Dragon Door. The “protagonists” of that sub-instance were gone. A world like that, without its central figures, was essentially broken, so the system naturally released the players inside since there was no main objective left.

Yan Jiyun thought bitterly. He did all the work, yet didn’t get the same easy way out as the “brain-type” player!

Other players were released directly back to the ground, while he was stuck hanging on a ten-meter-high wall.

Ahhhh!

How was he supposed to get down?!

He couldn’t even transform into a human. In a gap less than 30 centimeters wide, he’d be crushed instantly. The five-minute Human Form Time Card would probably get him killed.

But no matter what, he had to get down!

His transformation cards weren’t even in his inventory, they were in a separate slot. And without the young man-voiced system here, he couldn’t exchange for new ones. Even if he won a million points in the casino, it wouldn’t help.

He had spent nearly an hour and a half inside the Dragon Door. Wait… he remembered adding 30 minutes to his transformation card before jumping into the magic circle. So why had he turned back into a cat immediately after waking up?

Had he been unconscious here for over 30 minutes?

Yan Jiyun quickly checked the remaining time before leaving Angel City.

[Time remaining to leave Angel City: 12h 59m 09s]

A whole hour had passed since they left the Dragon Gate!

That meant he only had one hour of transformation time left, 60 minutes total. Split into five-minute uses, that was only about 12 activations. And it wasn’t like he could always perfectly time each use.

He took a deep breath, feeling his heart bleed over the lost 30 minutes. He’d have to be even more frugal now.

He had a rough idea where the exit from Angel City might be.

But first, he had to solve the immediate problem, getting down from this beam!

He couldn’t just slide down the wall either. Below was a pool of filthy water. Falling into that would mean multiple baths.

He considered jumping up onto the rooftop, but the edges of the two buildings were too tightly wedged. There’s no space to leap. The only option was downward.

No more hesitation. He had to go for it!

Yan Jiyun spread his limbs wide, pressing all four paws tightly against the walls, and carefully edged downward at an angle.

His whole body was tense with nerves, terrified that one slip would send him splashing into the dirty water below.

One step, two steps, three steps—

Meanwhile, the “brain-type” player was still crying with joy, his sobbing constantly distracting him.

Grinding his teeth in frustration, Yan Jiyun thought, ‘Once I get down from here, I’m definitely going to punch that guy first!’