Shut Up, Malevolent Dragon! I Don’t Want to Have Any More Children With You

Vol 9. Chapter 32: Magic Eye Exposed?

A small stretch of the river split the entire area into two.

Father and daughter each headed to one side, splitting up to investigate.

That ill-intentioned thunder kept staying within Leon’s field of view.

Even though Thunderclap Ravine’s area wasn’t very large, even after they split up, they still couldn’t completely leave each other’s line of sight.

He took a simple map out of his pocket. It was given to him on the way by the Thunder Dragon guard who had led them here.

Besides the region where Thunderclap Ravine lay, the map also marked several nearby areas.

Leon compared things roughly and muttered, “So this is already the border region of Thunder Dragon territory...”

Border regions were sparsely populated. Most of what lived here were herbivores and harmless peril-forms.

Let alone a powerhouse clan like the Thunder Dragons—who would dare to stir up trouble here...

Leon put the map away and began carefully examining the environment around Thunderclap Ravine.

Looking around, most of the vegetation bore signs of violent trampling.

Some shrubs and grass patches were even left in a very chaotic, disordered state.

“Doesn’t look like the kind of damage harmless peril-forms and ordinary herbivores would cause... Did something startle them?” Leon said as he checked the ruined plants and continued deeper in.

Beneath an ancient tree, Leon found several claw marks on the surface of the trunk.

These claw marks were extremely fine—something large shouldn’t have left them.

And...

“There’s blood in the claw marks. Like it hurt itself while it was destroying things...”

Leon frowned slightly.

That made even less sense. The creatures living here didn’t have a body structure that let them attack while guaranteeing they wouldn’t injure themselves, yet they still insisted on tearing at a tree trunk.

Even if they were obviously weak peril-forms, even if they were ordinary animals, they wouldn’t do something like this.

Because to wild animals, injury was extremely dangerous: it could attract predators, and they could even end up dead in the wilderness if the wound didn’t heal in time.

Right as he was puzzling over it, Noa’s voice came from the streamside.

“Dad! Come look at this!”

Hearing it, Leon immediately called back, “Coming!”

Then he broke into a quick run.

Noa was beside a patch of shrubs. Leon walked up and followed the direction she pointed.

At the base of the shrubs, a shallow pit had been dug out, and inside the pit lay the corpse of some small animal.

Noa half-knelt down. After seeing the scene around the corpse, she couldn’t help frowning.

“What a brutal torture-kill... Did a peril-form do this?”

No wonder Noa felt uncomfortable. Leon saw it too: the small animal had been ripped open, a row of tiny ribs exposed, and its internal organs rotted and stinking.

Blood had splashed across the soil pit and the shrubs. It had already turned black and dried.

At a glance, it really was tragic. Calling it a “torture-kill” was not an exaggeration.

Leon tugged lightly on Noa’s arm, signaling her to stand beside him and stop looking.

Noa stood up, closed her eyes, and let out a long breath.

Even though she had been through multiple battles and seen many people fall in front of her, Noa was still, in the end, a teenage girl.

Seeing a bloody, cruel scene like this, it was hard not to feel some physical nausea.

Leon realized that, too, which was why he didn’t let her keep staring.

After adjusting a little, Noa looked at Leon and saw he was still observing the corpse.

“Dad, what kind of animal could be this vicious?” Noa asked.

Leon stayed silent for a moment. He slowly rose and patted the dirt from his hands as he said in a low voice, “I’m afraid it has nothing to do with other animals.”

Noa froze.

“Nothing to do with them? Why?”

“The Thunder Dragon guard who led us here said Thunderclap Ravine is all herbivores and some harmless peril-forms. Hunting almost never happens here,” Leon explained slowly.

“And even if some wild carnivore wandered into Thunderclap Ravine by accident and wanted to hunt for food, killing a small animal like this would be meaningless. Either it would eat it all, or it would just kill it. It wouldn’t destroy the body like this.”

Noa’s thoughts shifted, and she immediately asked:

“Then you mean... it did this to itself? But how could it do that?”

Leon didn’t answer right away. He asked instead, “Noa, do you remember your outdoor assessment back then in the Demon Moon Forest?”

Noa blinked and nodded after a moment’s thought.

“Of course. Helena and I ran into Adam, Warhammer Dragon King, there.”

After a pause, she lifted a hand and lightly pressed it to her chest.

“That was also the first time I teamed up with her to deal with Black Dragon Scale—wait, Black Dragon Scale.”

As Noa spoke, she seemed to realize something all at once. She lifted her eyes to her father and said excitedly, “The damage on that small animal looks a lot like those peril-forms back then that couldn’t endure Black Dragon Scale’s power and self-detonated!”

Leon smiled with satisfaction and patted Noa’s hair.

“Smart.”

“But didn’t Black Dragon Scale go extinct with its death?” Noa asked.

Leon shook his head.

“Black Dragon Scale did go extinct. But there’s another thing with a similar ability—Demon Sword Shards.”

Leon said:

“Their preliminary investigation said it should be unrelated to the Demon Sword Shard, but I think that was a misjudgment. Compared to changes in the Black Abyss Demon Region and things like that, casually labeling what’s happening here as ‘unrelated’ feels... too forced.”

As he spoke, Leon looked past the corpse toward the deeper shrub line.

“But one small animal exploding to death isn’t enough to change the environment of all Thunderclap Ravine. We need to go further in.”

“Mhm. Okay.”

Father and daughter continued deeper into the shrubs.

After moving through for a while, they came to a very hidden tree hollow entrance.

They looked at each other, then nodded in unspoken agreement, stepping into the hollow together.

Leon gathered blue lightning in his left palm to use as light.

Noa, behind him, copied him.

“Actually, Dad, you and Grandpa Odin still have one more difference in how you use lightning magic.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“Grandpa Odin basically only uses lightning magic in combat. But you use lightning magic for things outside combat too—like lighting the way, roasting meat, or spelling out ‘happy birthday’ for Mom, stuff like that.”

Leon gave a soft laugh.

“And doing a little performance for you sisters where I hand-forge a greatsword.”

“Correction. Hand-forge a toothpick.”

The two of them laughed out loud.

While chatting, they reached the deepest part of the tree hollow.

Sure enough, just as Leon said, a single small corpse couldn’t change the whole of Thunderclap Ravine’s environment.

In the depths of the hollow, a thin stream of water welled up from the ground and slowly flowed outward.

From the look of it, it should connect to the small stream outside.

And the most critical thing was this—beside that flow of water lay dozens of animal corpses of different sizes.

Some of them were even peril-forms.

The way they died was horrific. Every one of them had exploded to death because they couldn’t withstand that gloomy, hard-to-name power.

Noa’s brows knit tight as she forced down the urge to retch.

Leon noticed her discomfort. He rested a hand lightly on her shoulder and turned her so she wouldn’t look at them, while he explained slowly:

“Now we’ve basically figured out why Thunderclap Ravine’s environment changed. These creatures that exploded to death—the blood they spilled all flowed into that watercourse. And that water carried the contaminated blood out into the stream. And that stream is the only water source in all of Thunderclap Ravine. Every animal and plant depends on it to survive. If the stream has a problem, then Thunderclap Ravine has a problem. But this kind of pollution is intermittent and very slow, so nearby creatures didn’t notice it right away. Only after it accumulated did it start becoming obvious.”

As he spoke, Leon used the magic stone he carried with him to record the scene inside the hollow, then led Noa out.

Back outside, after taking in some fresh air, Noa asked:

“So in the end, it really is the Demon Sword Shard causing trouble?”

“It should be,” Leon said.

“But didn’t you collect all the Demon Sword Shards and store them separately in three places, including Grandpa Odin? Could there be something missing?”

Leon thought, frowned slightly, then slowly shook his head.

“No. The Demon Sword Shards have definitely all been collected. The only thing still out there is that magic eye... Don’t tell me the magic eye is here?”

......

......

At dawn, Leon brought Noa back to the Thunder Dragon Sanctuary.

Because they had agreed the night before that Leon would return before daybreak, Odin waited here all night.

When the two of them returned, a lavish breakfast had already been prepared in the hall.

After working all night, father and daughter sat down at the table and each gulped down a huge mouthful of water first.

Odin sat on the other side of the table, watching them, and couldn’t help shaking his head with a smile.

“You two really are cut from the same mold. Even the way you drink water is the same.”

Leon set the cup down, took a breath, and didn’t waste time on pleasantries. He went straight to the point.

“Senior, Noa and I have figured out Thunderclap Ravine’s problem. It’s the Demon Sword Shard at work...”

Over the next few minutes, Leon briefly explained what happened last night and their findings.

After listening, Odin didn’t say much. He only nodded lightly.

“The magic eye... Did you find it?”

Leon shook his head, a little disappointed.

“No. We searched several nearby areas too, and we didn’t find the magic eye.”

After a brief pause, Leon added with certainty:

“But I think Thunderclap Ravine’s changes are definitely related to the Demon Sword Shard. Senior, over the next few days, you can strengthen the shard’s sealing and isolation and see whether the environment over there improves.”

Odin nodded.

“Alright. You’ve worked hard, Prince Leon and crown princess. If my side finds any clues about the magic eye afterward, I’ll notify you at once.”

“Mhm.”

After they finished talking, Leon also raised the idea of leaving Noa here to study.

When the old man heard it, not only did he show no reluctance—he was delighted.

“The crown princess is truly willing to stay here and learn new magic with this old man?”

Noa nodded obediently.

“Yes, Grandpa Odin.”

“Hahaha—good, good.”

Odin looked as happy as if he’d stumbled into a rare lucky encounter and picked up two perfect walnuts to hand-polish.

“To have a student as gifted as the crown princess—this is a rare opportunity in my life as well.”

Even if Odin had to say some flattering words to Leon and Noa, he truly was happy to teach Noa.

Just like back when he sparred in Sky City, all he wanted was for the younger generation to become stronger.

That had always been Odin’s wish.

And it was precisely this broad-minded devotion—this concern for the entire dragon race—that laid the foundation for Odin’s status and prestige among dragons.

After everything was settled, Odin wrote Noa’s recommendation letter for advancing into the adult division as promised.

“Then I’ll deliver your recommendation letter to the academy first. And in these few days before you formally enter the adult division, it’s perfect—you can study here with Senior.”

Leon put away the recommendation letter and reminded Noa before leaving:

“Don’t wander around. Don’t stay up late. Don’t sleep in. And don’t sneak into the kitchen in the middle of the night to look for food—”

“Ah, okay, Dad, enough. I’m not Moon. I won’t do that~”

(Sister: Is that fair, sis?)

Leon smiled, rubbed Noa’s head, and said:

“Alright. Then Dad’s going. Study hard, okay. Senior’s time is precious too—we can’t take up too much of it.”

Noa nodded.

“Mhm, okay.”

Leon stood, said a simple goodbye to Odin, then called the eagle little brother over and left the Thunder Dragon Sanctuary.

Noa stood at the sanctuary entrance and waved at the dragon-eagle flying away.

“Be careful on the road, Dad.”

Leon waved back.

“Got it. You work hard and study, too.”

“Okay!”

Only when Noa’s figure was far out of sight did Leon finally withdraw his gaze.

He sat cross-legged, felt the recommendation letter in his pocket, then patted the eagle little brother’s back.

“Let’s go. We’re going to the academy.”