Ever since he had a chance encounter with a top-tier magical beast lurking on a cliff, he had been deliberately collecting information on various high-level Transcendent creatures.
Aside from demi-humans who were naturally mixed-bloods and resembled humans, all high-level Transcendent creatures generally possessed the ability to transform their forms, and their reasons for doing so varied.
For instance, some demi-humans, when the concentration of their non-human bloodline was high enough, could briefly transform into their corresponding magical beast form to significantly boost their combat power for a short period. Meanwhile, most high-level magical beasts with immense power would transform into human form simply to reduce their energy consumption.
This girl before him was very likely the red dragon from earlier.
Carson lightened his movements, carefully pushing aside the last piece of rubble.
He saw a deep, long wound on the girl's back, slashing diagonally from her shoulder blade to her waist. The edges of the wound glowed with a faint pink, indicating new flesh that was actively healing.
Just then, a flurry of footsteps sounded from behind him.
Chas, accompanied by a few brave villagers and adventurers, cautiously approached.
The archer led the way, but as he passed the giant lizard's corpse, his steps abruptly halted. His gaze fixated on the massive carcass for a long moment before slowly moving away.
Two or three other adventurers, who had been silently watching from behind the fence, also followed. Among them was a bearded brute, tightly clutching an old axe with a chipped blade, his expression wary.
“This is…” Chas walked up to Carson. After seeing the scene before him, his words instantly caught in his throat.
He saw the girl in the pile of rubble. His gaze moved from her pale face to the prominent dragon horns on her head, finally settling on her exposed crimson scaled tail, his face filled with bewilderment.
He opened his mouth, then silently closed it, his mind blank for a moment, completely unsure what to say.
The bearded brute's reaction was even more direct. He instinctively took half a step back, holding his chipped axe across his chest. “Where did that giant dragon go?”
“Right here.” Carson stood up, brushed the dirt from his palms, and gestured towards the girl in the rubble.
Everyone present instantly shifted their gaze to the girl, then sharply back to Carson’s face, their expressions filled with disbelief.
Chas’s expression transformed from bewildered confusion to utter shock.
“Wait, wait!” Chas frantically gesticulated, his tone full of absurdity. “You’re saying she’s the red dragon from before? That huge, fire-breathing behemoth?”
As he spoke, he exaggeratedly spread his arms to illustrate the dragon’s size, then looked down at the small, curled-up girl on the ground, the contrast extremely stark.
The immense size difference made Carson’s claim seem preposterous, like a joke.
Seeing Chas’s flustered state, Carson sighed helplessly.
He knelt down again, pointing to the spiral horns on the girl’s head. “Look closely at these horns.”
Then he pointed to the scaled tail. “The red dragon was entirely crimson. Now look at the scales and color of this tail.”
“Such a massive dragon suddenly vanished, and at the same time, in the exact same spot, a girl with dragon horns and a scaled tail appeared. Do you think that’s just a coincidence?”
Chas knelt down, half-convinced, supporting himself on his knees, and leaned in to examine the horns and scaled tail closely.
The unique spiral patterns of these horns were unlike any demi-human racial features he had ever seen, and the arrangement of the tail scales was vastly different from those of lizard-type demi-humans.
Each scale was like a meticulously carved ruby sliver, its edges inlaid with tiny golden glints, both exquisite and powerful.
He instinctively raised a hand to touch it, but as his fingertip neared the scales, he quickly pulled it back, his heart filled with apprehension.
“Unlike ordinary demi-humans, high-level magical beasts with sufficient power can freely transform into human form, mainly to conserve their own energy,” Carson explained patiently.
Chas stood up, rubbing his hands together. He looked at the weak girl on the ground, then at the massive giant lizard corpse beside them, his face revealing genuine awe.
He gently nudged the archer beside him with his elbow. “See? I told you the giant dragon would win, didn’t I? You were just saying it was getting pummeled.”
“When did I ever say that!” The archer retorted, agitated. “You were the one who said it!”
“Stop bickering, let’s help her up,” Carson interjected, cutting short their argument.
Just then, a voice suddenly rose from the crowd.
“Can you be sure she won’t resent us and attack us when she wakes up?”
Everyone present turned their heads at the sound.
The man who spoke stood behind the bearded brute, his arms crossed, exuding an unapproachable demeanor.
He wore old leather armor, identical to that of the other adventurers, with several fresh scratches on his armguards. A short hand-axe was tucked into his waist, its blade polished to a shine, a smooth texture only achievable through years of careful maintenance.
He was about thirty, with a longish face and a neatly trimmed short beard on his chin.
Most of the surrounding adventurers were disheveled and unkempt, but he alone was clean and tidy, making him stand out conspicuously.
His expression wasn’t gloomy; in fact, he looked quite calm, with a faint smile playing on his lips.
Yet, in his eyes, there was no relief of survival like the others, only a calculating shrewdness.
“It’s Banrot,” Carson recognized him at a glance.
This man was a more experienced adventurer in the outpost, having drifted there from a large city in the east. He was usually quiet, always followed rules, never slacked off, but also never did more than was required.
Carson had never particularly liked him. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason, perhaps it was his strange way of speaking, or his scrutinizing gaze when looking at others.
All in all, this person made him uncomfortable deep down.
“Am I wrong?” Banrot took a step forward, his gaze sweeping over the unconscious girl on the ground, then looking at the surrounding villagers and adventurers.
His pace of speech was calm and unhurried. “She certainly repelled the monster tide, but does that prove she’s a good person?”
“For her, repelling the monster tide was merely a return favor. It doesn’t mean she harbors goodwill towards humans, nor does it mean she will treat us kindly.”
He paused, a slight upward curve forming on his lips, devoid of any warmth.
“Don’t forget, when she first arrived here, her attitude was far from friendly.”
At these words, a murmur of discussion immediately rippled through the crowd.
Several villagers who had been observing exchanged glances, their eyes filled with unease.
A woman holding a child instinctively took half a step back, clutching her child tightly.
The old man beside her gently tugged her sleeve, whispering a few words, and the woman’s face instantly turned ashen.
“When she wakes up,” Banrot’s voice sounded again.
“What do you think she’ll be thinking? A proud giant dragon, severely wounded and on the verge of death by a mixed-blood lizard, forced to transform into human form just to survive.”
“This humiliating event was witnessed by a group of humans from start to finish. Tell me, when she wakes up, will she be grateful to us, or will she resent us, the ones who bore witness to her shame?”
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