Assassin at Range: The Sniper's Lethal Power

Chapter 113 113: The Pragmatic Shadow Dragon

"This place is still too small," Tristan muttered, a hint of regret in his voice.

At a distance of fifty meters, even with his Sniper God skill upgraded to level 2, the amplification was only ten times, which wasn't enough to deal the million-damage blows he was hoping for. If he had a hundred or two hundred meters, he felt confident he could have taken the Shadow Dragon down in one swift strike with a flying dagger.

But no matter, the Shadow Dragon only had five million health. A few more Shadow Daggers and it would be finished.

On the other side, while Tristan felt a slight regret, the Shadow Dragon's emotions were far more complicated.

It had initially thought the weakening of the seal was a good thing. It assumed some idiot had accidentally undone the seal, thinking it would soon be free again.

It was wrong.

Instead of releasing it, the intruder was here to kill it.

"Damn it! The old white-bearded mage who sealed me said this seal was his lifetime's work, something no ordinary person could break!" The Shadow Dragon roared inwardly.

"Cunning humans! To think they'd deceive poor Seltus!"

After a furious mental outburst, the Shadow Dragon resigned itself to the reality and said in a sincere tone, "Outsider, you've earned Seltus' friendship. Please help me break the seal, and I will reward you with all my wealth."

Even if a mountain of gold awaited, it wouldn't matter if it was dead.

Seltus, ever the pragmatist, opted for his life.

It knew about the human custom: spend money to avoid disaster.

Tristan's voice echoed through the air, "What if killing you means the wealth becomes mine?"

The Shadow Dragon shook its head rapidly. "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Seltus' wealth is hidden in..."

Suddenly, the Shadow Dragon stopped speaking.

It realized that revealing its treasure was a mistake. Keeping silent gave it some room to negotiate. Once it spoke, it would have no bargaining power left.

Tristan raised an eyebrow in surprise. Despite being imprisoned for so long, the Shadow Dragon was still sharp enough to avoid giving away its treasure's location. But it didn't matter. Tristan already knew where it was.

As he moved, he spoke slowly, "Your treasure is in Blackstone Mountain, guarded by the Black Iron Dwarves, right?"

"HOW DO YOU KNOW?!" The Shadow Dragon shrieked.

But it quickly realized its slip-up and hurriedly corrected itself. "No, no! That's not what I meant!"

Tristan didn't reply but instead threw another Shadow Dagger and activated his Shadow Stealth.

He'd been waiting for his skill cooldown to finish, engaging in a few words with the Shadow Dragon. But now that the cooldown was over, it was time to get down to business.

When the second Shadow Dagger struck, the Shadow Dragon realized that Tristan wasn't after its treasure—he was after its life.

After taking another few hundred thousand damage, the Shadow Dragon was livid with fury.

Even if Tristan didn't need its combat strength, he could station it at the guild base to defend against small-time thieves. It was truly a win-win.

Seeing that no more attacks came, the Shadow Dragon felt immense relief. It had made the right call.

Although being someone's mount was humiliating, with its life on the line, it was ready to throw its dignity away.

And besides, Seltus wasn't planning on serving forever. One day, it would rise again!

Seltus, seizing the moment, put on a fawning expression and said, "My lord, having a dragon as a mount is a dream come true for many humans. It's something they long for!"

After a brief moment of hesitation, Tristan deactivated his Stealth and revealed himself.

He wasn't worried about an ambush from the Shadow Dragon. If the dragon tried anything funny, it would regret it immediately—he had Shadow Leap ready for just that.

The Shadow Dragon understood this too.

As soon as it saw Tristan, it briefly considered attacking, but immediately dropped the idea. If Tristan had voluntarily revealed himself, he clearly wasn't someone to be taken lightly.

The Shadow Dragon straightened up. "My lord, may I ask your title?"

Tristan thought for a moment, then said, "Just call me Shadow."

Being a wandering figure, having multiple aliases was important.

The Shadow Dragon's eyes widened. "Shadow!?"

It was stunned. It had never heard of such a title.

But the title "Shadow" wasn't something just anyone could use.

Considering Tristan's previous actions, the Shadow Dragon's dragon blood heated up. It tried to suppress its excitement and asked cautiously, "My lord Shadow, may I ask if you have mastered..."

It didn't finish its sentence.

As a dragon, it knew the importance of not discussing the gods too much—even their power forms could be dangerous to mention.

Too many words would be risky. If the gods detected it, things could turn ugly.

Tristan responded casually, "Mastered? Not really, just a beginner."

The Shadow Dragon gasped sharply, causing the temperature in the dungeon to rise a few degrees.

The long-lost Shadow power was resurfacing. This world was about to get a lot more exciting.

And it, as Shadow's chief mount, would surely be remembered by the world.

As for its promise to return?

No need to joke. Umbra Energy was an inseparable part of Shadow power. Seltus had been born to serve Shadow!