Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons novel Chapter 1279

Chapter 1279: Chapter 1279 - Taming the Old World - Shadow Dragons - Last Front - 4

The decision to dive into the mountain might have looked like a desperate, last-second gamble.

It was nothing of the sort... Sirius had run all the options of their situation long before he initiated the shadow jump.

They simply could not use the guardian to weed out the horde any longer. Their spiritual fire reserves were completely dry, and the physical toll of sustaining that three-way crossfire had become unsustainable. If they had pivoted to attack the mutants directly, Selthia would have instantly realized she was fighting a war on two fronts against both the humans and the dragon. She might have ordered a retreat to reassess.

Or perhaps she would have doubled down... But either way, burning their final reserves on a direct clash was a fool’s errand. They would not have thinned the ranks significantly, and the surviving monsters would have simply cannibalized the fallen to undo all their hard work.

The only viable play on the board was patience. Let the Witch do the heavy lifting, conserve their ether, and steal the prize from right under her nose at the last possible second.

The strategy itself was flawless. The execution, however, was about to become a nightmare.

♢♢♢♢

Inside the vault, the southern shadow mountain presented its own unique challenge.

The ancient architecture seemed designed to test intruders, throwing attack mechanisms and dense mana barriers in their path. Liu finally shattered the first major barrier with a concentrated sonic pulse. The destructive wave reduced the heavy crystal obstacle to gravel, clearing the tunnel so they could push forward at a sprint.

But their frontal position came with a fatal flaw. They were not the only ones moving in the tunnels.

A low, guttural chittering echoed from the tunnel behind them. The corruption had finally invaded the entrance too.

This was the biggest problem within their own strategy. Every puzzle Sirius and Liu solved, every physical barrier they obliterated to advance, essentially paved a smooth highway for the monsters chasing them. The two commanders were doing the grueling work of carving a path through the ruin, and the corrupted tide simply flooded into the empty spaces they left behind, exploiting every unlocked door without burning any of their own energy.

Every step forward brought them closer to the elemental ring. It also brought the enemy closer to their backs.

"Do not stop," Sirius ordered, keeping his eyes locked on the darkness behind them. "Do not look back, and do not worry about the rear. I will hold the line. You just focus on moving us forward as fast as the mountain allows."

Liu obeyed without a single word of argument.

He surged ahead, utilizing every ounce of speed the confined space permitted. He systematically dismantled the barriers and elemental shadow golems in their way, leaving his blind spot entirely in his partner’s hands.

They managed to clear half the distance to the core chamber before the horde finally caught up.

Sirius did not panic, nor did he waste unnecessary ether...

As the vanguard of the corrupted tide lunged through the gloom, he activated his shorter and cheaper shadow jumps with perfect precision.

He did not aim for the kill. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎