I Became an Evolving Lizard in a Martial Arts Novel

Chapter 207

"...No matter how you spin it."

Baekrang’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"You’re saying you’ve seen the future?"

I had seen the future.

And in that future, we all met a gruesome end.

"It’s rare, sure, but not entirely impossible," Tang Soyeong chimed in.

"There are stories of the Priestess of the Heavenly Demonic Cult or the Dal Lama of Podal Palace glimpsing the future. Even if their visions were extremely limited. So, it wouldn’t be strange if the Priestess of the Gae Gak Sect saw something similar."

Nephila gave a small nod.

As I explained the situation, it seemed to stir faint traces of forgotten memories within her.

"Well, I guess our giant lizard wouldn’t make something like this up."

Baekrang began rallying the wolves.@@@@

The Two-Horned Beasts started gathering as well.

The enemy’s invasion was a certainty.

What we needed now was a plan to deal with it.

"If what our lizard said is true, the Hwasan Sect will attack exactly one month from now, right?"

I nodded.

"Hwasan Sect... isn’t that the faction that red-scaled lizard was part of?"

Baekrang narrowed her eyes.

The Hwasan Sect, home to the Red Dragon.

Their invasion began after the Red Dragon left my territory.

At first glance, it would seem the Red Dragon betrayed us.

But something didn’t add up.

Not a single one of my allies had been harmed by her flames.

In fact, some of the enemies had been reduced to ash.

In the future I glimpsed, the Red Dragon fought on our side.

Yet, all current signs pointed to her betrayal.

"Was it betrayal? Honestly, I never liked her, but I didn’t think she’d stoop to that."

The Red Dragon was still one of my followers.

Though loyalty wasn’t enforced, everything I’d seen of her suggested no reason for betrayal.

She had acknowledged her defeat when she still had strength left to fight and accepted her potential death without complaint.

Would she really turn traitor now?

It didn’t make sense.

"You said she fell to the ground, right? With no visible injuries," Tang Soyeong noted, her tone contemplative.

"She shared information about you with the enemy and arrived with the attackers. That’s undeniable. But what’s puzzling is that she then fought on your side."

Even if I conceded that she betrayed me, why would she attack the Hwasan Sect afterward?

She couldn’t have been hedging her bets like a bat, since our side was consistently at a disadvantage.

"I think I’ve figured it out. This is the work of the Tang Clan."

A name I hadn’t expected to hear emerged.

"They have a poison called Go. It’s an insect-based toxin that makes it impossible to disobey commands. While it doesn’t grant complete control, it works through threats of triggering the poison."

Go.

That explained a lot.

The Red Dragon might have swallowed the poison during a brief stop at the Hwasan Sect.

She would have been forced to reveal information about me and deployed as a weapon due to her strength as a mystical beast.

It was likely also a tactic to unsettle me psychologically, given her strength matched mine.

...The Hwasan Sect.

They weren’t the kind of enemy I could simply fend off and leave it at that.

Even after betraying me, the Red Dragon chose to fight by my side, using her flames to kill those despicable bastards.

Of course, I had also lost my horn and tail, but given the circumstances, there hadn’t been much choice.

But now, things were different.

Having glimpsed the future, I could formulate a strategy to face him.

I was confident in my firepower. If it came down to a one-on-one situation, I could take out the middle-aged swordsman.

"The real problem... is the master of the Rocky Mountain."

That was my biggest concern.

The Rocky Mountain Master, a member of the Dragon Descendants, Yongsaengguja.

This being had played a significant role in my defeat.

Not a single scratch had marred its body.

I must have landed some attacks, but its body remained unscathed.

A formidable enemy, immune to my strikes.

If such a creature stood in our way, the situation wouldn’t resolve smoothly.

"As I mentioned before, the masters of the Rocky Mountain and Flower Mountain are on another level," Baekrang said, her tone somber.

She had explained it to me when we first discussed the Dragon Gates.

The masters of the Rocky Mountain and Flower Mountain were far more dangerous than the others.

The master of the Volcanic Mountain was the weakest due to a recent succession, and the second weakest was the master of the Snowy Mountain.

At the time, I had dismissed the difference in strength as negligible.

But now, I could see that being the offspring of a dragon made an overwhelming difference.

"Their forces won’t be easy to handle either. And... if the Tang Clan really provided the Go poison, it’s highly likely they supported the army too."

"That seems plausible," Tang Soyeong admitted with a bitter smile.

"As someone from the Tang Clan, I hate to say this, but our people have a knack for working in secret. They’d act like they had no involvement while providing full support."

The swordsmen of the Hwasan Sect.

The beasts of the Rocky Mountain.

The mystical creatures allied with the Tang Clan.

It was far too much for ten Two-Horned Beasts and Baekrang’s wolves to handle.

Even if we neutralized the Go in the Red Dragon, victory was far from guaranteed.

I had to think.

How had I fought up until now?

I would test the waters, gauge the enemy’s strength, and then devise an approach.

If they were weak to poison, I used poison.

If they were vulnerable to fire, I would bleed myself intentionally, heating my body with draconic blood.

If they lacked range, I kept my distance and struck from afar.

If they were poor in close combat, I closed the distance and forced them into melee.

This time would be no different.

I just had to find their weaknesses and exploit them.

What resources did I have?

I had one month.

Yes.

A month was enough.

To overcome the disparity in numbers.

To shatter even the most impenetrable rock.

To protect my followers from harm.

A low growl rumbled from my throat as I overlooked my territory from the peak.

I wouldn’t be satisfied with merely repelling the intruders.

I would ensure no one dared to challenge my domain or my followers again.

The name Gomodo would become synonymous with terror.

Even after death, their bones would remember the wrath of the tail-bearing death.