'Another hidden danger…'

My mood that has just been as bright as the sun took a serious turn as if I just drank something extremely sour, one could never really be too careful when 'playing' this game.

I had taken extra caution and even did a prior test, but in the end, the two test species were a bit too different...

'It's too fragile.'

After understanding what happened, I knew that the core problem was still my mind space. Despite Wisdom being my current highest known attribute, my mind space was still fragile when exposed to certain situations.

Starting from far back with my first forest adventure, I was influenced to make reckless decisions that almost caused my death all due to a mind space infection.

Even recently, I almost lost my life twice in the Corruption Space due to the limited power of my mind space.

'I need to be more careful in the future…'

I already knew that exploring the mind space of a dangerous creature like a demon entailed trouble, but I grew overconfident from my continuous success in mental experiments during my stay in the Nature Domain. If I were a bit more careful this time, such a critical effect like a mind space infection wouldn't have taken place.

Despite it being just a mild infection that was bound by a condition, it had managed to alter my perception of other people's actions. While the Dragon Clan Leader did indeed seem to know something about the Corruption Space, his expression showed worry for me, being only wary of the half-dead demon I brought along, it was just that the infection's influence made it so I perceived the reverse of that.

'It didn't start only now, either.'

Starting from the very point when I excited the demon's chaotic mind space, I was subtly influenced to bring along the half-dead demon. It was mostly my intention, but I made the decision too quickly due to that influence.

Luckily, the condition of the infection's effectiveness was nothing other than being in contact with the demon. Ironically, the influence that tried to cause me to fall out with the Dragon Clan, made me throw away the demon, cutting the condition's link.

As soon as I was free from the subtle influence, I was naturally able to notice what happened and immediately cleansed my mind space, it was just that it could be said that I almost fell into another unintentional trap.

Naturally, this wasn't a trap that was laid by the demon himself, it was more of a defense mechanism that was added as another layer of protection behind the main layer of 'scrambled memories'.

'Just to be sure…'

Shhh!

Since I no longer had any need for the demon who could possibly be a carrier to more troublesome stuff, I sent an Aerial Wind Sword to separate his head from his body so that his mind space would collapse.

Since there were such complicated defense mechanisms in the mind of demons, then there were bound to be something like a GPS of sorts. Taking that into consideration, it made all the more sense to just get rid of the demon directly.

'I probably should have just got rid of him in the Corruption Space…'

If not for the fact that I wanted to use the demon as a 'Warning Sign' for the Dragon Clan in the case they didn't move out yet, even the subtle influence of the infection wouldn't have made me let him live, let alone take him out from the Corruption Space.

"Excuse me, it seems that I have been slightly out of it due to my bizarre experience, let's continue our discussion."

Although I still wasn't overly rude in the conversation thanks to my high resistance to the infection's influence, not to mention the fact that we were supposedly of equal standing, what I said wasn't totally my intended words, so a small apology that made things clear was justifiable.

Moreover, now that my mind was completely clear, the familiar feeling of dragon bloodline 'kinship' made it so I felt more amiable towards both the Dragon Clan Leader and the Great Elder. If someone was in the wrong, then neither I, the scapegoat, nor the target in the Dragon Clan were, it was the despicable demons who employed such sinister tactics.

Despite my suffering in the Corruption Space, I still preferred my current situation where I didn't have to deal with a Corrupted Dragon anytime soon!

'It was a close call last time...'

Even though my fight with the Corrupted Sky seemed more like a walk in the park, even to me at that time. I could now confidently say that this understanding was nothing but an illusion.

After coming to know more and more about the might of Dragons and their nature and abilities as supreme creatures coupled with what I read in the Royal Library, I quickly understood that my one-hit-kill was nothing but the result of many factors synergizing together…

Starting from discovering that the formation in the Lightning Capital had the hidden function of weakening enemies as well as augmenting my powers for the split second of the attack, and going to Sky's instinctual suppression of strength coupled with the wear and tear of his body caused by his resistance against Corruption, before finally concluding that even the Dragon Ancestor had a hand in weakening Sky even further, I became fully aware of the situation.

I wouldn't have managed to win without the combined effect of these factors, regardless of whether Sky had a 'dull' mind at that point or not!

Of course, that was speaking of the Ian of that day…

"Oh, it seems that what you have undergone is nothing simple at all! It's okay if you rest first, let the clan's healers take a look at you first."

Looking at the demon corpse on the floor, the Dragon Clan Leader sighed as he looked at me with even more worry.

"It's not necessary. Instead, why don't you start explaining the situation on your end first so I could catch my breath first?"

Taking a chair out of my spatial ring, I sat on it before looking back to the Dragon Clan Leader in anticipation.

"Mhm, in that case, let me start with the good news first. We have managed to cut off one of the special Dark Hollows you spoke of."

"Tell me more…"