Nora didn't even dodge. She looked down at where the fire bullet had hit her chest, then raised her dragon head, a hint of confusion in her amber dragon eyes.
“...Is that it?” she whispered, imitating Carlos's tone.
Misha's expression turned into complete despair.
Low-tier spells, especially Fireball, posed almost no threat to a Second-Tier red dragon.
A dragon's innate defense far surpassed that of most races.
The Third-Tier warrior, Garl, didn't go to assist his teammates. Opposite him stood a larger red dragon with a stronger aura, looking him over like a piece of cargo.
In Kael's left claw, he was still weighing a chunk of basalt.
He was the one who had thrown the rock earlier. Originally, he had planned to draw the warrior's attention while throwing this chunk of basalt at the camp's fire.
Without the firelight, this place would essentially belong to the dragons; their innate night vision left their sight completely unaffected in the dark.
However, after seeing the warrior's performance just now, he abandoned that plan. Perhaps he could use this human warrior to test his own strength.
With that thought, Kael didn't hesitate. He tossed the stone aside and charged straight toward the warrior.
“Aaargh...!”
A roar burst from Garl's mouth.
Warcry, a generic class combat technique. It eliminated the user's inner fear and boosted their strength by thirty percent, overdrafting physical stamina to put everything on the line.
Watching the charging red dragon, the warrior knew there was no hope of survival, yet he still wanted to give it everything he had.
Never giving up was precisely why he had been so deeply trusted by his teammates during his years as an adventurer.
Battle aura, thicker than usual, wrapped around the iron sword in his right hand. He cast aside the shield in his left hand, gripped the sword with both hands, and leaped into the air. The sharp blade, carrying battle aura, cleaved down toward the charging red dragon.
Ground Splitter—a warrior class combat technique. Relying on strength, battle aura, and gravity, it delivered a fierce slash downward to deal massive damage. However, it consumed almost all of the practitioner's battle aura.
Bam! Crack!
Following the sound of hard impact came the sharp crack of breaking iron.
The warrior's sword struck Kael's foreclaw, doing nothing more than sending sparks flying from his wrist without even breaking his dragon scales. Unable to bear the force, the iron sword shattered and flew apart.
“Is this the strength of a human Third-Tier practitioner?” Kael looked at the faint white mark on his wrist, then at the human warrior who had just struggled up from the ground, holding the broken sword with its shattered tip pointing at him.
“Sigh... I'm sorry...”
...
A moment later, the sounds of fighting in the camp fell silent. The battle was over.
In a large pit in the center of the camp lay the corpses of the four adventurers. Oh, and the young noble's as well.
Just moments ago, Kael had dug a deep pit by the campfire, lined it with dead branches from the bushes, placed the bodies of the intruders inside, covered them with branches of what humans called First-Tier magic plants, and exhaled a breath of fire, igniting a raging blaze.
“Sigh...”
Looking at the flames in front of him, Kael sighed. He didn't regret it, nor did he feel guilty; it was simply what he had to do to survive in this world.
Turning to look behind him at Nora, who looked bewildered, and Carlos, who lay on the ground covered in bumps after receiving a fresh beating, he warned them solemnly:
“Carlos, Nora, remember this: humans can be our friends, our enemies, or completely irrelevant to us. But they are absolutely not our prey!”
“Mhm, Nora remembers! Nora will listen to you!” Though confusion still lingered on the little red dragon's face, she looked at Kael and nodded earnestly.
Carlos, still defiant on the side, twisted his dragon head away and ignored Kael.
“Come on, Nora! Let's divide our looted treasure.”
Kael glanced at the guy sulking on the ground, spoke to Nora, and walked toward an open space nearby.
“Mine too!” Hearing the word treasure, Carlos rolled up and ran straight over to Kael.
“Hey, weren't you going to stay lying down for a while? Why are you so energetic now?”
“Hurry, hurry! I get a share of those shiny golden treasures too, Kael! Don't even think about keeping it all for yourself!” Carlos stared at the gold coins and magic items inside the burlap bag, his dragon eyes practically popping out.
“These things were all made by humans, you know!” Kael lifted the bag slightly, continuing to entice him.
“Alright, fine! I'll listen to you! Hurry up and divide it, I can't wait!” Carlos eagerly rubbed his dragon claws together, itching to dive in.
...
With the magic plant branches serving as firewood, tonight's fire burned exceptionally bright.
Carlos sat off to the side counting his gold coins one by one, while Nora tried flipping through the spellbook left behind by the human mage.
Kael was looking over the treasure map that the young noble had been clutching to his chest.
With Comprehend Languages bestowed by the witch, he could understand and speak the Continental Common Tongue, and naturally, he could read it as well.
“Hmm, the map shows that the treasure is hidden right in the dragon nest. But...” He glanced toward the extinct volcano again, recalling their sleeping dragon mother.
“The treasure your father discovered is probably long gone.”
Next, he picked up the quest scroll from the warrior's bag.
“In your next life,” Kael said softly, looking at the burning fire, “don't take jobs like this.”
The adventurer party had left behind quite a few notes recording the situation in Emberfire City and information about nearby magical beasts.
Kael gathered up these notebooks and slips of paper detailing adventurer experiences, planning to bring them back to the dragon nest to study.
As for the breathing techniques of the warriors and rogues, or the meditation methods of the mage, he had no interest in them.
Suddenly, as he was gathering these items, a bounty poster slipped out.
“Bounty: Regarding the destruction of Greystone City, the Kingdom of Halen Dragon Hunting Office offers a massive reward for the culprit. Any verified lead involving red dragon activity will receive a starting reward of one hundred gold coins with no upper limit. Adventurers, please keep a close watch.”
“How could this be?” Kael clearly remembered how long their red dragon mother had flown with them.
At that thought, he began searching again until he spread a map out on the ground.
“Holy crap. My beloved red dragon mother, out of all places, you chose a spot right on the border of the Kingdom of Halen? Even if it's technically inside another country's territory.” Kael was so furious he wanted to curse out a dragon.
Fortunately, their location was remote enough. From the map, the extinct volcano was merely in a corner of the Whispering Forest, far enough from the roads at the forest's edge.
Realizing the severity of the situation, Kael called Carlos and Nora over.
Looking at their two confused faces, he began to explain.
“The humans outside are looking for us. News of Greystone City's destruction by our dragon mother has reached this far.”
Carlos leaned in for a glance and snorted indifferently. “Let them look! If they actually find their way here, Mother will just wipe them out.”
“What about us then? If a kingdom army comes directly, even Mother might not be a match for them.”
Kael glared directly at Carlos.
“When that happens, we'll be forced to sign slave contracts and become pets, or turn into experimental material for mages.”
Carlos froze.
“If even one person gets out the news that there are red dragons in the Whispering Forest, the bounty leads will point right here,” Kael said slowly.
“When that time comes, the guys from the Kingdom Dragon Hunting Office will swarm over like wolves scenting blood.”
The surroundings fell completely silent, leaving only the crackling sound of branches snapping in the fire.
Nora pulled back her head and asked in a low voice, “Then... what should we do?”
Kael didn't speak, looking up at the starry sky.
The starlight shining down intertwined with the firelight, casting a faint red glow across his scales.
Rate on N.U.
