A red dragon risking its life against an Eighth-Tier witch for her child? Out of the question.
Eliminating a potential threat, and naturally, if it brought one more believer, Lord Dragon God would surely be pleased.
...
The next day, before the morning sun had risen, the faint light of dawn spread over the entire city.
The fire that had raged all night had just burnt out, and lingering smoke rose slowly from between the collapsed houses.
What was once bustling Greystone City was now nothing but a scorched ruin, devoid of a single human voice.
The treasure in the city had been completely looted by the two red dragons and swallowed into their stomachs.
A dragon's stomach was entirely different from that of other magical beasts; they were born with two stomach pouches in their bodies.
The first was a digestive stomach used to break down flesh and minerals to provide energy for the dragon; the second was the dimensional storage stomach unique to dragons.
This stomach cavity secreted no digestive juices; instead, it connected to an independent, small extra-dimensional space dedicated to storing treasures, magic crystals, and precious objects.
The entrance to this extra-dimensional space was connected to the dragon's mouth.
Meaning that after every raid, a dragon had no need to laboriously haul heavy treasure chests around; simply placing them near its mouth allowed them to be stored directly into the extra-dimensional space.
Of course, this stomach was also a magical organ that could only be used after the wyrmling stage, once the body's magical organs had preliminarily formed. As age increased, the extra-dimensional space would grow larger and larger.
Lesa, the male red dragon who had wreaked havoc in the city center yesterday, was the helper Seria had invited. Naturally, this had come at no small cost—half of the spoils.
“Seria, if there's ever another good thing like this next time, make sure to remember to call me. Hahaha!”
With that, the red dragon Lesa rose into the air and flew away from the ruins.
As it left, its jaws clamped onto a massive bundle made of cloth enchanted with toughness magic, used to hold whatever could not fit after its storage stomach was full.
The dragon mother Seria did not pay it any mind. After discarding a few worthless pieces of loot, she also beat her wings and took to the sky, flying into the distance.
Naturally, beneath the dragon mother's foreclaws hung a carrying pouch made of magical cloth, inside of which was Kael.
Kael stuck his head out to look at his mother, then gazed at the clouds receding behind them, the verdant forest below, and the morning light about to break over the horizon.
“If only I could fly too. But it should be soon,” he mused, taking in the beautiful scenery.
Before he could finish his musings, a belated question surged straight into his mind.
A red dragon mother would never risk herself to save her own offspring.
On the contrary, having a dragon egg stolen was a cause for celebration to them.
Were it not for the rules set down by Tiamat, the God of Evil Dragons, forbidding abandonment without cause before a dragon hatchling reached the wyrmling stage...
Kael believed they would even throw away the dragon eggs themselves.
As for cannibalism—if anyone fancied being cursed by the Dragon God, they were welcome to try.
Forget it, no use dwelling on it. As long as he could gain freedom, Kael was willing to give anything.
...
Arriving at the dragon nest, Seria folded her dragon wings and walked into the cave.
Seeing their mother return, the two little fellows in the corner scampered over, looking all around for the prey she might have brought back.
Unfortunately, there was nothing this time either. The two wyrmlings swished their tails in disappointment and listlessly retreated back into the cave.
However, halfway back, the bag their mother had just placed on the ground caught their attention. Out of the bag walked a red wyrmling just like them.
Kael looked at the two little fellows staring at him warily. So he had siblings—looks like he'd have to compete even to eat dirt.
Judging by their emaciated bodies, this red dragon mother shared the common trait of other red dragons: no habit of taking care of her offspring.
Kael ignored them, strolling over to a warm corner inside the cave on his own, preparing to lie down and rest.
At any rate, he had already obtained enough food at the witch's place yesterday—the beef of a quill-furred bison equivalent to the appetite of three red wyrmlings.
He wanted to rest first and relax his body, then head outside later to take a look around, get familiar with the environment, and plan his future hunting and training routines.
“Roar! You brat who hatched a year late, that's the spot belonging to me, the future Red Dragon Emperor Carlos! Get lost!”
The speaker was the male wyrmling Carlos, who had inherited his father's hot temper and overbearing nature.
On ordinary days, relying on having hatched moments earlier, he called himself the older brother, accustomed to snatching the best spots and eating the finest dirt.
Nora, the female wyrmling huddled in the corner nearby, had inherited her mother's weak frame and cautious personality.
Naturally, she was the one who usually got bullied.
Kael had long anticipated that returning would most likely involve a fight.
He opened his draconic eyes and raised his dragon head, looking at Carlos with emotionless eyes.
Seeing that this fellow—who was born a year late yet possessed a body even larger than his own—had no intention of paying him any mind, Carlos felt anger surge in his heart. He lunged directly in front of Kael, raising a claw to swipe at the red wyrmling's head.
Kael wasn't about to indulge him. Rising abruptly, he side-stepped Carlos's attack, and before the other could retract his claw, Kael raised a foot and delivered a powerful kick.
Carlos was already malnourished with weak bones and muscles; the kick sent him stumbling straight to the ground.
Among dragons, establishing authority was an indispensable step, or else anyone could come and push you around.
Red dragons were not so easily resigned.
Carlos pushed himself up with both claws and spat out the gravel in his mouth.
“How is this possible? How can you be so strong? This is impossible!”
Roaring, he lunged forward once more.
Yet his physical durability, strength, explosive power, and reaction speed were completely incomparable to Kael's.
Kael dodged Carlos's pounce and bite once more, slamming a claw strike onto the other's head.
Taking advantage of his dizziness and unsteady center of gravity, Kael lowered his dragon head and executed a dragon tackle.
“Ah!”
Carlos was sent flying straight out.
Before he could even get up, Kael straddled him directly, unleashing uppercuts, double ear claps... feeding move after move he had seen in his past life to this greedy older brother.
Only when Carlos's claws went limp on the ground and he stopped resisting did Kael halt his attack.
The fellow lying on the ground was clearly knocked unconscious, blood oozing from his dragon snout, seeing stars, with shattered scales scattered around him on the ground.
Although the injuries looked severe, for a red dragon, it was nothing more than a matter of sleeping for two days—just eating a bit more dirt during those two days would fix it.
Having finished the beating, Kael pulled back his hands and didn't bother bullying Nora, who was hiding in the corner; he had no such hobby.
As long as you knocked down the strongest one, the others would naturally treat you with complete deference—dragons were no different.
Kael had just returned to his original spot to lie down and rest.
The moment he closed his eyes, he heard the sound of gravel scraping across the ground.
Opening his eyes, he saw that the red wyrmling who had been hiding in the corner just now was crawling over to his side.
Seeing him open his eyes, the red wyrmling shrank her neck in fright, then as if making up her mind, pointed at the small pile of gravel she had brought over, pointed at Kael, and finally pointed at the empty space beside Kael, timidly saying:
“T-These stones are for you. Can I sleep next to you?”
It seemed their mother really didn't take care of her offspring at all.
Kael sighed and nodded.
The joy on the little wyrmling's face could no longer be concealed.
She pushed the stones in front of Kael, then excitedly shifted to the side, closed her eyes, and settled down to rest.
...
“Alright, little ones, it's time for us to leave.”
The red dragon mother called out to the three wyrmlings as she emerged from the depths of the cavern.
Looking at the three little red dragons lying and sprawling on the ground, the dragon mother possessed little emotion in her eyes—just like her own mother, as long as the offspring survived, it was enough.
Of course, if they could grow up to worship Lord Dragon God in the future, that would naturally be even better.
With that, she channeled magic power to put the three little ones into the magical carrying bag she had just brought back, then flapped her wings and soared into the sky.
As a Red Dragon Priest, her mind was far more meticulous and calm than others of her kin.
Having just wiped out a human city, slain a noble Viscount, and annihilated a high-tier dragon-hunting party, there was simply no way to keep this matter quiet.
Rate on N.U.
