Page 45

The dragon’s gaze was undeniably oppressive.

Baron Todd looked up, his crimson eyes filled with fear, any trace of his former arrogance gone.

Yet, he still tried to maintain his composure, clasping his hands behind his back, forcing his voice to stay steady:

“You’re the one called ‘Flying Flame,’ correct?”

“May I ask what brings you to my domain… Is there something important?”

Cassius sensed the fluctuation in the Weave, realizing the baron was constructing a spell, and his expression darkened slightly:

“Baron Todd, is this how you greet guests who travel far to visit you?”

“With discourteous magic,”

“Instead of noble hospitality and courtesy?”

Realizing he’d been exposed, Baron Todd’s expression changed drastically.

Still, he fumbled through his robes, pulling out small vials and bat fur he’d prepared in advance, quickly casting a spell.

“Darkness!”

With a puff of bat fur, a thick, dark mist spread from Baron Todd, creating a five-meter-radius sphere of darkness around him.

This magical darkness was impenetrable, even to creatures with dark vision, and couldn’t be dispelled by non-magical light or spells below the second tier.

Cassius merely observed, unhurriedly remarking:

“An impressive spell, my lord baron.”

“If it were an ordinary human, they’d surely be too frightened to move, left to let you drain them in the terror of darkness.”

His tone turned cold.

“But have you forgotten that you’re facing a dragon?”

Cassius suddenly turned, his massive tail sweeping through the air with immense force.

The black mist was torn apart, unable to resist physical attack.

Baron Todd, still preparing his next spell within the darkness, was struck directly.

“Boom!”

He was sent flying several meters away.

Fortunately, Baron Todd possessed a regenerative ability. Though this blow fractured his bones and flesh, they quickly began to mend before the naked eye.

Coughing up blood, Baron Todd lay on the ground, struggling to retrieve a shriveled viper’s bladder.

“Melf’s Acid Arrow!”

A flashing green arrow shot toward the red dragon.

“Shield.”

With a cold smirk, the dragon conjured an invisible barrier, blocking the arrow, which exploded in a mist of acid without harming Cassius in the slightest.

“A spellcaster?”

Baron Todd’s face went pale—a dragon mage; this was the worst possible scenario.

He hastily constructed another spell.

“Misty Step!”

His original position left behind a trail of silvery mist as he appeared dozens of meters away, beside a twisted vine hanging from the manor wall.

Cassius followed with a leisurely flap of his wings, saying, “Baron, please, don’t waste your energy on futile struggles.”

“Your little tricks…”

“Are inconsequential.”

Flames danced in the dragon’s eyes.

Seeing the dragon advancing, Baron Todd desperately focused, building another spell.

He grabbed a vine, which shot upward, lifting itself vertically into the air, suspending him.

Just as the dragon closed in.

Todd climbed up the vine and vanished, and the vine disappeared with him.

“Rope Trick?”

Cassius observed with interest.

This spell was a famous mage-exclusive escape spell, enabling the caster to enter a small, extradimensional space for the spell’s duration.

No attack or magic could enter or exit the space’s entrance, but the occupants could see outside through the “rope” position as if looking through a window.

When the spell ended, everything in the extradimensional space would fall out.

Inside the extradimensional space, Baron Todd’s pale face was tense, terrified that the dragon would notice something amiss.

If he’d needed to breathe, he’d have been gasping by now.

Cassius murmured almost to himself:

“An interesting spell.”

“But as I said earlier…”

“Your little tricks are inconsequential to me!”

With his words, a shimmering barrier radiated from the dragon, enveloping the entire area.

“Antimagic Field!”

The extradimensional space shattered like glass, and the hiding Baron Todd fell, crashing to the ground.

Facing the dragon’s open, deadly maw, Baron Todd finally collapsed, falling to his knees and pleading:

“No, no, please don’t kill me!”

“I am the son of Duke Brad, a baron of the Lackman family, Northwind’s Eagle.”

“Spare me, and my family can give you gold, far more than you would gain by killing me!”

“Great dragon, I… I will serve you…”

As a mage, Todd knew enough to understand a dragon’s inherent greed.

The dragon looked down at him, eyes narrowing. “You need only agree to three conditions for cooperation.”

“I agree—I agree to everything!”

Todd quickly complied, desperate to avoid being reduced to ash by this merciless, volatile dragon.

Though the dragon seemed reasonably composed.

But who could say for sure?

Cassius nodded slightly and stated:

“First, I require all of your spell scrolls, remember—all of them—to compensate for your incursion into Embers Nest territory. This is the basis of our cooperation.”

“Second, I welcome trade and will even provide gold, but I need you to trade for all goods, including weapons and armor. Hart will oversee this ‘friendly trade’ caravan.”

“Third, I’ll assign some of my retainers to guard the caravan and take up residence in Sager Town to ensure the safety of you, my collaborator.”

“Aren’t you worried I might betray this cooperation?”

Baron Todd cautiously asked.

The terms seemed fair, so he hoped to secure the dragon’s trust.

Cassius let out a derisive laugh and replied, “Baron, I’ve told you, we’re here to cooperate, a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

“Think about it: without trade with Embers Nest, without gold, without a strong force, you and your barony are nothing, merely a grain-producing area that could be discarded at any moment. A northern invasion alone could devastate you.”

“I think… you understand what I mean.”

The dragon’s eyes gleamed, flames seemingly dancing within them.