Chapter 156: Not All Dragons are Created Equal
The Great Sea.
Ignius beat his wings at the head of the formation, his scales shimmering with a brilliant, aggressive red that seemed to challenge the sun itself.
His mind was currently revisiting his favorite fantasy: a future nine centuries from now where he ascended the Dragon Throne, and even the "High Elders" like Basaka were forced to lower their crested heads in absolute submission.
"Lord Ignius!"
"Your Draconic Majesty!"
Just the mental image was enough to make the corners of his maw curl into a smirk. In the long, bloody history of the Dragon race, no individual had ever managed to break through to Tier 7 during their prime. But he was different. He was the Dragon of Destiny.
Rules? Those are just chains for the average.
Suddenly, the ocean surface beneath them erupted. Seawater exploded into the air as a massive sea-beast, sporting three rows of jagged, serrated teeth, lunged from the depths. It aimed for the mindless Dragon-Beasts trailing at the rear of the flight.
The creature possessed a remarkable, if suicidal, sense of timing.
Ignius didn't even slow down. He simply craned his neck with predatory grace. A searing buildup of Mana ignited in his throat, manifesting as a pillar of concentrated crimson inferno.
BOOM—!
The [Dragon's Breath] struck the beast with surgical precision. The sheer thermal intensity turned its head into charcoal in a micro-second. The massive body went rigid in mid-air before crashing back into the waves, sending up a ten-meter geyser of steam and salt.
As the carcass sank into the boiling water, Ignius looked down with a gaze of pure, unadulterated disdain. The Dragon-Beasts might be mindless, but they were his future subjects.
"To harbor designs on the brood under my protection... you truly seek the void," he hissed.
The adult dragons behind him shared a silent, startled look. They hadn't even registered the threat before the Tier 4 sea-monster had been turned into a well-done steak.
"Lord Ignius's thermal output is... terrifying," one whispered.
"I remember facing one of those. Its scales are reinforced with silicate; it took me nearly an hour to crack its shell," another added.
"Well, he is the chosen genius."
The murmurs of the "average" dragons reached his ears, but Ignius ignored them. He had been drowning in praise since he was a hatchling; it was as mundane as the wind. Right now, he just wanted to reach the mainland. He had heard rumors of the "Insects" and their trinkets: human cities filled with gold, Elven vaults hidden in the trees, and Dwarven foundries that forged gear fit for legends.
Ignius licked his lips. Soon, it will all be mine.
As for resistance? Don't make me laugh. What can a pack of insects do against an existence they can't even perceive?
Three Days Later.
The coastline of the continent finally pierced the horizon. Ignius narrowed his eyes, surveying the strange land. Rolling emerald forests, jagged mountain ranges, and several human settlements sending up thin plumes of chimney smoke.
"This is it?"
He felt a twinge of disappointment. It looked rather fragile.
The lead Elder let out a low, vibrating rumble, and the flight began to descend.
"Per the ancient protocol, we shall deposit the Dragon-Beasts near the Great Forest. Let them adapt or die according to the natural order," the Elder commanded. "Once the brood is released, you are granted a full solar year of autonomy within your designated sectors."
"If any beast awakens to its sapience during this year, remember to retrieve them for the Nest. And remember: raiding for tribute is permitted, but you are strictly forbidden from initiating an unprovoked assault on any major national capital."
"Understood," the other dragons chimed in. Ignius remained silent.
No unprovoked assaults? He wasn't the type to bully weaklings for sport. But if an insect was blind enough to provoke him... well, he wouldn't be held responsible for the consequences.
The unit touched down on a wide, open plain. The mindless Dragon-Beasts landed with them, standing dazed in the grass, unaware of their new role as apex predators. The lead Elder released a pulse of Mana, herding the feral creatures toward the treeline.
"The mission is concluded." The Elder scanned the group. "In one year, we assemble here. Do not be late."
Ignius let out a bored yawn. "Yeah, yeah. I got it."
He snapped his wings open and took to the sky, aiming for the highest peaks in the distance. He needed a base. Somewhere to sleep, and somewhere to store the "tributes" he intended to collect from the human stone-cities.
Ignius chose a jagged, soaring peak and claimed a cavern at the summit as his temporary lair. It was a miserable, hollow thing—not a single gold coin to be found.
He frowned. Whatever. It's only for a year.
He sprawled his massive frame across the cold stone, closing his eyes to rest. But he hadn't even drifted off when a discordant clamor erupted from outside.
"Quickly! I saw the Red descend on this peak!"
"A Red Dragon! Imagine the bounty! We'll be legends!"
"The scales alone would fetch enough to buy a province! The blood, the teeth—we're going to be rich!"
Ignius opened one eye. A flash of irritation flickered in his Soul Fire. He walked to the cave entrance and looked down.
A group of humans stood at the base of the cliff. About twenty of them. The strongest among them radiated the Od of a Tier 4 warrior.
Ignius stared. Are these insects... actually here to commit suicide?
"Look! The Red is emerging!"
A roar of excitement went up from the group. A burly, bald man brandishing a massive Greatsword stepped forward. "Listen up, lads! We slay this beast today, and we never have to work another hour for the rest of our lives! CHARGE!!"
Twenty humans began to scramble up the rocks with manic, greed-driven energy. Ignius watched them, his expression turning from annoyance to a sort of dark, bewildered curiosity. In a hundred years of life, he had seen many challengers. But he had never seen people so excited to die.
"Amusing," he murmured.
He unhinged his jaw, the searing heat of his Od gathering in his throat. But just as he was about to unleash his Breath, he paused.
Wait. These ants aren't even worth the Mana it takes to incinerate them. If I just burn them, the fun ends too quickly.
A devious thought entered his mind. He retracted the flames and ducked back into the shadows of the cave.
"The beast is fleeing! Don't let it escape!"
The humans scrambled over the lip of the cave entrance, gasping for air as they burst inside. And then... they saw him.
Ignius was lying in the depths of the cavern, watching them with a gaze that held the same pity one might show a particularly stupid breed of livestock.
"Is this the extent of it?" Ignius asked, his voice a low, floor-shaking rumble.
The humans froze. "The... the Great Dragon... it speaks?!"
"Of course I speak, you insignificant speck," Ignius said, standing up. His gargantuan frame seemed to expand, swallowing the light and filling the entire cavern. "Tell me, have your brains been addled by the mountain air? Twenty unranked failures... coming to hunt a Dragon?"
He let out a sharp snort. A blast of scorching air erupted from his nostrils, the sheer kinetic force of the "sigh" sending the bald leader flying backward.
CRASH—!
The man slammed into the stone wall, coughing up a fountain of blood before sliding limply to the floor. The other humans stared, their pupils dilating in a localized earthquake of terror.
"Retreat! RETREAT!" one of them shrieked.
They turned to bolt, but Ignius wasn't finished. He slammed a massive claw into the cavern floor.
BOOM!
The ceiling buckled. Massive boulders tumbled down, sealing the entrance of the cave with an absolute, final thud.
"Escape? A concept you should have abandoned the moment you stepped onto this mountain," Ignius said unhurriedly, looming over them.
"Now, I will grant you two paths:
One: You answer every question I pose with absolute honesty.
Two: I roast you into charred husks and use your bones as toothpicks.
Which shall it be?"
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