Translator: AnubisTL
The afternoon sun slanted through the coniferous forest, casting dappled golden light across the surface of the sulfur spring.
Samantha lay sprawled lazily on a warm rock, swirling the spring water with the tip of her tail. Her ruby-like scales shimmered with shifting, deep-hued iridescence as the ripples danced across the surface.
Before her, a collection of small metal toys clashed in a fierce battle.
The most numerous were the humans, their slender bodies outlined by a few metal strips. A more detailed red dragon, seemingly cast from a single piece of metal and coated with a crimson lacquer-like substance, stood out among them.
Without exception, each toy bore tiny alchemical runes that powered their movements.
Under Samantha's enthusiastic control, the red dragon and the human legions engaged in a brutal struggle.
The mighty red dragon soared through the sky, sweeping aside the pitifully small humans.
Fairy Dragon Vera, dusted with gold powder, played the role of the human legions' gold dragon ally.
Whenever the beleaguered human forces teetered on the brink of annihilation, the gold dragon Vera would appear, clashing fiercely with the red dragon.
This had become their recent shared pastime.
Ever since Garos's inspiring words, Samantha had been studying alchemy with renewed fervor.
Samantha devoted herself to studying alchemy with greater focus and diligence. While she still couldn't match Garos's relentless dedication, she was no longer acting like an ordinary red dragon.
At the very least, she had shed her laziness and now consciously and proactively delved into the inherited knowledge, actively seeking to learn.
In her spare time, she also began physical training alongside her alchemy studies.
As she spent more time with Garos, Samantha, though somewhat slow to grasp things, gradually realized that his immense strength seemed to stem from his ceaseless, almost self-punishing training regimen.
It wasn't merely a hobby for him.
She couldn't match Garos's intensity, but even abandoning her lazy habits and engaging in regular exercise allowed her to surpass the growth rate of ordinary red dragons.
Even common dragons could improve through training, especially red dragons, whose physical prowess was their defining trait. However, their progress would never match Garos's.
Furthermore, Samantha's alchemy skills had advanced to a new level. She could now create simple, animated trinkets.
She grew increasingly fond of playing with these little toys, looking down on Fairy Dragon Vera's childish habit of playing with ants.
Soon after, Vera struck a deal: in exchange for addressing Samantha as the "Great Red Dragon Queen" at every meeting, she earned the right to join Samantha in playing with her new creations.
"Foolish metallic dragon," Samantha sneered. "As a noble dragon, you ally with humans against your own kind."
Samantha lowered her voice, commanding the red dragon to slaughter the human legions:
"I'll show you the devastating consequences of opposing a red dragon!"
Fairy Dragon Vera shimmered in the sunlight, her golden scales glittering like stardust. She had cast an illusion on herself, appearing as a perfect miniature gold dragon, though far too small for the real thing.
"Evil Red Dragon Queen! Your wickedness knows no bounds, your sins are unforgivable!" Vera boomed, straining her voice to sound deep and majestic as she solemnly faced her enemy. "I will punish you in the name of justice!"
With a sudden lunge, Vera sent the unsuspecting 'red dragon' flying, leaving it sprawled on the ground, unable to rise.
At the same moment, Samantha's ears twitched. She had heard approaching sounds, momentarily distracting her.
Two familiar wingbeats tore through the air in the distance, one following the other. Samantha recognized one immediately, and two distinct dragon scents drifted on the wind.
Again, she knew one intimately—a metallic tang like steel and the fiery aroma of a blazing furnace, as if the Flame King himself sat upon his iron throne. The other was simpler, the pure, rusty scent of an iron dragon.
This rusty scent was initially unfamiliar, yet within its strangeness lay a faint, inexplicable familiarity that puzzled Samantha.
She raised the red dragon's fierce, majestic head and gazed skyward.
Two dragons came into view.
Soaring ahead, tearing through the clouds, was the majestic and powerful black dragon shadow—a sight Samantha knew all too well.
Behind Garos, another black dragon shadow materialized, its scales reflecting the sunlight with a dull, iron-gray sheen, cold and unyielding.
"Samantha, look who I've found."
Garos's silhouette swept past the treetops, the crimson scales on his wings glowing like burning embers. He folded his wings and landed gracefully before Samantha.
The other iron dragon landed clumsily nearby.
Samantha's eyes narrowed, like a feline squinting in bright light, her pupils contracting to thin slits. Her expression was a mix of surprise and recognition. "Solgorn?!"
The iron dragon's gaze swept over Samantha, equally surprised to find her following Garos.
Red dragons were the most arrogant of their kind, believing themselves to be born rulers. From the moment they hatched, they expected all other creatures to obey their commands and grovel before them.
Red dragons preferred solitude over companionship. If forced to live alongside other dragons, they insisted on absolute dominance.
Unless, of course, some event or influence had drastically altered their temperament.
"Samantha, my dear sister, long time no see," the iron dragon snarled, baring its teeth in a twisted grin.
Noticing Samantha's flawless, gleaming scales and robust physique, the iron dragon remarked, "The wilderness must agree with you. You've grown much stronger since you were a hatchling."
Hearing this, Samantha couldn't help but recall the iron dragon's demeaning words from when she was just a year old:
"Samantha! My foolish, frail sister! A weak red dragon like you will never survive past adolescence. Pledge your loyalty to the great Iron King, and I will lead you to the pinnacle of the wilderness."
The red dragon snorted crimson sparks from its nostrils.
It extended a claw and poked at its brother's tattered wing membrane, its gaze sweeping over his slightly swollen body from the injuries. A mocking sneer curled its lips.
"Indeed, the wilderness's fare is excellent—you've grown so fat you can barely fly."
Solgorn's smile froze for a moment.
But to Samantha's surprise, her iron dragon brother showed no anger or frustration. As if he had endured far greater humiliations before, his expression merely stiffened before returning to its usual composure.
"To be precise, I was beaten by an ogre," Solgorn said, shrugging his dragon wings.
He chose to confront his failure rather than evade reality.
It was like throwing a punch into cotton—no satisfying impact.
Samantha huffed softly and turned to Garos.
Garos gracefully folded his wings and declared, "The Iron King has decided to join us, becoming one of our own. He will assist me in managing our territory and chosen."
(End of the Chapter)
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