Ashen Dragon

The dragon's gaze was still quite oppressive.

Baron Todd looked up in fear, the scarlet pupils revealing his terror, his previous arrogance nowhere to be seen.

But he still tried to maintain his composure, hands behind his back, managing to make his voice less shaky:

"You are the one they call 'Flying Flame,' right?"

"May I ask, what brings you to my territory... Do you have urgent business?"

Cassius keenly perceived the fluctuations in the Magic Web, knowing that the baron was constructing a spell prototype, his face darkened slightly:

"Baron Todd, is this how you treat guests from afar?"

"Using rude spells."

"Instead of noble etiquette and hospitality."

The baron's face changed drastically upon being seen through.

But he still hurriedly fumbled in his dress for some prepared vials and a few bat hairs, quickly casting a spell.

"Darkness Spell!"

As the bat hairs turned to ash, a thick black fog rapidly expanded from Baron Todd's center, covering a spherical area with a radius of five meters, enveloping him entirely.

Even creatures with Dark Vision could not see through this darkness, and non-magical light could not illuminate it. Even low-level light spells under Second Tier were ineffective.

Cassius just silently watched all this, calmly praising:

"Quite a good spell, Baron."

"If it were ordinary humans, they would be too scared to move, allowing you to quietly drain their blood in the dark fear."

His tone suddenly turned cold.

"But do you remember you are facing a giant dragon?"

Cassius abruptly turned, his thick and long tail sweeping across with great force.

The black fog sphere was suddenly swept open, rolling and spreading. It could block light but not physical attacks.

Baron Todd, who was preparing his next spell in the darkness, was also abruptly struck.

"Boom!"

He flew out several meters.

Luckily, Baron Todd had some regeneration trait. Although this hit broke all his bones and flesh, they quickly recovered at a visible speed.

Baron Todd lay on the ground, spitting blood, struggling to pull out a dried-out viper's stomach.

"Mayuf's Strong Acid Arrow!"

A shimmering green arrow swiftly flew towards the red dragon.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Shield Spell."

The red dragon sneered, and an invisible shield appeared before him, blocking the fast-approaching arrow. The strong acid arrow exploded into acid mist but did not harm Cassius in the slightest.

"Spellcaster?"

Baron Todd's face turned horrified. A dragon mage, there couldn't be a worse situation.

With this in mind, he began constructing a spell prototype.

"Misty Step!"

The spot where the baron originally stood left only a puff of silver-white smoke, and he appeared tens of meters away by the manor wall, which had twisted, hanging vines.

Cassius flapped his wings and followed, calmly saying: "Baron, please stop struggling needlessly."

"Your little tricks..."

"Are simply trivial."

Flames ignited in the red dragon's pupils.

Seeing the red dragon chasing, Baron Todd hurriedly used his exhausted mind to construct another spell prototype.

He suddenly pulled down a vine, and the other end of the vine rapidly rose until it was vertically suspended in the air.

At the last moment when the red dragon was about to grab him, Todd climbed the vine and disappeared, and the vine also vanished.

"Magic Rope Spell?"

Cassius said with interest to himself.

This spell was a famous mage's exclusive escape spell, allowing travel to a small other-dimensional space during the spell's duration with items possessing the "rope" trait.

Attacks and spells could not pass through the entrance of the other-dimensional space, but creatures inside could see the outside like a window at the rope's position.

But once the spell ended, everything in the other-dimensional space would fall out.

At this moment, Baron Todd, in the other-dimensional space, looked particularly nervous, fearing that the red dragon would notice something was wrong.

If he needed to breathe, he might have already gasped.

Cassius seemed to mutter to himself:

"Interesting spell."

"But I have already said...

"Your little tricks mean nothing to me!"

As he finished, a faint light barrier quickly emerged centered on the red dragon, covering the entire area.

"Spell Nullification Barrier!"

The other-dimensional space shattered like a broken glass cup, causing Baron Todd hiding inside to appear out of nowhere and fall heavily to the ground.

Facing the red dragon's open bloody maw, Baron Todd finally couldn't help but slump to the ground, kneeling and begging for mercy:

"No, no, don't kill me!"

"I'm the Duke Brad's son, a baron of the Northwind Eagle Rackham Family."

"If you spare my life, my family can give you much gold, far more than you gain by killing me!"

"Great Dragon, I, I am willing to submit to you..."

As a mage, Todd naturally had knowledge and understood the greed of red dragons.

The red dragon looked down at him, eyes slightly narrowed: "I only need you to agree to three conditions of cooperation."

"I agree, I agree to all!"

Before the words finished, Baron Todd eagerly agreed, afraid that the capricious, brutal red dragon would turn him into ashes.

Though the red dragon before him seemed relatively rational.

But who could say for sure?

Cassius slightly nodded and said:

"First, I need all your spell scrolls, remember, all of them, to pay for invading the Ashen Nest territory. This is the premise of our cooperation."

"Second, I welcome trade, even provide gold, but I need to exchange for all kinds of goods, including weapons and armor. Hart will be responsible for this 'friendly trade' caravan."

"Third, I will send some retainers to protect the caravan and also to station in Sgurr Town to ensure your—my partner's safety."

"Aren't you afraid I will betray our cooperation?"

Baron Todd tentatively asked.

At least for now, the red dragon's conditions seemed relatively lenient, and he needed to take the opportunity to gain the red dragon's trust.

Cassius sneered, saying: "Baron, I have already said, we are here to cooperate. This is a win-win process."

"Think about it, without trade with Ashen Nest, no gold, no powerful troops, your baronial territory is nothing, just a grain-producing area to be abandoned at any time. An invasion from the North is enough to destroy you."

"I think... you know what I mean."

The red dragon's pupils flickered, as if burning with raging fire.