Giving the Big Shot a Bath

Mayona felt as if she had returned to the past, to her childhood when her parents were still alive. She saw the few memories she had with her family, a picnic before her parents left. Her parents, laughing, brought her to a sea of flowers to admire the beautiful scenery. She had fallen because she ran too fast, and the worry on her mother's face was vivid. While comforting her crying self, her mother used healing magic to heal her scraped knee. Her father, with a smile, said she was as mischievous as a boy.

"To set a trap for me, an Archmage, how interesting."

It was only after Mayona finished watching these fragments that she broke through the illusion before her with her magic. She had just been exchanging meaningless pleasantries with Ruby when she suddenly smelled a refreshing fragrance. Afterward, her consciousness was pulled back to the past. She was certain that the person had no ill intentions. Thanks to them, Mayona even saw what her parents, whose faces she could no longer clearly recall, looked like.

Mayona's consciousness instantly returned to reality. She had already realized that the other party had tampered with the air. She immediately created an auxiliary magic called [Air Bubble] for herself and Ruby. Magic formed an invisible sphere around her, purifying the filth in the air before allowing it to enter the sphere. It was a simple advanced purification magic.

"If you don't wake up soon, I'm going to get the antidote."

Ruby breathed a sigh of relief when Mayona woke up. He was wearing a strange mask that covered his entire face. There was an extended part below the mask, and if one had to describe it, it was an unappealing shape like a pig's nose.

"What is that you're wearing?"

Mayona asked subconsciously. Seeing the mask, the first thing she thought of was the Great Head Fly, one of the most detested magical insects by humans.

"A gas mask."

"A dragon, a purple dragon!?"

Before Mayona could even think about what a gas mask was, she was stunned by the colossal creature behind Ruby. Its size was more than double that of Mors, possessing the physique of a fully grown giant dragon. Of course, just a grown giant dragon wouldn't scare Mayona. The reason for her shock was the dragon's purple skin.

Dragons were supposed to be among the most easily identifiable creatures by their attributes. Fire dragons were red, water dragons were blue, but this didn't mean they could only use magic of their own element. It meant they received significant bonuses when using magic of their own element. Of course, Black Dragons like Mors were creatures that didn't have any particular specialties, their physical strength was just much greater than that of ordinary dragons, meaning they were simply more durable.

What the color of a dragon represented had long ceased to be a secret in human history, but there had never been any record of a purple giant dragon. This species suddenly appeared a thousand years ago. No one knew where it came from or why it had such an alluring color. However, this giant dragon soon proved its attribute.

A Poison Dragon, a more terrifying existence than a Black Dragon. Black Dragons were feared because they could destroy half an empire if displeased. However, hundreds of years before Douglas became famous, Poison Dragons were already on the wanted list. Even now, they were prominently displayed by the Mage Guild. Anyone who managed to slay a Poison Dragon would not only receive all of its parts but also a large sum of wealth as a reward from the guild.

The cause of all this was naturally the Poison Dragon's heinous acts. Compared to it, the robbery behavior of other giant dragons was simply child's play. It liked to pollute water sources. Although humans in this world could produce their own water to drink, they also understood the importance of natural lakes. At the very least, you needed to go to a lake to catch fish, right?

The Poison Dragon that appeared out of nowhere targeted those clean water sources. The toxins secreted from its body could instantly turn clear lakes into hell on earth. The water sources it had bathed in all emitted a disgusting odor, and the surrounding forests were also polluted, with poisonous trees and grass emerging everywhere. If left unchecked, the entire continent would be poisoned by it. Thus, valiant mages stepped forward, constantly dividing into small teams to stake out various water sources. Upon seeing the Poison Dragon, they would relentlessly pursue it. In turn, the Poison Dragon, under the pressure of human attacks, became slightly more restrained. Its last appearance was decades ago.

"Nice to meet you, I am the Poison Dragon Philoxis."

The Poison Dragon before them was unaware of the countless thoughts flashing through Mayona's mind as it introduced itself in a soft tone.

"Nice to meet you, my foot! Take my life!"

"Why are you suddenly shouting about fighting and killing?"

Ruby grabbed Mayona's arm, preventing her from unleashing world-destroying magic, and asked in confusion.

"Let go of me! It's a Poison Dragon! It's every mage's duty to eliminate it."

"Calm down. Although I know this guy has a terrible reputation, things are a little different from what you know."

"Speak, let's see what story you can tell."

Mayona thought about it and decided to listen to Ruby's explanation. The peculiar relationship they had built somehow allowed for no suspicion between them, enabling them to trust each other completely.

Then, through Ruby's narration, Mayona learned something: no dragon was normal. The only reason the Poison Dragon Philoxis kept polluting water sources was that she liked to bathe.

Yes, a ridiculous reason. If this reason were told to the Mage Guild, they might make the elderly guild master puff up his beard in anger and throw Ruby out after a good beating, but the truth was just that unreasonable.

In Philoxis's words, she was also despairing. It wasn't her choice to be born a Poison Dragon. In fact, her parents weren't Poison Dragons, but ordinary giant dragons. The mutation occurred entirely because her mother accidentally ate a deadly poisonous herb while carrying the dragon egg. There's no need to mention how terrifying a plant that could poison a dragon was. However, her mother survived stubbornly, but gave birth to a Poison Dragon that didn't exist in dragon history.

The Dragon God seemed to have played a joke, bestowing upon Philoxis a potent toxicity that could poison her own kind, yet setting her personality to that of a girl who loved to bathe. She couldn't stand her body being covered in all sorts of dirt. When she was young, she could ask water dragons for help to get some water for a bath. But as she grew older, the bathwater became increasingly toxic. Just cleaning up the mess after her baths took a lot of effort. Eventually, no dragon was willing to help her. Helpless, she had no choice but to leave her dragon nest and wreak havoc on humans.

"You're also a girl. If you weren't allowed to bathe, what would you do?"

A mournful look appeared in Philoxis's eyes. Her voice had always been that of a mature woman, which also made Mayona realize that the Poison Dragon that had troubled the continent for thousands of years was actually a female dragon.

"I'd probably go crazy..."

Mayona replied truthfully. Girls couldn't stand being unclean. Moreover, bathing wasn't just about washing away dirt; the feeling of being enveloped in warmth after a tiring day was definitely an indispensable enjoyment in life. If one day she couldn't bathe, she probably, maybe, would have become an enemy of the world.

"No wonder you know so much about the Dragon race. So Mors wasn't the first dragon you'd seen."

Only now did Mayona understand why humans who lived deep in the mountains knew so much about the habits of dragons. At first, she thought Douglas had told him, but now she realized Ruby had an unspeakable secret with the Poison Dragon.

"Unlike mages, I can't produce water myself, so that lake became my most important water source. It absolutely cannot be destroyed by her. So, before she prepared to go in for a bath, I made a deal with her."

Ruby nodded. No one could understand his hardship at that time, having to reason with the most powerful creature in the world for his own survival. After finally persuading the Poison Dragon, he was almost poisoned to death by her scent.

"Slow down, was the content of the deal..."

"Yes, I was responsible for helping her bathe."