The third underground level of the mage tower.
This was the very bottom of the entire tower, and after countless magical reinforcements and enhancements, it was also the most impregnable place.
Unlike the other floors, which were divided into various areas according to their functions before being renovated and furnished.
The third underground level contained only one enormous domed space.
There were neither lavish decorations nor statues, lighting fixtures, or other furnishings.
Even the ceiling overhead was nothing more than raw, uneven rock, completely untouched by any polishing.
Compared to the refinement of the tower's upper levels, this place was practically a crude natural cave.
However, the conspicuous magic circle engraved in silver metal on the floor at the center of the domed chamber proclaimed that this level was far from ordinary.
This was the Binding Chamber.
Just as its name implied, it was a place for binding and imprisoning dangerous creatures.
At that moment, a colossal creature nearly seventeen meters long from head to tail, with an astonishing wingspan of twenty-four meters, lay sprawled at the center of the massive magic circle.
Its body was covered in broad, heavy, deep-red scales.
These scales possessed not only powerful magic resistance, but also the hardness of metal.
Any nonmagical weapon, whether swords, axes, or war hammers, could scarcely leave even the faintest mark upon them.
Two straight white horns swept backward from the head of this terrifying beast.
A row of smaller horns extended down from the top of its head, scattered sparsely all the way to its chin.
Flickering flames could vaguely be seen within its two eyes and its great maw full of sharp fangs.
Its powerful limbs and claws were more than enough to tear apart any enemy foolish enough to approach.
There was no doubt that this was a True Dragon from the Forgotten Realms—Faerûn.
And it was an Adult Red Dragon, the most powerful of the Chromatic Dragons.
In many cases, merely showing itself was enough for such a dreadful creature to send most people fleeing in terror, unable to muster even the slightest thought of resistance.
Even the most experienced adventuring party stood a strong chance of being wiped out within mere minutes after encountering an Adult Red Dragon.
Red Dragons were symbols of power, and natural-born tyrants as well.
They had forged their reputation as the mightiest evil dragons through slaughter, destruction, ruin, and death.
Yet at present, this dragon at the top of the magical world's food chain was clearly in an extremely irritable and furious state.
The tail that continuously lashed the ground with loud cracks was the best proof of that.
The reason was simple!
She was currently imprisoned by powerful magic.
Moreover, Astar, the Necromancer Archmage who had imprisoned her, had been exceedingly devious and had never fought her head-on from beginning to end.
He had not given this Red Dragon any chance to engage in close combat or use her powerful fiery breath and spell-like abilities.
He had opened with a full package of lowered magic resistance, blindness, a weakness curse, powerful binding, and teleportation magic.
Faced with such shameless, underhanded ambush tactics.
Not to mention a Red Dragon that had only just reached adulthood and had never been properly beaten by the world, even Old Dragons would likely have met a bitter end on the spot.
By the time she came to her senses, she had already found herself in the Binding Chamber at the very bottom of the mage tower.
Forget fighting—she could not even stand up, and could only lie obediently on the ground.
Even weak, filthy human apprentices could draw noble dragon blood from her body.
"I swear! Once I regain my freedom, I will slaughter every last one of you and raze this entire mage tower to the ground."
Vermees silently swore this oath in her heart.
As a Red Dragon who had made her nest near the Abelion Hills south of Faerun's western coast.
The reason she had fallen into such a predicament was entirely because she had failed to restrain her inner greed for treasure.
During one patrol of her territory, she had accidentally discovered an open teleportation gate, along with piles of gold and silver coins on the other side.
Due to the inborn arrogance of Red Dragons, Vermees had not realized it was a trap. She had charged straight in, intending to loot every valuable thing inside.
This simple and brutal way of doing things stemmed from her upbringing.
From the moment she was born, Vermees had tasted the benefits of snatching food from her brothers and sisters.
After reaching adulthood, she appeared stronger and larger than her siblings and the other Red Dragons of her age.
And that advantage in size was proof that she had obtained extra food and ample nutrition during her growth.
In her youth, Vermees had relied on her size and devastating fiery breath to personally kill a Silver Dragon roughly her own size that had only recently left its parents' protection, as well as an Adult Black Dragon living deep in a swamp. She had then looted every possession in their lairs.
These two successful hunts had not only greatly enhanced her reputation, but had also earned her the first fortune of her life.
From then on, this female Red Dragon became even more excessive, constantly plundering caravans and attacking villages and towns along the roads near her lair.
She might not have enjoyed widespread fame in the region, but she was certainly infamous.
Several cities and temples of good deities had offered enormous bounties, hoping that some Champion or adventurer would eliminate her.
Unfortunately, without exception, all of them had gone and never returned.
In Vermees's view, as long as there was something she wanted, she only needed to charge in and take it.
After all, only the strong deserved wealth.
The weak should obediently hand over all their possessions.
If she happened to be in a good mood, she might even consider sparing their lives.
It could be said that the Red Dragon's present plight was entirely deserved.
Just as she closed her eyes and wondered why that sinister, cunning necromancer had not appeared for more than two months, and why even the apprentices who drew dragon blood had all vanished without a trace, fierce sounds of battle suddenly rang out from the only tunnel leading to the upper levels.
The next second...
Boom!
Blinding firelight and silver Lightning Bolt burst forth from the tunnel!
Immediately afterward, two large undead creatures pieced together from various corpses, which had been guarding the entrance, tumbled down the stairs and hit the ground with a thud.
The chunks of flesh that had appeared rotten were now completely charred black, giving off a pungent stench.
After roughly two or three seconds, a boy who looked no older than ten emerged from the passage, panting heavily.
"Damn it! Astar must have secretly enhanced them with necromancy. Otherwise, they couldn't possibly have such high magic resistance."
Raymond glanced at the Lightning Bolt launcher, whose energy had dropped by nearly a quarter, as well as the Advanced Magic Scroll in his hand that had been used up, and could not help muttering a complaint.
He then bent down and recovered a small amount of mana from the two destroyed remains.
After all, he had participated in creating these undead guards, so he was well aware of their manufacturing process and techniques.
Strictly speaking, they should have been called Corpse Constructs, stitched together from multiple incomplete undead creatures. In theory, they should not have possessed much magic resistance at all; at most, they were merely thick-skinned and durable.
Without authorization from Astar, the tower's master, these Construct guards, which could only mechanically carry out orders, would never have allowed Raymond into certain critical areas of the mage tower.
Especially the Binding Chamber, where a dangerous Red Dragon was imprisoned.
Thus, he had no choice but to kill the guards and force his way in.
"You?!"
Vermees widened her eyes as she stared at the little runt approaching from afar.
She would never forget that when the necromancer had ambushed her, this boy had been standing nearby.
"It has been a long time, great Lady Vermees. Some unforeseen events—or rather, a disaster—have occurred outside, so I hope you can remain calm and hear everything that has happened over these past two months."
Speaking in the Surface Common he had only learned not long ago, Raymond placed one hand over his chest and bowed to the dragon.
He knew that all dragons, whether good or evil, lawful or chaotic, were without exception proud and arrogant.
In other words, they had to be handled with care.
If one wanted to communicate with such a creature, politeness and respect were essential prerequisites.
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