The Unlucky Red Dragon

The third underground level of the Mage Tower.

This was the very bottom of the entire tower, and also the most impregnable place after countless magical reinforcements and enhancements.

Unlike the other floors, which were divided into various areas according to their functions before being remodeled and decorated.

The third underground level contained only one enormous domed space.

There were neither lavish decorations nor furnishings such as statues and lighting fixtures.

Even the ceiling overhead was raw, uneven rock that had not been polished in the slightest.

Compared to the refinement of the upper floors, this place was practically a crude natural cave.

Yet the conspicuous magic circle etched into the floor at the center of the domed chamber in silvery metal revealed just how unusual this level was.

This was the Binding Chambers.

Just as its name implied, it was a place for binding and imprisoning dangerous creatures.

At this moment, a colossal creature nearly seventeen meters long including its tail, with an astonishing wingspan of twenty-four meters, lay sprawled at the center of the enormous magic circle.

Its body was covered in broad, thick, deep-red scales.

Not only did these scales possess powerful magic resistance, but they were also as hard as metal.

No nonmagical weapon, whether sword, axe, or warhammer, could possibly leave even the slightest scratch 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 all the way to its chin.

Flickering flames could vaguely be seen within its two eyes and its great maw full of razor-sharp teeth.

Its powerful limbs and claws were more than capable of tearing apart any enemy foolish enough to approach.

Without question, this was a true dragon from Faerûn of the Forgotten Realms.

And one of the mightiest among the Chromatic Dragons: an adult Red Dragon.

Most of the time, merely showing itself was enough for such a terrifying creature to send most people fleeing in all directions, unable to muster even the slightest thought of resistance.

Even the most experienced adventuring parties were highly likely to be wiped out within minutes after encountering an adult Red Dragon.

Red Dragons were symbols of strength and natural-born tyrants.

They had forged their reputation as the strongest evil dragons through slaughter, destruction, ruin, and death.

But now, this dragon at the top of the food chain in the Magical world was clearly in an extremely irritable and furious state.

Her tail, which kept lashing the ground with loud smacks, was the best proof of that.

The reason was simple!

She was currently imprisoned by powerful magic.

And Astar, the Archlich who had imprisoned her, had been exceedingly sinister. He had never engaged her in a direct battle from beginning to end.

Nor had he given this Red Dragon any chance to fight at close range or use her powerful fiery breath and Spell-like Ability.

He had opened with a full package of Lower Magic Resistance, Blindness, Curse of Weakness, Powerful Bind, and a Teleportation Spell.

Faced with such a shameless ambush devoid of all honor.

Forget a Red Dragon who had just reached adulthood without ever suffering the harsh lessons of the world—even old dragons would likely have met their end on the spot.

By the time she came to her senses, she had already found herself in the Binding Chambers 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 take noble dragon blood from her body.

"I swear! Once I regain my freedom, I will wipe every last one of you out and destroy this entire Mage Tower!"

Vermes silently swore the oath to herself.

As a Red Dragon who had built her nest near a stretch of hills south of the Western coast of the Faerun Continent.

The reason she had ended up like this was entirely because she had failed to restrain her greed for treasure.

During one patrol of her territory, she had happened upon an open Teleportation Gate and piles of gold and silver coins on the other side.

Because of the arrogance innate to Red Dragons, Vermes had failed to realize it was a trap and 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, Vermes had learned the benefits of snatching food from her Brothers and Sisters.

Upon reaching adulthood, she appeared stronger and larger than her Brothers and Sisters and the other Red Dragons of her age.

Her advantage in size was proof that she had obtained extra food and ample nutrition while growing up.

In her youth, Vermes had personally killed a Silver Dragon about her own size that had only recently left its parents' protection, as well as an adult Black Dragon living deep within a swamp, relying on her size and devastating flame breath. She then looted every bit of wealth from their nests.

These two successful hunts not only greatly boosted her reputation, but also earned her the first fortune of her life.

From then on, the female Red Dragon grew more and more excessive, continuously raiding caravans and attacking villages and towns along the roads near her nest.

Though she could not exactly be called famous locally, she was certainly notorious.

Some cities and temples of good deities offered extremely high bounties in the hopes that a Champion or adventurer would deal with her.

But unfortunately, every one of those people vanished without return.

In Vermes's view, anything she wanted could simply be taken by force.

After all, only Strong Ones deserved to possess wealth.

The weak should obediently offer up all their property.

Perhaps if she was in a good mood, she might even consider sparing their lives.

It could be said that the Red Dragon's current plight was entirely deserved.

Just as she closed her eyes and pondered why the sinister and cunning Necromancer had not appeared for the past two months, and why even the apprentices who came to collect dragon blood had all vanished, intense sounds of fighting suddenly rang out from the only tunnel leading to the upper levels.

The next second...

Boom!

Blinding flames and silver lightning surged out from the tunnel!

Immediately afterward, two large Undead Creatures stitched together from all kinds of corpses, which had been guarding the entrance, rolled down the stairs and hit the ground with a thud.

The seemingly rotten chunks of flesh had now been completely charred black and gave off a pungent stench.

After about two or three seconds, a boy who looked less than ten years old emerged from the passage, panting heavily.

"What a pain! Astar must have secretly Reinforced them with necromancy. Otherwise, they couldn't possibly have such high magic resistance."

Zuo Si glanced at the lightning launcher, whose energy had dropped by nearly a quarter, and the high-level Spell Scroll in his hand that had been used up, then could not help muttering a complaint.

He then bent down and recovered a small amount of Mana from the two destroyed remains.

When these undead guards had been made, he had participated in their construction and knew their manufacturing process and craftsmanship very well.

Strictly speaking, they should have been called Corpse Constructs. They were assembled from several incomplete Undead Creatures and theoretically should not have possessed any magic resistance at all; at most, they were just thick-skinned and tough.

Without the authorization of Astar, the Tower Master, these construct guards that could only mechanically carry out orders would never permit Zuo Si to enter certain key areas of the Mage Tower.

Especially the Binding Chambers, where a dangerous Red Dragon was held.

Thus, he had no choice but to kill the guards and force his way in.

"You?!"

Vermes stared wide-eyed at the tiny figure approaching from afar.

She would never forget that this boy had been standing nearby when the Necromancer ambushed her.

"Long time no see, great Lady Vermes. Because something unforeseen has happened outside—or rather, a disaster—I hope you can calmly listen while I explain everything that has happened over the past two months."

Speaking in the surface Common Tongue of the Faerun Continent, which he had learned only recently, Zuo Si placed one hand over his chest and bowed to the dragon.

He knew that every dragon, whether good or evil, lawful or chaotic, was proud and arrogant without exception.

In other words, they needed to be handled gently.

If he wanted to communicate with such a creature, politeness and respect were essential prerequisites.