Forced Collaborator

The Great Dragon's gaze was still immensely oppressive.

Baron Todd looked up at him, his scarlet pupils filled with fear, all his earlier aggressiveness gone from his expression.

Yet he did his best to maintain his composure, clasping his hands behind his back and forcing his voice not to tremble too badly.

"You are Flying Flame, correct?"

"May I ask if there is some urgent matter that brings you to my territory...?"

Keosius keenly sensed a disturbance in the Weave and knew that the Baron was constructing a spell model. His expression darkened slightly. "Baron Todd, is this how you treat a guest who has come from afar?"

"With rude spells."

"Instead of noble etiquette and hospitality."

Having been exposed, Baron Todd's expression changed drastically.

Still, he fumbled through the little bottles and jars in his formal attire, pulled out several bat hairs he had prepared beforehand, and swiftly cast a spell.

"Darkness!"

As the bat hairs turned to ash, a thick black mist rapidly spread outward from Baron Todd. Dark magical power enveloped a spherical area five meters in radius, completely swallowing him within it.

Not even creatures with Darkvision could see through this darkness. Nonmagical light could not illuminate it, nor could illumination from low-level spells below the second circle.

Keosius merely watched it all in silence, commenting unhurriedly, "A fine spell, Baron."

"If you were facing ordinary humans, you surely would have frightened them into helplessness. They could only let you quietly drain their blood amid the terror of darkness."

His tone abruptly turned cold.

"But have you forgotten that you are facing a Great Dragon?"

Keosius suddenly spun around, sweeping his thick, long tail with tremendous force.

The sphere of black mist was abruptly torn apart and spilled outward in rolling waves. It could block light, but it could not stop physical attacks.

Baron Todd, who had been preparing his next spell in the darkness, was struck hard as well.

"Bang!"

He was sent flying several meters away.

Fortunately, Baron Todd possessed some kind of regenerative trait. Though the blow shattered bones and tore flesh throughout his body, they rapidly recovered at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Lying on the ground and coughing up blood, Baron Todd struggled to pull out a shriveled viper stomach.

"Melf's Acid Arrow!"

A gleaming green arrow shot swiftly toward the Red Dragon.

"Shield."

The Red Dragon sneered. An invisible shield appeared before him and blocked the incoming arrow. The acid arrow burst into a spray of corrosive mist, yet it still failed to harm Keosius in the slightest.

"A spellcaster?"

Baron Todd's face went pale with horror. A dragon wizard—there could be no worse situation.

With that thought, he began constructing another spell model.

"Misty Step!"

Only a cloud of silvery-white smoke remained where the Baron had stood. He had already appeared dozens of meters away by the manor wall, where twisted vines hung down.

Keosius flapped his wings and followed, saying calmly, "Baron, please do not make pointless struggles."

"Those little tricks of yours—"

"—are not worth mentioning at all."

Flames ignited in the Red Dragon's pupils.

Seeing the Red Dragon pursue him, Baron Todd hurriedly forced his exhausted mind to construct another spell model.

He yanked down a vine. Its other end unexpectedly shot upward at tremendous speed, until the entire vine stood perpendicular to the ground, hanging in midair from nothing.

At the very last instant before the Red Dragon could seize him—

Todd climbed up the vine and vanished, and the vine disappeared with him.

"Rope Trick?"

Keosius murmured to himself with interest.

This was a famous wizard-exclusive escape spell. It allowed one to use an object possessing the property of a "rope" to enter a small Alternate Dimension that remained for the duration of the spell.

Neither attacks nor spells could pass through the entrance to the Alternate Dimension, but creatures inside could see the scene outside through the entrance, as though there were a window where the rope hung.

However, once the spell ended, everything in the Alternate Dimension would fall out.

At that moment, Baron Todd was inside the Alternate Dimension. His pale face was especially tense, terrified that the Red Dragon would notice something amiss.

If he had needed to breathe, he would likely have already been gasping for air.

Keosius merely seemed to speak to himself. "A very interesting spell."

"But I already told you—your little tricks are completely worthless to me!"

As his words fell, a faintly glowing barrier swiftly emerged around the Red Dragon, enveloping the entire area.

"Spell Invalidation Barrier!"

The Alternate Dimension shattered like a broken glass cup. Baron Todd, hiding within it, appeared out of thin air and crashed heavily onto the ground.

Facing the Red Dragon's gaping maw, Baron Todd finally could not hold himself back any longer. He collapsed onto the ground, fell to his knees, and begged repeatedly. "No, no, don't kill me!"

"I am Duke Brad's son, a Baron of the Rackman Dynasty, the Eagles of the North Wind."

"Spare my life, and my family can give you plenty of gold—far more than you would gain by killing me!"

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

As a wizard, Todd naturally possessed considerable knowledge and understood the Red Dragon's innate greed.

The Red Dragon looked down at him, narrowing his eyes. "I only require you to agree to three conditions of cooperation."

"I agree! I agree to all of them!"

Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, Baron Todd eagerly agreed, afraid that this temperamental and inherently brutal Red Dragon would turn him to ash.

Although the Red Dragon before him seemed relatively rational.

But who could say for sure? Keosius nodded slightly and said,

"First, I need all of your Spell Scrolls. Remember, all of them. They will serve as payment for the price of invading Ember Nest's territory. This is the prerequisite for our cooperation."

"Second, I welcome trade. I can even provide you with gold, but I need to exchange all manner of goods with you, including weapons and armor. Hart will serve as the person in charge of this 'friendly trade' caravan."

"Third, I will send some of my followers to protect the caravan. They will also be stationed in Sigg Town, to protect the safety of you—my collaborator."

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

Baron Todd asked tentatively.

At least for now, the Red Dragon's conditions seemed fairly lenient. He needed to seize this opportunity to gain the Red Dragon's trust.

Keosius snorted. "Baron, I already said that we came here to cooperate. This is a win-win process."

"Think about it. Without trading with Ember Nest, without gold, without a powerful army, you and your barony are nothing. You are merely a grain-producing land that can be discarded at any time. An invasion from the north would be enough to destroy you."

"I believe... you know what I mean."

The Red Dragon's pupils flickered, as though roaring flames burned within them.