Did These Roundheads Have Any Idea What It Meant to Be a Mighty Mage?!

Agatha continued speaking under the hatchlings' puzzled gazes.

"There's a juvenile Bamokangla at the end of this underground river. The water level has been rising steadily, something you'd notice if you paid even a little attention. Once the water rises high enough, that Bamokangla will hunt down 'every last' prey animal in this river."

She emphasized the words "every last."

The hatchlings fell silent for a moment and exchanged glances. Agatha was right; the river's water level had indeed been rising lately.

Those who had noticed this nodded to their companions.

But that alone still wasn't enough to make them trust Agatha.

"Why should we believe you?"

This time, a Black Hatchling spoke, her pitch-black slit pupils full of suspicion as she looked at Agatha.

Agatha turned toward the Black Hatchling who had spoken. Her powerful, scorching presence instantly forced the Black Hatchling's newly raised body back down, and instinctive wariness made her adopt an attacking stance.

Next time I beat them up, I'll give this Black Hatchling some extra attention.

Silently committing the Black Hatchling's appearance to memory, Agatha continued.

"I don't intend to prove anything to you. Whether it's true or not, you'll understand everything once you follow me to the end of the underground river."

"You can choose not to come, but I'll be taking Chaos with me."

At the mention of taking Chaos away, every hatchling's slit pupils narrowed.

None of them liked Chaos, the fellow who stole their spoils, but they could still face reality.

Without Chaos summoning Perceptive Vines to lure Kashi, they could only sustain themselves on the tiny fish and shrimp in the pools.

Obviously, a handful of tiny fish and shrimp couldn't possibly fill the bellies of a whole group of hatchlings.

Hatchlings might not be good at much else, but their ability to eat was beyond question.

Without Chaos summoning Perceptive Vines to lure Kashi, they would have to enter the underground river to hunt.

But that was easier said than done.

They could hunt Kashi easily in the pools only because the terrain restricted the fish. The narrow pools stripped Kashi of their advantage in speed.

Without those restrictions, things would be very different in the broad underground river. Never mind eating fish; at best, these hatchlings would only get to gulp down the bubbles left in the Kashi's wake.

They might even end up being hunted by the Kashi instead.

So no, they absolutely couldn't let Agatha take Chaos away!

The hatchlings exchanged looks, already understanding what was at stake.

An looked at the Red Hatchling standing proudly before them.

As time passed, their group had not only failed to close the gap in size between themselves and Agatha, but that gap had actually grown.

Agatha was visibly larger now than she had been before.

An's gaze moved to the scarlet claws, already bulging with muscle.

If a fight really broke out, their entire group might not be able to defeat Agatha alone. Besides, Agatha and Chaos were on good terms, so Chaos would most likely join the fight.

With Chaos's troublesome spellcasting added to the mix, their outcome would only be worse.

An dropped her attacking stance, rose, and stepped forward.

"I'll go with you."

Agatha gave the smaller Black Hatchling who had approached her a slight nod without speaking, then turned her gaze toward the others.

There were no fools among Chromatic Dragons, except young white dragons.

Seeing her ally step forward, Loya followed, despite her reluctance.

She cautiously looked up at the enormous Red Hatchling before her.

"Th-then I'll go too."

Agatha answered with a slight nod.

Having received a response, the wary Loya quickly scurried over to An's side.

Agatha paid her no mind and continued looking at the remaining hatchlings.

The logic was simple: follow the prevailing tide. The moment An the Black Hatchling made her choice, their temporary unity had already fallen apart.

And that was exactly what happened. Soon, the little hatchlings declared their decisions one after another.

All twelve hatchlings chose to follow.

Without standing on ceremony, Agatha immediately assigned them hauling duties.

She had the hatchlings pick up the intact fish skeletons piled along the riverbank.

These were the materials Chaos needed for his setup.

During yesterday's meal, the hatchlings had eaten only the flesh, leaving all the fish bones intact.

Rustle, rustle~

Hearing approaching footsteps, Chaos raised his head for a look.

It was Agatha. She seemed ready, and behind her followed a group of hatchlings, each carrying an intact Kashi skeleton in their jaws.

"Ready to set off?"

As always, Agatha was blunt and efficient, getting straight to the point.

"Yeah."

Rising from the ground, Chaos glanced at White Chubby, who was still lying beside him.

"Get up. We're going hunting."

"Hmph-da!"

White Chubby rose from the ground, slit pupils narrowing in a show of ferocity.

At the sight, Chaos couldn't resist reaching out to stroke that round white dragon head before turning to Agatha.

"Let's go."

"All right."

Without another word, Agatha stepped forward and took the stone pot full of white Magic Cores in both foreclaws. Her broad wings spread, and one powerful beat lifted her into the air.

Seeing the big little girl already airborne, Chaos spread the thick wings on his back, covered in emerald dragon scales.

[Whoosh~!]

Ten minutes: easy enough.

Twenty minutes: his wings were getting a little sore.

Thirty minutes: damn, did the big little girl's stamina bar have no limit?

Forty minutes: pant, pant~

Fifty minutes: dizzy and bleary-eyed.

I can't. I really can't. Keep this up and a dragon's going to die.

No more. I need a break.

Moving close to the wall, Chaos easily sank his claws into the relatively soft rock and hung from the cliff face.

He looked toward the big little girl ahead.

"Agatha."

Hearing Chaos call her name behind her, Agatha leveled her beating wings and stopped her forward flight, hovering in place.

Once she stopped, Agatha turned her head to look back and saw Chaos hanging from the rock wall, panting in exhaustion.

Had he run out of stamina?

Her scarlet slit pupils narrowed slightly. Agatha hadn't expected Chaos's stamina to be so poor.

This won't do...

All the hatchlings stopped above the underground river and looked at Agatha. When she said nothing, they turned their heads toward Chaos, who was already hanging from the wall.

Contempt, surprise, disdain, excitement...

For a moment, all kinds of emotions shone from slit pupils of different colors.

Sensing the meaning behind their gazes, Chaos felt a little annoyed.

What's with these roundheads?

Wasn't it perfectly normal for a mighty mage to be a little fragile?

Had they never heard of a glass-cannon mage with map-wide firepower?!

Did these roundheads have any idea what it meant to be a mighty mage?!

"Take a break."

Just then, Agatha spoke.

Only then did the hatchlings look away. Beating their wings, they searched for suitable spots on the rock wall to cling to and began resting to recover their stamina.

Agatha beat her wings and flew straight toward the spot beside Chaos.