The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

"Ach, you and Bard wait outside. The scene might get a bit bloody, so you'd better not follow," he gestured for Bard and Ach to move away.

Liszt personally wielded the Ice Soul Dragon-Slaying Sword as he charged into the logistical support team of the Eagle Kingdom.

With his Dragon Dou Qi and Dragon Might unleashed, he embarked on a killing spree. Knights and servants in the support team, all were buried under his sword; not one escaped.

There were no scenes of blood splattering; the Fire Attribute Dou Qi cauterized and scorched the flesh as it cut through. Igniting a fire, the support team's camp was completely torn apart by flames that buried everything.

Watching the flames ascend.

A trace of inexplicable emotion arose in Liszt's heart. There was a time, not long ago on Earth, when he considered the slaughter of a chicken as cruel. Now, a mere momentary decision led him to massacre a group of people. Fortunately, they were the enemy, the competitors for dragons, and no innocents were involved, saving him from self-reproach.

In a world ruled by knights, being weak was a sin.

Especially when it involved dragons.

"It was the Eagle Kingdom who made the first move. I'm merely retaliating. Besides, you colluded with the traitor Andre from the Sapphire camp, a crime unforgivable," he casually fabricated an excuse for his own psychological comfort. Shaking his head, Liszt turned and left the blazing camp.

Ever since his first battle, killing no longer posed a psychological barrier for him.

As long as he wasn't slaughtering civilians, wars between knights, in his view, were nothing more than a game.

"Let's go, Ach." Liszt returned to the Formless Dragon's side and glanced at Andre. Originally intending to kill him, upon consideration, he felt it better to keep Andre to hand over to the Sapphire Duke.

He could exchange him for some Dou Qi Secret Techniques, or information about the Dragon Domain LandLord or the Lich.

However.

He soon thought again, "If I ride dragons too often in the short term, I might arouse a strong sense of crisis in the three major kingdoms. Perhaps I could disguise it as Andre successfully Dragon Riding and counter-killing the Eagle Kingdom's support team, betraying the Eagle Kingdom."

As for the Eagle Kingdom daring to let Andre ride a dragon, they must have had some checks in place; but who could guarantee Andre wouldn't undo these measures.

"Such checks are unlikely to involve threatening family members; emotional bonds have little power over Nobles, it's probably some kind of Magic contract or curse. With Ach the Archmage and the extensive group of Magicians in the Magic Guild, breaking a contract shouldn't be hard."

"Even if Andre is killed by the contract or curse, what loss would it be to me..."

"So it's decided."

He gestured to Bard to capture Andre. Then Liszt quickly hurried to where Ethan, Leo, and the Mountain Copper Dragon were fighting, finding a corner to drop Andre.

He then drove Bard directly into the battlefield.

"Woooooah!"

The Formless Dragon didn't attack the Mountain Copper Dragon. Ethan and Leo also ceased their attacks; the previous dragon fight had not been fierce, focusing mainly on restraint.

"Hoo-hoo!" The Mountain Copper Dragon watched the suddenly emerging Formless Dragon, unruffled.

"Oh-ho!" Leo responded defiantly.

"Mountain Copper Dragon, I know you understand the Wind Language. Why don't we put aside our disputes and talk peacefully? I think there's been some misunderstanding between us," Liszt broke the tense atmosphere, speaking loudly.

From Andre, he had already extracted information about the Mountain Copper Dragon. Over its long period of being fought by knights, it had clearly learned Wind Language -- dragons are very intelligent; after hearing a few sentences, they can easily grasp the meaning. There would be no problem communicating.

The Mountain Copper Dragon glanced at Liszt with a look one might give an ant, deeming him unworthy of communication.

"To show my sincerity, I have brought your favorite Wind-Thunder Bird Eggs, specially grilled tender steak, and some of the fruits you love," Liszt calmly took out a batch of food from his Space Ring, placed it on the ground, and displayed his attitude.

In truth, he had only brought tender steak, intended as a reward for Leo, Bard, and Ethan; dragons generally love beef.

The Wind-Thunder Bird Eggs and a large batch of fruits, however, were collected from the support team's camp, intended for Andre's attempt to tame the Mountain Copper Dragon.

Now he utilized them - he had slipped a Bewildering Dragon Mind Fruit into the specially grilled tender steak.

This was a spur-of-the-moment idea. His original plan was to subdue the Mountain Copper Dragon first and then forcibly feed it the Bewildering Dragon Mind Fruit. However, the lingering grievances of the Grey Iron Dragon Ornn made him think that perhaps his methods could be somewhat gentler. The effects of coercing a dragon in a daze versus forcible taming would certainly differ.

"Hoo-hoo!" The Mountain Copper Dragon squinted its eyes, its golden scales glittering in the sunlight. Its pupils shifted slightly as it glanced at the food on the ground.

He let out a warning roar.

This indicated that it was not moved by Liszt's friendly gesture and did not want to engage in further communication with Liszt. Even the scales on its body expanded, signaling a readiness to attack.

"Since you're unwilling to accept my good intentions, then let's part ways here," Liszt didn't waste any breath.

He called the three dragons and flew straight away.

Leo and Ethan indeed flew out of the Mountain Copper Dragon's sensory range, but Bard sneaked into the material boundary, quietly hiding at the edge of the distance the Mountain Copper Dragon could sense. Liszt took out a telescope and carefully observed the clearing where he had dropped the food, watching the steaks he had arranged.

Due to the presence of Dragon Might, no wild beasts or magical beasts came to eat, and the food lay quietly on the ground.

The Mountain Copper Dragon stayed away from the food, lying atop another mountain. It neither went to eat nor showed interest in the food. It was unclear if it was out of caution, lack of hunger, or disdain for Liszt's offerings.

"Brother, are we going to keep waiting like this?" Ach curiously asked.

"Let's wait a bit longer, wait till nightfall. If it still doesn't eat, then I'll take the steaks back," Liszt was very patient. To seduce a dragon with intelligence comparable to a human, one must be patient.

Dragons have a special constitution; no poison could kill a dragon.

Thus, a free meal presented in front of them, if it were Liszt, he certainly wouldn't want to waste it, nor would he be suspicious.

...

Night fell quickly.

The Mountain Copper Dragon, having lain there half a day, did not receive the familiar little ants to bring it food and was somewhat puzzled. However, it soon thought that the little ants might have already been killed.

"It was that damned human, and the three pieces of trash willing to be ridden by ants." The Mountain Copper Dragon, being an adult, had experienced hundreds of years of life and encountered quite a few humans; it knew very well how fierce the human struggle for dragons was. The previous Dragon Knight had definitely come to seize dragons.

Therefore, it had to kill the competitor first.

"What a hassle!"

It lifted its head, feeling that it could no longer rest well in this place. That Dragon Knight would certainly come again, followed by another tiresome struggle. Deep down, it disliked that Dragon Knight, feeling that his character clashed with its own, seeing no glint of sacrifice or devotion.

However.

The Mountain Copper Dragon suddenly remembered that the Dragon Knight seemed to leave behind some food when leaving, attempting to tempt it with the food.

"Naïve, childish, laughable!"

Was it a dragon that would bow down for such a small amount of food? There was no ant in the world worth lowering its proud head for.

"I need to find a new place to live, and on the way, see if there are any ants pleasing enough to provide me with food," the Mountain Copper Dragon moved its wings and stood up, slowly moving towards the clearing where the food had been placed, "However, before leaving, why not eat the food the Dragon Knight left behind? Wouldn't that be delightful?"

It disliked Liszt but did not despise the food.

Walking over, the food was still lying there quietly, with only a few real ants crawling on it. These small insects did not react to the Dragon Might. However, with just a slight breath, the ants died instantly—an elementary application of Dragon Magic Power. Then it swallowed a whole basket of Wind-Thunder Bird Eggs in one gulp.

The Wind-Thunder Bird is an intermediate magical beast. Interestingly, the male has a Wind Attribute, and the female has a Thunder Attribute. Still, the eggs contain both wind and thunder attributes.

As the gender develops, the attributes eventually leave only one behind.

During its long dragon life, the Mountain Copper Dragon had a particular fondness for Wind-Thunder Bird Eggs. However, Wind-Thunder Birds like to nest in narrow caves, and they are very clever. As soon as the dragons' huge bodies appear and their might is revealed, the birds quickly flee, making their eggs difficult to find.

After eating the eggs, the Mountain Copper Dragon ate some fruit, and finally looked at the tender steaks.

The steak had gone cold, and the flavor was not as rich as when it was fresh from the oven, but the Mountain Copper Dragon sniffed them and still swallowed all the steaks down its belly.

"Mediocre, passable," it finished eating all the food and prepared to find a mountaintop to spend the night, planning to leave early the next morning.

But as its wings flapped, suddenly, a wave of sleepiness overcame it, it shook its head vigorously but couldn't resist the strong urge to sleep, its eyelids heavy as lead. Moments later, unable to fend off the sleepiness, the Mountain Copper Dragon thudded to the ground, crushing a large swathe of forest.

"Hurrrr..."

The loud snoring echoed through the sky.

From a distance, within the material boundary, Liszt, holding the telescope, couldn't help but snap his fingers: "Done!"