Beneath the Red Dragon

”If you agree to my request, I will give you an offer you cannot refuse!” Natis laid out his terms.

”An offer I can’t refuse?” This made Karon stop in his tracks, ”Tell me your request first, Natis, and then I’ll decide if your offer is truly irresistible!”

”Red Dragon, the souls of the Desolate God’s descendants are naturally fused with their bodies, and cannot be separated even in death, thus their bodies are even more formidable than a Giant Dragon’s,”

Finally stepping out from the dark mist, Natis’s ethereal soul was almost transparent as he spoke, ”My true form remains here to contain his ever-reviving vitality, and my soul is trapped here to suppress the soul within him. I hope you can forcibly extract his soul and destroy it, thus liberating mine.”

”I saw your battle that night and know you possess such a power,”

If Natis were still just a World Tree, he might not have made such a request, but now Natis possessed a complete, vibrant soul, with the emotions and feelings that come with it. He too felt lonely.

Especially since to trap the Desolate God Descendant’s soul, he had been constantly suppressing it, confined to this barren land, and gradually felt the loneliness creeping in.

”And as a gift in return, I will give you the seeds condensed from all the life energy when the World Tree was stepping into extinction.”

”I just wish to follow you out of this limited world and see the vast sky beyond!”

Natis spoke with a serious expression. This small world, albeit vibrant, was still too weak for Natis, who once was a World Tree’s soul.

A True Dragon is hard to thrive in shallow waters, even for a World Tree capable of spanning countless worlds and the Crystal Wall System; in such an imperfect Law, it was malnourished.

Moreover, Natis no longer wished to remain a tree eternally standing on the earth; he longed to be like those Elves, able to run and jump and move freely.

Karon shook his head into a blur without thinking, what a joke, although he had the ability to destroy souls, he didn’t want to test the weight of a Legend, even if it had been hardened for hundreds of years.

Though he dismissed his suspicion of Natis, he still wouldn’t readily believe his words.

”I refuse, Natis; maybe when I’m stronger, I might try something like that, but for now, I won’t take that risk; even a treasure as precious as a World Tree seed isn’t worth it.”

Karon’s vertical pupil narrowed, then he changed his tone: ”However, in the Civilized World, if you want someone to do something, you have to pay a deposit; you can give me the World Tree seeds first, and I promise to come back to free your soul someday. Trust me; I grow fast!”

Natis’s soul was silent, quietly observing Karon, who was putting on an innocent face, realizing this Red Dragon truly thought of him as an inexperienced simpleton.

The Red Dragon’s vertical pupil shifted to a round shape as he raised his proud chest with a slap and said loudly: ”Can’t you trust a Giant Dragon? Proud Dragons disdain lying; I swear on the Giant Dragon’s reputation, once I’m strong enough, I will surely return to rescue your soul!”

In Karon’s eyes, the reputation of Giant Dragons was one thing; Karon’s reputation was another. If something went wrong in the future, it would not be Karon’s problem, just those shameless dragons tarnishing their reputation.

Natis’s soul remained silent, considering the credibility of dragons, which bore marginal relevance to the Five-Color Dragons. At this moment, the Red Dragon in his eyes finally resembled a shameless Five-Color Dragon, yet he couldn’t relish it.

...

”Open the entrance,” the young female Elf, Aiya, accompanied a tall, strong male Elf as they instructed the Elves guarding the tree hollow entrance.

An Elf Warrior in ornate leather armor summoned green light in his hand, gently tapping the tree trunk. Instantly, the thorny bramble sealing the tree hollow entrance went limp and spread apart.

The poison vine covering the entrance slithered away like a snake, revealing a pathway.

This was a natural tree cave extending about ten meters below, winding around the giant roots, as the two Elves arrived at the flat ground of the underground cave.

Here, countless Tree of Life roots dangled, dividing the underground space into isolated compartments, serving as natural prison cells for holding prisoners.

Each compartment now contained one or two Dogman Soldiers, captured as scouts from their outpost base over the past few days and held as prisoners.

Each Dogman Soldier was covered in thorny vines, with vines piercing their mouths and noses, drawing sustenance from their frail bodies.

Only one Dogman remained unscathed, bound hand and foot, barking incessantly.

Although language was a barrier, these Elf Druids could perceive the meaning of the Dogman’s words using Magic.

”Bark bark, just you wait, the mighty Red Dragon will turn you to ashes. Even in death, Dogmen return to the Red Dragon’s domain. Alive, I am the Red Dragon’s dog; dead, I am the Red Dragon’s undead dog! Bark bark!”

The Dogman Soldier’s noisy barks echoed throughout the cave.

The male Elf frowned, a strong irritation rising within him. After deliberation among the Elf tribes, no one wanted to become a dragon’s thrall, so they decided to first test the dragon’s strength.

If the dragon wasn’t powerful, the Elf tribes would unite to expel the intruding dragon. If resisting proved futile, they would choose to relocate with the Tree of Life.

In the vast sea of forests, a dragon would find it challenging to locate these Elves.

However, extracting information about the dragon from these weak dragon’s beloved was genuinely difficult. They appeared feeble yet surprisingly zealous.

Even as comrades died before their eyes, they stubbornly howled, seemingly unafraid of death.

The Elves struggled to comprehend the Dogmen’s fervor for the dragon; only another powerful dragon could pry open a Dogman’s mouth.

The male Elf, unable to endure the incessant barking anymore, flicked two green seeds from his slender fingers, hitting the yapping Dogman Warrior.

The seeds, as if alive, sprouted with astonishing speed, the green shoots seeking the Dogman Warrior’s nose and mouth before burrowing inside.

In mere seconds, the small green shoots transformed into slender vines, bristling with thick thorns piercing every tender part of the Dogman Warrior’s internal organs.

Then, the vines began to swell as if a living creature, guzzling the Dogman Warrior’s flesh and blood, producing gurgling sounds.

The Dogman Soldier’s curses turned into pitiful, painful screams. The female Elf Aiya frowned sympathetically but quickly relaxed.

In war, both sides were enemies. Even though Aiya was born kind, she wouldn’t show mercy.

The Dogman Warrior’s screams quickly faded and fell silent. However, the blood-drained skin did not wither but was propped up by the vines growing beneath.

The vines ceased to grow, but their wriggling persisted. Trumpet-like blood-red flowers soon blossomed between the branches.

Aiya and the male Elf passed by the flowers growing from the flesh, faint dog barks emanating from the trumpet-like flowers.

As if in life.