From Witcher to Lord of the Empire

Chapter 285 Red Dragon, You Don't Want Your Child...

No one knows about the Scoia'tael plot, or "no one knows".

Lan stayed in the Ferenc clan for a long time, letting his subordinates go around to complete commissions and accumulate experience. It's just that the experience he needs to upgrade to a level can't be gathered in a short period of time by relying on sideline experience and demon hunting tasks.

When the experience bar was about three quarters full, he knew it was time to go up the mountain. Because according to Sakiya, the red dragon Kelturis was also seriously injured. After so many days, either the other party had healed up and ran away, or the serious injury was not healed and was about to die. Anyway, Lann had to go to the point where he had to meet the other party.

In terms of professional matters, Lane still decided to follow the advice of professionals.

Lann didn't bring anyone except the ice giant and Saskia up the mountain this time. If the giant dragon really recovers from its injuries, a monster that can fly and breathe fire in a range is much more deadly to ordinary people than the ice giant. Lane doesn't want his soldiers to suffer casualties from such unnecessary things.

At this moment, Lan and Saskia were standing on the shoulders of the ice giant, one on the left, and the other on the right. It felt like they were stepping on a moving fortress. Not only was the rugged mountain road as smooth as walking on the ground, but for the first time in history, Lann did not encounter any foraging or frantic monsters on the road, and the road was so quiet that it was relaxing.

Soon, the snow that can be seen everywhere in the Mahakam Mountains gradually disappeared, and the mountain road ahead began to reveal the hard rocks below; then the surrounding temperature gradually increased, and it began to change from late winter to early spring.

The northern hills of the Witch's Lair are the lairs of the red dragon Kelturis, an extinct volcano. Before the red dragons nested here, it was the natural furnace used by the Ferenc clan to forge iron.

As the surrounding temperature rises, it gets closer to the red dragon's lair; at the same time, there are many charred and half-burned corpses of monsters around. Obviously, even if the red dragon lost most of its strength due to the drug, its fire-breathing ability is still reserved.

And as the ice giant's heavy footsteps passed through the mountains, the red dragon deep in the mountains also sensed the movement of outsiders.

"Aww!!"

It was like the roar of an ancient bell echoing in the valley. If it was an ordinary monster, it would definitely turn around and run away at this moment, frightened by the aura of the top predator among them.

But the Ice Giant would not be used to this large winged lizard. After squinting to see that Lann had no intention to stop him, the Ice Giant seemed to be inspired, and began to inhale like a huge bellows.

A bright emerald-colored spot of light flickered on Lan En's body, and a golden glow appeared twenty steps away from the ice giant, and the next second——

"Me! God!!"

It was as if someone set up a sonic cannon in the mountains, and the invisible wind and waves spread around with the roar of the ice giant, and the dust and fine rocks in the mountains were all engulfed together, as if they couldn't bear the deafening sound and fled to the distance.

Although Lan ran to the side and blocked his ears, Saskia was still on the shoulder of the ice giant. She picked out her ears as if nothing had happened, then took a breath, and responded to the ice giant's roar, and let out her own roar.

"Aww-"

The griffin emblem on his chest trembled slightly. Saskia still maintained her human body, obviously using magic to simulate the roar of her own body, but the majesty of the dragon contained in that voice did not diminish at all. After the two dragons and one giant roared one after another in the mountain, the surroundings became strangely quiet, and even the wind stopped making noise.

During the rustling, Lan En's keen witcher's senses saw a few black spots rising and falling in the distance. Those monsters with wings and without wings, running on the ground and burrowing underground all panicked at this moment, and hurriedly stayed away from this mountain range.

After the sound waves and wind and waves caused by the duo disappeared, Lann returned to the shoulder of the ice giant with a flash of golden light, and looked at Saskia.

The little dragon girl seemed to be thinking about something, and after noticing Lan En's gaze, she said hesitantly: "It is true that Kelturis is still unhealed, and the voice feels weak. But there are some other emotions in it... I can't judge, maybe I can only be sure when I see it."

Sure enough, dragons are the ones who know dragons best.

It is estimated that the red dragon Kelturis could not distinguish the ice giant from the footsteps before, so he roared and threatened. Now not only has his physical condition been exposed, but it has also made it easier for Lan and the others to pinpoint the location of the lair.

It didn't make any sound after that. However, Lan En and others found a crater that continuously emitted scalding heat waves outwards. The ice giant frowned slightly at such an environment, but did not show obvious discomfort. After all, although they live in snow-capped mountains, the Ice Giants are flesh and blood that conforms to the biological structure. In some extremely cold periods, they even hide in the natural hot springs in the mountains for the winter.

...

At this moment, bursts of suppressed roars came from the cave, and even without Saskia's translation, Lan could taste the pain from it.

Saskia's face suddenly changed, and when the ice giant was rumbling forward, she suddenly jumped off the giant's shoulder and blocked Lan En in front of her. After a moment of hesitation, she said:

"Lan, can you wait for me here for a while, I will go in and negotiate with Kelturis first."

Lane frowned slightly.

At this moment, the suppressed roar in the depths of the cave suddenly lifted up, becoming more and more painful.

Lan En seemed to understand something, and nodded towards Saskia.

A burst of golden light enveloped the humanoid body of the dragon girl, and the ten-meter-long golden-green dragon body reappeared in the underground tunnel in the extension of the light.

"Ooohoo—" Saskia let out a tentative roar toward the depths of the cave, and an even angrier response soon came from inside. But Saskia was not discouraged, and after repeatedly responding with a friendly and undisguised voice several times, she finally softened the voice inside.

Then, seeing the green dragon's wings stretched out, and the cave couldn't stretch its wings, Saskia ran quickly with the help of the wind, and "rumbled" all the way into the depths of the ground with a momentum greater than that of the ice giant.

Afterwards, the red dragon no longer suppressed the painful roar, and rumbling vibrations quickly echoed and spread in the spacious cave. Lan couldn't even bear the sound and felt the pain in his eardrums, so he had to find a pair of earplugs from the inventory and put them on for himself.

"My god?" After seeing Lann's strange movements, the ice giant made a curious voice.

Lann ignored the restless big man, and waited until the roar echoing in the cave gradually subsided and disappeared, before he signaled the ice giant to move on.

The cave soon came to an end, and a platform suddenly appeared in front of him. Different from the general "nest", it is more like a "residence" of a giant creature. Although there are no furnishings or carvings similar to furniture, it can be felt that the entire cave has a harmonious and self-consistent architectural and decorative style that is different from human and elf civilization.

The giant dragon is the ancient ruler of the mainland. It is an intelligent creature and a non-human race. It is different from ordinary monsters.

And not surprisingly, Lann also saw a large amount of gold, silver and jewels inside. These were found by Kerturis himself, and others "contributed" to it.

At this moment, Saskia has recovered her human form and is standing beside Kerturis, looking at the red dragon worriedly. The clothes she had worn when she came here had already been turned into pieces when she transformed into a dragon, so she randomly found a set of armor that should be a collectible and put it on her body.

The red dragon curled up in the corner panting, it didn't have any hostility towards Saskia anymore. At this moment, its appearance is quite miserable. The injuries from the ice giant's blows have not recovered much. Judging from its exposed head, the broken and broken scales and bone spurs have not grown back, and some of them are even stuck in the flesh and have not been taken out.

After feeling the movement of Lann and the ice giant, it raised its head feebly, and said intermittently:

"Humans... look. Look at Mahakam, look at the dwarves, look at what you and your giants did to me..."

...

Although the dragon's body is huge, it is not the most eye-catching thing in the cave.

But dragon eggs, four dragon eggs.

The red dragon exhausted all its strength to curl up its body into a ring, and it wrapped four dragon eggs in the middle of its body. Four strange gemstones with the color of volcanic lava were each placed under a dragon egg to lift them up, emitting a faint red light against the color of the dragon egg.

A dull, unpleasant color.

The eggs were about the height of a dwarf, but the shells were pitted and uneven. In some places, you can even directly see the organic fiber membrane inside the eggshell, as well as the larvae of dragons jumping and jumping inside the membrane.

These dragon eggs were separated from the mother's body before they were formed. This is what Krturis says "Mahakan, Dwarves, Rann, and Giants do."

The Ferenc clan mixed a huge amount of abortion potion in the tribute, a large number of monsters lured up the mountain by the dwarves lured the pregnant dragon to exercise violently, and the fat beating of the deadliest ice giant. This series of actions finally caused the red dragon Kerturis to abort and gave birth to these four underdeveloped eggs.

And just as the red dragon and Lan En were talking, the beating larva in one of the dragon eggs suddenly lost its movement, and even the exposed fibrous membrane dimmed.

The red dragon couldn't help but let out a mournful cry, which caused the whole cave to tremble slightly.

Facing this moving scene, Lan En did not change his face.

"Don't complain to me, Red Dragon. The only ones who will feel sympathy for your current situation are your fellow clansmen or other monsters who ignore human life." Lan shook his head, "I fought with you to save my companions from your claws and flames; and the dwarves used tricks against you to avenge the countless compatriots who died under your hands, releasing the anger that you have squeezed and oppressed for centuries."

"Your fate is not worthy of sympathy, it can even be said to be justified."

Saskia glanced at Lan En, hesitated to speak. But having received a good education, she also knew that what Lane said was correct.

"You brought my compatriots. This brain is not very good...but there is still a kind little green dragon." Curturis glanced at Saskia. Although he scoffed at the idea of ​​the little dragon girl, it was obvious that Saskia gave it a helping hand when it was in pain and gained its favor.

"Then why did you come, human? Laugh at me like a victor? Take over my treasures, or take my life at the behest of those little men?"

Lan En chuckled and shook his head: "Stop provoking with words, the dwarves can't 'order' me. And since I brought Saskia here and allowed her to help you, then you should know that I didn't come here to take your life."

"Unless...you really don't know how to flatter."

Lan En's voice fell, and the ice giant behind him also hammered his chest very cooperatively. Immediately, a huge wave of magic spread over his body, and the bracelet made of oak stretched out in his palm, and within two breaths, it became a long knotted stick exuding metallic luster.

The red dragon's pupils shrank when he saw it. The stick hitting his head was definitely more suffocating than the ice giant's fist.

It glanced sadly at its four dragon eggs, and just as they spoke, the larva in another dragon egg stopped beating. Although it hadn't completely lost its breath of life, it was clearly visible to the naked eye and couldn't hatch.

No, or in other words, these four eggs are definitely not the type that can be hatched just by looking at their appearance. It's just that the red dragon still protects them with its strong motherhood.

In many literary and artistic works, the giant dragon has a heavy "barbaric" color, and there is a disregard for the lives of future generations, but it is not the case. As I said before, the giant dragon once had a civilization that ruled the mainland, and the more advanced the civilization, the higher the level of ethics and morality, and the love for future generations is the most important thing in these ethics and morals.

"If you don't want to kill me, then you're going to be a lobbyist for those dwarves. Want to talk? Do you want me to leave Mahakam?" The red dragon's scaly face showed a very humane mocking smile, "But look at my child, what do you think we have to talk about?"

"Humans, sons of the ancient blood. If you and your giant are not here and kill me now, then wait for my children... to have the result, no matter what the result is, I will turn Mahakam into a sea of ​​flames." Kelturis stared at Lann, "Dragon never breaks its promise."

Lane nodded seriously: "I understand."

"But your guess is wrong. I am not here today for the dwarves, but to represent myself and the kingdom behind me to discuss the terms of your surrender to me."

"Surrender? Terms?" The red dragon's vertical pupils almost narrowed into a gap.

"That's right." Lane nodded. "You attacked my soldiers. As their lord, I have the obligation to protect them and kill you. And now you obviously have no strength to resist, and you have become my captive. According to our human law, you need to sign a redemption clause and pay a ransom in exchange for your life."

Lan En's words seemed to ignite a powder keg.

"Captive? No power? In exchange for life?" Every time the red dragon uttered a word, the aura exploded even more, "Human, do you know who you are talking to? The achievements of stealing the mainland have allowed you to support your arrogance that does not match your strength! You should know what a dragon is!"

The wind pressure of the heat wave was coming. If it hadn't been for the few eggs that were almost dead, the red dragon would have dragged its seriously injured body up to fight Lan En to death.

But Lan was unhurried and did not respond to danger. Not only his trust in the ice giant and Saskia, but also his confidence in the conditions he will give next.

"Of course, the terms are mutually exclusive. The ransom you have to pay includes the clause of 'serving Cintra for the rest of your life'."

"Among the obligations I will perform to you, it includes the item of 'helping your children'."