socalfunplaces Page 36
Page 36
Silver Dragon probably wouldn't consider such a thing.
These shimmering silver creatures are undoubtedly the kindest, most righteous, and most disciplined beings on the entire continent of Faerûn. They are even reluctant to reveal their enormous size too much, because it would easily have an impact on the environment...
"Silver Dragon Paladin vs. Green Dragon Lich, this is going to be a good show. Luckily, I've changed into a brass dragon's skin!" Casalos stopped climbing and began to circle and slowly descend. It didn't want to miss this rare battle.
Even the kindest creatures have mortal enemies. The red dragon is undoubtedly the silver dragon's most hated and loathed foe. If Casaloz had still maintained the red dragon's planet, it would likely have been banished just now—yes, the silver dragons are so kind that even when facing their mortal enemy, the red dragon, they won't easily kill it before confirming its evil deeds, but will only choose to expel it. They are even willing to let white dragons nest in their territory, as long as the white dragons don't commit evil.
That's why Casalos had the opportunity to fly down and observe. If given the chance, he could also steal a monster and some loot, so the silver dragon paladin probably wouldn't be too harsh on a "bronze dragon" that had offered its help.
Hevilan swooped down toward the core of the dead land, the location of Lelotar's lair, and when she was still several hundred meters away, she opened her mouth and exhaled a cold breath.
Unlike Casalos's usual bundled or fan-shaped breath, Hevilan's breath condensed into a tight ball, like an ice ball, with surging magic gathered and compressed within it, and the aura that emanated from it froze the air with frost.
The ice hockey puck fell to the ground and, when it was still fifty or sixty meters above the ground, it crashed into an invisible force field wall and exploded. The icy blue mist instantly spread hundreds of meters away, freezing the withered and rotten dead land it touched into the permafrost of the far north.
The two silver dragon servants did not attack. Instead, they flew over the force field wall area as Haivilan rose in height, then turned back and flew down again, sending another ice ball crashing down.
Clang! This time, the ice ball didn't explode. Instead, a crisp sound like shattering glass echoed through the sky. The ice ball, now much more concentrated, shattered the force field wall, smashed through the frozen ground like a bullet, and kicked up a cloud of dust that resembled bursting waves. It then burrowed into the underground nest of Lelotar before finally breaking apart with a deafening roar.
"Roar! Damn silver dragons, I didn't provoke you!"
A hoarse roar followed, and then the green dragon skeleton covered with ice shards broke through the soil and emerged from the ground. It spread its tattered wings and flew into the sky in an extremely illogical way.
"There's definitely a big problem with the way dragons fly. Look, this skeleton that has absolutely no aerodynamics is actually flying much better than before."
But this doesn't change anything. Silver dragons are inherently much stronger than green dragons, especially when a young green dragon transformed into a dragon lich is facing off against... No, it's not just one ancient silver dragon paladin, but also two silver dragons that are at least elderly.
Chapter 92
Warrior retinue.
Hevilan completely ignored Lylotar's intentions. One of her squires broke away from the flight formation and met Lylotar's charge. The silver dragon squire's wings whipped up an unusual storm that swept over the dragon lich, completely disrupting the airflow on which it was flying, and it fell to the ground like a skeleton thrown from a butcher's rack.
This guy was able to escape unscathed from Hevilan's breath attack only because Hevilan's breath was not aimed at him but at the magical core that caused the death. At the same time, his transformation into a dragon lich made him immune to cold damage, allowing him to crawl out unharmed from the aftershocks.
If Haivilan's breath hit it directly, the impact damage from that dragon's breath ice ball, with its concentrated energy, would be enough to shatter its skeletal frame.
Hevilan continued to bombard Lelotar's lair with her breath-filled ice balls, and the negative energy of the underworld overflowing from the dead land was rapidly diminishing.
The silver dragon squire descended to the ground, its forepaws pressing down on Lylotar's skeletal head, quickly dismantling the entire skeleton. A dazzling light gathered in the silver dragon's mouth, and a breath of dragon breath carrying the power of the Exorcising Slash was taking shape. Lylotar, who had only recently become a dragon lich, was about to be "executed."
"Wait!" Casalos shouted as he swooped down, his mouth still open, and crashed into the pile of bones, snatching Lylotar's still-intact skull, much to the bewilderment and stunned gaze of the silver dragon paladins who followed him.
"What do you want to do, Brass Dragon?!"
3. Guarantee
“Brass Dragon, I warn you, don’t try to confuse my judgment with your foul language. Tell me what you want to do, and explain why you’re trying to stop me from purifying this evil, dead creature.”
Silver dragons are so good-natured, especially the Silver Dragon Paladins.
If a golden dragon had captured the dragon lich, Casalos would have been covered in dragon breath long ago if he had dared to do this; he wouldn't have stopped to wait for an explanation.
"Hi, esteemed Knight of the Claw of Justice, I am Sivart Sivit. I am not here to save this wicked and hideous skeleton. My lair is nearby, and I have long suffered at the hands of this evil creature!"
The blue-green will-o'-the-wisps flickering in the two eye sockets of the Lelotar skull seemed to want to express something, but Casalos stabbed them in with a claw, preventing them from vibrating the air to simulate a sound.
"The Dragon Cult has been a scourge on this world for a long time, and the dragon liches have long threatened all living beings. If it weren't for your Knights of the Claw of Justice sweeping them away everywhere, who knows how many more dragons and insects would have been harmed by them."
Casalos first praised the achievements of the Knights of the Claws of Justice without batting an eye, even though it didn't know exactly what the Claws of Justice had done.
The silver dragon's tone softened, even displaying a rare humility for a dragon: "No, you're mistaken. We're not the only ones working to rid the world of evil, harpists..."
"Oh, yes, I understand, I know about the organization of those two-legged insects, but they also act under your guidance and leadership, don't they?"
The Harpists are not under the jurisdiction of the Metal Dragons, and have absolutely no connection to the Claws of Justice. However, there's a problem that even the Harpists themselves are unaware of: Gold Dragons, Silver Dragons, and Bronze Dragons have long participated in the Harpists' specific activities against evil forces, often posing as some kind of humanoid race. This is especially true of the Silver Dragons, many of whom operate humanoid identities that make them high-ranking members of the Harpists in a particular region.
In other words, from the perspective of the Silver Dragon Paladin of the Claws of Justice, Casaloz's statement is not wrong—dragons are proud after all, and the humility of silver dragons in hiding their achievements does not mean they are unwilling to hear praise for themselves.
"I believe that you, who have already fought many battles with dragon liches, are already very familiar with what makes these extremely evil inanimate objects so painful and disgusting."
"Hmm?" The Silver Dragon Paladin uttered a sound of some doubt, a faint light emanating from his eyes, which resembled molten blue mercury. He shook his head in a manner befitting a human's denial, and said, "Due to many limitations, our intelligence is very limited, and we don't understand them well enough. What is it that you find so troublesome and disgusting?"
Good heavens, these silver dragons don't even know the most important characteristic of the dragon lich.
“This…” Casalos hesitated.
"If you have any information about them, feel free to speak!" Seemingly sensing Casalos's concerns, the silver dragon continued, "This is our mistake, and we should take full responsibility for it." Of all the true dragons, only the silver dragon, who would rather remain silent than tell a lie, would so readily admit his error.
“As I just mentioned, these evil undead creatures are called Dragon Liches. As the name suggests, they are actually similar to those two-legged insects…”
"Lich!" A bone-chilling cold emanated from the silver dragon's nostrils and between its teeth, causing even Casalos, who had extremely high cold resistance, to shiver—it was intentional, as the brass dragon, being a fire-type subspecies, was naturally also weak to cold.
Realizing his mistake, the silver dragon suppressed his ignited rage: "You mean, this evil undead thing really is a lich, a lich transformed from a dragon! If we kill it now, it will quickly resurrect. As long as it lies dormant for a while, and we leave to deal with other areas, it will resurface and continue its evil deeds. And at that time, with your lair nearby, you will definitely become the target of its wrath, right?"
“After all…” Casaroz swished its tail, turned its head to one side, and nervously pawed at the green dragon skull, causing the will-o'-the-wisp burning within to flicker: “I’ve only just come of age.”
Out of the corner of its eye, it saw that the entire desolate land in the distance was now covered by glaciers, and the negative energy of the underworld had completely dissipated. No matter what arrangements Lelotar and the Dragon Cult had made here, they had all been completely destroyed by the violent bombardment of Hevilan's dragon breath.
Haivilan, accompanied by another attendant, is flying towards this place.
“We understand your concerns, but we can’t stay here to provide you with shelter for too long, and we’re sure you wouldn’t want to move your nest from here. So, do you have a way to resolve our current predicament?”
Hevilan's gentle voice drifted from afar. Hearing it, the silver dragon, who was conversing with Casalos, bowed slightly and stepped back, making room for the high-ranking knight. The ancient silver dragon's massive body landed gracefully before Casalos, its movement belying its size—over thirty meters long and weighing five hundred tons. Silver dragons, aside from sky dragons, are the most skilled and best fliers among all true dragons, including legendary dragons, without exception.
This is thanks to their shared wind attribute with the Platinum Dragon God, and their innate mastery of various spell-like abilities related to wind elements or flight.
The people of Faerûn all attribute the Red Dragon's consistent defeats in battles against the Silver Dragons to the Silver Dragon's ability to summon numerous allies. Little do they know that without these allies to help the Silver Dragon drive away the Red Dragon, the Silver Dragon, due to its weaker "stats," is often forced to kill the Red Dragon in aerial combat. Indeed, the primary reason these seemingly saintly beings summon allies when conflicting with the Red Dragon actually includes the desire to avoid killing the dragon.
Casalos couldn't comment on this; in its mind, the best enemy was one that had entered its stomach. But it had to be said, it handled normal silver dragons with considerable ease.
"Greetings, Your Excellency, Knight of the Claw of Justice." Casaroz bowed in greeting, mimicking the movements of the silver dragon attendant, and pushed the green dragon skull forward, saying, "You see, due to the numerous blows it has suffered, it no longer has much power, yet it is still alive and cannot be resurrected from the Life Box."
I have to admit that when it was at its peak, I could only stay away from it, but now that it's in my hands, it doesn't even have the chance to commit suicide.
I will carry it with me at all times and guard it carefully until its life box and all its contents are safe.
Chapter 93
After finding and destroying all other backups, then extinguish its nascent flame.
This is my territory, and I will not tolerate such evil surviving in any way!
My hand got injured by accident...
After picking my child up from school, I was cutting a watermelon for him when I got home. I must have been too hot to think straight, because I cut my hand badly, and blood was gushing out. Luckily, the pressure bandage stopped the bleeding, so I don't need stitches. But I can only type with one finger now, so I'll have to take a day off.
4. Unexpected Gains
"Then it's yours. I believe that as a descendant of the Supreme Dragon, you would never be interested in the Dragon Cult or their dragon lich technology used to taint the bloodline of Asgras, would you, Casalos?"
"Huh?" Casalos was still in shock at the exposure of his true identity when Hevilan and her two attendants took off and flew away into the distance on the wind created by her magic-like abilities.
The knights of the Claws of Justice seemed to have a lot of things to deal with, so they confidently handed the dragon lich over to Casalos.
"By the way, remember to visit Sword Bay when you have time. There's a dragon waiting for you there..."
A gust of wind was sent to Casalos's ear and gently smacked it, while Hevilan's soft and unique voice echoed in its ear canal.
"I didn't sense any fluctuations from the detection magic, so how did they discover my true form and even call out my name? Is this the true value of Faerûn's first silver dragon? Silver dragons aren't like gold dragons that are good at luck. Could it be that paladins are very good at identification and authentication? I've never heard of such a thing."
A dragon is waiting for me in Sword Bay… Fiona Milon? Damn it, why did I have to go to that troublesome place like Sword Bay when I could have gone anywhere else to hide…?
As he watched the silver dragon disappear into the horizon, Casalos muttered to himself about his doubts, while releasing the interference with the dragon lich's soul, allowing it to "speak" normally.
"It seems you've also realized I'm not a brass dragon. What were you about to say to that paladin?"
After transforming into a dragon lich, the green dragon's voice became low and gloomy, like rusty iron pieces rubbing against each other: "Gah gah, you iron dragon brat, why did you have to disguise yourself as a brass dragon? Do you have that gossipy ability that dragons hate and undead dread? Who can't tell you're not a brass dragon?"
"..." Casaloz was speechless for a moment. The dragon lich Lylotar was right, and it also stirred up some very bad memories for it. It tossed the green dragon skull into the air, swept its tail across it like hitting a baseball, and then slowly flew up to catch it again. The green dragon, powerless to resist, did not care about its previous experience at all and continued to chatter on.
"Do you think I'd be afraid of this utterly ineffective torture, you little iron dragon? You have no idea what kind of immortal power I possess now!"
"Hmm, no color, no smell, no taste, no sound, no touch—just a life of mere existence, like a true dead being moved from one skeleton to another in a charade of immortality." Casalos thought for a moment, tilting his head and peering down at the eerie will-o'-the-wisp in the green dragon's skull with his dragon eyes, and continued in the grey dwarf language, "Looks like he's lost his mind too. A prime green dragon, most adept at scheming and trickery, after transforming into a dragon lich, actually charged at a silver dragon paladin who was at least old, without knowing the situation, and was beaten to a pulp, leaving only his head."
"Oh! What do you know..." Lelotar, unwilling to lose in the verbal exchange, began to attack the loopholes in Casalos's words: "Heh, you're the idiot. If I couldn't hear, how could I be talking to you here?"
"You think you can hear me? Then tell me, what language was I speaking to you just now?"
"Of course you are... uh?" The will-o'-the-wisp in the hole flickered on and off.
"Everything you hear is just an illusion fed back to you by the dragon lich's magic. The reason we can communicate is because magic allows you to directly understand what I want to express, just like knowing a language."
"So what? Does it make any difference?"
“Of course…” Casaroz clicked his tongue, chuckled, and deactivated his transformation to revert to his true form as an Iron Dragon. He then surged upwards and flew toward the Dawn of Iron. The raging wind that poured into the Dragon Lich’s hole prevented it from vibrating the air and making a sound.
The lich-dragon lich's senses are all based on signals fed back to its soul from "magic," which allows it to do a great deal. Especially when it has lost most of its magical skeleton and its various magical defenses have been largely eliminated by the paladin's Evil Slash, extracting useful information from it becomes very simple.
Not to mention, Dragon Territory also has mind sorcerers.
Because the Cult of Dragons got there first, Casaloz's war against the Green Dragon couple had to end in a half-hearted manner. However, retrieving Lylothar's skull head still gave him hope of obtaining a Blood Oath Pact.
Given the Green Dragon's reputation, Lylothar's entire family—the adult dragon Lanlot and his cubs—were likely all killed by Lylothar and placed in his phylactery as spare bodies for his resurrection. The treasure they plundered, of course, also ended up in Lylothar's belly—it's highly questionable whether a skeleton still has a belly, and whether a dragon-like dimensional bag spell like "Stomach of the Universe" could be used by a dragon lich is unclear. However, the knights of the Claws of Justice had no intention of looting Lylothar's treasure; those treasures wouldn't simply vanish into thin air.
Hevilan said she was handing Lelotar over to Casaloz, which means that Lelotar's original territory now belongs to Casaloz, who has plenty of time to turn the entire area upside down.
Although a vast and fertile territory had suddenly appeared on the surface, Casalos had no intention of changing its original underground development strategy. However, the Green Dragon couple's original dragon servants had likely all been turned into undead by the Dragon Cult and Lelotar. Hevilan's previous bombardment had completely cleared the negative energy from the entire wasteland, leaving the undead without their source of sustenance; they were now utterly dead. Therefore, the Green Dragon couple's plan to abduct people had completely failed, and Casalos needed to find a new source of population.
After rendezvousing with the hovering Iron Dawn, Casalos flew into the range of the telepathic connection with the Dragon Servant Scouts, contacted the scattered reconnaissance teams, and instructed them to return to prepare for their retreat. However, a team heading north into the Hazur Mountains brought Casalos good news.
"My lord, we have discovered some suspicious traces. After tracking them, we found a juvenile green dragon. It looks very bad. We are now secretly following behind it. Should we capture it?"
"Wait, just follow it, I'll be right there."
The teenage green dragon was in very poor condition. Near the territory of the green dragon couple, Casalos suddenly thought of that treacherous creature who had repeatedly killed his "brothers." If any member of the green dragon family could escape the clutches of the dragon lich Lelothal, then Shakales was undoubtedly one of them.
If it weren't for Shakales, Casalos might not have clashed with the Green Dragon couple. Casalos has a grudge to settle with them.
The author says:
Author's Note: ——————
It still hurts quite a bit when I press it, but I can still type if I do it slowly, so I'll start with one chapter~
5. The Green Dragon's Escape Story (1)
Guided by the reconnaissance team, Casalos used the huge optical telescope mounted on the bottom deck of the ship to lock onto the location of the green dragon, and then slowly sailed over to Iron Dawn.
Magic ships fly slower and less efficiently than dragons during normal atmospheric flight, falling into a speed range that doesn't require aerodynamic optimization. However, their levitation power comes from "anti-gravity," allowing them to easily reach extremely high altitudes. If the crew can withstand the strain, they can even float directly outside the atmosphere. Therefore, as long as they are equipped with...
Chapter 94
A few purely optical telescopes can serve as excellent reconnaissance aircraft.
With the aid of certain magical artifacts used for intelligence gathering, a single magical ship can illuminate a field of vision spanning tens of kilometers. Unfortunately, it seems that no one in Faerûn can currently build new magical ships—Netheril, on the other hand, has mastered the method of building magical ships. There are still a few archmages remaining in Netheril, but unfortunately, their "Valdic Sail" spell for building magical ships is a tenth-circle spell. After the second generation of the Goddess of Magic completely sealed off spells above the ninth circle, even those remaining archmages are powerless to do so.
To acquire this thing, the only remaining method might be to "borrow" it from mind flayers or Geese Yankees. Of course, the Dragon Treasury might also be able to provide similar power at some point in the future.
In short, Iron Dawn is extremely valuable to Casalos, and it would never put its vehicle in a dangerous situation unless absolutely necessary. Therefore, the situational awareness system equipped on it is very comprehensive and advanced.
Regarding optical reconnaissance over land, it has four sets of optical telescopes for ground reconnaissance, each set consisting of two wide-field early warning and inspection telescopes plus one narrow-field high-magnification tracking and observation telescope. After the Iron Dawn departs from port, six keen-sense kobold crew members are on duty at all times, monitoring every move around them.
By lowering its altitude slightly, Casalos could clearly see the green dragon spotted by the reconnaissance team through the tracking scope. It really was that treacherous and ruthless creature, Shakales, staggering through the forest that had been reborn after the wildfire, seemingly searching for food.
Both of Shakales' wings were ruined. His right wing was reduced to half of its upper arm, connected to its shoulder, with jagged edges, clearly bitten off by a giant jaw. His left wing was relatively intact, but it drooped completely on the ground, with at least five bone fragments broken. The wing toe was also in bad shape, limp and dragging behind him like a mind flayer's tentacle, obviously unusable.
Its tail was also broken off in a small section, but green dragon tails are short to begin with, so it didn't have much of an impact.
The injury that truly made it difficult for this green dragon, which was adept at climbing through complex jungle trees, to move was located on its lumbar spine. Its lumbar spine was bent at an odd angle to the right, causing it to completely lose control of its hindquarters. Now, only its forelimbs could still move normally, while its two hind legs and abdomen dragged straight behind it.
"What did you do?"
Let the skull of Lelotar look at its son's condition, and it laughed sinisterly: "Hehehe, it has become like this. It deserves it. As my child, it is unwilling to offer its own body to me as a continuation of my great and immortality. It is truly unfilial!"
It seems it wasn't Lelotar who did it. Indeed, if it were, Shacales probably wouldn't have had a chance to escape.
Casalos silenced the green dragon skull again and tossed it aside, instructing his temporary first mate, Eisen, to watch over it, before resuming control of the magic ship. Instead of rushing down to capture Shacales, he switched the Iron Dawn to circling mode and continued observing the pitiful teenage green dragon.
Shakales dragged his paralyzed hindquarters slowly forward with his two front paws, finally managing to cross a small hill and reach the shallows of a gently flowing river.
Since killing Greshav and Samur at the cost of crippling them—the former being its nestmate and a teenage green dragon, and the latter being its mother's captain of the guard, a serpent warrior who had awakened her dragon bloodline—they came to capture it because its mother, who had transformed into a dragon lich, needed more dragon corpses as backups for her resurrection. Greshav, unwilling to sacrifice himself, somehow allied himself with Samur, attempting to exchange Shakales' corpse for his own life.
That idiot never considered that their common mother, Lelothal, had no intention of letting any of her children go... Of course, the more backups the better.
Having finally managed to kill Greshaf and Samur, Shakales finally had a chance to escape his mother's clutches and struggle to survive in the "forbidden" jungle that Lelotar dared not enter.
It frequents this shallow area because it's the busiest water source nearby—normal water sources are plentiful in the tropical jungle, but water containing magical energy is anything but common. Not only wild beasts, but even some ferocious species and magical creatures often come here to drink.
Today was no exception. When Shakales arrived, a large number of wild animals had already surrounded the shallows. Some flew in the sky, some walked on the ground, and some burrowed in the grass; some were herbivores, some were omnivores, and some were predators... Wild animals that should be at different positions in the food chain were actually living together in one place, licking the same river water. It was a rare harmonious scene in the jungle.
The arrival of Shakales shattered this harmony. As a juvenile green dragon, it already exceeded ten meters in length. Even with its hindquarters paralyzed, when its forelimbs, the longest of all true dragons, supported its upper body and straightened its neck, Shakales's head could reach a height of seven or eight meters. From the perspective of jungle beasts, it was a ferocious behemoth, and few species dared to challenge its majesty.