Snow Mountain's Hideout (3)
"What am I supposed to do about it? You stupid human."
Bete snorted derisively.
The scroll he so proudly held out just looked ridiculous to her.
But her adjutant recognized what Owen was offering and stepped forward.
"Lady Bete! That's a Dragon Scroll!"
His voice was thick with shock.
"Huh? For real?"
Only then did Bete examine the scroll Owen had presented more closely.
It was a large scroll depicting a ferocious dragon.
Bete finally grasped the situation.
But it had been so long since she'd last seen one that it didn't quite feel real.
She hesitated in silence before finally speaking.
"...A medium breed?"
It was bigger than the ones she'd seen in the past.
Which meant it wasn't a small breed, but a medium one.
Despair washed over Bete.
Even with herself and thirty-seven trained warriors, taking down a medium dragon was impossible.
'So that's why that country bumpkin Arwen pushed in here. How the hell did she get a dragon knight?'
Bete just stood there sweating profusely, unable to speak.
Her earlier sneering attitude had vanished completely.
Her face even looked pallid.
Owen chuckled softly.
He'd experienced this many times before—rude folks always turned polite the moment he unleashed a dragon in front of them.
"So you do know how scary a medium breed is."
"Shut your mouth! How dare you mock me? And how do we even know that's a real Dragon Scroll?"
Owen's expression turned to one of utter pity at Bete's retort.
"If you can't even tell if it's real, that's a problem in itself, isn't it?"
"Ugh...!"
It was true, so Bete bit her lip.
Failing to recognize such a powerful magic tool would call her qualifications as heir into question.
"W-wait. Let's negotiate. No need for things to get ugly between us, right?"
Bete extended her hand, trying to placate Owen somehow.
What he held was no different from a massive bomb.
But Owen had no intention of playing along.
"Nah, I don't think so."
He immediately summoned the Similis Dragon.
A flash of light briefly illuminated the dark cave, and then a thirty-meter-long behemoth appeared squarely between the two sides.
"Gah!"
"Hup...!"
Both sides were equally stunned.
Especially those who met the dragon's eyes—they froze like frogs before a snake.
Its large eyes had round pupils like a human's, not the vertical slits of typical reptiles.
This gave it a remarkably bright, clever look, though right now it seemed somewhat confused.
As if wondering why it was here.
Gulp.
Owen swallowed dryly at the Similis Dragon's reaction, tension knotting his neck.
He knew it was dangerous when he released it, but facing it up close made his nerves stand on end.
If it turned on his side instead, all hell would break loose.
"Shaak?"
Bete noticed the dragon's bewilderment too.
'That's weird. Hasn't it been fully tamed?'
If she played this right, there might be a way out of this crisis.
Bete quickly signaled everyone to stay put.
But there's always one idiot who doesn't listen, no matter where you are.
One of the warriors smitten with Bete charged in without assessing the situation.
"Raaargh!"
A burly dark elf wielding a massive partisan, eager to show off his warrior spirit in front of Bete.
Standing fearless before a dragon might just win over the heart of a proud heir.
But his charge was as good as begging the dragon to attack.
Dragons are apex predators at the top of the food chain.
They instinctively react to movement.
The Similis Dragon's massive head plunged down like an eagle snatching prey, clamping onto the dark elf.
Krunch!
Despite its enormous bulk, the speed was astonishing.
The charging dark elf warrior didn't even get a swing of his partisan before he was bitten.
"Aaaargh!"
Dagger-like teeth shattered his armor and burrowed in, drawing a scream.
But the true horror was just beginning.
As the Similis Dragon lifted its head to swallow, the warrior flipped upside down, thrashing wildly.
"Aaaagh! Ack!"
All he could see was the pitch-black maw of the dragon's throat.
He struggled desperately not to be swallowed, but a few more bites sapped his strength like magic.
Even as his survival instincts surged, his consciousness faded.
Blood poured from the dragon's jaws.
Thump! Thump!
With dull thuds, the dark elf slid down the Similis Dragon's throat.
The dragon shook its head lightly up and down to make swallowing easier.
"Gods..."
Watching her subordinate devoured before her eyes, Bete was gripped by terror.
The dead man had served her in the bedroom a few times.
He knew his place and was devoted, so she'd rather liked him.
But right now, pity was overshadowed by rage.
'Why the hell did you jump in like that!'
Bete hurriedly ordered her mages to prepare spells.
"I'll buy time somehow—fire off one big one."
"Yes!"
Fortunately, the dragon seemed to still be sizing up the situation and hadn't charged again.
It busily flicked out its long, serpentine tongue, gathering information.
Owen was just as flustered.
"What the...?"
Things had gone his way so far.
The Similis Dragon had attacked the enemy side.
But an unexpected message popped up, startling him.
+1
The beast had eaten one dark elf, and its intimacy ticked up slightly.
'What? Does it think I fed it?'
Owen's guess was spot on.
The Similis Dragon knew Owen was its scroll's owner.
Not fully tamed, so not its master—but recognized as the possessor.
Thus, it assumed Owen had released it to feed it.
It was ferocious, but past experiences taught it not to eat humans.
However, it had learned that big, differently colored humans (orcs) or brown humans with pointy ears by their faces (dark elves) were fair game.
So it snatched up the moving dark elf without hesitation.
"Shaak!"
And it tasted pretty good too.
Its belly had been empty, and now it got fed—simple as that, intimacy rose.
The Similis Dragon decided Owen was the guy who gives food. Spotting more pointy-eared snacks behind him, it licked its chops.
Owen caught on and quickly whistled to stop it.
"Wheet! Whee! Whee! Wheeeet!"
A series of sharp, rapid whistles.
The Similis Dragon belonged to the "Odatria" genus.
They were sensitive to sound, making whistles an effective communication tool.
"Shaaak?"
Rejected by its owner, the dragon looked puzzled—and a bit miffed.
Not for feeding?
-1
Intimacy dipped slightly right away.
Owen pointed toward the enemy side, signaling no.
"Shaat?"
As the Similis Dragon turned toward Bete's group, he blew an affirming whistle vigorously.
"Wheeeeeet! Wheeeeeet!"
A longer whistle this time, different from before.
Soon, the dragon got it.
The snacks near its owner reeked of bitter grass.
Like they'd been rolling in a field.
The other side just smelled savory.
The dark elves' tension-sweat excited its appetite.
It understood: one side yes, the other no.
"Shaaa!"
Just as it lunged for another meal, magic activated right in the dragon's face.
Ziiing!
Purple energy coalesced, then detonated powerfully.
BOOM!
The blast so close to its face knocked the Similis Dragon flat.
Thud!
Bete cheered at the massive body sprawling on the ground.
"Yes!"
The wounds were severe.
Its lips torn open, teeth fully exposed.
One eye squeezed shut from burns.
"Everyone, attack! Finish it off!" Bete shouted.
But that was a rash call.
Normal dragons often fled from hits like that.
Similis Dragons, though, were infamous for their foul tempers.
The injury only fueled its rage.
"Shaaa!"
The fallen beast rose, mouth agape.
The spell had hurt, but not enough to drop it.
Furious beyond reason, blood and saliva dripping, it charged the dark elves.
"Don't retreat! It's badly hurt!"
Bete wanted to run but stood firm, barking orders.
Worthy of an heir designate.
Reality was merciless.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The rampaging dragon was a catastrophe just charging through.
Warriors swung weapons and loosed strongbows to no avail.
The Similis Dragon ignored them, snapping up the mage in the rear.
"Aaaagh!"
The bitten mage screamed.
No mercy for the one who'd wounded it.
Snap!
The mage's spine snapped like a doll's, limbs dangling.
The dragon tossed its head and swallowed.
Meanwhile, dark elves desperately attacked to subdue it.
"Shaaa!"
Annoyed by those hacking its legs, it whipped its tail.
Wham!
The fifteen-meter tail sent several dark elves flying.
They crashed and rolled, never rising.
Owen saw their armor crumpled, bones shattered beyond recognition.
"Gods..."
Arwen and her subordinates shuddered watching.
They felt bone-deep the terror of a enraged medium dragon.
And in this chaos, intimacy kept rising.
+1
It went up by 1 each time it ate a dark elf.
Owen had been pondering how to bond with this ill-tempered beast, but this was unforeseen.
'Clearing enemies and raising intimacy... not bad, but...'
It was just too pitiful.
Only a dozen dark elves left.
They'd given up fighting, screaming and fleeing.
But the dragon relentlessly pursued, using arms and tail to herd them.
At the sight, Arwen grabbed Owen's arm.
"Heroicus! We have to capture the heir!"
"Why? What for?"
"We can hand her to a rival clan as a hostage! Better than killing her outright!"
A few dark elves strained to protect their heir.
But they were candles in the wind.
"Got it."
As Bete's last guard was about to be pinned under a forepaw, Owen whistled sharply.
"Wheet! Whee! Whee! Wheeeet!"
Rapid bursts meant "stop."
The dragon paused mid-swallow.
"Shaaa...."
Its glare was murderous with rage.
It stared at Owen for a while.
But belly full and intimacy up, it obeyed.
It realized something watching Owen.
Ah, you want some too.
Feeling it'd hogged too much, the dragon backed off.
Bete watched in stunned horror.
Most of her subordinates were dead.
Two remained—one crushed underfoot, vomiting blood on the ground.
No hope for him.
"Ah......"
Bete was utterly lost.
Everything had been going smoothly when she entered the hideout on the Grand Matron's orders.
How had this bolt from the blue struck?
As she dazed, Owen approached and said,
"Sleep for a bit."
"What?"
No answer—he smashed a picked-up stone into her temple.
Thwack!
Bete's eyes rolled back as she collapsed.
Thud.
No one in the Frozen Land could have foreseen the Black Briar heir's capture this day.