Valley (4)
Dragons overwhelm everything.
This was an old saying of the Empire.
Everyone present shuddered at the appearance of the 40-meter-class dragon, recalling those words.
John was no exception.
"Oh my God... mercy."
The massive blue-tongue dragon before his eyes was on an entirely different level from the small dragons in the dragon stables he'd handled up to now.
He lost half his mind.
"Aaah..."
The blue-tongue dragon flicked out its tongue and slithered toward the bound group of John and his men.
Despite its enormous body, it glided over the ground as smoothly as a snake.
Its yellow, massive eyes soon locked onto one victim and stared down.
"N-no!"
The man who met its gaze thrashed wildly, his muscles spasming.
But the blue-tongue dragon mercilessly scooped him up and swallowed him in one simple motion.
"Aaack! Help me!"
Crunch! Crunch!
The sound of bones shattering echoed.
The blue-tongue dragon tilted its head back to swallow the human in its jaws.
Gulp.
The man vanished down the dragon's throat in an instant.
John and his gang watched, too stunned to even scream.
Even under the moonlight, they could clearly see the human sliding down the dragon's esophagus.
The dragon had apparently only half-chewed him, as the man's screams still emanated from inside its body.
"Gaaah! Aaaah!"
His agonized cries echoed like a reverberation.
But it didn't last long, and soon fell silent.
Even Maroon Baron, who had been brimming with confidence, clamped his mouth shut at the sight.
Dragons really are dangerous creatures. What if these things turned against me...?
Surprisingly, Maroon Baron had a thought similar to the Empire's emperor at that moment.
He suddenly understood why the emperor focused on more controllable means like cannons rather than dragons.
If that dragon knight betrays me, I'll end up as dragon shit right here.
Maroon Baron decided to dispose of the dragon knight at an opportune moment once this was over.
It wouldn't be hard—strike when the dragon was sealed in its scroll.
As the baron mulled this over inwardly, a new figure arrived in the valley.
It was Owen, who had secretly followed John's gang.
"Didn't expect this one..."
Owen clicked his tongue at the sight of the massive blue-tongue dragon.
Grenville's neck stiffened tensely at the far larger dragon ahead.
"Grenville, lower your stance."
"Eung."
Fortunately, this valley area was thick with rocks and tall reeds.
Grenville could hug the ground and vanish from sight.
The issue would be scent, but we're good there.
Owen was certain they wouldn't be detected if they stayed crouched.
The blue-tongue dragon's nostrils were clogged with blood from its mouth, dulling its sense of smell.
Plus, the dry weather had coated Owen and Grenville in dust on the way, which helped.
"Aaack! Help!"
The second victim was just sliding down the blue-tongue dragon's throat.
Owen wanted to minimize casualties if possible, but he wouldn't push it.
There was a dragon vastly larger than Grenville down there.
Assess the situation first.
"Let's see..."
Owen examined the text floating above the blue-tongue dragon.
Intimacy: 72
Sensory Link: Impossible
Potential:C-rank
Emotional State: Irritated
The knight and dragon's intimacy was decent.
Not easy to exploit like with Austin.
What caught Owen's eye was the emotional state: irritated.
To Owen, that seemed odd.
Blue-tongue dragons had very simple thought processes.
Happy when fed, irritated when hungry—that sort of thing.
Good breed, but not the sharpest.
What's irritating it? Forced feeding? No, dragons stop eating when full, even on command.
As Owen pondered, a dry wind rustled the reeds, and he realized.
"Ah... I get it."
"Eung?"
"That's the thing."
It was the height of dry season—known as the month of sandstorms.
Dust winds swept in from the Empire's vast eastern plains.
Owen figured he could use that.
"Alright, Grenville. Let's go."
"Et eung!"
Grenville bravely rose, heedless of the medium dragon ahead.
Only possible thanks to high intimacy with Owen.
Grenville advanced and let out the distinctive cry of Tokay dragons.
"Kekekekekek! Kek! Euuung!"
The high-pitched screech echoed noisily through the valley.
The blue-tongue dragon, mid-lunge at its third victim, flinched and recoiled in surprise.
Maroon Baron, eyes bulging, clearly hadn't anticipated Owen's arrival.
"Y-you!"
"Maroon! You've got some guts. A noble doing something this outrageous!"
Maroon Baron was struck dumb by Owen's rebuke.
He was caught red-handed—no excuse.
"Feeding people to dragons? You know that's strictly forbidden by imperial law!"
"Sh-shut up!"
Regaining his wits, Maroon Baron shot back.
No choice now—all or nothing.
"Owen Leire! Even with Bobert Count's protection, showing up alone here was a mistake. Might as well feed you too—who'll know about tonight then?!"
"Now you're trying to murder an imperial noble?"
An unforgivable crime.
Maroon Baron's heart pounded wildly.
Cold sweat poured amid excitement, breathing labored, but he forced a hearty shout.
"Hahaha! Why not! You came relying on that puny dragon? Can't you see this massive one?!"
His dragon knight was already mounted.
Owen could tell the man was experienced.
Handling a medium dragon marked him as skilled.
"Maroon Baron, fall back."
"Th-thanks! Take him out!"
As Maroon Baron retreated hastily, Owen faced off against the enemy knight.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Otto. Impressive courage, boy."
Owen silently eyed Otto's blue-tongue dragon instead of replying.
Confirming the breed among the varied blue-tongues.
Thick stripes covered its body, pale blue under moonlight.
Probably yellowish by day.
Dark eye bands too.
As expected, Owen realized.
"Aru, huh?"
"What?"
Otto couldn't hide his shock at Owen's question.
His mount was a rare breed among blue-tongues.
And under moonlight, colors were indistinct—yet spotted instantly?
"Good eye!"
Blue-tongue dragons usually hailed from the distant east.
Dry-land and humid-land types; this was the latter.
"From Aru Island. Heard there's only a pair in the Empire."
"Spot on. This is one of them."
Pride laced Otto's words.
But he frowned at Owen's follow-up.
"Aru Island's humid. How's the weather treating a dragon from there?"
Owen now knew the irritation stemmed from the weather.
Dry conditions were hellish for a humid-originated Aru blue-tongue.
Physical performance would suffer too.
Spot-on observation; Otto bit his lip.
"So what?!"
"If you don't get it, you're a fool of a knight, Otto."
Though inwardly rattled, Otto feigned calm and changed tack.
"More importantly, boy! Heard you made a name beating Russell's whelp. But tournaments and real combat are different. Time to show you."
"Underestimate Grenville for being small, and you'll regret it."
"Spits fire, right? Haha! Impressive, but no match. Look at this bulk—it'll shrug off that puny flame!"
Fire alone wouldn't subdue such a massive foe with high intimacy.
No fleeing and abandoning its rider.
But Owen remained relaxed.
No retort—just raising a hand to gauge the wind.
It irked Otto.
"Enough talk! I'll devour your dragon too!"
Otto yanked the reins; the Aru blue-tongue gaped wide.
"Kruuuek!"
Thrusting out its blue tongue to threaten—don't underestimate.
That tongue bore deadly venom.
Even without, one solid bite would critically wound Grenville given the size gap.
Owen, knowing this, spun Grenville leftward swiftly.
"We won't clash head-on."
"Et eung!"
As Grenville responded, the blue-tongue charged at explosive speed.
They were sluggish generally, but initial burst on prey was tremendous.
"Kruuuk!"
But Owen had anticipated.
Dodged swiftly, then charged forward.
The startled blue-tongue turned, but agonizingly slow.
Fine in straight lines, but turning? Turtle-paced.
Against nimble Tokay dragons, it was hopeless.
Before it half-turned, Grenville latched onto its tail.
Perfect strike opportunity.
"Bite!"
Grenville chomped the tail with all its might.
"Kruuuek!"
The blue-tongue shrieked, its massive body shuddering.
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Startled, it dragged the clinging Grenville dozens of meters away.
"Let go, Grenville. Let go!"
Calming the bulldog-like Grenville, Owen snatched the torch from beside the saddle.
Meanwhile, Otto struggled to soothe his panicked dragon.
Even with special pulley reins, controlling the head-shaking beast was tough.
Owen lit the torch and held it to Grenville's maw.
Otto instinctively knew: fire breath incoming.
"I said that trick won't work!"
"We'll see!"
Owen had planned differently from the start.
That's why no fire yet—just tail bite to create distance.
Whoooosh!
Dry wind blew from inside the valley outward.
Originally, Otto inside, Owen outside.
But the tail maneuver reversed positions.
Owen seized the moment for fire assault.
"Grenville!"
Grenville spewed flames at Owen's shout.
Whoosh!
The blaze engulfed the surrounding reeds.
Dry weather, valley winds—perfect for spread.
Whoosh!
Instantly, the reed field became an inferno.
Even the hulking blue-tongue couldn't withstand the crimson wave.
"Kek! Keeek!"
It thrust its tongue threateningly but soon flailed back in panic.
Owen kept Grenville firing; hellscape unfolded.
Embers carried by wind overwhelmed it; unable to endure, it fled rearward.
"Keeek! Ke! Kek!"
Otto atop lost all control.
His dragon's face badly burned, will to fight gone.
"Kuh! Damn it!"
Otto felt deep shame at being perfectly played by the kid he'd underestimated.
Despite the larger dragon, total domination.
Glancing back, the valley entrance blazed.
Owen and others trapped inside—but Otto knew he wouldn't die.
Tokay dragons scaled cliffs like flat ground.
Climb the walls evading flames, done.
"I'd have burned alive trapped inside."
Close call.
Maroon Baron would soon be caught.
Nothing more he could do.
"Have to retreat, regrettably."
With this, Maroon's downfall certain.
Employer done—where to next?
He'd be hunted as a criminal too.
Otto pondered deeply atop his fleeing dragon.
Otto and the blue-tongue dragon repelled, but Owen was trapped inside the valley.
No escape routes; screams erupted amid the blaze.
"Gaaah! Burning alive!"
"Can't breathe!"
Intense heat scorched skin.
Yet Owen stayed calm.
First, he cut John's ropes.
"Want to live?"
"Y-yes!"
"Snap out of it, idiot!"
Slap!
A slap to the cheek woke John fully.
Owen ordered:
"You and your men—tie yourselves together with the ropes."
"What?!"
"Like linked fish. We'll use Grenville to climb the cliff."
"Ah!"
As a dragon breeder, John got it instantly.
Hope lit his face.
John beat and yelled at his men:
"You worthless scum! Hurry if you wanna live!"
His gang, also breeders, grasped it and rushed the ropes.
Grenville's strength could haul them all up the cliff.
"Faster! Faster!"
"Flames closing in!"
As they hustled with escape in sight, one man threw himself wailing at Owen's feet.
"Please, Sir Leire! Take me too! Save me!"
Maroon Baron.
He realized clinging to Owen was his only lifeline.
Recent deathmatch with Owen irrelevant now.
He groveled, hands atop head, begging abjectly.
"Name your price! I'll do anything—anything!"
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