Proof (2)
In battle, numbers were an element that could never be ignored. Especially in fights excluding special environments like sieges or defenses, they were even more indispensable. Surrounding a single enemy and concentrating all firepower on it—a primitive tactic used even in ancient times before formal strategies existed. The White Gold Dragons were executing it with near perfection.
[Push him!!]
[The Red Dragon is weak to cold! Attack even harder!!]
Their breaths, their fangs—all directed at the Red Dragon. Like a single organism, the White Gold Dragons attacked in unison. The intense cold from each one seemed intent on freezing his body solid. Blue ice formed, binding the Red Dragon.
However.
He was the 'Calamity'.
[A shame.]
[Is that all you've got?]
Shattering all the ice clinging to him like it was mere wind, he soared upward. He was genuinely disappointed by their assault. No one was allowed to harm him. Their cold, melting upon contact with his scales, paled in comparison to the breath once endured by that primordial White Gold Dragon long ago.
[Hmm.]
In his eyes, they lacked 'resolve'. This wasn't a battle steeled for death—it was just ragtag fighters battling because they were told to. Compared to Meirina's recent bloodlust, their fragility in skill and spirit was painfully clear to the Red Dragon.
[If this continues, you'll all die.]
So, he decided to add a touch of sincerity. Knowing how much stronger they could become when death loomed, he... gathered fire in his maw.
The flames that scorched Yggdrasil. The flames that reduced this place to ashes. They blanketed the sky.
[Kuh...!!]
[Bl-blood, evade!! You can't take a hit!!!]
They knew he was holding back. Had the Red Dragon's breath been full force, their lives might have ended then. Even so.
[Kraaak...!]
They felt death. The once-clean air reeked of sulfur. Even grazed by the fire, their scales charred, leaving stinging pain. And that pain awakened their survival instincts.
Stay like this, and we die.
But fleeing wasn't an option. Fleeing would make them traitors to the White Gold Dragons. To survive...
[...Everyone, prepare.]
They had to repel that Red Dragon. They were no longer the disorganized group from moments ago. Fighters desperate to live, to defeat the 'Calamity'. Such resolve began etching into their minds.
[...Einhardt. Take command.]
"...! Are you sure?!"
And that instinct overrode pride. The human they'd dismissed as mere spouse. Yet a 'hero' who'd led vast armies. The eldest dragon entrusted judgment to him.
[No time for pride. Give us wise judgment and orders.]
[...Kuh! It's coming, Ein! Hurry!! He's trying to kill us!!!]
Einhardt glanced at the pursuing Red Dragon, then reached a realization.
The Red Dragon wasn't immortal. Not a demigod. Just a living being that could be killed. Thus, he had weaknesses.
"He's a dragon at heart. The heart. We target the heart!!"
The dragon's weakness. The core of their magic. Surely the same for the Red Dragon.
"First, split the forces. Some to draw his gaze and lure him, others to press the attack. Elder, select and direct them."
[Understood!]
The eldest, called the Elder, immediately followed Einhardt's orders. Using communication magic to command the others, he took the forefront himself, seizing the Red Dragon's attention.
Breathing cold.
Crashing directly into the Red Dragon, sinking fangs in.
[Hoo.]
[Kraaak—?!]
Taking his counter with his body. To draw his eyes. To lure him where they wanted. He literally set his body ablaze.
The Red Dragon's fire clung to the Elder dragon's form. Enduring the agony, he pressed on. Like a comet streaking the heavens. Guiding the Red Dragon with flames in tow.
At last.
[Hmm, is that it? Quite disappointing, then.]
The Red Dragon halted. In the empty sky's center, devoid of blind spots. Overwhelming presence gazing down.
And that was precisely the situation they'd hoped for.
[Now!!]
They were no longer a rabble. Like a single swarm. They surrounded the stationary Red Dragon from all sides.
Breaths to obscure his vision.
[Haa...!!]
Fangs seizing his legs, dragging to the ground.
Fangs into wings, resolve to snap them, restricting movement.
The moment he lost control.
"Huuuup...!!"
Meirina and Einhardt gathered all their power, charging the Red Dragon. A strike laden with weight and magic. To land even one effective blow.
The sight defied description. Einhardt's sword aura infused with draconic magic mingled with Meirina's icy breath, slamming the Red Dragon's heart.
[Intriguing.]
Scales near a dragon's heart are harder than any other. Yet one on the Red Dragon cracked.
A clear, effective hit.
The Red Dragon found it fascinating. Their attack actually hurt. Barely a chipped nail, but pain nonetheless. A sensation unknown through eons, undeniable.
Inflicted by the dragon and paladin before him. Proof of potential. The possibility of harming him. Sign they could grow stronger.
[Not bad.]
So, he was sincerely pleased. Weak, but not frail. They were... useful.
[Then, I offer you respect.]
[...Huh?]
"W-wait—"
Thus, he acknowledged their effort. Having proven utility, he'd clarify their place. Why they deserved his protection. They needed to see it.
"—Kraaak...!!?"
He gathered fire. Suppressed those blocking vision.
[St-stop—]
[—Quiet.]
Fangs ripping throats, inducing unconsciousness.
Slammed clinging White Gold Dragons to the ground.
[This mad—]
[Kuhk....]
With suppressors down and rolling, the Red Dragon seized the opening.
[Now, four left?]
His massive frame moved nimbly.
[Th-this... How in the—]
[Guess I got careless.]
Speed proved power as he felled them one by one.
The Elder and one young dragon down. Finally, only Meirina and Einhardt remained.
The reason for the effective hit was obvious. The strong's arrogance. Even with 21 White Gold Dragons and a paladin at full power, Einhardt's clear commands, the Elder's near-sacrifice succeeding—it was the Red Dragon allowing it. To 'test' them.
Meirina and Einhardt knew. Thus, they beheld the 'Calamity'. He'd never shown full sincerity. Yet their best was a single cracked scale. And the moment proof ended, he subdued everyone instantly.
They felt the overwhelming gap.
[Hmm, any last words?]
[...Uh, how about we call the fight here? You're tired too, right, Red Drag—]
[—Your final words? A pity.]
The Red Dragon pinned Meirina's throat with a foreclaw. Full strength and weight crushed her breath, sending her into oblivion.
"...Please make it quick. Red Dragon."
[I'll try.]
"—Kuhk...."
Einhardt flew from a tail swipe, unconscious.
Thus, their 'proof' ended. Overwhelmingly. Without a single death. Relatively... peacefully.
****
[Kuhng....]
The White Gold Dragon called Elder, the eldest 'Olan', felt his head ringing. Not just seeming—actually ringing. Vision spinning, mind hazy. Knowing it was all the Red Dragon's doing, he couldn't complain. He felt aggrieved.
...Red Dragon. So that's a primordial one.
Even dazed, Olan couldn't forget the battle. Though the oldest White Gold Dragon, he was younger than the Red Dragon. Obvious from why he was simply 'Red Dragon'—no offspring, a primordial survivor. No children meant no other red dragons, allowing his solitary title.
For Olan, who knew him only from tales, it was shocking.
...As rumored, mighty. And craftier than tales.
No disputing his power. He never showed sincerity, toying like with children, gliding aloofly. Now clear why 'Calamity'.
But craftier than expected. Olan's Red Dragon was a destroyer-king: smash the disliked, collect the liked. Yet this one... dominated all beneath him like a tyrant.
[—Kuhk, damn ill-tempered dragon. That was enough, why end it like th—!]
Meirina stirring, Olan asked.
[...Comrade Meirina. Why follow the Red Dragon's will?]
Thus, his curiosity. Meirina was odd among taciturn White Gold Dragons. Wanderer, craving human offspring despite odd desires. Choosing the Red Dragon seemed irrational.
But Meirina was nonchalant. As if judgments done.
[The age of dragons is over. For us.]
[....]
[But with the Red Dragon, it's different. With him, we survive.]
Meirina licked fallen Einhardt. Relieved, secure under protection. Olan saw...
[...I see.]
He realized his own relief. The pressure, guilt, fear gone. Long-lost feeling surprised him.
Under Red Dragon's protection, no more threats. Grow strong beneath him, reclaim dragons' fallen honor.
...Dragon's honor. Vanished amid dragon hunters and magic/tech advances. It stirred in Olan's heart.
Seeking to thank, he looked for the Red Dragon.
[Then, where's the Red Dragon who made us thus—th-this...?!]
He froze.
Because.
Yggdrasil. That is your new lair.
Words of fire on the ground.
[Wh-what is...]
[He's giving us this place? For real?]
Undeniably his message. The Red Dragon had granted this land to the White Gold Dragons.