Ashen Dragon

Large oil paintings hung on both sides of the palace corridor.

Beneath the paintings stood golden sculptures, vividly capturing vampires, silver dragons, angels, demons... even the incarnations of the divine.

These are the glorious exploits and illustrious achievements of the Ashen Empire's Emperor.

Dracalis ascended the steps one by one, lifting her gaze to finally behold that majestic figure once more—

A mighty red dragon lay sprawling across a throne renowned for its gold, its demeanor slightly languid, yet still exuding an incontestable majesty.

This red dragon was extraordinarily robust, with muscles coiled like solidified magma.

His entire body was covered in thick red scales, with a metallic sheen glimmering on their surface, faint dark gold patterns resembling underground magma flowing beneath a cracked earth.

Atop his massive head, four horns swept back like a crown, and his pale-gold vertical pupils resembled magma, revealing arrogance, contempt, and disdain.

It was this feeling!

This feeling of being looked down upon, treated like trash!

Dracalis's face radiated endless excitement, her eyes brimming with desire, her feverish dragon heart pounded uncontrollably, her whole body trembling intensely.

"Your Majesty Cassius, I... I can finally meet you again, I am Dracalis..."

"Do you remember? Not long ago, in Aphernas, your majestic figure deeply shook me..." Dracalis spoke excitedly, her words nearly incoherent.

"Aphernas..."

Cassius raised his eyes to glance at her, speaking plainly: "In that case, are you the Dragon Queen's Divine Favored? Have you come by Her divine oracle?"

Unexpectedly, Dracalis firmly shook her head: "No, I am not; that one is not worthy of my following."

This piqued Cassius's interest, who raised an eyebrow and asked: "Why?"

"You are a red dragon, Tiamat's most beloved child, naturally a believer in the Mother of Evil Dragons."

"Aren't you the same?"

Dracalis chuckled softly, whispering, "That majesty is far too greedy; becoming Her Divine Favored, one day you will be completely consumed, not even a bone fragment left behind."

Upon hearing this, Cassius laughed aloud: "Ha, your assessment of the Dragon Queen is quite accurate."

"However... aren't you tempted by the strength of the Divine Favor?"

Dracalis snorted coldly: "Only the weak beg the divine for blessings, obtaining illusory strength; true power comes only from oneself."

"The reason I revere you is because I saw your power that can oppose the Dragon Queen; you should know, I always address you as 'Your Majesty Cassius,' rather than the so-called 'Dragon Prince.'

Cassius squinted his eyes slightly, gazing at the female red dragon below, his pale-gold eyes flashing with a deep look, as though seeing through her soul.

He could tell, this female red dragon's behavior wasn't pretending, her soul bore no trace of Tiamat's aura, she didn't seem to be a spy or agent sent by the Dragon Queen.

However, divine methods are unpredictable and inscrutable, he couldn't be certain.

"Dracalis, you are impressive indeed, having defeated Tiniya to stand before me."

Cassius cast an assessing glance at the female red dragon, speaking blandly: "So—what is your purpose here?"

Dracalis responded fervently, nearly fanatically, "What I desire most—of course, is to unite with you!"

"Those lizard-like Blue Dragons, Green Dragons are hardly worthy of you, only the noblest and purest red dragons barely qualify to become your mate—such as myself."

"Your Majesty Cassius, our bloodline union will produce the most perfect offspring, he will become the natural ruler of the red dragon clan, becoming..."

Dracalis exhaled bursts of sulfur-scented gunpowder smoke, her gaze intense as if already glimpsing a brilliant future.

Cassius, however, twitched his mouth.

—And you say you're not an undercover agent sent by Tiamat!

"That is impossible,"

Cassius shook his head, speaking coldly: "I cannot trust you, everyone knows that the one has long coveted my bloodline."

"Even if you are not currently a disciple of the Dragon Queen, I cannot rule out the possibility of you taking my bloodline to her for a reward."

"I understand this is impossible, your majesty," Dracalis lowered her eyelids, showing little disappointment, as if she expected it.

"But I will prove through my actions that I am the most suitable mate for you, the only dragon in Fianso Continent worthy of bearing your offspring."

"As for now—I actually have another request, I wonder if you could agree?" Dracalis bowed her head, an unusual deference and humility in her voice.

Her posture was extremely low, showing respect to the strong.

Cassius looked down at her with aloof eyes, asking: "What are you willing to sacrifice?"

"I can become your spy, providing you with information about the Dragon Queen's descent plan," Dracalis folded her Dragon Wings, speaking softly.

"Not bad, what is your request?"

Even Cassius couldn't fathom what this ambitious female red dragon actually wanted.

Power, wealth, strength?

Seemingly none among them.

Power is meaningless to a strong being like Dracalis, strength can generate the ultimate authority.

Though the Empire's wealth is endless, any dragon knows that with a True Dragon's greed, the Ashen Empire's Emperor would never relinquish the Empire's wealth.

As for strength, she scorns even Tiamat's Divine Favor, let alone Cassius's blessing.

The moss on the sewer vault glowed an eerie green under the dim phosphorescent light, the murky sewage lapped over the boots, each step eliciting a sticky "glug." Purple-black mucus seeped from cracks in the walls, converging towards the drainage—This was the unique neuro-corrosive substance of the Mindflayer's lair, causing hallucinations in ordinary people, as if countless tendrils wriggled within their ear canals. Suddenly, a dislocated "click" came from behind a section of broken cast iron pipe, like something twisting through narrow spaces.

Three patrolling guards had just raised their lanterns when the sewage exploded suddenly! Four Mindflayers burst from underwater, their pale humanoid bodies covered in decay, octopus-like heads had tendrils vibrating at high frequency, releasing visible purple Mind Shock Waves. The front guard's helmet caved, his eyeballs burst into a blood mist under cranial pressure; the second didn't even scream before tendrils stabbed his ear canal, his spinal cord extracted like a marionette from its shell; the sole surviving guard staggeringly retreated, the thunder of misfired firearms was devoured by the low-frequency screech of the Mindflayers.

These Mindflayers were evidently tactically trained. Two feinting creatures slapped the water surface with tendrils, raising a corrosive mist to obscure vision; a third descended from the ceiling, using a sucker to latch onto a guard's skull, tendrils precisely stabbed through the foramen magnum—not to kill immediately, but to manipulate the captive like a puppet, forcing him to use trembling hands to reload ammunition for his companions' firearms. Meanwhile, the fourth Mindflayer cut open the fallen guard's chest with bony wrist blades, extracting the warm liver and placing it into his oral apparatus, pale yellow digestive juices dripping from the chin, carving wisps of smoke into the ground.

The host wasn't completely dead. The guard's mangled body convulsively rose, a translucent Mindflayer larval tendril emerged from the neck wound, pupils dilated into a cloudy milky white. Grabbing a dagger, he stabbed at his former comrade, squeezing an inhuman synesthetic voice from his throat: "Cranium... gift to the elder brain..." And the true horror was just unveiling—afar, the sewage pool began to boil, more pale figures emerged to the surface, dragging along dozens of captives encased in mucous cocoons, their human faces twisted in soundless screams beneath the cocoon shell.

When the last gunshot faded, the sewer returned to deathly silence. Only the floating tattered uniforms and still pulsating neuro-corrosive fungal carpet attested to the existence of the massacre. The Mindflayers dragged the captives into the depths of the drainage, the slime cocoon occasionally twitched, as if the "seed" inside was about to hatch. Within the mental network of the elder brain, the coordinates of these new shells transformed into a cold string of purple light, converging toward the massive pulsing shadow beneath Baldur's Gate.