Chương 171: Reborn as the Dragon — Chapter 171 - The Weak Black Dragon

The smell was getting stronger. Su Nian felt a flicker of unease. Dragon auras clashing, that was the cause. Hot metal, roasted dry sand, machine oil. Either a Brass Dragon or a Copper Dragon. If it was a Copper Dragon, no problem. Praise their terrible jokes as absolute masterpieces and you could bluff your way through without a scratch. But the desert terrain told a different story. Whoever lived in this territory had an eighty percent chance of being a Brass Dragon. That was a real problem.

Because Brass Dragons were the ultimate chatterboxes. According to everything his bloodline inheritance had to say on the subject: these windbags loved dry heat, adored building their nests in the desert to bask in the sun, and every dragon nest had at least a few spots set aside specifically for sunbathing. They weren't particularly aggressive, either. Even when they ran into enemies, they'd open with conversation. If the talk broke down, they'd fight if they thought they could win, and bolt if they couldn't.

They'd even trap intelligent creatures just to satisfy their craving for company. They prided themselves on exceptional linguistic talent and the art of conversation. Which meant they could not stand any intelligent creature who disliked talking with them. Who disliked being around them. That hurt their self-esteem. And intelligent creatures who hurt their self-esteem ended up buried in the sand up to their necks, mouths exposed, available for chatting.

Brass Dragons maintained an extensive information network within their territory. Almost every creature in their domain could serve as an informant. So Su Nian already knew: the moment he caught that hot metal scent, the Brass Dragon almost certainly knew he was here. It was already too late to hide. Fine, then. He wouldn't bother. He charged straight ahead. The hot metal smell wasn't overpowering, which meant the Brass Dragon was young, probably around the same age as him. Speak of the devil.

In the distance, yellow sand heaved and churned, rising into a sandstorm that swallowed the sky. A Brass Dragon emerged from within, wingspan roughly fifteen meters, body length around eight. The hot metal smell in the air hit its peak the instant he appeared. That was the Brass Dragon's natural scent. Every dragon had one. Red Dragons smelled of sulfur. Black Dragons carried the reek of swamp rot, like decaying tree roots. Green Dragons gave off something spiced and faintly sweet.

Su Nian, for his part, smelled like roses.

"I am master of this desert — Rolls-Royce · Engus · Turmalin! Unnamed Black Dragon! Why have you invaded my territory!" Normal enough, for now. The standard dragon opening. Their arrogance made it mandatory: the moment a confrontation began, you announced your lineage. Something along the lines of: I'm royalty, you little punk. Meeting me is the last mistake you'll ever make. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Then, in the very next breath, the tone flipped completely.

"Where do you come from? Where are you headed?"

"Passing through my territory costs a toll of 1000 Gold Lions! Can't pay? No problem, come chat with me instead~ One full day of conversation offsets one copper coin of the toll!"

"Unbeatable value. No cheating, young or old!" Rolls-Royce planted himself fifty meters from the Black Dragon, brass-colored wings spread to their full span, casting an enormous shadow across the sand. In his assessment, the Black Dragon in front of him, barely fourth tier, had already been cowed by his aura alone. Might even be on its knees trembling by now. Black Dragons couldn't beat Brass Dragons. That was just how it was. He didn't even bother to look. Just brushed the Black Dragon's aura with his senses.

Weaker than him. And it seemed injured on top of that. This one was already handled. Then he heard it.

"Yanina-asali-finanetadina..." Why was there a magic incantation? And it was in Draconic? Rolls-Royce cracked one eye open and glanced toward the Black Dragon. One glance. Nearly gave him a heart attack. A fireball three meters across was already flying at him. And behind it, another. And another. Three more, in rapid succession.

"Damn it all! We were supposed to negotiate peacefully!"

"Attacking without warning — no dragon virtue whatsoever!" Rolls-Royce moved fast. He snapped his wings inward and launched himself into the sky. Among metallic dragons, Brass Dragons were considered among the more gifted in terms of speed. Dodging a Fireball? Trivial. Anna had already counted on that. While the fireballs drew his attention, she quietly cast several Light spells behind their cover. First-tier magic, no incantation needed. Instant cast. In daylight, they were nearly invisible.

And they flew faster than Fireballs. They were in Rolls-Royce's face before he registered they existed. BANG! They detonated. Rolls-Royce had decent magic resistance. Against Anna's Light spells, supercharged by peak-tier light element affinity, that resistance meant nothing. His vision went white. Nothing but endless, searing light.

"By Bahamut! What in the — this is a Light spell!?"

"Unbelievable! This Light spell is brighter than the two enormous scale-plates on that female Gold Dragon's chest I once saw! My eyes!" Even completely blinded, Rolls-Royce kept talking. It was pure instinct. Dragons didn't need their eyes to dodge magic. They had an innate magical sense, they could feel spells coming, track trajectories, read the air.

It was the same reason Su Nian's predecessor had only been caught in the Anlius Empire because he was already wounded by the city's siege weapons and burdened with protecting Anna. Mason's Fireballs alone never would have landed. Rolls-Royce twisted and spun through the sky, rolling onto his back, wiggling his hindquarters, flapping his wings in something that looked disturbingly like a waltz.

"Little one, you have real magical talent~ Good power, too~ Hmm... and you're carrying the aura of a great dragon..."

"Same aura as that weak little Black Dragon beside you... Are you his vassal? Then why is your aura stronger than his?"

"Strange. Very strange..." His voice drifted down from overhead, thoroughly relaxed. Anna didn't react at first. Her expression stayed flat. Then Rolls-Royce said weak Black Dragon. Her face went red.

"Don't you dare talk about brother like that!" She snapped the words out like a crack of thunder. Magical power surged around her in a roiling flood. Over a dozen Fireball spells wove together into a massive net and launched skyward. Anna's lips moved in a long, intricate Draconic chant, and a brilliant red magic circle bloomed behind her, unfolding like a kaleidoscope. She raised one hand and pointed at the sky. Her full reserves of magical power poured out at once.

The sudden depletion drained the color from her face. High above the desert, directly over Rolls-Royce's head. A meteor the size of a hill came down trailing fire. Rolls-Royce finally stopped talking. That wasn't something you simply rolled out of the way, but it wasn't a serious threat, either. A Banishment spell would deal with it cleanly.

"Little one! Watch carefully and learn~""This is not how you use magic!" He spread his wings to face the incoming meteor, focused, and began chanting the obscure syllables of Draconic. Then he couldn't. Something enormous clamped around his mouth. Rolls-Royce's eyes snapped open. The Light spell had faded enough to see. Barely. What he saw, filling his entire field of vision, was a massive Black Dragon, imposing, ferocious, right on top of him. Su Nian had one claw locked around Rolls-Royce's jaw.

The other gripped him by the throat. Razor-sharp dragon claws scraped against hard brass scales and threw off bright, blinding sparks. He twisted at the waist. The muscles along his dragon arm swelled and tightened in one instant. A long hiss of steam tore out from the molten circuits running across his body. He heaved. Space seemed to stall. The kinetic force was enormous. A sonic boom split the air around the Brass Dragon. BOOM! A shockwave ring detonated in the sky.

Rolls-Royce, eyes still wide with pure disbelief, was already gone, hurled by the larger, far more powerful Black Dragon directly into the path of the incoming meteor, moving so fast he blurred into a smear of brass against the sky.

Two Annas drop ahead, random loot. ➤ Next: The Brass Dragon's Submission