Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon’s Might
Chapter 188 - 187: Harvest

Chapter 188: Chapter 187: Harvest

The Death Horror Monarch of Oblivion had departed, but that did not mean the matter was concluded.

The Death Knights still lingered, mounted on their nightmarish steeds. Ornately dressed vampires hadn’t left either, and there were still plenty of undead creatures such as wights and sword-bound ghosts wandering about—many that Angermog hadn’t slain. All together, they were a formidable force.

The primary goal of the Death Fear Punishers was to destroy the Impermanence Card while simultaneously searching for any tools that might aid them in accomplishing their mission, including powerful magic items, rare spells, or ancient repositories of knowledge. In other words, they were far from indifferent to treasures.

Angermog’s lair housed countless treasures, most notably a piece of dragon armor he had taken from the cloud giants—a piece Leon had his eyes set on. "Your leader’s gone, so why are you still here?" he remarked.

"Since the Impermanence Card isn’t in your possession, you should’ve said so earlier, and none of this would’ve happened," said a Death Knight, his nightmarish steed pacefully stepping forward. The fiery mane, tail, and hooves of the dread steed flickered menacingly. The knight came to a stop before Leon.

He had assumed that Angermog always held onto the Impermanence Card, while Leon had only briefly come into contact with it.

"You’ve slaughtered so many of my underlings, and yet you haven’t given me an account for it," he continued. Leon wouldn’t dare provoke the Death Horror Monarch of Oblivion, but as for a mere Death Knight, he wasn’t concerned in the slightest. If he could win once, he could win twice. Besides, his Hand Palm Bomb was particularly effective against undead creatures—mere moments of effort would be enough to deal with them.

"Tch." The Death Knight grunted, defeated but unwilling to argue further. Bowing slightly from atop his nightmare steed, he retrieved from Angermog a Sun Card—a rare and exceptional artifact.

The vampires followed closely behind, taking the gemstones that had appeared thanks to the Gem Card.

"The things created by the Impermanence Card—we’ll be taking those," the Death Knight said as he scanned the surroundings. "The rest of the items we’ll leave for you. Us Death Fear Punishers are famously generous, as long as you’re willing to help us."

"These things were mine to begin with," Leon retorted. Though the rugged red dragon scales of Angermog made him formidable, Leon didn’t dare guarantee that he could slay him—only that he could drive him away. His statement wasn’t incorrect, but after some thought, he decided it was best not to inflame the situation further. "Go in peace. I won’t see you off."

The Death Fear Punishers came and left quickly, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Their cordial demeanor somewhat surprised Leon. However, with a wry smile, he realized that their "friendly" behavior was entirely due to his strength and worth. Had he been a weaker person, they would have likely cleaved him apart without hesitation.

Thinking back on how he had taken the Impermanence Card from the Underground City only for it to be seized by the Death Fear Punishers now, it felt like some sort of twisted cycle of fate. If only he had known, perhaps he wouldn’t have taken the card to begin with. But regret at this point was pointless.

Distracted momentarily, Leon shook his head vigorously, took a deep breath, and slowly regained composure as he surveyed his surroundings.

With Angermog reduced to ash under the blade of the Death Horror Monarch, the activated breaths he had created also dissipated. Originally a lone red dragon, Angermog had gained little more than fear-driven followers. Most of his underlings had been slain, while others had fled. The only ones remaining were a few cowardly kobolds.

Leon had long since set his sights on the dragon armor. Now, clutching it in his hands, he prioritized looting Angermog’s treasures instead of immediately equipping it. He planned to thoroughly admire and don the armor at a later time when he wasn’t in such a hurry.

Red dragons loved gold more than any other precious metal, and Angermog’s lair contained an astonishing amount of gold coins and molten ingots.

Rubies and fire opals held a special place in a red dragon’s heart. While Leon didn’t know if he had inherited this trait from his draconic essence, he found himself unable to put down the fire opals in particular, enamored by their allure.

"Great Red Dragon, we pledge our loyalty to you."

A bold kobold approached Leon cautiously.

Leon didn’t care about the local politics—he was only interested in acting as chieftain to treasures. The sycophantic kobold was driven solely by an admiration for power, easily shifting allegiances from Angermog to Leon simply because Leon was a red dragon. Concepts like loyalty meant little to them.

"Don’t bother me, or I’ll throw you all into the molten lava," Leon barked dismissively. He was too engrossed in scavenging to waste time dealing with insignificant creatures like kobolds. Fire salamanders were another matter entirely, as were fire dwarves, who might hold some strategic value—but kobolds? Not so much.

A glint of curiosity flickered in his eyes as he noticed the kobold was winged, but that was where his interest ended.

Angermog’s lair wasn’t particularly large—at least not for a red dragon over twenty meters in length. It was relatively narrow, yet conducting a thorough sweep still took Leon over an hour. Not one to discriminate, he swept everything of value, throwing anything possibly precious into the spatial folds of his Sleeve of the Universe first and asking questions later.

Leon briefly considered interrogating a kobold to see if Angermog had any hidden treasure troves. On second thought, he realized even if there were, it was unlikely such lowly creatures would know about them. He ultimately dismissed the idea.

Magic items of uncommon quality were worth hundreds of gold coins, while rarer artifacts fetched thousands. Leon, now with some understanding of material worth, tallied up his findings; the spoils of Angermog’s lair were worth tens of thousands of gold coins.

Angermog had once been an ordinary adult red dragon who hadn’t long advanced to Blood Scale Frenzy. Given more time to grow and plunder from more cloud giants, his hoard would have certainly been much larger. An unfortunate loss, truly.

The lifecycle of dragons was marked by two milestones: a century of life and a hoard valued at ten thousand gold coins or more. Such immense treasures linked the dragon, its lair, and its domain, forming a locus of potent magical energy.

As dragons aged and their hoards grew, they typically developed multiple lairs.

This tactic, in part, reduced risk—by spreading treasure across locations, the odds of losing their entire hoard in one theft diminished. It also served to extend their magical influence across an ever-expanding territory.

Sunshine Peak housed one lair, and this was another—but these couldn’t possibly be all of Angermog’s lairs. The thought of where to find the others vexed Leon.

Snowy mountain caves, abandoned mines, and the deep halls of dwarven strongholds; geothermal hotspots and volcanic caverns—places like these were abundant across the Lost Plateau.

Speaking of Angermog, if his body hadn’t turned to ash, it too would’ve fetched a pretty sum.

Leon sighed as he prepared to depart, suddenly noticing a circular stone structure in a corner.

Curious, he approached to discover it was supported by five stone pillars, each holding a stone ring. Suspended within were five large cauldrons, burning with white, red, blue, green, and black flames, respectively. The ground bore patterns depicting a dragon’s neck and head, corresponding to the cauldron flames—undoubtedly, a Tiamat temple.

It was said Tiamat demanded respect, obedience, and tribute from her followers. Devout evil dragons were reluctant to place her shrines within their lairs, loath to see her gaze fall upon their treasures.

Leon had no intention of entangling himself with Tiamat but he also saw no benefit in antagonizing her. Seeing no profit in destroying the temple, he spared it a brief glance before moving on without delay.

Leaving Angermog’s lair and distancing himself from the active volcano, Leon found a safe spot and eagerly retrieved the dragon armor.

If not for this dragon armor, he wouldn’t have come to the Lost Plateau at all.

Beyond the Tear Claw and Dragon’s Jaw, Leon had also provided blueprints for the dragon armor itself.

He had requested the armor be adorned with numerous spikes and blades. It was undeniably cool-looking but lacked the refinement he desired. He resolved to have it polished and possibly dyed; perhaps he could even achieve an automobile-grade paint job in this world!

Aside from the dragon armor, there were a few items that caught his eye.

A rare-grade ring that required synchronization to activate, though its effects were unknown.

The Endless Water Bottle resembled an ordinary stoppered flask. When shaken, it emitted the sound of liquid sloshing inside.

The Communication Stones consisted of two carved stones that paired with one another. They could be used sporadically for a short message technique, making them invaluable for preventing separation.

A heavy cloth pouch containing dried beans, undoubtedly something looted from a cloud giant, had ended up in his possession after passing through Angermog’s claws.

A bundle of rope that was clearly enchanted, though its exact use remained a mystery.

To be honest, Leon found himself debating whether to return to Watchtower Port with all these spoils right away.

After some deliberation, he decided he couldn’t abandon his principles entirely. The cloud giants had been quite helpful, providing weapon maintenance and even gifting him a bloodthirsty elixir and bull’s strength potion. He resolved to return what belonged to them.

The cloud giants had suffered enough—they had almost been turned into fog giants. Leon hoped they could hold on, avoid straying down darker paths, and remain allies for future endeavors.

After flying for about half an hour, Leon arrived at the spot where the cloud giants and the silver dragon had been ambushed. Finding no trace of them there, he turned and headed for Sunshine Peak. Still, there was no sign of them, prompting him to fly back to the cloud giants’ castle.

He decided to wait there for a day, or at most three. If they didn’t show up by then, it would be time for him to return. If the cloud giants failed to retrieve the treasures Angermog had stolen from them, it would simply be fate.