Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon’s Might
Chapter 287 - 283 Black Dragon and Green Dragon

Chapter 287: Chapter 283 Black Dragon and Green Dragon

Leon didn’t call everyone to act together; otherwise, with three Red Dragons, one Blue Dragon, one Green Dragon, and one Bronze Dragon, he wouldn’t even have a chance to make a move.

It wasn’t as if they were attacking the Talia Alliance, which was formidable, with Raffi’s docks housing so many steel magic statues that weren’t just decorative. Nor was it an assault on the Empire, which, though weakened, was still a camel bigger than a horse...

Careful planning was not in Leon’s current considerations. He didn’t wait for Cecilia to gather intelligence; instead, after having a good meal and drink, he set off.

Leon had met the Green Dragon before but not the Black Dragon. He decided to pay the Black Dragon a visit and flapped his wings, flying toward the swamp. It didn’t take him long to arrive above the swamp.

The Red Dragon’s main issue was arrogance, but when it came to irritability, that was the domain of the Black Dragon. Among the Colorful Dragons, the Black Dragon was the most short-tempered, vile, barbaric, and cruel. Even among the wicked Colorful Dragons, its sadistic nature was especially prominent, enjoying watching its prey beg for mercy and delighting in creating false hope for its enemies, allowing them the illusion of escape.

Leon circled in the sky for a while, originally thinking the Black Dragon would fly up in a rage to confront him. Yet, despite circling again and again, the Black Dragon never appeared.

Could it be that the Black Dragon wasn’t home?

Leon slowly descended to the ground, but his limbs immediately sank into the mud. The more he moved, the deeper he sank, forcing him to flap his wings and lift off again. Only then did he remember he had the Water Walking Technique he could use. From baby dragon to now as a young dragon in fifty years, he had rarely used it, so it was no surprise he forgot about it.

By now, Leon could be considered quite famous—no, extremely famous. Although Watchtower Port was far from the Empire and its people might not have heard of him, tales of Leon were definitely circulating through the Talia Alliance—stories used to scare children at night to stop their crying. Leon figured that the Black Dragon was probably afraid of him.

Excluding the disgrace of True Dragons—the White Dragon—among the Colorful Dragons, the Black Dragon ranked last.

Black Dragons loathed and feared other members of the Dragon Clan. They often spied on other dragons from afar, looking for opportunities to kill weaker opponents while avoiding stronger ones. If a more powerful dragon posed a threat, a Black Dragon would decisively abandon its lair and seek a new territory.

Leon was convinced that this particular Black Dragon had fled upon seeing him, although there was still the possibility it was hiding in its lair.

Whether it had fled or was hiding, Leon intended to find the Black Dragon’s lair. It was said that the Black Dragon had lived here for quite some time and surely had collected quite a bit of treasure—ten thousand Gold Coins wouldn’t be too much... though even one thousand would be welcome enough to buy quite a few rare alchemy materials.

Speaking of killing the Black Dragon, its Dragon Eye, Dragon Teeth, Dragon Heart, and Dragon Blood were all rare and valuable alchemy materials.

Black Dragons often lived on the edges of civilized areas, particularly in swamps that frequently experienced strife. They preferred dark caves, grottoes, or at least partially submerged ruins as nesting grounds. While the contents of their lairs varied, their surroundings were typically infested with centipedes, scorpions, and snakes, exuding the stench of death and decay.

With these thoughts, Leon began searching around but didn’t find the Black Dragon’s lair. Instead, he stumbled upon a Hydra.

The Hydra was a terrifying reptilian creature with the body of a crocodile and multiple snake-like long necks, each ending in a head. Even if a head were severed, it could regenerate using magic.

Hydras had a high challenge rating and were often used as monsters for great fighters to test their valor, but they were nothing in front of Leon.

In games, a Hydra’s round ends with regenerating two new heads at the locations where heads had been severed in the previous round—unless the Hydra had suffered fire damage in the prior turn.

A mere Hydra didn’t deserve Leon’s use of Samadhi True Fire or any spells at all. Instead, he easily tore it to pieces with just his sharp teeth and claws.

Leon’s tastes had grown quite picky by now; he didn’t even bother to try Hydra meat. Instead, he turned and headed toward another part of the swamp, reasoning that where there was a Black Dragon, a Hydra wouldn’t be allowed to run wild.

Leon found a group of Chimeras—creatures with goat-like hind legs, lion-like forelimbs, dragon wings, and the heads of all three creatures. With them was a Lizardfolk tribe.

"You must be servants of that Black Dragon," Leon threatened. "Where’s that Black Dragon gone?"

Evil Lizardfolk worshiped and served Black Dragons—unless, of course, they encountered a stronger giant dragon.

A Red Dragon was clearly stronger and significantly larger than a Black Dragon, so the Lizardfolk didn’t hesitate to switch allegiances, immediately revealing the location of the Black Dragon’s lair.

Unfortunately, after following the Lizardfolk through the ancient, twisting paths of the Red Mangrove Swamp, Leon found the Black Dragon’s lair—filled with the stench of bugs and rot—only to discover nothing but a leftover piece of opal.

Furious, Leon destroyed the Black Dragon’s lair and headed for the Green Dragon’s territory adjacent to the Black Dragon’s domain, but he couldn’t find the Green Dragon’s lair either.

Leon was somewhat annoyed but had no choice. Clearly, he should have led an army to come along—they would have surely found the Green Dragon’s lair easily.

He briefly considered making a side trip to the Yuan-Ti’s primordial city but ultimately decided to enter the territory of the elderly Green Dragon nicknamed Ghost Forest Nightmare instead. He figured if he caused enough commotion, the old Green Dragon would inevitably show up.

It wasn’t possible that a Green Dragon capable of threatening the Talia Alliance would hide from him the moment they met—it wouldn’t be that cowardly.

Just as Leon prepared to take flight, he spotted an unnatural shade of green. Focusing his gaze, he saw a Green Dragon using the Invisibility Technique to observe him from the shadows.

Leon vanished mid-air with a Gathering and Dispersing Energy, reappeared behind the Green Dragon in the next instant, and pressed its head to the ground. His gigantic form easily overwhelmed the Green Dragon, which had just reached the stage of large size. Leon said, "Caught you."

"I surrender! I surrender!" the Green Dragon offered no resistance. "To surrender is to lose half."

"Who told you surrendering is half a loss..." Leon chuckled. "What’s your name?"

The Green Dragon replied, "Hinton."

"Do you know who I am?" Leon asked, lowering his head.

Hinton flattered him, saying, "The great Lord of Giant Dragons, Leon—who doesn’t know you?"

Leon squinted his eyes and asked, "Since you know me, why haven’t I ever seen you visit me?"

"Because I’m afraid," Hinton admitted. "The mighty Lord Leon could crush me with just one claw."

Leon laughed.

"I am willing to serve Lord Leon. I am clever and can surely be of help to you," Hinton said.

"You are indeed clever," Leon nodded in satisfaction, completely oblivious to the smirk on the Green Dragon’s face, which seemed to mock the foolish Red Dragon.