vncnus Page 9
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As the hymn reached its final climax, the first rays of dawn illuminated him and his raised crown and sword. His Majesty smiled and sang the last syllable, his entire being merging with the sunlight streaming down from the clouds. His body dissolved into the rosy dawn, floating in the air like a ghost. The gates of Avangard opened in the sky, and the king's ghostly spirit soared into them.
Faced with this breathtakingly magnificent sight, the entire city fell into an eerie silence. Moments later, when people realized what had happened, shock and disbelief filled everyone's hearts. When the light faded, only the Crown Sword remained, suspended in the air, unchanged from its previous state.
Chapter 174
Some people think that the Bronze Dragons' habit of using entrapment tactics was learned from the Gold Dragons, the leader of the Metal Dragons, but that's not the case.
While the three major metallic dragons—the Gold Dragons, Silver Dragons, and Bronze Dragons—maintain an overall alliance, their relationship is not as close as that of the sub-iron dragons. The metallic dragon alliance is more akin to a friendly relationship passed down from ancient times; the Gold Dragon Royal Court is merely the nominal overlord of the metallic dragons, not the actual ruling class. Nowadays, each dragon is a highly independent individual, and there is no situation where one sub-species learns behaviors from another.
Moreover, the entrapment practices of gold dragons and bronze dragons are fundamentally different in terms of their behavioral logic. Gold dragons prefer to infiltrate evil forces and expose the ringleaders. They often lose patience and give up completely because they see too many behaviors that do not conform to their own values during the infiltration process. Bronze dragons, on the other hand, like to pretend to be weak to test the character of strangers and will reveal their true form to stop evil as soon as it occurs.
Casalos finds it hard to say which of the two acts is more "righteous," or whose outcome better aligns with their own philosophy. Anyway, Casalos isn't exactly a benevolent dragon, so watching them both is quite entertaining. The scene of a petty thug robbing a down-on-his-luck sailor lying on the roadside, only to find the sailor has suddenly transformed into a dragon and is hung on the mast to dry as a corpse, is quite amusing to Casalos. But the golden dragon transforming into a young delinquent and infiltrating the underworld has too many keywords, making it hard not to think of .avi files or something similar.
Different species have different physiological structures and communication patterns, and the resulting morals will inevitably be different. Many of the good qualities of humanoid species cannot be directly applied to benevolent dragons, and the same applies to their evil deeds. What's the big deal about the Golden Dragon infiltrating the Investigator.avi? Perhaps some female dragons just enjoy that kind of thing?
Silver dragons transforming into young girls to provide services in pink-themed establishments in human cities is a common trope in the heroic tales told by bards. Some of these women genuinely believe the bards' tales, thinking they can find their true love there, while others are simply there to satisfy their needs... It's quite possible that the malice towards gold dragons is deeply buried in the iron dragon's soul. In any case, Casalos enjoys gossiping about the quirks of metal dragons with Razor, and this inherently chaotic and neutral fanged dragon is always happy to hear such gossip and is quite supportive.
Amidst rambling conversation and eye contact, the Thinker, carrying Casalos and Shaving, flew across the strait connecting Dragon Lake and Falling Star Sea, arriving at a ranch west of Ulaspier in Zambia.
The ancient bronze dragon landed first, transforming into a gentleman in a tailcoat and wearing a single-eyed glasses. After the remaining two dragons also landed and transformed into human form, the dragon, leaning on its cane, led the two into the manor.
Casalos remained his warrior form, while Shaving Tooth was a middle-aged, kind-looking businessman with a protruding belly and a perpetually harmless smile. The three dragons were the familiar faces they often encountered in Waterdeep.
As soon as I pushed open the courtyard gate, a human who looked like an old butler hurriedly came out to greet me.
“Master, you’re back… Why didn’t you let me know beforehand? I could have prepared dinner for you.”
“No need, Roy.” The Thinker patted the old butler on the shoulder. “I brought two friends back. Just give them each a quiet room.”
Upon hearing this, the old butler bowed to Casalos and Toothshaker before going inside to attend to his work. The Thinker, however, turned to the two dragons and explained, “Years ago, I rescued Roy from a shipwreck. He was fleeing when his entire family perished. Since then, I’ve had him look after this ranch and estate, and he’s been doing a good job…”
Casalos and Fangs exchanged another glance. To them, it was perfectly normal for dragons to have servants, but to moral exemplars like bronze dragons, even lowly two-legged ants had the right to live freely. Dragons should treat them equally and should not enslave them in any form. This was another example of the different understandings of kindness between bronze and gold dragons. Gold dragons had a strong need for power and a strong desire for control, and many gold dragons liked to keep a bunch of followers to serve them.
The old butler, Roy, was indeed quite capable. Even though the Thinker hadn't informed him beforehand, he quickly prepared dinner for the three dragons: two cows, a shark, and seven sheep. This didn't seem like food prepared for "guests." Clearly, Roy knew the Thinker's dragon identity, so Casalos and Fangs, who were traveling with the Thinker, should naturally be dragons as well.
Sitting in human form at a human dining table, the Thinker strangely finished a dragon's dinner. Then, it dragged Casalos to its study, retrieved a map covered in hexagonal grids, and laid it flat on the table. Its true motive for bringing Casalos to its manor was finally revealed: ever since encountering wargaming, this old fellow had become fascinated with this type of war model or simulation, where the unfolding events and the decisions made by opposing sides during the simulations interacted.
Wargaming is a reenactment of military activities, characterized by adversarial nature. It utilizes rules, data, and procedures, but does not involve actual military forces. The outcome of the simulation is influenced by the decisions made by opposing actors representing actors, factions, factors, and frictions related to these military activities. Its primary purpose is to immerse participants in an environment with necessary realism, enhancing their decision-making abilities and/or the decisions they actually make, rather than simply simulating military operations or creating a war simulation model.
In fact, simulation only plays a supporting role in wargaming.
This is a military decision-making training process, the purpose of which may only be to help decision-makers better understand the nature of decision-making. Its results and process may have no relation to the real course of war, and it is completely different from what most people think. Most intelligent beings are unable to engage in such tedious and boring consciousness training activities, but the bronze dragons enjoy it.
As the Thinker took out the map, Shaving grinned and left the study to explore the manor on its own, leaving Casalos with no choice but to awkwardly cooperate with the old bronze dragon who couldn't find a worthy opponent for a proper match... Well, it was the Thinker who first sought help from him.
The map is centered on the Comanthor Jungle region, with the pre-set opposing sides being the dark army led by the three evil spirits and the Comanthor Empire. The old Bronze Dragonflight has undoubtedly chosen the War of the Cry, a historical event that propelled the Great Exodus of the Faerûn elves.
100. Mainland History
When discussing the War of Cry, one cannot ignore the Comansel Empire, whose current standard calendar for the Valley Cultivation in Faerûn is closely related to it.
It can be said that the rise and fall of the Comensal Empire marks the dividing line between the ancient and modern periods of Faerûn.
The Great Forest of Comanso, originally named the Great Forest of Akra, is home to five elven kingdoms that survived the Crown War. These are: the Elven Royal Court, the holy land of the elves after the golden age; Ristol, a free and isolated kingdom of wood elves; Jerensta, located in the center of the Great Forest, which created a giant forest of trees through abundant magical power; Uvalan, founded by elven noble refugees who fled from Erevanda with a wealth of high elven knowledge; and Senboholm, which shelters many elven children, mothers, and elders.
Despite occasional raids by goblins and orcs from the north and west, the five elven kingdoms prospered and grew over the next few thousand years, during which time the elves made contact with the dwarves and eventually formed an alliance.
Three thousand years after the founding of Uvaland, the cataclysmic fire struck, a meteorite directly hitting Uvaland and leveling it, killing three-quarters of its inhabitants. Most of the survivors subsequently migrated to Jerensta and Semboholm. The explosion caused by the meteorite impact ignited western Akra, and the fire burned for twelve days, completely destroying the western forests. The scorched earth left behind separated Ristor from the Great Forest.
Misfortunes never come singly, a meteorite struck.
Chapter 173
For a day or two, Tona's small group in Deepwater City racked their brains to resist this evil red dragon, but they still couldn't find any effective way.
“Ratam commissioned me to investigate it. And I subcontracted the task to adventurers in the North through Kenneth’s Bards’ Guild.” Casaroz wagged his tail. “Sometimes, these adventurers, who are everywhere, are much more useful than spells, as long as you’re willing to pay a pittance of gold coins…”
"No gold coin is insignificant!"
“Indeed!” The bronze dragon confirmed the tooth-shaving statement.
“But it’s worth it.” Casalos had a hard time explaining the dragon’s obsession with gold coins: “Besides, it’s not like you have to pay gold coins. The location of an unclaimed magical item, an undiscovered dungeon, or an important piece of news can all recruit decent adventurers, especially investigative missions like this, which don’t pose much of a danger as long as you pay attention.”
It also didn't pay out a single gold coin...
98. Casual chat
"Shall we attack its stronghold now?"
"Wait a little longer, it's not the right time yet..." Casaroz forcibly suppressed his nameless rage with reason, and sorted out his thoughts: "Even if it's three against one, Roaring Howl is not an ordinary ancient red dragon. It's still a bit difficult for us to deal with an extraordinary guy. The adventurers can find out the approximate location of Roaring Howl's lair, but they have no way of knowing what dangerous items Roaring Howl possesses."
It's quite normal for these old guys who have lived for over ten centuries to possess some semi-divine artifacts or even divine artifacts from the Netheril era.
As long as the Staff of Agharon remains in Marel's hands, Grommash Hellscream is not an imminent threat, and we have no need to take the risk.
"That's true, old man, old thing, hehe... Hey, you're an old thing too, don't you have one or two divine artifacts?"
"You can't expect dragon teeth from a dog's mouth. I'm only 842 years old, and I can still have dozens of litters of dragon cubs with a little female dragon. I'm still young." By the time the Thinker was born, Netheril had already become dust of history. Without any special opportunities, he probably would never have had the chance to witness the magnificent creations of that glorious ancient magical empire.
The bronze dragon, like an owl, turned its head and surveyed the square. The anti-magic barrier had been removed by Razor, signifying the end of the battle. The previously silent people in the city began to stir. Rustling sounds emerged from the dark streets and alleys, and some windows of the Temple of Dawn opened slightly, revealing a few shifty eyes peeking at the three dragons sitting in the square having a tea party.
"This isn't the place to talk. I happen to have a property nearby; let's go there."
Shaving had just cast a soundproof spell, so the sneaky guys couldn't hear what the three dragons were talking about. But with so many eyes watching, the old bronze dragon Li's social anxiety kicked in. If Casalos and Shaving hadn't been sitting so casually next to him, he would have turned into a cat or an owl and hidden in the dark.
Casalos and Fangs exchanged a glance, flapped their wings to indicate indifference, and then had the Thinker lead the way as they flew into the night sky. Free from the prying eyes and shaking off their social anxiety, the old bronze dragon resumed their previous conversation, its dragon language drifting on the wind: "Besides, do you think artifacts are just pieces of junk? Even among the ancient dragons, only a handful might possess artifacts."
As it spoke, it glanced sideways at Casalos, already used to the iron dragon cub's extensive knowledge: "The close-knit relationships of the iron dragon clan are really something, they know all sorts of ancient secrets and interesting stories about dragons, what a pity."
Bronze dragons and blue dragons are probably the only two true dragons, apart from the Atheros, that might admire and respect the Atheros' strict social order.
"If you know which dragons possess divine artifacts, tell us too, so that this blind, vicious dog won't accidentally bite one of them one day and die without even knowing how."
"Baragas 'Flying Flame,' the one I met the other day, you've all heard about it, right? It possesses a minor artifact, the 'Chain of Sorrowful Mithril,' which is said to be used by those reckless bastards in Netheril specifically to capture dragons."
"No wonder you ran so fast back then. I heard you vanished in a flash, practically like a wind elemental." Rake grinned, revealing his large mouth full of sharp teeth.
Casalos glanced at it with feigned disdain: "What, want to learn? You're still too green. Wait until you're a max-level Elemental Master before you try."
"Pah, nothing to me. I always have a teleportation spell in my spellcasting sequence. Why bother with all that when I need a strategic retreat?" Though he said this, he couldn't hide the longing gleaming in his bright red eyes—if the silver dragon was the most adept at flying among all true dragons, then the toothed dragon was undoubtedly the clumsiest and slowest flying dragon. Casalos had a way to envelop himself in wind element to greatly enhance his flight ability, so it could certainly use the same method to improve its own flying disadvantage.
"Just wait and see. The application of combining with elemental creatures is closely related to our elemental subspecies. You won't be able to learn it yet, but I'm almost there to find a way to enhance the true dragon's flight ability without relying on external forces like magical enhancements..."
"Hmm, that 'aerodynamics' thing you mentioned before? Any progress on that two-legged ewe you're raising?"
"You're unwilling to teach her magic properly, but you'll have to beg her for help later... The Flame of Despair isn't really a threat to you, its range of activity doesn't overlap with yours, and the Sorrowful Mithril Chains are only a semi-divine artifact."
What you really need to watch out for is Grantil, the 'Tongue of Spectacularity,' a thief who loves stealing cheese and jewels and possesses a little-known Faerûn dragon artifact, the Claw of Galakrond. And as far as I know, it's negotiating with Maryl for permission to enter the Dragon Barrier; I believe it won't be long before you encounter it in the City of Glory.”
"Jade Dragons? Those are truly annoying dragons." The Thinker's tone carried a hint of irritation. Even a bronze dragon with the character of a true moral guardian couldn't remain calm towards jade dragons that regarded them as enemies. It was normal for it to dislike jade dragons; of the three bronze dragon skulls Casaloz found in Lachesis's lair, two were "descendants" that the Thinker was familiar with.
"As for you..." Casalos turned his head to look at Shaving Tooth, who was watching the show with a smirk, and said solemnly, "When you cause trouble in Waterdeep, just be careful not to provoke the golden dragons. I don't know what the relationship is between each golden dragon, nor do I know how many artifacts are kept in the Golden Dragon Royal Court. Besides, they are not as easy to talk to as the silver dragons."
"So you're saying a golden dragon is coming to Glorious City?"
“In the near future, at least one golden dragon will enter Waterdeep.” Casalos glanced at Shaving Tooth again as a warning: “It, like you, has its eyes on the Agharon Scepter in Maril’s hands.”
“Hehe, I never thought a golden dragon would be greedy... Don’t worry, I’m not the kind of impulsive dragon, otherwise how could Maril have survived until now.” Shaving his head and added, “I won’t act unless I have absolute certainty and the perfect opportunity.”
"Don't even think about murder and robbery," the Thinker interjected in a low voice, rebuking him.
Shaving Teeth, however, was unconcerned: "Look how anxious you are. Marel is no good person. Even the eldest of your Metal Dragon family, Golden Dragon, is going to get rid of him. Why are you, the third brother who has no say, protecting him?"
"We are not like the Golden Dragon." The Thinker flying at the forefront turned around and said righteously, "It is no good to commit evil against those who have not yet committed evil!"
"So that means I can do whatever I want to Marel whenever he does something wrong?"
The thinker remained silent, turning his head to indicate his agreement—they were experts at entrapment.
99. The Purpose of the Bronze Dragon
Casalos extended his free claws to Shaving, who returned a knowing look.
Chapter 172
"Well, we've come all this way, and now that the matter is resolved, shouldn't you settle our travel expenses? Friendships are friendships, but even close brothers should keep clear accounts—that's what you said."
The bronze dragon slightly closed its outer eyelids to block the green light in its eyes, and sat down beside Shaving Tooth. On the issue of reward, it sided with Shaving Tooth.
“No problem. My understanding of the elements has improved recently, and my dogs in my territory have also made new achievements. These were originally intended to be the rewards I paid you.” Casalos clicked his iron beak and said with a cold laugh through gritted teeth, “Too bad you’re too late.”
"A whole day! You left me here all day, making me face a notorious legendary warlock alone, wasting my entire day's schedule and severely traumatizing my young heart. Let me calculate how much lost wages and psychological damage compensation this deserves..."
"Hey, didn't you say there was no rush? The spellcasting materials for having two dragons teleport halfway across the continent aren't cheap!"
"You really think I'm not in a hurry? I've sent half a continent of half-dragon dogs to find you guys, how can I not be in a hurry?" Casaroz raised his head and glanced sideways at Shaving Teeth, who was looking for an excuse to rip off gold. "Besides, do you need materials to cast spells? Aren't you a dragon?"
"Ow!"
Shaving roared and slammed its paw into the ground, creating a new crater in the stone-paved square. It stretched its neck and leaned forward, almost bringing its ferocious dragon head close to Casalos's face, its teeth grinding together. Casalos, not to be outdone, pushed its head back, tilting its head and clanking its iron beak.
The bronze dragon nimbly leaped backward, landing back on the ground. With a magical flourish, it used its wing-like paws to pull out two dried sharks and began chewing them, watching with interest the two dragons glaring at each other, seemingly locked in a fierce battle. If it were younger, it probably would have added fuel to the fire by jeering both sides, urging them to start fighting sooner.
After a brief standoff, Shaving Tooth was the first to back down. It turned its head and explained fiercely, "It was 'Laohou' that caused the trouble. It interfered with my spell and teleported us to Everlasting Island. It's going to pay for your lost wages and psychological trauma!"
97. Enemy
"Old Roar, it's that again?" Casalos pulled his head back and straightened his body, his hostility evident in his tone.
"Roar," whose real name is Klaus, or "Northern Dragon," is one of the most terrifying and largest red dragons known in Faerûn!
It ruthlessly attacks other dragons, its signature fighting style being to launch a sudden attack and then vanish just as suddenly, attempting to kill any dragon that might be its match. Compared to the flamboyant and domineering behavior characteristic of the red dragon Flying Flame, Klaus's style is closer to that of a green dragon. It is insidious and ruthless, using magic to probe any part of Faerûn when it is lucid; it may know more about the events in the northern Sword Coast and the whereabouts of surface creatures than any other living being today.
It is this professional intelligence capability that allows it to strike with deadly precision and escape unscathed, much like an assassin.
But it wasn't an assassin; it was a red dragon, an ancient red dragon, an ancient red dragon wielding extraordinary magical power. Like Casalos, Grommash preferred using the grappling hooks on its wings to attack with magical weapons, rather than using its forelimbs for clawing attacks. It had a wand embedded in each wing, and whenever it pounced on an enemy, the first attack was often a burst of magical beams from its wings, densely packed like rockets raining down from a diving attack aircraft.
In addition, "Old Roar" constantly searches every dragon nest in its territory, then seizes the opportunity to devour all the dragon eggs—except for the red dragon eggs. This is not because it has any pity for its own race; it has no intention of letting the red dragon eggs go. The reason it hasn't devoured them is simply because it has discovered or created an evil spell that can use red dragon eggs for mysterious magical processing to increase its size, health, and vitality.
"Old Roar" is a master at luring dragons out of their lair so he can infiltrate and steal unprotected offspring, dragon eggs, and magic. His reputation is so great that it drives other dragons to flee in terror.
Occasionally, on a whim, it might mercifully spare those it deems insufficient to threaten it. But such occurrences are rare; more often than not, when facing creatures far weaker than itself, it is as chaotic and malevolent as all red dragons. It once aimlessly dispersed armies of the northern humanoids, allowing raiding orc hordes to sweep through and slaughter many settlements, while it laughed heartily on the sidelines. Orcs also feared it, for it would sometimes descend directly into their ranks, rolling and crushing thousands before vanishing.
The mages of the North need to keep a close eye on the sky, for no one can predict when "Old Roar" will suddenly visit their mage towers and crash into them without warning, smashing them and their mage masters into a shower of debris, simply because it finds it amusing. Over the past eighty years, "Old Roar's" reputation has spread throughout the continent, and given its peculiar interest in mage towers, it has consistently been the primary target of the archmages' grand hunt to eliminate this common threat.
Unfortunately, the archmages' great hunts were never successful, but they did give "Old Roar" a lot of magical equipment and spell scrolls.
These things originally had nothing to do with Casalos. There are plenty of evil red dragons on the continent of Faerûn, and Casalos has no power to deal with them now... The problem is that "Old Roar" Klaus has his eye on Toona!
To be precise, it was actually eyeing Waterdeep, but this ancient red dragon, skilled in divination, believed that the key to breaking through Waterdeep lay in finding the secret held by the "Guardian of Secrets," Tauna. Hunting down the "Guardian of Secrets," Tauna, and uncovering the secret she guarded was Klaus's ultimate goal.
Fortunately, Toona has powerful allies like the Shaving Tooth and the Thinker. Meanwhile, the dragon wizard Marel still sees Toona as the key to controlling the dragons in Waterdeep and will always take action to cut off the henchmen that Klaus hired to investigate Toona in Waterdeep. As long as she stays near Waterdeep, Toona is safe.
If Casaloz had a little notebook with a "list of chromatic dragons that must be eliminated," Roaring Klaus would definitely be in the top three. If the ancient red dragon it encountered before had been Roaring Klaus instead of Flamebringer, it might have been willing to reveal some of its trump cards to kill or cripple the guy.
The Disruption Teleportation spell sent Razortooth and The Thinker to Evergrande, likely a golden opportunity Growler had found to eliminate Toona's protectors. What it hadn't anticipated was that The Thinker and the bunch of pointy-eared slender creatures on Evergrande were on good terms; at least the two dragons hadn't engaged in a bloody battle with the elves.
With the Thinker's intervention, the two dragons were allowed to leave Evergrande only after going through the tedious procedures of the elves, which were far more formal than practical. Otherwise, once the labyrinth of Evergrande was unlocked, it would be questionable whether Casalos would even be able to see his two allies today.
"These wretched ear clippers, if we were outside, I'd eat them all." Shaving his teeth made a grinding sound, clearly having had a terrible experience on Yongju Island.
"Alright, they didn't do anything to you in the end, did they? Take your anger out on Roar." The Thinker, being a bronze dragon, maintained a good friendship with the elves and couldn't stand Shaving Tooth's nonsense.
"Pah, you old codger, you're just protecting those pointy-eared creatures. They'll sell you out sooner or later." Shaving Teeth, who had picked up a lot of human thug habits, spat and glared at the bronze dragon with his bright red eyes: "I'd like to settle accounts with that disgusting scarred-faced guy. That red-skinned scoundrel is hiding deeper than the sewers of Waterdeep. Tell me where to find him."
“The Spine of the World, in a canyon west of Miraba, that’s where its lair is!” Casalos’s eyes gleamed with danger.
"Huh? We've been searching for decades without a single clue. How did you find out?"
Now it was Shaving Tooth's turn to be curious; Old Roar's eye on Water Deep City was already...
Chapter 171
He has a strong interest in war-related theories. Coincidentally, Casalos possesses highly advanced war concepts from another world.
It begins with Napoleon's *On the State of War*, starting with the argument that war is a political means and that its goal is victory, not peace, thus introducing modern warfare theory. It then reveals the nature, purpose, and means of war through Clausewitz's *On War*. Next, it expands on the construction of the three branches of the armed forces—*Armored Warfare*, *Air Defense*, and *Sea Power*—further supported by modern warfare concepts such as *Guerrilla Warfare* and *Information Warfare*. This leads the ancient bronze dragon into entirely new realms of warfare theory, captivating it completely.
Even if Casalos himself was only half-baked at this "what if" strategy, "The Thinker" already regarded Casalos as a like-minded companion in the pursuit of the truth of war and a guiding dragon. Under Casalos's influence, "The Thinker" embarked on a unique path of advancement deeply rooted in the bloodline of true dragons, becoming a being similar to a dragon leader but far superior. "The Thinker's" dragon might mutated into a dragon aura, granting its allies within its influence stronger energy, strength, momentum, resistance, endurance, resilience, and speed, among other positive statuses. If it participated in the war, even without personally commanding or fighting, it could become a god-like general simply by serving as a mascot.
In fact, the God of War Tempas has already shown his favor to Ohmora Sedar, and the "Thinker" is still considering whether to accept the God of War's grace and become His chosen one—in the present day on the continent of Faerûn, due to the lack of worship of dragon gods, it is not uncommon for true dragons to become the chosen ones of human gods.
Casalos has developed more than just these two allies in Waterdeep, but these two are the representatives in terms of combat power. When it comes to fighting legendary spellcasters, it is of course the two of them who are the most suitable.
"Why are you dragging your feet? If you had come any later, I'm afraid I would have been devoured by this wicked sorcerer."
Completely ignoring the existence of the black dragon, Casalos and Shaving Tooth chatted casually as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. The black dragon possessed by the sphinx warlock emitted a gloomy, rotting breath and slowly retreated.
"Isn't this the perfect time? Besides, what can this kind of trash do to you?" Shaving turned his head to look at the black dragon, half of which was blended into the darkness, and sat down on the ground in a relaxed posture, just like Casalos. "You're always worried about this and that. If you ask me, you should just blow this broken square, this dilapidated temple, and the underground labyrinth up into the sky. I don't believe its spells can be prepared. Why did you have to drag us here?"
The black dragon had completely retreated into the darkness, disappearing without a trace, just like a shadow dragon. The tremors of the magic network beneath the earth had also dissipated, and the magic network had returned to its original balance and rhythm. In the distance, the Thinker stopped its lightning breath and flapped its wings as it flew towards the plaza.