Translated by: SaltyTank
Edited by: crimsonwolf8439
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Chapter 28
Claudius' outburst of rage was not so simple such that he would plainly attack Sylvia straight away; he was waiting for the opportunity to make his dramatic entrance. Sylvia commanded the beastmen and gnoll armies to march onwards, and the armies with high morale began their attack on the ragged elves. Ironically, Claudius' brutal fighting style was the reason their morale was so high. Who would have guessed that they were about to be decimated by their very source of their morale?
Claudius, who had been circling in the skies for a while, released his dragon aura and began his revenge. This was out of Sylvia's expectations — she thought that the Crimson Dragon would be trapped for a lengthy period before he could break free. Unlike the Maze casted by mages, the duration of the spell which entrapped Claudius was independent of the mage's caster spell, the reason being that the source of mana for the spell was the Leaf of Yggdrasil. Despite losing its power source due to Sylvia's ritual, the initial mana consumed by the spell should have been sustained for no less than three days and three nights. Sylvia's estimation was right on the spot for typical Crimson Dragons, but she failed to take Claudius' human soul into account; not that she knew about it anyways.
Spell Resistance — this was the gift, or perhaps nature, of the human soul. Wherever Earthlings went, the place would be gradually turned into an anti-magic region. It was a long lasting process, and the rate of conversion was proportional to the population of Earthlings. Once the Earthlings left, the anti-magic region would rapidly dissipate, returning to its normal state. The hidden effect of this was that the duration of Damage-Over-Time spells casted on Earthlings would be significantly decreased. In Claudius' case, he was a violent Crimson Dragon with an Earthling's soul, allowing him to destroy the maze within a day. In truth, the maze which entrapped Claudius was not simply the Maze spell. It was an advanced lock spell in the form of a maze, a lock which utilized the Leaf of Yggdrasil as its core.
As usual, Claudius had no idea about these things, but it was undeniable that Sylvia misjudged the situation — this was probably karma at work. He could silently dive down to surface from the sky, but Claudius disliked the idea of being stealthy and modest; it was time for revenge, and there was no point in doing so if it was not showy enough. He erected the scales on his wings, creating small passages along with the multi-purpose thorns which were present on his wings as well. Sharp squeals could be heard as air passed through the passages at high velocity. After adjusting the posture and angle of his wings, Claudius descended towards the armies of gnolls and beastmen. Utilizing the headwind blowing against his face, Claudius widened his mouth to gather and compress air within his body. He compressed the air in his lungs before storing the compressed air within his air sacs. Claudius began to 'brew' flames in his mouth after completely filling his lungs and air sacs.
Particles of magic elements gathered around his body, and it was a rather contradicting scene. With the innate ability of spell and magic resistance due to his Earthling's soul, magic elements would normally be repelled. On the other hand, dragons were magical creatures which could gather excess amount of magic elements.
But Claudius was a special dragon; his body had reached the state of equilibrium after adapting to the contradictory state for decades. The ability to create anti-magic regions was deprived from his human soul, turning into magic and spell resistance instead. At the same time, his ability to gather magic elements could be fully displayed thanks to the change, allowing Claudius to gather magic elements like a normal True Dragon.
The formation of the evil dragon army crumbled in an instant. The gnolls and beastmen began to scatter once they heard the squealing sounds and could see the Crimson Dragon diving towards them. They could not help but raise their heads and stare at the massive crimson shadow in awe. Claudius approached the marching army while flying in a violent yet graceful manner. Before Sylvia and Britannia could take action, flames rained down from the sky.
Even veteran soldiers could not withstand the intense heat generated from the fully expanded Ring of Blaze that was further buffed by his dragon aura. As they began to scramble for their lives, the clouds of flames were already right above their heads. The breath attack this time was an Area-of-Effect which was spread in a large fan shape. The flames spewed reached up to several thousand degrees Celsius thanks to the combustion caused by the flammable fluid and the gathered fire elements. It reached a temperature comparable to that of the Sun itself.
The flaming smoke shrouded one of the brigades of gnolls and beastmen, and the entire army was roasted by Claudius not long after. Under extreme temperatures, the armour of the evil army either oxidized or melted into the vitrified ground. The rapid expansion of air caused by the heat flooded the area in the form of a burning shockwave. The heat also generated storms which trampled the remnants along with the shockwaves. The shiny scales of the Crimson Dragon reflected the blazing region, and evil laughter resounded throughout the burning hell.
Both Sylvia and Britannia were frightened by the scene and did not dare to stand up against the raging Claudius. They could only look in despair as the armies which were gathered with much effort were annihilated. In less than five minutes, over 3000 beastmen and gnolls were burnt to ash, sending their souls to the Boneyard.
Criticizing Claudius' actions was not an option, and it did not seem to be the right time for negotiations, not that they were given the chance to do so though. Claudius intensively flapped his wings, ascending to an altitude which could not be seen with the naked eye momentarily. He made use of the rising current caused by heat to ascend, allowing him to disappear from the battlefield abruptly. Due to Claudius flapping his wings, the air current was forced towards the ground, sending the ash of the deceased elves, gnolls and beastmen into the air. They mixed together within the stormy clouds, returning to the soil as fertilizer in a rainstorm caused by the storms.
The plan which Sylvia spent decades of effort on was now down the drains, but the elves were by no means in a better situation. They lacked the manpower to counter attack, and they still had the mission of stopping the corroded Leaf of Yggdrasil from contaminating the entire forest. There were survivors from both campaigns who personally experienced the wrath of Claudius, and many others observed the ridiculous assaults by the Crimson Dragon from afar with various means. The might he displayed was etched into their minds, teaching them an unforgettable lesson.
This was Claudius' debut in war, yet he displayed overwhelming power which trampled both sides of the war. This was also the origin of the famous legend of 'The Crimson Disaster', the Crimson Dragon which thoroughly reflected the evil and chaotic nature of its species. 'The Deadly Poison' Sylvia and 'The Red Comet' were no more than mere foils in his legend……
Claudius clearly understood his extent of power from the one-sided battle just now. He was free; he could now explore this whole new world to his heart's extent. The Crimson Dragon could not contain his excitement as he flew away from the forest.