Ashen Dragon

"Roar―――"

A tremendous roar echoed from the distance.

It made the mountains tremble, the earth shake, birds and beasts fled in terror, and awoke the young beast in the depths of the cave, leaving it bewildered.

"Hiss..."

"What on earth is happening?"

Lin Kai felt as if he had just woken up from a nightmare, his mind still foggy.

But before him was not the familiar room, nor the high-tech gaming pod and its equipment.

Instead, there was a dark, warm cave, hard rocks, and even a few scattered Gold Coins.

"Where is this?"

Lin Kai felt like his head was splitting, countless memories flooded into his mind. There were scenes of magic from fantasy novels, as well as his past experiences as a player.

He only remembered that he had taken a rich player's task to collect Hill Giant fingers, heading to Giant Canyon and fought for over eight hours straight.

In the end, his body couldn't hold up, so he left his character idling to get some rest, planning to wake up and get back into the gaming pod.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in this strange place, and his body felt off.

He struggled to his feet, instinctively walking on all fours toward a nearby puddle.

"A dragon?"

What appeared before him was a "beast" covered in fine red scales, with menacing golden vertical pupils.

The three-meter-long body was still somewhat juvenile, but many parts showed signs of ferocity, with dense sharp teeth, keen claws, and powerful limbs as the best proof.

Yes, it was a young dragon.

Moreover, it was a Red Dragon, the strongest and most ferocious among the five-colored dragons.

Its mouth brimmed with sulfuric breath, its throat seemed to harbor a volcano ready to erupt at any moment, which made Lin Kai feel very uncomfortable.

He couldn't help but sneeze, a burst of steaming hot air and smoke spewed from his nostrils.

A semi-transparent blue screen suddenly floated before his eyes.

[Young Red Dragon]

Name: Cassius Claudius Norixius

Template: NPC (10 years, 1 day, and 18 hours until servers open)

Category: Large dragons, Lawful Neutral

AC: 18 (natural armor)

Attributes:

Strength——21

Agility——10

Constitution——18

Intelligence——12

Perception——11

Charisma——14

Skill Proficiency: Stealth +4, Perception +8, Hunting +2, Escape +4, Knowledge (Future) +4

Damage Immunities: Fire

Senses: Blindsight 10, Dark Vision 60, Passive Perception 14

Languages: Draconic, Common

Abilities: Bite, Clawing, Tail Attack, Flight, Breath Attack (fire)

Feats: None

Challenge Level: 6 (2100 XP)

Assessment: "The powerful claws and teeth of a Red Dragon are enough to become an adventurer's nightmare. They often use breath attacks or other special physical attacks, as well as ancient magic. Never underestimate a young Red Dragon; otherwise, it will become your lifelong nightmare."

"I've transmigrated to Erezer?"

"And I've become Brother Kai?"

Looking at this information for a while, Lin Kai, or Cassius, finally sorted out his thoughts and understood his current situation.

He then fell into memories of his past life.

"Erezer" was a holographic game based on the 20th-century "Dungeons and Dragons" (D&D).

This mysterious game, with an unknown publisher, featured black technology, claiming to create a real world for players, with a global peak of tens of millions of simultaneous online players.

Ordinary people to social elites and even business and political tycoons were immersed in it; some spent their entire days in the gaming pod, except for meals and sleep.

Surrounding this epic creation, a huge market was born, with game updates affecting world markets. A piece of legendary equipment could be sold for millions, likened to a new-age Bitcoin, attracting more people to dive into the game—he was one of them.

"Brother Kai" was now him, with the true name of Cassius Claudius Norixius, the first world boss in "Erezer" version 1.0 - "Anzeta Tempest," an evil Red Dragon who signed a pact with abyssal demons.

He had countless titles: The Fire of Rekindling, Mountain's Wrathful Flame, Harvester of Players' Lives, Newbie's Nightmare.

In the early game, during the "Winter Rage" quest, thousands of newly entered players were tormented by the Red Dragon's flames, agonized yet unable to harm the dragon soaring in the sky.

Players died dozens of times each, their charred bodies piled up like mountains, including many future renowned professional gamers. Ultimately, it was brute force and suicide attacks that brought him down.

This glorious achievement earned Cassius the immortal title—"Brother Kai."

Even now, with the game in version 4.0, level caps raised to 20, players exploring the star realm, cross-planar missions, and the multiverse, tales of Brother Kai were still told: the story of a Red Dragon roasting experts into heaps of charred bodies.

"Brother Kai's BBQ, unparalleled in the world."

But when was the current timeline?

"Roar!"

A roar outside the lair interrupted Cassius's thoughts.

The powerful pressure in the air made the hatchling's heart quiver, but he resisted the urge to flee, scurrying to the cave entrance to observe the situation.

In the distant sky, a large Red Dragon flapped its huge wings, stirring gusts of wind, looking down from a towering height.

That must be Cassius's current biological mother. From the twenty-meter-long giant dragon body, one could tell this was a powerful Red Dragon in its prime.

"Half-human, half-elf mongrel, get out of my territory!"

"Do you know who you face?"

"Before you stands Tiamat's most favored offspring, the ruler of Cloud Summit Peak, the noble and mighty Red Dragon Akrenea!"

The Red Dragon's voice was incredibly arrogant, a trait granted by her bloodline.

Confronting her fearlessly on the ground was a warrior clad in dark golden armor, with a blurred face seemingly shrouded in a faint glow.

Only the half-elf identity could be discerned from the exposed pointed ears and the female form from the silhouette.

She stood with a sword, her voice firm and calm: "Evil dragon, your arrogance and conceit blind you to your inevitable demise."

The half-elf gazed at the giant dragon in the sky, speaking forcefully: "You plunder unjustly, harm the innocent, your actions disrupt the world's justice and order."

"Regardless of the deity behind you, we keepers of vows shall demand the price you owe—your life!"

This was the Paladin's Oath of Vengeance!

After speaking, the half-elf drew the Silver Sword from her back.

The Red Dragon in the sky snorted, let out a long cry, and swooped down.

Her gaping maw seemed ready to tear the tiny half-elf apart.

From her throat spewed scorching flames, the intense heat distorting the air.

"That's 'Twilight Blade' Rhea."

Cassius couldn't help but think, finally remembering the quest line related to him.

Main Quest: [Winter Night's Rage]

[Ten years ago, the mother of Red Dragon Cassius Claudius Norixius was slain by the wandering Half-Elf Paladin "Twilight Blade" Rhea. The young Red Dragon fled in panic, hiding in the Ancytica Mountains, waiting for a chance to avenge itself on humanity.

Now, it has signed a pact with an ancient demon in the depths of the mountains, becoming "The Fire of Rekindling," continually destroying cities, leading its evil army to shatter justice and order, turning the North into ashes!]

Now seemed to be the time of the battle between the Red Dragon and the Paladin, a decade before the players' arrival!

In Cassius's view, the distant Half-Elf Paladin was around level 20, nearing legendary status with divine favor, an unequivocal world-class powerhouse.

It was known that an adult Red Dragon's standard challenge rating was only level 17. Even with its legendary life levels, it wasn't enough against a divinely favored Paladin.

Moreover, the renowned "Twilight Blade" had already advanced to legendary status in the 4.0 version from his past life and was an important NPC in the "Elf Kingdom" main questline.

It seemed his cheap mother was doomed.

The Red Dragon shook his head; he had no time to dwell. He merely flapped his immature wings, scampering back to the nest to pack and run.

Of course, before leaving, he needed to "rightfully" take some startup capital from this cheap mother.

"By Tiamat, this is a Red Dragon's treasure hoard."

"I hope it won't be too shabby..."

Cassius let out a sulfuric breath, gently shook his body, and stretched his slightly stiff wings.