NOVEL NEXT Ch. 101
Chapter 101
Theodosius and the Red Dragon
“She is my guest!”
When the aged voice rose from the ground, the Scorcher of Worlds’ draconic pupils contracted abruptly. Killing intent churned like magma, yet in the next second, it shifted to astonishment—it had not realized there was anyone else present.
Lucy turned toward the voice. A golden-haired old man in a gray robe was slowly approaching, leaning on a gentleman’s cane.
His figure looked so insignificant beneath the dragon’s shadow, yet the aura he radiated did not yield in the slightest to that of the red dragon hovering in the sky.
“You are... Master Theodosius!”
Wizard Clint saluted in midair, his voice filled with irrepressible awe.
Ignored, the Scorcher of Worlds beat its wings in fury, the dragon breath rolling in its throat scorching the air into distorted ripples. “Insignificant insect! Tremble before the great red dragon!”
The gray-robed elder—Theodosius, known as “The Pale Scalpel”—slowly lifted his head. Those eyes, which could pierce the soul, swept across the massive creature.
“Three years ago, when the Chromatic Dragonkin ignored the ancient pact and attacked the border outpost, I warned your kin,” he said, tapping the cane lightly on the ground. A crisp knock echoed out. “It seems the dragons of the Old Lands have an even worse memory than I imagined.”
At the instant the final syllable fell, countless silver threads suddenly appeared above Dusk Fortress.
Woven from pure magical energy, the threads formed a net that covered the entire blood-red sky.
And beyond the heavens, an ivory star ring slowly emerged, spanning the entire horizon.
This was precisely the origin of the title “Star Ring Wizard.” When he unleashed his witchcraft, his manifested mental strength was sufficient to encircle the entire planet.
“The Ring of Mental Strength! You are the Star Ring Wizard!”
The moment the star ring appeared, the anger and killing intent in the Scorcher of Worlds’ eyes vanished entirely, replaced by the terror that came from facing death itself.
As an ancient creature that had lived for over a thousand years, it knew better than any what the Star Ring Wizard signified.
“This time I overstepped... please... please forgive my ignorance and offense. I shall leave this place at once and never again approach the Wizard Castle!”
Theodosius gave a chilling smile, revealing teeth so white they were blinding.
“If you had obediently stayed in the Old Lands and followed the pact signed in those years, I truly wouldn’t have been able to act against you at will. But you deliberately violated the provisions of the Old Pact and tried to attack the wizards within the fortress.”
“Heh heh heh... It has been far too long since I last dissected a red dragon.”
His tone grew increasingly sinister. In his once-calm eyes, a blazing fire ignited, and the star ring encircling the wizard plane began to rotate in response.
“No! I admit my mistake! Please...”
The red dragon flapped its wings desperately, trying to flee beyond the star ring’s reach.
But that ring, which split the sky in two, hung overhead like a Damocles’ sword. Even after the Scorcher of Worlds burst into a sonic boom, when it looked up, it still saw itself beneath the star ring’s shroud.
“You do not truly realize your mistake,” Theodosius said coldly. The cane in his hand flared with crimson runes. “You simply realize you are about to die.”
As his words fell, all the silver threads across the sky came alive, whipping toward the red dragon and binding it tight.
The Scorcher of Worlds let out a heart-rending roar. Where dragon scales met silver strands, acrid smoke rose. In an instant, dozens of threads sliced through the scales and buried themselves in the flesh beneath.
Dragon blood, brimming with vigorous life force, gushed down from the sky, and the earth seethed like splattered magma.
“Aaargh—no!”
The dying dragon spewed flames powerful enough to incinerate a city, but the moment the fire touched the silver threads, it was severed and devoured. Struggling, it gave a final roar.
“I am of the great dragonkin! You have no right to judge me above the Dragon King. I demand to appeal to the Star Law Institute!”
Yet more and more silver threads wrapped around the massive creature until it was cocooned in glistening strands. Its once-terrifying roar weakened and finally dissolved into nothing.
Wizard Clint guided his body to slowly descend beside Theodosius, speaking in a low voice.
“Master, even though the Scorcher of Worlds was abominable, the Old Pact clearly stipulates that all creatures of the Old Lands must be judged by their own kin. Killing it like this will surely provoke the Lord of Red Dragons and the Dragon King...”
Although the Dragon King possessed only quasi-divine strength at best, if the Chromatic Dragonkin of the Old Lands truly decided to make trouble over this, the Star Law Institute would have a great headache handling it.
As for this red dragon’s provocation—
Strictly speaking, under the provisions of the Old Pact, so long as it did not cross the barrier into the Wizard Continent, merely circling above the Wizard Castle did not constitute a violation.
As for attacking Lucy—she was only a Tier-3 apprentice.
Theodosius cast a cold glance at Clint. At the tip of his cane, blinding crimson runes suddenly erupted.
“I have said many times—indulgence only nourishes greater arrogance. For a race like the dragons, who have repeatedly provoked us without remorse, there should be a genocidal expedition to eradicate them entirely.”
As a staunch hawk, Theodosius had never shied away from war.
In the absence of a being at the sixth tier of life, it was entirely possible to wipe such a race clean from this plane.
“As for the Old Pact—do not forget, when creatures of the Old Lands actively attack a wizard, it is deemed a declaration of war against all wizard civilization.”
Clint fell silent at once.
Indeed, the Old Pact contained this clause, but... his gaze involuntarily shifted to a certain silver-haired girl atop the tower.
Could a wizard apprentice truly be called a wizard?
Even though Theodosius had indeed said upon arriving that she was his guest.
But what kind of status could make Master Theodosius personally receive an apprentice?
While Clint was lost in thought,
a massive portal suddenly unfurled in the sky. The Red Dragon Ignavus struggled all the more violently.
“Now.” Master Theodosius tapped his cane lightly to the ground. “It is time to remind the Old Lands why they were sealed away and what price must be paid for provoking wizards.”
Splorch!
The silver threads contracted with a resonant twang like harp strings. Accompanied by the sickening crack of shattering bones, dragon blood poured down like a torrential rain.
The great dragon’s struggles ended abruptly in that instant.
When the spatial rift closed, only a few drifting scales and the pools of dragon blood remained as proof that the red dragon had ever existed.
Wizard Clint parted his lips as if to say something more, but in the end, wisely chose to hold his tongue.
Master Theodosius was one of the strongest beings in this world, and universally recognized by the Star Law Institute as a hawk among hawks.
If he spoke up at such a moment, he would gain nothing of substance except a scolding for his trouble.
As for that red dragon that had been slaughtered—he had endured it for a long time already. If not for fear of dragonkind’s retaliation, he would have found a way to kill it himself long ago.
“Master Theodosius, I shall take my leave now.”
“Go on.”
Clint bowed deeply, then turned and flew back toward the Wizard Castle.
“Come down, child.” Master Theodosius’s voice suddenly softened. “My time is limited. We still have much to do.”