David immediately turned to his retinue beside him and instructed, "You lot take the goods and leave directly through the back door. Head to the surface. I have a score to settle with these Drow." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Your will!" Rosinde the Barbarian tried to dissuade him but was pulled back by the equally grim-looking Drow, Hiatt.

Only the Drow who understood their master best could empathize with the Dragon Lord’s anger at this moment.

If they didn’t vent this anger, then he wouldn’t be the tempestuous Dragon Lord they knew.

Even if such an action could lead to immense, life-threatening risks.

But if they, bearing goods comparable in value to half an adult dragon’s treasure hoard, accompanied their master, it would only make him, the Red Dragon, hesitate in battle.

As David, all alone, squeezed through the empty doorway.

"Prince David Uthos, I implore you to ’please’ wait here a moment longer for Miss Alianna," a tall Drow said in a low voice as she emerged from the shadows.

Only her tone was as arrogant as their Matriarch Flavia herself.

"It seems your Matriarch Flavia has her sights set on both the dragon and the goods?"

David burst out laughing in sheer frustration.

"This is the first time I’ve seen someone even more brazen than me. Could your Matriarch Flavia be a goblin in heat?"

"Fucking hell!"

[Arrogance]

In Elariya, there’s a saying:

Only Goblins and Dragons place arrogance above life and death.

However, the former’s arrogance only emerges during their mating season, and only towards other Goblins and those weaker than them.

The latter’s arrogance, however, is a sober state, directed at all beings beneath the heavens.

"You!!!"

The Shadow Dancer, loyal to the point of dying for her master’s honor, had barely begun to signal her subordinates to take down the insolent young Red Dragon and his retinue attempting to escape with the goods through the back door, when she saw the Red Dragon flash a sinister smile and flick the tip of its tail at them.

"What are you waiting for? Come at me, all of you."

[Authority——Wrath]

In an instant, the Shadow Dancer, who had been considering whether to instruct her subordinates to go easy and avoid killing the dragon on the spot, suddenly felt her head explode as an overwhelming flood of fury drowned all rational thought.

When she regained her senses, she found herself, her eleven subordinates, dozens of Drow Wanderers from the tavern, and even hundreds of Drow onlookers forming a circular encirclement. They were all charging like Barbarians high on Anger Potions and buffed by a mass Bloodthirst Technique, rushing towards the Red Dragon who stood unmoving at the center.

Such tactics were an absolute taboo, both for them as Drow and for their Red Dragon adversary.

Just as she realized something was amiss, she saw the young Red Dragon suddenly twist its head, the movement flowing through its neck, body, limbs, and even its tail.

Like a dancer standing alone and still on a stage, it began to spin with eyes closed, oblivious to the world around it.

"ROAR!!!!!"

With a deafening dragon’s roar, a sudden burst of flame erupted with the Red Dragon David’s twirling dance, illuminating half of Spider Nest City and engulfing the vision of all who charged at him.

Within a hundred-meter radius of the twisted streets, every person and building alike was set ablaze.

Like a beacon fire in the dead of night.

Only, he was the invading enemy.

One dragon against one city.

...

Meanwhile, at the tavern’s back door, Hiatt had just led everyone through the group of hesitant and wary Drow. As she broke through the back door, she too sensed the same unabashed, prying gaze that the Dragon Lord had felt at the front. She immediately turned to the eager Barbarian at her side and warned, "Be careful as we leave! These are the Shadow Guards who report directly to Matriarch Flavia, hardened by layer upon layer of cruel selection!"

In other words, every one of them was as capable as Hiatt herself, the former Shadow Dancer.

"If it really comes down to it, I’ll cover our retreat. You all split up and move out."

This almost meant abandoning the cumbersome Drow Mage, and she was placing herself directly in mortal danger.

But her death didn’t matter.

Bound within the Soul Prism, she could completely escape the pull of the Styx River.

If worst came to worst, she could later share a High Elf’s body with Yevgeny.

Otherwise, she feared that with the Barbarian’s temperament, he would fight to the death to protect that foolish Mage.

If they lost their master’s goods, they might as well choose death.

Rosinde the Barbarian, who had already prepared to cover the retreat alone and let the two Drow carry the goods with Wangzai, the Winter Wolf cub, and leave first, was stunned when he heard these words.

He hadn’t expected the situation to suddenly become so serious, nor for the enemy’s combat power to be so overwhelmingly strong. Even more unexpectedly, the Drow he had been somewhat wary of was actually going to cover his retreat!?

"But..." The Barbarian, who hadn’t heard such familiar words for a long time, felt his eyes instantly redden.

Ever since losing all his subordinates and Barbarian friends in the snow-capped mountains and the battles at the South Foothills, he hadn’t found another comrade-in-arms to whom he could entrust his back.

He never imagined that in this strange new land, just as he had grown accustomed to these few comrades he could trust with his life, he was about to face a tragedy just like those in the past.

Was he, Rosinde, doomed to be a ’lone star,’ unable to have any companions?

"Boss! May I cover the retreat with you? You don’t have to worry about me; I can try my best to cast more buff spells for you before I die!"

The Drow Mage’s supposedly ’heroic’ last words made Rosinde the Barbarian finally unable to hold back his tears. Even Wangzai, the Winter Wolf cub beside him, whimpered softly as it licked the Drow Mage’s comely face.

Only Hiatt seemed to be seeing the Drow Mage, who had been by her side for over a decade, with fresh eyes.

But just as she was about to pat him on the shoulder and say something comforting, the Drow Mage, who had appeared ready to face death just a moment before, suddenly burst into an ugly fit of crying, snot and tears streaming everywhere:

"WAH! Boss, seeing how strong and reliable I’ve been this time, after you meet up with the master, could you discuss with him about using that Soul Prism and the Magic Slavery Contract to find my soul and stuff it in there too? You all know, I don’t have much in my head, so my soul should be quite tiny. It won’t take up much space..."

The Drow Mage hadn’t even finished his heartfelt last words, fantasizing about his soul joining Hiatt and the High Elf Yevgeny in a ’soul ménage à trois’ of sorts, when he heard David’s Dragon’s Roar from the front door, a sound that pierced the heavens.

The next moment, the originally dark sky above Spider Nest City was illuminated by the dazzling firelight.

"Get down!!!" Hiatt, who had been rendered speechless by the Mage’s bizarre train of thought, suddenly her expression changed drastically. She rushed forward and tackled the stunned Drow Mage, sending them both crashing out the door.

Rosinde the Barbarian, hearing the warning, also remembered something. He kicked the Winter Wolf, which was trying to curl up behind him for refuge, sending it flying. Feeling the terrifying flame shock approaching, he could only turn, draw his Dragon Fang twin blades, and hold them before his chest.

With a loud BOOM, Rosinde, his body ablaze, was hurled out of the back door by the terrible explosion and shockwave. He tumbled to the ground in disarray along with the two Drow and the Winter Wolf, its fur singed, onto earth that now glowed red.

"AH!!!" More than a dozen other figures, also wreathed in flames, smashed into the rooftops of the nearby district like a meteor shower, igniting one old building after another.

The small group and the wolf looked back in shock.

They saw the two-story tavern where they had stayed; its second floor was gone without a trace, leaving only half of the first floor burning fiercely.

Not just their stronghold tavern, but the entire district in sight was set ablaze by their Red Dragon master’s wrath.

"Let’s go, let’s go!!!"

"We must get out quickly! Head east to break through!"

Hiatt immediately understood. Their master, relying on his ability to incite the rage and desires of surrounding creatures, had already lured away ninety-nine percent of the Shadow Guard, the deadliest threat.

If they didn’t run now, they, as retainers of the Red Dragon, would likely not escape the Red Dragon’s fury either.

This was the sorrow of being a Red Dragon’s retinue: whether in times of danger or not, their master, the Red Dragon, was always the biggest danger.

Indeed, just as Hiatt’s words fell, a scorching hot breeze swept past. They saw their Dragon Lord, David the Red Dragon, fly overhead. He hovered above the burning district, looking down at Spider Nest City from afar.

He took a deep breath.

[Authority——Gluttony]

As the storm gathered, Hiatt, having already witnessed that terrifying power once in the Green Dragon’s Nest, could only lead her group to flee desperately beyond the potential reach of the devastation.

"Run!!!"

If they didn’t run faster, they might end up as their master’s next meal!