Under the Red Dragon

"Cutting down the World Tree, just for research? I wonder what kind of research those mages want to do that they'd be so wasteful!"

That thought flashed through Caron's mind as he focused his gaze on the mages. Caron had been pondering what the squinting mage, Hughes, had said.

Those once incredibly powerful mages, because they wanted to research the gods, blocked the faith of the gods in the mortal realm, which resulted in the gods taking action and the powerful magic empire collapsing overnight.

Caron thought that even if those mages were crazy, they wouldn't block the faith of all the gods. They probably only blocked the faith of the gods they had targeted.

But that provoked all the gods of faith to take action together and destroy the magic empire. Caron thought that perhaps it was because of this overly crazy action that these mages were feared by the gods.

Putting aside everything else, just cutting down the World Tree for research, Caron wanted to poke a few holes in those mages with his dragon claws.

The squinting mage was being stared at strangely by the others, even the gnolls were looking at him with strange expressions, and he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

He muttered in a low voice: "Those mages are indeed a bit much, but it has nothing to do with me. I am a proper scholar mage, a theorist, a theorist, do you understand!"

Caron ignored the squinting mage's sophistry. He asked the one who claimed to be the World Tree about his curiosity, "What exactly do those mages want to research that they would cut down the World Tree? What is the origin of that creature you nailed to it?"

The male elf's soul shook his head, his tone returning to its usual calmness, "I am just their experimental subject. Even the seeds of the World Tree were sown in this world by those mages. How would I know the mages' purpose."

"But ultimately, what those mages want to research is nothing more than the laws and essence represented by the World Tree. As for what the mages want to do with the essence and laws of the World Tree, perhaps the group of mages behind you have their own ideas."

"As for that corpse, it is an extra-terrestrial creature that invaded this world hundreds of years ago, and also a descendant of the Wild Gods who wander the endless starry sky," the male elf said calmly, as if this corpse, which still exuded a powerful aura even after death, was nothing more than an ordinary beast.

"Although I am a lifeform born from the World Tree planted by the mages, many lifeforms in this world were born because of me. They regard my remaining body as a guardian deity, helping me to condense my soul consciousness, so I naturally have to shoulder the responsibility of a guardian deity."

"The responsibility of a guardian deity!" Caron felt a sense of admiration for the soul before him.

Those many gods of faith, although more powerful than this life born from the World Tree, rarely showed behavior of protecting their believers, and only a very few special souls could gain the favor of the gods.

Even Tiamat, the Dragon God who claimed to love red dragons the most, would only favor those red dragons worthy of her attention. The countless red dragon corpses that were slaughtered as evil dragons were enough to prove this.

As for the descendants of the Wild Gods, almost every dragon knew of the existence of such creatures, but the form of these creatures was not fixed. So it was reasonable that Caron didn't recognize it.

In the subsequent conversation, Caron gradually dispelled the doubts in his heart. He had originally wondered if the soul before him was the soul of that corpse disguised.

Even a red dragon with True Sight would not blindly believe that his ability could see through all disguises.

He also learned from the soul named Natis that this plane once had a powerful dragon race, and they were green dragons among the five-colored dragons.

"The green dragons' dragon nests are in the sky, on a floating island that once fell from the astral plane. You can go and take a look, maybe you can find something."

"The green dragons once drove the elves, but there is always strength and weakness in the world. Experiencing some hardships can also prevent those elves from becoming complacent, so I have been silently observing."

The male elf's words made Caron feel that this soul seemed to belong to the plane consciousness born in this plane and possessed a bit of humanity, similar to some kind of rule. In most cases, it was impartial, treating everything as equal straw dogs.

"So, there are no mages' remains here, just a battlefield?" The mage Hughes finally couldn't help but ask, after all, the goal of their exploration this time was the legacy of the former magic empire.

The elf Natis shook his head and said, "The mages' former towers stood next to the remains of the World Tree, far from here. You were able to find this place probably because of the World Tree's heart."

"In that case, we should go back," Caron decisively made a decision, turning around to instruct the gnolls to prepare to return to the camp.

"Wait, red dragon, I have a small request," the slender elf Natis called out to the turning red dragon. He was puzzled that this red dragon didn't even glance at the Golden Divine Spear before turning around to leave. You should know that the former green dragon leader even hugged the Golden Divine Spear as a pillow when sleeping.

Moreover, the gnolls and mages were all looking at the Golden Divine Spear eagerly, wishing they could immediately take it for themselves. Only this red dragon, the five-colored dragon known for its greed, didn't seem to have any fluctuations in its eyes.

"If you can grant my request, I will give you a gift you can't refuse!" Natis offered his conditions.

"A condition I can't refuse?" These words made Caron stop in his tracks. "Tell me your request first, Natis, and then I'll decide if your condition is something I can't refuse!"

"Red dragon, the souls of the Wild Gods are naturally combined with their bodies, and cannot be separated even after death, so their bodies are even stronger than dragons,"

Natis finally stepped out of the black mist, his slender soul body almost transparent. He said, "My body remains here to lock his constantly reviving vitality, and my soul has to be trapped here to suppress the soul in his body. I hope you can forcibly extract his soul and then destroy it, freeing my soul."

"I saw your battle that night and know you have this ability,"

If Natis was just a World Tree, he might not have made this request, but Natis now has a complete, vivid soul, and also has the emotions and feelings that a soul should have. He also feels lonely.

Especially in order to lock the soul of the Wild God's descendant, he has been constantly suppressing the other party, and his range of activity is not large, limited to this barren land, which has gradually made him feel lonely.

"And as my return gift, I will give you the seed formed by the condensation of all the life energy when the World Tree entered its demise."

"I only hope to follow you out of this small world and see the vast sky outside!"

Natis said with a solemn expression. Although this small world is full of vitality, it is still too weak for Natis, who was once the soul of the World Tree.

It is difficult to raise a real dragon in shallow water. Even the World Tree, which can penetrate countless worlds and even crystal wall systems, is malnourished in this world with imperfect laws.

What's more, Natis doesn't want to be a tree that always stands on the ground. He is more eager to become a creature like those elves, who can run, jump, and move freely.

Caron shook his head so hard that it created an afterimage. What a joke, although he had the ability to destroy souls, he didn't want to test the weight of a legend, even if the other party had been stiff for hundreds of years.

Moreover, although he had dispelled his suspicion of Natis, he would not easily believe his words.

"I refuse, Natis. Maybe when I am strong enough in the future, I will try to do this, but I will not take this risk now. Even if it is as precious as the World Tree's seed, it is not worth my risk."

Caron's vertical pupils narrowed, and then he changed his tone and said, "But in the civilized world, you have to pay a deposit to ask someone to do something. You can give me the World Tree's seed first, and I promise to come and free your soul in the future. Believe me, I grow very fast!"

Natis's soul was silent, quietly looking at Caron, who was showing an honest face. He found that this red dragon really regarded him as an honest person who had never seen the world.

The red dragon's vertical pupils turned, turning into round pupils. He raised his dragon claw and patted his strong chest, and said loudly: "Don't you still trust the dragons? The proud dragons disdain to lie. I guarantee with the dragons' credibility that as long as I am strong enough, I will definitely come back to rescue your soul!"

In Caron's eyes, the dragons' credibility is the dragons', and Caron's credibility is Caron's. In case there is any mistake in the future, it is not his Caron's business, purely those shameless dragons ruined their reputation.

Natis's soul continued to be silent. The dragons' credibility, if you say you have it, then there is a little bit. But what does that have to do with you five-colored dragons. At this time, the red dragon finally looked like a shameless five-colored dragon in his eyes, but he couldn't be happy at all.

……

"Open the hole," the young female elf, Aiya, accompanied a tall, vigorous young male elf, and ordered the elf guarding the tree hole door.

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An elf warrior wearing gorgeous patterned leather armor emitted a green light in his hand, gently tapping on the tree trunk. The iron thorn vines hanging down in front of the tree hole, blocking the entrance of the tree hole, immediately drooped softly and separated to both sides.

The poisonous vines covering the entire tree hole entrance also wriggled like snakes, revealing a passage.

This is a natural tree hole, going more than ten meters deep under the tree. Following the winding and twisting thick roots of the giant tree, the two elves finally came to the flat ground of the underground cave.

Here, countless roots of the Tree of Life curled and hung down, dividing the entire underground space into isolated small spaces, which are natural prisons for the elves to imprison some prisoners.

Now each small compartment is imprisoning one or two kobold soldiers. These kobold soldiers were sent out as scouts from the outpost base and were captured by the elves in the past few days, becoming prisoners.

Each kobold soldier was covered with vines full of thorns. Countless vines pierced into their bodies from their mouths and noses, sucking blood and flesh to grow in their thin bodies.

Only one kobold was intact, with his hands and feet tied, constantly barking.

Although the language is not understood, these elven druids can use spells to sense the meaning of the kobold's words.

"Woof woof, you wait, the great red dragon will burn you to ashes. When the kobold dies, he will return to the red dragon's kingdom. I am the red dragon's dog in life, and the red dragon's undead dog in death! Woof woof!"

The kobold soldier's noisy cries echoed throughout the cave.

The male elf frowned, and a strong feeling of irritability rose in his heart. After discussions among the major elf tribes, no one was willing to become a dragon's servant, so they decided to test the dragon's strength first.

If the dragon's strength is not strong, these elf tribes will join forces and drive the invading dragon away. If they cannot resist, the elf tribes will choose to migrate with the Tree of Life.

At that time, in the vast forest and sea of trees, it will not be easy for the dragon to find these elves.

But it is really difficult to pry out information about the dragon from the mouths of these weak dragon dependents. These seemingly weak creatures are particularly fanatical.

Even if countless companions die tragically in front of them, they will only stubbornly clamor, as if they are not afraid of death at all.

These elves find it difficult to understand the kobolds' fanaticism for dragons. Only another powerful dragon can make the kobolds open their mouths.

And the male elf is already unable to endure the kobold's barking, and irritably ejected two green seeds from his slender palm, shooting them at the kobold warrior who was barking in front of him.

The two seeds seemed to have life, and instantly grew green buds with thorns at an incredible speed. The green buds automatically found the kobold warrior's mouth and nose, and then drilled into the kobold warrior's body.

In just a few seconds, these short green buds turned into slender vines, and the vines were covered with sharp thorns that were more than ten centimeters long, piercing through every soft organ inside the kobold warrior's body.

Then these vines began to rise and bulge, like living things with breathing, sucking the kobold warrior's flesh and blood, making gurgling drinking sounds.

The kobold soldier's loud scolding turned into miserable and painful howls. The female elf Aiya frowned with some reluctance, but soon relaxed.

Now that they have decided to go to war, then both sides are enemies, and even if Aiya is naturally kind, she will not be soft-hearted.

The kobold warrior's screams quickly weakened and then disappeared. But the skin, which had been drained of all flesh and blood, did not dry up, but was supported by vines growing under a layer of skin.

The stems and leaves of the vines quickly stopped growing, but the wriggling did not stop. Soon, flowers as red as small trumpets bloomed between the branches.

Aiya and the male elf walked past these flowers growing in the flesh and blood, and a slight barking sound came from the trumpet-like flowers.

As if alive.