In a snowy mountainous region.
A large red dragon, looking extremely fierce, was struggling in a wild fight for survival.
Its claws were tearing at the mountain peaks and its wings were beating forcefully, trying to escape toward the treacherous abysses just ahead and take flight.
"Don't let it escape into the abyss!" shouted a feminine voice.
The girl who shouted that was running through the mountains, jumping from stone to stone, even though she showed some difficulty moving freely on that slippery and uneven terrain.
Her blue hair was flying in the wind and her cloak marked her identity: Nina Farion, one of the Saint Swords of the Sword Sanctuary.
She leaped nimbly, approaching the dragon, but it was still out of reach.
It was then that, from the other side, a young redheaded woman appeared. Using a large rock as a boost, she jumped in a powerful arc, spinning in the air with mastery.
"Hyaaaaa!" shouted the young woman who carried the title of Red Lioness, Eris Greyrat.
With her long silver sword, she masterfully executed the Longsword of Light, delivering a deep cut to one of the dragon's wings, making it roar violently.
The dragon writhed in pain, its body contorting as it lost its balance, its front arm ending up striking the redheaded girl.
The impact threw Eris away, hurling her against a rock outcrop and causing a great shock. She struggled to catch her breath and stay upright.
The dragon, enraged, turned with flames already forming in its throat. In a second, it unleashed a powerful flame breath in Eris' direction. The explosion was rapidly approaching, but before it reached her, a small figure appeared in front of her.
"Water shield!" shouted Aisha Greyrat, the little girl of only five years who, in the face of the flame breath, seemed tiny.
An immense barrier of water formed in front of the two, blocking the breath. The impact created a gigantic cloud of steam that enveloped the battlefield.
Unshaken, Aisha commanded:
"Isolte, block the way to the precipice! Nina and Jino, disable its other wing! Cut off its escape route!"
As the steam dissipated, Nina had already repositioned herself, cautiously circling the dragon, dodging its strikes and looking for an opening.
This time, the red dragon was an adult. Compared to the dragon that Eris had decapitated with a single blow the previous day, this one was larger and more robust.
Its scales were thicker, almost impenetrable to common attacks. Only the Longsword of Light could safely bypass its defenses.
Jino, with his sword in hand, attacked with precision, forcing the dragon to retreat along with Nina. They took turns to maintain the pressure.
At a critical moment, the dragon almost struck Jino with a powerful tail swipe, but Isolte intercepted the blow, redirecting the force masterfully.
Despite her many techniques to avoid the dragon's strikes, the Flow she used was not enough to pierce the enemy's scales.
Over time, the dragon grew tired. Its body was bleeding, its breathing became irregular, and its escape routes were gradually blocked.
Finally, when its movement lost rhythm, Eris found an opening. She positioned herself and with one clean, swift blow, decapitated the dragon.
The silence that followed was quickly replaced by heavy breaths and contained emotion. Aisha sighed in relief and skipped across the field covered in blood and scales toward Eris and Isolte, who were among the most injured.
"We... did we really do that...?" said Nina, still panting.
Jino nodded, surprised. Eris, on the other hand, crossed her arms and declared confidently while Aisha tended to her:
"This is natural! Rygar could fight several adult blue dragons by himself when he was only ten years old! We're not even that much!"
It was then that a figure appeared amid the steam caused by Aisha's magic, as if emerging from the very shadows of the mountain. Rygar. He watched silently, as if he had been there from the beginning.
"Don't exaggerate, Eris..." he said, with a slight smile.
Eris looked a bit embarrassed, but retorted:
"But you did that when you saved me and Ghislaine!"
Rygar smiled gently:
"I only drove them away. I couldn't have defeated all of them back then, no way."
Nina, still trying to catch her breath, asked:
"Does that mean now you can?"
Everyone turned to him. Rygar spoke enigmatically:
"Perhaps...?"
He paused, looking at each one of them.
"But don't be mistaken. All of you are extremely talented, and you have the potential to become some of the most powerful warriors in the world. I just have magic on my side."
Despite the modest words, the group's eyes shone with admiration. Aisha approached and said cheerfully:
"Master! That was the last of the dragons you designated. Shall we retreat now?"
Rygar activated his magical eyes, scanning the surroundings with extreme precision. For a few seconds, he remained silent, listening, feeling, observing. Finally, he answered:
"Alright... You all retreat. I still have something to do."
Aisha nodded with a smile:
"Okay, master! We'll wait on the hill shaped like a 'J'."
Eris was already moving away, but quickly turned and said, visibly nervous:
"Take care!"
She blushed a little, then turned back.
Isolte approached and warned:
"I know you're strong, Rygar, but don't go too deep into the red dragons' territory... even my grandmother said it would be certain death if she fell in there."
Rygar replied with calm confidence:
"I will take the necessary precautions."
With that said, the group began to move away from the edge of the Upper Jaw.
Rygar then turned to Ezkalor, the enormous red dragon that accompanied him, who watched him with an impassive, tense, and alert gaze.
"So, shall we go, boy?"
Ezkalor roared softly.
---
During the time they were in the mountain range, Rygar did not stay with the group the entire time. After all, they were strong and could protect themselves with their own strength.
After ensuring there were no major threats nearby, he sometimes went out to test his own strength. On some of these outings, he faced multiple dragons at once.
Despite that, he never ventured deep into the territory. And he killed every dragon he encountered along the way. This was important for his current plan — there could be no living dragons that had seen Rygar's group.
Rygar had undergone special training with Ezkalor... something quite peculiar. He would enter the dragon's mouth. Literally.
After being inside, he told the dragon to try and kill him.
Ezkalor was extremely hesitant to be ordered to kill him; he already knew that it never led to anything. It was a sacrifice to force him to try.
But when he finally did, albeit reluctantly, Rygar pierced his way out of the dragon's mouth with ease using magic, and then healed him with healing magic.
Ezkalor was extremely saddened to be beaten for no reason after so long. And Rygar felt a bit of pity — after all, the dragon had never again tried to kill him, nor had it ever gone against him.
But it was necessary. They would be infiltrating the territory of the red dragons this time. If Ezkalor had any rebellious thoughts about being surrounded by others of his race, he needed to know — Rygar still had the situation under control.
That said, after saying goodbye to the group, Rygar finally infiltrated the red dragons' territory under Ezkalor's camouflage.
He asked the dragon a few questions and discovered that all dragons could smell where the nests of eggs were located, but generally avoided going there.
Rygar planned to enter one of these nests and take with him some dragon eggs. It didn't have to be a large nest — after all, he didn't want to kill himself while hunting his breakfast... ahem ahem... I mean, the Legion's mounts.
With that in mind, Ezkalor walked deeper and deeper into the dragons' territory, his mouth slightly ajar so that Rygar could see.
It was a tense situation, but Ezkalor acted naturally.
At that point, Rygar understood why neither Gall Farion nor Reida were confident about crossing the mountain range — there were many dragons... many indeed.
If he focused on running, Rygar would probably barely get through using magic and relying on the element of surprise. But if he engaged in combat, he would be overwhelmed by the number of enemies. He might even be chased in the air.
The red dragons were aggressive; many of them were constantly fighting over territory or for any other reason.
Ezkalor passed by all these dragons naturally, traversing the rugged terrain until he reached a place where there were few dragons.
There was only one dragon guarding the entrance of a cave. It appeared to be a female. From what Rygar could tell thanks to his Demon Eye, there were two or three more dragons inside.
When he was sure there were no other dragons nearby, Rygar exited. And before the dragon had time to process what had happened and call for reinforcements, Rygar dashed with the Flash Step and smashed her brain with a single punch — a technique from the Beast God Style — killing her instantly.
He then looked at Ezkalor. That was the second reason for bringing him along. You see, the older dragons had high intelligence.
If they saw that one of their nests had been invaded by something that was not a dragon... who would guarantee that they wouldn't start running into human villages and cities seeking revenge?
As a guarantee, Rygar would have Ezkalor "take the blame." Ezkalor then bit the dragon's head, then its neck, and also made some scratches and characteristic marks — to make it seem as if it had been killed by another dragon.
While he did that, Rygar erased his presence using the concealment technique of the North God Style and infiltrated the cave.
He wiped away his scent with barrier magic and also his presence with touki, sneaking in silently.
After approaching, Rygar could see three dragons. They were lying around about fifteen eggs, warming them with their body heat.
Rygar analyzed his strategy. He would have to kill them quickly — so that they wouldn't have time to alert the other dragons.
After recording the positions of the eggs, he prepared the Earth Spines magic. It had to be quick, powerful, and sharp enough to pierce their resilient scales.
Rygar couldn't have done that if he hadn't had an arcane focus as strong as Tsukikage and if he hadn't improved his control over earth magic so much.
Moreover, these dragons didn't seem that strong. If he wanted to kill them without frightening the others, it was more than possible.
He focused. Drew Tsukikage. In case it went wrong, he could finish them off with his weapon. Without further hesitation, after accumulating enough mana, in a single moment, Rygar conjured three earth spines.
They pierced directly into the vital points of the three dragons. All three startled awake and tried to escape death. Two of them were impaled and killed immediately in the ambush.
The third escaped, leaped away with a large gash in its chest, and began to let out a roar that would reverberate throughout the mountain range.
But before it could complete the sound, a blue blade flashed by like a wraith. And its head flew through the air.
Rygar conjured walls of earth around to protect the eggs. He sighed inwardly.
"Phew... that was too close..."
After killing the three dragons, Rygar wasted no time. He took a deep breath and quickly began to execute the next step of his plan.
With meticulous movements, he created a large stone box, molded with earth magic, strong enough to withstand impacts and protect its precious contents.
Inside it, he conjured a thick layer of soft sand, carefully heated and enchanted, that would absorb shocks and keep the eggs safe... although from what Rygar had noted, these eggs were quite resilient.
The eggs were enormous — after all, they were red dragon eggs — with thin scales covering parts of their surfaces, still forming.
Rygar carefully picked them up one by one, positioning them in the box so that none touched each other. The weight was significant. When he finished placing them, he took a deep breath and raised his hands.
Around the box, he drew intricate magical circles, activating a series of concealment spells: one to nullify scent, another to hide magical presence, and two more to prevent detection by magical or spiritual means.
It was meticulous work, but necessary. He couldn't risk the dragons perceiving the theft by instinct or by their heightened senses and following them into civilization.
With that done, Ezkalor entered the cave and did his part.
With a neutral expression, he approached the bodies of the dead dragons and began to bite them, carefully tearing off pieces, creating realistic lacerations.
He made bite marks and claw marks around the areas where the eggs had been, perfectly simulating the attack of another dragon.
In a short time, the scene appeared to have been the stage of a violent territorial dispute, where a cannibalistic intruder had devoured the eggs and killed the nest's females.
Ezkalor simulated that a starving dragon had attacked, killed the females, and devoured their eggs. It was a cruel but effective disguise, because that is indeed what happens among the red dragons.
When Rygar finished preparing the box, he observed Ezkalor's work with attentive eyes.
He expected reluctance, even resistance, after all, he was asking Ezkalor to desecrate his own species' nest.
But the dragon acted fluidly, as if that task were natural. Surprised, Rygar wondered at the reason for such cooperation.
But he would never guess Ezkalor's thoughts: for him, who had lived isolated from his kind for years, finally having contact with eggs of his own species was almost exciting.
In his mind, he didn't care about 'betraying' the dragons or anything like that.
Those eggs represented, to him, the promise of companionship, of no longer being alone. A childish thought, perhaps, but deeply sincere.
After everything was done, the two left the cave.
Rygar looked one last time at the ruined nest. In a way, it was somewhat cruel, right? Invading a home, killing the mothers, and kidnapping the offspring.
Rygar was acting on the premise that dragons were animals.
But they demonstrated some degree of intelligence. Perhaps comparable to that of dolphins or chimpanzees from his previous world. Limited intelligence, but with emotional nuances.
Shaking off these random thoughts, Rygar returned to the mission.
As soon as they left the cave, Rygar firmly secured the box to Ezkalor's back using the Sealing Chains of the Mad Dragon King and earth claws shaped like hooks.
The box seemed enormous — but, compared to the dragon's gigantic body, it was like a very small backpack. Still, he reinforced the bonds and checked the spells once more. Everything had to be perfect.
To ensure they left no traces, Rygar conjured water and washed Ezkalor's scales. Then, he washed himself, removing any trace that might attract other dragons.
Their senses were razor-sharp — the smallest mistake could be fatal.
Only then did he climb onto Ezkalor's back. The dragon spread its wings, looked one last time back, and then took flight with a powerful beating of wings.
The immense shadow crossed the skies over the Northern Mountain Range.
Capture of the red dragon eggs... complete.
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