Chapter 10: The Tragedy of Northwind Fortress

  Gold s trickled from the ers of the red dragon’s mouth as the chimera watched from outside the cave. In its greedy gaze, there was not only a sense of loss for its treasures but also a fleeting glimmer of resehough it dared not show this emotion before the dragon.

  Cassius noticed but paid it no mind, even feeling a sense of satisfa at asserting dominance.

  For such chaotid evil creatures, kindness was futile; the chimera could never be truly loyal. The moment an opportunity arose, it would seek to overthrow him and take his pce.

  As an old saying from his past life went, “They fear power, not virtue,” which was fitting for this creature.

  The red dragon’s only choice was to exploit its strength and maintain his own dominance, ensuring it remained a subordinate, with no ce to rise above him.

  [Metal Scales upgraded to max level (5230/5000)]

  [rait Acquired: 【Gilded Scales】]

  【Gilded Scales】 Ac +3, stitution +1

  [You have absorbed an excess of goldes; the flowing gold adheres to your scales and the depths of your heart.

  You may activate 【Goldeh】, causing the gold within you to coat your scales, greatly enhang your armor value and altering the appearance of your scales to gold.]

  "Able to turn my scales golden?"

  Cassius suddenly had some intriguing ideas.

  In his memories, no golden dragons roamed Aa.

  Could he possibly…

  Either way, having more life-saving tools was always wele, and the red dragon was quite pleased.

  Ign the chimera’s resentful gaze, he ordered it to tinue leading the way through the Giant’s Maw cave.

  "Is it endless?"

  Cassius mused.

  The pce was far more extehan he’d expected, with several deep recesses, making it seem less like a natural formation and more like the work of dwarven craftsmen.

  Ahead, a narrow passage emitted waves of hot steam, with small spshes of magma—f sights for the red dragon.

  "Keep moving forward."

  Cassius signaled for the chimera to lead the way.

  But the cautious beast whimpered, refusing to venture further.

  "Master, hot…dangerous."

  "Will die."

  It had submitted to the dragon to save its own skin.

  It didn’t want to lose its life to the magma, as it cked the red dragon’s resistao fire.

  "Strange pce."

  "But with sutense elemental reas, I’ll explore when I’m fully prepared."

  "Let’s call it the Bottomless Cave for now."

  After a moment’s thought, Cassius decided to leave it for now. After all, he was still only a young red dragon.

  He was barely able to rule this wild nd, let alone faknowures underground. If he entered something advanced, like a beholder, he wasn’t fident he could win.

  "You leave."

  "Thank you, Master."

  Relieved, the chimera exhaled deeply.

  It ran back to its treasure stash without dey, eagerly transferring the remaining hundreds of s.

  Ign its nearly broken wings, it flew unsteadily to the other side, seeking a pce to bury its prized possessions.

  "Typical of a dragon-blooded creature."

  "So greedy."

  Cassius shook his head in disdain.

  Thus, Cassius cimed the outer caves of the Giant’s Maw as his first ir, sealing the inner passages with rocks for now.

  The chimera was sent to a small cave on the opposite cliff to serve as the red dragon’s guardian and caretaker.

  Cassius felt he’d been generous; he’d let the chimera keep some savings, hadn’t he? Plenty of panies didn’t offer such bes…

  "Prestidigitation!"

  With the spell, a one-cubic-foot area of the cave ed up, and the stench of blood disappeared.

  The red dragon worked like a janitor, using magic to scrub the cave bit by bit.

  "This dumb beast really trashed the pce. In a cultivation his would be a ‘blessed cave,’ but it tur into a sughterhouse,” Cassius muttered as he surveyed the bloody remains.

  Ahead y another pile of bones, and as he prepared to clear it out, he noticed a skull with goat-like horns.

  This skull didn’t seem too old—just a few weeks, with bits of flesh ging to it and flies buzzing around.

  Judging by its humanoid shape and a broken tailbo was likely a tiefling.

  Tieflings were human-desded, roughly human-sized.

  However, their infernal heritage marked them with horns, a four- to five-foot tail, monoatic eyes, and varied skin tones.

  Tieflings often gathered in human towns, and while not ily evil, they faced distrust and prejudice.

  Cassius pondered for a moment, recalling a mission thread from his previous life: “It is a tiefling…could it be the batch from 【Tragedy of Northwind Fortress】?”

  【Tragedy of Northwind Fortress】

  [Northwind Fortress, also known as Kowanas Fortress, lies at the edge of the Northern United Kingdom, b Storm High Cliffs. It houses over 30,000 residents, including more than a thousand tieflings, uhe rule of t Ra.]

  [A hundred years ago, the elderly Duke Brad Ra, tormented by the ravages of time, struck a pact with a dark neancer and transformed himself into an immortal vampire. Retly, he awoke, agreeing to sacrifice a thousand lives within ten years to the neao achieve his assion.]

  [In the following months, many residents mysteriously disappeared, with no bodies found. Duke Ra seized the moment to deliver his infamous “Bloody Speech,” bming the “devil-born” tieflings, g they sacrificed humans to devils.]

  [A “righteous” sughter ensued, as enraged citizens stormed the town, dragging unsuspeg tieflings to the pyres, branding them devil’s aplices and burning them alive.]

  [The fuard captain, tiefling padin Mezrorash, resisted to the death, esg the Duke’s soldiers and leading 300 survivors north to Storm High Cliffs, where they established the tiefling refuge, the “Broken Home.”]

  One of the mais for pyers in the early stages was to ally with the tieflings, expose Duke Ra’s true nature, and sy the brutal vampire.

  Northwind Fortress was also the primary “hub city.”

  "Could the tiefling refugee camp be nearby? Maybe I could leverage this quest lio seize Northwind Fortress.”

  This was the pyers’ main city; gaining trol of it would grant influence over the pyers. Knowing the value of pyers from previous expansions, Cassius saw immeential bes.

  With this in mind, Cassius summohe chimera, pointing to the remains on the ground and asking:

  "Where did you enter these creatures?"

  The chimera approached, she bones with its lion head, and answered, “Horned humans…not tasty.”

  Cassius g the chimera’s injured wings, which seemed incapable of long flights.

  He decided there was o rush. His forces were still insuffitly strong; he could recruit the surrounding creatures first.

  "Return a."

  "Yes, Master."