"We will not tolerate this disrespect!! We need to have a proper discussion about this," said Marlborough, standing in front of the scenery. Eliaza's face twisted slightly, but she maintained her composure very well. However, her expression suddenly became very animated as she realized that she could use this opportunity to hurt the temple a little bit. After all, maintaining justice always comes with a price, does it not?
After Eliaza finished negotiating with Marlborough, she started reaching out to the priests of various temples. Zazesspur was a very important city in the trading network so the population was quite high and most of the main G.o.ds had temples there. It could be considered a very religious town, although it couldn't compare to the Silver Dragon's hometown of Tethyr. Because of this, the various temples were more concerned about the legendary necromancer than local munic.i.p.al affairs. They put a lot of effort into recruiting adventurers by using their various channels and by offering large sums of money.
Claudius was out in the wild, it's not like he feared the cold temperature. The only thing that annoyed him was, how easy it was to get dirty. As for food, it didn't matter since a crimson dragon's tastes were slightly different from a human and after so many years, Claudius was already used to it. To him, steaks served in the city pubs tasted the same as baked ox. In fact, he thought that burnt or raw things were more delicious than that food that had been meticulously prepared. He was a bit bored; he still hadn't waited long enough for the Silver Dragon to emerge.
Fortunately, Claudius found something to do - just now, someone dressed as a ranger jumped out of the mountainside forest, went to the edge of the pit, and gazed inside. He was immediately recognized by Claudius, who shouted out "Aha! It's you! What was your name again? Achilles! Hey hey hey, kid, we meet again!" Between dragons, there's no way to disguise their appearance to each other. That's how Claudius was able to instantly tell that the pitiful ranger in front of him was actually Achilles the Bronze Dragon, and how Achilles was able to instantly recognize the barbarian which had suddenly jumped out from behind him was his worst nightmare, Claudius the Crimson Dragon. "Why are you here!" The Bronze Dragon thought that today really was not his day - it seemed like a good time to go to the Platinum Dragon Bahamut. The Bronze Dragon clumsily dropped his bow and arrow - it's true that it was a magical artifact but even if you didn't use your brain you'd still know that against the Crimson Dragon, it was useless. After the Bronze Dragon dropped his weapons, he immediately began considering whether he should teleport, or transform into his dragon form and fight it out. However, the next words from Claudius immediately dispelled any thoughts of fighting.
"If you dare to consider transforming into a dragon, I promise today will be your last day in this world! And don't even think about running! There's not enough time for you to start your teleportation! What's more, as you know my situation is a bit special, it's very easy for me to disable your spells! I don't think you want to be sent to the Nine h.e.l.ls of Baator, so come, Sit down and let's talk it out!" The Crimson Dragon casually gave the Bronze Dragon an ultimatum. Achilles ground his teeth, but he didn't dare take the risk. The Crimson Dragon's aura made it extremely difficult to use his teleportation ability, and his spell's structure crumbled. Achilles was too scared to try again, since he didn't know what might happen even if he succeeded. Since he couldn't run and he couldn't fight, he could only accept his fate. He obediently sat down on the large rock and waited for the Crimson Dragon to begin talking.
"Don't activate your aura and don't transform. Just follow me and we'll enter together!" said Claudius. "Have you become a defender of justice, or are you scheming something, Claudius?" the Bronze Dragon said in a disappointed tone. "I don't believe that a thief who stole all my stuff would become a crusader for justice, so you must have something evil planned, Claudius!"
"f.u.c.king h.e.l.l, are you coming or not!" Claudius swore. "Yes! I'm obviously coming!" replied Achilles in a tone that suggested he was being forced to. In truth, Achilles was also curious about the situation in the pit. Whether it was the legendary necromancer or the rare Shadow of the Void, just thinking about the sort of treasure that these monsters would drop almost made Achilles drool. If it wasn't for his instinct telling him that he couldn't win against the Shadow of the Void, he would've gone on a treasure hunt already. But now he was thinking about Claudius's plan. Even if he couldn't backstab Claudius and take all the goodies for himself, after taking care of the problem he could justifiably ask the Crimson Dragon to split half of the loot with him. "Yes! This'll work for sure!" The Bronze Dragon secretly clenched his fist in victory.
Claudius didn't really care much about Achilles's intentions, since he mainly wanted to satisfy his curiosity. If he could catch the Silver Dragon Eliaza, then that would be all the better. As for loot from killing the Shadow of the Void? If it's some magical artifact or whatever then Claudius didn't care about it, and if it was money then it'd be fine to give it all to Achilles. Doesn't Claudius usually treat money like dirt, anyways? He doesn't really think about matters like how he only has a few gold coins on him. So what if the city wants money, does the wilderness want money too?
Claudius looked Achilles up and down and then said, "just a bow and arrow? That's not very effective against the Shadow of the Void and winter wights, right? Do you have your priorities straight? You're just like a poor piece of s.h.i.+t! Fine, I'll lend this to you. You better return it to me afterwards!" The Crimson Dragon stared at the foolish Bronze Dragon, shook his head, and sighed. Achilles really was irresponsible, even if his equipment was pa.s.sable. No matter how you look at it, he was still wearing a mithril hauberk. As for magical equipment though, Claudius didn't see any telltale glowing. Looks like he really cleaned out Achilles's stash that time. However, a bow and arrow really were absolutely useless, so Claudius tossed out a golden mace. Achilles's eyes shone, and he held the mace tightly. "Gold! Such high-quality gold! Let me appraise it! I think it's worth at least 5000 gold coins! Just the materials would be worth that much!"
"I'm leaving now! Misers die first, you know! No wonder everyone in the world thinks dragons are penny-pinchers, look at your cheap a.s.s! Pah! I really despair at the image of dragons!" Claudius really couldn't bear the sight of this display. To be honest, he wasn't really familiar with the greed of dragons, although here was a prime example right in front of him. The two dragons in human form entered the mine one after the other - no one came to stop them. When it came to the mine, the people in the city didn't even have the courage to send one of their own to keep watch.
At the same time, Eliaza's help had arrived. It was a tall and slender elf with black eyes. He was dressed stylishly. In his hand was a longbow. He looked at the Silver Dragon and said, "In accordance to the vows between us, I've come to provide a.s.sistance to you, respected Lady Eliaza." The Silver Dragon also responded to the elf with respect and courtesy, "Mensal, I'm very grateful for your help. Under the ancient treaty, I will accept your a.s.sistance."
