"How do you want to handle this Cold Forest Serpent Dragon?"
Holding onto the head of the Cold Forest Serpent Dragon, Garon turned to Nicole and asked seriously.
Nicole had sought his and Luna's help with the serpent dragon because this newcomer was far too close to her territory. Nicole's territory was on a snow-capped mountain nearby, and she, like Garon, preferred the open vistas available from high altitudes.
The cold taiga where they currently were was an area where Nicole frequently hunted, practically at the edge of her territory.
In such a location, any true dragon would find it intolerable to have a ferocious serpent dragon species nearby.
Especially since Nicole, if facing the serpent dragon alone, would likely not be its match.
The brutal and powerful serpent dragon species posed a significant security risk to her.
Nicole had been worrying about this situation for some time and had even considered relocating her territory, but the idea of a true dragon being driven away by a serpent dragon species was too damaging to her pride.
She had never truly believed she could drive it away.
Now that they had captured the Cold Forest Serpent Dragon with Luna and Garon's help, she was unsure how to proceed.
Hearing Garon's question, Nicole weakly suggested, "Maybe we could find a glacier rift and throw it in there?"
"If it's far enough away, it shouldn't come back here, right?"
Garon and Luna were momentarily silent, not expecting Nicole to be so unprepared for what came next.
Luna shook her delicate silver head in resignation and said, "Serpent dragons are very vengeful. They are known to hold a grudge against an enemy until death and are said to curse their most hated enemy upon their natural death."
"Plus, it can fly, so throwing it into a glacier rift isn't really a good choice."
No one wanted to bear a curse from an evil god.
Serpent dragons themselves are not afraid of death. It's said that their souls are taken by the evil god upon death and enter its divine realm.
Such a hot potato would be ignored by even legendary beings unless there was a way to break the curse. Being hated by a serpent dragon was not something to be taken lightly.
Garon nodded in agreement, "Given the serpent dragon's nature, it would likely trouble itself to come back and then... trouble you."
"You wouldn't want to face it alone."
Nicole looked down at the fierce-faced serpent dragon, still vicious despite being encased in ice, and shivered, "What should we do then? We can't let it cast its death curse, and we can't shake it off."
She furrowed her brows tightly and finally said helplessly, "Do I really have to give up my territory? I don't want to. I've lived here for decades, and being driven away by a serpent dragon would make me the laughing stock of all true dragons."
Most true dragons looked down on serpent dragons with disdain.
Being forced out of one's territory by a serpent dragon was an utter disgrace.
Nicole's gaze shifted between Garon and Luna, then she resignedly said, "Never mind, you won't gossip about this, right? Let's just throw it far away for now. If it insists on coming back, then I'll change territories."
Luna nodded gently, "Let's try that for now. If it doesn't work, we'll have to have a serious talk with it."
Nicole gave the frozen serpent dragon a hard knock and grumbled, "I tried talking to it before. It wouldn't listen to a word of dragon speech, completely unreasonable."
Garon examined the serpent dragon up close, clearly seeing the malice in its eyes, which still contained a noticeable fierceness.
Its gaze seemed to say, "Just you wait, once I'm out, you're all in for it! This is just a flat-headed tough guy with spikes."
That was the impression Garon had of the Cold Forest Serpent Dragon.
He pondered for a few seconds, then turned to Nicole and said, "How about this? We'll keep it temporarily in my territory. I'll handle it."
Garon was interested in rare and uniquely capable creatures, and serpent dragons definitely fit this description.
The number of serpent dragons was dwindling, and this Cold Forest Serpent Dragon might even be one of the few remaining on the Noa continent.
If not for their strength and the death curse, given their nature, they would likely have been extinct already.
Still, extinction wasn't far off for them.
Furthermore, when Garon thought of the evil god in relation to the serpent dragon, an image of a black sun sculpture adorned with tentacles and eyes involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
The mere mental image was filled with ominous and evil undertones.
Garon's eyes flickered, sensing the time stamp, and then found the imprint on the black sun sculpture was still in place
, which reassured him.
Meanwhile, Nicole said with some embarrassment, "If we put it in your territory and it refuses to leave, won't you be troubled?"
Garon smiled lightly, calmly saying, "Trust me, it's just a serpent dragon. I have my ways of dealing with it."
A death curse? The breath of time could make it yearn for death in vain.
Moreover, Garon's body was constantly bathed in the river of time, and it was uncertain whether the so-called death curse would even affect him.
As he spoke, his words radiated powerful confidence, combined with the unique aura of a time dragon, momentarily stunning Nicole and Luna.
Garon caught himself and subtly shook his head.
"Let's decide on that and go."
His deep voice echoed as Luna and Nicole's eyes cleared, and they simultaneously murmured, "Alright, we'll do as you say."
Garon, holding the serpent dragon's head, flew together with the silver and crystal dragons toward the location of his dragon's nest on the snowy mountain.
Before long, the three massive true dragons arrived above the small snowy mountain, looking down at the buildings and creatures below.
The Wolfheart clan's winter wolves and the typically lazy fierce frost tigers and wolves looked up at the soaring dragon figures in the sky, noting Garon's arrival.
Some gnoll worshippers fell to their knees, shouting in dragon language, "Great Eternal Dragon, please allow us to express our highest respect to you."
Garon had no appreciation for the dog-like cries of respect in dragon language and simply ignored the gnolls' flattery.
"Eternal Dragon?"
Nicole flicked her dragon tail and muttered.
"This is one of my territories."
"Eternal Dragon is my title."
Garon stated succinctly.
Luna and Nicole were somewhat astonished, "Isn't this the location of a frost giant tribe?"
"Where did the frost giant tribe go?"
This territory, now reshaped by gnolls and minotaur shamans, bore no resemblance to the frost giant tribe that once was. If not for the extraordinary memory of true dragons, they wouldn't have been so sure this was the same place.
"I eradicated them."
Luna looked at Garon, then glanced down at the former frost giant tribe, musing, "I remember they had a significant population, and there was a very old frost giant there. It seems I've underestimated your current strength."
Garon smiled modestly, "It was just luck."
He pointed to an open space, "Let's place the Cold Forest Serpent Dragon there, and I'll take it from there."
They then made their way toward that spot, prepared to handle the serpent dragon according to their plan.
"How do you want to handle this Cold Forest Serpent Dragon?"
Holding onto the head of the Cold Forest Serpent Dragon, Garon turned to Nicole and asked seriously.
Nicole had sought his and Luna's help with the serpent dragon because this newcomer was far too close to her territory. Nicole's territory was on a snow-capped mountain nearby, and she, like Garon, preferred the open vistas available from high altitudes.
The cold taiga where they currently were was an area where Nicole frequently hunted, practically at the edge of her territory.
In such a location, any true dragon would find it intolerable to have a ferocious serpent dragon species nearby.
Especially since Nicole, if facing the serpent dragon alone, would likely not be its match.
The brutal and powerful serpent dragon species posed a significant security risk to her.
Nicole had been worrying about this situation for some time and had even considered relocating her territory, but the idea of a true dragon being driven away by a serpent dragon species was too damaging to her pride.
She had never truly believed she could drive it away.
Now that they had captured the Cold Forest Serpent Dragon with Luna and Garon's help, she was unsure how to proceed.
Hearing Garon's question, Nicole weakly suggested, "Maybe we could find a glacier rift and throw it in there?"
"If it's far enough away, it shouldn't come back here, right?"
Garon and Luna were momentarily silent, not expecting Nicole to be so unprepared for what came next.
Luna shook her delicate silver head in resignation and said, "Serpent dragons are very vengeful. They are known to hold a grudge against an enemy until death and are said to curse their most hated enemy upon their natural death."
"Plus, it can fly, so throwing it into a glacier rift isn't really a good choice."
No one wanted to bear a curse from an evil god.
Serpent dragons themselves are not afraid of death. It's said that their souls are taken by the evil god upon death and enter its divine realm.
Such a hot potato would be ignored by even legendary beings unless there was a way to break the curse. Being hated by a serpent dragon was not something to be taken lightly.
Garon nodded in agreement, "Given the serpent dragon's nature, it would likely trouble itself to come back and then... trouble you."
"You wouldn't want to face it alone."
Nicole looked down at the fierce-faced serpent dragon, still vicious despite being encased in ice, and shivered, "What should we do then? We can't let it cast its death curse, and we can't shake it off."
She furrowed her brows tightly and finally said helplessly, "Do I really have to give up my territory? I don't want to. I've lived here for decades, and being driven away by a serpent dragon would make me the laughing stock of all true dragons."
Most true dragons looked down on serpent dragons with disdain.
Being forced out of one's territory by a serpent dragon was an utter disgrace.
Nicole's gaze shifted between Garon and Luna, then she resignedly said, "Never mind, you won't gossip about this, right? Let's just throw it far away for now. If it insists on coming back, then I'll change territories."
Luna nodded gently, "Let's try that for now. If it doesn't work, we'll have to have a serious talk with it."
Nicole gave the frozen serpent dragon a hard knock and grumbled, "I tried talking to it before. It wouldn't listen to a word of dragon speech, completely unreasonable."
Garon examined the serpent dragon up close, clearly seeing the malice in its eyes, which still contained a noticeable fierceness.
Its gaze seemed to say, "Just you wait, once I'm out, you're all in for it! This is just a flat-headed tough guy with spikes."
That was the impression Garon had of the Cold Forest Serpent Dragon.
He pondered for a few seconds, then turned to Nicole and said, "How about this? We'll keep it temporarily in my territory. I'll handle it."
Garon was interested in rare and uniquely capable creatures, and serpent dragons definitely fit this description.
The number of serpent dragons was dwindling, and this Cold Forest Serpent Dragon might even be one of the few remaining on the Noa continent.
If not for their strength and the death curse, given their nature, they would likely have been extinct already.
Still, extinction wasn't far off for them.
Furthermore, when Garon thought of the evil god in relation to the serpent dragon, an image of a black sun sculpture adorned with tentacles and eyes involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
The mere mental image was filled with ominous and evil undertones.
Garon's eyes flickered, sensing the time stamp, and then found the imprint on the black sun sculpture was still in place
, which reassured him.
Meanwhile, Nicole said with some embarrassment, "If we put it in your territory and it refuses to leave, won't you be troubled?"
Garon smiled lightly, calmly saying, "Trust me, it's just a serpent dragon. I have my ways of dealing with it."
A death curse? The breath of time could make it yearn for death in vain.
Moreover, Garon's body was constantly bathed in the river of time, and it was uncertain whether the so-called death curse would even affect him.
As he spoke, his words radiated powerful confidence, combined with the unique aura of a time dragon, momentarily stunning Nicole and Luna.
Garon caught himself and subtly shook his head.
"Let's decide on that and go."
His deep voice echoed as Luna and Nicole's eyes cleared, and they simultaneously murmured, "Alright, we'll do as you say."
Garon, holding the serpent dragon's head, flew together with the silver and crystal dragons toward the location of his dragon's nest on the snowy mountain.
Before long, the three massive true dragons arrived above the small snowy mountain, looking down at the buildings and creatures below.
The Wolfheart clan's winter wolves and the typically lazy fierce frost tigers and wolves looked up at the soaring dragon figures in the sky, noting Garon's arrival.
Some gnoll worshippers fell to their knees, shouting in dragon language, "Great Eternal Dragon, please allow us to express our highest respect to you."
Garon had no appreciation for the dog-like cries of respect in dragon language and simply ignored the gnolls' flattery.
"Eternal Dragon?"
Nicole flicked her dragon tail and muttered.
"This is one of my territories."
"Eternal Dragon is my title."
Garon stated succinctly.
Luna and Nicole were somewhat astonished, "Isn't this the location of a frost giant tribe?"
"Where did the frost giant tribe go?"
This territory, now reshaped by gnolls and minotaur shamans, bore no resemblance to the frost giant tribe that once was. If not for the extraordinary memory of true dragons, they wouldn't have been so sure this was the same place.
"I eradicated them."
Luna looked at Garon, then glanced down at the former frost giant tribe, musing, "I remember they had a significant population, and there was a very old frost giant there. It seems I've underestimated your current strength."
Garon smiled modestly, "It was just luck."
He pointed to an open space, "Let's place the Cold Forest Serpent Dragon there, and I'll take it from there."
They then made their way toward that spot, prepared to handle the serpent dragon according to their plan.
