The Red Dragon's Gaze

Strands of telepathic links shot out from Vagnerd, binding Singo's soul firmly. His eyes turned vacant and dull, the light in his pupils replaced by a dark red hue. His movements became as stiff as a marionette's, completely ensnared in a charmed state. Vagnerd chuckled softly and issued a command through his will. *Run over here.* With that single, simple command, a surging torrent of mental power poured along the chains into Singo's mind. His body moved involuntarily, walking quietly to Vagnerd's side. He stroked Singo's scale-covered arm, marveling, "Truly... a work of art. "Such a flawless fusion of scales and muscle—I have only ever seen it in true dragons. How have I never produced a creation like this?" *Bring him over here.* Vagnerd casually issued the order. Obeying like a puppet on strings, Singo hoisted the unconscious Tiansheng Zhankuang onto his shoulder and returned to Vagnerd's side. Vagnerd led them forward. The Magic Jar containing Mantou's soul floated along after him. One heavy door after another opened automatically, leading the group onto a metal platform carved with dragon scales. Complex gravity spell runes hummed to life, carrying the platform up floor by floor. Sensing the vibrations, grotesque monsters on every level howled in a chaotic din, violently shaking and ramming against their cages. Yet Vagnerd paid them no mind; to him, they were nothing more than insignificant failures. Finally, they arrived at the highest level of the Black Tower, Vagnerd's most cherished testing ground—the Land of Demonic Dragons. Shattered flesh and scales, severed limbs and butchered remains were strewn everywhere, with viscous blood almost entirely coating the floor. Blood-spattered instruments, shattered syringes, and razor-sharp blades littered the room. Vagnerd inhaled deeply in rapturous delight, as though savoring the thick stench of blood in the air. *Fasten him down.* Under his control, Singo strapped Tiansheng Zhankuang onto a metal examination table. Vagnerd examined Tiansheng Zhankuang's muscular physique intently. His feverish eyes seemed capable of piercing through scale and skin to see every inch of internal structure—even down to every drop of thick blood coursing through the veins. "Just as I thought... "It is the power of a red dragon. To think such pure dragon blood could course through humanoid veins. "Why isn't there any rejection? I conducted dozens of experiments—even the resilient constitution of a frost giant couldn't withstand white dragon blood without the entire body breaking down, let alone the most violent and exclusive bloodline of all: the red dragon! "And these organs... dragon heads perfectly fused with human torsos. Even my most outstanding creation, Valena, was merely a product of stitching, yet they underwent a natural transformation..." Reluctantly, Vagnerd tore his gaze away from Tiansheng Zhankuang and stared deep into the distance. His sight pierced through the cold, thick metal walls, through the layered mountain ranges, and across the vast expanse of the Storm Heights, arriving at the colossal red dragon resting deep within its lair. A feverish gleam ignited in his eyes. "Cassius Claubau Norixius, an aberrant red dragon that rose to prominence in a mere decade... You must hold quite a few secrets. "I find myself... growing more and more intrigued by you." *** Inside the Council Hall of Northwind Keep. Cassius was testing spells when the Cataclysmic Dragon Eye hovering beside him stirred abnormally. Fractured visions flickered within its sight: players battling gnolls, a mysterious and perilous spire, bizarre stitched monstrosities, and finally, a frame locking onto a pair of fanatical eyes. —It was the Cataclysmic Dragon Eye's special ability, Visions of the Past. "This is..." Cassius immediately recognized Mantou, someone he had been keeping an eye on. But that look was certainly not something a player could have—not to mention the exceptionally high-tier magical aura shimmering within "Mantou's" eyes. "A black tower, monsters, spells... "So it's Vagnerd. He actually possessed a player, and he has the nerve to spy on me so blatantly! "What a suicidal madman." The red dragon bared his fangs in a cold sneer. In his past life, Vagnerd had been notorious. The act of turning his own daughter into a monster, along with the series of inhumane experiments he conducted in secret, had provoked collective outrage among the players. Uniting as one, the players had sacrificed countless lives before finally blowing this "Dragon-Mad Black Wizard" to pieces. Being targeted by such a lunatic was an enormous nuisance. Vagnerd was not only a high-tier wizard, but he also possessed numerous countermeasures against dragons. While Cassius didn't fear him, he had no desire to be entangled with him either. Once provoked, the roots had to be utterly eradicated. He would never gamble on the consequences of letting a high-tier wizard escape. Exhaling a plume of sulfurous smoke, Cassius decided to teach him a lesson first and settle the rest of the score later. "Heh. Since you love peeping so much— "Then I'll let you have your fill!" The red dragon tilted his head slightly, locking eyes across hundreds of miles. A vicious grin formed on his face as a terrifying magical radiance flashed within his golden pupils. Since he was already registered in the Dragon Queen's favor, he could afford to be a bit bolder. Sixth-level spell— Terrifying Vision of Tiamat. The phantasm crossed the Storm Heights and pierced through layers of mountain ranges, arriving in an instant before Vagnerd's eyes within the spire, manifesting right in front of him. *ROAR—* With a deafening draconic roar, a nightmarish amalgam materialized before Vagnerd. Four colossal dragon legs supported a monstrous body, from which writhed five sinuous necks topped with five heads, each corresponding to a different chromatic dragon. The five-headed evil dragon spread wings that blotted out the sky, glaring down at Vagnerd with eyes of unspeakable terror. "Tiamat... It's Tiamat! "Queen of Chromatic Dragons, Queen of Evil Dragons, Tiamat!" Vagnerd trembled all over and cried out. His body shook not merely from fear, but from sheer excitement and ecstasy. "H-How magnificent..." Vagnerd's face was flushed red, his words slurring. For centuries he had pursued the power of dragons, and the legendary Queen of Evil Dragons, progenitor of all chromatic dragons, was undoubtedly the pinnacle of that power—the guiding light he had chased all his life. This was only a sliver of his soul, so he naturally could not discern the reality of the illusion. Overcome with extreme terror and exhilaration, he instinctively took this Terrifying Vision of Tiamat for the actual descent of the true deity. Yet with his intellect, how could he fail to realize this was triggered by his scrying upon the red dragon? In the sky, the five-headed dragon looked down coldly upon the earth. Fire, cold, acid, lightning, and poison gas erupted from the maws of those five gruesome heads, unleashing divine retribution from the goddess of evil dragons. "To witness Tiamat's majestic form with my own eyes and feel this peerless power... my existence has no regrets left. "Still, you truly are special... "Red dragon." Vagnerd murmured to himself, staring up at the sky. In the next moment, a dazzling barrage of breath weapons washed violently through his mind, effortlessly consuming and obliterating this wisp of a soul. Yet before its demise, the soul fragment expended all its strength to cast a spell, sending a faint stream of information back to his true body.