The monster slithered slowly.
Coiled beneath its body, the barbarian's limbs were gorged with blood, veins bulging, his face twisted in agonized contortion, but the spark of life had already faded from him.
"How boring."
The raspy voice spoke once more.
It coiled its form and opened its maw wide, preparing to swallow this "delicacy" whole in one gulp.
Seeing a living man about to be swallowed, the crowd erupted into another uproar. Yet by now they had nowhere left to run, their minds pushed to near numbness.
"Rest in peace, Daoba."
"Though a painful death like this suits the things you've done."
Hart watched his subordinate of over a decade die in such humiliation, but there was nothing he could do except grit his teeth in silence and pray that he might escape this place.
Droplets trickled down from his brow. He wiped them away with a hand, only to find something odd—it was not cold sweat, let alone tears, but sweat brought on by heat.
*Wait... why is it so hot in the cave?*
Doubt stirred within him. He had been fleeing for his life earlier and had not noticed.
Now that his senses had cleared, the cave felt like a giant steamer, waves of heat rolling down from overhead.
Hart instinctively looked up—
And his jaw fell slack.
A colossal beast more than eight meters long suddenly appeared atop the cavern wall.
It was a dragon!
Even more shocking, terrifying yellow-white flames were gathering in the dragon's maw like a miniature sun, illuminating the entire mine bright as day.
Both the humans and the monster looked up in astonishment—
Leaving them completely dumbstruck.
"Caught you."
An unfamiliar voice rang out from high above the mine.
Cassius unleashed the fire breath he had been building up. In that instant, more than half the energy within him was drawn out.
"Maximized Fire Breath!"
A pillar of blazing flame descended from above, its core a blinding white while its outer flames flared vivid orange-red.
*Boom!*
With a deafening roar, the coiled monster let out an agonized shriek.
The blistering heat warped the air as the beast writhed amidst the roaring fire, desperate to evade it.
The resilient scales it took so much pride in were incinerated by the blistering flames in an instant, charring to ash and cinder.
"Despicable dragon!"
"You shameless ambusher!"
It thrashed in the flames, snarling in a raspy roar.
The terrifying breath lasted for several breaths before gradually subsiding, as the monster slithered off into the darkness to escape.
"To take a blast like that head-on and survive... terrifying indeed," Cassius murmured to himself, peering into the shadows of the mine.
"Twinned Dancing Lights!"
Several beams of light shot from the red dragon's claws in different directions, piercing the dim recesses of the cavern.
In moments, the entire mine was brightly illuminated, leaving the beast nowhere left to hide.
For the first time, its body was laid completely bare.
Its colossal frame stretched seventeen or eighteen meters long, resembling a cross between a centipede and a crocodile.
Along both flanks grew a dense array of twelve pairs of legs, an intimidating sight.
Yet at this moment, the beast was in a wretched state: broad swaths of scales had been burned away, and large patches of flesh were scorched black.
The red dragon stared hard at the creature, a flicker of feral excitement washing over his face at the sight of a worthy foe.
[Based on your own strength, you can observe the following information]
Behir - Man'a
Category: Huge monstrosity, neutral evil
AC: 18 (Natural Armor)
Speed: 50 ft., climb 40 ft.
Strength: 23
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 18
Intelligence: 7
Wisdom: 14
Charisma: 12
Skill Proficiencies: Perception +6, Stealth +7, Survival +4
Senses: Darkvision 90 ft., passive Perception 16
Damage Immunities: Lightning
Languages: Common, Draconic
Actions: Lightning Breath, Multiattack, Constrict, Bite, Swallow
Traits: Cave Predator, Dragon Foe
Challenge Rating: 11 (7,200 XP)
Evaluation: "Behirs crawl and slither across ground and walls in pursuit of prey. Their lightning breath can incinerate most creatures; even stronger foes find themselves constricted and crushed by the behir, only to be swallowed whole."
"A terrifying opponent."
Such was Cassius's appraisal of it.
Seeing that its position was completely exposed, the monster—or rather, the behir—dispensed with hiding altogether.
"A young dragon sorcerer?"
"How... peculiar."
Those serpentine eyes stared fixedly at the red dragon. In that gaze lay not only the fury of having been ambushed, but a hatred forged deep in its very bloodline.
In forgotten ancient times, giants and dragons waged a near-endless war.
Legend had it that the storm giants created the first behir to serve as a weapon against dragonkind.
Thus, behirs retained an innate hatred of dragons to this day, and their ancestral memory preserved methods to combat them.
Seeing how badly wounded his foe was, the red dragon pressed the advantage relentlessly.
"Scorching Ray!"
Rays of flame erupted in succession from the red dragon's maw.
Though wounded, the behir scuttled with its legs, its massive frame proving remarkably agile on the rock face.
Relying on sheer speed, it weaved left and right, cleanly dodging two consecutive rays of fire.
Yet the third ray struck true. The blistering beam tore through flesh, forcing a pained shriek from the creature.
Infuriated, the behir snapped its head up, dazzling lightning gathering within its maw.
"Lightning Breath!"
In an instant, the behir unleashed arc after arc of lightning.
Each bolt was as thick as a bowl, capable of instantly incinerating most living things—vastly more powerful than the red dragon's 1st-level Witch Bolt.
Facing the lightning breath hurtling toward him, Cassius knew he could not evade it completely. He sprang sideways while calling upon his Metamagic feat to cast in an instant.
"Quickened Shield!"
An invisible barrier of magical force manifested before the red dragon, deflecting part of the lightning.
Yet before long, the invisible magical shield buckled under the raging lightning and shattered, allowing several bolts to slam directly into the red dragon.
Cassius felt a powerful current conduct through his scales, piercing the surface of his hide to course through his body.
A sharp pain wracked his body at once; muscles spasmed, and several scales were scorched black by the electricity.
Fortunately, red dragons possessed immense innate constitution, and he weathered the blow head-on. Had it been an ordinary human, their internal organs would have been ruined, if not burned to a crisp on the spot.
*What a terrifying breath. If I had taken the full brunt of it, I'd probably be severely injured.*
Feeling the faint twitching and ache of his muscles, Cassius could not help but lick his lips.
A trace of excitement colored Cassius's voice.
"It's been a long time since I tasted injury."
Ever since arriving in this world, aside from that initial panicked flight, he had rarely faced an evenly matched foe. After all, where a red dragon started was already beyond where most creatures could ever hope to finish.
This was the first opponent to truly thrill him—a rare encounter indeed.
Chapter 23