Hearing this, Cassius twisted his neck slightly and asked, "Then why do you think... I would step in to help you?"
Misha answered earnestly, "Because you are a good person."
"A good person?"
"Hahahahaha!"
Cassius burst out laughing, as if he had just heard the greatest joke in the world.
Yet Misha’s tone had clearly held no trace of jest.
In the ten years since arriving in this world, people had given him countless titles—evil dragon, butcher, tyrant, destroyer, and even god—yet not once had anyone ever called him a so-called "good person."
The red dragon stood, spreading his broad wings and looking down with great amusement at Misha not far away. "Why do you say that?"
"Aren't you afraid that I might be just like Leo Bosque?"
Misha grew flustered, but she still answered, "No, you wouldn't be like that."
"You... you're different from them."
"Different how?" Cassius pressed.
Misha thought for a moment before continuing, "My grandfather, Old John, once told me that you are the best lord in all of Anzeta. Even though you are a dragon, you act more like a good person than those nobles do."
"Oh?"
The red dragon tilted his head.
"He often told me that under the rule of the Northlands nobles, he never had enough to eat and always had to worry about freezing or starving to death in winter. But in your territory, he could eat his fill and even had enough left over to feed me."
"And... and if not for you, I might have ended up a slave to those nobles, and he would never have adopted me."
Misha's words were simple and unpolished, yet extraordinarily sincere.
The red dragon nodded, an intrigued expression crossing his features.
In truth, Cassius had little sympathy for the people of the Northlands; he simply believed that establishing such a new order was more beneficial for seizing power and expanding his dominion.
And now, those benefits seemed to be making themselves known.
Cassius took a few slow paces forward. "Misha, I appreciate you."
"So... what do you want? Power enough to kill Leo Bosque?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"I want to kill him with my own hands," Misha said forcefully, the flames dancing once more within her brown eyes.
However, the question that followed caught her completely off guard.
Cassius gazed at her with his pale gold pupils.
"Then... what comes after?"
"Once your vengeance is fulfilled, what will you do?"
"I... I..."
Misha was suddenly stunned.
She was still a child after all. Despite her precocious intelligence, she had never seriously thought about what her future held.
She fell into deep contemplation, past scenes replaying in her mind like a revolving lantern.
Old John teaching her how to speak... playing through the alleys of Northwind Keep... studying in the provisional school founded by the kingdom... watching Old John die during the Magur Incident... receiving aid from Chief Minister Trump... all the way to this very audience before the Lord of Cinders.
She wondered what would have happened if she had truly been sold into slavery back then. Knowing what nobles were like, it would undoubtedly have been a life of torment.
Misha abruptly realized that the red dragon and his kingdom had changed the course of her entire life.
If Old John were still alive, he would surely have wanted her to make a living in the kingdom as well.
"Blessings of His Majesty Cassius, may this caravan journey go smoothly..."
"Blessings of His Majesty Cassius, may the war..."
"His Majesty Cassius..."
Old John's rambling prayers seemed to echo in her mind once more, mingled with the laughter and banter of the uncles in the caravan.
She had once been abandoned, once been sold.
Old John had been her only family, and the kingdom was her only home.
At that thought, Misha raised her head resolutely and said in a tender, youthful voice, "Your Majesty, I... I am willing to remain loyal to the kingdom forever, to repay your kindness."
*And Old John's share, as well,* she added silently in her heart.
"Very good, Misha."
Cassius nodded again, unfurling his vast wings and casting a colossal shadow.
"I do not withhold power from anyone who is loyal to the kingdom, let alone a genius such as yourself."
He commanded in a low voice, "Close your eyes."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Misha obediently shut her eyes.
The red dragon let out a low whistle, hot white smoke billowing from his maw.
Brilliant bursts of flame vented from the breathing pores along his neck and tail, and the dragon crystal embedded in his chest unleashed an incomparably blinding light, warping the palace air with blistering heat.
For such an exceptionally rare legendary seed, Cassius was naturally willing to pour in greater power to forge a new faction subclass.
*Bloodline Boon.*
A stream of flame containing terrifying energy converged into Misha's small body like shimmering threads of light.
The seed representing the progenitor dragon's might flowed into Misha's blood vessels, gradually melding into her bloodline and bringing about a thorough ascension of her very life essence.
At the same time, it bound the red dragon's power to her, creating an effect akin to a pact.
"Ugh... ah..."
Misha turned deathly pale, sweat pouring from every pore only to instantly evaporate into steam.
Even with her extraordinary constitution as a Child of the Elements, she still struggled under the sheer intensity of the red dragon's blazing fire.
Cassius did not transform Misha into a dragon. She was, after all, only a child; her body and will were far too fragile to endure the agony of a full dragon transformation.
Moreover, Cassius wanted to introduce a variation for this new subclass.
Thus, he directed the bestowed power inward, reshaping Misha's vessels into magic-rich fundus vessels and gradually transmuting her heart into a scalding, vigorously beating dragon heart.
As the power transferred, a crimson pact scroll slowly surfaced upon Misha's back—a covenant formed naturally by the Weave.
"Ahhh—!"
Finally, the magical sigils flared with blinding radiance.
With a piercing shriek, Misha's entire body was engulfed in blazing flames. Stimulated by the dragon blood, the latent power within her innate talent was unleashed in its entirety, revealing the terrifying might of the "Frenzied Flame Witch" from his past life.
Had Cassius not actively restrained and suppressed it, the flames could have spread hundreds or thousands of meters, enough to burn down an entire city.
The bestowal lasted for nearly thirty minutes. During the process, Misha passed out from the excruciating pain, collapsing limply to the floor as her clothes were incinerated to ash.
Ultimately, Misha's appearance was altered by the red dragon bloodline.
Her originally brown eyes had turned into dark golden slit pupils, faint traces of scales emerged at her temples, and two dragon horns no larger than a thumb sprouted from the crown of her head.
Intricate crimson patterns marked her back and neck.
The corners of her eyes were tinged with a fiery hue.
Yet despite the earth-shattering change in her essence, she retained a largely human form—far closer to human aesthetic sensibilities than the half-dragon Redscale Conquerors.
Cassius folded his wings and quietly watched the unconscious girl.
"This feeling..."
"It feels like forging a pact."
[Faction prestige subclass construction complete.]
Subclass Requirements:
Join the Kingdom of Cinders faction and become a vassal of faction leader Lord of Cinders, Cassius.
Possess a dragon bloodline to a certain degree, attain level 3 or higher in Sorcerer or Warlock, and possess normal or higher Fire elemental affinity.
[Please name the faction subclass—]
Cassius looked at the crimson covenant patterns upon Misha's skin, feeling the distinct sensation of granting power through a pact.
[Named: Dragon-Pact Sorcerer]
Chapter 363