Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon's Might-Chapter 81 Walking into a Trap

The Efreeti managed to escape again, even though it paid a heavy price for it.

Leon couldn’t help but lift his front claw and viciously slapped the sandy ground, scattering countless sand grains, venting the anger that had no outlet. Had he known this would happen, he should have used Samadhi True Fire right from the start.

The Brass Dragon waited until Leon had finished venting before quietly saying, "The Efreeti has escaped, so what now? What are we going to do?"

Compared to the impulsive and irritable Red Dragon, the Blue Dragon is a fighter full of patience and organization, not minding to extend a battle for several hours or even days.

It was certainly a pity that the Efreeti ran away, but Tassera had the patience to wait for the next opportunity, comforting him, "That Efreeti is extremely vengeful. He will definitely not leave things as they are; he will come back for sure. Next time, he won’t have the Praying Skill ring to rely on."

Leon’s chest was shining brightly, like red-hot iron. After several deep breaths, it finally extinguished, indicating that his rage had subsided.

"Let’s go back," said Leon. "I remember the Efreeti didn’t come alone."

Leon spread his wings and flew up, heading towards Steam Lake, only to see chaos had unexpectedly broken out there.

It turns out that the Salamanders, unwilling to obey the Efreeti’s command to attack Leon or intentionally throwing their spears off target, not willing to submit to the Efreeti’s dominance, decided to decisively attack the other Salamanders when they saw the Efreeti was being besieged. The other Salamanders, of course, were not going to sit idly by and were retaliating in alliance with others.

Thanks to the Salamanders’ immunity to fire, they could ignore most of the attacks from the Fire Elements and Fire Element Servants, otherwise, they probably would have been flattened already... In fact, there are only three or four Salamanders left standing now that aren’t willing to submit to the Efreeti.

Seeing this, Leon powerfully flapped his wings, dove down quickly, while calling his sword to hand during flight. Landing steadily, he caught the Flying Sword, chopped down a Salamander rebelling to rejoin the Efreeti, then with a backhand sweep, he knocked away a Fire Element Servant.

Tassera and the Brass Dragon arrived late.

The Blue Dragon chose to glide through the sky while spewing Lightning Breath. The young dragon’s Lightning Breath wasn’t deadly enough to kill a Fire Element, but it was enough to severely injure them. The Brass Dragon chose Frightening Majesty paired with Death from Above, an overwhelming Bite that exploded a Fire Element Servant’s head.

The Red Dragon and the Blue Dragon appeared one after another. If the Brass Dragon was supposed to be the Efreeti’s ally, why was it standing on the enemies’ side... Confused about what had happened, it was enough to know that the Efreeti hadn’t shown up. Apart from the not-so-intelligent Fire Elements, everyone else fled like birds and beasts.

Leon killed two Fire Elements and overturned another Salamander rebelling to rejoin the Efreeti. He lifted his sword high and stabbed it into the ground, nailing it there and didn’t bother to withdraw it. Instead, he flapped his wings to chase after an adventurer, striking the adventurer down with a claw attack.

Leon spotted a black man who seemed to be a Contract Mage of the Efreeti running far away and thought that even a common Efreeti would become a Sect Master, and was there really someone willing to follow? With a Gathering Form and Scattering Energy, he quickly gave chase. In order to vent his frustration at the Efreeti’s escape, he knocked down the black man and added a blow of Samadhi True Fire. To burn his soul.

Without the Efreeti, the rest were just a disorganized mess, and it did not take long for the Three-headed Dragon to sweep them up like falling leaves.

Tassera found a long spear left behind by the Efreeti, a special returning weapon, and appeared to be very interested in that particular weapon.

The Brass Dragon was busy scouring for loot, checking each corpse.

As for Leon, he now stood in front of the Salamanders who were unwilling to submit to the Efreeti... and now only three Salamanders remained.

"I can understand that the Efreeti was your former master, and you fear him... Should you waver, refuse to attack me or deliberately miss... Be it because you think I’m a good master or because you believe you should stand with the victor, I’ll forgive you," Leon said, "But just this once, no exceptions."

"Swear fealty to death, Master," said the Fire Lizard Leader, promoted by Leon, bowing down with the remaining two Salamanders.

There were only three Salamanders left, but there were still plenty of Fire Lizard Eggs. When those smoldering, obsidian eggs hatched, and a year passed from when they grew from Fire Snakes into Salamanders, his followers would increase. Lost in thought, Leon suddenly felt tired.

"Alright, I’m done talking. Help clean up the battlefield," Leon commanded the Salamanders and turned to the Brass Dragon and Blue Dragon, "If you’re up for it, scavenge the spoils. If not, leave it to the Salamanders. I’m going to rest."

"Off you go," said the Brass Dragon, who aside from being talkative also loved gold and silver treasures, "I’ve got this."

Leon didn’t pay attention to how the Brass Dragon seemed to be getting worse; he flew back to Dome Castle, reverted to human form, and saw the Empty Magic Oil Lamp, casually set aside from when he and Tassera were playing chess. He had fancied trapping the Efreeti inside, and when he heard Tassera couldn’t do it, lost interest at once.

Leon prepared to put away the Empty Magic Oil Lamp—maybe it could be useful in the future—but suddenly noticed a faint Magic Light emerging on the surface of the originally dim Empty Magic Oil Lamp.

"Why are you staring at that oil lamp?" Tassera, having collected the Efreeti’s spear and scimitar, left the battlefield since the Brass Dragon was already cleaning up.

"This..." Leon lifted the Empty Magic Oil Lamp... which might not be empty now, might contain something significant, and shook it in front of Tassera, "Use your identification technique on it."

"Hm?" Tassera, somewhat puzzled, took the Magic Oil Lamp.

Tassera used an identification technique on the Magic Oil Lamp and a shocked expression instantly appeared on her confused face. She murmured, "Wasn’t this oil lamp empty before? The Efreeti, why has one suddenly appeared... the same Efreeti that just fled, how is it here?"

"Praying Skill, he escaped with the Praying Skill, and that’s always been unreliable," Leon explained, having some understanding of the spell.

The Praying Skill is the most powerful spell that mortal creatures can cast.

The basic use of the Praying Skill is to replicate the effects of any other spell of the 8th level or lower without needing to meet any of the spell’s requirements, including material components.

But, you can also use this magic to make precise wishes, then here comes the trick: the bigger the wish, the more likely it is to backfire.

Wishing for an antagonist’s death, the Praying Skill might teleport you forward in time to when the antagonist is already dead. Wishing for a Legendary Magic Item or Divine Artifact, the Praying Skill might instantly teleport you to the owner of that item.

"I remember the Efreeti’s wish was—’to go home, to a place where no one can hurt me.’" Tassera nodded thoughtfully, then clapped her hands together, "That’s right, this castle was his home, wasn’t it? Although you’ve taken it now. And inside this Magic Oil Lamp, isn’t that a place where no one can hurt him?"

Leon couldn’t help but laugh, shoulders shaking.

He had assumed the Efreeti had fled, and reacted with great anger. Now, finding that the Efreeti had walked into his own trap, he laughed until he couldn’t open his eyes. Tassera couldn’t help but tease Leon with a laugh, "Crying when you lose, grinning when you win."

"Of course, otherwise should it be the other way around?" Leon puffed out his chest proudly.