Chapter 9 Chapter nine

"Duncan!" "Too late, my elf lady!" said Falstad. "Although he is dead, this incident will become a glorious legend for future generations." At this moment, Verressa didn't care about this wrong inference of the dwarf or any damned glorious legend, she just admired Lord Centus more than she actually did before.All that mattered to her was the heroic death of a warrior she had just known.In fact, like Falstad, Veresa immediately realized that Duncan had fallen into the sea, but Duncan's tragic death was still a deep blow to her. To Veresa's relief, however, Duncan put his own life in check on the threat to their nearest neighbour.The dragon had been mortally wounded, still writhing wildly in the air in agony.The dying dragon tried to find and free the end of the sword that had sunk into its skull, but its efforts grew weaker and weaker.It was only a matter of time before the behemoth met its handler at the bottom of the sea.

However, even a dying dragon is a threat.One of its dragon wings almost caught Shorty and Veresa.Falstad ordered the griffin to dive down to avoid being hit by the monster's dragon wings.In order to be able to survive, Veresa had to cheer up, and could no longer be affected by Duncan's fate. As for the second dragon, it is still threatening the griffin.In order not to be caught by its terrifying dragon claws, Falstad let the griffin fly over the giant beast again.At the same time, another griffin rider also escaped the huge dragon's mouth without any risk. They can't stay here any longer.The orc dragon rider who controls the second dragon has extensive experience in fighting griffins in the air.It didn't take long for his mount to catch one of the dwarven knights.Veresa didn't want to see any more sacrifices.

"Falstad! We must escape from here!" "I would do that for you, my elf lady. But the beast and its handler will not let us slip away as we please." However, the dragon stopped attacking Vereesa and her companions, as if waiting for an order from the orc knight.Maybe the orc had noticed the second dwarf knight, maybe he was thinking about something important about Vereesa.In fact, the appearance of these two red behemoths brought many questions to Veresa's mind—could they come because of Rhonin?If that's the case, Luo Ning should be the target of the giant beast more than she...

Where is Ronin?When Falstad commanded the griffin to fly at an extremely fast speed and the dragon behind was chasing after him, Veresa quickly scanned the surroundings, but there was no trace of Rhonin.In fact, not only could she not see Luo Ning, she could not even see the griffin that Luo Ning was riding on. "Falstad! I can't see where Ronin is!" "Spare your worries! The most important thing you have to do now is grab the griffin!" She obeyed...but only for that moment.Suddenly, the griffin made a sharp turn in an arc, and Verressa was almost thrown out because of his absent-mindedness.

The dragon's claws brushed past her and the dwarf.The dragon's roar made frustration slowly pile up in her heart. "Ready to fight, my elf lady! We have no choice!" When the dwarf raised his storm hammer, Vereesa could only curse his lost bow again.In fact, she has her own saber, but at this moment she can't be as desperate as Duncan, and the ranger can't just sacrifice herself like this.Besides, she still needs to know what is going on with Luo Ning now. The orc pulled out a huge battle ax from his waist and swung it above his head, shouting barbaric war cries.Falstad also responded with a dwarf-specific roar from his throat, and his enthusiasm for fighting has surpassed that of Veresa who cared about him earlier.The Ranger, who had no other option but to fight, also worked hard, ready to fight to the death.

At this moment, a huge figure with a dark metallic color like a titan landed in the battle between the griffin and the red behemoth. "What is that..." Falstad opened his mouth with difficulty. The elf found himself trembling and speechless. The black dragon wings, which were almost twice the size of the red dragon, filled Veresa's sight, and the shining black metal light from the dragon wings almost dazzled her.A thunderous roar seemed to shake the sky, and the sound waves pushed the griffin to roll backwards. The sudden appearance of this huge black dragon with disproportionate proportions made the little red dragon almost incontinent.The black dragon's dark, narrow eyeballs stared contemptuously at the smaller red monster in front of him.The orc's red dragon roared back and forth, but it was well aware that this newcomer was not on its side.

"We may be doomed, my elf lady!" The black dragon stretched its wings, and a low mocking sound from the huge dragon's mouth woke up Veresa.She looked again at the metal—the plated metal—that covered almost the entire body of the black dragon.The natural dragon scales that dragons are born with have proven impenetrable.Then this dragon actually has to wear armor to protect itself.What kind of metal is this armor? The answer came out quickly.alloy!Only it has impenetrable strength...and only a very strong and self-important dragon will endure the excruciating pain of being embedded in the alloy.

"Deathwing..." Veresa whispered "Deathwing..." In the legend of the elves, long ago there were five great dragons who represented the mysterious and natural forces.Some legends claim that the red Alexstrasza symbolizes the true meaning of life.Other dragons are less well known.The elves have felt their influence, and have even come into contact with them on various occasions, but the elders of the elves have never revealed their secrets. Among the great dragons, however, one was already known, telling the world in its own way before the others.Although it originally had a name of its own, it chose "Death Wing" as its title in order to better despise those weaker ones around it.Deathwing destroyed the worlds built by elves, humans, and dwarves as much as possible. Even the oldest elder of the elves didn't know what drove Deathwing to do so.

In private, the elves gave it another name: forgotten Xaxas, a short name that contains more meanings.confusion.anger.If Alexstrasza represents the true meaning of life, then Deathwing interprets the power of destruction. Now, however, it was just such a dragon that soared before them as if protecting them in its own way.Of course, Deathwing might not have noticed Vereesa and the dwarf at all.The red dragon in front of him is its biggest opponent, because Deathwing hates other dragons of the same kind, so that if other dragons are touched by it, they will be torn apart mercilessly. "What an incredible scene, eh?" muttered Falstad. "I thought Deathwing was dead."

The Ranger feels the same way.Because not so long ago the Kirin Tor Council united the best human wizards and the best elf allies, so they declared that they would end the threat of Deathwing.And the alloy armor that Deathwing asked the goblins to embed in his body did not protect him from sorcery in that battle.So, it fell, fell... But now, apparently, it's taking flight again. The war with the orcs suddenly became a very small matter.Khaz Modan's remnant orcs are nothing compared to Deathwing. The red dragon, obviously male, snapped at Deathwing angrily.The mouth of the red dragon has entered the attacking range of the black dragon, Deathwing can use his left front paw to slap down hard, but for some unknown reason, it just clenched his left front paw and made it go as far as possible. Close to its own body, instead of waving its tail to whip at the enemy, the red dragon staggered back under its whipping.Along with the movement of the black dragon, the alloy under the dragon scales seemed to be melted by flames, filled with a large number of blood vessels and radiated to its throat and torso, and every time the dragon roared, a dazzling light was emitted from its mouth.According to legend, if you touch those fire-like blood vessels, you will really be in danger of being burned.Some say it's an acidic discharge, but generally the written description is of flames.

Either way, it means death. "An orc is no better than a pig if his mount is out of control!" said Falstad, shaking his head. The approach of another griffin caused Vereesa to take his eyes off the dragon.But she didn't find Morlock and Ronin on the griffin who had just approached.In fact, only her and four dwarves were left of their griffon squad now. "Where's the mage?" she asked the other dwarves. "Where is he?" "Morlock is dead!" one of the dwarves reported to Falstad. "His mount is floating on the sea!" Dwarves have incredible strength for their small size, but they do have difficulty levitating due to their relatively dense form.Falstad and the other dwarves went to the death griffins who had gone to the sea to search for any clues about Morlock's fate. But Ronin is a human being, so whether he is dead or alive, there should be the possibility of being able to float on the water for a longer period of time.Grasping this slim hope, Veresa asked, "Where is the mage? Have you seen the mage?" "I think the answer is obvious, my elf lady," said Falstad, looking back at her. She bit her lip tightly, knowing that what he said was the truth.Things have come to this point, enough problems have occurred.Now, things seem to have come to a conclusion.However, even if Rhonin's magic really failed to help him escape at such a height above the water, then the splash caused by his impact on the water should be quite eye-catching... Thinking of this, Veresa couldn't help looking towards the water, but only found a part of the corpse of another red dragon floating on the water.It must have been the crazy attack of the red dragon that caused the deaths of Rhonin and Morlock.She just hoped now that there would be no pain for both of them in that moment. "Falstad, what shall we do now?" asked one of the dwarves. Falstad touched his chin, "Deathwing will not be a friend of the dwarves. There is no doubt that he will attack us after killing the little red dragon. It will take at least one year to go to its lair and destroy it." A hundred Stormhammers. We should go back and tell the others what we have seen." The other dwarves agreed with his suggestion, but it was obvious that Vereesa could not give up so easily. "Falstad, Rhonin is a mage! Yes, he may be dead, but if he is still alive, if he is still floating on the sea, he still needs our help!" "You are so stupid, please forgive me for saying so, Lady Elf! No one would survive a fall from that height, not even a mage!" "Please. Please search the sea again before we leave!" If it is true that he can never be found again, then her responsibility to the mage and the mission performed by the mage will be over.Her guilt will stay in her mind for a long time, and the ranger will not do other things for a long time. Falstad frowned.His warrior looked at him as if he was going to spend some more time here. "Okay!" Falstad roared. "But only you, only you," he ordered the other dwarves. "You go back first! The elves and I will catch up with you soon, but if something happens that prevents us from going back, you must let others know that Deathwing has reappeared! Let's go!" So the rest of the dwarves urged their griffins to fly west, and Falstad sent his own griffins down to the sea again.However, just as they flew towards the sea at high speed, there was a loud noise that made the elves and dwarves look up involuntarily. Deathwing and the red dragon roared at each other, the deafening cries getting louder each time.Both dragons showed their claws and frantically attacked each other with their huge tails.Deathwing's crimson stripes give it a terrifying, unimaginable appearance, as if it were a legendary devil. "It's already set up," the dwarf explained. "They're about to go to war! I wonder what's going on in that orc's mind right now." Vereesa had no time to worry about the orcs, and she focused on finding Rhonin again.As the griffin flew mere yards above the water, she searched in vain for signs of humans.There must be traces of Ronin.The desperate ranger even knew that the body of the dead griffin not far from them was twisted.Dead or alive, the mage must be somewhere nearby—unless he magically teleported himself away from danger. Falstad was whining, aware that this was a waste of their time. "There's nothing here!" "Give me a little more time!" Another savage roar drew their eyes back into the air.The battle between the two dragons has begun as expected.The red dragon tried to get around Deathwing, but the black dragon's huge body was undoubtedly a big obstacle.The wingbats on Deathwing's wings act like a wall that the red dragon cannot pass through.The red dragon tried to burn the wingbat with a breath of fire, but Deathwing flapped his wings, and the tiny flame couldn't do it any harm at all. Of course, while trying to burn the opponent, the red dragon showed its weakness, and its wing closest to Deathwing was an easy target, but Deathwing tightened his left claw again and Pulling it up to its chest, it just twitched its tail toward the red dragon to keep it away from itself. Deathwing wasn't hurt, but why did he back off? "By the way, it must be like that! We needn't look any further!" cried Falstad. "I concluded that the mage was dead, and I'm sorry for that! Now we must leave before we become his allies!" At first the elf thought it was nonsense, but she saw Deathwing's attack indeed very strange.Deathwing uses his tail, wings, and all four limbs except his left claw to attack.Deathwing's quick movements showed that he was not injured, but his left claw was still clinging to his body. "Why?" Veresa said to himself. "Why do you do that?" Falstad thought the elf was talking to himself, and replied, "Because we can find nothing here but death, and Falstad has never been afraid of death, and he is more afraid of death than the armor that disgusts him." I like to have my own time!" At this moment, Deathwing hooked its opponent with its left front paw.The huge dragon wings surrounded the red dragon in an instant, and the long tail wrapped around it from the lower part. The remaining three dragon claws grabbed the red dragon and kept pulling it towards him. The red dragon's throat had already left Its jaws are getting closer... "Fly, quick!" Falstad commanded the griffin. "You have to rest for a while, Lady Elf! The first thing to do now is to get out of here!" The griffin was flying at its fastest speed. Veresa saw Deathwing bite into the red dragon's chest, and immediately felt a crimson drizzle falling down, showering the body fluids of the living giant beast on the sea. In order to escape Deathwing's attack, the red dragon was struggling desperately.Finally, it flew far away from Deathwing, but hesitated, as if something distracted it. To Veresa's surprise, the red dragon suddenly turned and flew away, heading towards Khaz Modan's direction. The fight lasted less than a minute, maybe two minutes.But in such a short time, Deathwing nearly killed his opponent. Surprisingly, Deathwing didn't catch up.It just stared at the left paw on its chest as if there was something in it. what? ...or who? ? ! ! What the hell did Ronin tell her and Duncan had saved him once inside the Tower? "Then—something—took me, my lord. I don't know what, but it lifted me up like a toy, and carried me away from the ruins of the tower." A grown man carrying him like a toy?In fact, it was an incredible thing before she saw Deathwing's actions.That is: a dragon safely carrying a mage! But... Deathwing? Suddenly, the black dragon also turned towards Khaz Modan and flew.But the direction is different from the opponent who fled just now.As it flew away, Veresa noticed that its left paw was still closed, as if protecting something precious. "Falstad! We have to catch it!" The dwarf looked at Vereesa incredulously to make sure that she really wanted to let herself get close to the giant beast. "I am a brave warrior, my elf lady, but I have to warn you that this is crazy!" "Ronin is in Deathwing's hands! That's why Deathwing doesn't attack with his left claw!" "Then the mage is no different than dead. Maybe Deathwing just wants to save something?" "If that's the case, it would have eaten it long ago. But it didn't. Obviously, this shows that Rhonin is useful to it." Falstad made a face. "You're an idiot! The Griffon is very tired now, and must land and rest as soon as possible!" "Please! As long as you can fly! I can't just leave him like this! I swore an oath!" "No matter what oath you've sworn, you don't have to do it..." murmured Gryphon Rider.But he still commanded the griffin to fly in the direction of Khaz Modan.The griffin uttered a cry of protest, but obeyed. Veresa didn't say anything more, she understood that Falstad had the right to do so.In fact, some things are also bothering her. What is the reason why she has been refusing to give up on Luo Ning? Looking at the gradually shrinking figure of Deathwing, Veresa fell into deep thought again instead of trying to figure out his inner thoughts.Deathwing took Rhonin, and it was too much for her. But Deathwing—the Deathwing who hates his own kind, the Deathwing who wants to destroy all orcs, dwarves, elves, and humans, how could he want a mage? She thought of Duncan Centos' views on mages, views not only among the Knights of the Silver Hand. "A damned soul!" Duncan once called Ronin. "A man who does not hesitate to turn to evil, an ominous thing!" Did the paladins know the truth of the matter long ago?Could it be that the very person Vereesa had been trying to rescue had already sold his soul to Deathwing? "What does it want from you, Rhonin?" Vinressa murmured, "What does it want from you?" Krasus's fingers were still throbbing, and there were bouts of sharp pain from time to time, but at least he had regained some strength to deal with the trouble at hand.He dared not tell the rest of the Council exactly what had happened, even though it had so much to do with their mission.Currently in the Kirin Tor, only he can know the secret of Deathwing's human form.The success of Krasus' other plans depended heavily on this. The dragon is trying to become king of Alterac!On the surface, it seemed like an absurd and incredible idea; but what Krasus knew about Deathwing told him that the black dragon had more complicated and cunning plans.Lord Prestor may be working hard to maintain peace among the nations of the Alliance, but Deathwing only loves blood and chaos... and that means his accession to the throne is just the beginning of disaster: peace today may mean tomorrow war. While Krasus could not tell the members of the Kirin Tor about this, he had other options.He'd been rejected by them over and over again, but maybe this time someone would listen.Perhaps the mage's failure was in simply having their emissaries come to him.Perhaps they would have believed him had he brought the dreadful news to their sanctuary himself. Well, they'll listen to me... He stood in the middle of the chamber, his hood pulled forward, covering his entire face.Krasus chanted the spell quickly, and led himself to the person who could be most helpful.The dark secret room gradually became blurred, and then gradually disappeared. The next moment the mage was in a cave of ice and snow. Krasus looked around, stunned by what he saw, even though he had been here a few times in ages ago.He knew whose territory he was standing in, and that of all the men he asked for, this one was the least happy about intrusive intrusions.Even Deathwing once had great respect for this great man here.Few have ever been there—the den lies in the cold, desolate heart of Northrend—and still fewer have ever left it. Giant pinnacles that seemed to be forged in crystal hung from the top of the ice, some as tall as two or three Krasus.In another place, jagged rocks squeeze out of the snow on the ground and cave walls.In the depths of the cave, dim light shoots into the secret room from some small passages, shining strands of ghostly shadows.Occasionally, a breeze would leak in from the cold world outside the cave, blowing those ice towers, and the rainbow light would also dance along with it. Behind these beautiful winter landscapes, however, there are just a few spooky scenes.Among the snowdrifts, Krasus made out frozen shapes, even a few hands and feet.Most of these, he knew, belonged to the gigantic creatures that had once populated the area, while others, notably the curled arms of a man in a tragic death, revealed the fate of those impudent interlopers. Among those strange ice sculptures, one can also find something more that shows the terrible fate of the invaders: the bodies of these uninvited guests are wrapped in several ice blocks.Krasus noticed the most common, a few ice trolls—strong, savage creatures with gray skin and waists twice the size of their southern brethren.They died tragically, and each troll's face was full of pained expressions. Farther afield, the mage noticed two murderous creatures known as "Yeti".They, like the trolls, were all frozen in ice.But unlike the terrified expressions of the trolls, these snowmen's faces were filled with anger, as if they didn't believe that they would fall into this situation at all. Krasus walked through the ice room, watching the dead exhibits next to him.He found that an elf and two orcs had also been added to the exhibits since his last visit, suggesting that the war had even spread to this desolate place.It seemed that one of the orcs hadn't realized what fate had befallen him until he was frozen. On the other side of the orcs, Krasus found a corpse that surprised even him.At first glance, it looked like a big snake, a rare animal in this cold ghost place.Above the curled part, however, its body shape began to change, suddenly changing from a cylindrical shape below to an almost humanoid shape: a scaly human body.Its two thick arms stretched out in front of it, as if inviting the mage to join its terrible fate. A face that looked like an elf suddenly appeared in the eyes of the visitor, except that this face had a flatter nose, a long and narrow mouth, and dragon-like sharp teeth.A pair of deep, pupilless eyes fixed on Krasus angrily.The darkness concealed his lower half, making him look like a human or an elf, but Krasus knew who he was, or had been.The name slowly formed in Krasus's mouth, almost blurting it, as if being pulled out by this terrible monster in front of him. "Ma..." Krasus finally spoke. "You're such a reckless scum~~~~" A light voice interrupted. The mage whose face was covered turned around and saw that the ice on the wall was being peeled off continuously, finally forming the appearance of a person.However, the "man"'s feet were too thin and bent at an awkward angle under the weight of his body; and his body was more like a bug.His head also only has the outline of a human head.Despite the eyes, nose and mouth, they look more like unfinished ice sculptures that the sculptor seems to have left behind after a rough sketch.A shimmering cloak, without a cloak, but with a high collar that stood up like spikes at the back, surrounded the strange face. "Malygos..." Krasus whispered, "How are you doing?" "I'm having a good time~good~~good~~~, but only when I'm not being harassed..." "If there were other options, I wouldn't bother you here." "There is another option...you can choose to leave~~~ I like to be alone!" The mage wasn't upset. "But have you forgotten? Why do you live here so alone, so silent? You forget so quickly, Malygos? After all, it's only been a few hundred years..." The "person" shaped like an ice sculpture walked slowly against the wall, but his eyes were always locked on the visitor. "I haven't forgotten! No~no~!" A strong wind blew in the cave. "I will never forget ~ those dark ages..." Krasus turned slowly so that he kept facing Malygos.He could think of nothing that might have led to the attack, but at least it had been hinted that Malygos, one of the oldest living, might have gone mad. Malygos's sickly thin legs walked on the ice as if walking on the ground, and the claws on the soles of the feet could be firmly nailed into the ice.It reminded Krasus of those who lived in arctic climates on sledges. Malygos wasn't like this before, and he didn't have to stay that way forever.He's the way he is because somewhere inside of him he likes it better. "Then you should remember how that guy who called himself Deathwing treated you..." The strange face contorted, its claws gripped... a hiss came out of Malygos' mouth. "I remember……" Suddenly, Krasus felt that the cave was much smaller.He steadied himself, knowing what would happen if he retreated now. "I remember!!" The ice tower was also shattered.At first they were just little bell-like noises, but they soon rose to a shrill sound.Malygos sprinted towards the mage, his mouth wide open, revealing a deep hole beneath his false forehead.Ice and snow sprayed in all directions, continuously increasing, and continuously piling up in the cave.Around Krasus, some snowflakes whirled and flew, forming a fantastic giant, a winter dragon, a ghostly dragon. "I still remember that promise," snorted the terrible dragon, "I remembered the agreement we made: Never harm other dragons! Defend this world forever!" The mage nodded, and even so, Malygos couldn't see the expression on his face under the cloak. "Until...his betrayal..." The snow dragon stretched out its wings.It is between reality and illusion, and it can respond to the mood of the owner of the cave.Its powerful jaws even open and close, as if it were the one speaking. "Until that betrayal~~~" A stream of ice erupted from the snow dragon, violently bombarding the cave wall. "Until Deathwing's betrayal...!" Krasus hid one hand from Malygos, ready to cast a spell at any time.However, the weird "person" controlled himself.He shook his head—the snow dragon followed suit—and then, in a more sensible voice, added, "But the time of the dragon is over. No one, no one fears him anymore!! He's just one side of the world, a reflection of the meanest and most disorderly side! His days are gone forever~" Krasus jumped back suddenly—the ground in front of him trembled.He thought Malygos was trying to catch him by surprise, but Malygos didn't attack, but the ground slowly rose and turned into another dragon—a dragon made of mud and stone . "He said, for the future," Malygos continued. "For a time when only men, elves, and dwarves look after the world for themselves - he said, let all the dragons, let all the dragons and the dragon guardians together, make the damn thing; then we can Holds the key to protecting the world—even after the last of our kind is gone!" He looked up at the two images he had created, "and I, Malygos, back him, And convinced the other dragons with him!" The two dragons suddenly began to revolve around each other, transforming into each other, entangled with each other.Krasus looked away from the two dragons, reminding himself that even though the man standing in front of him hated Deathwing so much, it didn't mean he would help against Deathwing...or even let him It was questionable whether he would get out of this cave alive. "That's it," interjected the mage, "every dragon, especially the Aspects, imbues part of their own power into it, and in a sense binds themselves to it... ..." "It is to let it fish forever!" Krasus nodded. "And then there was something that was always stronger than them, even though they didn't know it then." He raised his hand and created an illusion too: an illusion of "it," as they called it. "Do you remember how deceptive it was? Do you remember how simple it seemed?" Malygos gasped loudly as the vision took shape, stepping back in terror.The two dragons collapsed, and ice and stone flew about, but did not hurt Krasus or their master.The rumbling sound echoed in the passage, and even spread to the vast wilderness outside. "Get it off... get it off, get it off!" Malygos begged, almost begging.He covered his eyes with his paws, "Don't show me that thing again!" But Krasus was unmoved. "Look, my friend! See how the oldest race dies! Look at this thing called the Devil's Soul!" The rustic, shining disc spun above the mage's palm.Such an unremarkable golden plate, how many people have got it and lost it, but no one can realize its potential.Just a phantom of the disc can scare Malygos so much that it took him a while to look directly at it. "This thing is made of the essence magic power of giant dragons. It was originally used to fight against the demons of the Burning Legion. But their power was imprisoned here!" The mage wearing a hood approached Maligo step by step s. "And then when the battle was over, it was used by Deathwing against the other dragons, against his allies..." "Don't say any more! Demon Soul has disappeared... disappeared! And he, the nigger, has been killed by human and elf mages!" "Well...but is he dead?" Krasus stepped on the wreckage of the two dragons just now, he dispelled the illusion of the artifact, and summoned another illusion.A human, a human in black.A young, confident nobleman with eyes that showed much older age than he looked. Lord Prestor. "This man, this mortal, will soon be crowned the new king of Alterac. Don't you think this man looks familiar, Malygos?" The ice "man" came closer and stared at the fake noble.He watched Prestor carefully, cautiously, with growing horror. "This...is not human!" "Speak, Malygos, tell me who you saw?" The strange eyes of Malygos met Krasus's. "You know it very well! He is Deathwing!" The panting voice came from this "person" who was once a noble dragon. "Deathwing..." "Yes...it is Deathwing," Krasus replied.There was no emotion in his voice. “死亡之翼有两次被认为已经死了。他用恶魔之魂，结束了我们回到巨龙时代的一切希望。死亡之翼……现在他居然想摆布这些年幼的种族，让他们加入他那叛逆的勾当！” “他会让他们互相争斗……” “没错，玛里苟斯。他会让他们自相残杀，直到剩下最后的那一点。然后这时候他就会出来把他们都解决掉。你知道他所追求的是一个怎样的世界。在那个世界里只能有他，和由他挑选的追随者。那将是一个死亡之翼的世界……甚至没有我们这些与他不同种的龙生存的空间。” "No……" 玛里苟斯的形体突然向各个方向伸展……他的皮肤呈现出了爬虫的特征。皮肤的颜色也变了，从原来的雪白色变成了深深的亮蓝色。他的四肢变得粗壮起来，脸部也变得更大，更像一条龙。然而玛里苟斯没有变化完全。他在某一时刻停了下来，现在他就像一个龙和一个巨虫的合体，梦魇般的怪物。 “那时我和他携手作战，而因此我这一族灭亡了。我就是死剩的那一个！恶魔之魂夺走了我的孩子们，夺走了我的配偶……我继续苟活着，只是以为背叛者已经死去，以为那个可恶的圆盘已经不复存在……” “我们都曾经这么以为的，玛里苟斯。” “但他还活着，还活着！” 巨龙的暴怒让整个洞穴都发起抖来。冰矛从顶上落下来刺入雪地里，克拉苏斯身体也被震动摇晃了几下。 “没错，玛里苟斯。他还活着，而你做出的牺牲……” 巨龙离得近近地盯着克拉苏斯。“我的确失去了很多，很多～但你，你这个自称克拉苏斯的家伙，你这曾经的一条龙，你也失去了所有的东西！” 他深爱着的女皇的影像在克拉苏斯的心里一掠而过。那些红龙军团兴旺的影像在他脑海里回放着…… 他是她的第二个配偶，但也是最忠诚、最爱她的那个。 法师猛地甩了甩头，要把那些痛苦的回忆忘掉。对天空的向往要暂时放下了。在事态没有转变之前，他只能保持人形，只能做克拉苏斯——而不是红龙克莱奥斯特拉兹。 “恩……我失去太多了，”他终于回答了，情绪已经被控制住了。“但我希望能够拿回一些……为了我们大家……” “如何拿回？” “我要去救阿莱克斯塔萨。” 玛里苟斯疯狂地大笑起来。他笑了很久，并不是因为他的疯癫状态。他在嘲笑法师希望达成的目标。 “那样你就高兴了啊～只要你能够完成那不可能的任务！！但是那对我有什么好处呢？你又能给出什么条件呢，小朋友？” “你知道她是守护什么的巨龙。你知道她可以为你做什么的……” 狂笑戛然而止。玛里苟斯犹豫着，他明显不愿意相信这个事实，但是绝望的他又能做什么别的呢？ “她不可能——她……能够吗？” “我相信那是可行的。我相信可行的机会大得足以值得让你出力。毕竟除此之外，你还能有什么未来呢？” 他身上龙的特征变得更加明显了，他的身体更加不可思议地膨大了。五倍、十倍……终于，一条相当于克拉苏斯二十倍大的巨兽站在了他的面前，最初玛里苟斯的那些吓人的外貌已经不留一点痕迹了。一条巨龙站在了克拉苏斯面前，一条人类有史以来就从未出现过的巨龙。 随着他的变回原形，他也有了一些担忧。他终于向克拉苏斯问起，那个最令人期待而又害怕回答的问题： “那些兽人，他们是怎么关住女皇的？我一直都在想这个问题，一直都在想……”“ “你是知道那个唯一能把她关起来的方法的，我的朋友。”“ 那条龙抬起他那发光的银白色的脑袋，哼了一声。 “恶魔之魂？那些不起眼的家伙居然得到了恶魔之魂？这就是你让我看那个幻象的原因？” “你说得没错，玛里苟斯。他们手上有恶魔之魂。虽然我不相信他们完全了解那样东西，但是至少他们能够让阿莱克斯塔萨无法反抗……但是那还不是最糟的。” “还有什么能比这更糟？” 克拉苏斯知道，他已经差不多让这条老龙恢复足够的神智，同意去救女皇了。但是，他将要说出来的事情可能会让之前的努力全都白费掉。即使是这样，不单是为了他所深爱的女皇，他——一条化身为肯瑞托法师的巨龙——也要把真相告诉这个潜在的盟友。 “我认为死亡之翼已经知道我在做什么了……而且，在恶魔之魂和阿莱克斯塔萨都到手之前，他是不会停手的。”