This place is very close to the Surdasken River in the north and the capital of the Kingdom of Tethyr, Zazespur, probably less than fifty kilometers away.
Not far away is the main transportation route connecting the east and west of the entire country.
A large number of caravans and vendors pass by almost every day.
I'm afraid no one would have thought that in such a place, there lived a mature male red dragon, Beltogas.
What’s even more interesting is that this evil chromatic dragon never takes advantage of the favorable terrain at its doorstep to rob passing caravans.
Just the opposite!
Every time he wanted to rob a caravan, he would fly more than 160 kilometers away and take action near the entrance of the Northern Star Mountains.
Therefore, the scholars, nobles, and adventurers of Zazesibo all mistakenly believed that Beltogas's lair should be in the Vortex Mountains.
As a result, they sent people to investigate several times, but in the end they found nothing.
But Wilmes knew very well that this sinister and cunning guy was deliberately misleading those miserable mortals.
He wanted them to have a head-on conflict with the powerful red dragon Balagos "Flying Flame", and then he could reap the benefits.
Because one of the latter's lairs is located on the top of one of the extinct volcanoes in the Starry Mountains.
You should know that Balagos "Flying Flame" is one of the most famous and active ancient red dragons in the entire continent of Faerun.
Because of its powerful strength and tyrannical and cruel character, it is even affectionately called "Dragon Scourge" by the elves.
The number of adventure groups, cities, wizard towers, and large fleets on the sea that he destroyed was so numerous that it could not be written on a few sheets of parchment.
In addition, Balagos the Flying Flame is the dragon in all of Faerûn that loves to slaughter his own kind the most.
Yes!
You read that right!
In addition to his love of destroying and slaughtering humans and elves, he often wanders around the sky above the territories he claims at will.
Then a "lucky guy" is randomly picked, rushes into the opponent's nest, kills him, eats him, and takes away all the treasures.
Of course, it is also possible that the victim is dragged out of the lair and eaten alive under the surreptitious supervision of other dragons.
This is to declare their absolute power and rule.
These dragons that were killed might be good dragons like silver dragons, gold dragons, bronze dragons, and brass dragons, or they might be evil dragons like red dragons, black dragons, and green dragons.
In short, Balagos "Flying Flame" never needs a reason when he wants to kill a dragon.
Maybe it was just a spur of the moment decision, or maybe he felt that the dragon was too weak and did not deserve to live, let alone own the treasure.
Without a doubt!
This guy is a truly bloodthirsty, brutal and arbitrary tyrant!
The idol worshipped by almost all red dragons!
There is no red dragon that would not wish to be like Balagos "Flying Flame", and become the "Dragon King" and "Mobile Disaster" publicly recognized by all countries and forces.
But at the same time, they also longed to kill Balagos "Flying Flame" and replace him.
Bertogas's behavior pattern is a perfect reflection of the above two mentalities.
On the one hand, he hoped that Balagos "Flying Flame" could help him destroy Zazesibo; on the other hand, he hoped that Balagos "Flying Flame" would be seriously injured or even die when attacking Zazesibo.
It would be even more perfect if both sides suffered losses.
Wilmes was well aware of Bertogas's dark and dirty thoughts and the little tricks he had been doing behind the scenes over the years.
It was precisely because of this that she had no hesitation in breaking up with this guy.
This would prevent the other party from angering Balagos's "Flying Flame" and then causing me to suffer as well.
Just as Wilmes was about to approach the hidden cave entrance, a red dragon that was even bigger than her suddenly emerged from inside. It stared at her with two eyes like lava and asked with a vigilant look on its face: "It's you? What do you want to do by approaching my lair?"
"Long time no see, Beltogas."
Wilmes took the initiative to say hello.
For red dragons, since both are completely immune to fire damage, the most important breath weapon is of little use in civil wars.
Once the battle breaks out, it will be an extremely brutal and bloody close combat.
At this time, whoever has a bigger body, stronger scales, sharper teeth and claws will win the final victory.
Bertogas, who has entered his prime, clearly has more advantages than Wilmes, who has just reached adulthood.
"Answer my question! What is your purpose in suddenly approaching my nest?"
Beltogas raised his head and guarded the entrance to his lair.
Just as Wilmes knew him, he also knew the reckless and greedy female in front of him very well.
I always feel that the other party is really eyeing the huge wealth I have accumulated through robbery over the years.
The two red dragons confronted each other for more than ten seconds before Wilmes smiled and suggested, "I am here to invite you to join me in plundering the wealth of Myratma.
I believe you should be aware of how wealthy this city is, located on the border of Calimshan and Tethyr.
I have assembled a huge army.
As long as you join forces with me, it's only a matter of time before we capture it.
No matter how much money, treasures, and wealth we loot, I will give you one third of it."
"What? So, those monsters that have been looting villages, towns, and caravans near Myratma recently are all your men?"
There was great surprise in Bertogas' tone.
Because he really couldn't imagine that Wilmes, who usually didn't like to use his brain, could make such a big fuss this time.
Wilmes pretended to be smug and nodded: "Yes! I did it all!
Now, I have annihilated the regular army sent by Myratma.
The only people left in the entire city were some temporarily conscripted civilians.
How about it, are you interested in my invitation? "
Hearing this, Beltogas immediately opened his mouth and revealed an extremely ferocious smile: "Of course I'm interested! How could I not be interested! But the price you offered is too low. One third is far from satisfying my appetite. I think half for each of us is the most fair."
"You're dreaming! Impossible! I organized that army of monsters! I surrounded the city too! You only provided a tiny bit of help at the last moment, so why should you take half of it?"
Wilmes rejected the opponent's big offer without any hesitation.
Needless to say, she did this just to make the scene more realistic.
If he agreed to it straightforwardly, the cunning Beltogas would definitely suspect that there was some conspiracy.
After all, no red dragon will easily give up or surrender the wealth that is about to be obtained.
As Vermes had expected, Bertogas soon fell into the misleading bargaining, completely unaware that it was an insidious and deadly trap.
In the end, the two red dragons reached a verbal agreement to divide the spoils.
Of the wealth of Mailatma, sixty percent went to Vermes and forty percent to Bertogas.
But Beltogas must promise that he will personally take action in the upcoming siege and cooperate with the monster army to attack the city walls.
Just like that, two red dragons, one male and one female, took off into the sky and quickly returned to the monster army camp outside the city.
But this time, Wilmes was very smart and did not continue to maintain his dragon form, but turned into a human.
In this way, those who cannot tell the difference in appearance between the dragons will mistake Beltogas for Wilmes, and think that the one commanding them is still the original red dragon.
As for those chiefs who knew the truth, they were completely controlled by the strange creatures with psychic powers.
Quietly, the "scapegoat" Beltogas has unknowingly become the leader of this army of monsters.
At least that's how it looks in the eyes of most outsiders...
(End of this chapter)