Chapter 34 The Dragon's Courtship (1) Fafnir, this is the dragon's courtship...
"Of course it was stolen."
Favrenier said.
"Don't you know? Cocytus holds a war of regional separatism every now and then, and the Crimson Crown Ring has always occupied the most land in the war of separatism."
Xia Ying reluctantly commented, "It has a very Cocytus-like feel."
"The original territory of the Crown Ring was even larger."
The dragon continued.
Xia Ying continued, "This also has a very distinctive coronal ring feature."
She then asked, "But if all the abyssal creatures here are so ferocious and belligerent, wouldn't it be very difficult to manage the Crimson Crown Ring?"
"Management? The Crimson Crown Ring doesn't need management." The dragon curled its lips as if it had heard something ridiculous. "Greed and cruelty are the virtues of the Crimson Crown Ones. There are only two rules they need to follow."
What is it?
"Always believe in the supremacy of strength and victory, and seize everything that can be plundered."
"What about the other one?"
Fafnir said, "When facing a large number of enemies, always kill the Shadow Scale Ring first."
"...You decided on this one, didn't you?"
The dragon candidly slipped in his own opinion: "All enemies deserve to die, but the Shadowscalers deserve to die more than any other abyssal creature."
“I basically understand the style of the Crimson Crown Ring now.” Xia Ying nodded. “So when can we set off for sightseeing?”
"Wait a little longer." Fafnir slowly and skillfully tied up the girl's black hair.
Xia Ying couldn't help but complain, "I wonder if the abyssal creatures of the Crimson Crown Ring would be disillusioned if they saw you doing this so skillfully."
Fafnir scoffed, "If they're willing to bleed to the last drop."
As he spoke, his knuckles gently brushed against Xia Ying's collarbone, placing a ruby necklace on her finger.
Xia Ying looked down at the necklace and noticed that the color of the gemstone was very similar to the color of Fafnir's hair and scales.
She looked at herself and the dragon in the mirror again, and belatedly realized that she now had many more dragon-related marks on her body than when she first arrived at the Crimson Crown Ring.
Fafnir touched her earlobe and fiddled with the feather-shaped earring.
"Alright, let's go."
As the words fell, Fafnir transformed back into its dragon form. Its powerful tail tossed Xia Ying onto its back, and then its membranous wings whipped up a whirlwind, sending the dragon soaring into the sky.
Xia Ying had ridden on demonic hounds, frost wolves, and four evil beasts resembling winged tigers, but this was the first time she had ever ridden on a dragon's back and flown.
They flew out of the nest, skimming over the lava pool below, where the magma bubbled and steamed, and scorching winds rose up, making Xia Ying's cheeks burn. She pressed herself closer to the dragon's back, using its cool scales to cool herself down.
Whether intentional or not, the dragon suddenly swooped down. The feeling of weightlessness and the heat made Xia Ying instinctively wrap her arms around Fafnir's neck. The dragon flew close to the lava, and the airflow under its wings drew two long streaks on the golden-red surface of the pool. At this moment, Xia Ying also began to see the boundary of the lava pool.
It was a circular rock wall, and the arc that defined its boundaries was so wide that it was almost a straight line. Xia Ying realized that this magma pool, and the dragon's nest in the center of the magma pool, was probably located in a huge circular crater.
The dragon climbed upwards along the rock face, and the horizon became clearer and clearer in Xia Ying's eyes. Finally, at a certain moment, the girl riding the dragon crossed the volcano and reached the highest point of the Crimson Ring.
The sunlight shone down on Xia Ying without obstruction. She looked down and took in the entire crimson ring.
Like the crimson scales of a dragon, the crimson crown is red, and the fiery river, like blood vessels, spreads from the dragon's nest to this rough body.
The buildings standing on it are also rugged in style. The slightly more refined ones are built with huge dark stone slabs and thick metal skeletons, and their surfaces are covered with claw marks, dents and burn marks. The others have no trace of structure and are simply a whole piece of rock with slight carving or the skeleton of a giant beast... The most primitive ones simply use stones and the Flaming River to divide the territory.
"What are those... buildings?"
“The tall, roofed one is the Ring Hall; the others are territories carved out by the monsters themselves,” Fafnir said. “Unstable buildings don’t last long in the Crimson Crown Ring.”
They continued flying forward, and a white, circular, open-air building, completely different from the previous primitive appearance, came into Xia Ying's view.
“That’s the arena.” As Fafnir approached the white building, Xia Ying felt its imposing size more and more, and at the same time, the noise emanating from it grew louder and louder.
Xia Ying looked down and saw a five-tiered, sloping grandstand in the arena, which reminded her of the Colosseum in the [Entertainment Show], but compared to that Colosseum, it seemed like a crude, temporary structure.
How should I put it? This arena looks more...commercial?
Xia Ying exclaimed, "So many abyssal creatures, what are they all doing here?"
The dragon hovered briefly above the arena, causing the abyssal creatures filling the stands below to become even more agitated, before landing on an empty platform.
During the descent, Fafnir's form also changed. Xia Ying, who was originally lying on the dragon's back, suddenly lost her support, but soon fell into the embrace of the humanoid dragon.
Fafnir landed on the platform, carrying the succubus girl in his arms. The instant he touched down, the empty platform transformed into an extremely luxurious golden suite.
“They’re waiting for the ‘public duel’ to begin.” Fafnir casually removed his cloak, comfortably reclined on the soft chair, and patted the spot next to him. “Come on, this is my private viewing area.”
Xia Ying walked over and sat down next to him: "'Public duel'?"
“As I have said, the Crimson Crown Ring believes in the supremacy of strength and victory. When conflicts arise among abyssal creatures over the ownership of territory or spoils, they can be resolved through ‘open duels’.”
Xia Ying glanced at Fafnir, then looked at the arena where no duelists had yet entered: "What if one side initiates a duel, and the other side refuses?"
Fafnir said, "It's almost impossible; refusing a duel is extremely dishonorable for a Crimson Crowned One."
Xia Ying pursed her lips and whispered something.
The two abyssal creatures participating in this round of public duels appeared at that moment, and a roar erupted from the stands, drowning out her words.
Just as Fafnir was about to ask her a question, Xia Ying had already turned her attention to the competition.
A spotlight shone fiercely on the center of the arena, where a gargoyle flapped its wings and flew in, its passionate voice amplified by magic and echoing throughout the stands: "Rally! Boil! Flesh and bones from the abyss!"
Xia Ying exclaimed in surprise, "There's even a host!"
“Of course,” the dragon said reservedly. “Our arena is open to all of Kocytes for a fee.”
The host, the gargoyle, shouted loudly.
"Today's 'public duel' will follow the free-entry/free-exit rule!!!"
Louder howls and banging erupted from the audience. Xia Ying looked at the dragon, puzzled, while the dragon smiled and gestured for her to continue listening.
"As before, after a round of duels is completed, the first person to enter the arena will become the new duelist and challenge the winner of the previous round, until no more abyssal creatures challenge!"
The gargoyle suddenly turned around and pointed to the prize pool hanging high above the arena.
"Of course! Today's duel rewards will continue to accumulate as the number of duel rounds increases, and will be fully claimed by the final winner!"
Amid the host's highly rousing shouts, the trolls and lizardmen who participated in the first round of duels began their fierce battle.
The grey-skinned troll was tall and had thick limbs, moving like a small mountain, wielding a massive club carved from a single ironwood tree. The lizard's body was covered in dense, emerald-green scales that shimmered with the subtle glow characteristic of cold-blooded animals under the spotlight.
Without any probing, the battle erupted instantly.
The troll charged with a deafening battle cry. The lizardman dodged sideways like a ghost, his steel claws leaving deep, bone-revealing gashes on the troll's thick arm. But in an instant, the wound began to visibly wriggle and heal. The troll simply threw away its weapon and opened its giant paw to grab the green figure.
As the lizardman's soul returned to the Fountain of Life, the first striking and gruesome pool of blood immediately appeared on the arena's ground. Xia Ying clicked her tongue at this visibly bloody scene and instantly understood why such a savage arena had to be built in white, a color that was easily stained.
The troll was declared the winner of the first round of duels, and more gold coins were poured into the prize pool. Then, a cyclops roared and leaped from the stands into the arena.
Cyclops are similar in size to trolls, but their fighting style is simpler and more brutal. The cyclops swung its stone club and swept across with overwhelming force, breaking the troll's weapon in the process, sending its body flying with a loud cracking sound.
The troll's twisted limbs healed and regenerated once again, but this time the Cyclops gave him no chance. He strode forward and, as if crushing a rotten fruit, stomped heavily on the troll's head.
After the second round of duels ended, the third, fourth, and fifth rounds began in succession.
The Cyclops then killed the Crocodile Man, and was subsequently killed by the Headless Horseman. The Headless Horseman then engaged in a fierce battle with the next centaur to enter the fray, but was ultimately defeated by the centaur's spear. However, this worthy victor was also overwhelmed by exhaustion and was finished off by the snake woman Naga.
The duels continued round after round, and the prize pool kept accumulating. When the rounds reached the terrifying fiftieth, the white arena was completely submerged in crimson.
The fiftieth round ended quickly, and a barely perceptible flash of light fell silently like a shooting star into the prize pool filled with gold coins and magical artifacts.
The arena had long since descended into a morbid frenzy; almost no spectators could hear the announcer's voice as many abyssal creatures rushed to jump down, eager to participate in this blood-soaked feast.
At that moment, Fafnir suddenly twitched his fingertips slightly.
A sudden gust of wind swept past Xia Ying. She raised her arm to block it, and then felt her elbow being gently lifted. The gust of wind passed by her side, and she fell back onto the soft chair where Fafnir had been.
When Xia Ying opened her eyes again, she saw the giant dragon flap its wings, and a strong wind surged out, carrying a pillar of golden-red flames that turned the abyssal creatures vying for the dueling qualification into ashes.
In the fifty-first round, the challenger joining the battlefield is the Crimson-Crowned King, the Eternal Evil Dragon Fafnir.
The ensuing battle seemed to last only a moment.
The destruction brought by the dragon not only swept through the duelists in the arena, but also befell potential challengers in the audience.
Xia Ying had previously encountered a dragon as an enemy in the [entertainment program], and now she realizes once again that the terror Fafnir displayed back then was just the tip of the iceberg.
Death enveloped the arena with an irresistible force; no abyssal creature had time to utter a cry, not even a drop of blood had time to flow, before everything was cleansed by dragon fire.
The arena fell into a deathly silence; the only living beings there now are the dragon and Xia Ying.
No one could declare Fafnir a victory, but he didn't need to anyway.
The dragon transformed into human form, took the top prize from the prize pool, and returned to its exclusive grandstand.
Xia Ying stared at him without moving, her heart pounding like a drum.
In the silent graveyard stained crimson, the powerful and cruel creature approached her, knelt down, and offered her its newly acquired spoils.
It is the reward artifact from the extremely difficult wilderness quest [Ragnarok], the [Ring of Greed].
Xia Ying looked down at the ring on her right ring finger. The color of the gold band resembled Fafnir's eyes, while the black gemstone reflected her own eye color.
She smiled, turned her wrist, and gently stroked the dragon's cheek with the hand adorned with the ring.
"Fafnir, is this how dragons court?"
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Author's Note: So the previous interior decoration activities were probably the dragon's unconscious nest-building behavior, but after all, this story is only at chapter 34, and things are unlikely to go so smoothly (cheerful).
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