Danico shot fire at the dragon with a grin on his face. If it wasn’t for his small silhouette, one might think he was a dragon himself. A small dragon the size of a fly harassing a larger one by spitting fire at it.

It was a ridiculous thought and like a fly against a giant, it didn’t do much damage.

Danico could only follow the dragon up to a certain height in the sky, because at some point, the lack of oxygen was going to be a problem. He swung his arm around to cast a gust of air that cleared the clouds around him, not that it made much of a difference, the dragon was hard to spot in the night sky thanks to the dark scales.

A huge spike flew towards him and Danico dodged just in time. “Is that all you’ve-” Danico barely managed to finish his sentence when a green gooey mess splashed at his leg.

He grunted in pain as the acid ate away at his flesh and bones. The green liquid crawled all the way up to his thigh, melting his appendage away. With no choice left, he cut off his leg before it spread to his body and his core. The leg fell down to the ground and Danico hoped it wouldn’t accidentally hit the prince on the head.

“Ha!” Danico yelled at the dragon with amusement in his voice. Sweat dripped down his forehead. “You probably thought that would kill me. Jokes on you, I’m more of a lizard than you are!” He laughed.

Danico quickly focused all his energy on his right leg before he lost any more blood. He watched it slowly grow back to normal as if he hadn’t just lost a body part. 

The dragon rushed at him with its mouth wide open, not letting Danico regenerate his limb completely. Danico couldn’t say he was surprised, since he would have done the same should an enemy try to heal in front of him. 

He canceled his gravity magic right on time and fell down, letting the natural order of the world take effect as the wind whipped around his hair. 

This wasn’t the first time Danico had to cut off his limbs, but it was the first time he lost so much blood in a short period of time. He needed to catch his breath for a bit. He must admit that he got a little cocky in trying to fight the dragon, but it was rare for a creature to match his power lately.

At least Danico was confident he could defeat the creature. If the Rose Dragon actually had some form of intellect, he would have been screwed. Smart dragons have always been such a pain to fight, because not only do they have the brains, they also have the power and experience to match.

They could strategise and counter whatever attack Danico threw at them. It was fun and Danico enjoyed fighting them and watching them bleed, but it was also painful because Danico had broken several bones and punctured countless organs fighting them. But still, he enjoyed watching the beasts breathe their final breath, especially when they’re so incredibly arrogant and just won’t stop talking.

Speech was a sign of intellect in any creature, dragons included. And boy, do these flying reptiles like to talk. Every intelligent dragon Danico encountered just won’t stop talking. It’s like they’re making up for all the lonely years they spent in their lair guarding a princess and hoarding their wealth.

Danico landed on the pointed roof of the tower. Since the dragon was tasked to guard the princess, he knew the lizard would definitely not attack the tower and risk destroying it.

He could hear the dragon slowly circling the building, the flapping of wings could cause anyone dread. It continued to hide between the clouds, as if the night sky wasn’t enough of a huge problem. 

Waiting for dawn before he woke up the dragon would have definitely been a wiser choice than running up to it in the middle of the night, but where’s the fun in that?

If he was too impatient for the sun to rise, he’ll just create his own sun.

With a grin, he lifted his hand up high. He could feel the mana move for him as the surrounding energy shifted to heed his call. A huge fireball manifested above the tower. Like a beacon, it lit up the night sky, casting all shadows away.

The room of the princess was warm and draped in different shades of red silk and beautifully crafted carpets. In contrast, her bed against the wall was a soft blue hue, as if to say “Here I am!” to her savior.

She slept on countless pillows, her red hair spread out around her small pale face.

Faris took off his gloves and put his finger underneath her nose. He nodded at Mage Cian who looked at him with a raised eyebrow. 

“What did you do just now?” the mage asked.

“Checked if the princess was still breathing.”

He had to make sure the fairies were not pulling a cruel prank on them. There were several people who told him the princess might have been long dead and the fairies were preserving her corpse to lead them on a wild goose chase. He was relieved to find out the sacrifices of his friends and colleagues were not for naught.

The princess was still alive and well.

The dragon roared and he rushed to the window as it flew up high. Night became day in an instant and he gestured for Mage Cian to come and see the battle with him.

“Is that the bard?” he said as he watched the feeble looking man fling fire at the dragon, his green cloak fluttered around him like wings of a butterfly. Since when did the bard have magic? Extremely complex and powerful magic at that too. Such spells were usually seen being used by mages and not bards. As far Faris knew, there were some rare bards who could use magic, but they would usually use their music to cast blessings upon those who heard their songs.

However, if the bard was around, that could only mean the prince was nearby as well. He doubted the bard was heartless enough to leave the prince to fend for himself.

Faris squinted his eyes at the field for any unusual movement and found the prince rummaging through the corpses of fallen soldiers. It was unbecoming for a royal and Faris will tease him for it at a later date when there’s no dragon roaring angrily in the night sky. It was clear to him Mikhail was searching for some sort of weapon to help in the battle. The prince was not the type to let someone fight on their own. 

“Mage Cian, come, we must rush down and help!”

Faris turned around, only to find the mage leaning down to the princess for a kiss. Rage filled the knight.

“What are you doing?!” He asked and dashed to pull the man away. “The princess is not yours to save!”

“What nonsense!” The mage said and shrugged off his hand. “Anyone who managed to enter her chambers has the chance to save her! If I cannot awaken her, then you should give it a try too! It’s better if we wake her up now than wait for the prince to arrive!”

“No,” Faris argued. “It’s not proper!”

“What’s not proper is that brain of yours, that thinks everything is black and white!” The mage countered.

“You go back down the tower, Mage Cian. Do it now while I’m still being nice,” Faris said while flashing his new arm.

“No,” Mage Cian said coldly and stared at the knight’s blue eyes, “You go down and guard the tower, Sir Faris.”

“I do not take orders from you.” Faris said.

“Yes, you do.” With a snap of his fingers, the eye on his forehead glowed as the spell pierced through Faris’ mind. The knight’s gaze dulled as he relaxed his shoulders. “Go and guard the tower, Sir Faris,” Mage Cian repeated.

“Yes, my liege.”

Mage Cian smirked. He liked the sound of that.

He turned to the window and watched as the bard played around with the dragon. He could taste the jealousy on his tongue as the man flew around like it was nothing.

The prince, who was incredibly taken by the bard, would definitely ask his father to replace him as the royal mage once they’ve returned to the palace. All so he could keep his little paramour by his side while he was married to the princess. 

Cian will not let that spoiled brat get whatever he wanted. He’ll save the princess and take over her kingdom. He’ll wage war with Märchen and take Bethany as his wife. Perhaps he’ll crown himself as an emperor and Bethany as his empress. He’ll have the king and the crown prince executed and stuff their heads on the wall like mere beasts hunted down for sports.

Ah, he can’t wait for that lovely future.