On a steep cliff that was nearly ninety degrees perpendicular to the ground, a dozen huge bird nests had been built. These nests were constructed with wooden poles as the skeleton and branches as support, and were laid with dried grass collected from the Great Plains. They thus became the warm nests of the harpies.
However, at this moment, in their own territory, the harpies felt no warmth at all. Because they were facing an unprecedented enemy — a Red Dragon.
Even though they had the advantage in numbers and were in their own territory, the Red Dragon acted like the owner of this place, sizing them up without restraint and casually commenting on them.
“The discipline is not bad. You can be said to be well-trained. As expected of the Red Nest.”
Jose observed the harpies as if they were not outsiders. Most of the harpies had left to hunt, so only 21 harpies remained in the nest.
Facing him, although these harpies were trembling like chicks in the cold winter, their morale did not break apart. They maintained their aerial battle formation against large creatures because their backbone, the harpy at the front of the group, was present.
Jose looked at the leader of the harpies. This harpy was twice the size of an ordinary one. Its blood-colored feathers were lustrous without any impurities. What was more surprising was that its exposed skin was snow-white and its teeth were straight and uniform.
Just by looking at the skin and face, Jose could have been facing an elegant elf, not an ugly harpy.
The source of all this was naturally good genes.
“As expected of our Red Dragon bloodline!”
The moment he saw the leader of the harpies, Jose realized that he had been wrong.
The leader of the harpies was neither a dragonkin nor a follower that signed the Follower Contract. Instead, it was a true descendant of the dragon race that a dragon had personally made. That familiar flame aura was undoubtedly the bloodline of the Red Dragon.
Seeing that the Red Dragon did not attack, Luna Bloodfeather secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
This True Dragon was not a reckless individual. He had come here for her tribesmen, so he should have already figured out their numbers. However, he was still so unbridled, so he definitely had the confidence to feel fearless against them.
She could not fight him head-on and could only try her best to avoid conflict.
She broke the silence first while thinking this.
“Great True Dragon, may the Evil Dragon God watch over you. May I know your purpose for visiting the Bloodfeather tribe?”
Evil God Tiamat’s attention would not be a good thing for me, Jose thought to himself. He looked at the harpy leader, his eyes glittering, as he said, “I want your loyalty.”
“Loyalty?”
Luna Bloodfeather sized up the young Red Dragon in front of her and roughly understood that this Red Dragon was forming his own force. Judging from his body length, this force was probably still in its initial stages.
She was about to reject him when she suddenly remembered something important.
Based on her understanding of dragons, only dragons who had awakened their ability to cast spells and could contract their followers would start to form their own forces.
Did he awaken the ability to cast spells just after he entered the teenage stage?!
It should be known that although dragons awakened their ability to cast spells when they were teenage dragons, they could not awaken it immediately after reaching this phase. Instead, they would awaken it at a certain point during this period. The faster they awakened, the greater the potential of the dragon.
“Hey! Harpy! What’s your answer?!”
The Red Dragon’s interrogation woke Luna Bloodfeather from her thoughts. She took a deep breath and made an important decision.
“It is my honor to follow you. However, I hope that you can agree to a humble request from your servant.”
Request?
Jose raised an eyebrow.
If she were to make a request now, it would likely be about the benefits that she would receive after joining him. For example, the Blood Essence Contract, the division of duties, the allocation of resources, etc.
Of course, they could negotiate, but the initiative had to be in his hands. There was no better way to obtain control over this situation than to display his strength.
“Do you think you are qualified to negotiate with me?”
“What?!”
“Just because of these worms around you?!”
His words were extremely arrogant, but Jose had the right to be arrogant. He released the seal on the [Heart of the Undying Bird] and let a small amount of the fire elements stored inside leak out. His body immediately burst into orange flames, and a terrifyingly high temperature heated the surrounding air until it distorted, as if the hottest summer sun had arrived.
The harpies screamed and retreated. Even though they were dozens of meters away, they still felt a heatwave coming at them. Even their feathers were about to be burnt.
“What… what is this?!”
Luna Bloodfeather retreated quickly, horrified. She was no ordinary harpy; she was a dragon descendant.
Although her father, who had died on the battlefield already, did not care about her, she was still considered a privileged entity in the Red Nest due to her bloodline. She had received an orthodox mage education since she was young.
Whether it was the knowledge she had learned or the knowledge obtained from her bloodline, there were no records of what she was currently witnessing. It was unheard of!
However, the power of this magic and the terrifying elemental wave could not be faked. This dragon had definitely not awakened his spellcasting ability only recently!
Suddenly, she thought of a possibility. She could not control the excitement in her heart.
“Bloodline Atavism!”
Almost all the races that had existed since the ancient times had degenerated, and it was the same for dragons. Back then, the dragon race’s bloodline was so rich that ancient dragons, antiquity dragons, and primordial dragons emerged naturally as they grew in age.
But now, the ancient dragon had become the limit that very few lucky dragons could reach. From this, it could be seen just how powerful the degeneration of the dragon bloodline was.
However, the path of ascendancy was not blocked. Like many races, dragons had a very small chance of producing atavistic bloodlines.
An atavistic bloodline would make the individual dragon different from ordinary ones even at a young age. For example, their bodies would be stronger, and their growth speed faster. Occasionally, they could even obtain the powerful dragon-language magic that existed in ancient times from the inheritance of dragons.
To be more specific, the Mistress of the Red Nest, Shavana, who had single-handedly caused chaos in the entire world and successfully endured despite being an enemy of the Gods, was an Atavistic Red Dragon.
The potential of this True Dragon was even higher than she had imagined!
At this thought, Luna Bloodfeather’s face was full of joy. She could finally see hope.
Jose did not understand her.
Am I seeing things?!
Despite being treated so roughly, this pretty “girl” actually revealed an excited expression!
Stockholm syndrome?
If she asks too much of me…
“Esteemed True Dragon, please do not misunderstand. I am not trying to pressure you into anything, but I hope that you can help me remove this damned curse if it is within your power.”
“Curse? What curse?”
Was there a need to curse a mere Intermediate Mage? Was the existence who did this that bored?!
Jose sized up the harpy before him. She seemed to be in a good state of mind and did not look like she was cursed.