Gris pressed on through the mountains, using space transfer magic to soar over impassable terrain, then breaking into a sprint, then appearing on high crags to search for the dragon's lair his friend Wilson had described. But in these vast, mist-shrouded mountains, where could such a lair possibly hide?
After searching fruitlessly for so long, Gris grew increasingly anxious, his heart heavy with worry for his lover Alice's fate.
Just as he scanned his surroundings, a deafening dragon's roar echoed from the left ridge. Startled, Gris ascended into the air and raced toward the sound.
"Hehe, beautiful, don't resist anymore. Submit to me, and I'll grant you pleasures no human realm could ever offer. I can even amplify your magic power exponentially, letting you wield the might of an archmage itself. Haha…" A fifth-tier divine dragon, its scales shimmering with fragmented golden light, loomed over a beautiful woman with her hands bound behind her back, her face pale with exhaustion.
"Dream on. I'd rather die than yield to you," the woman snapped, her eyes blazing with resolve.
"Heh, your stubbornness angers me, woman. If you refuse again, I won't hold back…" The dragon snarled, baring razor-sharp fangs.
"Fiendish dragon! If you dare harm my Alice, I swear I'll tear you to pieces even if it costs me my life!" Gris shouted desperately as he saw the dragon threatening the woman.
The dragon turned dismissively at the sound, letting out a cold laugh. "Lowly human, you surprise me. A mere low-level magician dares challenge me? Do you even know who I am?"
"Hmph, your identity means nothing to me. Release Alice at once!" Gris barked, unflinching.
The woman, seeing Gris hovering in the air, showed no relief—instead, her face contorted into confusion as she stared at the magician.
"You want me to let her go? Haha, do you think the great fifth-tier Divine Dragon Warrior Durade would release the woman he's claimed? Impossible. Show me what you've got—I'll see just how much trouble you can cause." The dragon's roar deafening, dripping with arrogance.
Gris glared at the dragon, fury boiling within him, but he feared collateral magic harming Alice, who stood mere feet away. His eyes flicked to the towering mountain beside them, and an idea formed. He feigned calm: "Durade, you call yourself a Divine Dragon Warrior? Hah, who would believe such lies? You're despicable, weak, and foolish… Think I'm bluffing? Dare you fight fairly? See that peak? I'll await you there. If you don't come, you're nothing but a coward unworthy of that title."
With a wave of his staff, Gris vanished, reappearing moments later on the mountaintop. He raised his wand, pointing down at the dragon in challenge.
"Hmph, your arrogance sickens me, human. I'll grind you into paste…" Durade leaped into the air, wings spreading wide as he surged toward the summit.
From his high vantage, Gris watched the dragon approaching, neither panicked nor triumphant. He swung his staff, conjuring a massive fireball that hurtled toward the dragon's head.
The fireball raced closer, but the dragon's eyes flared with murderous intent. With a roar, it charged straight through the inferno…
"BOOM…"
Thanks to its formidable magic resistance and iron-hard scales, the dragon emerged unscathed, only to find the mountaintop empty—the magician had disappeared.
"Alice…" A faint, broken whisper drifted from below.
Squinting, Durade looked down to see two dark figures fleeing the mountain at high speed, while the magician who'd just mocked him stood motionless at the foot of the mountain, staring blankly at the retreating forms.
"Haha… Damnable magician, you think to trick me? Die!" The dragon roared, diving toward the man below.
Jolted from his daze by the roar, Gris turned slowly, wiping tears from his eyes with a bitter smile. "Why… why must it end this way?" he murmured.
Then, suddenly, he spun to face the oncoming dragon, resolve hardening in his gaze…
…
Three days later, a youth clad in a tattered magic robe stumbled out of the mountains. Plain-faced, short-statured, with a dull gaze, he muttered softly: "Why… why…"
The next day, along the same path, a scrawny, undersized donkey trudged out of the endless mountains, following the trail the youth had taken.