aircannonsinc Page 57
Page 57
"By the way, since you underwent the transformation ritual of the dragon lich, you must have thoroughly investigated Foster Luce, right?"
Before leaving, Casalos suddenly remembered something and asked Lelotar a question.
"Lucien, that cowardly liar? What, you want to cause him trouble?" The soul flame within the skull of Lylotal flickered violently, seemingly filled with immense resentment and hatred towards Lusien: "Tell me, you dragon cub, how did he offend you? If you want to cause him trouble, I'd be more than happy to help you!"
After a slight hesitation, Casalos said, "It's nothing serious. He owes me some gold coins and said he'd send them right away, but I haven't heard back yet. I'm just heading to Sword Bay anyway, and I was thinking of picking up the debt on my way through Evanso. What, judging from your tone, it seems like he owes you quite a bit too."
"Nonsense, if it weren't for waiting for him, why would I have stayed in the Black Forest after my transformation? If he had kept his promise, the City of Evanso would have been under my control long ago! How could those vain silver worms have found it and ended up in the claws of you, you wretched dragon cub?"
Mentioning the purple-robed wizard's debt, Lylothar even lost the almost mechanical composure expected of a dragon lich—of course, this was also likely related to the effects of the hounds' relentless mind-manipulation experiments on the dragon lich skull. In any case, given the progress the hounds were making, they were only one step away from breaking down Lylothar's last line of defense; it was perfectly normal for his emotions to spiral out of control.
"Oh, he's actually willing to hand over the power he's worked so hard to build."
Losing control of emotions is a normal phenomenon and only one possibility. Casalos dared not believe the words of the green dragon lich: "You actually believe him? This is not like a green dragon at all."
"Heh, what do you know, you little dragon cub? How could that bastard Lussen willingly hand over control of the city's lair to me? He just wanted me to be a shield to attract the attention of certain guys. I was his first choice, and obviously, after I disappeared, you became the replacement he found..."
79. Disrupting Fate
The monsoon, carrying the humid, hot air of the Radiant Sea, travels north along a corridor formed by multiple mountain ranges, surging into the canyon formed by the Giant's Run Mountains and the Troll Mountains. There, it mixes with the pressure mass of Dragon Lake, bringing a rare warm region to the increasingly arid and frigid heartland of Cormir. It's neither as hot and humid as Thurte, nor as cold and damp as Sword Coast; it's a temperate climate that the Iron Dragons greatly favor.
The favorable climate of Yilong greatly improved Casalos's mood, as the city of Evanso had long been completely destroyed.
Chapter 157
His depressed mood was somewhat relieved.
It has been in the Giants Plain for some time now.
North of the Giants Plains, at the northern exit of the two mountain ranges flanking the plains, lies one of the most prosperous trading regions in Faerûn, the stronghold of the purple-robed lich Luth's, Evansol, located on the shores of the Dragon Coast. Evansol is a major transportation hub on the trade route connecting the Fallen Star Sea region and the Sword Coast, linking several port cities along the Chongsa River's Ilyaba Port and Dragon Lake. Caravans entering and leaving the city daily form queues thousands of meters long, and the city taxes alone make Evansol one of the wealthiest cities in Faerûn.
The purpose of the Dragon Worship Cult choosing this location as its base was naturally to better raise funds for its activities.
After extracting some information, some true, some false, about Lushn from Lelothar, Casaloz arrived here, disguising himself as a human—a form he disliked—and infiltrating the bustling trading cities along the Dragon Coast to investigate the lich who owed him a considerable amount of gold. What he discovered was astonishing: Evansol's Dragon Cult had long since been eradicated!
According to what Aivanso and the residents of the surrounding cities "saw with their own eyes," around the time Casaloz met Toona in Waterdeep, a dozen or so dragons, seemingly clad in silver armor, arrived at Dragon Coast and froze a rotting black dragon hiding in the coastal wetlands into an ice sculpture.
These silver dragons then transformed into paladins wielding spears, greatswords, and heavy shields, clad in full silver armor. They entered the cities of Evanso and Pross, searching for and capturing hundreds of evil wizards. The dragon paladins imprisoned these evil wizards in enchanted cages, then transformed back into dragons, gripping the cages with their claws and soaring away.
The debtor Casalos was thinking of, the purple-robed lich Rus'on, was among the captured evil wizards... His skeletal appearance draped in purple robes left an unforgettable impression on anyone who saw him. More than one witness from Evanso gave him the same answer when the mutated Casalos questioned him.
The city of Avanso was gone. Not only were the purple-robed figures caught red-handed, but even the ancient black dragon lich, Hays Sepresaville "Black Cypress," who actually controlled the city, was reduced to ashes. The gift Lussien supposedly gave to Casaloz was, of course, gone. Casaloz's plan to infiltrate the Dragon Cult under the guise of Cecita had also failed… This series of unexpected events left it seething with anger, but it had nowhere to vent it.
Nothing more than that, after comprehensively analyzing and deducing a series of clues, Casalos discovered that these events, which were completely different from his memories of his previous life, were most likely caused by the butterfly effect triggered by his own little "wings".
Casalos has disturbed the world, causing it to gradually deviate from its original timeline.
The silver dragon transformed into a human paladin... without a doubt, they were the Knights of the Claw of Justice! The evidence was also clear: according to the common descriptions of the witnesses, the dragon paladin leading the silver dragon was extremely large and covered with ancient wounds from battle. Who else could it be but Hevilan?
In the original timeline, the Knights of the Claws of Justice were unable to figure out that the Dragon Cult was the culprit behind the Dragon Frenzy for a long time, even after the final Dragon Frenzy began. However, in this current timeline, when Casalos had just entered the life of a young dragon, the leader of the Knights of the Claws of Justice, Hevilan, had already led her followers to the distant Churt Peninsula to eradicate evil. Why was this?
Casalos already knew the answer to this question: it was the desperate Shacales who lured the silver dragon paladins there. To survive the clutches of Lylothar, the benevolent mother who had transformed into a dragon lich, Shacales had no choice but to deliver the news of the existence of something exceptionally evil in the Black Forest to the Knights of the Claws of Justice. This raised a new question: how did Shacales, a young green dragon, know of the Knights of the Claws of Justice's existence, and how did he obtain a way to contact them?
The answer still lies with Casalos.
After the war that wiped out the Atheros, Casaroz, swept away by lava, inadvertently invaded the territory of Lylotar. He was discovered by Shacales and his unfortunate brother, which triggered a series of events. Casaroz escaped from Lylotar's clutches by using his ability to change form, which greatly angered the arrogant female green dragon.
As time went on, Lelotar, who had never been able to capture Casaloz, became increasingly brutal. Shacales, who had found Casaloz and "twice" let it escape, and its father, Lelotar's mate, the adult green dragon Lantello, became the primary targets of Lelotar's venting, and were often beaten severely for no reason.
In order to escape the tragic fate of being accidentally killed one day, the green dragon father and son, who shared the same fate, had long planned to escape from Lylothar.
Lylotar was extremely wary of the adult Lanlot, and although it possessed many channels unknown to the younger green dragons, it had few opportunities to use them; coincidentally, the young Shacales was not highly regarded, and Lylotar's surveillance of it was relatively lax. Thus, the two cunning green dragons hit it off and secretly formed an alliance right under Lylotar's nose, devising a meticulous escape plan.
Their plan required some external cooperation, and coincidentally, Lantello had a fatal conflict with a silver dragon in his youth. Of course, Lantello was badly beaten by the silver dragon, but the cunning green dragon fabricated a tragic story about his own dragon life being controlled by a powerful force, which won the sympathy of the naive silver dragon, and promised to reform and no longer do evil.
The silver dragon believed Lanlot's lie, sparing his life and leaving him a magical communication item, saying that if Lanlot was ever threatened by evil again, he could contact it for help.
Later... before Lanlot and Shacales could even begin their escape plan, Lelotar made a deal with Lusien to transform into a dragon lich, sacrificing his entire family. Only Shacales, whether unlucky or lucky, escaped.
The author says:
Author's note: It looks like there won't be time for a second chapter today. I'll see if I can make it up tomorrow.
80. Planning and Change
Clearly, it was the magical item that Lanlot gave to Shacales that allowed it to contact the Knights of the Claws of Justice.
This family of green dragons was nearly wiped out in their love-hate relationship, with only half of Lelothal and one of Shacales remaining, who were captured by Casalos.
According to the inner monologue that Lelotar inadvertently revealed, if Casaloz hadn't messed up its "family" relationships and made it lose its mind, it would never have accepted Luss's proposal to become a dragon lich so quickly. At most, it would have formed an alliance with the Elvanso Nest like other evil dragons and used each other for its own benefit.
This completes the connection between the entire incident and the events described.
Casaloz's invasion led to the transformation of the green dragon into a dragon lich, which attracted the Knights of the Claw of Justice. Casaloz himself then revealed the characteristics of dragon liches to the Knights of the Claw of Justice, prompting them to expand their large-scale investigation into the Cult of Dragons and dragon liches. During this period, the "rumors" about the Cult of Dragons spread by Kenneth certainly played a role in fueling this expansion. Then, during the Knights of the Claw of Justice's investigation, the somewhat high-profile Elvanso Nest naturally became the first sacrifice for the Knights of the Claw of Justice to enter the main stage prematurely.
It could be said that Casalos personally destroyed his own Dragon Worship Cult infiltration plan, and it personally squandered a large amount of treasure that was within his grasp... What could he do? Could he go and reason with Hevilan?
She was a high-ranking knight of the Knights of the Claws of Justice, the leader of all silver dragons on the planet Toril, and the most powerful silver dragon in Faerûn, without exception. She was also a close friend of Lord Lares, the nominal sovereign of metal dragons on Faerûn and the Glorious King, and the most powerful dragon spellcaster in Faerûn, the kin of the golden dragon Larendran Maga, the "Nexus".
Chapter 158
Close allies.
Besides, pulling the Golden Dragon Royal Court and the Knights of the Claws of Justice out of the game ahead of time was also part of Casalos's plan. Its importance and priority far exceeded infiltrating the Cult of Dragons as an undercover agent.
The situation was turning in a positive direction, and Casalos should have been happy. Its frustration stemmed mainly from the fact that a huge amount of treasure that had been delivered to its doorstep had vanished. While Luss's gift was insignificant to the current dragon lord, the loss of treasure that should have been within its grasp was still a painful blow to the dragon.
Upon learning the truth, Casalos nearly shed tears of regret—as an iron dragon with a steadfast will, such a thing could never truly have happened. It had merely taken advantage of its vulnerable human form to go to the tavern, intending to drown its sorrows in alcohol and vent its frustrations.
After a few glasses of watered-down, cheap liquor, Casalos wasn't drunk at all; instead, he was even more annoyed by the utterly dishonest businessman. So he smashed up the tavern... and was then politely escorted out of Evanso by the city guards.
Without a doubt, the city guards were quite polite at the time. After all, while smashing up the bar, Casalos casually punched a troll that had appeared out of nowhere. As Casalos became more familiar with its humanoid form, it accidentally discovered that it could actually gain a fairly high warrior class rank when it switched to human form. It hadn't yet figured out whether this was the result of its persistent warrior training or some hidden mechanism triggered during the enhancement process of the Dragon's Treasury.
If it were to switch to its humanoid form, it could potentially rank up to a Warrior level equal to its own HD, which is 14. A level 14 Exemplary Warrior might not be much in the Underdark, where powerful individuals are commonplace, but anywhere on the surface of Faerûn, it would be a hero-level figure. Beating up a troll who's suspected of being a dog kept by a shady innkeeper would be a piece of cake. The Elvanso City Guard, not being Cormier's elite Purple Dragon Knights, after witnessing Casaloz's power firsthand and realizing they were in the wrong, naturally offered it polite and respectful advice.
Soon after becoming the leader of the city guard, he was glad he had made the right choice.
After the commotion, Casalos had no desire to stay in the human city any longer, so he did not have any new conflicts with the Evansor people. Instead, he transformed back into his dragon form on the street, flew over the city walls, and headed south to the Giant Plains.
As for the owner who sold it inferior drinks and had the tavern smashed up, the extent of psychological trauma he would suffer after realizing what he had done was beyond Casalos's consideration.
Its main purpose in venturing deep into the continent was to build up its reputation with the Harpists to establish connections with certain individuals, and secondly, to make contact with the survivors of the Iron Dragon Clan. It also aimed to cause trouble for the Dragon Cult and the Colored Dragons, cultivating an identity as a temperamental human warrior linked to its Iron Dragon status, which would make it easier for its well-hidden targets to come looking for it. In fact, from the moment it brazenly dragged its unformed troll through the tavern wall and onto the street, it attracted a lot of scrutinizing gazes. And when it openly transformed into an Iron Dragon, the attention it received increased exponentially.
This is the effect it aims to achieve.
Due to a lack of capable personnel, Dragon's Head's intelligence system has been slow to take shape. Relying solely on the Bards' Guild's information channels, Casalos's access to information about Faerûn is mostly "old news," and even if he tries to catch up, he can never keep up with the latest developments.
For example, a few months ago, an adventurer party that set out from Baldur's Gate stumbled into the Tomb of the Sorcerer in the Troll Mountains, awakening the demigod lich Lavok. After a harrowing escape, a very small number of survivors managed to return alive to Baldur's Gate. Later, the plague they carried spread throughout Baldur's Gate, killing more than half the city's inhabitants.
Weeks ago, on the distant opposite shore of the Fallen Star Sea, across from the Dragon Coast, King Sorinbra of Imput and his entire retinue were murdered by a group of unknown assassins while riding through the farmlands outside the city of Loreba. His infant nephew, Infilas V, ascended the throne, and Sambril was able to continue as regent queen.
If Casalos could get some advance notice of such a major event, it would undoubtedly be the best opportunity for him to step onto the grand stage of Faerûn. Unfortunately, by the time he received Kenneth's message, he had already missed his chance to join the fray.
It could not stop the lich plague that had already spread within Baldur's Gate, nor would it be foolish enough to venture into the most vicious demigod lich base in Faerûn to seek its death, much less break through the defenses of more than a dozen bronze dragon knights of Imbutu just to accuse their regent queen, who had regained power, of being the murderer of their king.
Casalos currently has no specific action target, but in its view, since it can't catch up with the hot topics, it might as well create its own hot topics to attract the attention of the various forces in Faerûn.
81. Another accident
Casalos was not in a hurry to act. The gradual increase in power was slowly turning his originally anxious mentality, which was born out of his struggle for survival, back to the rhythm that an immortal species should have.
Now, it would no longer recklessly challenge a fully grown red dragon or a strong jade dragon to a duel just to prove its strength, as it had done a few years ago. It knew that on the entire continent of Faerûn, those beings capable of threatening its life were few and far between. And those old creatures either hid in their lairs, never actively seeking unnecessary trouble, or harbored no subjective malice towards it, which was not inherently evil.
The only one who might harbor malicious intent towards it and potentially pose a threat is Simba's wielder, the great red dragon Chassa—the mastermind behind the war that wiped out the Iron Dragons. However, this fellow is probably busy with the Mother of Dragons' grand plan right now, not even having time to show his face in Quessenta, and likely has no interest in dealing with the little Iron Dragon cub it spared.
Of course, this does not mean that Casalos already possesses the power to dominate the continent of Faerûn.
It didn't believe it was capable of defeating an Ancient Red Dragon or a Gold Dragon... No, let's broaden the criteria. Forget powerful dragons like Gold and Red Dragons; even ordinary dragons like Bronze and Green Dragons, once they entered the Ancient Realm, possessed power far beyond what Casalos could currently contend with. No matter how inflated the Ancient Dragon challenge level might be, it was still the benchmark of the most powerful forces in the Prime Material Plane.
However, the thick scales and tough hide that surpassed the innate defensive capabilities of the Primordial Red Dragon, along with its elemental form that exceeded the limits of dragon subspecies characteristics, gave Casalos the confidence to no longer fear the Primordial Dragon's claws. If he couldn't defeat it, couldn't he at least run? Even if Chassar himself came, what could he do against it in its lightning elemental form?
While the lightning bolt in its lightning form is essentially a ball of lightning element rather than a visible current, and therefore cannot approach the speed of light like true lightning, and although it can only maintain its lightning form for a maximum of five or six minutes, its light mass and near-independent air resistance allow Casalos to easily fly into the subsonic range and possess superhuman maneuverability that dragons could never achieve. Casalos dared to say that even with just those five minutes to create distance, Hevilan wouldn't be able to catch up with its escape, let alone those clumsy and slow red dragons.
Certain mysterious high-level spells could indeed prevent its escape, but unfortunately, none of the enemies Casalos might encounter are capable of wielding such spells.
For example, the colossal red dragon that is now pouncing on it...
The dragon that launched the attack on Casalos possessed all the basic characteristics of a red dragon. Its two large, swept-back horns shone with a bright orange hue like flames under the sunlight. Flames of fire elemental power danced in the eye sockets behind its two nostrils on its bird-beak-like snout. Its ruffled ears had fused with the horns on its cheeks, and its colossal size, even larger than that of Hevilan, proclaimed its identity as an ancient red dragon.
but
Chapter 159
Contrary to its age-related characteristics, this ancient red dragon possesses vibrant scales and an active elemental aura, much like a ninety-year-old human grandfather with the youthful body and vitality of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old.
Such distinctive features allowed Casalos to recognize the dragon's identity at a glance.
Baragas, "Flying Flame," is revered by the elves as "Dragon's Bane," while humans prefer to call it Ura Bahor, like the gnolls. Whatever it's called, this colossal red dragon is a terrifying scourge that delights in slaughtering adventurers, mages, and other dragons.
It is ferocious and unrestrained, believing in its own wisdom and strength to rule over all the dragons of Faerûn, then lead them in a war of extermination against humans and elves, leaving the remaining life as food for the victorious dragons. It considers all of Faerûn its territory, and the other "lesser dragons" merely its wing, which it gladly controls in their work and lives. Almost every so often, it randomly kills a dragon to instill fear in the others.
At this time, its usual practice is to kill one of the slower-flying dragons, then use its claws to carry the dragon's corpse triumphantly across about half the continent, parading over every town it passes, showing off the unfortunate dragon's corpse. Other dragons and "livestock" can only tremble in fear under its might.
This was an unexpected encounter. Casalos hadn't actually intended to provoke this infamous creature; it had left Evanso for the Giants' Plains merely to hunt, never expecting to run into the most tyrannical and unreasonable "tyrant" of Faerûn. The Giants' Plains wasn't Baragas's traditional territory; it was likely traveling from one of its lairs in the Amn Empire to the Traders' Road for its favorite pastime of scaring caravans, only to bump right into Casalos.
If another dragon happens to collide with Baragas, as long as it doesn't fly higher than Baragas or provokes it, Baragas will most likely ignore it.
Unfortunately, the ancient hatred between the Red Dragon and the Iron Dragon was already engraved in their dragon souls. Even if they forgot the reasons and original intentions, it still twisted into mutual hatred and hostility.
"Haha, look what I found! A wild Iron Dragon cub!"
Baragas roared, plunging down like a torrent in its name, Flame, straight at Casalos, which hovered low in the sky searching for prey. Casalos, under such circumstances, naturally wouldn't continue to avoid the fight. It admitted it couldn't defeat the Ancient Red Dragon, but at least it wouldn't let fear cause it to miss this rare opportunity to test the true gap between itself and the Ancient Red Dragon.
Maintaining the same direction as Baragas's dive, Casalozt veered to the right, bringing its wings almost perpendicular to the ground, and then swooped down towards the ground at an even faster turning rate. Gaining speed exceeding that of the clumsy red dragon, it regained level flight and began a powerful ascent, cutting in at a tiny angle to within a dozen meters of Baragas's side. It then unleashed a burst of enhanced dragon breath, its lightning-fast, beam-like super-powered breath attack, splattering the unsuspecting Baragas in the face.
"Roar!"
What Baragas had expected to be an easy game of cat and mouse with its prey turned into a shockwave as it plummeted dozens of meters before regaining flight. Its scales bristled, and it unleashed a deafening roar, releasing its terrifying aura. Simultaneously, with a flick of its forelimbs and tail, several status spells—the power of a bull, the grace of a cat, the brilliance of an eagle, and Stone Skin—were cast upon it in a mere instant.
Casalos hadn't even had a chance to turn around and launch a second attack.
82. Departure
Casalos lost.
Even though it possessed aerial combat and maneuverability that allowed it to outmaneuver Baragas, even though it was naturally immune to Baragas's fire dragon breath and its primary fire magic, and even though it replaced its own breath with lightning, which Baragas could not resist, it was still utterly defeated, completely and utterly defeated, and defeated so naturally.
Baragas's casting speed slightly exceeded Casalos's expectations, but it was still within an acceptable range.
Sensing the spell taking shape, Casalos immediately abandoned its plan for a continuous attack, rolling and accelerating into a dive to avoid the red dragon's direct line of sight and enter the airspace beneath its belly. This choice proved absolutely correct; just as it changed its maneuver, several obscure spells swept across its original trajectory. Although the exact nature of the spells was unknown, their dangerous aura indicated that being caught in them would be disastrous.
The Ancient Red Dragon's level 19 spellcasting ability allows Flame Spells to easily penetrate Casalos's limited spell resistance.
Fortunately, Flame is a master of fire magic, and the Iron Dragon is immune to most of the spells it possesses. The remaining spells that can pose a threat are unlikely to hit the increasingly skilled aerial combat expert, Casaloz. As long as it maintains its mobility, Baragas will be unable to take it down with spells.
The spell's failure to hit further enraged Baragas. It lowered its head and let out a loud roar. A directional, transparent ripple spread through the distorted air, scorched by its dragon magic, and struck Casalos's back, which was several meters below its belly, along with the roar.
A destructive tremor, sculpted by magic, was hidden within the sound waves and transmitted to the scales of Casalos, seemingly intent on destroying everything. Even refined steel could not withstand this terrifying fluctuation.
Sonic damage!
However, a rune carved into Casalos's scales shone dimly with the arrival of the vibration, then began to vibrate at the same frequency and intensity, but with the exact opposite phase, completely annihilating the destructive sound waves on the scale's surface. The Carved Skin Dragon had endowed it with a unique ability to be immune to strong acids and sound waves; even the seemingly insurmountable sonic damage bowed its noble head before it.
Seeing Casalos, who had been unharmed by his Roar spell, being pulled up in a wide arc, Baragas was stunned for a moment, but he immediately understood what was going on. He then laughed wildly, turned around, and used brute force to flap his huge wings to forcefully climb up from the fall.
"Haha, what good luck! It's actually a Carved Skin Dragon! Iron Dragon brat, I'll give you a chance to grovel under the wings of the King of Dragons. Hand over the secret to advancing to a Carved Skin Dragon, and I'll spare your life and accept you as my servant. With my authority, those inferior dragon generals will no longer be able to threaten you."
Casalos's response was yet another breath of dragonfire that transformed into lightning.
"You're asking for it! I'm giving you a chance and you don't take it. I'd like to see how tough you are when I catch you and peel those rune-covered scales off your dragon skin piece by piece!"
Dozens of speculative gazes had already focused on this place. Feeling utterly humiliated among the "meat animals," Fei Yan roared, his tsunami-like dragon might echoing across the Giant Plain.
Its wings, limbs, head, and tail moved rhythmically. Its scales had lost their vibrant red, turning into a dark gray like Casalos, and then gleaming with a metallic sheen. Its eyes had also lost their molten lava light, solidifying into the shape of metallic spheres. Apart from retaining the physical structure and fine scales of a red dragon, from a distance it looked almost exactly like an iron dragon.
The next moment, Casalos sensed a deadly aura appearing slightly above and in front of it along with the fluctuations of magic. It immediately rolled over and flew backwards belly up, its wings suddenly flapping forward while it opened its mouth and spewed out an instantaneous cone-shaped breath of fire. Under the combined force of the two forces, it plummeted downwards.
The steel-like figure of Baragas blurred, then appeared where the deadly aura and magical fluctuations had appeared. Its retracted head suddenly snapped open and snapped shut, almost biting Casalos's neck—if Casalos hadn't suddenly turned around.
Precise teleportation followed by a powerful attack—this wasn't the first time Casalos had encountered such an unpredictable and sudden attack.
Chapter 160
Every boss in the Dragon's Treasury that's even slightly strong knows this move. It's quite experienced in dealing with it. Even though it doesn't have the massive in-game buffs from the Dragon's Treasury, Flying Flame isn't a terrifying god-like being, so it can handle it with ease.
However, Baragas' speed and reaction have also increased significantly. It seems that in addition to the steel-body transformation it just made, it has also given itself the Tansen Transformation Technique.
It's time for a strategic shift.
There was nothing that could be done. Despite having the four-times Energy Mastery buff from a max-level Elemental Master, being enhanced with several super breath feats such as Breath Enhancement and Breath Maximization, and receiving three spellcasting level boosts from Dragon Breath, Casaroz still couldn't inflict any effective damage on the Ancient Red Dragon. Casaroz had really done his best.