The Great Dragon's gaze was still very oppressive.
Baron Todd looked up, his scarlet pupils filled with fear, his expression no longer as aggressive as before.
But he still tried to maintain his composure, hands behind his back, barely managing to keep his voice from trembling too much:
"You are that Flying Flame, aren't you?"
"May I ask if your visit to my territory... is for something important?"
Ke Xiu Si keenly sensed the fluctuation of the Magic Net, knowing that the Baron was constructing a spell model, and his expression slightly darkened:
"Baron Todd, is this how you treat guests who have come from afar?"
"With impolite spells."
"Rather than with noble etiquette and hospitality."
When Baron Todd realized he had been exposed, his face instantly changed dramatically.
But he still fumbled through the bottles and jars in his formal attire, took out a few pre-prepared bat hairs, and quickly cast a spell.
"Darkness Spell!"
As the bat hairs turned to ash, a thick black mist rapidly spread out from Baron Todd, and the dark magical power enveloped a spherical area with a radius of five meters, completely engulfing him.
Even creatures with Darkvision could not see through this Darkness, non-magical light could not illuminate it, and even low-level illumination spells below second-ring were ineffective.
Ke Xiu Si just watched all of this silently, slowly praising:
"A very good spell, Baron."
"If they were ordinary humans, they would surely be too scared to move. You would be able to quietly drain their blood in the fear of the Darkness."
His tone suddenly turned cold.
"But do you still remember that you are facing a Great Dragon?"
Ke Xiu Si suddenly turned around, his thick, long tail sweeping horizontally with immense force.
The black mist ball was suddenly ripped open, overflowing, and while it could block light, it could not block physical attacks.
And Baron Todd, who was preparing his next spell in the Darkness, was also struck heavily.
"Bang!"
He was directly sent flying several meters away.
Fortunately, Baron Todd had some kind of regenerative ability; although this blow broke all the bones and flesh in his body, they were rapidly recovering at a visible speed.
Baron Todd lay on the ground, spitting blood, and laboriously pulled out a shriveled viper's stomach.
"Malf's Acid Arrow!"
A shimmering green arrow quickly flew towards the Red Dragon.
"Shield."
The Red Dragon sneered, an invisible Shield appeared in front of him, blocking the rapidly approaching arrow. The Acid Arrow suddenly burst into a strong acid mist, but it still did not harm Ke Xiu Si in the slightest.
"A spellcaster?"
Baron Todd's face was horrified; a Dragon Mage, there was nothing worse than this situation.
Thinking of this, he began to construct a spell model.
"Misty Step!"
Only a cloud of silvery-white smoke was left where the Baron had been, and he had already appeared at the manor wall dozens of meters away, dragging his battered body, with twisted vines hanging down from it.
Ke Xiu Si flapped his wings to follow, saying calmly, "Baron, please don't make futile struggles."
"Your little tricks"
"Are not even worth mentioning."
Flames ignited in the Red Dragon's pupils.
Seeing the Red Dragon pursuing him, Baron Todd quickly worked his exhausted mind and constructed a spell model again.
He suddenly pulled down a vine, and the other end of the vine flew rapidly upwards until the entire vine hung vertically in the air, suspended out of thin air.
At the last moment, just as the Red Dragon was about to catch him.
Todd climbed up the vine and disappeared, and the vine also disappeared with him.
"Rope Trick?"
Ke Xiu Si said to himself with great interest.
This spell is a famous escape spell exclusive to mages; it allows one to travel to a small extradimensional space that exists for the duration of the spell by means of an item with the "rope" attribute.
Attacks and spells cannot enter or exit through the entrance of the extradimensional space, but creatures within the space can see the outside through the entrance, just as if there were a window at the position of the rope.
But as soon as the spell ends, everything in the extradimensional space will fall out.
At this moment, Baron Todd was in the extradimensional space, his pale face looking exceptionally nervous, fearing that the Red Dragon would notice something amiss.
If he didn't need to breathe, he might be panting heavily right now.
And Ke Xiu Si just said as if to himself:
"A very interesting spell."
"It's just that I already said it."
"Your little tricks are not even worth mentioning to me!"
As his voice fell, a shimmering barrier rapidly emerged centered on the Red Dragon, enveloping the entire area.
"Spell Invalidation Barrier!"
The extradimensional space shattered like a broken glass cup, causing Baron Todd, who was hiding within it, to appear out of thin air and then fall heavily to the ground.
Facing the Red Dragon's wide-open maw, Baron Todd finally couldn't help but collapse to the ground, kneeling and begging for mercy repeatedly:
"No, no, don't kill me!"
"I am the son of Duke Brad, a Baron of the North Wind Eagle Lakeman Family."
"If you spare my life, my family can give you a lot of gold, far more than you would get by killing me!"
"Great Dragon, I, I am willing to submit to you..."
As a mage, Todd naturally had knowledge and understood the Red Dragon's greedy nature.
The Red Dragon looked down at him, his eyes slightly narrowed: "I only need you to agree to three conditions for cooperation."
"I agree, I agree to everything!"
Before he finished speaking, Baron Todd impatiently agreed, fearing that this capricious and cruel Red Dragon would turn him into ash.
Although the Red Dragon in front of him seemed relatively rational.
But who could say for sure?
Ke Xiu Si nodded slightly and said:
"First, I need all of your spell scrolls, remember, all of them, to pay for the cost of your invasion of the Ember Nest territory. This is the prerequisite for our cooperation."
"Second, I welcome trade, and can even provide you with gold, but I need to exchange all goods with you, including weapons and armor. Hart will be the person in charge of this 'friendly trade' caravan."
"Third, I will send some of my kin to protect the caravan, and by the way, they will also be stationed in Sige Town to protect your safety—that is, the safety of my collaborator."
"Aren't you afraid I'll betray the cooperation?"
Baron Todd asked tentatively.
At least for now, the Red Dragon's terms were relatively lenient; he needed to seize the opportunity to gain the Red Dragon's trust.
Ke Xiu Si sneered and said, "Baron, I already said, we are here to cooperate; this is a win-win process."
"Think about it, without trading with our Ember Nest, without gold, without powerful troops, you and your barony are nothing, just a grain-producing land that can be abandoned at any time. An invasion from the north is enough to destroy you."
"I think... you know what I mean."
The Red Dragon's pupils flickered, as if burning with raging fire.
