Faerun: The arcane mage is still too imprisoned.

"Don't think I'll be ridden by you forever."

Red Dragon's voice was high-pitched and thin, carrying a hint of defiance.

"I only made a mistake temporarily; one day, I'll ride on top of you!"

Alicia reached out and patted its nose, a casual gesture as if she were patting a horse.

"Haha, then I'll be waiting!"

The red dragon roared again, but said nothing more. It pulled its head back, lay down on the ground, crossed its two front paws, rested its chin on them, and squinted its eyes.

That posture was like a big cat sunbathing.

"Your Highness, where did you get this dragon?" Lance asked.

Alicia turned to look at him, grinned, and revealed a set of white teeth.

"I picked it up on the street."

"?"

"I met it on the road. It was so captivated by my charm that it insisted on coming home with me, and I couldn't stop it."

"You're talking nonsense!"

Mama Haha stared wide-eyed at the dragon and said:

"You forced me to be ridden by you!"

"That's because you're not good enough."

"How was I supposed to know you could suddenly go from Exemplary to Heroic class while fighting?!"

Leveling up in battle? What a prodigy!

Lance asked curiously, "How long have you been fighting?"

"They fought for more than two hours, and my clothes were all torn."

That was indeed very intense.

The two men walked south, one after the other, to catch up with Alfred's central army.

"Has anything happened to my brother lately?"

"It's nothing, I just accidentally died once."

Alicia: "!!!"

……

The red dragon followed behind, its massive body causing the ground to tremble as it walked, its tail dragging across the ground and carving a deep furrow.

The surrounding soldiers were restless and uneasy; if Lance hadn't been leading them, chaos would have surely broken out.

Soon, they caught up with Alfred's central army. Alfred was on horseback.

As Lance and Alicia walked over, they both looked up at the same time.

Alicia walked over and grabbed him.

Then they pulled him off the horse.

Alfred stumbled and nearly fell flat on his face.

She reached out and poked him.

"I heard you died."

Alfred shrank back, looking uncomfortable.

"Hey, I'm alive again!"

Alicia released his grip and patted his shoulder.

"Okay, I'll be more careful next time."

"oh."

As the red dragon approached, the warhorses began to neigh, but were reined in tightly by their riders.

"Don't be afraid," Alicia said. "It doesn't bite."

"You're the one who bites! Your whole family bites!"

Mamahaha flapped its wing, blowing away several soldiers.

Alicia grabbed its wing and said without changing her expression:

"I'm sorry, it's not very good at controlling its strength."

The red dragon let out another dissatisfied roar.

……

On the Sassanid army's side, Olaf walked in the middle of the column, his greatsword hanging at his waist.

Cassius caught up from behind, panting heavily.

"General, there's movement from the enemy side again. One of our scouts spotted a red dragon flying from the west and landing in their ranks."

Olaf stopped in his tracks.

"dragon?"

"Yes, judging by its appearance, it is at least a juvenile dragon, and should be of the Exemplary rank."

"Did they start fighting?"

"no."

Olaf remained silent.

That's their reinforcement.

"And another thing," Cassius's voice lowered, "our princess, Princess Elena, who secretly slipped away, is also suspected of being captured by them."

Olaf's fingers gripped the hilt of his sword tightly.

"When did this happen?"

"I don't know. The scout only saw the half-elf mage flying back from the sky with a person on his shoulder. The person had blond hair, was dressed in traveler's clothes, and had a face so swollen that his features were unrecognizable. I'm afraid..."

Olaf closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The princess has been captured.

The message crossed his mind for a moment, then he relegated it to a less important place.

Princesses are noble, but on the battlefield, a princess who is a level three warrior is not as valuable as an elite-level professional.

Besides, given the current situation... we can only ignore her.

I believe the king will understand.

……

When the Sassanid soldiers were caught up, they were not actually very panicked, after all, the loss of their Exemplary class was a secret, and even ordinary soldiers did not know about it.

They still maintained some morale upon seeing their pursuers.

Many were dissatisfied with the general's order to retreat, and now that the battle was about to resume, they were eager to try again.

Until they saw a dragon.

Their expressions changed.

As the dragon's might pressed down, some people began to run to the roadside, while others raised their bows, but their hands trembled, and they couldn't even nock the arrows steadily.

Olaf looked up, staring intently at the dragon.

He sensed the dragon's aura—it was indeed only at the Exemplary level.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

He could easily handle dragons that weren't even at the Hero rank.

The dragon circled once above the Sassanid army, then descended some altitude, and a person stood up on its back.

That silver-white figure... it's that mage!

Lance hovered in mid-air, glanced at the Sassanid army below, then at Alicia on the dragon's back, and then raised his hand.

[Ascending Ring Casting - Amplify Sound!]

His voice boomed across the battlefield like thunder, and everyone could hear it clearly.

"Olaf, your princess is in our hands now, surrender!"

The Sassanid soldiers looked at each other, putting down their weapons and raising them again, then putting them down again.

Olaf remained silent.

Surrender is impossible.

Surrender and you're nothing but fish to be slaughtered. He wasn't the kind of fool to pin his hopes on the enemy's morality—

Moreover, it is the morality of a monk.

A mere princess, though of noble status, is not of much value and cannot compare to a hero-level professional.

"I'll surrender? Impossible!"

Another person stood up from the dragon's back, with fiery red long hair and light silver armor.

Alicia looked down at the army below.

Olaf frowned.

"That's... Alicia? Isn't she Rex's sister? They've got another Exemplary class..."

Suddenly, Olaf sensed the unbridled aura emanating from her, and his pupils contracted sharply.

Heroic Rank!

Rex's sister has actually broken through to the Hero rank!

His mind raced.

The capital of the Kingdom of Eredland is located in the south, and the two countries have a good relationship, so no large troops are stationed on the border.

In the eyes of the current king of the Sassanid Kingdom, the friendly relations between the two countries have been maintained for so many years, and today is the time to put them to use.

The Sassanid Kingdom originally planned to secretly send an army of 30,000 to quickly capture Rield, and then feign negotiations.

An army of 80,000 followed immediately, threatening the capital.

Olaf and Archmage James teleported directly to the vicinity of the capital.

The Heroic Warriors of the Kingdom of Eredland died a few years ago, and no new Heroic Warriors have been born. There is only one Exemplary Mage, who is not enough to support the kingdom.

With two against one, the advantage lies with me.

The Sassanid Kingdom has a good chance of winning.

It's all over now.

The opposing side now has a mage who doesn't look human at all, the king's sister has broken through to the hero rank, and even the princess has fallen into their hands.

Look at the mess this has made.

You should have said so earlier! If you had said so earlier, I wouldn't have fought, and everyone would have been happy.

Otherwise, things wouldn't have come to this point where we're in a difficult situation.

"Alas, our failure this time is the will of God above!"

"Your Highness Alicia, let's make peace."

Alicia's fiery red hair fluttered in the wind, a smile playing on her lips, but that smile sent chills down one's spine.

She disregarded the fact that this was the Sassanid army and leaped off the dragon's back, landing ten meters in front of Olaf.

"Peace talks?" she said, her voice not loud, but everyone could hear her clearly.

"Screw you!"