Sand. Sand. Sand.

Walking cactus!

Oh, it was dead.

Sand. Sand. Sand…

Vainqueur forced himself not to fall asleep out of boredom in the middle of the flight. He was sick of this endless desert, carrying his chief of staff in one hand, and a big, goatskin bag for princesses in the other. “Why am I flying invisible again?” the dragon asked his minion, who had insisted Vainqueur use his ‘Blinkblink’ ring. “And why didn't we bring the other minions?”

“Because otherwise Brandon Maure will have us shot on sight, and my [Cowl of the Reaper] grants me some camouflage.” The minion sounded tired, and just as bored as his master. “It’s better to travel light.”

“Minion, I meant why I should care if that fiend notices?”

“Because we are on a princess rescue mission, which means we need to be discreet. Otherwise, Maure will evacuate them elsewhere, and we may not know where this time.”

At long last, Vainqueur finally noticed their destination when he squinted his eyes at the horizon.

A rock the size of the Albain mountains’ tallest peak floated above the desert, a fortress-city built from red, bloody bricks; greenish stones below the flying structure released a whirlwind of swirling sandstorms keeping the city afloat. Vainqueur noticed a few flying creatures patrolling the skies near it, each of whom would make for passable snacks.

Instead of rejoicing at finally reaching their destination, Manling Victor let out a heavy, crushed sigh.

“Minion, why are you so down?” Manling Victor also sounded a lot less enthusiastic about this adventure than Vainqueur thought he would. Come to think of it, he hadn’t argued about Vainqueur bringing a princess bag, while the minion usually worried about everything. “Have you bred yet?”

“No. I tried.” The minion sighed, crestfallen. “But as it turns out, Allison likes girls…”

The dryad? “Minion, I am not that strict about minion harassment. You have my imperial permission to bestow your eggs on Manling Charlene, for example.”

“I’m pretty sure Croissant got there first.”

“Then eat him.” Vainqueur would have sworn the minion looked up at his master in confusion, but he couldn't tell with the cowl. “You are a chief of staff, he is below you in the food chain. If he bothers you, eat him. I have never devoured a werewolf before, but they must taste like a cerberus, strong and thick.”

“Your Majesty has eaten cerberi?”

“When I fought the fomors as a young wyrm with the rest of dragonkind. They kept sending monsters like cerberi to die to me back in those days.” Eventually, the fairy lords paid Vainqueur and his kin a large tribute of gold as an apology for falsely claiming to have created the world first.

Speaking of food, what was that scent in the wind? “I can sense we are being followed.” Vainqueur hummed the air. “It smells like a big bird, with a manling on its back.”

“Huh? We should be wary, it could be one of Maure’s men—”

“[Solar Judgment!]”

A beam of light hit Vainqueur in the back by surprise, the blast making him crash into the dry sand below.

[Solar Judgment] bypassed your [Fire Immunity]! You have taken heavy damage!