The special magical connection was interrupted. The transparent screen rippled like water a few times before disappearing before their eyes, bringing the communication to a complete end.
Inside the dragon's lair, Yu Deng instinctively reached out and grabbed at the air, looking a little anxious. "Why did it disappear? I haven't finished talking yet…"
He had only exchanged a few words with Song Shiyu. He hadn't even had the chance to discuss information and clues with him.
Seeing the little princess so eager to speak with the knight again made the giant dragon's mood plummet. An unfamiliar, sour feeling spread from its heart, and even its wings drooped.
"Little princess, do you really like that knight?" Oriel couldn't help asking.
Yu Deng tilted his head. "Hmm? Why are you suddenly asking that?"
"…Because he's the only one in your eyes." The giant dragon no longer looked as triumphant as it had when showing off in front of its romantic rival. Instead, it appeared utterly dejected. "You're already in the dragon territory, in my cave, of all places."
The dragon's tail wanted to smack the ground, but it remembered that it was still supporting the little princess. Consequently, the tip of its tail began rubbing restlessly back and forth.
Yu Deng didn't know how to explain communication between players to a dragon, so he could only answer vaguely, "He's my knight. Isn't it normal for us to discuss a few things…? Could you open the communication again?"
The giant dragon grew even more jealous. Pretending to be exhausted, it replied, "No. This kind of cross-territory magical communication consumes a great deal of magic power. I can't open it a second time right now. Besides, you're already in dragon territory. You shouldn't keep thinking about other people anymore."
—The little princess should belong to him now.
When facing his romantic rival earlier, the giant dragon had been perfectly capable of taunting him with ease. But when it came to Yu Deng, it didn't dare openly declare its ownership. Instead, it could only coax the little princess with sweet words.
"I have lots of treasures. If you don't like any of them, I can go steal some more. You can visit any mountain here you want. None of them will hurt you."
The dragon tightened its wings around Yu Deng, securely enclosing him in its embrace. It restrained its strength as it rubbed against him affectionately.
"Little princess, you'll be staying in dragon territory for a long time. Don't think about leaving so soon."
Yu Deng pressed his lips together. "Is that so…? Then what exactly do you want me to do?"
The giant dragon was momentarily at a loss for words.
The dragon had only wanted to capture its beloved princess and bring him back. As for what to do after bringing him back… it seemed it hadn't thought that far ahead. All it knew was that it wanted the little princess to remain by its side forever.
In any case, the little princess couldn't leave.
Having sorted out its thoughts, the giant dragon tightened its tail around Yu Deng and repeated somewhat anxiously, "You don't have to do anything. Little princess, you can't leave."
"…Hmm."
Yu Deng didn't quite understand why the giant dragon had suddenly become so clingy. However, he had already calmed down somewhat from the initial panic of being captured. He had also noticed that the dragon's voice seemed identical to that of the merchant he had encountered while patrolling the city during the day.
So Yu Deng asked directly, "Oriel, was that merchant I met during the day actually you?"
"Yes, that really was me." The dragon admitted it. But since it still hadn't received a definite answer, it stubbornly repeated its question for the third time. "Little princess, can you please not leave?"
The leader of the dragon race was supposed to be the most terrifying and ruthless dragon of all, capable of sweeping entire mountain peaks away with a single breath of fire. Yet at this moment, it looked just like a stray dog afraid of being abandoned, utterly pitiful.
Yu Deng turned his head and glanced at the black dragon.
Since the leader of the dragon race was his quest target, he naturally had to stay here and work on his quest for a while. Besides, this would give him a chance to explore a new area of the instance map.
Yu Deng's voice was soft and gentle. "I won't leave. Aren't you here…? Then I'll stay with you."
Giant Dragon: "!!!"
One sentence from Yu Deng was enough to make the giant dragon overjoyed.
Yu Deng continued, "However, I'm not familiar with this place at all… Oriel, you'll protect me, right?"
"Of course! Of course!" The dragon's wings flapped uncontrollably as it loudly promised, "You're the little princess I brought back myself. Of course I'll keep you safe!"
The giant dragon was so happy that its tail, which was wrapped around the princess, stiffened. Its scales pressed tightly against Yu Deng, and the tail slipped completely beneath the short skirt.
Although the dragon's tail was covered in scales, it still possessed a keen sense of touch. Yu Deng's warm body heat transferred to the dragon's tail, while his delicate, soft skin provided constant stimulation to the giant dragon.
Most importantly, the little princess seemed to… not be wearing any underwear.
Oriel was practically buzzing with excitement. An intense, secret thrill and sense of satisfaction consumed its mind.
"Mm… Don't squeeze me like that."
Yu Deng had been constantly rubbed by the dragon's tail. When it slid between his thighs and curled upward, he finally couldn't stand it any longer and reached out to grab the restless tip.
"Your scales are as hard as rocks. It's really uncomfortable when you keep moving around like this…" Yu Deng complained softly.
As he spoke, he struggled to turn around in the dragon's embrace, changing his position until he was sitting on the dragon's tail and facing the giant dragon directly.
As he turned, his short skirt rode up slightly, revealing his snow-white skin, which looked smooth and lustrous under the light of the luminous pearls embedded in the cave ceiling.
The giant dragon stared at him in a daze. Its cold, black scales seemed to be growing warm, while the reddish patterns on their surface appeared to flow.
The tip of its tail couldn't help poking Yu Deng again, while the edges of its wings brushed along Yu Deng's back and arms.
"Why are you still moving around?!"
Yu Deng wanted to bring his legs together, but the dragon's tail had wrapped around him so tightly that he could barely move. He began regretting not putting on his little shorts before going to sleep in the castle. His legs had become so sore from riding the horse that he had taken off his underwear as well.
Later, his knight had treated his injuries, and he had completely forgotten to put his underwear back on. As a result, he had been brought all the way to dragon territory without even a pair of shorts on.
Yu Deng tugged at his skirt, trying to pull the fabric underneath himself to sit on. However, the dress was so short that the more he tugged at it, the more his chest became exposed.
"Where did you even get this dress? It's way too short…"
The giant dragon's voice sounded somewhat distracted. "I forgot. It was probably from some fabric merchant. I didn't know the clothes inside the box would be like this."
As it spoke, the dragon couldn't help expanding its body several times over. The little princess was enclosed in the giant dragon's embrace, making him look even more petite by comparison.
The giant dragon gazed at him in a daze for quite some time before it couldn't resist sticking out its tongue and giving Yu Deng a lick.
Its rough tongue was almost as large as Yu Deng himself. In an instant, it left his arms and legs drenched, accompanied by a faint scent of fire.
Yu Deng: "???"
The giant dragon lay down on the ground, folding its sharp wings against its back and positioning its head directly in front of Yu Deng. Within its enormous, reddish eyes, Yu Deng could see his own reflection clearly.
"W-Why are you licking me?!" Yu Deng pushed the dragon's head away, stumbling over his words. "Oriel, can you transform into a human?"
If the dragon took human form, surely it wouldn't keep licking him like this, right?
The dragon was somewhat reluctant and a little confused. "Don't you like me looking like this?"
Yu Deng was even more confused than the dragon. "When did I ever say I liked it?"
"…" The dragon fell silent for several seconds before turning its head away. Its voice dropped considerably. "Didn't you say during the day that you liked that little wooden dragon carving?"
That wooden carving had been sculpted to look exactly like its true form...
Yu Deng thought for a few seconds. "I think I did say that, but your true form is way too naughty… Your tail is so disobedient. You should, you should transform into your human form instead."
The giant dragon gave a little hum. "All right."
A few seconds later, the enormous, pitch-black creature transformed into a human.
The man was tall and handsome, with a pair of curved dragon horns atop his head. His wheat-colored muscles were firm and well-defined, while his hair and pupils were as black as his scales.
Yu Deng tilted his head up slightly and stared for a few seconds before recognizing him. As expected, Oriel was the same man he had encountered while patrolling the city.
But why… why wasn't this guy wearing any clothes?!
Yu Deng turned his gaze away. "Where are your clothes? You were wearing clothes during the day…"
The giant dragon answered with complete candor, showing no sign that he was deliberately displaying his muscles. "That's because I was in the human kingdom during the day. Dragons generally don't need clothes inside their own lairs. It's our custom."
Yu Deng opened his mouth. He wanted to ask the dragon to put some clothes on, but then he remembered that the first special rule had stated that he must respect the customs of different races.
Would asking the dragon to wear clothes violate the rules…? Yu Deng fell into deep thought, feeling rather conflicted.
While Yu Deng was busy debating the matter in his head, Oriel had already approached him, stopping less than twenty centimeters away.
"Little Princess Deng Deng, why aren't you paying attention to me anymore?" The giant dragon reached out, wanting to hug Yu Deng. "I've already transformed into my human form for you."
He had been so accommodating to the little princess's requests. Surely, it wasn't unreasonable to expect a little reward in the form of some cuddling with him, right?
The tall dragon man exuded such an overwhelming presence that Yu Deng instinctively took a step back. Unfortunately, he accidentally stepped on some gold coins scattered across the floor and stumbled forward.
He didn't fall. The dragon caught him securely. However, as Yu Deng stumbled, he bent forward, causing his skirt to ride up and leaving the round, shapely flesh of his buttocks completely exposed.
The dragon's pupils contracted for an instant. His muscles tensed, and his breathing grew heavy.
Yu Deng didn't realize how disheveled his clothes had become. Being held by a naked dragon, he felt both embarrassed and annoyed, so he hastily changed his mind.
"Forget it. If you're not going to wear clothes… then you should just stay in your dragon form."
The delicate little princess kept changing his demands, but the giant dragon didn't feel teased or inconvenienced in the slightest. Instead, he happily transformed back into his true form.
However, after the intense visual impact of what he had just witnessed, the dragon could no longer keep himself under control.
The dragon's intimate anatomy had the same texture as its scales. Since its true form was enormous, that part of its body was proportionally enlarged as well.
—It was simply the nature of dragons. Having restrained himself until now already demonstrated exceptional self-control.
Yu Deng couldn't possibly ignore such an enormous sight. He hurriedly squeezed his eyes shut. "Y-You can't do that… You're such a pervert!"
How could this guy be such a shameless pervert in both his human and dragon forms…? He was absolutely awful!
The giant dragon swished its tail. "Oh, sorry. But this is simply a dragon's nature. It's not something I can control."
Yu Deng was stunned by the dragon's shamelessly matter-of-fact attitude. After a long pause, he finally managed to stammer out, "Then, then go control yourself somewhere else… I'm really sleepy now, Oriel. I want to go to sleep."
"…All right." The giant dragon scratched the ground several times with its claws, leaving deep gouges in the floor before finally managing to suppress its instincts.
Although the leader of the dragon race claimed that he had kidnapped the princess to threaten the human kingdom and intended to imprison the little princess, in reality, he had personally arranged every single detail of Yu Deng's stay.
That included the place where the little princess would sleep and rest.
The bed was made of pure gold, while the bedding was crafted from the soft down feathers of the winged folk and the beastmen. The accommodations were so extravagant that they were even more luxurious than those prepared for the princess by the Kingdom of Sturitt.
At last, the pampered little princess was able to rest comfortably.
…
Yu Deng had absolutely no idea that while he slept, the giant dragon lay beside him, watching him throughout the entire night without changing its position even once, as though guarding its most treasured possession.
Only when Yu Deng woke up did the giant dragon nonchalantly move to another spot and pretend to be dozing.
Yu Deng was still half-asleep when he greeted the dragon out of habitfully polite courtesy. "Good morning."
"Good morning, Your Highness." The giant dragon stared unblinkingly at the little princess who had just woken up, then pushed a plate of washed fruit toward him with its claw. "Breakfast."
"Oh… thank you." The freshly awakened little princess sat up, sleepily washed up, and ate a few bright red fruits.
These fruits were surprisingly filling. After finishing breakfast, Yu Deng glanced toward the cave entrance and said, "Oriel, I want to go outside for a walk."
"Of course, no problem." The giant dragon was always happy to accommodate his requests. However, after speaking, it took out a new dress that the dragon race had hurriedly made overnight. "Don't go outside wearing your current dress, Deng Deng. Change into this one."
A dress that short was something only he should be allowed to see.
"Eh?" Yu Deng took the dress and examined it. The pale golden dress was gorgeous, yet light and breathable. It reached approximately to his knees, making it perfect for the temperature in dragon territory.
Oriel helped the little princess change clothes before accompanying him out of the lair.
It was now the third day since the instance had opened.
The sky looked somewhat darker than it had over the previous two days. The ground in dragon territory was covered with dark red sand, which appeared rather gloomy and dim under the current lighting.
There actually weren't many dragons. According to Oriel, there were only around thirty dragons in the entire territory. However, dragons were enormous creatures, so their territory was proportionally vast as well.
Oriel carried Yu Deng to one of the most scenic areas in the territory.
"This is a landscape unique to dragon territory," the giant dragon explained. "The fruits we usually eat are picked from here."
Yu Deng looked up and saw a lush forest. Its irregularly shaped leaves were orange-red, with fruits hanging between them. It was indeed a beautiful sight.
"Hehe, Your Highness."
Yu Deng followed the voice and spotted two sneaky-looking dragons hiding in the forest. When the two dragons saw the little princess's face, they became so excited that they crawled around wildly on the ground.
"Hehe, what a beautiful little princess!"
"Can I ask the leader to let me have the little princess for a night? I want him to stay in my lair!"
"I want that, too! Why don't you go ask first?"
Oriel: "…" Why did he keep running into his own people everywhere?
The leader of the dragon race threateningly conjured a tiny flame as a warning, frightening the two dragons into hurriedly flying away.
Yu Deng watched the two dragons disappear into the distance and thought that dragon territory didn't seem as dangerous as the human kingdom. Apart from being a little noisy, these dragons were actually quite interesting.
Standing beside Yu Deng, the leader of the dragon race couldn't help sneaking glances at the little princess from the corner of his eye.
Noticing that the little princess seemed to have a fairly good impression of the dragon race, he seized the opportunity to extend an invitation.
"Well? Dragon territory isn't so bad, is it? Little princess, how about living with me from now on?"
Yu Deng didn't agree immediately. "Well, I'll have to think about that. But I probably can't do that right now."
After all, he still had unfinished quests. The side quest he had triggered earlier belonged to the human kingdom.
Just as he was thinking about this, Yu Deng heard a system notification.
[Ding! Player Yu Deng has triggered a side quest: Resolve the Dragon Race's Dilemma. Would you like to accept this quest?]
[Notice: Completing this side quest will increase your favorability and trust level with the dragon race.]
Eh? Was it actually possible to trigger side quests from two different races at the same time?
Yu Deng was a little surprised. After all, the rules had stated that triggering a quest from one race would cause the other races to become hostile toward him.
Oh, but the leader of the dragon race had already come to kidnap him, and these dragons were treating him quite well. So perhaps it was normal for him to trigger their quest, too.
The problem was that he had absolutely no idea what the dragon race's dilemma was.
Should he accept the quest, then? After hesitating for a moment, Yu Deng decided to accept it.
[Ding! Player Yu Deng has accepted the dragon race's side quest.]
As though sensing that Yu Deng's attitude was beginning to soften, Oriel's mood improved considerably. After taking Yu Deng on a tour of the area, he transformed into his giant dragon form and carried him on his back to an open clearing.
Around a dozen dragons had gathered there, apparently preparing for some kind of event.
Yu Deng was curious. "What are they doing?"
"They're preparing for the dragon race's Flame Festival."
Sitting atop the giant dragon's head, Yu Deng watched the dragons with curiosity. Suddenly, he spotted a short, thin man standing in a corner.
Eh? That person should be a player, right?
Yu Deng stared for a few seconds, uncertain.
System 01 reminded him, [Host, be careful. The other party is the vice president of the Slaughter Heaven Guild.]
"Oriel, who is that?" Hearing the system's warning, Yu Deng turned around and asked the leader of the dragon race directly. "Is he a dragon, too?"
"Oh, no. He appeared in our territory with a green dragon two days ago." Oriel frowned. "The green dragon insisted that he was useful and powerful enough to help us resolve our troubles. Since we couldn't detect any harmful intent from him, we allowed him to stay temporarily."
The livestream comments managed to divert a little of their attention away from Yu Deng and began discussing the player.
\[Is that the player who got beaten up by the dragons?\]
\[Yeah, that guy's a high-level player. He's got some tricks up his sleeve, and he's pretty ambitious. He has several rare S-rank items, including a purification item. I bet he's trying to complete the dragon race's trust quest.\]
\[Whoa, I remember that player somehow manipulated one of the elder-level dragons, which is why he was allowed to stay.\]
\[That guy's methods are pretty extreme. Apparently, he's been plotting something involving the dragons for the past two days. I wonder if our baby will be in danger if he runs into him.\]
When the player from the Slaughter Heaven Guild saw the leader of the dragon race and the little princess, he was surprised for a few seconds. He immediately recognized the human princess whom the dragons had been discussing all night.
A princess who received such affection from the dragons should be an NPC, right? Perfect. He could take control of these simple-minded, physically powerful dragons, along with the princess of the human kingdom.
The player's expression darkened. He walked into a corner, took out an unidentified item, and forcefully plunged it into his own chest.
A stream of purplish-black mist immediately poured out of his body, quickly spreading throughout the entire area.
All the nearby dragons stiffened. Their eyes began to grow cloudy, and they couldn't stop themselves from letting out agonized roars. Strangely, however, they seemed unable to see the player releasing the mist, as though the item had rendered him invisible to them.
Yu Deng abruptly turned around and looked at the leader of the dragon race.
Oriel's eyes had also darkened, but he seemed to be faring much better than the other dragons.
"Little princess, please be careful. For some unknown reason, they've suddenly entered a berserk state."
His enormous wings spread out, shielding Yu Deng from the danger. A magical barrier enveloped the little princess, while the dragon unleashed a scorching breath of fire in an attempt to burn away the mist.
Yu Deng froze for a few seconds. For once, his mind worked unusually quickly as he tried to piece together what was happening.
Oriel had said that the dragons had entered a berserk state, which was essentially a kind of illness.
So, was that player secretly trying to induce some kind of disease in the dragon race so that he could take advantage of the situation to eliminate them? Or perhaps he intended to… cure them afterward?
If he managed to cure them, wouldn't that player be treated as their savior?
But… how could anyone demonstrate their abilities in such a way? Even if these were NPCs, this was far too cruel.
Not far from Yu Deng, a small dragon had collapsed onto the ground. Its bloodied scales were falling off one by one, and the other dragons were in no better condition. Meanwhile, the player hiding in the shadows continued releasing the poisonous mist.
Yu Deng lowered his head, feeling sorrowful for the dragons.
A few seconds later, Yu Deng emerged from behind the giant dragon. His gaze fell on the player as he activated the item he had obtained in the Evil God instance: the Interdimensional Box.
An independent space instantly unfolded around them.
"You're a player?!" The man stared at the beautifully dressed little princess in astonishment.
Holding his staff, Yu Deng took a deep breath. "Yes."
"Then what are you doing?" The player glared viciously at Yu Deng. "As long as I make them all go berserk and then cure them, the quest will be completed! Why are you stopping me?!"
The little princess fell silent for a few seconds before raising his head. He looked at the other party nervously, his beautiful little face set in a determined expression.
"Because I don't like doing things this way."