As I give Nina the signal, I drop her concealment spells and she transforms into her dragon form. Seeing this, the dragon-kin start to gather and prepare to attack. Bad move. Nina's gravity magic suddenly layers the whole camp, and the dragon-kin are forcefully pounded into the earth. Several pained screams can be heard throughout.
[Fools! Tell that worthless, overgrown lizard Veyron that the Elder Dragon of earth, Nedonera, challenges him to combat! I shall be waiting for him to meet my challenge a 30-minute flight south of here, and my prize shall be control over this continent. If he does not show today, I shall consider him a coward unworthy to call himself a dragon!] (Nina)
I prepare a magic dome covering their camp, and as Nina finishes her monologuing, she drops her gravity spell. Before the dragon-kin can recover, I will my spell to aggressively sap every drop of magic from within the dome, like I did when first removing Alto's contract.
After a few minutes, the sensation of magic flowing out of the camp ebbs and then stops. I release the spell, and all the dragon-kin can be seen lying around deflated. If their bonds to Veyron are magic, it should feel like they just died all at once.
Nina returns to her human form, then I reapply her concealment spells and we take off flying south at top speed for about twenty minutes. Truthfully, it should easily take Veyron an hour. That's just another tactic to piss him off if this works – implying that Nina can fly faster than him as well as best him in combat.
We land, and I drop the concealment spells. Then, I reach out with magic sense to determine where Veyron is and if he's moving. A smile slowly creeps across my face…he's every bit the sucker we hoped he'd be.
As far as I can tell with magic sense, he's heading straight for the dragon-kin camp, and he'll be there in about an hour.
"Alright Nina, it looks like it worked. In a couple of hours, you'll finally get a rematch with Veyron. Are you ready?" (Mizuki)
Nina gives me a vicious smile, and I sense anger and anticipation through our connection.
"Mizuki…you have no idea." (Nina)
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A little over two hours later, I sense an Elder Dragon approaching us, and signal Nina to transform back into her dragon form. I teleport off to the side, but I don't apply any concealment spells to myself.
Eventually, a crimson dragon even larger than Nina comes flying into view and lands in front of Nina. I'm not an expert on dragon mannerisms, but it looks pissed.
[Nedonera, you insolent little weakling! What's this I hear about you claiming my continent as your own, and calling me a lizard and a coward?] (Veyron)
[It sounds like you already heard everything you needed to, Veyron. Are you too stupid to understand what those words mean? Perhaps that is why Cerilia will not take you as a mate, hmm? I shall make it clearer for you. I will crush you in combat, then you will yield this continent to me to atone for your weakness.] (Nina)
Ohhhhh, shit…no punches thrown, but the violence has already started. Veyron growls menacingly.
[Tch…did one of the last three beatings I gave you damage your brain, Nedonera? Not only do you stand no chance of surviving combat with me, much less winning, but you are not even worth the wager you propose. This continent already belongs to me, so you offer me nothing in return for wasting my valuable time teaching you another lesson in strength.] (Veyron)
Yeah, he's not wrong there, at least about him standing to gain nothing if he won.
[Fufufufu…not that it matters, but what would you want wagered in return?] (Nina)
Veyron seems to notice me for the first time.
[What is that little creature doing here? Is that a human? I told my dragon-kin to purge this continent of things like that.] (Veyron)
[That is my…attendant, Mizuki. I'm sure he's much more competent than any of your dragon-kin. They couldn't purge him if they tried.] (Nina)
[Fufufu…you finally get a subordinate, and it's just some human? How sad for you Nedonera. Very well, when I teach you some manners shortly, my prize will be eating this human in front of you. I look forward to you being alone again.] (Veyron)
Jeez…dick move.
[Fufufu…you overestimate yourself, Veyron. I'll consent to you trying to eat him, but if he accidentally kills you when you try, I don't want you complaining about me not upholding our deal.] (Nina)
Veyron growls even more menacingly at Nina.
[Your insolence knows no bounds, Nedonera. Very well, that detail doesn't matter. I won't have you putting off your punishment any longer. Are you ready, you worthless excuse for a dragon?] (Veyron)
Nina growls in response.
[Begin whenever you find the courage, you spineless lizard.] (Nina)
Without hesitating, Veyron lunges towards Nina and swipes at her with his massive claws. In return, Nina summons an earth wall the size of a building between them, but Veyron crashes through it easily and sends car-sized chunks of earth flying in all directions.
However, as he breaks through, she spins and smacks her tail into his face and sends him flying off to the side. After sliding a few meters across the ground, he picks himself up and growls.
[Tch…you managed to hit me, weak as it was. Too bad you had to resort to cheap tricks.] (Veyron)
Nina ignores him and sends several massive boulders flying at him. Most are off impact trajectory, but one is heading straight for his face. Veyron charges a large flame attack in front of him, then launches it straight into the oncoming boulder without flinching. The boulder is blown apart, and Veyron continues his gloating.
[Fufufu…you need to work on your aim as well as your weak attacks, Nedonera. You couldn't even…] (Veyron)
Before Veyron can finish his sentence, two of the boulders that missed him earlier come crashing into each side of his face at breakneck speeds in a coordinated attack. Nina feigned a miss and used her new gravity magic to loop them back and accelerate the boulders.
[GAHHHHH!] (Veyron)
The scales around Veyron's face crack and shatter as the boulders smash into him, and fine sprays of blood can be seen as he cries out. His legs shake a little bit under him, but he stays on his feet.
[Insolence! What was…] (Veyron)
Not giving Veyron time to react further, Nina's final attack descends on him. The final and largest of the boulders comes crashing out of the sky directly overhead onto Veyron's back at a speed faster than if it had been dropped from orbit.
The resulting shockwave as it pummels Veyron in the ground is so intense that I cast a magic barrier to protect myself.
As the dust clears, Veyron can be seen lying in a small pool of his own blood, but he's still conscious. Shockingly, he climbs to his feet after a moment and growls at Nina.
[Grrr…time to return the favor, weakling.] (Veyron)