"Miandan!"
"Fort Ambition!"
"Baric!"
...
One by one, the small groups reported their origins.
Max whispered their hometown's names together with them.
His understanding of this world was still too little.
As such, this was a very good opportunity for him to learn more about the world.
At the very least, he would not get lost once his mother left him.
"Deer Heart Village!"
It was not until the soldiers reported the name of this particular village...
That Agatha slowly opened her eyes.
Deer Heart Village was where Agatha had brought Max to earlier.
It was also a village that Agatha had kept in captivity. Its main purpose was to provide Agatha with an endless supply of camel meat to eat.
They had a rather strange relationship. Under normal circumstances, Agatha would not kill the people in this village, but she would also not allow them to flee from her captivity.
As long as Deer Heart Village continued to provide her with camels, Agatha would not make trouble for them.
However, there were exceptions to her behavior. For example, in order to demonstrate the hierarchy of their relationship, Agatha had ordered his son to kill one of the villagers to make an example of them.
Agatha stretched out her claws and pointed at the soldiers of Deer Heart Village. "You can leave now."
After being momentarily stunned, the soldiers from Deer Heart Village then fled in panic.
"Continue reporting!" Agatha said.
"Fort Silver Blade!"
"Sarion City!"
"Marion City!"
...
"Fort Dragon Claw!"
Agatha opened her eyes again. "Stop, repeat what you just said. What's the name of your village?"
"Fort Dragon Claw... Lady Agatha, this is our village..."
Before that person finished speaking, a dragon breath was unleashed.
In an instant, the group of people that belonged to Fort Dragon Claw had been murdered by Agatha.
"Fort Dragon Claw, huh? Hehe, I know that place. Someone chopped off my mother's claws there. I don't have any feelings for my mother, but I will kill everyone from that village."
Agatha was indeed a reasonable dragon. She made sure to explain her reasons for murdering the soldiers from Fort Dragon Claw.
Once everyone had reported the place of their origin, the scene fell into silence.
Max noticed Agatha's gaze falling on him. "Max, you said that you wanted to prove that you have no compassion towards humans."
Max nodded. "Yes, Mother."
"Then I'll leave these people to you."
...
Max flew to the sky above the inner castle.
A group of shivering humans who dared not escape huddled together, and they were looking at him in panic.
'According to mother, these people are now mine to deal with.'
Naturally, Max knew what his mother meant.
In Deer Heart Village, Max had let go of a baby girl.
Max thought that it was worth it because the baby girl had good aptitude for magic and he believed that he could use her for his own purposes in the future.
However, at the same time, his actions had aroused the suspicion of his mother.
As such, Max needed to torture the humans below to prove to his mother that he was a normal dragon.
However, this was only part of the reason for torturing them.
At the same time, it would also serve to demonstrate his strength to the humans.
After all, Agatha would leave him and Mia one day.
Once she left, the two young dragons would be targeted by the humans.
As such, before such a situation could arise, Max needed to beat the humans into submission. He needed to make them tremble whenever they heard the word "dragon"! He needed to make it so that even when they were facing Dragon Hatchlings, they would steer away from them!
Lastly, he also needed to make sure that he did not kill everyone.
After all, they were the last of the poor lord's possessions.
In order to obtain more treasures from the lord, he needed to keep his subordinates alive.
Based on these considerations, Max thought long and hard about what he should do next.
"You lowly humans."
"You slandered my mother and blamed the dragon race for crimes that we have not committed."
"So, you shall pay the price."
"But I, Max Agatha Hill Alexander, have also inherited my mother's kindness."
"So, only half of the people here will be killed."
"You are now arranged into small groups according to your hometowns."
"In that case, half of each group will live, and half of you will die. I'll leave all of you to choose the sacrifices among yourselves."
"You have one minute."
"Let's begin."
Once Max finished his last sentence, the crowd below became lively.
A cacophony of people counting, arguing, and crying could be heard.
...
After a minute had passed, each group was further separated into subgroups.
Those who would live stood in the distance.
Those who were left in the middle were those who were "willing" to sacrifice themselves.
Max took a look.
Those who had voluntarily sacrificed themselves were most likely old people, fathers, older brothers, and so on.
Max had expected this outcome.
At the same time, it was also the last shred of Mercy Max had given them.
"Thunder elementals, heed my call. Transform into arrows and pierce through their chests!"
Max was chanting the incantation for "Lightning Arrow", the most basic thunder magic for Red Dragons.
It collected the lightning elementals in the air, forged them into the shape of an arrow, and fired them forward to deal massive damage.
Bzzt —
Following his first shot, a person fell to the ground with a muffled sound and his body was paralyzed.
Bzzt —
Bzzt —
Lightning Arrows fell from the sky one after another, and the people below lowered their heads and accepted their fate.
This was the difference between humans and dragons.
Generally speaking, a human needed to study for a few years before they could use a spell like "Lightning Arrow".
Moreover, Lightning Arrow was the most basic type of thunder magic.
Even the brightest among humans needed a year to master the spell, and some pitiful ones were incapable of learning it, even if they were to devote their entire lives studying it!
Meanwhile, Red Dragons were capable of casting the spell since birth.
"You are hiding your strength."
Max suddenly heard Agatha's cold voice behind him.
Max did not expect his mother to see through him.
In fact, ever since he had used the Battle of Existence to kill Tahir...
Max's magical aptitude had improved by leaps and bounds.
In fact, in terms of thunder magic, Max felt that he was comparable to his own mother, who was an Ancient Dragon.
While his spells might not be as powerful, in terms of the number of spells he knew, Max was capable of beating most Red Dragons at this point.
However, he did not want to show his true strength.
After all, acting like an alien was not welcomed by the Red Dragons.
'But now that mother has seen through me...'
'I have no reason to hold back.'
"As you wish, mother," Max replied. "I'll use my full strength."
"Thunder Elementals, heed my call. Transform into arrows and cover the sky."
"Lightning Arrow Rain!"