Chapter 307: A Foolproof Plan

Then, without making the slightest sound, the three of them ducked behind a large rock near the entrance to the chamber.

They crouched down behind it, shielded from the dragon’s line of sight, and for a moment simply watched in silence, holding their breath.

Mark peeked his head out just enough to size up the situation, then pulled back out of sight.

The beast still lay in the center of the cavern, rising and falling with the rhythm of its breathing, showing no sign it had noticed them.

"Alice, come here," he whispered, waving her over.

"What is it, my lord?"

"I need to ask you something, and I want you to be completely honest with me."

"Okay...?"

"Do you think you could take the dragon out in a single hit? Or at least, quick and clean... you know, without wrecking half the cavern in the process."

Alice frowned, thinking it over.

She peeked out for a moment to size up the beast, gauging distances and angles, then ducked back behind the rock.

"I’m really sorry, my lord, but... I don’t think that’s possible," Alice answered, sounding weighed down. "Killing it shouldn’t be a problem, but I can’t guarantee doing it without collateral damage."

She frowned.

"Not to mention, the moment it spots me, it’s going to fight for its life with everything it’s got, and with something that size, all it’d take is it starting to thrash around for this whole place to come crashing down. And that’s not even counting if it starts breathing fire everywhere."

"I was afraid you’d say that..." Mark murmured with a sigh.

"Why are you suddenly worried about something like that, my lord?" Alice asked, curious. "Usually you don’t care much what state the battlefield ends up in as long as we win."

"I know, but... this time’s different."

"Why?"

"Because of that," he replied, pointing toward the eggs. "I want them intact."

Alice followed his gaze, and understood at once.

"Oh..."

Mark, meanwhile, couldn’t tear his eyes away from the eggs resting beside the dragon.

Ever since he’d first seen them, an idea had kept circling in his head. Turning that beast into an undead subordinate would already be a huge win, but the eggs opened up even bigger possibilities.

If he could preserve them and raise them, one day he might have new dragons under his command, creatures that would grow up under his protection and end up loyal to him.

Mark smiled at the thought.

Of course he wanted the dragon, but he wasn’t about to settle for just that.

If he could have it all, why choose?

"I see..." Alice remarked, reading the intent on his face, a faint smile of her own forming. "But I’m afraid that complicates things quite a bit."

"How so?"

"In that any animal will do absolutely anything to protect its young... although now that I think about it, that goes for humans too."

"..."

"What I’m trying to say is, if it realizes we followed it here, I doubt it’ll want to fight us," Alice explained, watching the dragon. "It’s wounded and knows it’s at a disadvantage, so its top priority will most likely be escaping with its eggs."

She crossed her arms, thinking it over.

"And that’s the main problem... if it tries to run, I’ll have to stop it by force, and in that kind of struggle I can’t promise the eggs would come out unharmed, since it’d only take a single fall or a stray hit to kill the hatchlings."

Mark fell silent for a moment, clearly troubled.

"Then we can’t give it any chance to react," he murmured, working through the problem. "We need an attack that neutralizes it instantly, before it can get to the eggs and run with them... Something fast, precise, and—"

"Hey," Aria suddenly cut in, in a whisper. "I think I’ve got an idea."

The two of them turned toward her and saw Aria pointing up at the ceiling of the cavern.

And there, hanging near the spot where the dragon lay, was a massive stalactite.

It was an enormous spear of stone, thick as the trunk of an old tree and sharpened to a point, hanging menacingly overhead.

"That stalactite is perfect for us," Aria whispered, turning to her Master. "We just need to get the dragon to position itself underneath it and keep it there long enough to bring it down on top of it."

She smiled wickedly.

"A direct hit from that thing could take it out instantly. And since it’d be falling from above, the eggs should come out completely intact."

Mark looked up at the stalactite, running the numbers on its trajectory, speed, and angle of fall.

And as he did, a smile slowly spread across his face.

"That’s actually not a bad idea at all..." he admitted, resting a hand on the mage’s shoulder. "Great work, Aria. I don’t know what we’d do without you."

"Th-thank you, Master... I’m just doing my best," she replied, a little embarrassed but unmistakably pleased by the praise.

Alice, for her part, looked at Aria with raised eyebrows and an expression of mock astonishment.

"Wow... I have to admit, for someone like you, that’s a surprisingly good plan," she said mockingly. "Almost clever, even. You sure you came up with that all on your own? Didn’t copy it from somewhere?"

Aria shot her a scathing look.

"Excuse me? I’m the brains of this group," she protested, crossing her arms. "You just know how to hit things until they stop moving."

She edged a little closer to Mark.

"Besides, someone has to actually think things through and analyze the situation so the Master doesn’t have to handle everything himself," Aria said proudly. "So you should be grateful you’ve got such a brilliant mind on your side."

"Uh-huh... the sharpest mind in the group," Alice replied, clearly amused. "Sure, whatever you say."

"It’s true!"

"Whatever you say, genius," Alice said, patting her head condescendingly, which made Aria smack her hand away, indignant.

But before the two of them could make any more noise, Mark stopped them.

"Alright, both of you, quiet," he said, though he couldn’t hide an amused smile at the exchange. "Keep that up and you’ll wake it."

"Sorry," they both whispered in unison.

Mark glanced back at the sleeping dragon and, after a few seconds, finished making up his mind.

"Alright, it’s decided," he said finally, turning to face them both. "We’re going with Aria’s plan, understood?"

The two of them just exchanged a knowing look and nodded.