Shut Up, Malevolent Dragon! I Don’t Want to Have Any More Children With You

Inside the dimly lit room, the embryo sat in a grotesque, broken state. A large hole had been torn at its front, likely by the creature it once housed.

The embryo itself was massive, nearly the size of a full-grown elephant. It wasn’t hard to imagine the terrifying scale of the creature that had emerged from it.
The tubes connected to the back of the embryo hinted at an artificial method of providing nutrients. At some point in the distant past, the embryo had absorbed enough nourishment to successfully give birth to whatever was inside.
"Is that... an embryo from a dangerous species?"

Leon frowned, staring at the disturbing sight. Even with his experience, he couldn’t help feeling a twinge of disgust.
"What kind of dangerous species would require such an elaborate setup to cultivate?"
Maite adjusted his glasses. "Typically, a dangerous species’ offspring can be nurtured naturally by its mother. There’s no need for this kind of artificial embryo."

"Unless... it’s not an ordinary dangerous species," Leon muttered darkly.
The rest of the team turned to him in unison.
"I found some records about this embryo in the research notebook," Leon said, handing the notebook to Nacho.

Nacho flipped through the pages as the others leaned in to read over his shoulder.
Leon continued, "First of all, I’m certain this notebook belonged to Queen Elizabeth. The handwriting matches the letter she wrote to the Shadow Lord exactly."
He gestured toward the notebook. "The final pages mention this embryo explicitly. According to the notes, Elizabeth had been working on this ‘meatball’ for a long time. After repeated failures, she considered abandoning the project in favor of a ‘Cold Flame’ plan, but the Shadow Lord rejected the idea. Left with no choice, she continued the experiments."

"It seems she eventually succeeded."
Leon tapped the notebook and said, "Pay attention to this description of the embryo."
Rebecca read aloud, emphasizing each word, "‘We felt waves of flame heat as if from ancient times.’"

She looked up at Leon, her expression puzzled. "Captain, what does that mean?"
"It means that the dangerous species she was cultivating had immense fire-elemental power," Martin explained.
"Oh, then I think I understand the purpose of those tubes," Rebecca said thoughtfully. "The residual heat in the Fire Valley must’ve been siphoned off to nourish this giant embryo."

"Exactly," Leon agreed. "Which brings us to the real question..."
Nacho handed the notebook back to Leon and said, "What came out of this embryo? Is it some hybrid monster infused with the Flame Demon’s power, or—"
Before he could finish, Simmons shouted from the doorway, "Captain! Something’s wrong! The molten fire deer outside are going berserk!"
Leon froze. "Berserk?"

Exchanging a tense glance with Nacho, Leon led the group out of the lab.
As they stepped outside, a chilling aura enveloped them. Rebecca shivered noticeably.
The molten fire deer that had once been calm and harmonious now surrounded them with hostility.

Their eyes glowed red, their expressions twisted with aggression. The males lowered their massive antlers, aiming directly at the group.
"Captain... why are they suddenly turning on us?" Rebecca asked nervously.
Leon narrowed his eyes, focusing on the leader of the herd. The dark shimmer across its fur caught his attention.

"Black dragon scales..."
"It’s definitely the scales," Leon said gravely. "I can feel their energy growing chaotic."
Martin crouched slightly, gathering magical energy in his hand.
"Looks like you were right, Captain. These molten fire deer, implanted with black dragon scales, are clearly being controlled."

Nacho’s voice wavered slightly. "What do we do? These deer might normally be classified as gentle, but they’re still an S-rank dangerous species. And there are hundreds of them."
Leon raised an eyebrow, glancing at his team. "Why do you all look so tense?"
Rebecca huffed. "Because you’re tense, Captain! Your face is always the indicator of whether we should be worried or not."

Over the years, the team had learned to gauge their situation based on Leon’s expression. If he looked serious, it meant trouble. If he was calm, they could afford to relax and let him handle things.
Leon chuckled awkwardly. "I wasn’t worried about the deer. I was just distracted by the black dragon scale issue."
Stepping forward, Leon raised his hands. "Relax. It’s just a bunch of molten fire deer. Nothing to stress about."

He clapped his hands together, and a massive blue magic circle appeared beneath his feet.
"Captain, when did you set that up?" Rebecca asked, wide-eyed.
"Right after I realized the deer might be controlled," Leon replied, shrugging. "I wasn’t going to get caught off guard again after what happened a few months ago."

As the magic circle activated, arcs of lightning shot out, engulfing the herd in a crackling storm.
"Thunder Roar: S-rank magic, Thunder Chariot Barrage," Leon announced.
He’d learned the technique after being on the receiving end of it during a duel months ago. Its effectiveness as both an area-of-effect attack and a control spell had impressed him enough to secretly train in it.

This time, however, Leon dialed back the power. Rather than annihilating the herd, he used just enough electricity to paralyze them.
Within minutes, the molten fire deer collapsed to the ground, immobilized but unharmed.
Leon deactivated the spell and walked over to inspect the herd. Satisfied that there were no casualties, he turned his attention to a smaller female deer lying to the side with her newborn calf.

"Call the other dangerous-species ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) specialists in the team," Leon instructed Nacho. "While the herd is paralyzed, we’ll remove the black dragon scales from their bodies."
Nacho nodded. "On it. Martin, come with me."
Rebecca sidled up to Leon, grinning. "Captain, you’ve really gotten into the habit of doing good deeds lately, huh?"

Leon smiled. "Helping them is practical. If we leave the black dragon scales in their bodies, they could be controlled again later, which would interfere with your investigation. Might as well fix the problem now."
Rebecca blinked, then nodded thoughtfully. "Makes sense."
Leon’s gaze grew sharp. "Besides, didn’t you notice something strange?"

"Strange? Like what?"
"These deer were fine until we entered the lab. Then suddenly, the black dragon scales activated. That’s not a coincidence."
Rebecca’s eyes widened. "You’re saying... Queen Elizabeth didn’t want us snooping around in there?"

"Exactly," Leon said. "Even if she cleaned up most of the evidence, she didn’t want us finding anything else."
Rebecca tilted her head, a spark of realization in her expression. "Wait, Captain! If that’s true, doesn’t that mean Elizabeth might be nearby, watching us?"