"…No matter how you spin it."

Baekrang’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"You’re saying you’ve seen the future?"

I had seen the future.

And in that future, we all met a gruesome end.

"It’s rare, sure, but not entirely impossible," Tang Soyeong chimed in.

"There are stories of the Priestess of the Heavenly Demonic Cult or the Dal Lama of Podal Palace glimpsing the future. Even if their visions were extremely limited. So, it wouldn’t be strange if the Priestess of the Gae Gak Sect saw something similar."

Nephila gave a small nod.

As I explained the situation, it seemed to stir faint traces of forgotten memories within her.

"Well, I guess our giant lizard wouldn’t make something like this up."

Baekrang began rallying the wolves.

The Two-Horned Beasts started gathering as well.

The enemy’s invasion was a certainty.

What we needed now was a plan to deal with it.

"If what our lizard said is true, the Hwasan Sect will attack exactly one month from now, right?"

I nodded.

"Hwasan Sect… isn’t that the faction that red-scaled lizard was part of?"

Baekrang narrowed her eyes.

The Hwasan Sect, home to the Red Dragon.

Their invasion began after the Red Dragon left my territory.

At first glance, it would seem the Red Dragon betrayed us.

But something didn’t add up.

Not a single one of my allies had been harmed by her flames.

In fact, some of the enemies had been reduced to ash.

In the future I glimpsed, the Red Dragon fought on our side.

Yet, all current signs pointed to her betrayal.

"Was it betrayal? Honestly, I never liked her, but I didn’t think she’d stoop to that."

The Red Dragon was still one of my followers.

Though loyalty wasn’t enforced, everything I’d seen of her suggested no reason for betrayal.

She had acknowledged her defeat when she still had strength left to fight and accepted her potential death without complaint.

Would she really turn traitor now?

It didn’t make sense.

"You said she fell to the ground, right? With no visible injuries," Tang Soyeong noted, her tone contemplative.

"She shared information about you with the enemy and arrived with the attackers. That’s undeniable. But what’s puzzling is that she then fought on your side."

Even if I conceded that she betrayed me, why would she attack the Hwasan Sect afterward?

She couldn’t have been hedging her bets like a bat, since our side was consistently at a disadvantage.

"I think I’ve figured it out. This is the work of the Tang Clan."

A name I hadn’t expected to hear emerged.

"They have a poison called Go. It’s an insect-based toxin that makes it impossible to disobey commands. While it doesn’t grant complete control, it works through threats of triggering the poison."

Go.

That explained a lot.

The Red Dragon might have swallowed the poison during a brief stop at the Hwasan Sect.

She would have been forced to reveal information about me and deployed as a weapon due to her strength as a mystical beast.

It was likely also a tactic to unsettle me psychologically, given her strength matched mine.

…The Hwasan Sect.

They weren’t the kind of enemy I could simply fend off and leave it at that.

Even after betraying me, the Red Dragon chose to fight by my side, using her flames to kill those despicable bastards.

Her Go poison was activated mid-battle, leading to her death—a fate she must have been aware of.

Had she cooperated fully with the Hwasan Sect, she might have been recognized for her contributions and avoided such a meaningless end.

"I wish this were a situation I could resolve through words, but that seems unlikely," Tang Soyeong said, her face darkening.

"The Tang Clan can be split into two factions: the moderate faction and the radical faction. I belong to the moderates, who seek harmony with mystical creatures. The radicals, on the other hand, exploit mystical beasts to create new poisons. It was their members who tried to put the spider sisters into the Jar of Venom."

Tus and Pus shuddered visibly.

"Go was one of the poisons developed by the radicals. Even though the clan head issued a ban, it seems they secretly produced it again."

I sighed quietly.

"So, are you saying the Red Dragon was forced to their side? What can we do about it? Taking her down without hurting her is nearly impossible."

Baekrang understood the Red Dragon’s strength well.

Even as the strongest in the group, subduing her without harm was next to impossible.

And it wasn’t just the Red Dragon.

There were countless other formidable enemies.

The most notable among them were a middle-aged swordsman, presumed to be the head of the Hwasan Sect, and a giant rock serpent thought to be his subordinate.

Beyond them, the swordsmen of the Hwasan Sect and the beasts under the serpent’s command weren’t to be underestimated.

I wouldn’t have the luxury to deal with them while fighting the Red Dragon, and aside from Baekrang, there weren’t any forces strong enough to hold them off.

"Even if the Red Dragon sided with us, she wouldn’t last long due to the Go," Tang Soyeong said grimly.

It was a situation without an obvious solution.

"But what if…" Tang Soyeong suddenly smiled, her expression playful.

It was the look of someone ready to turn the tables.

"What if we neutralized the Go?"

"Gaak!"

I couldn’t help but exclaim.

Hearing such words from Tang Soyeong caught me completely off guard.

"There’s a poison only I can handle," she said, her green eyes gleaming.

"If I use it, I might be able to neutralize the Go."

Now that she mentioned it, Soyeong had boasted about something similar before.

She claimed she could use the Ten Thousand Flowers Rain, a secret Tang Clan technique, and spoke of a miraculous poison she’d been perfecting.

At the time, I’d dismissed her words as nonsense and smacked her with my tail.

"This poison won’t immediately neutralize the Go, but with a month to refine it, it should be possible."

Tang Soyeong pulled out a vial from between her slender fingers.

"Of course, there might be minor side effects, but that’s hardly the concern right now."

In the future I saw, we were defeated because the Red Dragon succumbed to the Go.

But if we could prepare in advance to nullify it…

The enemy wouldn’t expect her to betray them, or they might think activating the Go would minimize the damage.

If the poison could be neutralized and the Red Dragon turned her flames on them, we could deal significant damage while they scrambled to react.

For the first time, Soyeong seemed strikingly brilliant.

"…Hehe, looking at me like that makes me feel weird."

"Kiiing!"

"Kieeng!"

Tus and Pus climbed onto Soyeong’s shoulders, wagging their arms triumphantly.

“Oh, come on, it’s not that bad! …But could you please climb down now? I feel like my neck’s starting to give out...”

They say children grow up fast, and Tus and Pus had already grown to the size of medium-sized dogs.

It would be tough to put them directly into combat, but they could certainly play supportive roles from the backs of me or Baekrang.

"That would make things easier. If the Red Dragon joins our side, we might actually stand a chance. Even in that overwhelming fight, we managed to sever the arm of that middle-aged swordsman, didn’t we? If you can focus completely, you should be able to take him down."

The swordsman, who I assumed was the head of the Hwasan Sect.

In the future I saw, his arm had been severed.

That meant my attacks could reach him.

Of course, I had also lost my horn and tail, but given the circumstances, there hadn’t been much choice.

But now, things were different.

Having glimpsed the future, I could formulate a strategy to face him.

I was confident in my firepower. If it came down to a one-on-one situation, I could take out the middle-aged swordsman.

"The real problem… is the master of the Rocky Mountain."

That was my biggest concern.

The Rocky Mountain Master, a member of the Dragon Descendants, Yongsaengguja.

This being had played a significant role in my defeat.

Not a single scratch had marred its body.

I must have landed some attacks, but its body remained unscathed.

A formidable enemy, immune to my strikes.

If such a creature stood in our way, the situation wouldn’t resolve smoothly.

"As I mentioned before, the masters of the Rocky Mountain and Flower Mountain are on another level," Baekrang said, her tone somber.

She had explained it to me when we first discussed the Dragon Gates.

The masters of the Rocky Mountain and Flower Mountain were far more dangerous than the others.

The master of the Volcanic Mountain was the weakest due to a recent succession, and the second weakest was the master of the Snowy Mountain.

At the time, I had dismissed the difference in strength as negligible.

But now, I could see that being the offspring of a dragon made an overwhelming difference.

"Their forces won’t be easy to handle either. And… if the Tang Clan really provided the Go poison, it’s highly likely they supported the army too."

"That seems plausible," Tang Soyeong admitted with a bitter smile.

"As someone from the Tang Clan, I hate to say this, but our people have a knack for working in secret. They’d act like they had no involvement while providing full support."

The swordsmen of the Hwasan Sect.

The beasts of the Rocky Mountain.

The mystical creatures allied with the Tang Clan.

It was far too much for ten Two-Horned Beasts and Baekrang’s wolves to handle.

Even if we neutralized the Go in the Red Dragon, victory was far from guaranteed.

I had to think.

How had I fought up until now?

I would test the waters, gauge the enemy’s strength, and then devise an approach.

If they were weak to poison, I used poison.

If they were vulnerable to fire, I would bleed myself intentionally, heating my body with draconic blood.

If they lacked range, I kept my distance and struck from afar.

If they were poor in close combat, I closed the distance and forced them into melee.

This time would be no different.

I just had to find their weaknesses and exploit them.

What resources did I have?

I had one month.

Yes.

A month was enough.

To overcome the disparity in numbers.

To shatter even the most impenetrable rock.

To protect my followers from harm.

A low growl rumbled from my throat as I overlooked my territory from the peak.

I wouldn’t be satisfied with merely repelling the intruders.

I would ensure no one dared to challenge my domain or my followers again.

The name Gomodo would become synonymous with terror.

Even after death, their bones would remember the wrath of the tail-bearing death.