Chapter 5: I Can Take Care of You

**Dragon Tamer**

The gap-toothed soldier on the long street fled in terror, swept along with the panicked crowd as they burst out of the city gates. Beyond the walls, the land stretched wide and open—hundreds of fleeing figures vanishing into the shadowed woods. But not all were so lucky.

They hadn’t even cleared the gate when a thunderous explosion tore through the air behind them.

The city gate collapsed!

Flames devoured the stone archway, swallowing the mass of people trapped within the crimson glow of the burning city. The scene was hell incarnate.

*Dragon!*

Is this what a dragon looks like?!

One single fire dragon had reduced an entire thriving metropolis to ash and ruin!

Human strength. Human cunning. All meaningless before such a divine beast.

…

At the heart of the city, the Governor’s Mansion stood open, its doors flung wide like a wound. Red light painted the face of the new governor—just moments ago, he’d been celebrating his ascension to power, now staring at a nightmare unfolding before him.

“Still satisfied with this view?” came a voice from inside the hall. A pale man smiled, his lips curling without warmth—more like a predator baring teeth.

“I don’t bear you any grudge,” the new governor stammered, voice trembling. “Why… why do you do this?”

“Of course not,” the pale Dragon Tamer said coolly. “But I want you to understand—one word from me must be taken seriously. I hate repeating myself. It makes me feel like you’re mocking my presence. And I despise hesitation. You have no right to bargain with me.”

The governor swallowed hard. “Master Luo Xiao, my daughter is young, beautiful, intelligent, brave—she would make a worthy bride if you find her pleasing…”

Luo Xiao glanced at the woman beside him—fair enough, perhaps, but nothing more. He let out a cold, disdainful snort.

Then he unrolled the scroll again, pointing a finger at the portrait within.

“That one,” he growled, face twisted in fury. “I told you—I *need* her. Apparently, I’ve been too kind. This city has no reason to exist anymore.”

“Please, Master! Please!” the governor begged. “She was overthrown just days ago—now she’s locked in the dungeon, sharing a cell with a beggar boy for three nights straight. Even if she’s a goddess among women, she’s ruined. Filthy. Worthless. Her only value was her beauty—and even that is gone.”

The words struck Luo Xiao like a whip.

His jaw clenched. His eyes blazed with rage so intense, the golden fire dragon coiled outside the palace seemed to ignite further, its scales glowing like molten metal.

“What did you say?!”

His voice—once arrogant, dismissive—had turned icy, deadly.

Luo Xiao had endured everything: humiliation, betrayal, despair. He’d crossed the threshold of death itself, clawed his way through agony, and emerged as a Dragon Tamer.

And his first act after becoming a dragon-born being? To prove himself to *her*. To win her gaze. To earn her love.

Now, here he stood—master of flame and fate—and she was gone. Not dead. Not lost. *Defiled.* By a filthy beggar. In a dungeon. With no dignity left.

“You see,” the old governor whispered, “you are the sky’s sun. No one dares look upon you without awe. Why waste your breath on a woman already tarnished, broken, unworthy? My daughter is pure. Graceful. She knows how to lead, how to rule. If you accept her, we can wed today—celebrating your rise to greatness.”

His daughter spoke next—high-pitched, sweet, laced with honeyed flirtation.

“A marriage between us would honor your ascent,” she purred, “and seal your triumph.”

Luo Xiao looked at her again.

The new governor was gray-haired, weak, trembling like a puppet. He flinched at the sight of Luo Xiao, nearly wetting himself.

But the girl—calm, poised, composed—held herself with quiet confidence.

Every time the governor spoke, he glanced at her. Clearly, he was nothing more than a pawn. The real power lay in that fox-like woman—beautiful, sharp-eyed, calculating.

She lifted her head slowly, letting Luo Xiao see her face.

“Hmph.” Luo Xiao reached out, fingers closing around her throat.

“If she’s a pearl,” he whispered, “you’re nothing but rotten mud. You filth born from cursed soil—there’s no reason for you to live.”

At once, the sky above the open palace doors split apart.

A colossal dragon of living flame unfurled its wings, its maw opening like a forge’s furnace, blazing with heat.

***Boom!***

A river of red fire poured down like a waterfall of molten death. The entire mansion melted away. Guards, servants, nobles—all turned to blood and steam. Even the slaves and maids were consumed.

Luo Xiao stood untouched in the inferno, one hand still clamped around the girl’s neck.

The flames didn’t touch him.

But the woman—his prisoner—burned alive.

Her clothes vanished in smoke. Her skin blistered and peeled. Bones cracked, exposed. One moment a radiant beauty, the next a screaming horror.

The roof collapsed. Crimson beams splintered across the ground.

In the corner, the new governor’s armor fused to his flesh, melting into his body. He screamed silently, writhing in agony, terrified to cry out—afraid even the sound might draw attention.

He’d been a warrior once—fought alone against ten men. But against dragonfire? His hardened skin, forged in battle, shattered like glass.

Now he cowered beneath rubble, hiding among the blackened corpses of others.

“Hah… hah…” A laugh echoed.

It came from the girl.

Her face was charred beyond recognition. Her body burned beyond shape.

Yet she laughed—weak, broken, hysterical.

“Do you know what I understand now?” she gasped, coughing up blood. “Before you became a Dragon Tamer—you were nothing to her. Just dirt beneath her feet. She never even looked at you. You crawled, you begged, you served like a slave… and she ignored you.”

“And now? Now you’re powerful. You ride a dragon. You stand above all. You dreamed she’d finally see you—finally *want* you.”

“Ha-ha-ha! But I destroyed her. I threw her into the dungeon. I made her sleep with a beggar. For *one night*. That’s all it took.”

“She was mine. And you—your beloved, your dream—was *used* by a gutter rat.”

“Your eyes. Your lips. Your body—so desperate, so hungry for her. And now? They belong to a filthy street urchin. I saw them wake up together. I was the first to visit. You missed the best part.”

“Ah… I had planned to send her ten strong beggars every night. Let her taste pleasure until she couldn’t breathe. But she ran away the next morning.”

She laughed again—wild, unhinged.

She knew she wouldn’t survive. But she wasn’t losing.

Not yet.

She had torn down the goddess. Ruined her honor. Shattered her purity. No matter how high she climbed, no matter who she married—her husband would carry this shame. He’d look at her with disgust. Hate her. Never trust her.

And Luo Xiao—first to suffer.

No matter how great he became, how immortal he grew—if he still remembered her, still loved her, still *ached* for her… then this wound would fester.

Like wildfire.

Spreading.

Consuming him.

“Hahahaha… hahahaha…”

Her laughter sharpened, rising into a shriek.

Luo Xiao’s face twitched. His muscles contorted. Veins bulged across his neck, twisting like snakes.

“Die!” he roared.

He stomped down hard—crushing her face into pulp.

As she screamed, her final breath caught in the wreckage of her own mouth, she smiled.

She died happy.

“Die! Die! DIE!!!”

He kicked again and again, grinding her remains into the earth. Even when she was nothing but blood and bone fragments, he kept kicking.

He couldn’t hear her voice. Couldn’t see her face.

He needed silence.

He needed oblivion.

How long passed? Time blurred.

The girl was gone—reduced to sludge.

But Luo Xiao still trembled, chest heaving.

Then he looked.

There, in the center of the ruined city, stood a statue—untouched.

A figure of porcelain white, serene, perfect. Radiant. Unbroken.

Even in fire and ruin, she remained untouched.

“Even now,” he whispered, voice raw, “she is mine.”

She would be his first possession after ascending the dragon’s path.

He leapt into the air, landing atop the broad, golden wings of the fire dragon.

The beast spread its wings—roaring into the sky.

The city below shrank, a smoldering scar on the earth.

High above, the dragon drew in a breath.

The air around it twisted—forming a vast, crimson vortex.

***ROOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!***

From its throat erupted a torrent of flame—like a volcano inverted, pouring molten rock across the entire city.

The lava fell directly onto the statue.

It spread—flowing like liquid fire, consuming everything.

Soldiers. Civilians. Nobles. All turned to ash.

The city burned.

And in the heart of the inferno, the statue stood—still beautiful.

Still pure.

Still untouched.

But Luo Xiao knew.

She was his.

And she always would be.