Seeing the enraged expression on the Chosen's faces, ignorant of their impending demise after unknowingly falling into her trap, Kaltheia's predatory instincts couldn't help but awaken.

Millennia of evolution and conditioning had honed her kind's senses, abilities and instincts to the pinnacle yet, one of the greatest downsides was their innate desire for bloodlust and confrontation.

As proof of this, even with Kaltheia's rapidly deteriorating physical state, the drive to toy with, then destroy those that threatened her survival was almost overwhelming.

However, even with her bloodlust at an all-time high, Kaltheia fought valiantly to suppress the violent urges. Her life no longer belonged solely to her and she couldn't afford to be rash, especially after expending so much effort to ensure victory.

Her injuries were anything but light, she was significantly outnumbered and to top it all off, due to the limited space she was in, she had been restricted to her humanoid form.

Glancing at the egg in her palm, Kaltheia also knew that, at least for the moment, she could not fully utilise what little strength she had left as she would need to ensure its safety. Even if what was in her hand was nothing but a ruse, she couldn't reveal it too soon.

Any of these conditions would have put her at a considerable disadvantage, but all together, it would appear that she had been dealt a death sentence.

The reason why those facing her were so confident was due to these facts yet, to Kaltheia, the Chosen appeared to be remarkably stupid as it was almost too obvious that she was up to something.

Still, despite her confidence, it wouldn't be accurate to say she felt no fear. With her preparations she had stacked the odds in her favour but, like everything in life, the outcome was far from certain.

Her trap was almost complete, and while it could be sprung now, after witnessing the greed and ambition of the man she considered the Chosen's leader, she decided to add one more layer.

If she could achieve it, then her scheme would almost be perfect, and strangely enough, it would fit in with the plan to protect her egg almost seamlessly.

Digging deep, Kaltheia prepared to play her part, purposefully dragging the most painful memories and imagining the most terrifying of her fears.

The countless deaths she had witnessed over her long life, the probable death of her lover and the demise of her clan quickly flooded her with emotion. However, against her expectations, imagining what the Chosen might do to her child when it hatched caused the most extensive emotional response.

The dragoness didn't even need to force the black tears from her eyes as her body trembled with rage and she vowed to not let a single one of them escape.

Letting out a small whimper of pain, something that sickened her to do, Kaltheia stood, her arms and legs shaking from the effort as she gasped for breath.

The Elder's greed skyrocket when he saw the dragoness' weakened, depressed state and he licked his lips with anticipation.

His hands were twitching, as if they could reach for what was almost within his grasp, caused Kaltheia to nearly recoil in disgust and lose focus.

She had seen the greed of the Chosen yet never to this extent. It was as if the Elder had been possessed. However, Kaltheia didn't give it much thought. It suited her needs perfectly and would ultimately lead to his demise.

Still, the sight sickened her at an instinctual level, and her resolve to ensure that the man died painfully was etched into her mind.

"Goodbye," Unlike her rageful inner voice, Kaltheia spoke with such sorrow it felt like the very air was tremoring in sympathy. It was so compelling that even the assaulting Chosen felt a pang of sadness from their hearts upon hearing the tone of her voice.

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However, even though they felt sadness, the word she used caused the Chosen to become alert and they all tensed, expecting the dragoness to attack. But, against all their expectations, what happened next stunned them to their cores.

Clenching her fist, releasing a wail of anguish at the same time, Kaltheia crushed the egg in her palm.

Yoke and blood seeped between her fingers and onto the cave's stone floor as everyone fell into a deafening silence.

The Elder's eyes were as wide as saucers, not wanting to believe what had just happened while the other nine looked on with confusion as a foreboding chill that ran down their spines.

Releasing the remains of the egg before clenching her fist again, Kaltheia's body shook violently. Though she had replaced her egg with a similar one she had taken from a monster nest earlier, even pretending to destroy it had caused her unimaginable pain.

"You shall never have my child. Death is a better alternative to what you would do to it," sobbed the dragoness, her features twisting between anger and sorrow as the emotions, no longer fake surged within her.

Looking from the dragoness to the egg's remains and back, the Elder was at a complete loss.

While he wouldn't claim to be an expert on dragons, he had enough experience to cause him to question what he had seen. With a dragon's nature, even though they were aggressive, tyrannical beasts, it was almost impossible to conceive that a mother dragon would harm her offspring, no matter the reason.

He would have even bet his mana core, something he would die without, on it never happening, yet the scene in front of him proved otherwise and he could only nervously swallow at the implications.

A rumbling growl emanated from Kaltheia, drawing his and the other's attention away from what had just happened and towards her. She didn't want them overthinking her deception.

Luckily for her, a relieved glint crossed the Elder's eyes as he saw the dragoness and his mind quickly returned to order and focused on her. To him, though the egg had been destroyed, all was not lost. The dragoness remained and as long as he could subdue her, there would be more opportunities in the future.

"Capture her alive and make sure not to injure her any more than necessary. Anyone who causes permanent damage will have to deal with my wrath," shouted the Elder as he started to circulate mana inside his core.

The heavy armoured nobles retreated and allowed the mages forward so they could target the dragoness without fear of friendly fire. Their goal was to weaken and trap the dragoness from a distance, mitigating the risk to them.To them, she was barely able to stand, and so, this felt like the safest option.

Even the Elder had to nod his head at their plan. His idea was to use the heavier armoured men to restrict her movements while he attempted a binding, a tactic that could have led to one or two fatalities, but then again, he didn't really care about casualties as long as he could gain his prize.

Not one to take chances, the assassin moved amongst the casters, ready to react in case the dragoness had a burst of energy.

While they repositioned, Kaltheia's head hung low as she stood motionless, her black hair covering her face in what, to the Chosen, appeared to be despair.

The reality was vastly different. She had purposefully positioned her head and hair so they couldn't see the wicked smile Kaltheia could no longer constrain.

A terrifying smile that would even cause those that had fallen to the second heavenly realm's demonic essence to tremble in fear.

The tunnel limited the advantage of the Chosen's numbers, the destruction of the monster egg she had picked up, roughly matching what they would expect a dragon's egg to look like, had eliminated the options for the elder and forced him to restrain their strength in order to capture her. If he wanted a dragon, he would need to capture her alive. If he wanted her to be any use in the future, it would need to be without causing too much damage and this gave her a huge advantage.

Their hesitation to deal serious injury, especially to one that appeared so weak and in a critical condition, would be a fatal decision, but that was not why she was so ecstatic.

While it might have looked like she was fleeing haphazardly, she had been searching for the ideal place to eliminate her pursuers.

This cave system was her chosen ground; a battlefield she had prepared with blood formations. The Chosen had walked towards the open maw of the dragoness, and she wasn't about to let them escape.

Even with all these benefits that had been gained by her scheming, the dragoness still wasn't conceited.

She knew that her life, and that of her egg, hung on the edge of a blade. The highest priority would be eliminating the Chosen, even if it cost her, her life.

In that way, even if she lost this battle, she would have won the war.

In this cave, the dragoness' egg would be as safe as it could be. Kaltheia had prepared the perfect conditions for it to grow and develop. It may take a million years, and a lot could change in that time, but it was the best she could do and refused to think about it anymore.

A drop of blood, far brighter than before, fell from her hand and splashed in the small puddle that had formed underneath her. Within moments, tiny droplets, almost invisible to the naked eye, had left the pool and quickly passed the Chosen, racing to activate the formations she had written in her own blood.

Her smile widened. The time for scheming was over. It was time for what her kind did best.

Fight.