The Astounded Serpent Beauty!

With a body stretching over eighteen meters in length and a wingspan reaching twenty-eight meters, the colossal creature soared high above, gazing down upon the emerging Amethyst Serpent. It stood like a towering hill, with an ethereal flame enveloping its form, casting its dragon wings into a shimmering tapestry of gilded jewels. It radiated an unparalleled majesty, reminiscent of a deity overseeing its realm, or a sovereign commanding their court.

Trickles of gold and crimson flame, akin to molten lava, oozed from its formidable fangs, emanating the aura of annihilation—a scorching, dazzling spectacle.

As Sylvana recollected her wits, her serpentine eyes showed clear astonishment. A familiar presence evoked memories of a youthful Red Dragon that had once courted her, a precocious beast whose image remained etched within her being. Yet, how fleeting was time?

A mere year had passed since her last encounter with Caesar, and now he loomed over eighteen meters tall, bewildering Sylvana with the speed of his growth.

Surprise, confusion, and shock... The higher the intellect of a creature, the richer the tapestry of its emotions. In a brief instance, the Serpent Queen's countenance was a kaleidoscope of expressions, leading her to question the very essence of her serpentine life.

Her experiences with the Green Dragon provided some recognition of the formidable arcane creatures that dragons were. Caesar's impressive size was expected for a Red Dragon's natural advantage; reaching the scale of a large dragon in adolescence was not uncommon—Red Dragons were indeed the foremost among chromatic dragons.

But what of the present?

Before her, Caesar bore the great stature of a full-grown colossal dragon!

"In the grace of the Cosmic Serpent, have I fallen prey to an illusion?" Sylvana stared intensely at Caesar, searching for any telltale fluctuations of magical auras about him. However, even with her mid-tier spell—True Sight—no trace of such sorcery could be detected, confirming the reality before her eyes.

"Sylvana, it's been too long," Caesar spoke with an interval, his golden dragon eyes filled with relentless authority. "Have you considered my proposal from before?"

While he inquired about her decision, in the next moment, Caesar's wings unfurled, churning the skies into a tempest. His draconic claws extended viciously towards Sylvana in a fierce swipe.

The Red Dragon of bygone worlds resonated with a particular creed: Strike first and pose questions amidst the fray—an ethos befitting a chromatic dragon.

In inter-species parley, words are frail; power is the sole currency of conviction. With the body of a dragon functioning like a draconic mech, each punch it threw was accompanied by the roar of tempestuous winds and explosive might.

As a paragon of chromatic dragons, Red Dragons boast strength supreme. Melee combat prowess places them atop the echelon, overpowering even their Silver kin at equal age. Of all chromatic dragons, only the exalted Gold Dragon—a paragon among metallic dragons—could potentially rival their might.

Stature was synonymous with power.

The burgeoning colossal form of Caesar signified sheer force far removed from his prior essence. A mere confrontation left Sylvana's vision blurred, her mind besieged by phantom images, dizzy and distraught.

Close-quarters combat, a scoffable idea against a dragon's might, was but child's play.

Dragons are innately endued to surpass their tiers—a Red Dragon, vanquishing a sixth-tier arcane entity, was ordinary; challenging a superior being, however, stood arduous.

The ascent from low to mid-tier, or from mid to high-tier, was a Herculean leap across an enormous divide.

Caesar, however, was an anomaly.

Transitioning into a distinct breed of Red Dragon, he awakened a unique prowess unto himself.

Beneath the gaze of the Eternal Blazesun, absorbing the embrace of solar radiance at will, Caesar's vigor had fortified to the echelon of superior beings. Even genuine paramount entities would falter in close combat against him.

Moreover, Sylvana had yet to ascend to such lofty ranks.

"Curse it! I, Sylvana, am no pushover!" The Serpent Queen reeled, her body morphing into her snake-human hybrid form in agitation.

Sixth-ring spell—Serpent King's Decree!

Higher-tier spells demanded prolonged incantations, yet Sylvana's lineage as a legendary Serpent King endowed her with rapid spellcasting when in her hybrid form, coupled with an innate sorcerous talent that allowed instantaneous spell execution.

Spellcasting without invocation bypassed the need for utterance, comparable to a magical scroll, to strike foes unawares. But this singular act of arcane haste required premeditated construction of the spell matrix, a consumable asset exhausted upon use, demanding redevelopment for subsequent employments.

The spell struck true, and Caesar felt an imminent threat to his draconic psyche. His vision hazed, his massive form staggering as if inebriated, weaving unsteadily under Sylvana's assault—temporarily ceasing his tempestuous offensive.

The force of a sixth-ring spell, albeit long in preparation, was formidable. A direct strike could incapacitate even high-tier beings, rendering them momentarily inert.

Magic was divided into eight principal schools: Evocation, Necromancy, Enchantment, Transmutation, Abjuration, Illusion, Divination, and Conjuration. Each school bore distinctive applications.

Red Dragons, innate agents of destruction, were so often drawn to Evocation, mastering energies into desired forms—a hallmark of their chosen school.

Sylvana, however, studied under the tutelage of Enchantment, its spells manipulating the mind, altering or controlling actions, and befriending adversaries through deceit, reducing them to unwitting thralls.

A formidable serpentine spellcaster, reared through an ancestral bequeathment of the Serpent King's legacy.

Amidst the lull, as Caesar grappled with the inflicted state, Sylvana seized her moment with alacrity. Her form reverted to that of the Amethyst Serpent, coiling tightly around the Red Dragon, intent on strangulation—the serpents' quintessential method of predation.

While enchantments of her school lacked direct lethality before her ascension, she essayed to dominate her adversary, compelling their submission with her sorcery—yet dragons' innate resistance to such mental affronts rendered even her Serpent King's Decree impotent.

Thus, Sylvana grudgingly resorted to physical confrontation, a scarce effective stratagem against a colossal dragon of such magnitude.

Yet, bewildered, she witnessed an unfurling spectacle.

The ensnared Red Dragon opened his eyes; a scintillating gold reflection harbored a mocking jest, belittling her audacity, undisturbed by any mental influence.

A chilling revelation that struck Sylvana to her core.