[Note: Read up to Chapter - 126 on P patron at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]
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"Wind Bind!"
"Earth Wall!"
"Quick Restraint!"
"Scorching Flames!"
"Hurricane!"
Within the protection of the swirling wind barrier, Aris brandished his wand and launched spell after spell without holding back.
Brilliant bursts of magical light exploded like firecrackers in a pond, sending spiders flying in all directions. The flames roared fiercely, and under the assault of the fire spells, charred spider remains were reduced to ash, drifting like soot through the already mist-shrouded Forbidden Forest.
Thankfully, Aris had already cast a bubble-head charm around himself, sparing him the revolting task of breathing in the burnt dust.
The longer the battle raged, the more frustrated the spiders became. Some began to pace restlessly in circles. A few of the larger ones started climbing the tree trunks, trying to drop down on Aris from above. Others leapt straight up, attempting to hurl themselves past the wind barrier to rip him limb from limb.
But their desperate tactics were bound to fail.
As the spiders came from above, Aris cast a shielding spell without hesitation.
A glowing, pearly-white barrier shimmered into existence just in time to block the falling spider, which was then torn to shreds by the raging cyclone beneath.
For a moment, severed spider limbs rained down like a grotesque storm.
That was the turning point.
The spiders finally began to retreat, their instincts screaming in panic.
They now understood—the human standing before them wasn't some easy prey.
Some of the cleverer spiders had begun backing off, while still ordering the smaller ones to press their assault on Aris's defensive barrier. Further out, hordes of spiders continued to flood in—it wasn't going to be easy for Aris to make a clean escape any time soon.
Worse still, the entire path leading toward the spider's nest was now crawling with the creatures. Charging forward was simply out of the question.
"Bloody hell… If I'd known there were this many, I'd have slipped in under an Invisibility Charm and crept straight into the cave," Aris grumbled inwardly, annoyed with himself. It wouldn't have been a walk in the park, but at least he wouldn't be boxed in like this.
Just as he was racking his brains for a way out, a strange screech echoed from deep within the spider's lair.
Aris wasn't exactly sure what a spider's cry was supposed to sound like, but something about this one chilled him to the bone. That had to be the voice of the leader, the elder at the heart of the nest.
"Wait… is it telling the others to stand down?"
Thanks to his gift for understanding the language of nature, Aris could clearly make out the meaning behind the sound. But it puzzled him. Was the leader of these Acromantula actually frightened?
It didn't make sense.
He hadn't even gone all out yet.
Surely an Acromantula's leader wasn't that cowardly…?
Before he could ponder it any further, something shocking unfolded before his eyes.
As the acromantula's cry echoed once more, the surrounding spiders abruptly began to retreat like a rolling tide.
They withdrew to a distance of about fifty metres and then, as one, lowered themselves to the ground in silence—bowing low as though paying homage to royalty.
"The old acromantula's not half bad," Aris muttered, finally letting out a sigh of relief.
At last, it looked like they could have a proper chat rather than a full-blown war.
Bathed in the pale glow of moonlight, Aris spotted a massive figure slowly making its way from the depths of the nest.
He nudged the floating light source forward, allowing it to illuminate more of the path ahead.
A moment later, the silhouette of an enormous spider came into view—nestled right at the gnarled entrance formed by intertwining tree roots.
Its eight eyes glimmered with a strange, eerie light.
But what truly made Aris blink in confusion was the tiny figure perched atop the spider's head.
Was he seeing things?
That small shape… it looked oddly familiar.
Wait a moment—was that… Iris?
"Master~!"
Before Aris could even wrap his head around it, the giant spider skittered forward.
And sure enough, the little red dragon was sitting right on its head, bouncing up and down with uncontained excitement.
Aris was gobsmacked.
What happened to being tied up?
How had we gone from damsel in distress to dragon knight riding an elder Acrumantula?
You're supposed to be a dragon—why have you gone and tamed a giant spider as a mount?
And not just any spider… but the bloody leader of Acromantula itself!
The enormous creature—Aragog—lowered its body slightly as it came to a halt in front of Aris.
Only then did Aris notice the injuries across its shell.
Long, ragged claw marks, still faintly oozing greenish blood, scarred the spider's carapace.
They looked fresh.
His gaze dropped instinctively to Iris's claws—and sure enough, there were smears of green spider blood staining them.
Well, that solved the mystery.
It was now blindingly obvious—the wounds all over the Acromantula's body had been left by none other than the little red dragon's claws.
Aris was stunned all over again.
Since when had this little menace become such a bruiser?
No magic, no fancy tricks—just good old-fashioned close-quarters brawling to bring down a spider that had lived long enough to become a bloody spirit?
What could he even say?
Suppose that's what you get with a dark red dragon—monstrous strength straight out of myth.
"Iris, are you alright?"
Aris caught the little red dragon as she leapt into his arms, checking her over carefully.
There were faint signs of a scuffle—scuffs here and there—but not a single drop of blood.
Her scales weren't even scratched.
That level of defence was absurd.
No wonder dark red dragons were legendary in two-dimensional worlds—apex predators at the top of every food chain.
And this was just her physical durability!
If she ever started using her dragon language magic—a level above even elemental spells—she'd be nearly unstoppable.
"Master, I'm fine!" Iris said cheerily, tail wagging with pride.
"I beat up the big spider and now he's my little brother! Iris is amazing, right?"
She looked up at him with sparkling eyes, clearly waiting for praise.
Aris glanced over at Aragog, the leader of Acromantula.
Its eight eyes made it impossible to read its expression, but through the language of nature, Aris could feel the emotion radiating off it.
It was sulking.
Sulking like a child who'd been smacked around, wanted to cry, but didn't dare show it.
What a thrashing!
A proud old spider king, reduced to a snivelling wreck who looked like he wanted to bawl his eyes out but didn't dare—absolutely mental.
"Yeah, brilliant!"
No matter what, you've got to indulge your own pet—especially one as capable as Iris. The stronger she got, the prouder Aris felt.
Smiling, he affectionately rubbed the little red dragon's head and added,
"Cracking job!"
The moment those words left his mouth, Aragog's mood nosedived even further.
Aris didn't even need to tap into the language of nature—he could practically see the poor sod's despair radiating like a thick fog.
After basking in his praise and snuggling up to Aris for a bit, Iris suddenly perked up as if remembering something important.
With a flap of her stubby wings, she flew back onto Aragog's head, puffed out her little chest, and glared at the spider horde gathered below.
A moment later, an overwhelming pressure rolled out from her tiny frame—classic dragon aura.
The spiders visibly recoiled. Though they were already prostrate, they looked like they wanted to sink even lower, trembling like leaves in a storm.
Then came a thunderous roar.
"Oi, you bunch of smelly-legged web-lobbers! This here's my master!"
"And he—he's your master's master!"
"If any of you dares look down on him again, I'll batter you so hard your ancestors'll feel it!"
To emphasise her point, Iris gave Aragog a good whack with her claw.
The poor spider let out a pitiful yelp.
Watching the whole thing unfold, Aris raised an eyebrow.
The rest of the spider swarm flinched. Some of them shuddered so hard their legs knocked together with an audible click, as though they were being haunted by some ancient primal terror. Not a single one dared lift their belly from the dirt.
All of them saw Aragog as their king—a god-like figure.
But now, their so-called god was being trampled underfoot by a cheeky little red dragon, stripped of every shred of dignity.
In that moment, it felt like their very faith had crumbled.
"Right then, let's scarper," Aris muttered, casting a glance around at the stunned spiders.
Even he was a bit taken aback by the sheer dominance Iris had just displayed.
He'd always known that true magical dragons possessed an aura called Dragon Might—but he hadn't expected it to work this well on spiders.
If he'd known, he wouldn't have bothered risking his neck coming down to the spider's den to 'rescue' her in the first place!
With how cocky she was acting, did she even need saving?
The thought alone made him want to laugh.
"Master, wait!"
Just then, Iris turned her gaze sharply toward a shadowy patch in the distance.
She flapped her wings and hopped back into Aris's arms.
"There's something odd over there…"
"Aragog said that when some of the little spiders passed through that spot, they ran into an invisible barrier!"
"Invisible barrier?" Aris's eyes narrowed.
Could it be one of the professors tailing him into the Forbidden Forest?
No… that didn't add up.
He hadn't sensed a thing along the way.
Which meant—whoever it was… they weren't weaker than him.
In fact, they were likely stronger.
That thought alone made Aris's body instinctively tense. He raised his wand, aiming it in the direction Iris had indicated.
"Easy now, my boy. No need to get jumpy."
A voice rang out as a figure in white robes stepped calmly from the fog.
Dumbledore emerged, his long silver beard and hair glowing faintly under the moonlight, giving off a soft, almost sacred light.
The entire area around them seemed to brighten ever so slightly.
"Professor Dumbledore!"
The moment Aris saw who it was, his face froze.
Bugger... I'm about to get found out, pants and all!
He slowly lowered his wand with a quiet sigh.
It wasn't like he could actually attack Dumbledore.
Even if he tried, the old wizard could easily retaliate before Aris so much as blinked.
And even if Iris joined the fray, a proper life-or-death duel against him? The outcome would be anyone's guess.
Besides… it wasn't worth it.
"No need to be on edge," Dumbledore said calmly. "I've been tailing you for a bit—only because I was worried. It's not exactly wise to sneak into the Forbidden Forest alone, especially at night."
He paused, eyes twinkling behind his half-moon glasses.
"But I must say... I didn't expect your strength to be quite this developed."
There was no anger in Dumbledore's voice, no hint of accusation—just quiet observation.
That alone made Aris feel a little less tense.
As long as the old man wasn't planning to strike him down on the spot, there was still room for things to smooth over.
To be fair, Aris had already braced himself for the worst-case scenario—grabbing Iris and legging it across the world.
With the system on his side, survival wouldn't be an issue.
And honestly, with the power he and the little red dragon wielded now, there weren't many in the wizarding world who could stop them.
So, he stood there quite calmly, eyes meeting Dumbledore's, not the least bit panicked.
"A dragon, eh?" Dumbledore said softly, peering curiously at Iris.
"So that's the outsider Hagrid's been fussing about... rather spirited, I imagine."
He stepped closer to get a better look.
Iris, now curled up snugly in Aris's arms, seemed to sense the overwhelming magical pressure coming off the silver-haired wizard.
For once, she didn't act out—just stayed still and quiet, a good little dragon.
"Hmm... this dragon's species..."
Dumbledore narrowed his eyes slightly, studying Iris with growing curiosity.
"I can't say I've ever seen one quite like her before."
He frowned, ever so slightly.
"That's odd. There aren't many dragon species I'm unfamiliar with…"
Then his eyes shifted to Aris.
"Would you mind introducing this little one?"
"Of course," Aris said with a forced smile, drawing a slow breath to steady himself.
"This is Iris. She's not from our world—she's a young dark red dragon from... well, somewhere else entirely.
I summoned her."
He didn't try to hide it.
Aris knew full well that someone like Dumbledore would see right through any dodgy explanation.
Even if he tried to bluff his way out of it, it'd only be a matter of time before the old man pieced it all together.
After all, dark red dragons didn't exist in this world—at least, not in any bestiary known to wizard kind.
Better to just come clean and see how the headmaster took it.
"Summoning magic, is it?"
Dumbledore's eyes lit up faintly with intrigue.
"I've seen fragments of that sort of thing in some very old texts—far older than modern summoning or transfiguration.
Proper ancient stuff. Involved intricate magical arrays and often some form of sacrificial ritual.
Not the kind of spell you find in your average Hogwarts curriculum…"
"Did you summon this little one using that sort of magic, then?"
"That's right," Aris replied, not hesitating. Since Dumbledore had already figured most of it out, there was no point dodging the rest. Better to go along with the old man's train of thought than create unnecessary hassle.
"Because of the summoning contract, she can't permanently stay in this world," he continued. "So I sometimes let her wander the Forbidden Forest—to help her get a feel for the place, really."
He hesitated a moment, then added, "I didn't mention it before because… well, I didn't want to trouble you with it."
Aris sounded completely sincere—so much so that even he nearly believed that was the whole truth.
But Dumbledore clearly wasn't so easily swayed.
He gave Aris a long, knowing look before speaking in a quiet voice.
"I believe the part about her origin… but let's not pretend that's the full story."
A pause, then a wry smile. "Still, I won't press you on it. Not for now."
He stepped forward suddenly and reached for Aris's wand hand.
"What concerns me more at the moment is the magic you used just now…"
Looking at the wand, Dumbledore asked in a mild, consultative tone, "Would you mind letting me take a look?"
"Er—sure!" Aris blinked, surprised, but quickly nodded.
Without hesitation, he handed the wand over.
The gesture caught Dumbledore off guard—just for a moment.
Then the headmaster gave a small, approving smile and gently took it in his right hand.
He closed his eyes and focused, quietly sensing the magical flow within the wand...
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Drop power Powerstonessssssssss!
[Note: Read up to Chapter - 126 on P patron at: p-atreon.com/Knockturn_Alley]