Due to the hair that was covering her face, the Chosen couldn't see the subtle changes in the dragoness' face or her teeth as they narrowed into smaller versions of their true forms. However, even though she had disguised the transformations on her face, she couldn't do anything about the other changes happening to her body.

"Umm? Guildmaster? How sure are you she can't transform in here?" asked the brown-robed man with a nervous voice.

His skin had been tingling in trepidation since they had entered the cave and, even in the dim light of the cave, as he was closest to the dragoness, he was able to see the changes her body was undergoing the clearest.

The Elder, who was behind the assassin, took a step to the left to look around the azure sword wielding, crimson-robed swordmage and took in a sharp breath at what greeted his eyes.

It was a well-known fact that the ability for a monster to trigger advantageous, natural traits or skills in their humanoid-forms at will, which the Chosen called monsterification, was something only top-tier' monsters could achieve.

This was because it required a significant amount of willpower, intelligence and control that only those with high levelled monster cores could employ.

Depending on what traits were utilised, the ability to augment their body, similar to their more primitive, humanoid forms, could vastly change the strengths and capabilities of the monster by tweaking their bodies structure and makeup, eliminating any weaknesses that had undoubtedly been created from the merger of two different body types.

It was also the most common way for high-level monsters to disguise themselves, along with suppressing their aura, as they could resemble their lower ranked cousins.

This fact was terrifying enough, especially while trapped in an enclosed space. However, it wasn't what made the Elder so speechless.

The fact that Kelthiea still had the strength and mindset to activate this ability indicated that she was not as weak and distraught as she appeared.

If anything, the timing, just after they had put their weakest casters to the front to capture the apparently weakened dragoness, was too perfect.

The Elder's thoughts jarred to a halt as the dragoness slowly raised her head and revealed her terrifying smile and bewitchingly reptilian, amber eyes.

Eyes that, if any of the Chosen survived the upcoming confrontation, would haunt their nightmares until the end of their lives.

As one, the Chosen subconsciously took a step backwards as their instincts, suppressed by their rigorous training and intelligence, finally recognised the danger infront of them.

"Die~."

The word so quiet, it was barely audible but powerful enough to be heard by everyone escaped the dragoness' lips yet, before they had even reached the first Chosen's ears, she had moved.

The stone beneath Kaltheia's feet had exploded downwards as he body blurred and shot forward, remnants of a black, eerie mist trailing behind her.

Before any of the Chosen could respond, including the Elder, Kaltheia's body reappeared before the brown-robed man.

The dragoness' reptilian eyes glared into the terrified man's, her body tall enough even while she held her arms out to her sides and hunched over, like a cat preparing to descend upon a mouse.

"Foolish Chosen who have eyes bigger than their bellies. I welcome you to your final resting place... I hope you enjoy your stay~."

Without even having time to process what Kaltheia had said, the brown-robed man's face froze in shock as he was eviscerated by the dragoness' black, newly formed, humanoid claws.

The rest watched without comprehension, their brains still struggling to catch up with the situations rapid reversal, and could only watch with wide, unbelieving eyes as the brown-robed man folded backwards at a seemingly impossible angle.

After falling the furthest it could, the top half of the man pulled his lower remains, and the body toppled over, his guts spilling onto the floor as his blood seeped outwards.

The whole ordeal had taken less than a couple of breaths, in which time, their defensive mage, the party member who held the most value if you excluded the tank and healer, was dead.

Having experienced countless tribulations before, the Elder was the first to snap from his daze and took a step forward. As he did so, he thrust his arms outward, forcing the mana that he had prepared inside is core through his body and towards his hands with the aim of casting a mid-tiered, restriction spell.

However, instead of the result, he had envisioned in his mind's eye, the dragoness being wrapped in stone vines, all he could see was a puff of blood-red smoke appearing from the tips of his fingers.

Suddenly, he pitched over as he felt as if he had fallen face first into an icy river

A flower of blood erupted from his mouth as the Elder clutched his chest, just over where his mana core could be found, having suffered massive internal damage from the kickback of the failed spell.

Confusion marred his face as the Elder repressed the urge to vomit another mouthful of blood. "My mana has been suppressed? How?"

Meanwhile, after noting the Elder's plight, the dragoness had torn through the group's casters, most of their bodies still in the process of falling to the ground, and was rapidly approaching the retreating assassin.

The assassin, sensing the impending danger that he could not retreat from, tried to activate one of his abilities as he dodged to the side, however, just like the Elder, his mana rebound and he lost control, slamming into the rock wall and falling to the ground.

Dazed for but a moment, the assassin rolled to the size, barely dodging Kaltheia's tail which seemed to have sprouted from her tailbone as she charged forward, only to slam into the dead body of the crimson-robed man and come to a dead stop.

Regret, unwillingness and a significant amount of anger at his stupidity flickered across the assassin's eyes before Kaltheia's scaled foot smashed into his head. The head resisted the pressure for a few moments, displaying the might of a body enhancer but after a fraction of time had passed, it exploded like an overripe watermelon in a mist of gruesome gore.

The only way an outsider would be able to describe the last few moments was utter chaos.

The attack had been so fast and vicious that even if their mana hadn't been rebounding, though before they attempted to use it everything appeared to be normal, they couldn't help but get in each other's way as they struggled to respond to the dragoness' onslaught.

Having said this, the backlash had not affected the melee classes as much, having mostly used their mana to reinforce their bodies over countless years of cultivation. Yet blood could still be seen flowing from their eyes, ears and mouths from when they had attempted to use their abilities and skills to save the casters in front of them, indicating that they had not escaped unscathed.

All but one of the remaining melee class formed up, using their physical shields and weapons as a barrier between them and the seemingly demonic dragoness.

The other, a plate wearing warrior who was lost in the turmoil of watching his brother die, released a battle cry as he charged forward, intent of cutting down Kaltheia.

His war cry quickly turned to an ear-piercing screamed as Kaltheia twisted, avoiding his sword before placing one of her clawed hands on his shoulder and the other on his neck.

With a sickening crack and squelch, in a seeminly effortless manner, Kaltheia ripped the head of the man from his body.

The skull brought a small amount of spine, muscle and flesh with it as blood spilt outwards, covering both her and the corpse's body, and flowing onto the already soaked floor.

Though to the trained eye, the dragoness had become a lot slower since her initial attacks; she had quickly made up for that with the terror tactics she employed. First, the assassin and now the plated warrior had died with incomplete corpses, displaying that not only was the dragoness powerful, but she was also merciless to the extreme.

"Fallback!"

It was at this moment that the Elder had finally realised he had made a grave mistake. As a magic class, an elder of a family no less, he had never been on the front lines of a dragon subjugation and had only heard about it through second-hand experiences. Even then, the stories often told of hundred, if not thousands of Chosen working together and, only when they were confident that victory was inevitable, corning the dragon.

What made the Elder's spine tingle even more than the situation he found himself in, was that, while in their humanoid forms, it was said that monsters should only be able to express around ten to twenty percent of their power.

If he had thought about it a little harder, he would have known that the size of the dragon, combined with the fact they were fighting inside a small environment, would have worked against it considerably. Coupled with the injuries that could be exploited, even if they lost over half their forces, they would be able to kill her eventually.

A rumble, ignored by the remaining Chosen as they fought for their lives, signalled the collapse of the cave entrance and removal of any trace of their presence in the surrounding area.

Kaltheia smiled. She wasn't too concerned with the Chosen she was currently fighting; it was the ones that followed that would be the problem. Like ants, they would continue to chase and harass her until the end.

It had been painstakingly tricky, and eaten most of her precious life essence but, to the proud mother of a yet to be, hatchling, it was worth it.

The sensation completely bypassed the Elder as he momentarily wondered why he had been sent on such a mission. Even an idiot would be able to tell that they were woefully unprepared and understaffed for such a terrifyingly difficult task.

Conspiraciess fluttered across his mind yet, in the current situation he couldn't focus on them as, much to his dismay, it seemed the dragoness had zeroed in on him.

Flinging the head that she held in one hand at the face of the closest warrior, resulting in a sickening, snapping noise as it impacted his face, the dragoness had swivelled on the spot, dodging the underpowered arrow of a ranged defender and lept towards the Elder.

After having suffered the crippling backlash, he had fallen in the rampaging dragoness' threat assessment yet, after hearing his voice as he tried to take command of the situation, he once again rose to the top.

Even in his weakened state, the Elder was still fast enough to sidestep the continuously slowing Dragoness' clawed hands, barely avoiding a lethal blow to his torso, and quickly backed up as his mind went into overdrive.

The Elder was desperately seeking a way out of his current predicament, yet he couldn't help but question how he had become so complacent.

Initially, he wanted to blame his greed and ambition but, even with that excuse, something felt severely wrong. It was as if certain parts of his mind had been repressed while others, the more primordial, had been enhanced.

If he didn't know better, he would be confident that someone was covertly manipulating his thoughts and emotions but, from everything the Elder had ever learnt, he knew that the dragoness in front of him couldn't be doing such things.

As if struck by lightning, the fact that he had been sent on this mission and felt as if his mind had been manipulated made sense. If not him, someone in this group had earned the wrath of an influential, vindictive person.

Just as the realisation hit, the dragoness released a rumbling growl as he eyes sparkled with anticipation.

Without a moment's hesitation, relying on his experience and instincts, the Elder dove forward, sailing under the dragoness' outstretched arms and behind her as a black, bone-chilling flame exploded from her mouth and engulfed the position he had been standing moments before.

Cold sweat flowed down his back as his heart hammered in his chest as the screams of the last of his group echoed off the cave's walls.

The elder had grasped the azure sword as he rolled, knowing that his magic was now useless, and started turning to face the dragoness with a heart filled with despair.

The dragoness had done the impossible, again. He couldn't help but praise the incredible beast. Even if they had been sent to die, she had acted in an almost perfect manner.

She had used cunning, guile and, without out a doubt, the strength of a dragon even under such conditions.

Suddenly it hit him, and he couldn't help but glance at the remains of the egg she had crushed as he turned.

A smile, the first genuine one he had in what felt like a dozen years, appeared on his face and his expression relaxed.

However, when he saw the dragoness shocked him.

She was on her knees, weakly panting for breath as she glared with eyes full of bloodlust and hate.

Without even having to think, the Elder knew she had just used a taboo killing move. A skill or ability that would consume the life essence of its wielder.

He knew that such abilities should be impossible for monsters without external aid but he had been shocked so much this evening, he had become numb.

The smile on his face seemed to enrage the dragoness even more as she struggled, and failed, to stand.

"It's sad," said the Elder, his voice sounding much older than it should. "That only now do I remember the awe and fear I held for your kind as a child. How, even though you were the mortal enemy of the Chosen, I always wanted to see one of your kind, maybe, if I was lucky enough, even touch one."

The dragoness glare intensified. "What stopping you? You have won. As you can see, I have nothing left."

"Nothing left?" chuckled the Elder as he shook his head, only now realising how strange his recent behaviour had been. "From the moment the tracking team was killed, we have been dancing in the palm of your hands, mother dragon."

The elder meaningfully glanced back at the egg's remains, managing to catch the surge of emotion in the eyes of the dragoness.

"Worry not, I am sure after all this," the Elder waved his hand in front of him. "That this is not how it ends for your kind. However, if I am to fall, I want to do it on my feet, as one of the God's Chosen should."

Kaltheia's face twitched at the revelation that some, if not all of her scheme had been seen through and the abrupt change in the attitude of the Elder.

Hardness seeped into her features. "As I thought, without a doubt, I must ensure that you never leave this place alive. You know too much."