Luck was on my side; I managed to subdue the Dragon Lord. Dragons, especially the Lord-class dragons, were incredibly powerful—far too strong to be faced with just a single Blood Demon. But this time, fortune smiled upon me.
The Dragon Lord’s arrogance, combined with the fact that the artifact prepared to counter dragons had finally been completed, played a role. Even if it was just a prototype, its power was substantial.
The Demons were already at a disadvantage due to being massively outmatched by the Royal Knights. If we could seize the momentum here, we could slowly push forward. But, it wasn’t over yet.
The Demon’s gaze shifted sideways. Next to him stood Hans, the Commander of the Royal Knights. No Demon could claim ignorance of Hans’s face, at least among the Blood Demons.
He really wanted to back off for now, but with the Dragon Lord captured, backing down wasn’t an option. The Demon steadied himself and spoke.
“I have a proposal for you.”
“What is it?”
“Leave the Dragon Lord behind. Then I will let you live.”
“……”
It wasn’t a bad proposal for Hans. He could easily claim he got caught in a trap. And if both the Lord and the Commander died here, things would get messier.
The Demons had even figured out that the Royal Knights were preparing something new. He aimed to leverage that information to make them back down. After all, they had the advantage.
Despite that, the reason the Demon was offering this opportunity was simple: He didn’t want to increase the risk by engaging the Commander of the Royal Knights. Hans opened his mouth.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.”
“I’m sure I’m not offering mercy for no reason.”
“……”
“I’m more than capable of dealing with someone like you.”
This wasn’t just empty confidence. He had nearly a thousand low-level Monsters prepared for his plan. Not to mention himself as a Blood Demon. No matter how strong, humans couldn’t possibly deal with all of them.
“But the reason I’m not is….”
“Because of the thousands of monsters behind you?”
“……Impressive. How did you catch onto that?”
“I could feel the vicious momentum behind me since earlier.”
“Indeed… The Commander of the Royal Knights is quite perceptive.”
The Demon was purely in admiration. Who would guess that someone could sense the presence of thousands of monsters from such a distance? But what was even more surprising was that Hans didn’t run away.
The Blood Demons gathered information and conducted research. Hans was more of a Knight who excelled in one-on-one combat, not in chaotic situations. If pushed, even he would eventually tire.
But even knowing there were thousands of monsters behind him, he didn’t flee. Instead, he stood his ground. That made the Demon hesitate, even if just a bit.
“Are you saying you can handle thousands of monsters by yourself?”
“No, that’s impossible no matter how you look at it.”
“That’s what I thought. Then perhaps there’s room for negotiation….”
“Yes, while I cannot, the Dragon Lord might be able to.”
“What do you mean….”
Crack! Boom!!!
At that moment, something behind them crashed down. Alarmed, the Demon turned his head instantly. There, a massive iron tower was tipping over.
Then the Demon’s gaze shifted back to Hans. That artifact wouldn’t collapse on its own. It had to be something extraordinary. But now it was collapsing. There was only one possible reason.
“What the hell did you do?!”
“It seems like you ought to be asking something different.”
“Ugh, I owe you one.”
“Damn…!!!”
The Dragon Lord, previously bound by the artifact, was now freed. The moment he realized this, the Demon had already retreated. There was no chance of winning from here.
No matter how powerful a Blood Demon was, there was no way he could face the Dragon Lord alone, especially with Hans standing by, who matched the Dragon Lord in one-on-one encounters.
And he was supposed to handle them in a two-to-one situation? That was clearly impossible. The Demon quickly assessed the situation and dodged before the Dragon Lord’s wrath could reach him.
[At the very least, leave the cleanup to me.]
Transformed into a great dragon, the Lord soared into the sky. Soon, the massive form of the Lord obscured entire mountains. The dragon’s fiery rage soon struck the mountain.
Boom! Whoosh!!!
The intensely blazing flames melted the glaciers and ice stacked high on the mountain. Naturally, the Demons present were caught in the inferno. With flames that powerful hitting the mountains, they couldn’t possibly survive unharmed.
However, the Dragon Lord had plans. With just a wave of his hand, the great mountain returned to its former state. The speed of the event left Hans blinking in astonishment.
“Ah, sorry about that. I got a little too excited.”
“Not at all; this much is fine.”
“I’ll handle the aftermath alone. Ready to go back?”
“If you send me back, I won’t mind.”
“Thank you. I assure you, I’ll repay you later.”
Maybe it was because he realized he had gotten too excited, but the Dragon Lord cleared his throat and waved his hand. In an instant, Hans found himself back at Lionheart Fortress.
Though a part of him worried about the Dragon Lord, having witnessed that sight, he felt reassured. He pondered what to do with the artifact but ultimately decided to bury his concerns. If he revealed this, it could lead to someone making their own artifact to subdue dragons, creating an unnecessary strong enemy.
“You’re back!”
“Helia? How did you get here?”
“I know exactly where you are at all times!”
“……Is that so?”
Hans smiled slightly and patted Helia’s head. Helia didn’t resist. In fact, she seemed to enjoy it like a puppy, snuggling further into his hand.
So cute.
Hans thought this to himself without realizing.
*
The Dragon Lord’s rage was beyond imagination. He didn’t just take care of the monsters on the mountain; he began hunting down all monsters in the northern region. Was that even possible?
Surprisingly, the Dragon Lord could pull it off. Yet, he hadn’t taken a front-line role for a simple reason—his actions alone caused massive collateral damage.
But this time, the Demons had crossed a line. They had bound the Dragon Lord with an artifact capable of suppressing him. Other kindred would have even less chance to resist and would perish like dogs.
As a Dragon Lord, he couldn’t tolerate that. It was his selfish reason for stepping in. Perhaps it was only natural; it was for the good of his own kind…
Could that truly be considered wrong? No, it was not. The Dragon Lord’s fury spread throughout the north, igniting everything in sight, including even Imps.
In an instant, the Demons suffered tremendous losses and had no choice but to acknowledge their defeat and retreat entirely from the north. All their carefully laid plans were reduced to ashes.
“The Dragon Lord’s fury is beyond imagination.”
“Naturally, he’s a being close to a transcendent entity who has lived since the mythological age.”
“Just suppressing him was already a significant achievement, but now even the remaining remnants have burned away.”
“Indeed.”
All the resources prepared for this plan could only be found in the north. They had sought the cooperation of Zairkan to create them, but unfortunately, they had been discovered.
“Shall we hear your excuses, then? Our little failure?”
“……The Commander of the Royal Knights, Hans, came here with the Lord.”
“Hans came in person? To the north?”
At that line, the atmosphere shifted. It was the only sensible thing to do. Hans, the Commander of the Royal Knights, was regarded by the Demons as a greater threat than even the Dragon Lord.
How could it be surprising? Hans had persistently interrupted the Demons’ plans. Though Yuren had posed a considerable challenge, now it felt like he had placed his blade directly in their hearts.
The bonds of the Racial Alliance had strengthened again, and they were collaborating more than ever.
In contrast, the Demons had suffered massive losses, and their forces had significantly dwindled. Especially with the Dragon Lord’s fury, all traces of them were wiped from the north.
“It’s unavoidable. I wanted to eliminate them thoroughly.”
But now, there was no time for hesitations. They had endured under the justification of ensuring thoroughness, but that cost had led to the annihilation of the northern monsters.
“The morale of our low-level monsters isn’t looking too good.”
“Hmph, what can those little pests do?”
“We can’t ignore them given the current situation.”
“Huh? Why?”
The one in the highest position finally spoke.
“Because now we must put everything we have into it.”
Total War. No more running—full power ahead!
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