What punishment should be given to the Guardian of the Mortal Realm?
Wingdhuahn, the Wing, proposed this agenda. Then, Ipian, the Eye, curled up the corners of his mouth wickedly.
《Heh heh heh, a lowly human dares to harm my siblings. How insolent. Very well. I will tear his insignificant limbs to shreds with my own hands…》
It was then. Scaleian, the Scale, who had been listening quietly, grabbed his face with both hands and screamed.
《Wait a minute! Stop, brother! That’s a death flag!》
《……?》
《……?》
The Eye stopped speaking, looking perplexed, and the Wing blinked in bewilderment.
《Death… flag?》
《What are you talking about, Scale?》
The Scale tore at his own hair as he explained.
《If you use expressions like ‘lowly,’ ‘insignificant,’ or ‘insolent’ when talking about humans, you’re bound to die by their hands! You can’t survive, I tell you!》
《……?》
《And you used them all in one go, ahhh! This is dangerous, dangerous…》
Shaking, the Scale adjusted his large glasses and then, looking back and forth between the two dragons, he chirped in a timid voice.
《To, to be honest, I think even having this meeting is dangerous…》
《What on earth are you talking about, Scale…?》
《Executives of an evil organization gathering to have a meeting to defeat humans? And in this dark place? This is a total flag! It’s like we’re performing a ritual to get ourselves killed…!》
After blankly watching the Scale ramble on about things they couldn’t understand, the Eye and the Wing belatedly read the title of the thick book held in the Scale’s arms.
‘Ah, come to think of it…’
‘Scaleian, this guy…’
They both thought at the same time.
‘He was a severe addict of human culture.’
After being resurrected in the darkness of this Lake Kingdom.
Scaleian, the Black Dragon’s Scale, set up his lair in the 9th District’s ‘Royal Library.’ And since he had nothing else to do, he started reading the books there, out of boredom…
He became completely addicted.
Not only did he read all the books in the library, but he also began to delve deeply into the history and culture of the Lake Kingdom.
He was fascinated by human culture, he loved it too much…
…If Ash were here, he would have called him a ‘human otaku’ [a person with obsessive interests, especially in anime and manga].
That was Scaleian, the Black Dragon’s Scale.
《Of course, I hate humans too! The world should burn and be destroyed, that’s obvious!》
The Scale, belatedly noticing the cold gazes of his two brothers, frantically waved his hands.
《I’m going to exterminate humans, but their culture… it’s really awesome, you know?! Read this, brothers! It’s really fun!》
《No, even if you read those inferior books written by lowly humans…》
《Uwaaaah! You can’t use expressions like ‘lowly’ or ‘inferior,’ Wing brother! You’ll die!》
《Heh heh heh, Scale. Who on earth can kill us?》
《Forbidden! That word is also forbidden! It’s a total flag! Don’t use it anymore, Eye brother! Got it?!》
The Scale actively tried to stop them, but the two brothers ignored him.
Leaving the Scale, who was spouting strange things, alone, the Eye and the Wing chatted between themselves.
《Why doesn’t Father destroy the Mortal Realm right away? Why does he promise a reprieve to humans and leave them alone?》
《It seems that it’s a ‘rule.’ Father can’t easily go against it either.》
《I don’t understand. Father has already taken the throne here, hasn’t he? He shouldn’t need to listen to anyone’s orders.》
《Well. How can we dare to guess Father’s intentions? There might be a different view only visible to the one sitting on the throne.》
The Wing didn’t particularly question their father’s actions, but the Eye still shook his head as if he couldn’t understand.
《Giving them time to grow stronger… favoring them under the guise of rules. I don’t know how Father is any different from that Demon King.》
《He is different.》
The Wing said with a smile.
《When his turn comes, Father will not hesitate to shatter the Mortal Realm. That is our purpose. Our great work.》
《…Yes.》
The Eye slowly nodded.
He couldn’t understand his father’s current actions, but that much was certain.
Hate.
His father hated the world. When the time of destruction came, he would never hesitate. He would surely crush it with his own hands.
The problem was now. The position of the children.
The Wing changed his tone.
《Anyway, let’s get back to the main point. The Guardian of the Mortal Realm is leading an army and attacking us… how should we punish him?》
It was certain that their father, Night Bringer, wouldn’t care.
Whether his children died, or the Guardian of the Mortal Realm died, he wouldn’t move during the reprieve period he had given to humans.
The Eye grinned.
《So, even if we kill the Guardian of the Mortal Realm, Father is okay with it… is that it?》
Keeping him alive might be their father’s pleasure.
But if he was wandering in this darkness, begging to be killed, there was no reason not to bite his neck.
《If he’s in the Mortal Realm, we, who haven’t received the order to attack, can’t kill him. But if he’s entered the domain of darkness, isn’t it the same as asking to be killed?》
《Killing him is a given. The problem is, who will kill him and how?》
The Wing nodded to the Eye.
《Blood Drop, Claw, and Fang might have been easily defeated… but the three of us are on a different level from them. Any one of us can kill him like crushing an ant.》
The Scale, who was listening, whined, ‘That’s also a flag!’ but the two brothers continued their conversation without paying attention.
《So, I’ll step forward. There’s no need for you to get your hands dirty, brother. I’ll end it in my own way.》
《No, no, that’s not right. If it ends with you, Wing, then I won’t even get to taste that so-called Guardian. I’ll kill him.》
《Don’t worry, Eye brother. I’ll capture him alive. I’ll make sure you can finish him off with your own hands.》
《But I also want to massacre his army!》
The Scale, who was watching the two brothers bickering, interjected.
《Um, um! Brothers, can I make a suggestion?》
《Huh?》
《What. Say it.》
Then, the Scale smiled brightly and raised both arms.
《Let’s just leave them alone!》
《……?》
《What on earth are you talking about again, Scale…?》
The Scale calmly explained to the two who didn’t understand.
《The Guardian of the Mortal Realm is attacking us with his army anyway, right? So, if we leave them alone, he’ll attack one of us three, right?》
《Right?》
《So, there’s no need for us to argue about who will kill him. Let him attack, and whoever is attacked can take him down, how about that?》
At first glance, it seemed like a fair proposal to have an equal opportunity since they didn’t know who the Guardian of the Mortal Realm would attack among the three of them.
The Wing pointed out the flaw.
《He’s attacking our legions in order of weakness. In other words, the next one to be attacked is… the one who is most underestimated by them among us.》
The three of them quickly exchanged glances.
All three of them thought they were the strongest in this place. That was an unchanging truth for each of them.
Then… who was the weakest?
《…Well, that sounds like a decent proposal.》
Soon, the Eye chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.
《To be treated as the weakest among the three of us by the Guardian of the Mortal Realm, it means that we are the biggest pushover in the Mortal Realm. Giving the one who was treated like that the chance to kill the Guardian of the Mortal Realm… sounds good.》
The Eye was certain. That the opportunity wouldn’t come to him. That his two younger brothers, who were weaker than him, would defeat the Guardian of the Mortal Realm.
But he was going to give his younger brothers a chance, like a generous older brother.
He was a little impressed with himself, thinking what a cool and kind older brother he was.
Instead, he added the following condition.
《However, there’s a condition. You can tear his army apart as much as you want, but don’t kill the Guardian, capture him alive. And after presenting him to Father, kill him in front of Father.》
War merit – the one who the Guardian of the Mortal Realm comes to on his own will deal with his army. Instead, the Guardian himself will be captured and killed together in front of their father.
And so, they roughly agreed.
《Then shall we end the meeting here? The other heads are starting to clamor to take the lead.》
The Eye said, covering his middle eye and right eye with both hands.
There was no more to discuss. They weren’t exactly close brothers in the first place.
The three dragons exchanged simple greetings and then scattered to prepare to face the enemy in their respective lairs. All three of them thought that the Guardian of the Mortal Realm wouldn’t come to their lairs, but they had to prepare for it, even if it was just to show the other two dragons.
Flash!
Magic power exploded, and the polymorph magic was released. The three dragons, who had returned to their true forms, kicked off the ground and flew away.
The Black Dragon’s Eye, the three-headed dragon Ipian, as soon as he returned to his true form, began to bite each other while cursing each other, and flew away in that state.
The Black Dragon’s Wing, the Ying Dragon Wingdhuahn, slowly glided back, leading his subordinate monster legion.
《…….》
And slowly, the Black Dragon’s Scale, the Eastern Dragon Scaleian, who had been floating in the air, watched the two brothers disappear… and slowly turned his body.
《Interesting, Guardian of the Mortal Realm.》
Scaleian glanced down at the book in his hand,
《I’m really curious how you’ll defeat the other dragons.》
Even if defeating Blood Drop Kilitian was just luck.
He had clearly captured Claw Parekian and Fang Tustibean with his skills. Scaleian felt intense joy and curiosity in the way the Guardian of the Mortal Realm fought.
Ipian, Wingdhuahn.
And even himself.
He was looking forward to seeing how he would try to attack them.
Scaleian chuckled, and black evil energy billowed out from his black body like clouds.
Carrying his body on that evil energy as if riding a cloud, Scaleian glided to his lair.
Looking forward to the next dragon raid that the Guardian of the Mortal Realm, Ash, would carry out, and its process and results.
***
Several days had passed since the Tustibean raid.
The production guild members were busy producing new dragon slayers.
I prioritized ordering armor made from the black dragon’s scales and hide. Powerful armor to protect our allied heroes from the dragon’s attacks was desperately needed.
However, since we had never made armor with these materials before, we faced several difficulties.
Fortunately, we had also obtained good reference material, so we were making new armor based on that.
The clear reward obtained from the 9th District dungeon armory. Lucas’s final armor, [Black Scale].
‘Finally, Lucas’s final equipment farming is complete!’
Lucas’s core equipment farming was also finished. Now, if we just get him a few auxiliary equipment, there’s nothing more to do.
Lucas hadn’t even tried on this powerful armor, which was said to be made from the scales dropped by the black dragon’s main body. Because we were producing other armors based on this armor as a reference…
“I am fine, my lord… it is for the sake of everyone on the front lines, how can I feel upset just because the armor fitting is a little delayed….”
Even as he said that, Lucas was biting his lip. You’re bleeding, dude.
Since we had to examine the Black Scale armor in detail for production reference, it was currently disassembled and hanging on the wall of the smithy. Lucas was in pain as if his own body had been disassembled. Just hold on a little longer…
Clang! Clang!
During the same period, Kellybay was supervising the entire smithy, while he himself was focused on making other equipment.
Equipment being made with the Fly King’s magic core.
A set of armor forged with the three magic cores of the Fly King Baalzebub.
Watching him immerse himself in production with a more determined face than ever, I cautiously asked.
“Are you okay, Kellybay?”
“Of course, I’m okay. No, it’s the opposite. I’m rather happy.”
Kellybay smiled with a sweat-soaked face.
“I killed the guy who killed my child, and I’m making equipment with his core. For me, this process itself is a requiem [a mass for the repose of the souls of the dead].”
Suddenly, the events of Stage 5 came to mind.
The Vampire King Selendion was also an enemy to Kellybay. Selendion had killed his brother, he said.
And Selendion’s magic core was reborn as [Lord of Crimson], and it was now in Junior’s hands.
Was the Fly King Baalzebub’s magic core equipment similar in meaning to him?
Several days passed as he worked diligently.
“He’s not a Nightmare Legion Commander, but at this level, he’s practically a Nightmare Slayer. The power he holds, the darkness within….”
After finally completing the equipment.
Kellybay, who was examining the results on the workbench with a complex look, gestured forward.
“Here, it’s done. Take a look.”
I slowly walked forward and examined the armor.
It was a dark gray armor with a sinister beauty, and it was made up of three large pieces.
The upper body armor, the lower body armor, and…
A helmet with a halo-shaped crown attached to it.