I was at the new [Mine] room in Avalon’s dungeon proper .
Two dragons were dancing in the sky . One had jade green scales and was clad in wind, while the other was jet-black and was shrouded in miasma .
After directing roars at each other, the jade-green dragon conjured up a thunderstorm and sent it to the other dragon . Meanwhile, the black dragon replied with a breath attack of black flames .
In front of me was Aura who was protecting me with all her might using her barrier of wind . If ever one attack somehow managed to get pass her barrier, it could mean my death .
That was how destructive the attacks they were sending each other were .
For a moment, the two just stared at each other .
That was until the wind dragon moved . Still clad in his wind, he ascended higher and higher . When I thought I couldn’t see him anymore, he swooped down . Using gravity as his ally, he descended at speeds several times that of sound .
While the wind dragon ascended, the black dragon chose to go down to the ground and gather his strength . A spherical force field of darkness then expanded from his body .
In the next moment, the sound of collision was heard . The jade-green dragon smashed into the force field of darkness .
Due to the force field, the wind dragon’s descent slowed down . It wasn’t enough to fully stop the descent though . And the destructive kinetic energy that came along with the descent was soon to hit the black dragon .
The black dragon didn’t mind though .
From the start, he never intended to stop the charge with the force field, just to delay it enough so that he could launch an attack of his own .
And so, he opened his mouth and unleash a breath attack . Unlike the previous one, this breath attack was made with the intent to kill .
The black flames of the breath attack was going to make a direct hit on the wind that surrounded the jade-green dragon .
The jade-green dragon didn’t mind though .
He changed his wind into the shape of a spear, did whatever else he can to give it more propulsive force, and used it to break through the breath attack .
Seeing that, the black dragon raised his miasmcovered fist .
Like that, the black dragon’s punch collided with the jade-green dragon’s charge .
Both of the dragons were thrown away by the impact . After the two rolled in the ground for quite a distance, hitting some rocks and boulders along the way, they stood up and glared at each other as though to say they were ready for more .
“That’s enough! Enlil, Duke, you did well!”
I shouted so .
I wanted to watch a little bit more, sure, but at their current rate, they were bound to kill each other .
Nevertheless… a fight between 2 S rank monsters truly was epic .
Their fight had transformed the very topography of the [Mine] area .
Even the Darkness Dragons who were nearby at first to watch the fight took some distance because they got scared of the two’s power .
Enlil was superior in terms of speed and Duke in Firepower . However, because this was a head-on battle, Enlil took more damage than Duke this time . It would seem we needed to teach Enlil this way of fighting more .
At any rate, after I shouted, the two dragons shrunk in size .
Duke assumed his middle-aged dragonewt form while Enlil became like a child dragon that was the size of kitten .
These forms were their less power consuming forms .
“Enlil-dono, you did really well . I thought I had you when I slowed you down with my darkness field . ”
“Gaugau!”
“Hahaha, oh you flatter me . ”
The two were laughing together so much it was hard to believe they had a fierce fight just a few moments ago . Which I guess would be a great advantage when cooperating with one another .
I wasn’t the only Demon Lord audience though . Enlil was here, so his master was too .
“Amazing, isn’t it? A fight between S ranks, I mean . I was shaking just watching it . ”
“Yeah . But imagine, these two are said to be just barely enough of a challenge for that Emperor Dragon Typhon . How much of a beast can that one be?”
Enlil and Duke fighting one another wasn’t just for entertainment . They were actually doing this as a part of their special training .
In order for them to win against Caesar, their team needed to be greater than the sum of its parts .
That necessitated advanced teamwork which in turn necessitated that they understood each other really well . And the simplest way to achieve that was to make them fight like they just did .
“But, yeah, like I thought, Enlil’s quite absurd . That condition to hold back his [Berserk] just being you only need to be nearby is just so damn easy to fulfill . ”
“In my opinion, even though Duke can only use his [Berserk] for a limited time, the fact that he can be deployed elsewhere is quite envious . ”
Stolas and I expressed our opinions about the other’s dragon .
The ability called [Berserk] was one of the strongest skills a monster could have in that it increased that monster’s overall capabilities by a full rank . In other words, it allowed an A rank monster to somehow go toe to toe with an S rank monster . However, it came with a heavy cost: the monster’s sanity .
My Duke’s [Berserk] could be turned off and on at will . Moreover, he had the skill [Valor] which gave him mental resistance (maximum) as well as morale and offensive capabilities boosts . Because of this, when he did activate his [Berserk], he was still somewhat sane .
As much as he was holding it off though, [Berserk] still gnawed at his mind and sanity . By leveling up, Duke was able to stretch the time he could be in his dragon form and thus activate [Berserk], but at most, it was only for 15 minutes . Any more than that and he might not be able to deactivate it ever again .
In his dragon form, Duke was one of the strongest monsters in terms of pure fighting strength . In his dragonewt form though, he was a lower-tier S rank monster that specialized in commanding others .
“I guess the grass really is always greener on the other side . ”
“I guess so too”
As for Enlil, he had [Chivalry] which allowed him to retain his sanity and gave him some stats boosts so long as the one he must protect was nearby .
Obviously, that meant that as long as Stolas was nearby, the adverse effects of [Berserk] were nullified . Another way of looking at it though was that if Stolas was not anywhere nearby, Enlil would go fully mad .
That wasn’t all . If ever there came a time that Enlil would no longer regard Stolas as the one he must protect, [Chivalry] would be pretty much useless .
“Master, I’m done concocting the potions!”
“Many thanks, Aura . Now, please give those potions to Duke and Enlil right away . ”
The two dragons received considerable damage in this mock battle . To ensure that the rest of their special training later wouldn’t be affected, treatment was necessary .
And so, Aura gave them potions . After drinking it, the two headed our way .
They weren’t in perfect condition right away, but considering the efficacy of Aura’s potions and a dragon’s high rate of self-healing, they should be within an hour .
“My lord, Enlil-dono truly is reliable . I look forward to the day we fight side by side . ”
“Gaugau!”
Looking at the two and their closeness, it warmed my heart .
During the war between Stolas and the [Blade] Demon Lord, Duke used his [Dragon Emperor] and gave Enlil a little bit of help . Thanks to that and, of course, Enlil’s own efforts, Enlil managed to get Stolas out of that dire situation .
Enlil felt indebted to Duke for this . Meanwhile, Duke was quite fond of Enlil .
“Duke, I believe this is the longest you’ve ever activated your [Berserk] . I worry that there might be some kind of abnormality . If you feel something, no matter how trivial, tell me, okay?”
“Thank you for your concern, my lord . However, there is no issue at all… if anything, I feel it’s still safe to assume my dragon form for a bit longer . ”
Duke wasn’t just putting on airs .
If he says he’s fine, he’s fine .
And so, with the extended time for Duke’s transformation in mind, we began formulating our strategy . That extended time would surely be a great boon .
“Great, then . Anyway, after your break, I want the two of you to try out working in tandem . Stolas and I have some ideas and strategies in mind, but because you two have fought each other and have seen how the other fights, maybe something else will come to you . If that happens, you don’t have to wait for our approval . Just try it out . ”
“Certainly, my lord . Enlil and I will do our best to meet and exceed your expectations . ”
As ever, Duke was quite the reliable fellow . I had lost count of how many times he had helped me out .
When I turned to look at Enlil, I saw him perched at Stolas’s shoulder while making a very cute cry .
Stolas was petting him, prompting him to make those purrs .
It was so cute .
I wanted to pet him too, so I stretched out my hand, but was only greeted by a screech . Enlil didn’t want me to pet him .
By nature, monsters didn’t want to be held by Demon Lords except for their master . There’s that, but it might also be the issue of him thinking I was trying to take Stolas away from him .
We passed the time together until the potions took full effect .
We deemed the break over and began the next phase .
“One more push, Duke . ”
“Enlil, go show me something cool again, ok?”
The two dragons nodded in response .
And so, the two assumed their larger forms and flew to the sky .
While staring at them and the sky, I spoke with Stolas .
“We must do all that we can for them . Allotting a time and place for them to learn to coordinate with each other, raising their levels as much as possible, and more if possible . ”
“Yeah, they surely will be helped by some extra levels . That’s the greatest shortcut, isn’t it?”
[Resurrection] was used on both Duke and Enlil . As such, their previous levels were carried over when they became S rank monsters .
It hasn’t been long since Enlil was reborn from being an A rank static-level monster, so his level was almost unchanged .
As for Duke, he was previously a B rank Wight with a static level and thus was reborn at level 56 . Since then, he had earned a large amount of experience points, especially during our campaign to save Marcho . Right now, he was also around the level of an A rank monster with a static level .
When compared with Caesar, the level gap was huge .
Despite that, at their current level range, they couldn’t raise their levels dramatically just by defeating C rank monsters born from [Maelstroms] . So, in conjunction with grinding for levels in the [Crimson Cavern], we were also making the dragons defeat the copy of monsters made by Stolas’s [Omnipresence] .
All that said, reaching the level of an S rank monster born with a static level within a month would surely be a tall order .
“Hey, Procell”
“Yeah, what is it?”
“Once the dragon’s trial is over, there’s something I want the two of us to talk about . When everything’s over, can you make time for it?”
“…alright, I promise I’ll make time for that . When you make that face, it’s kinda scary, you know . ”
I teasingly said so, but her face remained serious to the point she looked in pain .
I could imagine what she wanted to talk about, but right now, we should be focusing our attentions on the trial .
No matter what, we had to overcome the trial . It was our duty and obligation to inherit what our esteemed predecessor was leaving behind .
I fully believed Duke and Enlil had the capabilities to accomplish this . All that was left was to figure out how to use those capabilities .
This dragon’s trial, we will absolutely overcome it .
Chapter end
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