It was finally the day for the dragon’s trial . I was currently getting ready in the room lent to me .
The previous day, we had such a great party . The alcohol and food were all first class .
I was especially surprised about the food .
In terms of cooking techniques, Avalon’s chefs had the edge . Instead, the reason behind why even I, someone who was so used to delicious food, was surprised was the quality of the ingredients used . They were definitely of finer quality than those found in Avalon where the best things in the world have gathered .
When I asked how that was so, I was surprised again .
Apparently, the meat used were item drops from monsters .
A fixed time after a monster has died, it would turn into blue particles of light . There would be nothing left of the deceased monster except for items that could drop at fixed rates .
Among these item drops were meat items .
Basically, these meat items were categorized into pork, beef, poultry, and lamb meat, while some rare monsters dropped uniquely named meat . They were also graded as inferior, average, superior, and first-class .
Naturally, the higher the grade of the meat, the better tasting it was . And the flavor of the first-class meat items, which unsurprisingly could only be dropped by B rank or higher monsters, was enough to make any gourmet feel ecstatic .
Because nobles and other wealthy people were willing to pay large amounts of money for the first-class meat items, adventurers would often dive into dungeons looking for such things . A lot of the time however, before these adventurers could get out of the dungeon with their loot, they become exhausted and die .
According to what I heard, the food served to us used what was recovered—and later preserved—from those adventurers .
“I guess I should have known that unfamiliar flavor . ”
A Demon Lord that ran a so-called orthodox dungeon would surely be familiar with the deaths of their monsters within the dungeon as well as with item drops .
However, I didn’t run such a dungeon .
In fact, I built Avalon primarily so that I could avoid the deaths of my monsters as much as possible .
…and then, it hit me . I finally understood why [Time] Demon Lord Dantalian said that last night’s feast was something only he could have prepared . Certainly, I wouldn’t have been able to serve the same food .
While arriving to that conclusion, I used the water from a water jug in the room and washed my face .
Good, my eyes look perfectly awake . Let’s go .
Next, I went toward the [Time] Demon Lord’s arena .
Already rushing to the audience seats were the [Time] Demon Lord’s monsters . Their excitement for the fierce fight between S rank dragons were visible on their faces .
A few moments after I arrived, my dragon did too .
His name was Duke, and he was a Black Dragon of Death Siegwurm .
Just like yesterday, he was wearing the tailcoat suit that his Dwarf Smith wife had made for him .
“Good morning, Duke . Were you able to get a good night’s rest last night?”
“Not really, my lord . I can’t stop picturing defeating the world’s strongest dragon and taking its place . ”
“You’re as reliable as ever, Duke . ”
A few moments after that, Stolas and Enlil the Storm Dragon Knight Bahamut came along .
Enlil dropped down from Stolas’s shoulder and reverted to his true form: a large, jade-green flying dragon .
Each of his scales were filled with astonishing amounts of magic power . So much so that each one glimmered like an emerald .
Stolas standing side by side with Enlil while he had a stoic countenance in that form, it was truly a sight to behold .
“Enlil, what good wind we have today, right? I hope you’ll fight well together today and emerge victorious . ”
“GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”
Enlil replied with a forceful roar .
Seeing that, I could tell Duke also wanted to transform into his real form, but his had a time limit and that vexed him .
At any rate, the challenger side was complete .
Now, all we needed to do was wait for the champion .
And right on cue, they arrived . With their appearance, the [Time] Demon Lord’s monsters cheered . The whole place shook because of it .
Three Demon Lords climbed up the stage .
One was a beautiful looking young man, one was beautiful brown-skinned woman with wolf ears and a wolf tail, and the last one was an old man whose body was thoroughly trained .
They were the three strongest Demon Lords . [Time] Demon Lord Dantalian, [Beast] Demon Lord Marchosias, and [Dragon] Demon Lord Astaroth .
If these three were together, there was nothing they couldn’t do . Even world domination would be easy .
The [Dragon] Demon Lord then walked toward the center of the stage .
He then crossed his arms and assumed an imposing stance .
“Come!”
When he shouted so, dragons that each had crazy amounts of power appeared from all directions . Each of them had been made with the ability to level up and had been trained to the utmost . As if that wasn’t enough, each of them had [Berserk], allowing them to go against even S rank monsters . Each was a monster capable of destroying a country .
And there were 19 of them .
They landed in such a way that they surrounded the arena’s stage . They then roared . It wasn’t meant to threaten, but rather to revere something, to request for something’s affection .
As if to answer those roars, a crack appeared in the sky . That crack was then pried open from within .
And what emerged was Caesar the Emperor Dragon Typhon .
Standing at over 20 meters tall, he was large even by dragon standards . His reddish-brown body was wrapped in some kind of golden light . There was something malicious but at the same time holy about it .
Just with his arrival, the battle has already begun .
He didn’t glance at the other dragons . He simply looked from above at Duke and Enlil to evaluate them .
Enlil let out a growl . The fear in his voice was quite apparent .
To make someone like Enlil be afraid, Caesar definitely was a dragon among dragons .
Duke was somehow able to maintain a calm face, but I could see that his hands were shaking .
“This is the apex dragon… the true [Dragon Emperor]”
As for me, I leaked out such words with a dumbfounded expression on my face .
This is the kind of monstrosity we’re going against?
I knew Caesar was going to be a formidable enemy from the get go, but when I got another look at the thing we were challenging, I froze .
…no, stop .
As Duke’s master, I knew I must snap out of it . As it was, my fear was already being transmitted to Duke .
Duke believed I was a superb Demon Lord, so I should act like one .
Like that, I took a deep breath, walked a step forward, placed a hand on Duke’s shoulder, and said:
“Duke, he’s strong, stronger than any monster you’ve fought before . However, I have one thing to say: I command you to win . ”
Duke once said to me that whatever I ordered him to do, he would accomplish it . According to him, I wasn’t some incompetent Demon Lord who would give him a command that I knew myself to be impossible to accomplish . Believing I knew for a fact that he could do what I commanded him to do, he would do everything to make it so .
Duke didn’t turn back to face me, but his back told me enough .
Meanwhile, Stolas faced Enlil and reached out her hand . When Enlil lowered his face enough, she petted the tip of his nose .
Just like that, whatever anxiety Enlil had was brushed away .
Such was a knight’s disposition, I guess . He couldn’t stomach letting his lady see what he considered an uncool sight .
And so, Stolas and I nodded at each other and then went up the stage with our dragons . Once there, the [Dragon] Demon Lord spoke again .
“Fumu, so, you’ve chosen to stay and fight my [Dragon Emperor], have you? That alone deserves recognition . Truth be told, I was worried you’d get cold feet and back out . ”
What he said was incredibly condescending, but if anyone had the right to say such things, it would be him .
Before replying, I just smiled thinly while Stolas just stared at him .
“We came here to defeat you and inherit Caesar’s [Dragon Emperor], and that’s exactly what we’ll do . ”
“We’re going to surpass you, Astaroth-sama . Here and now . ”
Echoing our resolve, Enlil roared while Duke yelled .
Seemingly satisfied by that, Ast nodded .
“Good, you’ve got drive… The audience for this grand fight isn’t just Marcho, Dan, and his monsters . We also have my [True Dragon Squadron] . They are here to ascertain whether their new leader is worthy or not . You better keep that in mind . ”
The 19 dragons that appeared earlier weren’t here to simply watch the fight . They were here to evaluate their possible new leader .
The bar had been raised even higher, but I had complete trust that Duke and Enlil would pull through .
“Ast, Procell, Stolas, no matter what happens, rest assured that I will rewind time . So, feel free to go as wild as you want . ”
“I’ll also provide magic power to the barrier, so you don’t have to worry about the audience either . It’s been a while since I’ve broken a sweat . But holding back the attacks of three S rank monsters might tire me out more than I’ve hoped . ”
This was the reason these two were here .
For a battle of this scale, if an ordinary barrier was used to surround the ring, that barrier would be dissolved by just the aftereffects of the dragons’ attacks . Only truly tough monsters would remain in the audience .
To prevent that, Marcho decided to participate . By pouring her magic power into the barrier, not a stray attack would get pass .
As for Dan, he was going to turn back the time for those within stage after the fight had reached its conclusion . Even if a monster has died, they would be as fine as they were when the fight started .
What that meant was that both sides could fight with the intent to kill without any repercussions .
Everything was set, all that was left was to formally begin the fight .
“Then, let us begin . My lord, I assure you, we will achieve victory . ”
“Yeah, I believe in you, Duke . ”
Like that, I sent Duke off to battle .
His form then changed into a large black dragon whose body was clad in dark miasma .
In this form, he could exhibit his full potential .
“GRYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUR”
“I’ll leave it up to you, Enlil . I love you . ”
Enlil roared like that and dyed the wind whirling around him turn jade-green .
The golden dragon was now standing opposite the jet-black dragon and the jade-green dragon .
For some reason, that made the [Dragon] Demon Lord smile .
And then…
“I hereby declare the dragon’s trial begun!”
The [Time] Demon Lord loudly announce that the fight to determine the new [Dragon Emperor] has begun .
Chapter end
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