Jax left the prison without looking back, heading back upstairs into the Cathedral. He was planning to meet Serika, wanting to have some fun, but before he could do that, he felt a familiar presence brush against his senses.
Turning around, he spotted Orianna walking towards him briskly, her Draconic Wings still out in her humanoid form, meaning she only just arrived.
"Jax," She greeted with a nod.
"What is it, problems with the task I gave you?" Jax asked and Orianna hummed a no in response.
"Not that, the task is coming about well. However, Lyla suggested that you should head and greet each of the clans at their main locations, to convince anyone who has any doubts, and what better clan to start with than the Dragons," She responded, smiling as she thought about Jax meeting her clan.
Jax looked at Orianna for a moment, before exhaling and nodding.
"Lyla's right," he said, "I was summoned as Demon King, but not everyone came to that summoning. Some were absent by distance. Others by pride. A few by open defiance."
Orianna's smile widened slightly at that, "Good thing you're perceptive, I like you more by the day,"
Jax nodded once more, "Lead the way. It's time to convince anyone still doubting of my skills,"
Orianna led him to the upper halls of the Cathedral. All the guards and maids they met on their way immediately parted to the sides and bowed respectfully as they saw the duo, their eyes looking in awe at both Jax and Orianna.
While Dragons were the strongest of the Clans, they had smaller numbers than the others, so it was still quite rare for people to see a Dragon, let alone the Clan Leader.
Once they reached the outer terrace, Orianna stepped ahead of Jax and turned to face him.
"Hold on," she said simply.
Then she let go. Her humanoid form dissolved into light and pressure, mana surging outward like a tidal wave as her true self emerged. The air screamed as reality made room for her transformation.
In a heartbeat, a massive Western Dragon stood before him.
Her scales shimmered in radiant gradients, reds flowing into gold, gold into emerald, emerald into deep sapphire and deep sapphire into violet.
Each movement sent refracted light dancing across the Cathedral's stonework like living stained glass. Orianna's wings unfurled fully, vast and powerful, blotting out the sky as her aura crashed outward in a suffocating, primal wave.
Demons across the terrace dropped to one knee instinctively. The pressure weighing down on them massively, to the point they couldn't even lift their heads, but just sit in awe and resignation of the immense power.
Orianna lowered her massive head, one glowing eye turning toward Jax as her voice echoed directly into his mind.
'Climb on, we don't have all day, my King'
Jax smiled as he heard that, and without hesitation, he stepped forward, leaping effortlessly up onto the base of her neck and settling between the ridges of her armored scales. Her heat was immense, like a living forge beneath him.
"Comfortable?" her amused voice asked.
"Plenty," Jax replied casually, "Thought it's my first time riding a Dragon, you underestimate me too much if you think I wouldn't be able to ride you comfortably,"
"Just asking," Orianna said with a laugh, before flapping her wings, sending a shockwave of wind outwards that sliced through various clouds.
~ROAARRRRR!~
With a thunderous roar, Orianna launched herself into the sky, the Cathedral shrinking rapidly below as the Demon Capital became a sprawling tapestry of spires and streets. Wind tore past them, but Jax remained unmoved, his cloak snapping violently behind him as he looked out over the Kingdom.
They flew southward, the terrain shifting beneath them, from volcanic highlands to fertile demon plains, then finally to the jagged coastline where the land met the endless black sea.
'My clan's territory lies just off the coast,' Orianna explained as the ocean spread out below them.
"We live on an island large enough for our true forms. The island also gives us the space to have fun in the unrestricted airspace, and also has various mountains where we can create spaces to hold our hoards of treasure,'
The Dragon Clan Leader explained as the sea shimmered ahead before folding, and before them, an enormous island emerged from concealment, covered in layered spatial formations.
Vast peaks rose from its center, scorched and carved by centuries of dragonfire. Massive silhouettes circled lazily above it, their shadows passing over forests, cliffs, and crystalline caverns carved directly into the mountainsides.
Jax felt it then. The eyes of various Dragons locking onto him, recognizing him as the Demon King.
"We're already preparing for the move to the Capital City once it's built. The Witches have designed a space for us in the City which will have spatial arrays that give us enough space to all live comfortably in our natural forms," She said, her voice tinged in anticipation.
Her wings beat powerfully as she descended and Jax watched the island grow larger beneath them, sensing the layered wards, the territorial awareness, the sheer density of draconic mana saturating the air.
"Sounds like your clan's about to get dragged into the future," he said lightly.
Orianna huffed, a sound halfway between laughter and a dragon's rumble.
'With you leading?' she replied. 'There was never any other outcome.'
As they descended toward the heart of the island, colossal figures began to land on the peaks below, wings folding, necks lifting as they all stared at the Demon King, who had arrived in their territory.
~BOOM!~
Orianna landed with an earth-shaking impact at the center of the island, stone cracking beneath her talons as her wings folded in a controlled sweep. The air hummed, heavy with draconic mana and expectation.
Jax stepped off her back effortlessly, boots touching ground as if gravity itself treated him gently. He straightened, cloak settling behind him, golden eyes lifting to meet the countless colossal gazes fixed on him from every peak and cliff.
He didn't waste time.
"I know your kind," Jax said calmly, his voice carrying without effort. "You respect strength. Not titles or baseless statements,"
The air collapsed as Jax spoke, his aura erupting outward, black-gold pressure flooding the island like a divine catastrophe. All the mountains around groaned.
Dragons inhaled sharply as ancient instincts screamed at them to either kneel or fight. The sky darkened, clouds tearing apart as if pushed away by an invisible hand.
Jax took a single step forward.
"So here I am," he continued evenly. "If any of you doubt me as Demon King—"
His eyes burned brighter.
"Come."
A slow, dangerous smile crossed his face.
"All of you at once."