Left alone in the tent, Greyfang held his head and thought, then curled his lips into a vicious grin. "So that Heavenly King plans to raise us like insects in a jar."
Taken literally, it was simple enough. Whoever fought well earned the right to become his dog. Greyfang understood clearly that he and the nearby Demonkind lords had made such a huge move precisely to fight over that position.
Perhaps the hidden the Lord saw that all contestants were present and decided there was no need for formal trials. Just throw everyone into one massive brawl, and whoever survived would be the dog. Greyfang crushed the armrest made of Shard with his bare hand, savage light flashing in his eyes.
"My lord… what are your orders?"
"Go, deliver my command."
Greyfang spoke in an extremely cold, careless tone.
"Call in all region-based forces at once. Rush them here, use Teleportation and Magic Array if needed, I want them here immediately."
"Drag every civilian from every city in the territory, along with all families and factions, onto the battlefield."
"They can ask for whatever benefits they want. Pull in all wild mercenary groups too, no matter the cost."
"Anyone who refuses gets killed or put through enslavement. Anyone who slows things down gets killed and sacrificed to strengthen our power. I do not care who it is, bring them all."
"My requirement is simple. Win this battle, no matter how many die."
The overwhelming pressure and killing intent left the subordinate with only one possible response in his mind.
"Yes…"
He walked out stiffly, and Greyfang did not care what he thought. All that mattered was whether they could win. Once the others learned of this news, they would surely pour even more strength into their own hands.
At this point, brutality was the only capital he had left.
"…Heh."
"…Heavenly King, Demon King, Demon God…"
"…Using the people of three territories just to buy time for me and you over that piece of trash?"
"Elfido, you had better give me a reason convincing enough."
Inside the golden hall, the supreme imperial chamber of Faris Empire remained empty as ever, yet a white-robed old man now stood within. The Pope of the Church of Holy Light, Elfido, still wore his gentle smile, while Augustus's hand rested slowly on the hilt of his sword.
"Because this truly is one of the most critical moments, and it is also the will of the Abyssal Gods. We must first assist Edward in ascending to godhood."
"Fate must be reforged. That is what they desire, and with fate's support, our path afterward will be much smoother."
Augustus did not reply immediately. He thought in silence, then raised his head and fixed his gaze on Elfido.
"That dragon… was first provoked by you, wasn't it?"
He had not forgotten being instantly crushed before, even though that had only been a minor offspring manifestation and not within the enemy's territory of full power. He had no illusions about matching such an existence, and there was no benefit in provoking it without reason.
The only explanation was that Elfido and Edward had caused something and drawn the attention of that Black Dragon. Now they needed an uninformed scapegoat to block the blade.
"Even I know little about that Black Dragon, but one thing is certain. That dragon already has a small grudge with the gods."
"What I can say for sure is that you, I, and Edward have all been marked."
"We are already on the same ship. This matter concerns you and me alike."
Elfido spoke with a smiling face, and Augustus understood that his previous actions had dragged him into the mud with these two people he deeply despised.
"Then what are you going to do? Even if Edward gains the Dragon Soul of the Bronze Dragon, it is still not time for ascension. I said I want a reason that convinces me."
Augustus had already drawn his blade. If this man kept dodging the issue, there would be no further discussion.
"I will prepare hidden backup measures, that much is true. And I can say with certainty that even if Edward acquires the remaining Dragon Soul, before ascension he will never be a match for that Black Dragon."
"That is why the next steps are crucial, so crucial that both you and I must help him together. This is why we need Your Highness to stall that Black Dragon while he consumes the Dragon Soul."
"And of course, if we have underestimated that Black Dragon's strength even a little, then I will act as the second backup. I will borrow the Edward Family within Your Highness's realm."
Elfido smiled again, then bowed slightly.
"To show my sincerity, I will personally send a blasphemous demon soldier to assist you."
"And Edward is equally sincere, because he will certainly die in the process. Only we can allow him to 'live' again."
"…"
Augustus sheathed his sword partway, though not completely. He continued to think. Bound by the pact enforced by the power of the Abyssal Gods, even if Edward ascended and caused trouble later, he was confident he could ascend himself within decades.
But as Elfido said, the commotion would inevitably draw that Black Dragon. If he could not hold out and died first, then the next targets would be the two of them. He had no confidence that he could endure decades of harassment from an enemy of equal level, especially when his own foundation lay here.
In the end, the conclusion was obvious.
"I allow it."
Under the Emperor's Authority, spies scattered across several distant Demonkind territories suddenly felt their minds go blank. At the same time, a new message appeared in their thoughts.
"All who show valor in this battle may enter my hall."
"We have arrived."
"You drifted a bit off. The map shows it like this." "Which way did I drift now? Left or right?"
Hidden within thick clouds several thousand meters high, a dragon-shaped mecha colored black and gray tore through the sky at extreme speed, trailing blazing blue exhaust like a fighter jet. Its flight path cut cleanly through the clouds without slowing.
Vera sat inside the upper cockpit, watching the map while adjusting the mecha's controls to correct Ham's flight direction. Thin streams of white cloud slid past the transparent canopy as the machine responded smoothly to her input. The speed was even faster than a jet, yet the controls were highly automated, and since the machine was carried by Ham himself, handling it posed no problem.
Vera had spent time studying the Figurine left behind by some unknown powerhouse. The frame used a new alloy she had never seen before, with excellent performance in every category. As for the power source, it was downright shocking, using a reaction core based on the formula of the Magic Fusion Bomb she had previously built, with overall technology so advanced it completely outclassed her old machine body.
If she wanted to develop technology at this level herself, she would probably need to invest more research points than she had spent in her entire life so far. Now the two of them were following a map that Ham had picked up from who knows where, racing toward Dragon Soul Sanctuary. The destination was finally close.
As for Ham's current appearance, it came from accidentally discovering the mecha's transformation function. After wrapping the machine around himself, it formed what looked like a steel dragon, or more accurately, the Exoskeleton Battle Armor. The result was both ridiculous and effective.
"If you really manage to complete your inheritance, you had better pray it includes enough Spatial Magic for us to get back to Dragon Valley." "Relax, Ham is a genius. If it really does not work, I can try using Empathic Communion to keep looking for that kind of spell." "Absolutely not!"
Vera had already given Ham a strict order not to use Empathic Communion unless it was a critical moment. This was not the time to mess around with that kind of thing. If the Lord found out that this foolish dragon, after hearing he had been controlled by someone else during his sleep and slaughtered enemies nonstop, got excited and kept using Empathic Communion to dig around in that dark space for spells, the results would be impossible to predict.
"If I can connect with some unknown but powerful Great Dragon, then Ham would definitely become even stronger!" Because that meant a chance to cling to a powerful backer, Vera had reluctantly agreed, and she had even hoped to find something like Gundam Model Building Technology that interested her.
What they actually found made her want to scream. "Magic that grows flower fields anywhere, Magic that sprays pretty rainbow illusions, Magic that launches fireworks, and Magic that can turn anything into Golden Arches…" "Except for the last one, all of these are total traps!"
Vera had already thought the Dragon Dance Ham found earlier was strange enough, but at least that one counted as useful. The later spells were pure nonsense, like jokes made real. Worse still, every time Ham used one, he nearly fell asleep for a long time afterward, completely unresponsive.
One of those joke spells had almost turned the entire machine body into a pile of Golden Arches. "Setting aside why Dragonkin even know about Golden Arches, why does your Dragonkin inheritance contain so many childish spells?" "What is wrong with that? Is being fun not enough?"