Chapter 280: A Duel of Dragons
"Wow...." Ophis said as they sailed through the sky over a never ending expanse of water, her arms stretched to the side as she sat on the figurehead of Zenith. Alex smiled as he watched the dragon God seemingly enjoy herself, before turning towards Tio and asking,
"So you're sure we'll get there today?" Tio nodded and replied,
"Of course, this one swears that the island mine people live on isn'st too much further." Alex nodded and went back to watching the horizon, before he noticed Tio trying to hold back her excitement. He smiled and asked,
"Excited to go home?" Tio nodded enthusiastically and stated,
"Of course! This one hasth never left the island once in over 500 years before mine quest, but after being away for so long I miss mine kinsmen." Alex's smile grew until he noticed Yue standing awkwardly at the side, and asked,
"What's wrong Yue?" Yue fidgeted in response before seeming to finally bring herself to answer,
"...Will I finally meet the dragon race that I always admired, or will they be a bunch of perverts as well?....." Everyone was silent in response before all of their gazes gathered in Tio, who answered,
"This one thinks they are all normal?." With her worried expression not fading at the slightest as Tio's words, Yue continued watching the horizon while feeling both excited, and anxious.
***
Adul Klarus hummed silently as he sat out on the outdoor dining area of his home, overlooking the rest of the small village his people lived in.
"Has something good happened sire?" One of the other elders, Kartos, asked suddenly. Adul looked over at his long time friend and said,
"Not particularly, but I'm in a relatively good mood today for some reason." Kartos smiled at Adul's lighthearted attitude, as he had particularly worried ever since his granddaughter left on her quest. He then said jokingly,
"Perhaps lady Tio will return today with good news?" Adul laughed lightly and asked,
"Is that what your 'Observation' is telling you?" Kartos laughed and replied,
"No it's not, just-" But at that moment he cut himself off and stared across the island in confusion, then abject horror at the abnormal mass of magic power quickly approaching them.
"Sire, sound the alarm now! Something immensely powerful is approaching!" Seeing the panic on his old friend's face, Adul didn't hesitate and shouted,
"Everyone mobilize now!" As his voice carried unnaturally the few hundred survivors of the dragon race froze, before they jumped and started moving into defensive positions. Some turned directly into dragons and took to the air, while others helped the very few children into pre-organized safe houses. As they moved Adul and Kartos made their way to the end of the island where the powerful source of magic was coming from, both preparing to dragonfy themselves at a moments notice. they stood there watching for several minutes along with tens of dragons hovering around them and an increasing crowd of people preparing for the oncoming fight. Eventually they noticed a tiny drop appear on the horizon that was quickly approaching them, before those that were already in the air announced that they could see the sails of a ship with their dragonfied eyes. Though Adul had several questions about when the outside world managed to developers flying ships, he didn't voice them as he instead shouted,
"Be careful, we don't know how the world has developed since we hid ourselves, and remember, WE DO NOT KILL THE PEOPLE THAT ARE MISLED WITH THE LIES OF GOD! THE SERVANTS OF GOD HOWEVER, ARE TO BE ELIMINATED WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE!" His orders were met with a series of cries and roars of agreement, as every person present prepared themselves to give their lives in this battle, as long as they took as many of gods servants with them as possible. There was no other solution, no other safe places to hide.
"Tio, please be safe somewhere." Adul muttered to himself, wishing for his granddaughters safety even as he believed he was about to face his death. As the ship approached everyone tensed visibly as they prepared for battle, before someone launched themselves from the front of the ship.
"GRANDFATHER! THIS ONE HAS RETURNED!" Tio cried out as she flew down from the ship, dumbfounding everyone present at the absurdity of the situation, before another figure followed her covered in brilliant red scales. A suffocating aura descended upon the gathered dragons from the figure as he caught up to Tio and grabbed her by the butt before holding her close to his body in an gesture of intimacy, though none noticed it in the suffocating atmosphere. As the duo slowly floated towards the ground every dragon in the air also started lowering themselves as if to avoid insulting the figure by flying above them, until they finally touched down and reverted to their human forms. One by one the weaker members of those gathered started falling to their knees from fear and reverence of the figure before them, until there was only the elders left standing as the duo reached the ground. The red scales and wings on the figure started fading after touching down, revealing a muscular youth with spiky black hair who started walking towards the gathered elders while Tio watched him with an obvious heat in her eyes.
"Adul right? Tio has told me all about her grandfather." It wasn't until he was spoken to that Adul came to his senses, before asking,
"Who... are you?" The figure smirked before answering,
"I'm Alex, known as the Dragon Emperor and the killer of the God Ehito." If everything they had just experienced was shocking, it was nothing compared to Alex's self introduction, making the regal and proper Adul ask while stupefied,
"What...?"
***
A while later Alex and his group found themselves on the same patio that Adul and Kartos had been sitting on earlier, each enjoying snacks and tea while Adul and the other dragon race elders present stared off in a daze, trying to take in what Alex and Tio had told them.
"So... It's over?" Adul asked for the sixth time, to which Alex said while handing a small piece of cake to Ophis who was sitting in his lap,
"Yep, it's all over. Ehito's gone, the apostles are either dead or on our side, and in a little less than a month the leaders of each race will meet to discuss the future of the world, well currently each race except the dragon race." Adul looked up at this, as it was obvious what Alex was trying to say. A quick glance at the rest of the elders showed that they also had the same feelings he did, before replying,
"Of course we'll be there. Our original ideals were to create a society free from god's influence, were people could live side by side regardless of race or origins. It may have not been made by our hands, but that doesn't mean we'll miss its creation!" As Adul spoke every member of the dragon race present sent him looks of admiration as he spoke what they all felt, their only regret now was not participating in the downfall of the being that took so much from them. Their thoughts were interrupted when Tio stated,
"Master, this one thinks thee wouldst enjoy the honey cakes, Venri's cooking is't amazing." They all turned to see Tio, their princess Tio, hanging onto Alex lovingly while trying to feed him honey cakes. They all then turned towards Adul who had a look of mild shock on his face, since they had all been too distracted by the torrent of news to realize the intimate relationship between Tio and Alex, though there was one thing that he focused on.
"Master?" Adul asked somewhat incredulously, to which Tio jumped up excitedly and proudly explained before Alex could stop her,
"Yes, he is mine master, and this one is his lowly sex slave!" As the words "sex slave" dropped everyone was silent as they stared at their prim and proper princess in pure shock, while Adul muttered,
"I-I see... a-and are you h-happy as a... as a s-sex slave...?" Everyone looked at Adul with surprise at the fact that he seemed to be somewhat ok with his granddaughter's being a sex slave, though as she nodded eagerly he then turned and asked Alex,
"S-so what are your intentions with my granddaughter?" Alex shrugged in response and said,
"Tio's mine. She wholly devoted herself to becoming my slave and I don't have any intention of letting her go, she would have to be taken from me by force, and that's not gonna happen anytime soon." Adul seemed to study Alex for several minutes before finally sighing in exasperation, though strangely he also seemed to look relieved at Alex's answer.
"I see." Was all that he said, before Kartos asked,
"Are you fine with this sire?...." Adul sighed before explaining,
"As far as I could see she is merely taking the role of a.... sex slave..... as a form of fetish. Such a thing is inconsequential as long as she is happy, after all we re talking about a person who remained single for five hundred years." Everyone looked at Adul in surprise at how easily he was accepting the difference with his granddaughter, and Tio even stood and said,
"Thank you grandfather, this one is truly happy to be with master and the others in his harem. Not only does this one have so many "sisters" now, but I hast also met the God of dragons that showed this one heights never before possible." As she finished speaking Tio looked over at Alex and Ophis in his lap, making everyone look at them confusingly as Alex pointed at the small girl in his lap.
"Meet Ophis, the dragon God of infinity." Everyone stared at the petite dragon God dumbfoundedly as she turned towards them and made a peace sign with her fingers, before going back to her snacks as if nothing happened. They all stared at her dumbfoundedly until someone else spoke up,
"Impossible..." There were several nods in agreement as the majority of people had a hard time believing the petite figure before them was a God of dragons, but the speaker continued,
"There's no way that the proud princess of the dragon clan would lower herself to become a sex slave!" Everyone looked at the speaker in disbelief, but those who knew him made exclamations of exasperation at him while Tio groaned and Adul said,
"Ristan, don't try and take away from Tio's happiness for your own selfishness. I know you've had your heart set on marrying Tio for years and that you have been trying to pressure others from trying to court her, but you should be thinking of Tio's wishes instead of just your own." The indigo haired man, Ristan, however didn't seem to want to take back his previous statement however, and he instead declared,
"No sire, this change is just too much! How do we know that he hasn't manipulated her mind somehow to do as he says, or if anything he's told us is even true?! I mean he won't even respect her as she deserves and make her his official wife, as well as keeping who knows how many women around as part of his harem!" At this several people were shaking their heads in disbelief at how far Ristan was trying to go, while Bova and the girls glared at him for disrespecting Alex. The person himself finally stood up after gently moving the also annoyed Ophis, and said,
"Alright calm down everybody, there's no need to get heated." Seeing Alex trying to diffuse the situation Adul let out a sigh of relief since he thought Alex might try to retaliate due to Ristan acting in such a way, but Ristan stubbornly continued,
"Tio, leave him and I can truly make you happy as my wife, I can defend you against him and his control. Please, come back to me." If this was a sappy romance story where Alex really was controlling Tio against her will, then usually this would be the point where she'd snap out of it and run lovingly into Ristan's arms to live happily ever after. Instead however Tio shuddered at the way Ristan was talking, and even went so far as to try and hide behind Alex from him before saying,
"Ristan, you know I've only ever considered you like a little brother to me, and that I swore I'd never marry a man who couldn't beat me in a fight. With that being the case, then how can you, who'd never won against me once, compare to my master who singlehandedly and ruthlessly beat me when we first met?"
"W-well, I-I can still...." As Ristan tried to defend himself Alex sighed and stated while letting out a little pressure,
"I said it before didn't I? Tio is mine. I never intend to let her go, and if anyone else wants her then they'd had to take her from me by force." As he finished speaking Adul looked at Alex with a bit of respect from seeing him defend his granddaughter from another man, while Tio gazed at him heatedly before starting to rub her thighs together. Though there was a nearly unbearable amount of pressure bearing down on him, Ristan impressively held up to it and stated,
"T-then I'll take you up on that! I'll fight you, and if I win you'll let Tio go so that she could be happy!" Alex snorted at Ristan's challenge as he didn't like using women as betting pieces, but before he could say anything someone else spoke up,
"Please allow me to fight in your place my liege!" Everyone turned and looked at the speaker, Bova, who was currently in his mini form in order to stay inside with them. As everyone stared at the little dragon, he made his way forward and kneeled respectfully before Alex before saying,
"While I have no doubt that this would be an easy battle for my liege, I wish for the honor to fight in your stead, and proudly display the power at my lords disposal!" Though he was currently tiny, everyone looked at Bova with respect at his loyalty and honor, while Adul also glanced at Ristan as if to say 'you should be more like them.'. Alex on the other hand was silent for several seconds before stating,
"Very well, I'll accept. Adul I'll ask you to witness our agreement. I do not believe in using women as objects to bet, but I will stake this; as per Tio's wishes I've placed a mark of slavery on her that has made her be unable to go against any of my wishes, though I do not use such a thing lightly. If you can win against my retainer Ristan, I'll remove the mark from Tio, thereby removing my "control" from her, and she will chose who to go to after, is that agreeable?" Though Ristan wanted to argue, Adul spoke up first and stated,
"Since this matter concerns my granddaughter, then I'll accept your terms. Let us make our way towards the the battlegrounds." With the terms set everyone followed Adul as he led them towards the field where their warriors trained, with Alex smirking since no matter what nothing would change in the end. They were led to an expansive field by the ocean with several traces of the fights that had taken place here over the years, such as torn up earth and areas scorched blacked areas with ash. As they prepared for the fight Alex said to Bova seriously,
"I'm confident in your victory, but remember to avoid the water at all costs, I would be severely disappointed if you lost that way." Bova looked away somewhat shamefully as he recalled the time Alex had to fish him out of the waters of Erisen, and swore there wouldn't be a repeat incident. After a few more minutes all of the spectators retreated from the field to some cliffs nearby, leaving only the two combatants to stare at each other. As they stared at each other Ristan asked,
"Why follow that man? Someone as devoted and loyal as you is wasted on him, why not leave him and join us here on the island among your own kind?" Bova snorted at Ristan's offer and answered while narrowing his eyes,
"Why would I do that? My liege is the greatest of heroes and an inspiration to all of our kind in the world we came from, do not speak as if you already know who he is, or what he's done. You only see that he has something you want, and now you seek to take it as if it is a trophy instead of recognizing them as a person." Though Ristan glowered at Bova's praise, the rest of the dragon race that was spectating looked to Alex with intrigue, amazed that he had managed to inspire so much loyalty and pride in his vassal. The man himself simply shrugged at their looks, and said,
"Grayfia, Yue, make sure their fight doesn't reach us." The two girls nodded and immediately set up a massive and powerful barrier that not only covered them, but also blocked the village from any potential attacks that might go awry.
"Amazing..." Kartos muttered as he used his abilities to examine the barrier, only to find it was stronger and more powerful than any he had seen performed on the fly by two people. With all the preparations complete Adul stepped forward and shouted,
"BEGIN!!!"
The moment the match started Ristan immediately activated his dragon form, and after a second of being enveloped in a purple mist, there was a brilliantly shining indigo dragon standing there. As the sun glimmered off of his scales Grayfia muttered,
"Like this he looks dazzling, but why can't the person on the inside match the appearance?" Alex and the others nodded in agreement, while nearby Adul and the other spectators couldn't help but smile wryly at the comment. Their attention was immediately diverted however, when Bova canceled the magic that had made him miniature. Ever since they could see the island Bova had kept himself small so as not to overly alarm or trouble the fellow dragons when they arrived, but now that he was fighting he didn't bother worrying about that and grew to his full size. This time it was the dragonmen's turn to comment as at just a little over thirty feet, Bova towered over Ristan who was only twenty feet tall while transformed.
"Amazing..." Adul muttered this time, to which Alex commented,
"In our world Bova can be considered tiny compared to some of the other dragons that exist, each powerful enough to be a cataclysm singlehandedly if they so choose." As he explained the size and capabilities of dragons such as Great Red and Midgardsormr, the other spectators were in awe as they tried to imagine such a being, as well as Yue, Shia, and Tio themselves. They were distracted long however, as the battle began earnestly with Ristan attacking first.
"You may be bigger than me, but size isn't everything!" He shouted as he moved forward swiftly and tried to use his claws to attack. As he closed in however he found a clawed hand waiting for him as Bova reacted faster than his size suggested, and grabbed Ristan before slamming him against the ground.
"True I may not be fast, but I train almost exclusively with those faster than me, so don't think that you'll have an advantage!" As he said, Bova mostly trained with Sairaorg and Kiba, both being able to effortlessly run circles around him to the point that he simply had to adapt to the difference in speed, or be left behind. Of course since they weren't intending to kill each other Ristan hadn't taken much damage, and quickly got away while Bova pursued him. Though he waited for Ristan to attack previously he didn't intend to wait for him the entire time, and was now going on the offensive. After trying to come up with a new idea, Ristan spread his wings and took to the air.
"Come and get me, if you dare!" He called back as the distance grew between him and Bova. Though Bova was being wary of the water, he too didn't hesitate to take flight after Ristan. After reaching a suitable height Bova turned towards him and asked,
"So what now, hmm?" Ristan didn't answer, and instead Bova met with a blast fire, then another. Bova was somewhat confused as blast after blast of fire hit him, though it did nothing to hurt him as he could literally take the hottest fires of hell without breaking a sweat. His confusion was answered however as the smoke from the repeated blast of fire started growing thicker around him, before he was slammed from the side by Ristan, who then started using his claws to tear into Bova's flesh. Bova didn't even seem to register the pain, and instead grabbed Ristan tightly and started diving towards the ground while Ristan tried to cause as much damage as possible with his claws.
"Take this!" Bova roared as he released Ristan right before impact and pulled out of his dive, forcing the indigo dragon to slam into the ground with a lot more force than previously, forming a dust cloud that covered the entire field. After doing so Bova increased his elevation once more, ignoring his injuries as he waited along with everyone else for the dust to clear. When it finally did they could all see a dusty and somewhat disoriented Ristan, but he was otherwise seemingly unharmed, before he began laughing suddenly and said,
"HAHAHA! It appeared our scales are tougher than yours! tell me, how many injuries did you take just to get me to roll around in the dirt?" Bova snorted from the air and asked while pointing to the numerous gashes along his side,
"Do you mean these?" Not just Ristan, the other dragonmen present were confused at how casual Bova was acting about his wounds, until they noticed something unusual about them, that they were glowing with an eerie orange light before suddenly closing as if they never existed. Annoyed at how he realized he didn't get the better of Bova during the last exchange, Ristan started taking in a deep breath, making the other dragonmen worried as Adul shouted,
"Ristan don't!" But he was too late as Ristan released the most powerful breath attack a dragonman was capable of, a concentrated beam-like attacked composed entirely of concentrated flame and heat. They all watched in horror as Bova didn't even try to defend himself or evade as the attack hit him directly in the middle of the chest, and continued out his back into the distance. There was complete silence as after several seconds Ristan ended the attack, and almost everyone stared dumbfoundedly at the result as Bova continued flying as if nothing was wrong, even with a giant hole in his chest. The hole glowed with the same eerie light as his previous wounds however, and quickly closed in on itself with a substance that didn't at all seem to be flesh and blood, before his chest was restored perfectly to the state it was in before. As everyone questioned what they just witnessed, Alex suddenly said,
"I should have mentioned this before, but nearly all forms of physical attacks are useless against Bova, meaning Ristan had no chance to win right from the beginning." Several members of the dragon race looked at Alex in shock at his admission, but their attention was immediately turned back towards the fight as Bova said,
"Witness now the power I have received from my liege, the same person you have tried to slander! Witness the power of the Magu Magu no Mi!" As he finished speaking Bova took in a deep breath, while all of those spectating held theirs, and released something that none of them except Alex and Grayfia were expecting, magma. Even Ristan was frozen in place from sheer incredulity as a torrent of magma flew from Bova's mouth and poured over the land, forcing him to eventually try and take flight to escape the molten rock. However this escape route was simultaneously cut off as Bova hurled a giant mass of magma into the sky above them, triggering a meteor shower of magma and fiery rock to rain down upon them.
"W-what is this!?" Ristan demanded as he desperately tried to avoid the rain of molten rock, and the massive attacks that Bova was now hurtling at him, a sense of dread growing stronger within him. As a dragon he had an inborn ability to resist fire and its various forms, however magma was another thing altogether. Even now as droplets of the molten substance splashed onto him Ristan felt a pain like he never had before from the first burns he had ever received in his life, the heat penetrating his prided scales to deal damage to him. After trying and failing for several minutes to get closer to Bova to end the attack, and knowing that even his prided breath was useless here, Ristan eventually came up with a last ditch idea to try and pull ahead in this match. He figured that Bova's attacks must use a massive amount of energy to pull off, and therefore the solution was to simply outlast him. Since the duel will end only if one them actually gave up, Ristan found a place that was yet untouched by magma, and curled up before promptly going to sleep.
"He-he actually did it...." Adul said while face-palming himself, along with several other members of his people, as they watched Ristan's injuries quickly fade from the regenerative powers of their sleep. Alex even walked up and asked,
"Tio did the same thing when we first fought, is it a staple strategy for the dragon people to just go to sleep if they can win a fight?" Adul grimaced at Alex's question while Tio whistled innocently, before stating,
"As the witness I declare this match in Bova's favor due to Ristan no longer being able to fight, do any oppose my decision?" As could be expected no one argued Adul's decision while Bova made his way over after seeing the unusual situation. As he approached Alex said,
"Good job Bova, that was an excellent match." Bova beamed at his lords praise and bowed respectfully before saying,
"It was my privilege to fight in my lords behalf, and for the honor of one of his women!" Adul looked on the group fondly and was happy that his granddaughter found such amazing friends, before Kartos asked hesitantly,
"Sire, what should we do with Ristan?" Adul looked upon the now destroyed field to see Ristan still sleeping away as if nothing was wrong. He sighed and was about to say to leave for now so he wouldn't cause trouble, but Alex beat him to it.
"Don't worry about him, we'll wake him up." Everyone looked at him with surprise while Tio got an expectant look in her eyes as if she had an idea of what was about to happen. Alex then gestured for Bova to get closer, and whispered something in his ear, making Bova cringe before asking,
"R-really? You want me to do that?" Alex nodded and said,
"Yep, just think of it as his punishment for falling asleep in the middle of a fight." Bova shuddered at his liege's ruthlessness, but still made his way towards Ristan to do as Alex said. The spectating dragonmen watched in in curiosity as they wondered what Bova was going to do, as he held up one of his front claws and magmatized it until it looked like a giant molten club instead of claws. That was as far as curiosity went though, as Bova used his other claw to grab and lift Ristan's tail. What Bova did next, and the screams Ristan made afterwards haunted many of the spectators for many years to come.
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