What punishment shall we impose on the Guardian of Humanity?
Wingian, known as Wing, raised this issue. Ipian, known as Eye, curled his lips evilly.
"Heh heh heh, the audacity of that mere human to harm my sister. He's incredibly insolent. Fine. I'll make sure to tear his insignificant limbs apart..."
It was then. Scalian, known as Scale, covered his face with both hands and screamed.
"Wait! Stop, brother! That's a death flag!"
"...?"
"...?"
Eye hesitated with a puzzled look, and Wing blinked in confusion.
"Death... flag?"
"What are you talking about, Scale?"Scale, pulling at his hair, explained.
"If you use terms like 'mere', 'insignificant', 'insolent' towards humans, you're guaranteed to be killed by them! You won't survive!"
"...?"
"Since you used all those terms together, oh no! This is dangerous, really dangerous..."
Shivering, Scale adjusted his large glasses, and in a timid voice, he muttered to the two dragons.
"Honestly, I think even holding this meeting is dangerous..."
"What are you even talking about, Scale...?"
"An assembly of executives from an evil organization planning to defeat humans? And in such dark surroundings? This is totally a flag, you know? It's as if we're performing a ritual asking to be killed...!"
Listening to Scale ramble incomprehensibly, Eye and Wing finally noticed the title of the thick book in Scale's embrace.
<The Legendary Chronicles of the Lake Kingdom>
‘Ah, that's right...’
‘Scalian, this guy is...’
Both thought at the same time.
‘A severe addict of human culture.’
After being revived in the darkness of the Lake Kingdom.
The Pure Scale Scalian had made his lair in Zone 9's 'Royal Library.' Finding himself idle, he began reading the books there...
And became completely addicted.
Not satisfied with reading all the library's books, he delved deep into the history and culture of the Lake Kingdom.
Enamored with human culture, loving it too much...
...If Ash were here, he would have called him a 'human otaku.'
That was the Black Dragon's Pure Scale, Scalian.
"Of course, I also hate humans! It's natural for the world to burn and be destroyed!"
Noticing the cold looks from his brothers, Scale frantically waved his hands.
"We should exterminate humans, but their culture... it's really awesome! You should read this, brothers! It's really interesting!"
"Even if I read these vile books written by those lowly humans..."
"Whoaah! You can't use 'lowly' or 'vile' like that, Wing! It's a death sentence!"
"Heh heh heh, Scale. Who could possibly kill us?"
"Forbidden! Even saying that is forbidden! It's a total flag! Don't use it anymore, Eye! Got it?!"
Despite Scale's earnest dissuasion, the brothers paid him no heed.
Leaving Scale to mutter weird noises, Eye and Wing quietly conversed.
"Why doesn’t father just destroy humanity now? Why promise them a reprieve and leave them be?"
"It seems to be the 'rule.' Even father cannot easily defy it."
"I don't understand. Hasn't he already seized the throne here? There’s no need to obey anyone else."
"Well, who are we to presume to know father’s intentions? There might be things only visible from the throne."
While Wing didn't question father's actions much, Eye still shook his head, unable to comprehend.
"Giving them time to become stronger... favoring them under the guise of rules. I don't see how father is any different from that Demon Lord."
"It's different."
Wing said with a smile.
"When father’s time comes, he will not hesitate to shatter humanity into pieces. That is our purpose. Our great endeavor."
"...Right."
Eye slowly nodded.
Their father’s current actions might be incomprehensible, but that much was certain.
Hatred.
Their father hated the world. When the time of destruction comes, he will not hesitate. He will surely crush it by his own hands.
The issue now is the stance of the children.
Wingian adjusted his voice and said,
"Let's get back to the main point. The Guardian of Humanity is leading his army against us... how shall we punish him?"
Their father—Night Bringer—will surely not care.
Whether his children die or the Guardian of Humanity perishes, he will not act during the grace period he has granted to humans.
Eye chuckled mischievously.
"So, even if we kill the Guardian of Humanity, Father would be fine with it, right?"
Leaving him alive might be for their father’s amusement.
If he is roaming in this darkness, begging to be killed, there's no reason not to tear his throat out.
"If he is within Humanity, we cannot kill him without marching orders. But if he steps into the dark realm, isn't that as good as asking to be killed?"
"Killing him is a given. The question is, who will do it and how."
Wing nodded at Eye.
"Blood Droplet, Claw, and Fang might have been easy targets... but we three are of a different caliber. Any one of us could crush him like an ant."
Scale, listening in, whined that 'this is also a flag,' but the brothers paid no mind and continued their conversation.
"Then, I will take the lead. There’s no need to stain your hands, brother. I will handle it."
"No, no, that won't do. If you finish it all on your terms, Wing, then I won't get to taste that arrogant fool's fear. I'll be the one to kill him."
"Don't worry, Eye. I will capture him alive. You can finish him off with your own hands."
"But I want to slaughter his army too!"
Observing the jostling between the two brothers, Scale chimed in.
"Um, brothers! May I make a suggestion?"
"Huh?"
"Speak."
Then Scale, with a bright smile, raised his arms high.
"Why don't we just leave them alone!"
"...?"
"What in the world are you talking about, Scale..."
The confused duo listened as Scale calmly explained.
"The Guardian of Humanity is already attacking us with his army, right? If we just let him be, he’ll strike one of us eventually, won’t he?"
"Right?"
"So, there's no need for us to argue about who will kill him. Just let him attack, and whoever gets attacked deals with him. How about that?"
At first glance, it seemed like a fair opportunity for the Guardian of Humanity to attack any one of the three.
Wing pointed out a flaw.
"He has been attacking our legion in order of weakness. In other words, the next one he attacks will be... whom he deems weakest among us."
The three quickly exchanged glances.
Each believed they were the strongest. That was an unchanging truth for each of them.
So... who is the weakest?
"...Well, it sounds like a good suggestion."
Eventually, Eye chuckled and shrugged.
"Being treated as the weakest by the Guardian of Humanity in their eyes means being the most pathetic. Giving the chance to kill the Guardian of Humanity to whoever gets that treatment... sounds good to me."
Eye was confident that the opportunity wouldn’t come to him.
But as a magnanimous eldest brother, he was prepared to give his siblings a chance. He was somewhat impressed with himself for being so generous and noble.
However, he added one condition.
"However, there’s a condition. You can tear apart his army all you want, but capture the Guardian alive. Then, present him to father, and we'll kill him in front of father."
This roughly reached a consensus.
Military glory—the Guardian of Humanity would roll into whoever’s lap he chose to attack. However, the Guardian himself would be captured and killed together in front of their father.
"Shall we adjourn the meeting then? The other heads are making a ruckus trying to take control."
With his hands covering the middle and right eyes, Eye spoke.
There was no more discussion to be had. They were never particularly close siblings to begin with.
The three dragons exchanged simple goodbyes and dispersed to prepare for the enemy in their respective lairs.
All three thought there was no way the Guardian of Humanity would come to their lairs, but they had to prepare defenses to show the other two dragons.
Flash!
As the magic exploded, the dragons released their polymorph spells and returned to their original forms, then launched themselves into the sky and dispersed.
The Eye of the Black Dragon, the three-headed dragon Ipian, as soon as he returned to his original form, the three heads began to snap at each other and swiftly flew away.
The Wing of the Black Dragon, the Yinglong Wingian, led his monstrous legion and glided back slowly.
"..."
And the Pure Scale of the Black Dragon, the Eastern Dragon Scalian, floating slowly in the air, watched his two brothers disappear and then turned his body leisurely.
"Interesting, Guardian of Humanity,"
Scalian glanced down at the book he was holding, [The Legendary Chronicles of the Lake Kingdom].
"I'm truly curious about how you'll defeat the other dragons."
It might have been luck that he managed to harm Blood Droplet Kilitian.
But Claws Parekian and Fangs Tustivian were clearly defeated by skill.
Scalian felt a profound pleasure and curiosity in the fighting style of the Guardian of Humanity.
Ipian, Wingian, and even himself.
He was eager to see how they would be strategized against.
Chuckling, a dark malevolent energy swirled around Scalian's black form like a cloud.
Riding that cloud of dark energy, Scalian slid back to his lair, eagerly anticipating the next Dragon Raid orchestrated by the Guardian of Humanity, Ash.
***
Several days had passed since the Tustivian Raid.
The production guild was busy crafting new Dragon Slayer weapons.
I had prioritized ordering armor made from the Black Dragon's scales and leather, as powerful armor was crucial to protect our allied heroes from dragon attacks.
However, crafting armor from such materials was challenging without prior experience.
Fortunately, I had obtained some excellent references to base the new armor on.
The reward from the Zone 9 dungeon’s military warehouse. Lucas's final armor, the Black Scale Armor.
'Finally completed Lucas's endgame gear!'
Lucas had finished farming for his core equipment. Now, only a few accessory pieces remained to be sorted out.
Despite the powerful armor made from the Black Dragon's own scales, Lucas had yet to try it on.
As the armor was being used as a reference to produce other pieces...
"I am fine, my lord... It is for everyone on the frontline, so a little delay in trying on the armor hardly upsets me..."
Even as he said this, Lucas gnawed on his lip. It was bleeding.
Naturally, because the Black Scale Armor had to be thoroughly examined for the production, it was now disassembled and hanging on the wall of the forge.
Lucas felt as if his own body had been taken apart. Just a little longer...
Clang! Clang!
During the same period, Kellibey supervised the entire forge, immersing himself in crafting other equipment.
Notably, gear from the energy core of the King of Flies.
Armor sets forged from the magical core of King of Flies Beelzebub.
"Are you alright, Kellibey?"
"Of course, I'm fine. No, it's the opposite. I'm pleased."
Every time I visited the forge and asked worriedly, Kellibey, drenched in sweat, chuckled.
"I'm crafting from the core of the creature that killed my child. For me, this process is a form of appeasement."
Suddenly, I remembered an event from Stage 5.
The Vampire King Celendion was also an enemy of Kellibey. Celendion had killed his brother.
And Celendion's magical core was reborn as the [Lord of Crimson], now in Junior’s hands.
Perhaps the equipment from Paris King Baalzebub’s core held a similar significance for him.
After days of dedicated work.
"Not quite a Nightmare Legion commander, but this is practically a Nightmare Slayer. The power it holds, the darkness within..."
Finally completing the equipment.
Kellibey looked over the finished product on the workbench with complex emotions and beckoned.
"Here, it's done. Take a look."
I slowly approached to inspect the armor.
The dark-colored armor consisted of three pieces.
A chestplate, leg armor, and...
A helmet adorned with a halo-like crown.
--TL Notes--
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at /MattReading