( A common citizen's POV )
The entire city of Thumba was thrown into disarray upon the sighting of the dragon.
Some people began locking themselves in their houses, hoping that a roof and brick walls would keep them safe against the dragon's attacks, while the others took their valuables and started to flee towards the city's exit.
However, true chaos erupted when the dragon launched its assault on the Duke's manor. It was only when the citizens witnessed the beast unleash its dragon breath upon the manor that a wave of pure terror swept through the streets of Thumba.
The Duke's Manor was known to be a fortress of stone and magic.
Before the Southern Duchy was a part of the Unity Empire, this manor belonged to Duke Nico's ancestors who were powerful mages and had constructed the Manor with the use of magic stones and powerful inscriptions that were supposed to help the manor withstand sieges and the onslaught of enemy mage spells.
Throughout history, the manor had not once been damaged or destroyed and it was a symbol of the pride of the Paz family, however, against the dragon's breath, the manor crumbled as though it were made of paper.
The dragon's breath, a torrent of flames that blazed hotter than the sun, erupted from the black dragon's maw with an intensity that defied imagination.
The inferno wasn't just a stream of fire—it was a wall of destruction, a river of molten energy that surged forward, consuming everything in its path as the manor's formidable defenses, which would have taken a battalion of mages several powerful volleys to even scratch, melted away in mere seconds.
The stones themselves seemed to scream as they disintegrated, reduced to slag under the unrelenting heat.
From over a kilometer away, the citizens could feel the searing heat, as though the dragon's breath was right upon them. The air of Thumba City itself shimmered with the unbearable temperature, with those closest to the manor having to shield their faces as their skin burned from the heat radiating off the distant inferno.
"Oh gods, we're all doomed!" cried a woman, her voice trembling with fear as she clutched her child close, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Nothing can stop it… It's going to burn the whole city!" another man shouted, his face pale as he backed away, stumbling over his own feet in his haste to flee.
"The Duke's manor… gone in an instant! We're next… there's no escape!" a merchant whispered, his voice thick with despair as he watched the devastation unfold.
The citizens of Thumba City could only stand in helpless horror as the Duke's manor was reduced to rubble and ash, the dragon's might so overwhelming that it seemed like the beast was merely toying with them.
As the flames continued to roar, consuming what little remained of the once-imposing structure, and the earth beneath the manor sizzled and cracked under the intensity of the heat, until no signs of the previous manor remained.
"This… this isn't just a dragon. It's a calamity of destruction! How are we supposed to survive this?!" a young man cried out, his voice cracking as tears streamed down his face.
In the face of such overwhelming power, the people of Thumba could do nothing but pray that the beast's wrath would somehow be sated before it turned its attention to the rest of the city.
The true horror of the dragon was not just in its size or strength, but in the sheer ease with which it brought devastation upon them—a power so vast and unstoppable that their hopes of survival began to dwindle into nothingness.
"Run! We must run! There is no other choice, we must flee–" A common consensus emerged, as all citizens fled away from the Duke's manor in all directions.
On every road throughout the city, one could only see people rushing away from the Duke's manor, as they tried to escape Thumba City in desperation.
However, as the rest of the city fled away from the Duke's manor, there was one man dressed in black robes that walked on rooftops towards it.
That man was none other than Ben Faulkner, the master assassin with a set of iron balls, who dared take on even the black dragon for the greater good.
A dagger in both hands and a determined expression in his eyes, Ben Faulkner calmly assessed the weaknesses of the man riding the Black Dragon, who was none other than the Demon King Anos.
**********
( Meanwhile Anos's POV )
As the Duke's manor was reduced to rubble and the land beneath it was flattened into a bed of molten rocks, there were remarkably only two humans who survived this onslaught.
One of them was dressed more nobly than the other and seemed to have survived with the use of a magic treasure, however, the other seemed to be a proper warrior who had survived with his own strength.
"Ho– surviving Drogo's dragon's breath? That man is as strong as a Demon Count. A truly formidable human" Anos complimented, as for the first time since he was in human territory, he found a worthy opponent.
"@@### @@#### "
The human shouted, and although Anos did not understand a word of what he said, it seemed to be a battle cry.
"Ho—, let him approach me Drogo, let me kill this one myself" Anos said, as he unsheathed his sword and pointed it towards Vice-Commander Phill, daring him to make a move.
As a master of the art of faking it till one made it, Anos knew that he did not have to truly be a strong warrior as long as it appeared that he was one.
Since his opponent was presumably the strongest human around, beating him was going to bring Anos lots of street credit amongst the demons watching on from behind him, and hence Anos requested that Drogo leave this one up to him.
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/// A/N - Chapter 2 of 5 of the mass release!
Special Shoutout to patron Cervantez91 for giving this book a Golden Gachapon and contributing 80 GT through it.
We have catapulted to rank 14 exceeding my target thanks to your contribution.///