Volume 8 Chapter 18 (1/2)

The 3 strongest Demon Lords had come to my casino. It wasn't just to hang around though. Their real purpose was…

”Hey, come on now. This is the true dragon squadron and the true [Dragon Emperor] we're talking about. Be more excited.”

Of course, I knew of his true dragon squadron. During the campaign to rescue Marcho, Astaroth had used this group to attack the [Black] Demon Lord's holy capital.

It was an elite force that was comprised of one S rank monster and 19 A rank monsters.

The absurd strength of an S rank monster didn't need any further discussion, but the strength of the other 19 was beyond the norm too.

First off, each of the 19 were made to be able to level up. Upon leveling up to their fullest, their base capabilities were comparable to an S rank monster.

Each of them was also made using the [Dragon] medal, which meant they had the skill [Berserk]. Essentially, [Berserk] had the tremendous effect of raising a monster's stats by one rank, but it was at the cost of the monster's sanity, turning it into a broken being that attacked anything it saw.

However, thanks to the S rank monster in the group, Caesar the Emperor Dragon Tupon, this drawback was rendered null. His skill, the [Dragon Emperor] allowed him to subdue any dragon in the same army, even if that dragon was under the effects of [Berserk]. It also allowed him to strengthen the dragons he commanded to the utmost.

As a whole, there might not be a fighting force that could rival their might. Even if the Avalon-Ritters were assisted by the Darkness Dragons, they would most probably be annihilated pretty easily.

”Ast, I'm grateful for the offer, but I don't think I'm qualified to receive your dragons. I mean, I'm neither your child nor part of your faction.”

Inheriting such things would surely make me powerful, but I wasn't convinced that I should.

”Fumu, maybe I didn't explain it well enough. I can entrust my true dragon squadron only to Stolas and you. No one else. After all, without [Dragon Emperor] to control the dragons, the squadron will just go wild and make one's army collapse from within.”

Such was the horror of [Berserk].

A monster possessing such a skill was borderline unusable. Normally, Demon Lords would keep such a monster in their [Storage] and release it only in situations where it could attack more foes than allies. In the middle of enemy territory, for example.

In fact, Enlil was constantly kept in Stolas's [Storage] until [Rebirth] was used on him.

”But shouldn't inheriting the monster that has [Dragon Emperor] along with the rest solve the issue?”

”It should solve the issue, but that's not going to happen. You see, Caesar, the one with the skill, has expressed his desire to go to the afterlife with me. According to him, he'll use his ability to turn into a spirit and follow me after my death. At any rate, when the time comes, the other dragons will need looking after. For that reason, I turn to the two of you and your dragons. It's still undeveloped right now, but both Duke and Enlil do have the skill [Dragon Emperor].”

Duke definitely had the skill, and according to Stolas, Enlil too.

Perhaps it's a skill that S rank dragons have?

”Ast, what exactly is [Dragon Emperor]? As far as I can tell, it's just a strengthening skill that works toward dragons.”

In numerous occasions, I had tried to verify what the skill [Dragon Emperor] actually does.

The degree to which it strengthened dragons was pretty insignificant, so it didn't strike me to be an excellent leadership skill.

I had thought it to be a dud skill.

Moreover…

”I want to know too, Astaroth-sama. Enlil has it too, but it's not as strong as Caesar's. I don't think Enlil's can suppress the dragons under the effects of [Berserk] as much as Caesar's either.”

Stolas shared the same sentiments. There has to be more to it. It can't just be a dud.

”Well, that's because [Dragon Emperor] is a skill that grows. When an ally dragon falls or when the skill-holder kills another dragon, the strength of that fallen dragon's soul is consumed to make the skill grow stronger. Caesar has seen tens of thousands of dragons fall, making his skill far different from a fledgling's.”

I see. So, that's how it is, huh.

Duke has never had a chance to kill a monster from the dragon race, nor has he been in the unfortunate situation to see a Darkness Dragon fall. Due to those reasons, his [Dragon Emperor] has never grown stronger.

Enlil was in the same boat.

After all, meeting a dragon in itself was quite rare.

As for Astaroth, he was operating a proper dungeon, so he was using his monsters as bait to lure in adventurers. Throughout the many years, he doubtlessly had lost a lot of monsters. And because he was the [Dragon] Demon Lord, many of those monsters were likely to be dragons, making Caesar's skill grow stronger.

If I were to make Duke's skill grow stronger, I could make him purposefully kill some Darkness Dragons. I didn't want to do it that way, though. I just couldn't.

But then, if I was really unwilling to improve Duke's skill by ourselves, the only alternative I could see was to steal an already fully improved [Dragon Emperor].

”Ah, I see now why you're asking the two us… You want our dragons, Duke and Enlil, to defeat Caesar and take his [Dragon Emperor] for themselves. And then, whoever gets the true [Dragon Emperor] shall be the one entrusted to lead your elite dragon force.”

If it was impossible to consume the souls of ten thousand dragons, then one should aim to consume the soul of one that had already consumed that amount.

That sounded straightforward enough, but because none of the Demon Lords in his faction had a monster with [Dragon Emperor], Stolas and I truly were the only candidates.

”Correct. Like I said earlier, I originally wanted to entrust this to just Stolas. However, I'm afraid Enlil alone is not capable of defeating Caesar. Enlil and Duke together might be able to, though. And before you ask, yes, Caesar has to fight with all his might. Otherwise, his [Dragon Emperor] cannot be transferred. That is where Dan comes in. If you undertake the trial in his [Time] arena, even if your dragons get injured or worse, get killed, they will be just fine afterward. That sums up the gist of the Dragon's Trial.”

I gulped down at the prospect of fighting one of three strongest Demon Lord's trump card. Even if there was no other benefit, I might have wanted to give it try anyway.

”Then, I'd absolutely like to give it a go. How about you, Stolas?”

”Of course, me too. I want to preserve as much of Astaroth-sama's legacy as possible… but that's not the only reason I want to do it. I want him to know just how strong I am. As his child, I am going to give my all in doing this trial.”

Looking pleased with our answers, Astaroth nodded.

”There you have it, Dan. We're going to be inconveniencing you.”

Astaroth said so to his close friend and then chuckled.