'We're doomed.'
Those were Adonis' only thought when he gazed upon the Dark Dragon Lord.
The being's overwhelming presence, his immaculate attire, his commanding expression; all of it oozed the same thing.
—Power.
Sheer, unbridled power!
Adonis, with his Divine Blade, and his allies, were nothing compared to this supreme entity—one that could even be revered as a deity.
Dragon Lords were not like the rest of their kind. They were several levels above them, which was why they were often treated like gods.
Even Adonis, despite his sheer willpower and hatred towards the Dragons, found his legs shaking. His knees were tempted to buckle and crumble to the earth.
It took all of his strength to remain upright and still.
The screaming Belle fell quiet the moment the Dragon Lord appeared, so the entire expanse was as silent as a graveyard.
Not even the strained breathing of everyone could be heard.
They all had to be quiet… and look to the one who held their lives in his hands.
"I asked a question, but it seems like no one is willing to respond." The Dragon Lord itched his ear a little, scanning the audience a little before sighing.
"Look, you people should just relax a little, okay? I didn't come here to fight or anything. If I did, you'd all be dead by now."
The Lord was right.
Yet, the way he said it so casually made Adonis' heart squeeze in pain. The weight of powerlessness was heavy on him, but he could still say nothing.
"You can rest assured that I won't harm the rest of you. I'll take my leave as soon as I'm done satiating my curiosity, so don't worry." He added, scanning the audience once again.
"So who did it? Who killed… ah, what's his name again? Jerardino? Jerado? Erm…?"
He turned behind him to look at the Dragon General, using his facial expression to signal them so they could help him out with the answer.
"I-It's Jer'ard, my Lord…" Kar'en did her best to whisper it, but everyone in the devastated grounds still heard her response.
The shameless Dragon Lord pretended as if that wasn't the case and snapped his fingers the instant she told him the answer.
"Jer'ard… yes. That's his name. He was a miner, and his last recorded location was within your Capital, so I want to know how he died." He said, a small smile forming on his face.
"So who killed him?"
Adonis' mind was clouded by grief, pain, and fear, but there was no way he would fall for such an obvious front from a treacherous Dragon.
The smile of the Dragon Lord was calm, kind, and even somewhat friendly. It seemed so genuine that, despite his overwhelming presence and might, one could probably believe his words and sympathize with his intentions.
But—
'I'm not buying it!' Adonis' mind echoed as he gritted his teeth.
Dragons were the pinnacle of evil in this world. They desired nothing but chaos, and they took pleasure in inflicting as much of that chaos on those they deemed inferior to them.
There was no way a Dragon Lord would try to sympathize with a human, or think of sparing them upon meeting with them.
Dragons were brutal and merciless; and this one was no exception.
'He'll get the information he desires, and then he'll annihilate everyone and everything that exists in his line of sight.'
No one would be spared from his power.
"I can see that you distrust me quite a bit, and I understand why…" The Dark Dragon Lord's voice suddenly echoed in the air, instantly suspending Adonis' thoughts.
"But you're really overestimating yourselves if you think I would make a personal effort to eliminate you." He sighed. "Where's the pleasure in that?"
Adonis felt his teeth clenching against each other as he made a deep scowl.
The Dragon Lord looked at him in particular and broadened his smile. "Even now, despite seeing such blatant disrespect and sensing such deep animosity from you, I still refuse to take your lives."
Yes. He made it a point that he could kill them at any time.
Their lives were literally in his hands.
"I just don't want to. It'll be too bland to do so now, especially since it serves no real purpose."
In essence… they were not worthy to die by his hands.
"..."
None of the humans said anything. They all just watched in silence.
Perhaps they didn't want to tell on Ralyks, their savior, and put a bounty on his back. Maybe they simply didn't want to cooperate with this utterly malevolent entity that stood before them.
Or, the most likely reason, that they were simply too terrified to speak.
"Why don't I give you some time to process my question and come up with an answer?" The Dragon Lord sighed, huffing a bit of air as he turned away in dejection.
He floated off from the humans and went to the side of the Dragons, his backs turned against the purported enemies.
But, both the human and the dragon side knew that they were no real threats to him.
"Once I'm done talking to these two, I'll come for my answer." He waved, and then in the blink of an eye, all three of them vanished.
~VWUSH!~
Slight crackles of purple lightning and energy danced around the area where the three Dragons previously occupied. Now, it was empty.
The only ones left on the devastated grounds were Adonis and the rest of the humans.
Then, almost as if they finally remembered to breathe… the world around them became filled with heavy sighs of both relief and exhaustion.
Once the overwhelming pressure was gone, the humans were finally able to move their bodies and turn to each other.
All of them were frightened.
"W-what do we do now…?" For some reason, they all turned to Adonis the moment the question was raised.
Brutus, Lucielle, Alicia, and Belle… all of them stared hard at the Hero for an answer. He always knew what to do, and what was going on, after all.
However, for the first time ever, Adonis fell short of their expectations and cast his gaze on the ground.
"I… I don't know."
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Thanks for reading!
Do you think the Dragon Lord is lying about sparing them or not?
