[Moments Earlier]
"M-My Lord… what exactly do you plan to do with those humans?"
Kar'en, as well as her subordinate, were bowed in the presence of the Dark Dragon Lord, but after getting his permission to raise their heads, they both cast their gaze upon him.
They still remained on their knees, though.
As Kar'en's crimson eyes reflected the immaculate form of her superior, she felt tremors within her body. Merely speaking to him gave her shivers.
Despite belonging to the same species as the Death Dragon Lord, and one of those recognized as viable candidates to succeed him, she still revered the Dark Dragon Lord as her true master.
She had trained under his guidance for the longest time, after all.
"Hm? What do you mean? I already said I would let them go, didn't I?" Lord Ob'elisk replied, almost acting surprised by the General's questions.
"J-just like that…?"
The Dragon Lords were mysteries, even to the members of their race. As such, it was very difficult to decipher the true emotions and intentions of one, even if they outwardly displayed a particular trait.
The Dark Dragon Lord was known to be detached and ruthless, yet here he was talking about sparing the insignificant humans.
'Lord Ob'elisk doesn't even care much for any of his offspring, especially if they're weak. That's why he did not even hesitate to take me under his wing despite not being from his lineage…'
As long as one was competent, they had the attention of the Dark Dragon Lord.
"I-I don't understand…"
"You don't need to. It's just going to be a waste to eradicate them now, after all." The Dragon Lord said with a slight shrug.
"Besides, we can eliminate them at any time. There's nothing wrong in waiting a little while longer to fatten up the lambs a little longer."
"I-I see…" Kar'en clasped her hands as she heard her Lord utter those words.
Once again, she was reminded of his ruthlessness and detachment from any life he deemed inferior.
Her eyes glistened and she nodded in respect for his words.
"By the way… the both of you should have this." With a snap of his fingers, Lord Ob'elisk caused two potions within special-looking vials to appear in front of each kneeling Dragon.
The purplish liquid within the vial sloshed within the glass-like compartment, and while it glistened with allure, a certain danger oozed from within it.
"M-My Lord…?"
As Kar'en eyed the floating potion in front of her, she couldn't determine whether it was poison, or some other kind of concoction. The look on Ser'ith's face showed that he too was faced with the same conflict.
"They're Recovery Potions. Stop being overly dramatic and consume them." Lord Ob'elisk sighed, almost slapping his hand on his face while shaking his head.
He didn't say any further, but his expression alone showed how disappointed he was that they thought he would feed them poison.
'Why would I even do that?' He almost opened his lips to say. 'You're my subordinates. Plus, I could just kill you myself if I wanted you dead…'
He restrained himself from speaking any further, though, considering how these two would probably misconstrue his words to suit whatever perception of him that they had in his head.
'It seems my very presence here has sparked a lot of misunderstandings…' He sighed internally, turning away from the two who had already begun to consume the contents of the vial.
As they did so, their bodies glowed, and they began to recover their Life Force, Mana Levels, and Combat Ability.
His Potion was very potent, after all.
'I wouldn't have come here if it was left up to me, but… apparently, the Emperor caught wind of my secret investigation and told me to ensure the heart of human civilization was still left standing…'
That meant he had to make sure the Capital didn't suffer any major damage or fall.
'I have no idea what the Emperor is thinking, and why this battle needs to be dragged out for so long like this, but… frankly, I don't really care.'
When Ob'elisk thought about something for too long, he had one solution that always worked for him.
'I can't wait till I'm done here so I can go back to sleep.' Right now, that was the only thing on his mind.
He was even feeling a little sleepy as he stood.
'The Emperor wants to spare the humans, so I have to obey. The reason I showed up was to stop the whole investigation personally, and also to personally see how much human civilization has grown.'
It had been a couple decades or so since he last came out to check the humans out—or even left the comfort of his castle at all—and it seemed not much had changed about them.
Their civilization looked pretty much the same.
'Well, it's a good thing I came when I did. I initially thought I would have to stop my minions from killing more humans, but it seems it was the other way around.'
Ob'elisk couldn't have anticipated what he saw with his eyes. The humans actually had the upper hand in the fight.
'They've killed three of them already, and these two would have surely died if I didn't show up.' He cast his gaze on Kar'en and Ser'ith—both of them looking completely rejuvenated thanks to his Potion.
'Well, none of that matters now. All I need is to get the name of the guy who killed my offspring and kill him, at least to save some face.'
He didn't really care for revenge, but he couldn't afford to show up after so long and not do anything. That would reduce the perception of Dragon Lords in the eyes of humans, and he was sure the Emperor would scold him if that happened.
'At the very least… I should just kill my child's murderer. That's more than enough justification, right?' With that in mind, he nodded and completely turned to his subordinate.
They were already on their feet, saluting and ready for action. It was moments like this that reminded Ob'elisk that his subordinates were at least somewhat sensible.
"Okay, let's return."
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Thanks for reading!
This was a prelude chapter, to take a brief break from the tension from last time. Now, it's time we jump right back in.
