Chapter 685: Two Heavyweight Allies.
[Oh....? Despite looking so big, he's not an ancient dragon but an adolescent one.] Roxanne spoke.
And that got Victor's attention. He looked at the big dragon that he couldn't see as just a 'teenager'.
[Are you serious?] Victor couldn't help but question.
[Yeah, look with your powers. You'll see that his soul isn't mature enough.]
Doing what Roxanne said, Victor's vision changed, and he could clearly see that the dragon's soul was not mature enough to be considered an elder.
The proof of this was that when a soul reached the 'older' age, the soul became more 'solid' and 'brilliant'. At least, that was the case with supernatural creatures that lived a long existence.
A detail that Victor learned from 'testing' and training in hell for all those years.
[He's just a teenage dragon and already so big... Imagine when he's older.] Victor couldn't help but smile at that thought.
[That must be why this dragon is helping Diablo, an elder dragon would rather die than serve someone, they are very proud.]
Victor walked off of the dragon's snout and asked:
"What's your name?"
The dragon lifted its snout and sat up while looking at Victor.
[Zaladrac Zeovnur.] A rather feminine voice spoke in Victor's head.
[Sigh. I can already see where this is going.] Roxanne sighed.
Visibly ignoring Roxanne, he said, "Oh? Are you female?"
'And that name sounds like a tongue twister. I can't even say it.' Victor thought.
[Of course, it would be female. What do you expect, a male? It's not like you have a whole army of Maids and warrior women at your disposal 24/7] Roxanne rolled her eyes in exasperation.
Victor completely ignored Roxanne [Again] and waited for the dragon's response.
[Yes] A simple and short answer.
"Hmm..." Victor assessed the black dragon and noticed several wounds on her body.
Victor pointed his hand toward the dragon, and pure red energy shot out of his hand and hit the dragon.
[... Hmm? What is this sensation? It's really good...] A satisfied voice was heard in Victor's head.
Visibly, the dragon's wounds began to heal.
"Now, you look like a proud dragon." Victor smiled in satisfaction.
The dragon looked at Victor's smile and felt a warmth in her heart. Following its instincts, the dragon's eyes glowed slightly.
"... Hmm? What is this…" Victor narrowed his eyes, "A connection…?"
[Holy Fuck, that's a dragon! She is huge! Did she make a soul bond?]
[HAHAHAHAHA, he got a damn dragon as a mate!]
[Shut up, Alter! This place is getting tight! And you're reacting like you didn't expect it!]
[It's more fun that way.]
[Hmph.]
"... Why did you do that?" Victor asked curiously.
[Instinct.] A simple answer again.
"Elaborate further."
[Being by your side will ensure my existence, and you will treat me well. That's what my instinct says... And your power is attractive...]
Victor could have sworn he imagined the dragon blushing a little, but he was pretty sure it was his mind playing tricks on him. After all, being in hell for too long didn't make him very sane.
[Therefore, I chose you as my knight.]
"... I see." Was all Victor could say.
[HAHAHAHA! I like this girl. She knows what she wants!]
Roxanne sighed: [Well, the younger dragons are simple beings. They only gain wisdom after several years or as soon as they finish assimilating all the memories of the past generation of dragons... I guess she was attracted to his energy? Or by his appearance? Maybe because of his strength? Or because he subjugated her?]
[A combination of everything, of course.] Alter pointed out.
[Hmm...] Roxanne grunted in agreement.
Ignoring Roxanne's debate, Victor spoke:
"I presume I gain something by becoming your knight?"
"What...?" Vepar choked on spit when she heard what Victor said.
Not just her, Helena, Vine, and everyone who was looking at Victor gasped at what they heard.
[You will gain each time our bond deepens. For now, I can only share my vision with you, and you can do the same with me.]
"Interesting." Victor thought it over several times and saw no downsides, so he just shrugged.
"Well… What's done is done."
"Just know one thing, as my dragon, you must not yield to anyone."
A snorting sound was heard from the dragon: [Of course not, I only do that for you because you have my respect, and you are my knight.]
"And don't call me a knight; I'm a king. Your king."
[... Whatever, knight is just an adjective to talk about our connection. The connection will get deeper and deeper as the trust between us grows. Oh, and we haven't gone through the full bonding steps.]
"Hmm? So just do it."
[Are you sure? It will hurt a lot; I didn't do it the first time because of that. I didn't want my intentions to be seen as hostile]
"Go ahead."
[Okay.]
The dragon touched the area of his chest with its claw, and a red power began to form in that place. The next moment, the dragon raised its claw to Victor's head and let it lightly touch his forehead.
Victor raised his eyebrow: "Hmm, that hurts a little. It's like a massage that is a little too strong."
The dragon looked in disbelief at her new 'King'. From what she knew from her parents' memories, this wasn't supposed to happen, the man should scream like a bitch, but he's just taking it like it's nothing.
'Hmm... I can feel her better now.' Victor thought.
[Done, connection established.]
[Oh... The dragon became more visible in here.] Roxanne spoke.
[A proof of the full bond.] Alter spoke.
[Take care of me, My 'King'.]
"Umu, I take care of you, and you take care of me, okay? And call me Victor."
[...Okay, Victor.]
"Good."
In a way, he really liked the simple way of thinking the dragon in front of him had.
Victor turned to face the demons and other individuals and found them looking at him with more awe than before.
Victor raised his eyebrow: [Do they fear a dragon rider so much?]
[Of course, Master. A connected dragon rider like you will grow stronger along with the dragon, and as you know, dragons are the peak of the species. Even gods must beware of them.]
[In everyone's mind, you just got even more dangerous.]
[Come to think of it now, Zaladrac made the right decision. If the war had continued with her as Diablo's ally, most likely, she would have become the enemy of all Pantheons. Diablo provoked many people with this war, and the very existence of a dragon is something that attracts the gods because a dragon's body has a lot of useful ingredients.] Alter spoke.
[Now that you mention it, that's true] Roxanne was supportive.
Victor made an internal sound of recognition and searched his memories for all the information on the dragons and dragon riders the twins had taught him.
'She's clearly not normal...' In the memories Victor saw, he saw that the dragons that are 50 Meters in diameter are already ancient dragons, but Zaladrac is just a teenager.
If the information is not wrong, there is only one explanation; Zaladrac is not normal... Like everything else in Victor's life.
Despite appearing casual throughout the 'conversation', Victor hadn't taken his senses away from the war. He knew his demons were winning.
And this whole act of casually 'acting' was only for three reasons.
Provoke the enemy.
Demonstrate superiority.
And through those actions say that this war was nothing to someone like him.
For someone as old and proud and used to having everything at his fingertips like Diablo, this was a huge blow to his ego.
Diablo would never take anything into his own hands unless it's extremely necessary or its opponents he considers 'worthy'. This was because such a task was not up to the incarnation of evil.
That was the personality analysis that Victor had after hearing several testimonies from the twins and Lily, who always heard Baal comment about Diablo.
So it was no surprise to Victor when an even more enraged Diablo ordered it.
"Lilith, use all your power. Kill him!"
Victor had to contain himself a lot not to flash a big smile.
"Zaladrac, fly in the sky, do not interfere unless I order it."
[Yes.] With a flap of wings, the dragon took to the skies and left the battlefield.
Victor just looked at Lilith, flying towards him with a big wild smile on her face.
"Vepar, Helena, Lily, you know what to do."
"Yes, My King." The three spoke, then dispersed, leaving the king alone.
It was at that moment when the three women disappeared that Diablo realized something was wrong, but it was too late.
Lilith, with all her strength, punched Victor's face.
A loud bang was heard, and a crater was formed, followed by red dust that covered everything around them.
Disabling everyone's view of the confrontation.
Victor blocked Lilith's fist with his arm covered in red power.
Despite her lifeless expression, the look of shock in her eyes was quite obvious. She couldn't believe someone had taken her punch like it was nothing.
And she was even more surprised when a woman she knew very well appeared behind her and enveloped her in dark power streaked with white.
'I can't move…' Even though her body was being controlled, her mind was still steady and strong.
The will of the mother of demons was just that strong.
"Originally, I just wanted to fight you and ignore your situation. Even if I suspected you were being controlled, suspicions which were later confirmed by myself."
"And when my suspicions were confirmed, I couldn't ignore this matter any longer. I didn't want to fight a doll. If I'm going to fight, I want to fight the real you." Victor raised his hand and placed it on Lilith's head.
"That's why I spoke to your daughter, the only one in hell who could contain you without doing you too much harm..."
"Now, return to former glory, Lilith, mother of all demons."
Victor's hand began to glow brighter, and soon Lilith was screaming in pain.
...
"AHHHHHHHH!"
Hearing the scream of pain, the battlefield was momentarily silent, then a burst of pure miasma power soared to the heavens.
'No, No... It can't be... How can he destroy magic? That should be impossible!' Diablo was in disbelief as he felt the bond he had with Lilith slip away.
'Don't tell me he 'devoured' the magic?... But that's impossible! He shouldn't have awakened his Progenitor side...' Diablo opened his eyes wide.
'... Of course, he woke up, didn't he?' Diablo growled.
As the power began to wane, everyone on the battlefield saw two large demonic wings unfold, and soon Lilith's appearance was shown to everyone.
Unlike before, when her expression was lifeless, only hatred and anger were seen in Lilith's eyes. Her previously white hair turned black like darkness itself.
Her pale skin became healthy, as if she was alive again.
Lilith, the mother of demons, was back in all her immortal glory, and she was full of hate.
"Give me back what belongs to me, worm." Lilith extended her hand, and the sound of several bangs was heard in the distance. Soon an ominous sword appeared in her hand.
A weapon with anti-god properties, a God-Slayer.
Genesis.
[Are you really not going to fight him, Vic?] Roxanne asked.
[My dear, Roxanne. What am I?]
[The King… The king of all hell.]
[Exactly. Why should I fight someone so weak when my Demon Goddess can do that for me?]
[HAHAHAHAHAHA, WELL SAID! This is how we should fucking act!]
[Alter, shut up!] Roxanne growled, then spoke again:
[Are you sure, Vic?]
[Yeah.]
Roxanne narrowed her eyes. She spent years living with Victor, and she knew her husband very well. If he's not fighting, it's because he has a good reason. After all, the husband she knew would never refuse a fight against a stronger being.
So the only explanation she could think of was:
[Violet's vision, huh... Do you still remember that?]
[... How can I forget something my beloved wives said?]
[Indeed … You would never forget something they said.] Roxanne smiled gently:
[But it still doesn't make sense, Darling. If you want to avoid the vision, shouldn't you kill him?]
[Who says I want to avoid the vision, Honey?]
[Eh...?]
[By letting Lilith take her revenge, I will acquire a demonic goddess as an ally, and even if she doesn't succeed, she will pressure Diablo enough until he recklessly completes his plans… And when he does…]
Victor's smile just grew, in a predatory way, a smile Roxanne knew all too well. It was the same smile he used when he was looking at a food cart.
[Vic… You … You are insane.]
[HAHAHAHAHA! The thought of a real predator! As expected of the 'King'!] Alter was really enjoying himself.
[Killing two birds with one stone, huh? Now, I can understand what you are planning.]
[Prepare to act at any time, Honey.]
Roxanne sighed: [Haah … Count me in, Darling!] She finished with her usual vigor at the end, an expectant look appearing on her face. She wouldn't lie to herself and say she wasn't interested in Victor's plan.
Victor waved his hands, and a dark throne with red colors appeared. He sat on the throne and leaned his back against it comfortably.
"Ladies and gentlemen."
"Let's start the show." His smile grew even wider: "A very angry goddess's show of revenge against a lowly demon who swallowed more than he should have."
Diablo snarled, "ALUCARD, YOU USURPING WORM!"
"Relax your heart, Diablo. Or you could die of a heart attack like a lowly 'human'."
"Hahahaha~"
.....
