Raith was troubled from within as he watched her laughter settle. What was funny about this?
The lady with shuddering shoulders finally calmed down but even after she was done with her laughter a small teasing smile lasted on her lips. It was enough to mislead and entrant that both of them were friends.
Raith, however, found nothing funny. His usually friendly look was gone and he scowled at the lady.
"What is funny?" He asked.
"You called yourself a ruler. Human, do you even know what that word means?"
"...?"
Is it not the same term ruler he has been hearing ever since? Humans who have surpassed their limit and had gained the powers of the seven Sins are said to be chosen by the wheel of the cosmos itself.
Was there anything else attached to the term? Or was it not what he had thought it to be?
Raith ran by himself all the things he was sure he knew. Both were what he heard from Balam back then. He understood well that there was still a lot more he had not known but that doesn't mean he didn't at least grasp the true meaning of the term 'ruler'
'She's just being extra because she submitted to a human.'
It was an amusing speculation, in fact, this hard to be it. Of course, it would hurt the dragon's pride to see that a guy like him is a ruler.
Raith relaxed his furrowed brows and said with a light smile;
"Well, it doesn't matter whether you believe it. After submitting yourself to a human you must be devastated that this naked pervert in front of you is on the same level as your master."
Raith chuckled afterwards.
But her smile curved to an irritated frown.
"Same level? Submitted?"
Her face showed how irritated she was, she was casting a downward gaze at Raith and the corner of her lips was turned down. How was a filthy pervert like him supposed to understand? Hence, she resisted the urge to explain.
"Go back to the hole you crawled back from."
She said, turning away from him and walking towards her throne.
"You see... I can't really do that and I guess I will take you seriously from now on..."
'I have been keeping him in the storage and unconscious because he is incomplete. Even back in Therut, I didn't use him for a reason but I really should see how strong he is... since I invested a lot into him.'
Raith stretched out his right hand.
"Rise..."
Dark smoke spread like a pool beneath him and began to cause the entire atmosphere to shiver.
Crimson, Kortopi, Antares, and Jarvis who were bystanders shook with intense fear. Even they are usually not summoned like this.
It was a deeper depth than they were used to.
One that was far deeper than anything they had comprehended before now.
"What is that...?" Crimson's voice trembled.
"Our liege is a being of endless possibilities and wonder. Questioning his abilities will run you mad."
Jarvis stated as his white smoky eyes from the visor of his dark helmet glimmered at Raith with reverence.
"My king truly is magnificent."
The darkness as seen by the four of them was deeper than anything they had ever seen. Its black hue was thick, as the shadows, unlike the usual red glint to complement the black hue. This one was pitch black.
And from it came a hand. It was pulling itself out of the depth.
"Meet.... Rogue. He's still a work of progress but I want to see how much my guys and I can do against a dragon. Noir."
The shadow behind beneath him resided and another one open, the usual one.
It merged and manifested Noir, the dark wyvern as large as a dragon itself.
Noir had a very long neck, it made his head reach the chandeliers of the hall which were very high up. His larger wings spread across the 'now' pillars and fighting in an enclosed space was not going to be easy.
"Jarvis, Kortopi, Crimson, Antares. Step forward, we have a dragon to slay."
With a chorused response, they fling forward, standing behind Raith.
The scene was serene. Pitch black smokes continually came off their body, and dissipated into the atmosphere.
The lady stood frozen, staring at the entities before her, especially the large wyvern. Something about her demeanor had changed.
"These are beings that should not be alive." She raised her chin... slowly, her skin began to reveal scales of sky-blue color.
"A human that cannot die. Entities who are like the undead... I think I understand. You are a lich king, disguising to be a human."
"Now that is the dumbest evaluation anyone has ever made of me. Never knew a dragon could be so dumb."
Raith grinned. He brought out Bal and swirled the sword around his fingers with showoff.
"Tear her apart"
With his command, all of them leaped forward, all at once, darting at her like black flames unleashed from a heavenly arrow.
But they were repelled by a devastating force, followed by a loud cry that slowly transitioned from the tiny rough voice of a human to the thick rumbling voice of a creature that slowly broke out of the human skin.
Her eyes narrowed into gleaming orbs of the ocean's calmness. A mighty snout extended from her face with her teeth lengthening into formidable fangs. Her porcelain skin slowly transformed into a mosaic of icy blue that shimmered under the faint light that was being radiated in the ice palace.
Her limbs extended into powerful legs and arms, each ending with strong talons that could easily cleave through rocks like bread.
Her wings were a colossal span of crystalline membranes that seemed to be trapping the cascading light, measuring an astonishing 20m from tip to tip. They easily broke through the close pillars.
With a final roar that reverberated through the entire hall, a large ice dragon fully unleashed itself, with its head crashing into the chandeliers and ceilings.
Noir's gaze slowly and fearfully followed as the dragon's large head rose. It was immense, standing 40 meters from the nose
to the tip of its tail and towering height of 12 meters.
Raith's eyes rolled up.
"It's... a dragon."