The dragon soared through the red sky, winds howling around him. His reptilian eyes were focused on the tall central tower of the fortress. Its crude grey walls reached high above the forest, filled with pitch-black trees burning in red flames. A pillar of red light shot from its tip, reaching towards the sky.
Seeing the fortress, Vesuvius felt burning excitement as he was finally going to take down that eyesore from his forest.
‘You were dirtying this forest for too long. Bye forever.’
Vesuvius flapped his wings, accelerating even more, the corrupted forest of black trees turning into a blur.
Only one thing was bugging him: ‘ Why is no one trying to stop me?’. There wasn’t a single demon that tried to stop him the whole time.
Suddenly something fast launched from the tower, looking like a black haze. It moved with great speed, looking like a black cloud as it kept flying towards the dragon.
Not waiting to find out what it was, the dragon opened his mouth, the yellow radiance filling the sky as a spike of concentrated yellow magma launched out. The loud sonic boom caused the corrupted trees to move as the spike blasted through the sky at such speed that it looked like one long yellow line.
The black cloud suddenly swirled, splitting into two halves as the spike flew between them. The cloud of black particles whirled again, moving as if every grain of it had its own intelligence. It moved quickly, arranging into a tall humanoid form, looking like a pitch-black shadow.
Two red spots glowed on its head, and two wings of red flames ignited on its back. The two long and curled horns of pure flames grew out of the shadowy head.
Vesuvius flinched as a powerful aura erupted out, the sky turning even redder with the sun looking as if it was behind a red filter. The whole sky ignited in red flames, fiery clouds drifting and spirraling around the tower.
The magical energy filled with malice erupted out, making Vesuvius feel his connection with the surrounding elements weaken.
The dragon immediately recognized what it was, causing his heart to beat faster than ever before, ‘It is a domain…’
The moment he felt, he flapped his wings, quickly turning back to retreat, his eyes wide in a panic. Everything in him was screaming that the demon who could cause something like that was powerful, very powerful.
It was similar to the feeling of the thunderstorm domain of the ancient wyrm, only a little bit different.
‘No, that is wrong, it isn’t a complete domain… it feels too unrefined as if it was lacking one last component.’
“Huh? A dragon and here? That is really interesting.” a distorted voice entered his ears, sounding as if its source was directly in them.
“Ohh, where are my manners!” suddenly, the shadowy demon figure of the demon behind him vanished, appearing right in front of the dragon enshrouded by thick clouds of smoke whirling with each flap of his large wings.
The demon slightly bent their back in a polite greeting, their demonic red eyes looking straight into the reptilian golden eyes of the dragon as the demonic voice once again entered the dragon’s ears, “My name is Baron Mathusálius.”
Vesuvius woke up from his shock immediately using his analysis on the demon.
Ding!
//
Analyze result:
Name: Mathusálius Leviticus ???
Species: Demon Baron (Hellfire/Shadows)
Occupation: NPC/Boss
Level: ???
Danger level: Extremely Deadly
//
‘Ohh shit…’ Vesuvius felt dread run down his spine as he realized that the demon before him was a demon baron classified as Boss, making them a truly dangerous foe.
Demon’s sweet, alluring, albeit still distorted and broken, a voice kept entering the dragon’s ear, his whole soul vibrating in the sound of the demon’s words, “So tell me, dragon, why have you come here? Maybe you want some fair deal?”
The lesser ranks of demons were chaotic, fighting and pillaging. But the higher classes were different. They were scheming and often offering their boobytrapped contracts. Their power was great, but their experience of centuries or even millenniums of surviving at the courts of demonic royalty turned them into even more dangerous foes.
Ding!
// New Quest
Objective: Survive the encounter with the demon baron.
Reward: Calculated upon the completion
Failure: Isn’t it obvious? Its death.
//
‘So even the system thinks that I can’t win. Well, it is calculating with an average strength of a player with my level, so there is still hope.’
“Haha, why are you so wary?” the demon’s shadowy head distorted, revealing teeth made of red fire, “Of course, you killed some of my servants… so fair compensation would be appreciated.”
‘So they want something from me, that is good.’
Vesuvius just wanted to annihilate the annoying demon, his rage surging through his veins, but he clenched his clawed hand. Suppressing it as it would just start a fight that he would have a low chance of winning.
“What do you want, demon? Why have you come here?”
There was no response, only the silence of the demon, their red eyes penetrating all the way towards the dragon’s soul.
“Serve me for a million years as my mount, and your attack on my loyal and precious servants will be forgiven.” the aura radiating out of the demon changed, becoming much more intense, the red light intensifying.
The dragon’s aura erupted out, pushing the demonic presence away and creating a small bubble around the dragon. His reptilian eyes flared up in gold light. The dragon’s hand with long claws glowing from the heat with runes covering them swung towards the demon.
‘What was I even thinking… there was nothing that the demon wanted from me. They were just messing with me!’ The demon’s offer wasn’t just unacceptable. It was an unforgivable insult to compare the lives of worthless demons to the life of a glorious true dragon. To be a mount that was more than unacceptable.
The dragon’s clawed hand passed through the demon’s body, its shadowy form vanishing and appearing, levitating far from the dragon.
Dozens of red magical circles ignited around the demon, “Haha, come on, dragon, after today, you will either end up as my slave or a trophy on my wall!”