The dragon stood in the massive stone structure, darkness flowing around him, the feeling of being submerged in the deep water perpetrating through his whole body, making him feel like he was diving in oil. His heart was burning in flames of rage, all the betrayals and thefts constantly moving through his mind.
‘Mortals can’t be trusted. It is their nature to be treacherous.’
The whispers from the darkness reverberated through the whole structure, echoing between its plain stone pillars, “Come, ignite the flames of anger and let them consume your soul to ascend… no to descend! Do it, and you will be stronger than ever before!”
Vesuvius felt his muscles gaining unnatural power under the rage sweeping through his body, filling each of his cells with more energy than before.
The source of the whispers was getting closer and closer, the sweet-sounding words creeping into his mind, “Do it! Do it now and be stronger!”
‘How dare you try to sneak on me!’
Suddenly Vesuvius swung his tail, the mass of armour and sharp spikes blasting through the air at an immense speed, cutting through the veil of darkness. A loud bang swirled with darkness, the tail colliding with something, sending it flying back into the darkness.
Then a bright golden light radiated out of the statue as if responding to his effort. The golden rays of light passed through the red and black, the darkness and red light vanishing under their power as if they had never even existed.
The golden radiance washed over the dragon, the warm feeling flowing through his veins, melting away all the unnatural anger burning within him, and his mind finally calmed down.𝒪𝗏𝔩xt.𝗇t
Vesuvius looked around in confusion. Everything looked normal, as if the event had never even happened.
Finally, his clarity returned to him, making him realise that he has almost done something potentially stupid, ‘Smell of demons and whispers offering me a power? There is no way there would be no cost to pay for that.’
He still felt like he had gained something from it, ‘If the visions that I saw are true, then it means that humans have dangerous weapons, and with their aura, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were something originating from gods.’
Ding!
//
Do you want to enter the dragon lord trial?
//
‘Yes!’
A golden light filled the dragon’s visions, and the world around him spun, the space and time warping.
The next moment he stood in the middle of a wasteland.
There was nothing around but dry and dead soil. Fields filled with dust, sand and ash stretched as far as he could see. Everything was dead, with no signs of life to see. The sky itself was blank and white without a single cloud.
Five thrones materialised out of nowhere in a flash of gold light, hovering high above the grey wasteland. Four of them were vacant, only bright crimson-red flames levitating above one.
Winds howled through the empty and otherwise silent wasteland.
‘What am I supposed to do?’
The dragon kept looking around through the wasteland, but there was nothing except for the five thrones.
“Welcome to the lordship trial, young dragon.” An ethereal voice came from the direction of the red sphere of fire hovering above the throne.
‘Huh, did that fire just speak?’
“Now, fulfil your duty to pass the trial. No, entertain me with your failure!” the voice spoke again, a potent aura sweeping through the whole wasteland, the accompanying shockwave rising dust clouds from the ground.
The demonic and draconic energy washed over the dragon, his whole body freezing as he realised he had already felt it.
‘It is the same entity that attacked me in the temple! What is that demon even doing here?’ Vesuvius looked at the flames with anger, wanting to extinguish them out of existence. It attacked him first, and he wanted retaliation. He wanted revenge. He wanted to smash the demon desecrating the sacred land and ritual.
The red flames slightly flickered, “That’s it. Embrace your anger. The anger is within us dragons, so why not use it to gain more power?”
Vesuvius stared straight into the red flames, and then he shook his head, refusing to do the bidding of that demon.
“No! I will not fall for your tricks and use your corrupted power.”
“Hahaha, but you are already using it! The modified version of draconic magic that you are using. It was me who made it!”
Finally, Vesuvius realised that the demons weren’t as simple as he thought, ‘How does he even know about it?’
The flames blazed even bright, the fire enveloping the whole throne as it levitated above, “I am the fallen dragon! The draconic king of fire and the demonic king of the wrath! I am the last primal dragon, Satanael Infernus Crematorius!”
The aura grew even stronger, the whole wasteland turning red, the temperature rising, and new anger slowly enshrouding the dragon’s clarity.
Vesuvius felt shivers pass down his spine, his mind almost blacking out as the aura pushed against him, his own aura and domain looking like a house of cards compared to it.
His whole body was under immense pressure, the dry soil around him cracking, making him feel a little bit more, and he would turn into a paste.
However, his draconic nature didn’t allow him to show any weakness. His stance remained firm even though his mind was shaken.
“Now proceed with the trial!!! You have already spat on my grace twice!” the ear-tearing roar filled with impatience shook the whole world, causing earthquakes, the whole dead land rumbling and shaking.
The aura vanished the next moment as if nothing had happened, leaving the dragon just staring at the fire.
‘And his body is not even present here, just this fire, whatever it is.’
Vesuvius wasn’t a fool and refused to provoke the demonic dragon more as he could imagine its terrifying power, making him avert his eyes, ‘Primal dragons, the most ancient of the dragons. The dragons that hatched from the first batch of eggs. The king of anger, a title held by the demon ruling over one of the seven deadly sins, the highest rank a demon can attain. The king of the circle of fire, a dragon ruling over all the dragons having the fire affinity.’
Each of the titles was enough to send shivers down anyone’s spine, but they were held by a single being, by a being that was both at the peaks of demons and dragons. The being whose name was known even on the earth. The boss with so much power that no player even dared to think about chalenging him.
Ding!
//
You have failed a quest!
Objective: Find and use the ritual to contact the fallen dragon.
Reward: ???
You have angered the fallen dragon.
//
‘Ohh fuck me! No wonder he is so pissed off. I was supposed to call back, yet I never did it!’