POV Vesuvius:𝑶𝔳𝗅xt.𝒸𝑶𝐌
The dragon was flapping his wings, looking at the city in chaos. The small dots were rushing down the street away from the arena like a flash flood. A few small dots of players, pushing in the opposite direction, moving towards the still burning arena like moths attracted towards light.
The two large towers partially crumbled, the columns of smoke rising out of the blown-up tips, the massive pieces of rubble piling under them.
‘So this is how is it.’ Vesuvius never sought conflict. He was content in his domain and his kingdom. He tried to open and build a relationship with his neighbors, yet someone decided to ruin it.
‘I let them into my city, and this is what I got for it.’ He expected some petty and insignificant crimes, but someone still hated him enough to go as far as to blow up even the innocent bystanders.
‘If they want to play like this. I can play that way too.’ The dragon finally gave up on his ideals of peace. Instead, he came to peace with reality. He realized that the only thing awaiting his kingdom in the near future was war.
‘Sadly, this is the reality, not a story where humans would ever trust monsters and live side by side in peace. Hell, humans can barely even coexist with each other. The only diplomacy that will work is the diplomacy of absolute power. I need more soldiers, dracodactyls, drakes, and even more wyrms under my command. I will create an army to keep all the mortals in check.’
Vesuvius opened his mouth, pouring mana into his vocal cords, “The tournament will continue! My kingdom will not succumb to some cowards not daring to face me!” His voice boomed across the city, every human jolting under his words.
The glow in his eyes flickered with fury but foremost in disappointment. He would be angry if they attacked him head-on, but he wouldn’t have given up on the peace. However, they attacked his kingdom in the most cowardly way possible. They didn’t challenge him to combat. Instead, they blew up people without any warning.
Maybe he could even live with them attacking him using their wits and trickery, but they attacked him in a way that didn’t require either power or wits. They just attacked him in the most evil and cowardly way.
‘I wanted to open my kingdom. I wanted travelers to visit it and bring me a fortune. But now I see that outsiders are nothing but ungrateful insects. I invited them to my home, and they defiled and spat on my hospitality.’
“Everyone return to your accommodation. The battles will continue tomorrow.” His voice boomed again, the chaos in the city calming down under the coercive power of his words, everyone quickly moving away from the streets.
Still, he refused to abort his game, a great dragon lord would never give up just because of some cowardly mortals, and he would never retreat out the fear of them.
He wasn’t scared of a second attack. Instead, he wanted it! He waited to catch the culprits during their acts. He was even ready personally guard the arena and the city.
‘I will rather spend a whole night and day guarding it than let these cowards win.’
The name and reputation of the kingdom were already tarnished. It would get a reputation as a dangerous place. However, he refused to cede even more, ‘I will pick my new vassals, and then I will hunt down and brutally punish the culprit behind this even if I need to fight across the whole continent. This way, I will at least establish that it is a bad idea to fuck with me!’
The dragon flapped his wings, and his domain exploded again, sending ripples through the clouds of smoke. Instantly the flames burning in the rubble sizzled out as if they never even existed, the darkness fully submerging the city.
Vesuvius flapped his wings and raised higher above the clouds, his eyes falling right at the wyrm still hiding within the clouds. Its golden eyes were slightly glowing as it watched and observed the city, its beautiful silvery body gliding between the clouds with an elegance of a dancer.
“We are going to a war… Give my minions the locations of all our kin that you know. It is time to raise an army!”
The wyrm froze, its eyes flickering in confusion, and the dragon felt and understood it.
‘This is something that no dragon ever did. They were too prideful to acknowledge that they couldn’t win by themself. They were on top of the draconic hierarchy and had no problem abusing it for their gain, but still refused to use it for something truly big.’
Vesuvius didn’t know how many of his kin would respond, but he was sure that some younger ones eager for blood, gold, and territory would. And with their help, he would build the true draconic kingdom. He would form his draconic army that would turn their enemies into ash.
‘Let the humans eat what they have sewn.’
He finally decided to move, and not just defensively. He would prepare and unleash hell on his enemies. He would put effort into quickly increasing his personal power even faster while amassing powerful armies.
‘Now, I just need to convince them.’ The dragon cast his spell, and the circuit of his modified mind link spell flared up in his mind, devouring mana in an amount unsustainable by any mortal as it connected far, far away.
A few hours later:
The players in black stood assembled in the small yard surrounded by tall, stone walls from each direction. Their faces were hidden under the masks and helmets, but they were all excited, already feeling like something big would happen.
They were all the oldest members of the faction. They all fought side by side through the war, turning them into friends and comrades.
They were split into two groups, one holding sealed golden envelopes.
“What do you think is inside?”
“Idiot, keep your fingers away from it.”
They couldn’t help but ogle them, wanting to know what secret was hiding in them.
Light steps came from the long dark hallway leading to the yard. Everyone immediately quieted down as the pair of glowing, reptilian red eyes slowly got closer and closer. Everything turned so quiet that one would hear even if a pin fell on the ground.
The woman stopped before them, the slight draft playing with her knee-length red dress and long raven-black hair. Her face was pale, covered in trails of dried-out blood, and carried a terrifying expression of shame and suppressed anger, “Go! Fulfill the orders of his majesty. Use any means and ways that you can. Don’t hesitate to use the resources of this kingdom and your new special authorities.”
Ding!
// Main Story Line Quest: The Four Stepping Stones
Lore: The dragon lord Vesuvius lost his fate in peace, and his heart is burning in quiet anger. He devised a plan that would disrupt the balance of the world and let a new power rise. He decided to finally gather the power of the dragon kind, both alive and also these that are dead.
Objective: Finish the four subquests
Quest benefits: While fulfilling the quests, you carry the king’s will. You can command small units of his soldiers and give orders to the local governments (Missuese will lead to harsh punishment)
Consequences: The dragon lord Vesuvius and his kingdom will be greatly empowered and turn into a world threat in the next version.
//
The next moment more dings resonated in everyone’s ears.