Honestly, I was a bit intimidated as I stared up at the towering dragon. I have seen large dragons before - both Flame and Blizzard Dragons - but she was a whole different level of 'towering.'
The massive palace behind me, along with the typical trees that were so tall they looked as if they were reaching for the sun, were all like ants next to Tiamat. Even just one claw on her foot was larger than my whole body.
[Great Dragon King] [Chaos Dragon Karma] [Tiamat] - Level 750
Her title was long, and her level was even higher. Compared to the strongest enemy I had faced so far, Benemue, she was roughly three times as strong.
"Dragon," I greeted simply, staring down at the towering woman.
We were standing on the edge of the mountain, positioned right in front of my palace. Luckily, and unluckily, the lazy and arrogant dragon didn't care about any of the other creatures in the forest, so she had just flown straight to the peak of the mountain. My subordinates were safe and unharmed, but now I was alone facing down the dragon.
I had ordered Raya, Shera, Runa, and Layna to leave the palace and go to Vargan and Velrissa. They would return as soon as they could with the two former monarchs and as many soldiers as they could gather quickly, but I doubted I could stall with words until they arrived.
Not that I was planning to anyway. Facing down the high-level dragon was a daunting task, but it wasn't impossible. I had handled Benemue pretty easily, and I had only grown stronger since then. Combine that with my equipped armor and my flurry skills, and it was doable.
"Brat," Tiamat responded, her huge scaly dragon face twitching in what looked like annoyance, "Do you know how much pain you've caused me?"
I raised an eyebrow at her words. I hadn't even met her until now!
"Do you mean this?" I asked causally, reaching into a small chink in my lower armor where the [King's Claw] was wedged. I pulled it out, holding it up for her to see.
Considering that she had powered up Ragnar, I figure that must be what she's upset about. Tiamat was a dragon after all, and she was possessive over her treasures to the point that she was furious with Ddraig for not returning them.
"No," She shot back dismissively, looking disinterested at the [Sacred Treasure], "I don't care that you killed that pup. He was too weak to make a nice treasure anyway."
So, it wasn't about me killing Ragnar that she was upset about?
"Then, I'm not sure what pain I caused you, Dragon," I said simply, raising an eyebrow at her, though she couldn't see it through my helmet, "I've made sure to stay away from your section of the forest."
"It's not that! It's because your scaring away all those damn devils," Tiamat hissed out, lowering her towering head down toward me to look into my eyes, "I let you little things live peacefully here, so you should've stayed quiet! I didn't care once you killed the pup, but that wasn't enough for you, huh?!"
I stared at her blankly.
I was scaring away the devils? Outside of the charmed ones under a succubus's control, I hadn't even seen one!
"So… you're mad because my actions are scaring the devils," I said, making sure I was understanding her, "And you like the devils coming here for familiars?"
"No!" Tiamat growled, and I abruptly had to side-step as a burst of blue flames shot out from her nose at me, singing the ground where I had been standing, "I don't give a damn about if the devils come for not, but now Ajuka is bugging me constantly because they can't! I should kill you for this, brat!"
What the hell? Ajuka Beezlebub is talking to Tiamat about me?
I guess the devils keep an eye on the forest better than I thought. I'm already on their radar.
I reached back as she became angry, her massive teeth bared at me in annoyance, grabbing the hilt of my sword lightly as I readied myself to unsheathe it.
"Hah! Relax, brat," Tiamat growled out again, shaking her head at my actions, "Just shut the hell up and stop making noise around here, and I'll let you live, alright?"
"Eh?" I blinked as she started to raise her head again, not trying to bite my head off, "You didn't come here to try and kill me?"
"'Try?' You're just as arrogant as the last pup," Tiamat hissed, shaking her head dismissively, "Don't think I'm being nice, you're just not worth the effort. Stay in your little hut up here and we won't have any more problems. But…"
She looked back down at me, her eyes glowing with a light blue shine as her teeth bared again, "If I hear one more complaint from that damn nerdy devil than you'll be my next treasure!"
She turned around in a huff, her wings unfluring as she didn't wait for my response. Her legs tensed as she readied herself to launch into the air and leave but froze at my next words.
"...I think you're misunderstanding something, Dragon," I hummed, grinning as I fully pulled out my sword and pointed it at her back. She glanced behind her, looking with a mixture of curiosity and anger at my action.
"I'll forgive you for your insolence because you might not have heard yet, but…" I smirked, "My title is the Beast King. I don't take orders from anyone, much less from a beast like yourself."
The smartest move here was to let Tiamat leave and say nothing. She came here with the intention to scold and silence me, not to kill me.
I would have more time to grow my strength and regrow my army before challenging her. I'd be stronger, and I wouldn't be standing alone against a literal Dragon King.
But, honestly? She had pissed me off.
She dove directly into my territory with enough arrogance to land right in front of my palace. She dared to order me around - to list out her demands as she talked to me like I was nothing but a bug.
If this had happened a month ago, I would've readily let her leave. But this wasn't a month ago.
I was a King. Not just any King, but the Beast King. A King of Kings who had defeated the other monarchs of the forest.
I was fine with living peacefully in cohabitation with Tiamat as I grew my strength, but I wouldn't accept any disrespect from the dragon. No, I would never accept any disrespect from anyone.
"You…" Tiamat spun around with a glare, her long tail whipping out and knocking over one of the few remaining trees on the mountaintop and causing the ground to shake, "Do you wish to die young, brat?!"
"'Brat?' I forgave your insolence before for not knowing, but I just told you my title…" I grinned widely, probably looking a bit insane under my helmet as I took a step forward and shifted into a fighting stance, "As punishment, I'll take you as my familiar, Dragon."
Tiamat blinked as my words, looking genuinely confused for a moment. Then, she chuckled. That chuckle quickly turned into full-blown laughter - her higher-pitched but gravely dragon voice resounding throughout the mountain top. She threw her head back, the loud noise booming off the mountain top and likely being heard by all the monsters in the surrounding area.
"Hah! I haven't laughed this hard since the last pup said he'd conquer the whole underworld!" Tiamat laughed, but her head snapped down at me abruptly, her body tensing, "You, take me, a Dragon King, as a familiar?! Hah!"
Then, her arm lashed out, anger flashing in her eyes. I swung my sword in response, the blade slamming into her claw as they stalled out in the middle.
I grunted as the pure strength in her arm barreled down on me, struggling to maintain my footing as it took all the strength in my body to hold her back.
"I gave you a chance, brat!" Tiamat yelled down, a smirk on her draconic face as she glared at me, "Now, you'll become a story I tell as I show off my treasures!"
I hissed in pain as my muscles started to fatigue, slowly sliding back in the grass from the force of her attack. Finally, I leaped backward, letting her claw fly through the space I had been in as I broke the clash of strength.
I didn't respond to her taunts, instead standing stiffly as I prepared myself for the fight. I would need to use everything I had to beat her.
So, I silently used a flurry of buffing skills on myself.
You have been buffed by [Valon]!
[STR Buff] - Your STR has temporarily increased by 100%
[AGI Buff] - Your AGI has temporarily increased by 100%
[END Buff] - Your END has temporarily increased by 100%
[MP Buff] - Your MP has temporarily increased by 100%
[LUK Buff] - Your LUK has temporarily increased by 100%
[HREG Buff] - Your HREG has temporarily increased by 100%
[MREG Buff] - Your MREG has temporarily increased by 100%
As my body shone in a dark-black aura from the buffs, Tiamat merely smirked.
"Use whatever you want, brat," She grinned widely, her sharp teeth showing, "Hah! Maybe it'll help you survive a few more seconds!"
Hey, if she was going to just sit there and let me prepare, who am I to complain? I was pissed that she was disrespecting me, but I wasn't some honorable warrior.
I had no problem using this time to my advantage.
You have been buffed by [Valon]!
You have been inflicted with the [GoodLUK] buff!
My free palm casually pointed at Tiamat as she didn't try to stop me, firing off the few debuffs I had on her.
You have inflicted the [Frozen] debuff on [Tiamat]!
[Tiamat's] [Ice Resistance] has blocked the debuff!
[Ice Resistance] effectiveness: 99%
A small sheen of frost surrounded Tiamat, freezing her scales lightly, but the woman didn't even react. She didn't even seem to notice it.
Damn, I know my [Frostify] skill is a pretty low level, but only 1%?
You have inflicted the [BadLUK] debuff on [Tiamat]!
[Tiamat's] [Magical Resistance] has blocked the debuff!
[Magical Resistance] effectiveness: 90%
The second debuff still wasn't that effective, but it was much better than the previous one as my skill was at a much higher level.
I was about to use another skill when Tiamat spoke again.
"What are you…" She trailed off, looking confused as she glanced down at her own body, then sneered at me, "You dare to try and drain my power, brat?! I'll kill you quickly and be done with it!"
It seemed that she realized my armor's [Aura of Devour] was slowly seeping away at her strength and increasing mine in the process.
I was given no more time to use my skills as she lunged forward, slamming down her clawed hand where I had been standing as I leaped away.
I tensed my body again, holding out my sword as I readied myself for the hardest battle of my entire life.
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AN: Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be out tomorrow!
You can also read up to chapter 47 right now on Patreon.com/Koyon !