The Villain's Story

Chapter 732: Dreams(2).

Once again, silence had descended on the platform, it was not empty, Everyone had departed for the trial.

Everyone except Azmakul, who remained as still as a statue, thinking about his ʼdreamʼ, or rather, Nightmare.

He had succeeded in subduing the creature known as the Jade Serpent, the name his dragon eyes told him. He had overpowered it completely, and had thought he achieved victory...

But he could not be more wrong. The Jade serpent was an easy for, but the terror of black that appeared later?

He was helpless against it.

It too, was a dragon, yet he was unlike any he had seen before, it was an absolute power that he could not overcome.

For the first time, he had felt helpless in front of that might. But even as he lost in his nightmare, he gained a lot of things.

He was... Old. His age was a mystery even to him now, he had stopped counting long ago. He was the oldest dragon in the house of Shivalkulan except for her majesty Ariel herself.

Furthermore, he was a former supreme. Though that era was long gone, some effects of it still existed. With the help of his dragon eyes, he was able to gain a lot of information.

First and foremost, the ʼnightmareʼ of the black dragon was no vision of the future, something that was rare but not unheard of among dragons. The eyes had a lot of powers after all.

It was also not a dream like he expected, where his greatest longing was fulfilled, the desire to die satisfied.

No, it was a memory. It was a memory of a past that existed but forgotten by most. It was a memory of a loop. But whenever he tried to recall more of it. He felt his mind slip.

It was so annoying, to feel his mind fail to grasp it. Dragons were the embodiment of the mind, something like this was an insult. Nevertheless, he decided to stop thinking about it, taking comfort in the silence of the platform.

The prince was gone, and so was everyone else. Even the non-combatants had went to participate in the trial. Which was honestly a surprise. He had not expected them to be so bold.

All he had done was finally give the alchemist a little push. One needed to use everything at their disposal to do what was needed. Something he had yet to drill in the prince.

Though, he didnʼt expect the alchemist to try to convince everyone else to enter as well. He was most surprised when the golden haired brat had agreed to go inside. He had thought that man had a different character.

He had been impressed by his boldness before, but this was something else.

In Azmakulʼs eyes, a non-combatant is better than a combatant. Everyone could learn how to fight, but to deal with other things was another matter entirely. He even encouraged mastering something, anything other than fighting.

Most dragons that had yet to reach adulthood were taught how to fight and survive, how to utilize their magic efficiently and effectively. But when most reached Adulthood, only a few decided to become warriors, often opting to become crafters, scholars, even bakers and anything that piqued their interest.

It couldnʼt be helped, they were a curious species to begin with, and obsessive as well.

They were left to their devices as well, unlike young dragons, Adult dragons could take care of themselves, furthermore, they had finally developed the ʼconnectionʼ which allowed them to be connected with every other dragon, especially offering a deeper connection to the dragons of the house.

If an adult of Shivalkulan was ambushed or attacked, every dragon in the house would know and rush to help. It was why death rates of adult dragons was zero.

Attack one, and every other one is coming.

On the other hand, young dragons were a headache. Not only did their mana generation match those of Elder Dragons, some talented young ones, like the prince boasted a mana generation that rivalled Azmakulʼs own. That insanely potent mana generation gave them enough fuel and enough ambition to do whatever they simply wanted.

Young dragons were all confined to the home worlds of their supremes, or on the home world of dragons. They were obsessed over by the caretakers, their guardian elves or draconians, and even other dragons. In simple words, they lived a very, very prison like life until they developed the connection.

To a species that was already incredibly curious and obsessive, and not to mention how wild young ones could be... It was hell.

Furthermore, due to their insanely high mana generation and their nature, they almost always found ways to escape.

Most dragons that were killed were always young who were inexperienced in the ways of the universe, who escaped and met misfortune after misfortune.

Azmakul felt anger rising in his heart, he had pushed for their ways to change, but he knew the other Ancients would never agree, they were scarred by the past, and wouldnʼt change their ways.

Thankfully, the escape rate of frost dragons was zero, Lanesha was an incredibly competent supreme. All supremes were, but lately they had grown complacent.

And all who were able to kill a young dragon most certainly did not want to mess with a dragon of the house of death. Ariel regarded family over everything else... The few fools who had tried had been made into stellar examples, deterring anyone else from trying to mess with a young baby dragon of the house of death.

You simply donʼt mess with the monarch of death and her family... You would be begging to die if you did. An eternal agony.

Other houses? People would be daring enough to try, but never the house of death.

”AAAAAAHH.”

A scream knocked the old dragon out of his thoughts and pride for his house.

The first to die in the trial had emerged, and it was none other than the god beast successor.

He emerged from thin air and began to scream and puke, with time. The others also emerged, one by one.

Alice, Edward, Olivia, Emma, The prince, Sabrina, the young prince and then finally the blond youth. Surprisingly, he was the last to succumb to the trial.

Azmakul also noticed that he was the only one that wasnʼt screaming besides the prince. All he had was a dumbfounded look on his face as he emerged from death. The ones who had gone first stopped screaming relatively quick, but Alice and Emma were struggling.

Being non-combatants and fighting a fragment of Kizmal must have done something to their minds, and body. Even though Azmakul was sure they stayed at the sidelines...

An experience like that would be nothing but horrible for them. A horror they could not define with some words. The fragment of Kizmal was at the very cusp of an epic being, after all.

Epics were in another realm entirely. Merely an encounter would be a life changing experience.

They would struggle to cope with it for a bit. As for the others, they were getting quick with their recovery time.

Azmakul sighed, he had enjoyed the brief moment of silence in the platform.

It would be chaotic for a while...

****

They had succeeded, while they were still far away from fully killing Kizmal they had managed to destroy one more heart, while heavily wounding one more.

Alice and Maxwell had merely remained at the sides whilst everyone else tried to survive while repeating their actions. Alexander had done the same thing, as well as everyone else.

A major upgrade had been Emma, using her ʼritualsʼ and ʼshamanismʼ as she called it was able to buff the party to great lengths. It was because of her that they survived for longer and managed to destroy one more heart.

She would definitely be venturing with them again, but for now, the poor girl needed a break.

Azmakul was right, fighting against the epic being had taken a great toll on her...

The worst of the batch was Alice, she had been slow to dodge an eviscerating beam of light, it had taken half her body, but it had not killed her. She was in excruciating pain as her last breath in the trial left her body.

She... Would need time. Sabrina and Olivia were trying their best to calm the two of them down but it would be difficult.

Kazikato had fallen asleep, and Alan was on the cusp of it as well.

He simply felt too tired... His bloodline was failing him now. His body had reached its limits long ago but his bloodline enabled him to keep going.

But alas, fighting the giant had brought it all to a stop. This time, his sleep would deep.

The prince was gone, along with everyone else. Even the non-combatants were gone, which was a surprise. He hadnʼt expected them to take part in the trial once aagagainagag