Bunjiro's hands gripped the wrist of Yoichi's right hand, whose fingers were clasped around his throat. The first layers of his skin had already been consumed by the heat energy of Therion's flame, and Yoichi was demonstrating incredible self-control.

Indeed, he had managed to dose the amount of energy released from his chest, which, if it had been too much, would have ignited Bunjiro's body instantly. The Heralds' warrior continued to suffer, unable to scream and struggling in panic.

​​

Even Takuma, accustomed to the wild life of the Valley of the Northern Waters, had to look away, disgusted by the scene before his eyes.

Yoichi did not utter another word after his verdict and let his hand squeeze his enemy's neck further. The flesh of Bunjiro's neck first turned purplish, then blackish.

More blood splattered inside his eyes, immersing his pupil in a thick, red bubble and blurring his vision. Although Yoichi could have killed his enemy in less than a second, he was prolonging his agony for as long as possible.

"No one will ever remember you. I will turn you into ashes, Bunjiro. And I will do the same to anyone who dares to stand between me and my destiny," Yoichi spoke a moment before the claw of his thumb and the claw of his index finger touched.

*splat* - In an inhuman noise, mixed between the breaking of a bone and the sound of a gelatinous substance, Bunjiro's head broke off from his neck. As the flesh was wholly consumed, the Heralds warrior's trachea bone disintegrated under the grip of Yoichi's draconic hand.

Bujiro's head fell to one side, his body to the other. At the same instant at that execution, a few feet away, Kenji ended the life of Taka, the trunk demon.

The little dragon launched itself towards its enemy, opening its jaws wide and biting the top of its wooden head. Showing the vigor and ferocity of a full-grown dragon, it bit off pieces of the demon's body, shredding them and scattering them on the ground.

The lives of Bunjiro and his Oracle were ended at the same time. The one who believed he could pursue and defeat Yoichi to gain the glory of his comrades had found death in one of the small woods of the Valley of the Northern Waters.

As Yoichi stretched out his arms along his sides, a religious silence enveloped the trees of the woods. His eyes watched as Bunjiro's head rolled until it reached a stone sticking out of the grass.

That small amount of draconic flame that had made his hands so powerful burned his enemy's head and organs from within. In less than a minute, as he had foretold, Bunjiro's body disappeared from Lumya for eternity, and he inwardly enjoyed every second of the process.

Unexpectedly, the revenge he had promised the Princess of Tentochu a long time before had been fulfilled, and the thought of finding the man who had dared to rape her was no longer a problem.

Yoichi took a long, deep breath, relaxing the muscles in his arms and deactivating Scorching Breath, the draconic ability of his Oracle. The fiery veins faded, and the black scales disappeared, returning his upper limbs to their original size and shape.

As Kenji's enhancement left his body, a chill shiver ran through his back to the back of his head. Yoichi's hands trembled, and his blood pressure instantly dropped, forcing him to kneel to keep from falling to the ground.

"Yoichi! Yoichi, are you okay?" - Acting as a faithful and loyal companion, Takuma got off his horse and ran towards his friend. The Grimbrook warrior rested a hand on Yoichi's back, trying to figure out what his condition was.

The young Goldhaven tamer's body was scorching as if he had a fever. The chills he had felt before due to the rapid temperature drop in contact with the outside world were amplified by the gesture he had just made.

Although Yoichi was convinced that taking Bunjiro's life was the only plausible solution, he had never killed another guild's warrior in cold blood.

The shiver of cold that immobilized his body for a few seconds disappeared as soon as Takuma's hand touched his back. Yoichi had no intention of showing any weakness before his eyes and stood up.

In that same instant, Bunjiro's body and that of his tree-like demon disappeared in unison. The helmet-haired warrior's human body was reduced to ashes by the primordial flame, and his demon's body disintegrated like that of every demon that suffered a defeat.

A small red sphere emerged from Bunjiro's remains, another from Taka's. As Enatsu had explained to him long ago, defeating a Demon Tamer was worth one experience point, but the point would be doubled in the event of death.

Based on this very principle, the Demon Tamers who were at the top of society and possessed the highest level demons had killed hundreds of people.

Takamori and his guildmates had probably also leveled up their demons that way, fighting at the front in Nomi Island and earning double XP points.

Before Takuma and Yoichi's eyes, the two red, shiny orbs floated like two soap bubbles toward Kenji. Finally, they touched its forehead and entered its scaled body.

When the little dragon gained the two XP points, the Demon Pet System promptly spoke, reporting the battle results under the careful gaze of its owner.

[Kenji: (8/10 pts - level 9)]

Eight out of ten XP points. It won't be long before Kenji levels up, Yoichi thought. Its first evolution is getting closer and closer.

Although information about dragon demons was scarce and inaccurate, there was a chance that their evolutionary scale would follow that of all the other demons in Lumya. In that case, demons with three evolutionary stages would have evolved once to level 15 and another time to level 35.

Yoichi looked at Kenji, imagining Therion next to his little dragon. His Oracle's body would have to increase more than twenty times its volume to reach the Dragon King's size.