AN: it only came to my attention lately that in some chapters of Volume 5 and 6, I have actually mistyped Dakar as 'Qatar' so I ask for your forgiveness for this confusion. The Union is stationed in Walled City of Dakar and not in any "Qatar" which is a country in our Earth. I will not use Qatar in this story so please forgive me for this blunder...

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Chapter 098: Dragon King's Test

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After logging in, [Randall], or the young Gregory scion, Angus Gregory, a senator's son, was very surprised by the level of change that went thru in this once dilapidated Storage Warehouse.

It has only been a day in the real world, or three days in the game, but the level of changes that had happened in their hideout was truly immense.

Before, it looked like a street gang's asylum but now, it looked more like a real prince's hangout.

Four new warehouses were added into the space and then connected, rehabilitated, and then made into a new "realm" within the Castle City —there're areas for recreation, pool, lounge, gaming (where the [Players] can upload classic console games and play it within Terroa), and there were also the room for bringing in women and such. It was a flat for bachelors. It was their paradise in the city.

But although Randall felt overwhelmed and really happy with his decision to be able to join these guys, he walked in with an irritated expression.

After all, he was preparing to attend the Conclave just now and was ordered by Prince Zola to attend an emergency meeting.

As soon as he entered, he saw that majority of the members of the Royal Guards —them— already took their seats in the assembly area.

This was official business.

—this is serious...

He thought and his irritation lessened a bit. Zelga wouldn't call them 'all' here if it wasn't something a big name like him wouldn't take seriously.

—must be something about the King Tests...

He concluded.

Randall took his seat and asked the woman, the earlier Elf he wanted to get along with, beside his own seat: "Do you have any idea of why we were called to come here regardless of anything we're doing in the real world?"

The Female Elf looked at him with slight irritation, but Randall was so focused on the question that he didn't notice it. She then answered, "They said that we are going to attack an organization. Aside from that, I don't know anything else."

Randall nodded at her and then quietly arranged his equipment and gears. On his stat window are his stats... all of which were flat 600.

In the past few days, all of them Royal Guards of Prince Zola —no, King Candidate Zelga— already finished their Dragon Blood baptism alongside the personal soldiers of Grand Knight Blue Draco.

Over 30,000 soldiers were baptized in the True Dragon Blood of Labrador, and the Dragon itself was already made into a pile of resources since it was Zelga himself who butchered it for them.

Because it was its master who killed it, it didn't put even the slightest resistance and became "food" for them to swallow whole.

Over 30,000 people... with 600 flat stats...

It was a scary concept.

These are the combined forces of Grand Knight and Elder of the Jeremiah Council of Elders, Blue Draco, and him, King Candidate, Zelga.

Although the Prince's forces weren't even 1% of that number, the Knights of Blue Draco's forces were already aware of the frightening strength of their little number.

A proud smile hung on Randall's lips as he checks his stats and equipment. His irritation lessened a few clicks more.

These equipments are all provided by Blue Draco while his stats were increased by Zelga's Dragon Summon. And with the "edited uniform" provided by the [Bright Light Sword Faction] that magically edited anything they wore but still always looked the same with the other members of the Wall of Jeremiah, every member of the Royal Guards of Zelga were elegant, neat and clean, and snappy.

With these, he thought, no normal kind of players could stand against me... both in appearance and strength!

After all, who amongst the modern people could get dragonized weapons and equipments and get stats of flat 600?

Randall's thoughts wandered on how to make that girl, Amanda, bow her head at him.

He discovered that she also plays RPG: Terroa but she was not sure where she was based and playing the game.

Alas, if he only cared more about the news in the game, Randall would have discovered who she is already and think twice about his plans.

But he didn't and still harbored plans on how to make her his possession. Who wouldn't? She was like a cute peony ready for the taking.

Only, where she grew her roots were literally hard to reach since Terroa is larger than Earth.

In addition to that, they were also running out of time in regards to her identity.

They only found out about her by chance and so Senator Gregory didn't want to miss it and made his way to her father's firm and connected with her father, trying to engage the two in marriage so that when the Christiana Monarchy finally emerge to get them, their family will be elevated as well.

This was hitting two birds with one arrow.

But more than his father's wish, Randall was even more focused on owning this pretty peony. Her captivating beauty was just too much to miss and all the more ignore.

After a long 10 minutes of waiting, a flash of light emerged and Zelga appeared on the stage right in front of the waiting crowd.

"We greet your highness, Zelga!" the crowd of his real-world royal subjects bowed down in greeting.

As per their contract, these "Royal Guards" were also charged to repeat the greetings and even if they felt awkward —with some disgusted— about this act of self-serving egoistic action, they still did so because they are bound by the Heavenly Oath that they swore on the first day.

A few days ago, a brave idiot tried to question it and as soon as he spoke out his opinion, there was a flash of lightning and his avatar was burnt.

By law of the contract, his real world identity was observed and if he creates an avatar with another Unique Ability and not join Zelga's Guards, or if he discloses this secret to another Player outside of their circle, he will pay a fine of millions of U-credits or suffer the wrath of a semi-World Noble royalty like Zola.

(AN: remember that Zola's family is also royalty but they are a subordinate kingdom to the World Noble family "Uglya" —first appeared on Vol.5 Ch.13)

In the end, the poor dude created another avatar in Zelga's service and became indebt to him because of the firstly issued equipment burning with his last avatar.

The Heavenly Oath, for some reason, slashed the player's Insurance Policy into nothingness.

It was a scary "restriction" for the ones involved.

Since then, no one else dared to question Zelga or defy the clauses on their contract.

"""We greet Your Highness, Zelga"""

Everyone greeted in unison; louder and sounding more energetic but without eagerness or joy.

"Please be seated." Zelga waved his hand down at them, gesturing them to go back and sit. But his face beamed a smile. Though he knew they were faking it, he still genuinely enjoys the treatment.

Zelga surveyed the people and concluded that only one or two are yet to arrive.

He started. "Firstly, I need you all to prepare to depart within the next 15 minutes. We will attack a base of one of the allies of the Bloody Church."

When he spoke to this part, his earlier irritation and annoyance at the situation reemerged on his supposedly handsome and dignified face.

At the mention of this action, there are some who honestly cheered at the news while there are few who frowned, silent, while some were indifferent and just went on the flow.

Randall belonged to the frowning group.

—damn it, I'll be late if this goes on!

He didn't want to be late seeing Amanda. It's been a few days (in-game) already and he wanted to see her so that he could marvel at her beauty and imprint her image into his head then ravage her in his mind later.

The theme of this year's Conclave was a "Fancy-Dress Ball" where guests wear medieval costumes and masks while the women dress conservatively, or not, but still aligned with the modern translation of a woman of noble class during the Middle Age.

While it is "light" for the women, the men were all strictly ordered to dress like a knight or a noble of that time, complete with decorative swords on the waist or even a cape at the back.

Of course no "metallic clothes" were allowed and so the theme of this year's Conclave centered at the "formalities" of knightly motif.

Randall had already chosen his attire that he made to look like the one he was wearing now —white with blue, with the striking red to outline the sleek contours of the elegant design. As for the mask... he made a specially-designed mask for himself.

In his mind, he was already imagining how good he'd look and how beautiful Amanda will be.

"Our target is Mundus." Zelga's voice broke his fantasy and Randall thought of the familiar name of that city somewhere.

—Mundus?

—where have I heard of that place before?

Just as Randall asked this question in his mind, a man from his left side raised a hand and spoke up the question, "Your Highness, isn't that one of the Main Cities in Heartilia? Why are we attacking it?"

Randall's brain felt as if it was struck by a lightning bolt as he recalled why it was familiar.

Yes. Mundus —it was a starting city in the center of Heartilia, the assumed center of operations for the Blue Card Merchant Group.

To be precise, there were two business empires in that place and the first is Blue Card Merchant Group while the other was Haven Dust Company, a —now— renowned subsidiary company of The Union who held control over the largest and most humanized Walled City in East Continent Espada, the Walled City of Dakar.

—so we're finally moving!

"I don't want any excuses. I want you all prepared for battle in 15 minutes. Go!"

Randall wanted to avoid getting an active role in this event today but he also couldn't say no since it was on his contract that he must follow the will of the Prince each time he called.

As such, he didn't dally and immediately went out to buy some resources, which, by the way, were all coming from his personal money. After all, the "salary" to this job for the next month was yet to be wired to his account.

*****

Meanwhile, Zelga ordered his personal guards.

"How's the situation within the Mansion?"

"At the final stages." answered the familiar Guard Captain that once clashed with Siva in Jeremiah.

"Continue watching them. If they move, we will move as well."

"At your command."

*****

———————

Surprisingly, there was a 300m large battle stage just a few kilometers away from the Clan Hall of the Saipan Dragon Clan.

In this battle stage, Ares and Siva stood face to face; where Ares was cross-armed standing there with a relaxed posture while Siva was already in his battle form —Dragonator in his two hands.

Dragonator

: Invention

: SS

: 200we

: 300slots

: 100%

: NanoTech, Ironwood Alloy, Glandanium Alloy, Fire Dragon Bones, Fire Dragon Scales, Fire Dragon Marrow, Fire Dragon Carapace, Fire Dragon Shell, Fire Dragon Horn, Fire Dragon Blood, Fire Dragon Webbing, Fire Stone, Sky Wyvern Tendon, Hornetor Carapace, Hercudrome Sinew(++), Monster Juice(++), Rathalos Webbing, Lapis Wing

: Black Label Company

:

A weapon and a work of art using the purest Fire Dragon materials and rarest and valuable materials to complete the Mechanical Function, the weapon itself is like a true Fire Dragon whose power only grows the more it is exposed to fire.

:

*Avatar of Fire

*Flaming Hands

.

.

Avatar of FireWhenever user is surrounded by fire, NanoField will automatically deploy and recreate an Avatar of Fire twice the size of the User. This "avatar of fire" will move like a shadow, doing ranged-melee attacks according to the actions of the User with twice the User's range. The Avatar of Fire will always cause constant fire damage to everything around the User within the range of the Fire Domain, even if it's merely standing there, and will not distinguish between friend and foe.

Effects:

(PASSIVE)

––creates a spherical fiery domain 6m wide with the User as the epicenter

––deals constant fire damage to everything within the Fire Domain

––synchs fiery NanoField with [Absolute Domain]

.

.

Flaming HandsWhenever user is surrounded by fire, the User's hands and arm will always be immersed in a fire that could reach a top temperature of 900^ Celsius. This effect is also applied to the Dragonator's Avatar of Fire.

Effects:

(PASSIVE)

––high temperature (on its peak) could melt metal

––will not harm User

––synchs fiery NanoField with [Absolute Domain]

––enhances "touch damage" of Avatar of Fire

––once triggered, it will damage all damageable items in User's hand

––effect will spread through the item in user's hand after being triggered

.

.

Underneath the [Fire Lord Gauntlets] on his two hands were the cloth-like scaled "Dragonator" that stretches from his hands upwards just up to until the elbow, integrating, even, to the shape of the Fire Lord Vambraces.

Above the [Fire Lord Spandex], it was a covering that ensured another protection and even added a synergetic effect with the Fire Lord Set's [Set Effect = Fire Realm] Mechanical Function.

After all, it was made of Fire Dragon materials and two top-grade metal alloys. If something, it was a quality product where its durability and defensive capabilities are assured.

But more than that, its "effects" are what made it a perfect combination with the [Fire Lord Set].

When Siva designed it, he made sure that there was no need to inject Mana into it and that though the effect-range of the Mana-less Mechanical Function was limitedly short, when worn with the Fire Sword and the Fire Lord Armor Set, the User becomes the Mortal Embodiment of Dragon Fire.

Even more, since it doesn't need Mana, when it is worn, Siva's delayed thinking reaction will also be neutralized if worn by a BM-Puppet.

Siva had two Fire Lord Set on him. He wore the first and he gave the last for Tai Long to wear.

Right now, the one facing the Dragon King is him.

~WOOOBB!!

~~~WOOOOOBBBB!!!

The dancing flames due to the concentrated Fire Dragon Materials triggered a resonance on the Mana in the surroundings and it created sounds of trickling flames that affected the senses as if you were being baked inside a large furnace that added more "heat effect" on the skin.

The Fire Lord Set creates a constant [Fire Realm] where this becomes the fuel to trigger the two absolutely damaging effects of the Dragonator.

Siva had always been wearing these two even as he was in the Terran Alliance. He "wore" a Mini Realm to separate its effects from the Primary Dimension that's why he was able to act and talk freely without hurting anybody.

—but now that he had finally released the Mini Realm that's been locking the fire around him, the generated heat wave blasted through in all directions and even making the ground red as it threatened to melt it.

Then, just behind Siva, a fiery silhouette that had the same posture as him emerged.

It was the Avatar of Fire, a natural 'phenomenon' when wearing the Dragonator.

Normally, without the Fire Lord Set, it takes a lot of time for the Avatar of Fire to take shape and form a visible and tangible, world-altering body.

But with the Fire Lord Set, it only takes a second or so before the Avatar of Fire finally takes shape and be prepared to be used.

The best thing about it is that it was a PASSIVE effect of when using the Dragonator, meaning, as long as there was the natural fire generated when a [Fire Realm] and/or a [Fire Domain] is present, the Dragonator is a devastating weapon in itself.

This [Fire Realm] has been constantly gathering its fire energy all this time even when he was still in Guest Palace in Bardavon Kingdom. Once Siva released it, it immediately changed the landscape closest to his location.

The Fire Realm then expanded——

—10 meters

—–—20 meters

————30 meters

—–until it stopped 50 meters away from where he was standing. It was the limit of the natural fiery domain the Fire Lord Set can generate.

Although this much, in a fight between Gods, is a tiny and insignificantly trivial area, it was more than enough to actually just trigger the Avatar of Fire.

It would even exist indefinitely.

The fires weren't artificial but actually made by the natural event of Mana. Meaning, no amount of water spell can dispel it but the heat and melting effects it has on everything inside its domain will have reduced temperature —or the so called Fire Damage.

"Pretty good! I didn't see this on the recording of your fight against Kyle. Is this your new ability?"

They were 290m away from each other but with Siva's Absolute Domain, his words were delivered to Ares clearly; while with the Dragons' strong bodily constitution, there was no problem if Siva was even 1km away from Ares and is murmuring.

"Weapon." Siva corrected and he then pulled out the Fire Sword from his Inventory. "I can't use the Rune Equipment I used to withstand all of Kyle's attack because it's still being repaired, but I can still use other means to defend myself, if you don't mind me."

The cross-armed man took a fighting stance. His left flank facing Siva, the left palm pointed at the opponent's direction while the other hand formed a semi-palm semi-fist stance in front of his chest.

It was a classic Kung Fu movie stance.

But as comically it may seem to the modern Siva, the pressure he felt when the Dragon King made this stance was real... palpable, even, that he felt his chest being pressed by an invisible pressure.

"If you can make me enjoy this fight, then I won't mind if you use even those exploding shells you used to defeat Kyle."

After he spoke, a yellowish aura erupted from his body and it covered not only the entire battle stage but the entire 5km space from him as well.

In other words, it was a 10km wide domain!

Siva felt the pressure descend on him and though the fire generated by his equipment didn't die out, its effects were nullified as it became nothing more than mere fire decorations around Siva.

Siva clicked his tongue. "Then I'll attack first...!!"