The ninth source of magic power has appeared in the world. That aura is the smell of death, a familiar feeling.
In the direction of the Thorn Empire, an unknown distance away from the Holy Dragon Kingdom, on a cliff that pierced through the clouds, the Death Dragon King, Nidhogg, looked up with a gloomy expression. At the end of his vision, the sun was swallowed by a layer of shadow. At the bottom of the cliff where he was, the earth shook as skeletons crawled out of the ground.
Those skeletons had strange shapes, including people in armor, creatures from other races, and even the bones of gods that exuded divinity. After they appeared, they looked up at the sky and let out ear-piercing roars. Under the attraction of the black sun, they flew toward the sky. During the flight, those undead skeletons had turned into pure black mist.
They were lives that Nidhogg had taken; it was hard to imagine how many undead there were. The undead covered the entire sky, and the pile of skeletons below was as tall as a mountain. The waves rolled in all directions and even in some cities near the Dragon Lair.
“The world that I once lived in contained a variety of magical sources. Those sources dried up during the battle between the gods. Now, they are reviving one by one. Is it fate? Or is this the beginning of some disaster?”
Nidhogg seemed conflicted.
Just as he was feeling sentimental, a man and a woman in blood-red armor suddenly appeared in the distant sky. The man was tall and sturdy, with a scar that pierced the bridge of his nose. He held a long spear in his hand. While the woman was slim, she had fiery red hair, and two long whips in the shape of thorns were stuck on her back.
Soon, the two of them flew in front of Nidhogg and bowed respectfully, emitting a platinum-tier aura.
“Lord Nidhogg, a new magical element has just appeared in the world—it’s death. Furthermore, many of those who died have returned. Their bodies occupied the ground and the sky and even poured into the city. And near the Dragon Lair, where the Dragon Emperor is located, the number of dead people is exceptionally high. King Gilgamesh wondered if that matter had anything to do with you, Lord Nidhogg.”
The one who spoke was a man. His voice was deep and majestic.
He was one of Thorn Empire’s nine divine generals. The Thorn Empire was different from other kingdoms. The laws of the jungle were applied there. There were no laws, and all rules were decided by the strong. The nine divine generals were the strong ones who climbed to the harsh peak. Other than the king, their words had absolute power in the Thorn Empire.
“I don’t know what happened.”
“Really, Lord Nidhogg? You are the Death Dragon King, so you must be very familiar with the death elements. His Majesty said that you must know the reason for skeletons’ appearance! Three different types of magical elements have appeared in the Holy Dragon Kingdom in just a short time span. And you just went there not too long ago—”
The man suddenly stopped mid-sentence because Nidhogg had unknowingly appeared in front of him and grabbed his neck. “I already said that I don’t know, yet you still continue to ask. It’s purely a waste of my time. My answer is my right, and so is listening. Asking me to answer the question but not paying attention to it, are you violating my right?”
“I… I’m sorry, Lord Nidhogg. We didn’t mean that.”
With a frightened expression, the man’s limbs swayed in the air as he spoke with great difficulty.
“Yes, Lord Nidhogg. The main purpose of our visit is to ask for your help. Previously, when you returned, you said that you’d help in Thorn Empire’s matters if we could pay you enough. This time, His Majesty sent 100 holy relics. We hope that Lord Nidhogg can help us clean up those undead creatures that have disrupted the lives of our residents.”
The woman, who was also one of the nine divine generals of the Empire, smiled.
“This is the only time. Next time, I will bury you in the ground.”
After a moment of silence, Nidhogg withdrew his hand that was clutching the man’s neck. He turned around and extended his hand to the woman. “I will take that job. What about the remuneration?”
“The reward is on the way, but because the undead are now occupying the route, it can’t get here for the time being.”
“I understand.”
Then, Nidhogg turned and flew into the sky, turning into a huge dragon that covered the sky. It swooped down with destructive waves on its body. It did not release any magic, but the storm carried by the flight blew all the skeletons in the sky and the ground into dust.
The male divine general rubbed his neck again. A clear mark of a dragon claw appeared on his neck, and blood was oozing.
“That Death Dragon King is really crazy. If I had not lost to the other divine generals in the game of rock paper scissors, I would not have come here.”
“You speak as if someone else wants to come here. That Dragon King is a dragon that has survived since ancient times. After returning from the Holy Dragon Kingdom, I feel like its power has become even stronger! His Majesty has told us to investigate what happened in the Holy Dragon Kingdom. It’s not easy to get information from the Death Dragon King. Why don’t we go to the Holy Dragon Kingdom instead?” The woman with a thorny whip wrapped around her back raised her head and looked into the distance. She lowered her voice.
“Three different mysterious magical elements have appeared in the Holy Dragon Kingdom in succession. Perhaps they are affected by some kind of treasure, or a strong person is guarding them! We are at the bottom of the ranks anyway. Rather than not completing the mission and not having an explanation for His Majesty, we might as well go to the Holy Dragon Kingdom and take a look. Who knows, we might have some fortuitous encounters.”
“That makes sense.”
The burly man and the red-haired woman looked at each other for a moment and made up their minds. They spread their combat aura wings and flew toward the direction of the Holy Dragon Kingdom.
…
At the same time, in another kingdom far away from the Holy Dragon Kingdom.
A huge island-shaped building could be seen floating in the sky from the outside. Hot air balloons loaded with propellers flew in all directions from the building, connecting it to the smaller island-shaped buildings. Iron chains extended from the building in all directions, connecting it to the smaller island-shaped buildings. Dwarves with big heads and small bodies were moving things between the hot air balloons and the sky islands.
Those sky islands were the famous Kingdom of the Dwarves—the sky islands. Despite their diminutive stature, the Dwarves were endowed with divine power and technological prowess. The Sky Islands were created by the dwarves using advanced magic levitation devices.
At that moment, at the highest point of the sky islands, the Dwarf King led a group of dwarven ministers to invite a dark-skinned man to a banquet.
“Light Dragon King. I heard that you want to buy many treasures from the dwarven royal family. I wonder what treasures you want and what price you can offer.”
The Dwarf King sat on a low throne at the top of the banquet as he asked the man. It was the Light Dragon King, Odyssey. At that moment, he was holding two dwarven girls in his arms. The two girls’ faces had turned red due to the constant teasing of his fingers, but the Dwarf King did not seem to see that.
The reason was very simple. A hundred dragons stood behind the Light Dragon King. Their sovereign-tier aura caused the sky islands to drop by a hundred meters. The sky islands might fall if they angered the dragons.
