Cold sweat covered the back of the bull King.

They had not underestimated the prince this time. They came with the full intent of seriously fighting him, whether they would win or lose. They had many speculations, wondering if the prince also had some sort of one-shot instant skill like the two princesses or if he was perhaps already a King rank and was just hiding his level

So much speculation. So many plans. All of this was for the simple goal of doing what they could to have a serious and worthwhile fight. But, even though they did their best to overestimate the prince, they still did not manage to capture the true extent of his power fully.

“I can feel your mind churning from here. You don’t need to. I am different from Setsuna and Lilin. If you take away my power to manipulate dimensions, I don’t have any particularly special or fancy skill and I promise you I won’t use my dimension during this fight.”

The prince showed his impressive body even as he twirled his arms and resumed stretching.

“I am going to start. You better be ready or fail.”

The Bull King had nearly no time to react as he felt a fist approaching his face and it was only thanks to his reflex that he could block the incoming attack using his weapon.

It was a giant fan, with the mark of a setting sun inscribed on it. The fan was closed so the Bull King did not hesitate to use the fist force to take some distance.

Even though he had managed to block the attack, his arm holding his weapon was tingling and he understood right away that a contest of strength would be pretty detrimental to him.

This reminded him of his first fight against Sun Wukong.

“This is an interesting weapon.”

The Bull King gritted his teeth when he saw Sol floating leisurely in the sky without chasing. Clearly, he was content just observing him.

“You are underestimating us.”

“You are wrong.”

Sol shook his head, his expression was apathetic, “I have an approximative grasp of your skill and this is why I can say, unless Sun Wukong himself or any other King intervene, your chances of winning against me are positively zero.”

There was no mockery in his eyes, no pride in his voice. His tone was no different from stating that the sun rose in the east and set in the west. That people were all destined to die and that nothing was unchanging.

He was not insulting him, he was not ridiculing him. Most likely, in his eyes, all he was saying was the simple naked truth.

The bull King gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, a growing inferno was blazing in his heart. How long had it been since he had been underestimated?

“Are you angry? No need to answer. I can feel you are angry. I can even understand why. After all, you must have been told you were very close to becoming a King. Perhaps you were even told that you are nearly as strong as a King. This is honestly commendable. I salute your years of training and respect your strength. But…”

A sad smile formed on Sol’s face as if he was pitying a poor kid who could not accept the simple reality.

“It doesn’t matter how close to being a King you are. You are not a King level and therefore you are unable to win. My victory is assured.3

The Bull King roared! His cry covered heaven and earth causing everything to tremble in his vicinity.

Then, taking a better hold of his fan before fully opening it.

“You forced me.”

<<1st form: Slicing Claws>>

The wind seemed to undulate around him before being fired like projectiles at Sol. The attacks were nearly invisible, and only by paying attention could even try to count them all.

Had this attack been lower on the ground, then it could have been powerful enough to leave multiple deep scars on it and the wind was strong enough to level the building in its wake.

This was why the Bull King rarely used this weapon. As the level of damage it could bring was astronomical and he did not like killing innocents.

This time though, he could only watch as the wind was only powerful enough to leave small scratches on the body of his opponents.

Blood was flowing and the wounds would close immediately. When the attack finished, the only things that had truly changed were ruined pants, blood traces on his body, and a slightly ruffled hairstyle.

“I am sorry, but…I am nearly immune to magic. Pure Elemental-type attacks are pretty useful against me.”

Ah….

Sol shrugged as he arranged his hair, “Milia will be mad. She has been taking longer and longer to work on them.”

He shook his head and started floating slowly, menacingly, toward the Bull King,

“Use your Zone. Summon your name. Since you are close to a King, you should already have a partial name, right? Stop making us waste time. As it is your attacks are nothing but a distraction at best and an amusing trick at worst.”

The Bull King screamed and his fan glowed with an ominous crimson light. The humiliation he was currently feeling was beyond anything he had ever experienced up to now.

This was a feeling of deep helplessness that went even above what he felt when he first fought against Sun Wukong.

But more than anything.

The look in the eyes of this Prince.

He could not stand this look.

He could have accepted it if the prince was arrogant, if he was a man who took pleasure in humiliating those weaker than him, or if he was just using him for amusement.

But this…

At the very moment, for the prince, he was nothing. Barely a pebble that could be kicked away and forgotten soon thereafter. Gazing at him as if he were just a pitiful kid trying to fight an adult.

“Do not mock me! I am the Bull King! I am the Great Sage who pacifies Heaven! I will not be looked down upon by a kid!”

<<Zone: Heavenly Flame Mountain>>

The world seemed to change all around Sol and the temperature rose to a degree so high the air itself seemed ready to combust.

Like the Zone of the Tiger Lord, this was a Zone that was akin to a domain but this one did not create closed boundaries. In a way, one could say that it was closer to a dimension’s encroachment.

A large giant mountain many kilometers high appeared behind the Bull King, akin to an active volcano with flames.

The sky became red and the atmosphere became scarce. Soon, the temperature reached and even went beyond a thousand degrees Celsius.

Even the soldiers of Wratharis and Envilya who had been watching in the distances died nearly instantly under the power of the flames for the one from Lustburg they were lucky as they were protected by the barrier of the fortress but they could only look at their farmland with aghast expression, knowing fully that if the domain continued to grow, those would not be spared.

Standing on his floating cloud, the Bull King was unfazed even as everything around him caught on fire. His body had changed, becoming a fiery red while the end of his tail had fire around it. Fire also covered his horns, giving him the appearance of a devil coming to hell.

“Remember, prince. You are the cause of all this destruction. I will make you pay for underestimating us.”

Standing in the middle of the inferno, Sol laughed, his expression shifting from the earlier apathy as crystals of ice formed all around him.

“I have faced a supernova and toyed with Ifrit himself. Do not laugh with your warm sona!”

He grinned, his eyes shifting and his voice changing, becoming deeper, more guttural, and more dangerous.

“Bull King. You wish to pacify Heaven. Truly admirable but I apologize. I am the one who will stand above the Heaven.”

His skin ruptured and was replaced by scales. His pants were completely torn apart as the light started to cover him. His body grew and grew, ten meters, twenty meters, fifty meters.

The light vanished as the sun was covered by a gigantic shadow that blocked the sky itself and finally,

ROOAAR!!!

Floating in the sky — Was a Gigantic Crimson Dragon.

***

For the first time in nearly twenty years, the roar of a dragon once again filled heaven and earth, forcing all beings to acknowledge its might.

For the people of Lustburg, many old soldiers or citizens had tears forming at the corner of their eyes as they watched the majestic entity that appeared.

Ten meters tall, more than 50 meters long. Crimson scales on its back glimmering with golden scales under its belly, a beautiful mix of colors that did nothing more than increase the power it was emanating.

Even though they were not present on the battlefield, many of them started kneeling with their hands gathered in prayers.

After all, while this form might be foreign for the younger ones, they could never forget it. It may be slightly smaller, but this form was undoubtedly that of Her Majesty.

Blaze Dragona. The Queen of Lustburg.

While Mars enjoyed popularity out of this world in Lustburg, the one who garnered the most fear and respect was undoubtedly Blaze herself. Because her appearance was always the precursor of victory.

Her roars were always the signs that they did not have to worry and could leave everything to her.

Whenever she appeared, with Mars on her back, the soldiers knew that this fight would only have one outcome.

After losing both of their symbols, Lustburg had been sluggish. The economy fell, their influence diminished, and the nobles were plotting. Citizens could only await, hoping that a just King would come.

Sol never showed such a sign.

A young man who had been imprisoned all his life in a gilded cage while being pampered by the regent Queen.

While he made an impressive showing in the Gladiator match, this was it. He was not even a Duke. So what could they expect from him?

Even Mars Luxuria, the Hero King, took 3 years of training before actually reaching the King Rank. What could they expect from Sol in just a few months? Not even a full year yet?

Then war happened, they lost, they won, but none of this had anything to do with Sol. The citizens could not see all the negotiation he was doing. They could not see all the steps he was taking.

All they could see was that when Lustburg was losing, the one who stepped up first was the Princess. Making honor to her Mother's name, she defeated two sages with extraordinary means.

Then the Knight came, The White Knight managed to stop the advance of Wratharis. The same with Nuwa and finally —Setsuna Ira. Not even a true resident of Lustburg. She was the one who truly managed to bring the war to a stalemate, and everything was reversed after the Rangers took the field.

Victories after victories. Impressive showing after one. Legends were born from the battlefield, and all the citizens could see was that — The prince was not one of those legends.

Even now he was hiding in his golden cage, doing nothing but gazing at the distance as citizens died.

The negative rumors that followed, while of unknown origins, spread like wildfire as the negative sentiment against Sol was at an all-time high.

The prince was a fraud.

The prince was a coward.

The prince was even more useless than the Puppet King.

The prince was a shame to the bloodline of the Hero King.

Such sentiments became so prevalent, that there was no doubt that if the Blessed systems did not exist, the population would have risen in rebellion and asked for a new Prince to take his place.

All this negativity, all these suspicions, all those doubts.

—All of them vanished at this very instant alongside the roar of the Giant dragon.

***

In the Battlefield, Sol had no care for the changes in feelings the population of Lustburg was experiencing.

For him, such concerns were nothing but a simple trifle, not worthy of attention in comparison to the fight that was happening.

The Bull King was trembling. Even though he was a very powerful fighter, one who had seen hundreds of battlefields, he had never faced a true dragon outside of Blaze in the past, and to this date, the only ones who truly fought against a Dragon were Jialong and Sun Wukong.

‘How is this possible?’

His limbs felt frozen. His body was completely stiff, so much so that even breathing was ridiculously hard for him.

The feeling had when one was facing an apex predator. All his instincts were screaming at him, telling him that he was facing something that was beyond anything he could deal with.

That they were not on the same level. Two dimensions that were completely different.

The Bull King understood intellectually what was happening. This was Dragon Might. The natural pressure all dragons emanated.

But how could such pressure come from a Duke?

How the hell was this even a Duke!?

[Bull King. Once again, be proud. You are the first person to face this form. Your name will forever go down in history.]

The voice coming from his maw had nothing human anymore, and the way the King was looking at him was infinitely cold. Whereas before he felt pity and indifference, now it was as if he was gazing at something unworthy to be in its presence.

The Bull King should have been angry. But what stunned him the most was that, somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice seemed to whisper that this was reality. There was nothing wrong with this gaze that, in fact, even gazing at the majestic appearance of this dragon was something he should be proud of.

[Worms should not share the same sky as me.]

The dragon moved, and one palm filled with sharp claws was raised before pressing down toward him. This was enough for the Bull King to snap out of his daze and try to fight back, but he helplessly realized that his own body still refused to move, seemingly weighted down by an infinite mass. He had the feeling that the weight of the entire world was on his shoulders.

Space was under the control of the Dragon Prince and so was Gravity.

“I will not yield!”

The Bull King screamed, showing his defiance and refusal to bow in front of Heaven. But like the cries of all mortals who screamed at the injustice of the world — They were useless.

Whoosh!

The Bull King was swatted down like a fly and crashed against the ground at such a high speed that it seemed like a bomb had gone off. Large-scale destruction followed as everything in a hundred-meter radius was destroyed because of the shockwave that followed.

But this did not stop there.

The form one had would always affect his psyche, and Sol, in his full Dragon form, felt nothing but pure revulsion at the simple thought of wasting more time fighting against something that was nothing but a bug to him.

His large wings opened wide, showing a mixture of Gold and crimson scales intertwined in a beautiful schematic. Sol did not understand why his scales, which were usually Golden, had this crimson hue in his full dragon, nor did he care to know.

All he knew was that the mountain in front of him was a bother, and as such, he would destroy it.

Sol grinned, and his form seemed to be nothing more than the malevolent grin of an evil dragon. He remembered the first time he met Kiyohime, the first time he witnessed the true power of a true Dragon. He had been envious then. But now… His eyes flickered. It was time to test something. Raising his long serpentine neck, Golden light gathered in his throat, going from his stomach until it reached its maw.

Above him, pure mana appeared all around, seemingly gathering under his call. Water, Wind, and fire, three of the four fundamental elements in magic all came together and fused before being swallowed by him.

For a few seconds, silence seemed to fall on the battlefield.

All those who were observing these fights, both in the fortresses or through the large screens floating in the sky, opened their eyes wide as they witnessed what followed.

They watched as the dragon opened its maw wide; they shivered as they observed the sharp row of teeth that seemed ready to tear everything apart.

Finally, they felt pure fear as the dragon finally unleashed his attack. He opened wide,

<<Dragon Breath: Prototype Light of Destruction.>>

Crimson light bloomed —And everything was erased in its wake.

***

They said the most beautiful things in the world were often the deadliest. This was a reality many may not accept but few could refuse.

At this moment though, there was no dissent nor discussion about this fact—only awe.

All the people, no matter what their level watched in awe as the crimson blood light erased everything it came in contact with, and this in the most exact meaning.

There was no explosion. No shockwave, no collision. It was as if someone used an eraser on a page and made everything vanish.

It was smooth and silent and this was why — It was all the more frightening.

Standing alone, atop the heaven canopy, Sol was the undisputed ruler of the sky, his might rolled, covering all places and he was yet to be finished.

Whoosh!

[From now on….There will be no Wratharis Fortress in this place.]

His wing opened wide and with this, thousands upon thousands of fireflies appeared all above him. Through the sky, one had the impression of witnessing the birth of thousands of stars. Very deadly stars.

ROOOOAAR!!

<<Dragon Wings: Phoebus Catastrophe>>

This was an attack he had once used back when he was attacking the Chaos Spawn in Tartarus and this attack was once again proving to be devastating. Only this time, it was filled with the light of destruction and the effects were there for all to see.

Whoosh!

Like shooting stars, all the crimson fireflies flew directly toward their target, leaving trails of mana behind them.

It was beautiful. Oh so beautiful but it was also nothing short of pure destruction.

The very landscape changed under his might, hundreds of meters were reduced to rumbles or craters and from now on, the very maps of the world would have to be changed to reflect the reality.

Mountains were flattened, hills were erased, hundred meters deep holes appeared and obviously — The fortress was destroyed. The shield that had been placed had no means nor hope of even standing up an instant against this attack.

After launching two such powerful attacks, one would expect Sol to be tired. After all, no matter how one looked at it, this kind of attack should not be something that could be easily launched by anyone, no matter how strong they were and they were not wrong.

No matter how strong he was…Sol was just a Duke. His reservoir of energy was limited and he certainly could not launch a third attack.

Well, that would have been the case if not for one very small problem.

Sol was no normal Duke.

Sol was a Dragon Duke with his core intact and what followed next showed why people avoided messing with rank S mythical beast.

Once the destruction Sol wrought was finished, Sol let out a gigantic roar and following this, the mana in the air became almost liquid as it condensed to such a high degree while being aspirated in his core.

The land reacted to this as such a heavy absorption of mana could only create a lack of equilibrium in the zone and if Sol continued like this, the entire place might turn in a mana-dead zone where no more mana could circulate and no more life could grow.

Thankfully, Sol had no intention of going so far all he wanted to do was to send a message.

[Listen World!]

The world listened, the people stayed, eyes riveted watching the magnificent creature that seemed to surpass all mortals.

[I am Sol Dragona Luxuria. The Crown Prince and future King of Lustburg and the prince of the Dragon realm.]

Light filled his body and the giant dragon slowly shrunk until all that was left was a young man. Mana moved under his will and regal clothes were draped on his body while a throne of Ice appeared behind him for him to sit on.

His expression was apathetic as he looked at the camera but all those who watched had the distinct impression that he was looking down on them and the worst was…Many had a feeling that this was as things should be as if it was normal for him to stand atop all of them and for them to kneel down and worship him.

“On this day, Six of the Seven Sages were defeated, Wratharis fortresses were all destroyed or captured and Lustburg is occupying more than 50% of Wratharis land with no way for them to fight back.”

His voice was calm and steady and while it lacked the guttural inhuman inflection of a few moments ago, the words he uttered were no less heavy.

“Wratharis has lost the battle and Lustburg stands victorious.”

He smiled, a smile full of chills, “But this is not the end. This cannot be the end. This is why I will give an ultimatum.”

Mana moved under his will as a gigantic VII appeared in the sky.

“Seven days. For the next seven days, no more fights will happen. I will give Seven days for Wratharis to surrender officially. If it does, we will give back 80% of the land we conquered and all the prisoners will be given back at a Quarter of the price.”

Gasps could be heard in different parts of the world but they were immediately shushed, as all of them listened to the words of the prince they knew that this was not the end,

“But…” Indeed, the prince did not disappoint them, “ In those seven days, Tyrant Lupus has to officially put down his crown and leave the place of Sovereign to the next ruler –Setsuna Ira. He has to recognize his crime of fratricide to the whole world and accept to be imprisoned for years to come.”

By now, all those who were used to intrigues understood what Sol was trying to do.

“If on the 8th day, Wratharis has yet to surrender and the tyrant has yet to give up on then…We will continue the war and I will stand at the forefront of this battle. I will erase everything that stands in my way for I believe I have shown more than enough compassion. No more.”

A cold light shone in his eyes, “Remember my words. Grave them in your very beings, spread my tales, share my words. Fire will rain, blood will flow and parents will cry at the sight of the coffin devoid of corpses of their children sent to a senseless war where victory was not even a possibility!”

“I will show no mercy! I will not hesitate! I will become Death…The destroyer of worlds.”

A cold shiver went down their back and they could all easily imagine the picture that Sol was drawing.

“Give me your answer Tyrant. Your Crown or the well-being of your citizens. Make your choice and live the rest of your life with the weight of your decision.”

After those words, the prince completely vanished from the place as if he had never been there in the first place.

But one look at the horizon showed them that this was not a dream. This was not their imagination. This was the cruel reality and this was also the birth of a new legend.

A legend that would completely change the way people saw war.