Westminster Bank

’And he’s pretending to be me. The worst part is, the disguise isn’t even handsome... What kind of Dragon Rider’s Assimilation ends up looking like a Chimera?’

’Speaking of which, why pretend to be me? He could’ve just worn a mask and gone on a killing spree, and no one would’ve said a thing. It looks like he plans to use my identity to take the fall for this...’

A flash of insight struck Master Jack, and he instantly realized something.

’So that’s how it is. I get it.’

And so, he posed the question: "You say you’re Baron Constantin?"

"The one and only," the Dragon Species "Baron" said. "I will have my revenge here. Don’t stop me. I must kill Freyja Lancelot..."

"You say you want to kill Freyja Lancelot?" Baron glanced at his pale-faced yet still arrogant and headstrong blonde ex-fiancée. She was currently staring daggers at the "Fake Baron," the aftershock of her surprise still plain on her face.

"Be my guest." Master Jack stepped aside.

The "Dragon Baron" was stunned.

The Dragon Devourer Cultists were stunned.

The Trial Takers, who were wary of both the Dragon Devourer Cultists and the Dragon Descendants, were also stunned.

The most incredulous expression of all belonged to Freya. She first let out a confused "Hm?" before her expression froze, as if she had just realized something.

"What, didn’t you hear me? Don’t you desperately want to kill Miss Freya?" Master Jack said. "I absolutely will not stop you. Be my guest."

But the Dragon Attendant didn’t move, only asking, "Who exactly are you?"

"Since you’re Baron Constantin," Master Jack said lightly, "then I... suppose I’m Norton."

The moment he said this, the Dragon Attendant’s pupils contracted violently.

It wasn’t just him. Roy, who was being helped up from a collapsed pit, also froze. He lifted his head, his eyes locking onto Baron, filled with disbelief.

Master Jack took in both of their reactions, a playful look in his eyes.

Just as he’d suspected. This Dragon Attendant was the "Norton" from the conversation he’d bugged earlier.

The Hestia Family had always wanted to make a big scene in the Dracul Mountain Range, and it looked like their plan was to use this Norton, disguised in his identity, to take the blame.

Their motive was likely to have "Baron Constantin" wreak havoc during the Dragon Hunting Ceremony, thereby provoking the factions outside the mountain range into hating the Constantine Family. This would also help them achieve their goal of carving up the Plains.

BANG!!!

With almost no warning, the Dragon Attendant Norton launched a sudden attack on Baron. Dragon Mighty, Spiritual Pressure, and flames swept over the entire scene like a tidal wave!!!!

「Outside the mountain range.」

On the viewing screen, after Master Jack claimed to be "Norton," Elder Pence immediately suggested to the other Patriarchs, "We can’t wait for the Griffin Knights any longer. Why don’t we go in ahead of them? We must capture Baron Constantin and bring him to justice!!!"

"But..."

"But what?"

"But Elder Pence... Baron Constantin is dead."

"What..."

Elder Pence looked at the screen, his eyes glued to that single moment in the footage.

The Dragon Attendant’s muscles bulged as he shot toward Master Jack like a cannonball. The ground in his wake was torn into bottomless, flaming trenches. The Dragon Descendants and Dragon Devourer Cultists in his path were instantly vaporized into fine ash by the terrifying heat!!!

He was wreathed in towering flames, like a rising sun. The Dragon Mighty and bloodline of a Third Generation Fierce Dragon pressed down on everyone like a violent flood, forcing them to bow their heads.

Yet, facing this world-shaking might, the Silver Dragon Guide on the screen remained as still as a mountain. He merely raised his hand slowly... and then, amidst the crowd’s disbelieving stares and gasps, he snapped his fingers.

SNAP!

The sound of something shattering.

Norton, the one impersonating Baron, froze in mid-air. If not for his wings of flame still beating, everyone would have thought time had been paused.

"What’s going on?" someone asked in surprise.

Then, the Dragon Attendant suspended in the air suddenly moved.

More accurately, his body moved.

An indescribable slicing sound rustled out from within the Dragon Attendant’s massive body.

Immediately after, countless wounds suddenly burst open across the Dragon Attendant’s limbs and torso! The gashes were deep, as though an invisible blade had repeatedly sliced him open from within. Blood poured out faster than the layers of fat beneath his skin.

The downpour of blood extinguished the flames covering the Dragon Attendant’s body.

The only flame that remained unextinguished was the one Master Jack had left on the Dragon Claw.

Like an awakened, starving python, that flame instantly coiled up from the Dragon Claw, piercing the Dragon Attendant’s heart in a single moment!

"BOOM——————BOOM!"

The Dragon Attendant roared at the sky and then plummeted. Its massive Dragon Body instantly burst into pieces, leaving behind only the blood-soaked upper half of a human torso.

......

Silence. A deathly silence.

The very air seemed to have been slain, holding a dead stillness.

Every living being at the scene stared blankly at the Silver Dragon Guide’s back, unconsciously swallowing hard.

"This... even if he’s a Golden Dragon Guide... is the gap between a Golden Dragon Guide and an ordinary one really this massive!?"

Jose stiffly turned his head to look at his own Silver Dragon Guide. His eyes, transformed by the Dragon Blood he had drunk, were filled with disbelief. It was rare for him to lose his composure so completely.

The few times he had, most had been during this Dragon Hunting Ceremony, and all of those instances were thanks to Master Jack—the man who took his money but failed to do the job.

If even Jose had lost his composure like this, it went without saying for Tune.

’If I had stepped up to help Master Jack at the feast in the beginning, then during the ceremony and the Trial, could I have also been like my elder sister and second brother...?’ He felt that he had just lost another opportunity.