Westminster Bank

"Tell us more..."

It turned out the Old Race were people, too, and they loved drama just as much as anyone.

Some of the Trial Takers from the Old Blood Clans reacted calmly to Baron’s appearance. ’So what if he’s a Lawbreaker?’ they thought. ’At least he doesn’t seem hostile toward us right now.’

Other Trial Takers from the Law Enforcement Organization, however, had been sizing Baron up from the moment he appeared. They were calculating the difference in strength between them and considering whether to attempt an arrest.

Another group of people, however, had complex feelings about Baron’s sudden appearance.

For instance, his cousins from the Constantine Clan, Pound and Windsor.

There was also Dewey, the young master of the Frank Clan, who couldn’t tell if Baron was now stronger than him.

And his ex-wife, Freyja Lancelot, who had been biting her lip in thought ever since he arrived.

Then there were Lucy and Isabella.

Lucy stroked her chin, remarking, "You’ve gotten taller. More handsome than you used to be."

Isabella watched him quietly. "It really is you. Why are you here?"

Baron didn’t answer. He didn’t know *how* to answer, as revealing himself had never been part of the plan.

If that damned Norton hadn’t been here trying to frame him, and if he didn’t have to avenge Master Zophie, he might not have shown himself at all.

He glanced toward the sky. ’With my appearance, things back at the manor must be in chaos by now.’

Baron ignored the stares from the crowd, both on the plaza and watching from afar. With a single glare, he forced the Trial Takers blocking Roy to retreat, then walked to his side.

Roy lay on the ground, clutching the wound in his chest and coughing up blood. Baron had punched a gaping hole straight through him. If not for the tenacious Life Force of the Beast Faction, he would have already been dead. "I never imagined... I’d end up dying at your hands..."

Baron replied coldly, "I told you I’d make you pay for what you did."

"Pay?" Roy laughed softly. "You’re nothing but a Bloodless... If the Dragon Witch hadn’t granted you her power, how could you have possibly become so strong all of a sudden..."

"A Bloodless... You’re still too green, in the end."

A flicker of unease went through Baron, and he whipped his head around.

It was too late. The nearly dead Norton had produced a Dragon Heart from somewhere, swallowed it, and was beginning to Transform into a Dragon once more.

Roy chuckled, his face growing a shade paler with each breath of laughter.

Baron’s expression remained impassive. He grabbed Roy by the collar. Ignoring the horrified gasps of the Trial Takers on the plaza and the anguished scream of "No!" from Elder Pence outside the mountain range, he impaled Roy’s body on the Dragon Spear jutting from the Dragon Bone.

He had just completed the special ritual that Norton had failed to finish.

"He... He killed Roy Hestia!"

Every Trial Taker who witnessed this was stunned.

A direct descendant of the Hestia Clan, one of the Four Great Demon-Hunting Clans, had just been killed by a Constantine?!

’Master Zophie, consider this your vengeance.’ Baron offered a silent prayer for the Dwarf, then turned to face the now-savage Norton.

Having transformed into one of the Dragon Species, Norton let out a roar.

Instantly, more Dragon Descendants and Dragon Devourer Cultists who had transformed into Dragon Species appeared around the plaza. The ash-covered High Priest was among them, followed by a few Dragon Attendants, though they were mangled and disfigured—it seemed the bombs Jack had planted earlier had done their job.

Wearing a shattered mask, he roared savagely at Baron, "You—"

Before he could finish, a spear pierced through his throat.

Baron had thrown Roy’s spear.

The High Priest clutched his throat, his eyes wide with disbelief beneath his mask. Then, with a draconic roar from the Gale Dragon, a great wind began to blow. The storm clouds from the southeast had yet to arrive overhead, but a dense curtain of rain was already falling.

PITTER-PATTER. It splattered against the ground.

The battle erupted.

Dragon Knight Baron simultaneously engaged Norton and the transformed Dragon Devourer Cultists...

Out of the corner of his eye, Baron saw the furious gaze of the Gale Dragon beyond the plaza, and in that instant, he understood.

’The Gale Dragon... it wants to kill me!!!’

...

「Meanwhile」

Outside the mountains, a dozen miles from the Beowulf Family’s manor, a group of Law Enforcers was gradually being overwhelmed by the Dragon Tide, which had been sent into a frenzy by the draconic roars. After they dealt with the outer wave, the High Tier Dragon Descendants from the middle and inner rings arrived.

Although the few Silver-rank warriors present could handle them with ease, this unending sea of dragons spanned dozens of miles. Forget the regular Law Enforcers; even Silver Lion Wilder was breaking out in a cold sweat.

As Silver-ranks, they could certainly slaughter them all, provided they didn’t have to face the Flying Dragon Subspecies, the Gale Dragon, from the plaza.

The problem was the sheer scale. With the Barrier around the Dracul Mountain Range completely gone, the Dragon Tide was now emerging over an area far too vast for them to handle in a short time.

Now, with the roars of the Flying Dragon Subspecies, the High Tier Dragon Tide from the inner ring was also appearing. If even one of them got loose, it could bring devastating ruin to the nearby populace.

This was already a full-blown Dragon Calamity.

Silver Lion Wilder casually unleashed a sword wave that stretched for several hundred meters, briefly annihilating the attacking Dragon Descendants. He frowned as more immediately filled the gap.

’This can’t go on,’ he thought. ’The Dracul Mountain Range spans nearly a hundred miles, and the number of Dragon Descendants hidden within is incalculable. We don’t have enough people...’

"The scenery in the Dracul Mountain Range is as beautiful as it was a hundred years ago."

An old man’s whisper came from beside him.

Wilder turned his head to see an ordinary-looking old man dressed in a white Wizard Robe.