During the massacre that was occuring downstairs, up in the throne room, there was a completely different atmosphere. It was one, actually, full of laughter.

Luca and Erebus were standing in front of each other, bodies quaking from hysterics.

“And that’s why--ha--that’s why you should let me have access to your treasury!” Luca cried out between peals of laughter.

“I would never do something like that, idiot!”

“Well, why not?” Luca grinned. “It’s not like you’re using it, anyway!”

“Human,” Erebus exclaimed, clamping his hand on Luca’s shoulder, “you’re quite funny!”

“Ha-ha, you too--wow, your grip is strong--old man--ow!”

The two of them had been like this the entire time. Erebus had told Luca that he would receive a reward for being helpful, so the man decided to ask for unreasonable things. This didn’t offend Erebus, in fact, it amused him greatly. He had never met a human that didn’t know about their self-worth! This was incredibly humorous. This man’s greed knew no bounds even when faced with an ancient dragon! He continued to act like everything was perfectly normal. It was definitely hilarious. As for why Luca was laughing… well, he had always been a strange man.

“Then, can I take a ride on your back?”

Erebus began roaring with even louder laughter. “Do you think that I’m a stallion?”

“Of course not! But I’ve never flown before so I thought it would be very interesting.”

“No! Hah! Something else, something else.”

The two of them held onto their stomachs, tears forming in their eyes.

“Eh? But I’ve thought of everything that I want already. You’re too strict with your rewards!”

“That’s because your value isn’t as high as you think it is!”

Luca’s sharp face sobered up some. “Oh? Really? What can I do to get something of greater value?”

“Entertain me!”

“How do I do that?” Luca wondered. Erebus seemed greatly entertained already. What more did the man need?

Seeing that the child had no further intention of asking him stupid things, the laughter faded from Erebus’ throat. Still, his face shone brightly with amusement. “If I knew how to answer you, then I wouldn’t need entertainment, now would I?’

Luca nodded in understanding. From what he had heard… Erebus was the most eccentric out of the entire Dragon Council. He didn’t care much for the rules and regulations that they had established and tended to do whatever he wanted. His frivolous attitude had started to become more widespread ever since he had infiltrated that kingdom and became an adventurer. So, he decided to ask, “When you were an adventurer, was it fun?”

Erebus looked thoughtful before answering honestly, “Mm… it was far too easy. They were all weaklings and the dungeons were boring. Where’s the fun and that?”

Luca’s eyes flashed. “That’s what your problem is!”

“Huh?” Erebus tilted his head.

“You’re too strong! There’s only a few beings on this world that could ever challenge your power. You’ll never find a worthy match outside of them.”

Erebus didn’t make a sound. Why was this human telling him something that he already knew? In fact, he understood this fact far better than Luca could ever.

“That’s why you have to restrict your power! Go to their level. That way, everything will be far more exhilarating!”

Oh. Mae had also mentioned something like this. To him, it didn’t sound like it would be all that great. Even if he lowered himself to their level, wasn’t that just the same as being a weakling? Sometimes, he would play around with his prey and act weaker than he actually was, but then he would come forth to crush them. He wouldn’t be able to do that if he restricted himself!

Luca wasn’t stupid, so he noticed the waning interest on Erebus’ face. “How about you try it out! Then you can be the judge.”

Since Erebus had an easy-going personality, he didn’t shut down Luca’s idea. He didn’t have anything to lose from it, anyway. “Give me a moment.”

Actually restraining his power was something Erebus had never done before, so it would take him some time to figure out how to do it properly. Honestly, he didn’t have any real gauge of his strength. Erebus just acted with what he thought was enough. Generally, it was too much. His concept of what was “enough” was starkly different than anyone else. He had never particularly cared, though.

But now… well, he’d use Luca as a baseline. Ah, he’d prefer to be a little stronger than the rat in front of him, but Erebus’ idea of a small increment could be enough to level a city. He was well-aware of this, but there wasn’t much that he could do to fix it.

Erebus shut his eyes tightly, trying to visualize his current amount of strength. If his power could fill oceans, then he needed only a droplet. Smaller and smaller. He could feel himself growing weaker as he tried to contain the abundant amount of force that had been pooling in his body for thousands of years.

His body began to shine as a strange marking burned itself into existence behind his ear. It was an external container of sort that only allowed a small portion of his actual power to be realized. To visualize this, it was like a pinprick in a lid. What lurked behind that lid was turbulent. Forcing all of his might into this was nothing short of, well, nuclear instability. Erebus never had such fine-tuned control and restraint before, so it was extremely shoddy.

It would not work.

He had far passed the point of what was capable of being suppressed.

For it to function properly, that would take time and research. To Erebus, this was not a tasteful answer.

And from what he was feeling now… he did not like it.

“You live like this?” Erebus questioned Luca, disgust riddled in his tone. How were humans even capable of walking? Even when he had first came into existence, Erebus was far stronger than this.

Luca’s face twitched. Ah, is it really that bad? Why did he have to look so revolted? Was he bragging? Sorry for being normal. “Is it not suitable?”

“Absolutely not,” Erebus response came swiftly. His subordinates would pity him in this state.

Erebus dispelled the seal and the power rushed back into his body. He could breathe normally again. A content smile spread across his face.

Luca felt like crying. Erebus had only lasted a few seconds before giving up! This guy was too used to being strong. To him, it was probably equivalent to life.

But he couldn’t allow himself to falter. If he wanted to get access to the treasures and wealth that Erebus had, then he needed to prove his worth. “Well, I have another idea.”

Erebus looked at him, laughter evident in his eyes. It was clear that he thought that Luca’s desperation and greed was hilarious. “Mm, well, what is it?”

The man hesitated. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if something like this would even work. It was an idea that he had planned on proposing to his sister in order to gain more backing to their clan. He would have to rework it some, but it might work to satisfy Erebus’ desires. He spoke, “If I could be honest with you for a moment?”

A shrug.

“There’s no one that could ever match up to you. And your standards are too high. Everything that you do centers around yourself. It’s no wonder that you’re bored. ” Luca had been able to come to this conclusion very quickly based off of what he had heard and conversing with Erebus for this short period… his attitude went far beyond the point of arrogance. He had been fundamentally wrong when he thought that Erebus didn’t care. Rather, this man was so prideful that the people around him had stopped mattering. His ego was the driving force behind all of his actions. To Luca, this was a little scary to actually witness. Erebus had his own set of morals and logic, and he was at the core of it all. What would happen to those that did not fit in?

Erebus did not see the problem with this. Luca had already touched on this earlier, so Erebus was already bored with it. The pain and suffering of others--of those weaklings--what did it matter to him? So, his response to this was, “And?”

“Ah… what I’m saying is…” Talking to him was difficult! Luca thought that Erebus would show some more concern to his flawed ideology, but the man seriously didn’t give a damn. Would this even appeal to him? Luca had to rethink his pitch quickly. “Have you ever considered taking a step back? You’re always at the forefront, but isn’t watching from a distance also fun? Ah, of course, you’d still be in control, just not as direct as usual...”

Erebus’ head tilted, his interest flaring up.

“It’ll all be one big game.” Luca, seeing that Erebus was intrigued, continued on with growing confidence, “The dragons never really interfere with the world. But what if you did?”

The expression on Erebus’ face twisted negatively. A dangerous glint shone in his eyes.

Warning bells went off in Luca’s mind. What did look that mean? Had he said something wrong? Had he missed something in his assessment of Erebus? Luca backpedaled, “No, no. You don’t have to disrupt anything, it’s just about taking a more active role. You guys always respond after something happens. But what if you initiate something?”

“Such as?” The fearsome appearance on Erebus’ face loosened some, but Luca knew that he still had to tread carefully.

“A world-wide event hosted by the Dragon Council.” Luca cleared his throat. “The,” he thought of a name, “Dragon Trials.” Seeing that there was no further reaction from Erebus, Luca felt his confidence begin to dim. “You could find participants and put them through a crucible of your creating. You could do whatever you wanted!”

A look of understanding dawned on Erebus’ face. “I see.”

This is what Luca meant by a game. He would not be one of the players, but rather, the orchestrator. It was something that he had never thought about before. But he already had ideas flowing into his mind. There was a great deal of things that he could do with this!

Erebus thought about it for a moment. He was not sure if the Dragon Council would be up to something like this. But it did sound very fun. Mm, yeah, it’d definitely be entertaining to watch. Watching others struggle was always amusing to him.

He could put these overeager servants of his to work, too.