Deep in the mountains lies a castle shrouded in darkness, it's surroundings filled with death and despair. This is the demon king's castle

The demon king sat on his skeletal throne, listening to the report of a manaleon

"My king, one of the manaleons have died" A manaleon respectfully kneeled as he reported

"I see, how many more manaleons are there to observe the target?" The king asked

"My king, there are still 10 more that are still headed towards his location, the one that died was the one who just recently arrived at the location to observe the said target"

"I see, report this to her, I still have to prepare for the invasion of the kingdom" The king dismissed the manaleon

"Yes my king" The manaleon left and the king was left alone

"The news of Arcadia's sudden uprising and re-establishment is now widespread, they've retaken most of their cities, the only thing left is the small villages around. If you ever think that raising an army and invading Arcadia is a good choice then, you'll be going home to a kingdom that's been razed to the ground... dear king, I eagerly await what you will do" The king chuckled as he imagined the burning city

While the demon king was enjoying the thought of destruction, deep within the King's city, the king is also thinking of a plan to retake Arcadia

"That princess suddenly pops out of nowhere and steals my kingdom... that woman will pay" The king grit his teeth as he drank wine from his cup

"Father, let me lead an army to retake the city!" The first prince spoke out

The king looked around, he noticed that he was surrounded by his two sons, his daughter, and all of his aides including his 9 generals

"Hmmm, where is the spy that I sent out?" The king looked at one of his generals

"My liege, he died, however, he managed to send out a report stating that the success of Arcadia's uprising was due to the new queen's personal knight" The General replied as he read out a piece of paper

"And this knight is?" The king asked

"He described him to be a knight who had two blades on his head, his eyes glowed red, and his ability to be equal to that of the now retired General Gram"

"The Blade knight? I see..." The king placed his fingers on his chin, deep in thought

"My liege, let us accompany the prince to retake Arcadia, they only managed to retake Arcadia due to their surprise attack and the Blackguards' lack of ability" The general from earlier suggested

"Indeed, now that you mention it, you did previously say that in the previous report. I've decided, my son will go with you, Magatama, Aira, and Rand, three level 100 warriors along with Meldy and Mag, two level 100 Arc wizards. It should be more than enough to deal with one knight, my son should be capable enough to lead the half of the army. As for the rest, continue on hunting down Aegis and the Cult of the Punishers. Put a reward for the capture of the Guild Aegis on the top 13 Guilds so that you can concentrate more on hunting down that damned cult that worships those invaders" The King stated

"YES MY LIEGE!" All of the generals bowed down and left

"Go, you are also dismissed" The king stated as he waved his hands

"Yes father" The king's children left

The King was now left alone

"Fucking bitch, she dares retake Arcadia and disturb me on my life of enjoyment with women, haaaaaaaah, I must calm down, I will take her body soon anyway, that kingdom is still recovering its strength and the journey of the army will take half a month, they will be retaking Alphon first and soon Arcadia castle. I must deal with this problem carefully for the demon king awaits his chance to exact his revenge, those damned elves and beastfolk won't be helping me this time but if I use that... yes, it should work." The King smiled and stood up before heading to his room

He opened the door and inside were women, shackled and tortured. The King smiled before closing the door, the women moved back in fear, however, the noise that their shackles made reminded them that there was no escape from their fate, all they could do us scream in their minds because screaming out would only turn the king on and will only fuel his desire to violate them

♠♠♠

"You think this is the place?" I asked as I stood in front of a cave, the entrance was at least 30 feet high

"This is the cave we've encountered with an entrance this high, I am not entirely sure but there is a high possibility" Brunhilde stated

"Alright, it's worth checking out. Reina, can you see in the dark?" I asked

"Yes sir, as an assassin, it is an ability that we should master" She replied with confidence

"Good, everyone else, set up a camp here and be prepared" I looked at Brunhilde before continuing

"Listen to my warning"

"Got it" Brunhilde nodded as she took out the Nexus helm from her backpack

"What's that?" Albert asked as he studied the helm

"A helmet made in sir Zeno's country" Brunhilde replied

"I see, it's design does share some similarities with sir Zeno's" Albert replied

"Let's go Reina, Uno, you come too" I started walking inside the cave

"Yes sir. [Night vision]" Reina replied and cast a spell onto herself before asking

"Sir, should I also cast the spell on you?"

"No need, I already did so" I lied

"Oh, I see" Reina looked at Uno who walked inside the cave, she guessed that he too must've cast a spell onto himself and just followed the group in

Brunhilde wore the helm and pressed a button underneath the chin, the helmet tightened around her face until it was a perfect fit.

"What a weird helmet" Albert stated as he studied the glowing lines all around the Nexus helm

Brunhilde shrugged it off before speaking to Zeno

'Can you hear me Zeno?'

'I can hear you, good, the signal here is good. I will warn you if ever the dragon tries to go out, fighting it inside the cave should be good since it cannot use its wings but this is my first time fighting a dragon, I am not sure if I can take it on' I told her the truth

'Don't worry, you can take it down without a problem'

'I'll believe you then, be careful outside' I advised

'Got it' Brunhilde replied before cutting the transmission

The cave was pitch black but not to us, I looked around and saw stalactites and bats on the ceiling while the ground is filled with stalagmite and puddles of water. Droplets of water dropped on our head occasionally

'Zeno, I've scanned the area' Lilith spoke out in response to my request as we entered the cave

'What did you find?' I asked

'My heartbeat sensor won't be much of help because of the bats above the ceiling, though my radar shows a huge object deep inside the cave'

'Oh? calculate our ETA'

'Basing on our current speed, 10 minutes'

'Alright, let's press on then' I started walking faster

'There's more'

'What is it?'

'The water... they seem to be more acidic than that from your standard cave'

'Is there any damage to long exposure?' I asked

'Yes, I believe that Reina will soon suffer skin damage. There's also a low chance of her respiratory system being affected'

'Alright, thanks for the report'

'No problem... also, do you have some time? I need to show you a report'

'I will make time after this' I replied

'Alright'

"Reina, cover yourself" I looked behind and spoke to Reina who didn't cover her head

"Sir? I don't get what you're saying" She stated meekly

"Cover your head properly, the air here and the water dropping on your head is a bit toxic, you may not feel something now, but soon you will" I replied as I pointed above

"Yes sir" She listened to me and pulled out a cloth

She wrapped her head, I nodded and continued walking, it may not be much but at least she's got some protection. We moved carefully, making sure that we don't let any droplet hit our heads until I finally saw a huge creature in front of me, it seems to be sleeping peacefully

I looked at its surrounding and saw corpses, some of which were missing body parts, they don't seem to be wearing any armor so I'm guessing that these people are villagers. I need to kill this guy instantly, we all approached carefully but out of nowhere

"H-Help!!! HELP MEAAHHHHHH!!!!" A hand grabbed Reina's foot, I looked behind and saw a man whose feet was dislocated, his face, stained with tears

Reina was surprised before letting out a small whimper, the pressure of facing a dragon must've taken a toll on her mind which is why she can't help letting out a small scream when she was spooked

The dragon opened its eyes and roared

'Brunhilde, be prepared!' I spoke before charging forward

'Zeno, heat started to gather around its lungs! be careful!' Lilith warned

I looked around and saw that we were inside a closed space, it would be deadly if it was to release a fire breath

'Strength now!' I raised my arm and punched down as strength rushed to my body

I managed to create a small pit where Guardian 1 tossed the spooked Reina, Guardian 1 and I jumped in ducked just as fire was breathed out of the dragon

'Brunhilde! move away from the cave's entrance' I am not sure if it would reach that far but I still warned them

'WOAH! what the hell is happening there!' Brunhilde soon replied, I'm guessing the fire reached all the way there

'The dragon woke up' I replied before peeking out

The dragon started to move its body, the stalactite above us starting to fall down. Guardian 1 punched all of the stalactites that fell, as for me, I jumped out of the pit and brandished Azazel

I changed to speed and ran towards the dragon it used its tail as a whip but I cut it in half. The surprised dragon let out a pained roar before grabbing one of the large stalagmites nearby and throwing it, if I were to dodge, Guardian 1 and Reina behind me would be hit. I had no choice but to cut it half. I destroyed the rock but as soon as I did so, the dragon came charging towards me, I rammed its head and continued charging out of the cave. I managed to grab onto its horn as it headed for the exit, it seemed to have noticed me and started to raise its head, my body hit a few stalactites but I held on and managed to stab its right eye

We soon reached the exit where it kept hitting its head on the ground, hoping that I would get off. I jumped back but Azazel was still stuck in its right eye

"HUMANS! HOW DARE YOU DISTURB MY SLUMBER!" It roared out in anger

"It can talk?" I stated

"Yeah, dragons can speak due to their intelligence being equal to that of a human's" Brunhilde replied as she moved behind me

"Where are the others?" Melphis asked as she pointed her rod towards the enraged dragon

"They're safe but they're still inside" I replied as I pulled out Silver edge

"Okay, [ICE PATH!" Melphis slammed her rod on the ground as sharp Ice protruded from the ground, heading for the dragon

"PATHETIC!" It roared out as it clawed away any ice that protruded underneath it

"I'll make this simple, submit or die" A dragon that can talk? Alissa would be very much excited

"A human? making me submit?! HOW INSOLENT!" It opened its mouth and let out a fireball the size of a car towards me

"You made your choice" I replied before dodging the attack

I switched to speed and instantly made my way underneath him, I jumped up and cut off one of its wings before landing on the ground. I turned around ran up its back before cutting off its other wing and jumping up, I switched to strength as I fell down. I clenched my fist and punched down, my fist hitting its head. The impact caused the dragon's head to hit the ground with a loud thud as it left a small pit, I landed in front of it and squatted down before pulling out Azazel

"I said yield" I tyrannically stated

"WHO ARE YOU?!" The dragon asked as it raised its head, its body still wobbling from disorientation

"A knight" I replied as I sheathed Silver edge

"I will remember th..." The dragon collapsed

'Is it dead?' I asked Lilith

'It is unconscious' She replied after a slight pause

"What the hell is with that power?!" Melphis asked as she studied the mark my fist left on its head

"I work out" I chuckled

"You'll get used to it, worry not your little head" Brunhilde stated as she patted Melphis' head

"I may be small but I'm not a kid!" She replied with irritation

"Haha, then stop acting like one" Albert chuckled as he walked out of the bushes

"Hey, at least I took part in the battle unlike some adult who was hiding underneath the bushes" Melphis retorted

"Look at the dragon's foot" Albert smiled

Melphis did so and sure enough, found 3 arrows hanging on its foot. The arrows didn't dig themselves deep but considering the fact that they managed to pierce through the dragon's scales is an amazing feat

'Cynthia, could you send someone to pick up an unconscious dragon?' I asked on the radio

'I already notified Alphon city's city lord of your mission, there is a large carriage for the dragon's corpse. All you have to do is send a carrier pigeon with the message since it will be faster there instead of from here' She replied

"You guys got some carrier pigeon?" I asked

"There's one inside the carriage, let me get it" Albert headed for the carriage

"Brunhilde, please write a request for the hauling of the dragon"

I requested

"Alright" Brunhilde followed Albert

'Thanks Cynthia' She must've planned ahead

'No problem... still though, are you hurt? I made sure to ask Brunhilde to pack some painkilling medicine from the ship since no healing potion or magic can help you' She was worried

'I'm alright, don't worry' I replied

I heard a sigh of relief before she said her goodbye and cut off the call

We could move around with a dragon's successful capture, it should raise the people's morale. As for the dragon's pride? well he probably won't be awake to see people see him tied down in a large carriage... probably