Hopes, dreams, and desires. Where do they come from? Where do they go? Why do they even exist?

Mortals dabble in such meaningless things. A rightful ruler of this world, has no need to mind the lives of the lesser beings...

Chapter 15: Mountainous Dragon Lord

The flashy light that temporary surrounded Ragnar just a moment ago disappeared just like that. Back in that moment he instinctively attempted to grab his nearest companions and hold them tight, but no such luck, whatever happened was too fast, faster than even his senses.

He was no longer in that large library that he and his companions visited, instead the landscape belonged to rocky mountain tops so high that he was literally above the clouds, mountains that for some reason sported an odd reddish color. The starry full moon sky above him was a true sight to behold, the astral bodies seemed so close that Ragnar felt he could touch them if he reaches out to them.

Such mesmerizing view would've absorbed the Barbarian for a good while if not for the small presence he felt nearby and, after raising his guard up, called out to it.

"Who's there?"

Ragnar turned his view towards the place his senses were warning him about.

Barbarian Job Classes gave you several useful surviving Skills as you Level Up, some of those Skills are [Lore (Nature)], that gives you innate understanding of how to operate in and make the most out of natural environments (a Skill they share with Druids) and [Lore (World)], that gives you innate understanding of any place you visit and about the inhabitants who live there (a Skill they share with Sages). Up until now Ragnar had both of those Skills intentionally turned off in order to enjoy the sense of wonder while exploring this world with his friends, but the sudden situation he's been just thrown into subconsciously made him reactivate those Skills again.

For a few seconds nothing happened, but eventually a voice did respond to him.

"So you can see me? You really are something else, mister!"

A juvenile voice came out of apparently nowhere, but just a second later a creature that resembled a cross of Human and bird stood a few feet away from Ragnar, it was bipedal and had the head of a dove, his back sported a pair of pure white feather wings, and was dressed in normal-looking clothes. It resembled an Aarakocra, the most basic Birdman Race in YGGDRASIL, so Ragnar will assume he is that.

On his hands there was a cloak of some sort, must likely a mantle of invisibility or some similar Magic Item. It must be low-level if his Barbarian Skills could bypass the invisibility and detect the Birdman's presence. Truth is, Ragnar didn't really "saw" whoever this person is, since seeing through invisibility is something Mages and Rogues do, but he won't actually reveal something like that. He has no reason to.

Instead he will question this person who attempted to sneak on him.

"Who are you? What were you planning to do hiding yourself like that?"

"Oh, nothing, really. I was just curious, I don't mean any harm."

"But how did you knew I was going to be here? Who told you?"

This young Birdman was obviously here long before Ragnar arrived, and was hiding with a Magic Item no less, so he obviously knew that Ragnar would be teleported here. He was determined to receive answers, and while he has no intention of taking what he wants by force, he won't hesitate to use intimidation Skills to squeeze the answers out of the Birdman.

The current situation is far too strange, he has no idea who he can trust right now, so he asked his question in a firm and powerful tone.

"W-well, I really had no idea you would be here, sir. I didn't knew what would happen in this place, that's why I was waiting right here while hiding with a Magic Item, I was just curious, I swear!"

"Uh? What do you mean? Just curious?"

"The thing is, days ago while I was flying around this place, I caught sight of something strange."

"...okay...what did you saw?"

"That specific day I was wearing magical eyes...these here."

The young Birdman took out a pair of google-like objects from a pocket for Ragnar to see. Must likely Magic Items just like the cloak he used to hide.

"These magical eyes let me see objects that I wouldn't normally see otherwise. Spirits, mana currents, coalescing clouds of planar energy, those phenomenon that we can't see with the naked eye are available to our sight with these!"

The Aarakocra's voice echoed with the excitement of a child showing off his favorite toy, but none of those things really matter to Ragnar, he simply wants to know what's going on.

"So you can see fancy mystical stuff with those, that's great. But what about that weird thing you say you saw?"

"Oh yes, that day I saw something I never saw before. In a small isolated spot of these mountains, right here where we're standing, I saw a group of weird and freakish creatures drawing a complex-looking circle on the ground you're standing right now. I took my magical eyes for a second and couldn't see them no more, so I thought they could be deformed spirits or something. I kept looking at them from a distance, making sure they couldn't spot me."

"Freakish beings?"

"Yes! One of them looked like a walking humanoid skeleton of sorts, but had 2 heads and 6 arms, and was dressed in a mage robe, or at least I think it was a mage robe."

'Undead, must likely a Lich or a related being using cloaking magic.'

"Alright, go on."

"Eventually, the creatures finished whatever they were doing and vanished, just like that. They never returned so I flew near this place to look at what they did. I know I shouldn't have, but my curiosity got the best of me."

They say curiosity killed the cat, but Ragnar isn't sure if that saying exists here. What's more, would a Birdman who lives so high up in a large mountain top even know what cats are? No matter, he should just keep listening to what the Birdman is saying.

"I found something I've never seen before. Etched on the ground there was a set of patterns in circular formation. With the magical eyes I could see the flow of mana circulating through it, a strange magic I never saw before. I never told anyone about this, but during the following days I kept subtly asking the Priests of my community if they knew about a magic of that sort, but nobody knew nothing, not even my dad who is the High Priest."

"So you just kept coming here every day after that? To see if anything would happen?"

"Yes!"

"...you had nothing better to do?"

"Like what? Stay locked up in the temple doing nothing but study old dusty books and meditate? My parents are never around, and the servants are too busy attending them anyways, so I'm just alone with the sacred Griffon all day. I would rather sneak out and explore the world."

The young Aarakocra folded his arms in frustration, it seems that he lives a rough life judging from his words. However, nothing of that has anything to do with Ragnar and his current situation, he wants to return to his friends' side as soon as possible.

"Well, thanks for welcoming me, but I'm afraid I have to go now. I need to look for my lost companions before anything else happens."

"Uh? So you didn't wanted to be transported here? You were taken by force?"

"Tricked, to be precise. I used to be in a Demi-Human city with my companions a moment ago when someone suddenly teleported me here."

Ragnar was recalling the last moments that transpired before whatever happened a minute ago. The Human they decided to trust pushed them into a trap, how could Daifuku do that? What did they do to deserve that?

'Could he have known our true identities? If he did, how?'

He should stop thinking about that for now, returning to his friends' side must be his sole priority.

"Farewell."

And just like that, Ragnar spread his membrane wings and took to the skies. Well, "skies" sounds redundant since he's already atop a mountain peak that's higher than the clouds, so it's downwards toward lower levels that he should be flying to.

And for a whole minute he did just that, fly around at high speeds looking for a way out of the red mountainous terrain or for any scenery that resembles anything he saw during the travels with his friends, but no such luck. Ragnar is an ignorant of this world after all, even with [Lore (Nature)] and [Lore (World)] he couldn't find any way back to the Troll country.

He eventually stopped flying around, and for another full minute he remained still in one spot. His many years of experience with the exploration Guild World Searchers is useless in this specific scenario when he needs it the most, and such thing was slowly making his frustration swell, building up an inner rage that he was actively trying to hold back. Getting angry won't do him any good right now.

And after yet another minute passed, the young Aarakocra from before was slowly approaching Ragnar, it seems he was following him all this time, and after a few seconds the young Birdman addressed the frustrated Insect.

"Finding your way in and out of the Rust Mountains is quite a challenge, isn't it?"

Ah, so this place is called the Rust Mountains. No wonder with that unnatural reddish color decorating them.

"So, um, if you can't find your way back on your own, perhaps I can help you go back to wherever is that you want to return to."

After hearing those words, Ragnar felt a tiny glimmer of hope flare up in his heart, but said hope was immediately suppressed by his pessimistic pragmatism. He was already fooled once, Daifuku gave him no reason nor warning for his backstabbing, he just kidnapped him to this place and who knows what he did to his friends too, Ragnar has no intention of being fooled again.

He directed his gaze towards the Birdman, and it seems the young Aarakocra felt intimidated by his static insect glare, and spoke again in a nervous tone.

"Well, if you want to of course! If you don't want my help then you are welcome to reject it. Sir."

He should reject it, every single fiber in his being is warning him against another potential betrayal. The very fact that the new Players know nothing about this world and the people living in it is what got them in this mess in the first place.

However, it's also because Ragnar knows nothing about this world that he's well aware of the fact that he will never be able to find his friends by himself, let alone find a way out of this Rust Mountains or whatever. So despite his instincts warning him otherwise, he decided to put his trust in another individual he just met one more time. The safety of his friends could be in jeopardy for all he knows.

"No, I, I would be grateful if you can aid me to find my way back. But I'm curious how you plan to do that."

The nervousness on the feathered youngster was instantly replaced with confidence.

"Trust me, we know what we do. We are the People of the Sky, children of the Heavens! There's nothing we can't see from this peak of the world!"

And just like that the young Aarakocra turned around, signaled Ragnar to follow, and begun to fly as fast as his wings could. Ragnar hesitated for a second but eventually gave in and followed his trail.

"By the way, you never told me you name, sir. Mine is Tai'me, is nice to meet you."

"I...I am Ragnar, likewise."

"Ragnar? I've never heard a name like that. You really aren't from around after all, sir Ragnar."

As these 2 kept exchanging dialogue midflight, Tai'me took Ragnar back to the area they were minutes before, near the spot where he arrived to this Rust Mountains. All he could see far in the distance were even more red mountain peaks, so an impatient Ragnar made Tai'me a question.

"Is it still far? I appreciate your offer but I'm in a hurry, I really need to return as soon as possible."

"Oh, we're here already!"

Tai'me took out and activated some sort of Magic Item and held it in front of him, but Ragnar's impatience was starting to build up.

"Uh? What do you mean here alr-whoa!"

In just an instant, the world around both Ragnar and Tei'me changed completely. They were no longer flying around red mountain peaks, but rather in a place that could only be described as a "magical metropolis", a large and magnificent city that could only be created by magic and nothing else. Ragnar's envirionment-recognition Skills kicked in and begun to flood his brain with information about this place.

It seems this city is protected with a very, very powerful and perpetual illusion Spell that serves to camouflage it with the surrounding environment, and the Item Tai'me just used is some sort of magical key that allows the user to enter and exit this place.

The streets were perfectly paved with some light-colored material he never saw before, magical street lights which were currently lit because of the nighttime were also installed around them, the buildings seemed smooth at a glance yet they were clearly firm structures that could last a millennia, and virtually all the inhabitants of this place were wearing and using magical Items similar to the ones Tai'me showed Ragnar before. So advanced is this avian people that Magic Devices are everyday household objects.

But something that also caught Ragnar's attention was the racial variety this place enjoyed. Besides Aarakocra, many Eladrins (winged Elf-like Humanoids) also make their homes in this grand city hidden in this red mountain peaks, as well as members of another avian Race, this time a Demi-Human one, called Strix. Back in YGGDRASIL the Strix were mostly evil-aligned, and according to lore there always existed a prejudice against them, and thus the Strix NPC were very xenophobic in return. And yet, here they are, living side-by-side with Aarakocra, Eladrins, and several other winged Races that Ragnar never saw in YGGDRASIL before.

Nobody around even notices the insectoid Ragnar, and the ones that do simply wave at his direction in a friendly manner. Meaning, it's very normal for these people to see different Races everyday, is ingrained into their culture to say hi to everyone regardless of what they are.

Truly, this sense of wonder is similar to the one he and his friends felt back when they were scouting this world with the watchtower system of their crystal base, and again when they visited the Demi-Human cities. The wonder of a world free of racism, where people are tolerant and accepting of each other, so different from their native world. Ragnar now feels a great degree of respect towards Momonga, to be able to build a world like this is no small feat.

"So amazing..."

"Uh? Did you just said something sir Ragnar?"

"Ah, just contemplating what an incredible place this is. The God-King of this world must truly be an exceptional being."

That comment just now made Tai'me snort a bit. The young Aarakocra left out a small chuckle and retorted to the confused Ragnar.

"God-King? You mean the one called Ainz Ooal Gown? Yeah, he's not our ruler."

"Uh...? What!?"

"Surprised? The inhabitants of the vast lands that Ainz Ooal Gown rules over do indeed call him God-King, true, but only the ones that live there claim that he rules 'the entire world' and things like that."

Ragnar and his friends did heard that there's some parts of the world that still aren't under Momonga's control, so it seems this specific community is one of those parts.

"Truth is, Ainz Ooal Gown isn't even close to ruling this entire world. He doesn't even controls this entire supercontinent we're in."

"...really?"

'Not even a continent is under Momonga's control?'

"Yeah, I know it must sound shocking to you, since it seems you come from a place where this Ainz Ooal Gown is renown. But to us, he is just the monarch of an enormously vast Kingdom, one that expanded incredibly fast thanks to his resources, armies, and seemingly superior knowledge, but he hasn't even reached the border of this continent yet. And I think it's safe to say that he's totally unaware of the other supercontinent at the other side of this world."

"So, that means he hasn't even reached this place then?"

"Oh, we have already made contact with the Sorcerer Kingdom in the past. I wasn't born back then, but my people received one of his envoys decades ago, and luckily for us that event ended in a peaceful way. We may be as advanced as we are, but the militar power of Ainz Ooal Gown is nothing to scoff at."

"Peacefully? So nobody ended up dead or hurt after your nation and the Sorcerer Kingdom met?"

"Yeah!"

"That's quite impressive. According to...um, the things I learned while growing up, the expansion campaign that the firstborn of Ainz Ooal Gown carried out was nothing short of a monstrous massacre."

"They teach that in the Sorcerer Kingdom's educational institutes? How bold. But yes, when the Crown Prince Shura Ulain Gown presented himself to my people as a representative of his father's nation, we already knew him by his reputation. It was during the climax of the Unholy War, after he dretched himself in the blood of all the heroes that dared to oppose him and his Undead parent, that he walked uninvited into this city, somehow bypassing the magical shield protecting us."

Yes, Ragnar and his friends are well aware of the horrible murders that Shura was responsible for during the expansion campaign. More horrible even is the fact that the religious tomes of the Church of Nazarick (the ones they read at least) glorified those hideous acts of violence and labelled them as "heroic". Because of that, Shura is famous in the near continent-spanning Sorcerer Kingdom as a folk hero, on top of a powerful Prince and the firstborn of God, of course.

"That child of death dared to demand an audience with the High Priest, the ruler of our theocratic government, just so we would offer vassalage to the Sorcerer Kingdom. And while he didn't threatened to destroy us or anything like that, everyone here knew that he wouldn't hesitate to do such thing if provoked enough."

"Wait, if your people accepted the fact that they had no chance of resisting, how come you aren't a vassal state then? Did you successfully pushed back the Crown Prince and his forces?"

It's very possible that any defeat the Crown Prince suffered during the expansion campaign would be omitted from history. Many countries throughout Earth's own history enjoyed to project an image of omnipotence, so they always tended to silence any shameful event that tainted their glory, and at the same time they also enjoyed to exaggerate any simple victory or small win.

"Nah, my people didn't defeat Shura Ulain Gown or anything like that. It was quite a situation in fact, the Crown Prince was ordered to stand down and return to his home land by his father, Ainz Ooal Gown. The God King himself demanded his son to leave us alone and never return here. That marked the end of the expansion campaign and by extension the Unholy War, and the Sorcerer Kingdom has kept its distance ever since."

What a tale, this part wasn't mentioned in the religious tomes they read, those books simply said that the "benevolent" Crown Prince decided to end the campaign because he had already subdued anything worth conquering in the world, and thus returned to the capital of the Sorcerer Kingdom in full glory.

Ragnar can't begin to imagine what sort of thing would make Momonga command his entire forces to retreat that way, a World-class Enemy perhaps? Or, maybe it has something to do with what Tai'me mentioned before.

"A while ago you said that there's another supercontinent at the other side of this world. Did your people had a powerful army or something backing them up over there?"

"We do have another community and some outposts there, but nothing like an organized army or the sort. I don't wanna sound arrogant or anything but my people are peaceful by nature, there's seldom any violent conflict in our recorded history."

It was easy for Ragnar to accept such statement, he's seeing that peace with his very own eyes after all.

At that moment Tai'me landed in front of a very large and important-looking building and signalled Ragnar to follow him. The doors were large but easy to move, the inside was huge and spacious, similar to a church, and many people were already inside doing one thing or another. Ragnar's Skills tell him that this temple is just partially a church, it also serves as a center for city-wide meetings and other community-related events, so it's always a busy hub of activity.

Tai'me and Ragnar kept walking deeper into the temple while continuing their conversation.

"But even then, our people living in the other supercontinent don't really need a martial army or anything of the sort in the first place. Unlike the relatively young God-King Ainz Ooal Gown, the older self-proclaimed Gods of Kolorioh act like proper Deities, distant observers rather than direct meddlers, yet still manage to sustain continent-wide peace. This continent's would-be conqueror could learn a thing or more about them."

Ragnar stopped walking.

"...uh...sorry...what...?"

"Oooh, right. Nobody in this continent knows this besides us. Sorry, that slipped. Heh."

Tai'me seemed a bit embarrassed, it looks like talking about such things with a stranger is forbidden or something, but the bomb has already been dropped, there's no taking it back now. Ragnar now knows that there's more beings besides Momonga in this world that are worshipped as Gods, are much older than him, and apparently those are real flesh-and-blood Gods rather than painted or statue Gods if Tai'me's selection of words is to be trusted.

There's something screaming inside Ragnar's head right now, something that he's a bit afraid of accepting but part of him knows it's too obvious to not be true. He feels that he will regret asking this, or that Tai'me may be punished if he asks it, but he can't hold himself, he HAS to know.

"Then, forgive me for asking, but these Gods in that continent at the other side of the world, who are they? What are they? If you don't mind, could you tell me a bit more?"

"Well, those who do speak about it to outsiders aren't really executed or imprisoned or anything, they just get hand slapped at worse, so maybe it's okay if I tell you a bit. You seem like an honest person, so I feel I can trust you."

'You trust me? Even though we just met? That's very dangerous and naive you know, I know such thing firsthand now. But I guess our situations aren't really the same, I'm the one who knows nothing about this world after all, so I guess I'm the foolish one for placing my trust in someone else...'

Even though Ragnar is aware of how dumb it is to trust people you don't know, there's nothing he can do about it right now considering his circumstances.

In any case, right now Ragnar needs to learn as much as he can about this world, so he will take advantage of Tai'me's supposed trust on him to learn everything he can, starting with these so-called Gods at the other side of this world since the feeling on his gut won't disappear until he knows.

"Alright, where to start."

Tai'me begun to rub his lower beak with one of his hands, he was deep in thought trying to figure out how to explain the nature of this world to someone who knows nothing about it. Eventually, he decided to start with a brief explanation of the New World's geographical picture.

"Let's start at the beginning then. Our world, this entire mass of land and oceans that we live in, isn't a flat disc like many civilizations think, but rather a round sphere."

"A sphere? So our world is round."

"Yeah! It may sound shocking to you, but it's true."

It seems this world is round just like Earth is, that much isn't surprising to Ragnar since that's how planets work. Of course, in a magical world anything is possible, but it's comforting to know that neither he nor his friends have to worry about falling from the edge of a flat planet while they're traveling.

"Anyway, even though there are several small continents in our world, there are 2 especially big continents that encompasses the majority of land that isn't submerged in oceans. The supercontinent we're in, the one that Ainz Ooal Gown claims to 'rule over' and all that, was christened Maerû by my people centuries ago. The other one, at the other side of this world, was christened Kolorioh. You with me so far?"

"Yes, please go on."

Ragnar wants Tai'me to cut the idle chatter and go to the part of the "Gods" already, but he may cause unnecessary suspicion so he's reeling himself for now.

"This supercontinent of Maerû was the center of a centuries-old upheaval that transpired 700 years ago created by a being now remembered as the last Dragon Emperor. It is speculated that this Emperor was thirsty for a challenge, others say that he was simply bored of the world and wanted to spice things up a bit, but whatever his reason was, the Dragon Emperor used his unique and overwhelmingly powerful magic to summon creatures from other worlds into our own, and a new wave has been arriving every century without fail, and always punctual. During the ages, this alien beings have been hailed as heroes, worshipped as Gods, and feared as Devils. They, however, call themselves Players."

Ragnar's gut feeling was right, these other beings that are currently being worshipped as Gods at the other side of the world are Players just like him, his friends, and Momonga. But he had no idea that Players arriving to this world dated as far back as 700 years ago.

"These Players always make a huge fuss wherever they arrive, and many of them are true immortals that never die unless a being of equal or superior power kills them. A few cautious ones among them have managed to remain alive during all this time, Ainz Ooal Gown is just the most recent one, but is a mere infant compared to the ones that rule the supercontinent of Kolorioh."

"They're that old compared to the God-King here?"

"Our records say they arrived to Kolorioh 500 years ago, while Ainz Ooal Gown arrived here to Maerû merely 100 years ago."

If Tai'me is telling the truth, a wave of Players arrived to the other side of this world 400 years before Momonga did, and have been there doing who knows what all this time. Ragnar's mind was being overwhelmed by questions he wanted to ask, but he has no intention of giving away the fact that he too is a Player, these people know that they arrive each century it seems, Tai'me might connect the dots if he gives him enough clues, so he will limit himself to simple questions.

"So these other Gods, how many are there?"

As Tai'me was about to answer that question, one of the workers of the temple eventually recognized the young Aarakocra and called out to him.

"Young master! What are you doing outside of your room? Meditation training shouldn't be taken lightly, especially by you. Do we have to keep reminding you that one day you will be the High Priest?"

The young Birdman simply clapped his hands in the form of apalogy and lowered his head a bit.

"Yes, yes. I'm sorry Bah'ku, but right now I need a favor, can you please contact my father for me? Is urgent."

The Eladrin servant heavily sighed before agreeing to carry out Tai'me's request. Since the High Priest is the highest authority in this sky society it seems the progeny of said Priest is treated like royalty or something, which may mean that the High Priest title is inherited here.

It seems they have a little time before Tai'me's father arrives, so the Birdman returned his gaze to Ragnar so they can continue their conversation.

"Now what was I saying...? Oh yeah, how many are they? The Gods themselves are just 2, a God of Light and a God of Darkness, but they're more than enough to take care of anything that goes on in their continent, especially with the combined forces of their holy servants and invincible fortresses they reside in."

"Holy...servants...?"

Ragnar has a small gut feeling about those too.

"Beings that rival the Gods in power, but aren't Players themselves, and are extremely loyal to the Gods too. Their respective Gods at least. The Light God has his servants, and the Dark God has his own."

"And they just get along? All of them?"

"They do now. But oh man, reading the history books sometimes makes me wish I was born centuries ago in the continent of Kolorioh instead, the massive cataclysm that followed the arrival of those Gods must've been a real spectacle to behold! Another contrast to the boring and unchallenged raise to power of Ainz Ooal Gown here in Maerû."

"I think I do remember reading somewhere that the God-King has remained unrivaled all this time, ever since the very moment he arrived to this world."

"Yeah, Ainz Ooal Gown was the sole Player who arrived 100 years ago, so his status as a Deity among the mortals who live around him is unquestioned. That wasn't the case with Zauriel the Redeemer and Temuk the Punisher at first. When those 2 arrived, true hell broke loose in their entire half of this world, for nearly a full decade, Kolorioh was a real mess!"

'Zauriel and Temuk, those are their names, uh? They and their NPC where fighting each other for 10 or so years right after they arrived to this world according to Tai'me, and then they simply decided to settle their differences or something? Have I heard those names in YGGDRASIL before? Zauriel, Temuk...Zauriel...!...'

It only took a couple of seconds for Ragnar's brain to recall those usernames, they were buried a bit deep into his memory, but he only had to dig up a little since those 2 Players enjoyed a moderate fame of their own in the game.

Zauriel, he was (in)famous in YGGDRASIL because of his extreme goody-two-shoes personality that he really enjoyed to force-feed everyone around him. There even was a truly ridiculous anecdote circulating about Zauriel in the server; one day, when he and some members of his Guild were in the middle of a great Boss battle, Zauriel saw a random "innocent" NPC mob nearby the battlefield that was going to get caught up in the crossfire, so the gigantic idiot decided to sacrifice himself (lose 5 Levels) just so a digital person made of mere 0s and 1s could escape harm. And by doing such moronic thing, the rest of his comrades at the time were left without a member mid-fight, which almost caused a total Party-wipe against the Boss they were fighting against.

"Chaotic stupid" role-players like Zauriel were quite common in YGGDRASIL, but what made that specific Player more noteworthy than most was the Guild he belonged to, none other than Seraphim, the absolute strongest of the Three Great Heteromorph Guilds. Prestigious Guilds always had a habit of being incredibly strict and rigid when it came to their members since they enjoyed the attention and trust everyone else in the server gave them, so they worked very hard to keep higher standards than the other Guilds, meaning that imbeciles like Zauriel were seldom tolerated in such Guilds.

However, Seraphim belonged to a category of their own, comparing it to other Guilds (even the prestigious ones) would be a disservice to them. The sole reason they weren't in the Top 3 was simply because they lacked the perfectly flawless organization of Trinity, the achievements and merits of World Searchers, or the massive amount of members in 2chan Alliance. Still, Seraphim was the solid No. 4 Guild in the entirety of YGGDRASIL despite having a few stupid Players like Zauriel among them.

In any case, the most shocking fact to Ragnar is that such thing means that neither Asmodel nor Anchelo were the first angelic Players to arrive to this world, not even the first members of Seraphim. For several centuries one of their comrades has been living on the New World as a God, and even more shocking is how he has been sharing that divine authority with Temuk, the Guild Master of the Undead-only Guild known as Phantasm and the last type of person someone might expect would peacefully coexist with Zauriel.

Temuk was the extreme opposite of Zauriel, a hardcore edgy villain role-player that enjoyed to waste MP and Items to bring destruction and chaos to the same "innocent" NPCs that Zauriel enjoyed to idiotically protect. That guy was quite fitting for a chaotic Guild like UnderKings, but alas, he was an Undead so they would've never allowed him to join their Demon-only Guild, so he settled for founding an Undead-only Guild in Svartalfheim.

Also, Temuk was quite arrogant and full of himself, yet another contrast with the humble and easy to deal with personality of Zauriel which was arguably his sole redeeming trait that made his Guild tolerate him.

Zauriel was very cheery, and both Asmodel as well as Anchelo described him as a friendly person you could instantly get along with, while Temuk was infamously broody and a jerk to everyone, even towards his own guildmates. Those 2 were like heaven and hell, quite literally in fact.

Tai'me also mentioned "invincible fortresses they reside in" meaning that they most likely arrived with their respective guildbases too, which means that besides their NPCs they also arrived with all their weaponry and Items, as well as the World-class Items they harbored too.

Ragnar can only imagine...those 2 suddenly arriving to this magical world at the very same time in the same land, complete with an arsenal of overpowered weapons at their disposal, numerous extremely loyal servants that rival a Player in power, and totally opposing personalities...what sort of miracle could possibly stop those 2 from killing each other for good!?

This is colossal information, and if the young Birdman is to be trusted then even Momonga himself is unaware of this. Ragnar would like to learn even more if he can, it's very likely that all this juicy info may come in handy later on since it's almost a given that he and his friends will cross paths with Momonga sooner or later, and none of them can be certain if Momonga is truly a good person or an evil tyrant hiding behind a benevolent facade, and if it turns out that the Chruch of Nazarick does label them as enemies then that will truly be their end, no ifs or buts.

If it comes to that, perhaps they could use this newfound information of older Players in the other side of this world as a good bargaining ground for their safety. Maybe.

But as Ragnar was about to ask another question, the Eladrin servant that Tai'me sent to call his father a bit earlier returned.

"Your father is expecting you young master, please come this way."

At that moment Bah'ku also directed a very suspicious glare towards Ragnar, this people may not be racist but that doesn't mean that they would allow any random Insect that came out of nowhere to be in the places only royalty are allowed to be.

"It's okay Bah'ku, he's with me. He's the reason I need my father's help actually, consider him a guest."

"...very well, if you say so. Right this way."

Of course, all this new information is totally useless to him and his friends if Ragnar can't even return to their side in the first place, he also decided to stop questioning any further in order to avoid looking suspicious, since simply knowing that 2 Players have been living in the other side of the world for centuries should be good enough to offer something of importance to Momonga and secure a peaceful life for themselves here, in this beautiful world free of pollution and abundant of nature.

Hope has once again returned to Ragnar's heart, he's fully focused on his mission of finding his friends now.

"You father, will he help me return to where I was before being taken here?"

"My father alone won't, be he and other Priests can carry out a large ritual that can combine the principles of Divination, Conjuration, and Abjuration to magically move anything anywhere, no matter the distance. We the Sky People have mastered information gathering and teleportation to a level the other civilizations still haven't reached yet, we have developed new Spells that you can't even imagine!"

"So they can even know where I was before arriving here? The exact location?"

"Yeah!"

"And...the location of individuals who were with me? Can they find them too?"

"That? Mmm, if you have personal objects that belong to them, we may be able to pinpoint their exact location in this continent with that."

"Oh, then you won't find them. I guess I must look for them myself when I return."

He will like to personally ask that Daifuku fellow a few questions too, and Ragnar won't hesitate to use force if he has to. His friends may be somewhere dangerous in this unknown world, they might be hurt or even dying for all he knows, he HAS to go back.

Bah'ku eventually took them deeper into the temple, into a large decorated room brandishing a luxurious table in the middle with several papers on top. Sitting on said table was an adult Aarakocra, obviously much older than Tai'me, dressed with expensive-looking clothes and decorated with a few jewels here and there, and wearing a pair of correcting glasses on his avian face. The Birdman himself had pure white feathers just like Tai'me, but his facial structure was slightly different. If Tai'me resembled a dove, then his father resembled a cockatoo. He was using a pen-like object to write some sort of alien letters Ragnar can't understand on the paper sheets. Bah'ku then excused himself and left, leaving only Ragnar, Tai'me, and the adult Birdman in the room.

Silence reigned in the room for several seconds before the adult Birdman decided to break said silence.

"For the first time ever since you first started your escapades from your studies, you decide to look for me instead of the other way around. Should I owe this miracle to your current arthropod guest?"

Tai'me's father had a deep and mature voice, and judging from his words every time Tai'me escapes his responsibilities his father has to look for him and presumably drag him back. It seems Humans aren't the only ones that go through rebellious phases while going through adolescence. Also, the adult Birdman didn't even bothered to raise his head to see his son or Ragnar, his attention was solely focused towards the documents on his hand.

Tai'me, for his part, seemed a little bit insecure about what to say next, clearly the attitude of someone who doesn't wants to be rebuked by a parent.

"Well...kinda. This is Ragnar, he arrived to this mountain peaks by mistake from some far away land and can't go back home. So, I was wondering if we could assemble the Council of Elders to use the Divination Ritual and help him find his way back home."

At those words, Tai'me's after abruptly stopped what he was doing, took off his glasses, and lifted his gaze to stare his son in the eyes, an "are you serious?" expression was painted all over his face.

"Let's see if I got this right. This insectoid got here 'by mistake'? Someone who belongs to a Race we have never seen before just accidentally flies by our community aimlessly? Without a reason or explanation? And you just brought him here? Where your people lives? And now you demand for this stranger to have an audience with the Elders!?"

The firm and condescending tone of the reprimand clearly shook Tai'me a bit, he was having a hard time finding the right words to answer.

Ragnar for his part decided to take the opportunity to step up and speak for himself, he shouldn't let all the blame fall solely on Tai'me, it wasn't his fault that Daifuku played a mean trick on him after all.

"Excuse me, may I speak?"

The adult Birdman directed his gaze towards Ragnar for the very first time, a suspicious look was clearly visible on his eyes.

"You may, but do tread carefully."

The tone of said reply was a perfectly balanced mix of respectful and threatening.

"Tai'me speaks the truth, I currently am astray. If you give me the chance, I will gladly explain my situation to you."

"...very well, I allow it. Speak your case then."

"My name is Ragnar, days ago my comrades and I decided to leave the comfort of our home in order to travel unknown lands, explore the world. We eventually came across a Troll country that resides near 5 other Demi-Human nations."

"Ah yes, the 6 great superpowers of Maerû that predate even the God-King Ainz Ooal Gown. They aren't that far from here, but without teleportation magic it is quite a far journey, how did you end up here? So far away from there? Can't your comrades come looking for you?"

"That's the thing, I didn't came here willingly or consciously, I was taken by force. Kidnapped."

Now Tai'me's father had a real confused expression on his face.

"What do you mean, 'kidnapped'? Please, elaborate."

"We decided to visit a local library to learn more about the surrounding lands and gain information to facilitate our journey, then...then somebody surprised us with some sort of magical teleportation Spell, or something. Before I knew it, I was standing just outside this city, my comrades nowhere to be found."

"I see, that's quite a story. If you're telling the truth, that is."

"It IS the truth! I was standing right there, I saw him arrive here out of nowhere with my own eyes. He's not dangerous, father, he's just lost, and needs our help."

The High Priest was rubbing his lower beak, deep in thought. He was still understandably suspicious, so he asked another question, this time to his son.

"Does this has something to do with the weird questions you were asking me and the other Priests days ago? Some mysterious magic you never saw before?"

"...yes, I knew I should've said something before but-"

"Shut it, you and I will discuss this at a later date."

After abruptly interrupting his son, the High Priest moved his gaze towards Ragnar again, his previous wariness now replaced with a slight curiosity.

"This is quite curious."

The adult Birdman said before instantly teleporting from the chair he was sitting in to a couple of feet away from Ragnar. It seems Tai'me wasn't exaggerating, these people have truly mastered the magical art of teleportation to a very high degree, Ragnar can tell not only because of how easy the High Priest teleported in front of him, but because he did so without any verbal component to use said teleportation Spell.

Back in YGGDRASIL the Spells of spellcasters had no verbal components, the Players only shut them aloud if they were fighting alongside their comrades in order to inform them what Spell was being used, that way the spellcaster's comrades could react and adapt accordingly.

However, here in this magical world things are different. According to Asmodel, Anchelo, and Meitro, using Spells without shouting their names results in a higher-than-normal MP cost for said Spell, plus a slight sense of discomfort is experienced as well. Ragnar doesn't knows exactly what his 3 friends meant when they said "discomfort", but they did said that they would rather never cast another silent Spell again, it just felt too unnatural and cringy for them.

And yet this adult Aarakocra just casually used a teleportation Spell without enchanting its name, speaking not only of his ability to use 5th Tier Spells, but can do so silently without feeling any apparent form of unnatural cringe or discomfort. Is it perhaps because he's a native of this world, in contrast with his friends that are Players from YGGDRASIL?

'Perhaps this people can truly help me return to my friends' side, after all.'

"Those marks around your carapace, are those natural birth marks? Tattoos? I can sense some strange energy emanating from you, but it's not quite magic, I think."

So prodigious is this Birdman in the field of magic that he can even tell that Ragnar's body marks aren't normal.

"Oh, these? Well, eh, it's a long story. But you're right, they aren't quite magic, but they are something that helps me defend myself."

Those tattoo-like marks covering his body are the physical manifestation of 2 of Ragnar's most powerful Job Classes, [Wild Evocator] and a special Class that serves as advancement for it, [Runescarred]. Thanks to those Classes, melee fighters like Warriors, Fighters, Barbarians, and even Monks can access very powerful Spell-like abilities without having to invest Levels into proper Mage Job Classes, the Skills granted by [Wild Evocator] and [Runescarred] also enhance their physical abilities and don't require any MP to use, but MP can still be used to enhance said Skills even further.

"We didn't knew what type of world was outside our native lands and comfort zone, so my comrades and I made ourselves sure to be fully prepared for this journey."

Ragnar has no intention of revealing his identity as a Player, but he doesn't minds giving minor details and saying twisted truths if that means he can return to his friends' side. The best he can do in his current situation is to gain the trust of the High Priest.

"I see. If you're telling the truth, then it's quite some faraway land you and your comrades come from. I don't think we've ever seen anything like those marks in our recorded history, it's been a very long time since my people has studied such exotic arts like these."

The High Priest was now closely examining Ragnar's body. He personally didn't liked to be scouted like this, it made him nervous (it was a moment he was grateful for his expressionless insectoid physiognomy), but he has to keep playing their game in order to be in their good side, the sooner they can help him, the better.

"So if you truly want my aid, and by extension the aid of the other Elders, then you have to win our trust first. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, of course. I will do anything to prove you that I am no menace, and I will be eternally grateful if you can truly help me return to my comrades' side."

The High Priest remained silent for a few seconds, gave a quick glance to his son, then spoke again.

"Alright then. First, I want to make sure that there are no hidden weapons on your person. Would you allow me to appraise you?"

For a split second Ragnar felt a pic of panic, but immediately calmed down after remembering that all his equipment is safe on his Item Box, the sole "gear" he has on his person are his low data Artifact-class clothes which won't register as dangerous to any appraisal Spell. He does hope that his tattoos won't set off any alarms to the High Priest, however.

"Yes, of course. I have nothing to hide."

"Very well. This will only take a little while."

The High Priest said so while slowly extending his right talon and activating his magic. The Tier Magic circle that manifested on his talon was a bit different and more complex than the one used by the Troll Mage that appraised him and his friends days ago, must be a much higher version of said appraisal Spell, or maybe one of the unique Spells developed by the Sky People that Tai'me mentioned, since he never saw this specific Spell being used by anyone in YGGDRASIL either. Ragnar also thinks so because his body feels weird, too weird. Is almost like the appraisal Spell is phasing through his body, it definitely feels far more intrusive than the first time he was appraised in this world.

Then, strange letters begun to manifest in the air around him. He couldn't understand them, those letters definitely aren't Japanese, and then several lines begun to randomly appear alongside the letters as well, something weird is definitely going on. If Ragnar were to guess, he would argue that those letters and lines may be akin to "coordinates". But, coordinates for an appraisal Spell? That makes no sense, coordinates would instead make more sense for, for...

'A teleportation Spell!?'

In that moment Ragnar instinctively took out his weapons from his Item Box, but it was too late. A flash of light suddenly obscured his vision, he felt his body nearly ripping in half despite bracing himself, it seems this Spell is quite different from the one used by Daifuku, it was more raw and crude.

After the light disappeared and the physical pain stopped, Ragnar took a quick glance at his surroundings and realized that he was no longer in the temple, nor in any city for that matter. Ragnar was standing in a perfectly flat surface that extended as far as his enhanced senses could see, the heavy fog surrounding him couldn't inhibit his sight in any possible way so he could perfectly see the red mountain peaks at the distance, it seems he was taken to an even more recondite place than before, but it's also very likely that any city nearby is magically hidden from his eyes.

The sole noteworthy mark on this place was a huge "mountain" sitting nearby, a mountain that Ragnar would've recognized as familiar, but was far too agitated to notice at the moment.

"Fooled...again...! Tricked not only once, but twice! How! How could I be so stupid!"

Ragnar's rageful screams echoed in the distance, but it seems nobody was around to hear them. At least, that's what Ragnar assumed.

The Insect began to wrathfully stomp the ground with his mighty legs, over and over again the earth trembled with his fury, forming large cracks that grew bigger and bigger with each stomp. Blindly trusting strangers twice, and backstabbed both times, just how idiotic could Ragnar be!

Now he will never find his friends, he will be forever lost in this dangerous world full of strangers ready to take advantage of his ignorance. Just what...just what did Ragnar ever do to deserve this!? He was a simple and poor salaryman before being taken here without his consent, is this punishment for some sin he committed in a previous life? And what about his friends? Are they too suffering a similar fate?

"To think we were entranced by the superficial beauty of this world! How where we supposed to know that its inhabitants were just as rotten as the ones in our home world!"

It seems this world is just as ugly as Earth, being filled with magic doesn't makes it a world of fantasy after all.

His destructive rant would've continued for a while longer if not for the unnatural presence that Ragnar's localization Skills picked up nearby. The "mountain" near him begun to raise, it sprouted 4 corpulent legs from its sides and used to them slowly stand up, a short and thick tail also emerged from the mountain-like creature's rear, and from the creature's front is where a reptilian head slowly emerged as well, a head whose reptilian eyes connected with Ragnar's own.

Truth was, Ragnar's senses did detect this creature before, but he was far too lost on his own rage to notice it. Only when it begun to move is when Ragnar could no longer ignore it.

His heart was still flared up with rage, but his mind was now calm enough to pay attention to the creature in front of him. An incredibly massive turtle-like Dragon so big that his shell could pass as a mountain, it was unmistakable, Ragnar knows exactly what this being is, and it only took him a couple of seconds to join the dots.

"I see...so this is why I was tricked then? I'm here because of this...this...thing?"

There was no need for Ragnar to be so rude, but he was angry as hell so most people would let it pass. The Dragon himself wasn't upset by the disrespectful tone, he responded in a very calm and disinterested voice, even.

"Indeed you are, filth. I was promised your presence here by the polluted rabble, and here you are. Now come...your flesh, your weapons, and the power sealed in them, they belong to me now."

In that moment, the Dragon immediately opened his mouth and inhaled with an incredibly monstrous strength, Ragnar mustered all the strength he could on his membrane wings, but there was no use.

And just like that, Ragnar was swallowed whole by the Mountainous Dragon Lord.

[Minutes ago, the exact moment when Ragnar was transported to the Rust Mountains]

The High Priest of the Sky People community in the Rust Mountains was in the middle of his weekly tribute ritual to their Mountain God, which was performed in a little floating platform located just outside of the temple. The Aarakocra of the New World are very ancient, both as a Race and as a culture, predating even the arrival of Players from YGGDRASIL. Hence, they have prayed to plenty of Gods during their history, most of them are as ancient as they are, but some of them are fairly recent in comparison, like the Eight Greed Kings' doctrine for example that was adapted and assimilated into their pantheon of Deities.

But those 8 Gods didn't lasted long in the pantheon of their community in the Rust Mountains because of the addition of their most recent Deity, the aforementioned Mountain God who entered their pantheon around 5 centuries ago and demanded the Eight Greed Kings to be removed from their worship.

The thing is, this specific God in particular is considerably different from the other Deities in the Sky People's pantheon. While most Gods are abstract concepts, invisible to the naked eye yet still real to their worshippers, the Mountain God of the Sky People is a physical and perfectly visible being, and on top of it, the Mountain God became such because he demanded to be worshipped by the Sky People. It wasn't even a question, this being simply told them to crown him their God and expected to be obeyed.

Some philosophers may argue if such being even qualifies to be a "God" in the first place, yet nobody dares to doubt the self-proclaimed divinity of this being. After all, who in their sane state of mind would dare to contradict a True Dragon Lord? Especially one as powerful as Huyrtob=Keiyvlais, the Mountainous Dragon Lord.

The Sky People might be theocratic in nature, but they would obviously put their own survival before their religion, so if a power they could never overcome by themselves threatens them to modify their religion or die, then they have no choice but to accept the Dragon Lord's demands.

At first the Sky People living in the Rust Mountains were quite uncomfortable, worshipping such a mundane being like a Deity, but with time they slowly begun to realize the advantages of having a Dragon Lord of the old world as a patron. The greatest one among those perks was their scientific progress, especially in the magical field since for the very first time in their history they had the opportunity to study the physiology of a Wild Magic user up close.

They learned how to adapt the principles of the Dragons' primordial Soul magic with the mechanics of the Tier Magic spread by the Eight Greed Kings, this in turn accelerated their technological progress as well, eventually allowing their civilization to create Magic Devices long before the "God-King" Ainz Ooal Gown even descended to this world.

Another perk of worshipping someone like Huyrtob was also their newfound access to his ancient knowledge and forgotten lore, since someone as ancient as the Mountainous Dragon Lord was sure to know great amounts of history that no other civilization in this world had access to.

The Sky People were relatively advanced even before the arrival of YGGDRASIL beings, but the incredibly fast progress that they went through thanks to Huyrtob's prescense has truly cemented them as arguably the most advanced civilization in the New World. It took a few generations, but they eventually came around to recognize Huyrtob as their most important Deity.

Quite ironic, a Mountain God being the most important God to a civilization known as the Sky People.

But an outsider looking at all this from a neutral perspective may wonder, "that is nice and all, but why did this Dragon Lord got so charitable out of the blue? The Sky People became super advanced in a magical and mostly medieval world, but what did Huyrtob got in return of all that?" The answer is quite simple, he got an entire society of bootlickers simply to massage his massive ego and have servants to obey his every whim. That's it. There's no complicated scheme nor 4D chess moves going on, Huyrtob's sole ambition in life was to have an entire Race of slaves to do everything for him, nothing more.

Isn't that such a lazy life goal for a True Dragon Lord? Well yes, yes it is. But Huyrtob himself doesn't cares much because he himself is a very lazy being. Since the moment he was born, Huyrtob had always put just the minimum amount of effort into everything he does, and if he can get others to do things for him then even better.

And again one may wonder, "why would such a lazy Dragon even bother to join an Anti-Player Alliance in the first place? Isn't that too much work for a lazy freeloader?" Is BECAUSE Huyrtob is a lazy freeloader than he joined said Alliance in the first place.

It all started centuries ago, shortly after the Greed Kings' genocide. The remaining Dragons were scattered around Maerû, their numbers now a mere fraction of what they were during their glorious days.

During the dawn of a new day, all the remaining Dragons were simultaneously called by their Emperor. Not their previous Emperor that made the monumental mistake of calling aliens from another world who then proceeded to massacre them by the countless, no, but rather their new and younger Emperor, the one who was crowned such after the timely death of the previous one.

Mairgoleido=Vaision, who was the Crown Prince during the reign of the greedy "kinkiller" Barghelide=Vaision, is the Dragon Emperor now.

And predictably, most of the Dragons who heard his call responded to it. While many of them may not even personally like Mairgoleido in the first place, he's still their Emperor, respect to a superior and more powerful being is one of the things that separates the Dragons from the lesser creatures. Of course, Dragons aren't the only ones who do such thing so such sentiment is false, but Dragons are far too arrogant to even consider the fact that other Races are similar to them.

Huyrtob was among those who responded Mairgoleido's call, but was the last one to arrive, being so lazy and all.

Curiously enough, Tsaindorcus was missing. Most members present had a rough idea of why the Dragon Prince would refuse to answer the call of both his elder brother and rightful Emperor, so nobody raised their voice to point such thing out. Huyrtob for his part doesn't knows nor cares about the drama of the Vaision family, that's too much effort for him.

Their Emperor sported a majestic physical form. At least, that's what one would normally say if not for the unsightly wounds covering Mairgoleido's body. Also, one of his talons was closed in the shape of a fist for some reason, perhaps it has a wound the Emperor doesn't wants anyone to see?

The day before, Mairgoleido led a group of the strongest Dragon Lord survivors into a final desperate attack against the Greed Kings, and judging from his fatally wounded appearance and the fact that none of his troops came back, it's safe to say that the final ditch effort to eliminate the filth didn't went well.

Mairgoleido remained silent for a while, taking a good glance at all his subjects in front of him. Surely he was basking on the fact that he is the legitimate ruler of all the beings standing there. No Dragon present would blame such narcissistic act though, each and every single one of them would also savour the title of Emperor as well should they be in Mairgoleido's place.

Eventually, their Emperor spoke.

"My subjects, no...my peers, my brethren! Look at us! Look at what we have become! What's left of us! We, the rightful rulers of this world, reduced to stepping stones of disgusting aliens who spread their filth on our home!"

Mairgoleido's voice was filled with a passioned rage. Indeed, every single Dragon listening to the Emperor's words also felt the flames of fury slowly swell inside them, no matter how different from each other the Dragons are, all of them share the same innate pride that gave them the entitled feeling of being superior to pretty much everything and everyone else.

Hence, the fact that a bunch of otherworldly beings that never even belonged to this world in the first place dared to cull them out and irreparably crippled them alongside their progeny forever is more than enough to fire up an inextinguishable flame under their collective belly.

Now that he had their full attention, Mairgoleido kept speaking.

"And why!? Why is it that we, members of an allpowerful Race, were reduced to this sorry state!? My fucking father! That's why! My father allowed his selfish greed to cloud his judgement! He tore off a portion of the Soul of this world and used it as fuel to commit an unspeakable crime! He believed himself omnipotent, but was everything but! And now we ALL must pay for his hubris!"

Several angry shouts of "Yeah!" and "Kinkiller!" were amount the Dragons' loud exclamations. A few among them didn't bothered to join the noisy crowd however, besides the lazy Huyrtob, several reserved Dragons held back their own explosive emotions and remained calm. Superficially calm, at least.

One of those composed Dragons raised his voice amidst the mob screams to make his Emperor a valid question.

"You're stating the obvious, lord Mairgoleido. Did you really called us all here just to tell us things we already knew?"

The one who made this question was an unhealthy-looking pale Dragon whose physical appearance bared suspicious similarities with the infamous Sulte'rioj, the Elemental Dragon Lord. However, Huyrtob took notice of his emaciated appearance, bloodshot eyes, elongated claws, nearly ripped wings, and there wasn't even a single drop of life energy circulating on this Dragon-looking being's body. There's no way this decayed creature is Sulte'rioj.

"Yeah, you just wanna babble? Why waste everyone's time like this!"

This time the one who spoke up was Dahak=Tamat, the Crimson Dragon Lord. His tone was clearly upset, there's no doubt about that, but it's hard to tell if he's mad towards the lingering filth of the previous Emperor, or the babbling of the current Emperor.

Maybe both, Dahak's fiery temper is legendary, after all. Almost as legendary as his tempestuous physical might and unyielding Wild Magic power, both which fuel his unimaginably powerful fire that's capable of melting even the sturdiest of materials, easily reducing the largest mountains to little more than lakes of molten rock.

That's why nobody dared to point out his disrespect towards the Dragon Emperor. In fact, this recent burst of rage made his body flare up just a little bit, yet that was enough to significantly raise the temperature around him, so much that the ground below his legs begun to melt into magma, the surrounding Dragons had to either make distance away from Dahak or protect their bodies with a Wild Magic shield.

"I concur, my lord. Why simply say things that have already been said numerous times? Is this perhaps a mere prelude of some sort of scheme you want us to be part of?"

The one who gave his opinion just now was none other than Apsu=Bahetm, the Gold Dragon Lord.

He was an intimidating Dragon, that's for sure, but not in the same vein that the Dragon Emperor or those like Dahak were. No, Apsu intimidated his fellow Dragon Lords because he was a being composed entirely by contradictions.

For starters, Apsu was strong, very, very, very, VERY strong. His power is rumored to be on par with members of the royal family like Mairgoleido and Tsaindorcus, and some even go further and say Apsu is stronger than the royal family. Nobody is absolutely certain about just how strong Apsu is for sure, since every single fight he's been in (at least, those that the other Dragons are aware of) have all been settled with a single strike.

Everyone would have a clearer idea of Apsu's strength if they ever saw him in a situation that forces him to unleash his full power, since nobody has ever even seen him go as far as using his breath weapon, yet such thing has never happened because of the aforementioned contradiction: Apsu is a pacifist.

All that unfathomable power, yet Apsu refuses to use it. His Dragon peers (if they can truly be called that) would accuse him of being a coward if it weren't for fear of the Gold Dragon Lord's rage.

Who knows? Such pacifist facade could very well be a deception for all they know. In which case, Apsu would truly be a being worth fearing.

And even if his nature wasn't a lie, Apsu still has enough presence to calm down the restlessness of the other Dragons with his voice alone, since it was his statement what not only made the Dragons shut up, but what drew the attention of the Dragon Emperor towards him as well.

Mairgoleido took a short glance at Apsu, and then spoke in a confident tone.

"How insightful of you. Yes, it's true that we all know that the words I've spoken are facts, and yes, I do have a proper idea about how to deal with our situation."

It seems Mairgoleido simply stated the obvious in order to rile up his subjects and set them in a revenge-thirsty mood for whatever plan he's cooking up on his head.

"If you all pay attention, my brethren. The answer we seek, the tool of our retribution, is right here."

At those words, Mairgoleido raised his right front limb, whose claws were closed all this time akin to a fist, and opened it so everyone could see what he was holding. He even used his Wild Magic to levitate the object as well, to make sure everyone could see it.

And it seems that Mairgoleido was also hiding until now the presence of the object he was holding on his talons as well, because unlike moments ago, every single Dragon present could now feel the overwhelmingly powerful energy emanating from said object.

Yes, every single individual could not help but pay attention to the object their Emperor was showing them, a bewildered and mouth agape expression painted on literally everyone, even Huyrtob himself couldn't hide his shock.

"What...just what...!?"

"This type of power, what is that power!?"

"Let me see it closer! Please my lord! I have to know what it is!"

Such exclamations were combined in a deafening sea of screams, and would have continued to devolve into a riot if not for Mairgoleido's following action.

"ENOUGH!"

With an earth-shaking tail swipe to the ground, the Emperor forced everyone to reign themselves back in. And after making sure that everyone was sane enough to pay attention, Mairgoleido continued to speak.

"As all of you can see with your own eyes, my latest attempt to eliminate my father's filth was a failure, with both the wounds covering my form and the absence of the ones who joined my crusade as witness of such thing...but not all is lost! We can strike again! We will strike again! And we will succeed! We will, by using this object of great power that the filth who I stole it from addressed as 'World-class Item'."

The object on Mairgoleido's talons was a World-class Item known as [Seeds of the World Tree]. Originally on the possession of the Greed Kings, Mairgoleido took the opportunity to steal one of his enemies' strongest weapons while his comrades were all being massacred by his father's filth. A very shitty action for a leader, one would assume, and the Dragons would agree. Mairgoleido's actions were more fitting to those of a coward rather than those of a Dragon Emperor, but if there's one thing that rivals or even surpasses their draconic pride, is their bottomless greed.

If they could have the opportunity of taking an object of such immeasurable power for themselves, then they would gladly sacrifice their comrades to do so, without even needing to think twice.

"But, how will such object aid our cause my lord? Do you even know what that 'World-class Item' does?"

Again, the emaciated creature resembling Sulte'rioj made a valid question. The object holds enormous power, that's great, but how can they properly use that power? The equipment that the filth use is custom-made for themselves, and any attempt to exploit the power inside the weapons of fallen or incapacitated filth have never given any results so far.

Mairgoleido then gave a silent but reproaching stare at the Dragon who made the question, as if saying "why you even make such a dumb question?" But the Emperor decided to respond regardless.

"Ah, of course, none of you were born as children of an Emperor like I was. As it turns out, my blood allows me to have a firmer grasp on our natural affinities to manipulate and discern Souls. That includes alien Souls as well, like the Souls of the filth of my father, or the Souls of their powerful weaponry."

Of course, the members of the Vaision family have been ruling over dragonkind since time immemorial, them having such superior dominion over Wild Magic and all the skills it gives should've been obvious to anyone. Being able to discern the abilities of someone or something after studying it for a good while is such ability. Dragon "commoners" have all failed so far to accurately discern the abilities of both the filth and their weapons, but it seems that such thing is trivial for Mairgoleido, especially after his ascension to the throne.

"As such, I can be certain that the power of this object I hold will give us the power we need to destroy the filth. All you have to do to believe me, is watch."

And just like that, Mairgoleido swallowed the [Seeds of the World Tree] as if it were treats.

Then...something none of them could've predicted would happen, happened.

Mairgoleido's body begun to swell and enlarge, his wounds were healing at an accelerated rate, an extra pair of front limbs spouted on his torso, several new eyes, a second tail, a new pair of wings, an extra mouth on his head, Mairgoleido was slowly mutating into what could only be described as an abomination. It wasn't until his shimmering prismatic scales were replaced by a hideous wood carapace that the horrible mutation finally stopped.

The newly transformed Dragon Emperor exhaled softly, a dark purple smoke escaped from both of his mouths as he did so, and slowly gazed at his dumbfounded subjects who clearly had a very hard time believing what they just saw, yet none of them could deny it.

Not only his physical appearance, but Mairgoleido's Soul was now twisted and polluted as well. If anything, his essence was now more akin to those of the previous Dragon Emperor's filth, not a single portion of his Soul resembled that of a Dragon anymore.

"What...what have you done...?"

It was Apsu the one who broke the silence with those words. He basically said what everyone watching this horror show wanted to say but was far too shocked to actually say it.

"...I have become...their death...the sole creature that the filth fear..."

Even Mairgoleido's voice was also corrupted, but that's to be expected since his single mouth literally split into 2 mouths, and as a result his voice is now overlapped, on top of rugged and hoarse.

"There's...there's a creature that the filth fear!? Really!?"

The one who spoke just now was a pretty infamous toady known as Cure Elim, even among weak cowards, this specific one lowered the bar in every way. Meek, feeble, inferior to even fellow Dragons of similar age, he would be called the scum of their kin if not for the fact that there were Dragons weaker than even him.

"When our fallen brethren and I were in the middle of combat, one of the filth dared to mock us, saying out loud how inferior we are to the creatures they call 'Super Bosses'. However, such act of arrogance will prove their downfall, thanks to such slip of tongue I learned of the existence of the beings they fear, and thanks to the sacrifice of our comrades I obtained the means of transforming myself into one. Now...I have become...a 'Super Boss'!"

The [Seeds of the World Tree] is a World-class Item that can freely Race-change the user while ignoring any prerequisites to do so and without any known restrictions. However, such things usually apply only for playable Races, a Player can't Race-change itself to a Race that didn't existed in YGGDRASIL, nor transform into a Boss of any sort (the World-class Item used by a previous World Champion of Muspelheim was a different one) because Bosses weren't a chosable Race.

However, that was back in YGGDRASIL. In this world the power of YGGDRASIL remnants has been altered, just like some Spells and Skills used by Players has become either slightly or significantly stronger, the Items of YGGDRASIL have adapted accordingly as well. In the case of World-class Items, now they're capable of doing everything they're supposed to do to the letter, no ifs or buts.

Now, [Seeds of the World Tree] is truly capable of transforming the user into anything, LITERALLY anything.

Mairgoleido commanded the World-class Item to transform him into one of the "Super Bosses" that one of the Greed Kings casually mentioned, and [Seeds of the World Tree] granted him his wish.

And now...the Dragon Emperor Mairgoleido=Vaision has been reborn as a World-class Enemy!

"Now I finally have the power it takes to purge our world from the filth! But take heed, my brethren, because I won't do such thing alone! What type of Emperor I would be if I keep all the glory to myself? Join me, my comrades, for we already underestimated the filth twice, and we shan't do so thrice! Together we shall fix the wrongdoings of my father! Let's cultivate the power needed to thoroughly eliminate this filth for good, and all the filth that shall arrive after them as well!"

Mairgoleido's bashful statement was filled to the brim with pride and authority, it may've sounded as a request but it definitely wasn't one. He's telling his weaker and inferior but still draconic subjects what they must do, for he is their Emperor, and Dragons have always obeyed the will of their lord. Always.

Until now, that is...

"You expect us to follow you now? After what you just did!?"

Dahak was far more furious than he was before, his rage echoed from the depths of his Soul.

"You soiled your own body and Soul, renounced not only to your dragonhood but also your birthright, and yet you dare to keep addressing us as mere subjects!?"

Even Apsu was furious, it seems Mairgoleido's plan didn't went as he had planned. He expected that his newfound power would inspire the lesser Dragons to become stronger in order to help him on his schemes, but it backfired.

They saw his transformation into an invincible being as an insult to their draconic pride, Mairgoleido's actions clearly showed everyone that he thinks that being a Dragon isn't enough, but instead saw the need transform himself into a far filthier being than the damned lot.

"You refuse to obey me? Your rightful ruler!? You dare to talk back to me!?"

The prideful Mairgoleido was obviously having none of that. So what if he's no longer a Dragon? He's still their Emperor, and should be treated as such!

But despite the reaction of most of his former subjects, there's still at least someone who's loyal to him, and wasn't afraid to show his loyalty in front of the rebels.

"I dare not talk back to you, my lord. I'm still and will always be your loyal servant, and will willingly join your noble cause."

The one who had the guts to say such thing aloud was the pale creature resembling Sulte'rioj, he gave a few steps forward and held his unnaturally thin head up, determination was clearly emanating from his bloodshot eyes.

"What!? You will follow a traitor of our kind!?"

"Filth! Both of you are the same filth!"

"Death to filthy traitors!"

Such accusations and threats were being endlessly thrown towards the Sulte'rioj-like being, yet he didn't flinched even a bit.

Huyrtob for his part was totally indifferent to everything going on, he didn't felt neither admiration nor repulshion towards Mairgoleido's actions, but what he did felt right now was a slight sense of admiration towards this emaciated being, willing to stand by himself and don't giving a single damn to what the other Dragons say or do.

"If, if by joining your side I can get stronger, if I can obtain the power needed to eliminate the filth for good, the-then I will glady follow you as well, my lord!"

The one who followed suit was Cure Elim, he nervously stepped forward as well and slowly held his head up too.

However, unlike the pale being from before, Huyrtob felt nothing but apathy towards the little toady. Speaking up his mind only after someone else had the courage to stand up first, and even then Cure Elim didn't had the strength to hide his fear. Truly, a meek coward. His opinion of Cure Elim just plummeted even more.

And predictably, the accusations of treason doubled up immediately after Cure Elim stepped up. It seemed like a violent revolt would burst any second now, and would have, if not for the sudden arrival of an unexpected individual.

"HaHaHaHaHa! What a freak show! Mind if I join in!?"

A Dark Dragon loudly landed in the middle of the commotion, and after everyone present got a clear look of who it was, the mood got suddenly silent. Several suspicious and surprised stares swiftly replaced the chaotic and furious ones.

"It's that...it's that who I think it is?"

"Can't be, I heard he was dead."

"What's he doing here? Gone for entire centuries and now showing up like that?"

"What could he want...is he on our side?"

The Dark Dragon didn't bothered to pay any attention to his peers, instead he simply addressed the enormous wood creature as if those 2 were the only ones here.

"Is that really you, Mairgoleido? Is this disgusting creature is really the Crown Prince!? Ha! What a...wait, your father died, no? That means you're not the Crown Prince no more...but who cares!? You're gross! HaHaHaHaHa!"

Mairgoleido for his part wasn't amused, but instead of simply annihilating the mocking Dragon in front of him, he decided to try and recruit him for his cause. Killing such a powerful subject would truly be a waste after all.

"Did you came here just to mock me, Dirvelek? Or are you willing to consider what I have to offer?"

The infamous prodigy, Dirvelek, painted a maniacal grin on his face before giving his thoughts in a mocking tone.

"Offer? Does that offer has something to do with the way you made the world scream just now? Or the way you twisted your own essence? Your Soul reeks, Mairgoleido, is the infamous filth of your father really so terrible that even you had to do this to yourself? Eh, our kind is doomed, isn't it?"

Dirvelek was being hypocritically sarcastic, he himself challenged and was utterly defeated by the filth of the previous Dragon Emperor, but because of his nature as an antisocial loner only he is aware of that fact so far.

"Y-you disrespectful idiot! Our lord is promising us the power to reclaim this world! And you dare mock him!?"

It seems Cure Elim just grew some guts, spitting insults towards Dirvelek (someone who could easily destroy him) that way.

Or that's what someone would think, that is, until Dirvelek slowly turned his head to stare directly at Cure Elim, who then immediately reverted to his meek and cowardly nature. The way he shrinked himself in an attempt to look smaller and non-threatening in an attempt to escape Dirvelek's wrath was a truly pathetic sight.

But Dirvelek wasn't angry at all, he was amused.

"Reclaim this world? You for real, Mairgoleido!? And I thought I was insane! Ha! What the hell are we supposed to do!? What can we do!? Simply getting a little stronger won't do shit to alien monsters like those! And even IF we could do something, how are we supposed to stop them from reviving themselves like they do after you slay one of them!?"

That last part of his statement drew several surprised stares from the other Dragons, even Huyrtob himself was a little bit shocked.

Dirvelek knows that the filth revive themselves after their deaths, but you can only know such thing if you manage to successfully slay one of them. The other Dragon Lords could only learn such thing by forming teams and surrounding the filth, overwhelming them with numbers, and even then the filth always managed to fatally wound or kill a comrade before dying themselves.

However, no Dragon has ever fought alongside Dirvelek, not even once, and yet he was capable of slaying a filth? By himself!? And lived to tell the tale!?

Everyone knew he was a prodigy, but nobody could have imagined that he would be that strong.

Mairgoleido's gut feeling was true, Dirvelek has too much potential, it would be a total waste if he doesn't join his cause.

"It's true that they do come back to life after we slay them. However, they aren't capable of doing such thing without paying a price. Has none of you noticed? The filth get systematically weaker after each death. If we manage to join forces, and be united for real this time, we will slay them until they're reduced to the vermin they truly are!"

The former Emperor was being redundant at this point, no matter what he says or does, he will never regain the loyalty of the remaining Dragons. But Mairgoleido doesn't care less about the weaker breeds now, he just wants to win Dirvelek over to his side.

Dirvelek for his part had a weird expression on his face, it seems he couldn't find a proper answer to Mairgoleido's invitation to what many would consider a dumb suicidal mission, but luckily (or unluckily) for him, Dirvelek couldn't cares less if such path will end with his death. Part of his twisted and demented self secretly wants to die, even, so his answer was a simple one.

"We will end up dead, you know, all of us! But whatever! At least we will all be slaughtered in a blaze of glory! Count me in, you demented bastard!"

And just like that, the near-invincible Deep Darkness Dragon Lord officially became a traitor of his kind.

Many furious looks of disapproval were staring daggers at Dirvelek's back, but it mattered not, none of them dared to strike such an unfathomable being, no matter how rightful their wrath is.

But not all of them shared the same disapproval, a final insolent traitor was seemingly inspired by Dirvelek's foolishness and stepped up as well.

"If both Mairgoleido and Dirvelek will be part of this alliance, if our lord does deliver on his promise of more power, then I shall join this alliance as well!"

Huyrtob couldn't recognize the last Dragon who stepped up. It was an odd-looking one, covered from head to tail with large and pointy spikes, must likely an untalented nobody who never made a name for himself, perhaps he just wants to join this rebellious team in order to piggyback on the fame of others.

Pathetic, Cure Elim and now this nobody. If it weren't for Mairgoleido and Dirvelek, the this new alliance would be composed entirely of losers. But that pale creature resembling Sulte'rioj does spark Huyrtob's curiosity, though.

And now that he had a total of 4 Dragons on his side, Mairgoleido gave a final look at his former subjects and made one last question.

"Anyone else wants to join the side of the strong? Anyone?"

A deep and unnerving silence fell on this little side of the New World. Nobody spoke, nobody moved. Their dead silence was a crystal clear response, no other Dragon was willing to follow a traitor of their Race, even it means to face the fury of their former and now much, much stronger Emperor.

"...so be it."

Without any warning, Mairgoleido opened both his mouths and begun to violently swallow tremendous amounts of air through them. His head became a cataclysmically powerful vacuum that swallowed everything and everyone on its vicinity.

Well, almost everything, since the 4 Dragons that willingly joined his side weren't being pulled into his mouth at all. But only they were spared, since every other Dragon that refused to join his side, basically everyone else, was sentenced to death, by cannibalism!

One by one the disobedient Dragons were being systematically eaten whole by Mairgoleido, the former Dragon Emperor become so large after his consumption of [Seeds of the World Tree] that "normal" Dragons were little more than snacks to him now.

So diminutive to him, that they couldn't even resist his pull no matter how physically strong they were.

The nearly extinct Race of Dragons was now being culled even further, first by the hands of the filth and now by the mouth of their former ruler!

'Why!? Why did this happen!? What did the Dragons ever did to deserve this fate!?'

Those were the lingering dying thoughts of the ones being swallowed whole and quickly digested by Mairgoleido. He didn't ate them simply as a form of punishment however, by consuming their flesh in such way, Mairgoleido is slowly but constantly increasing his own power even further, if the disobedient Dragons will not join his cause, then they will serve as nourishment for his own strength.

And he would've successfully devoured them all, that is, if not for the continued defiance of the few Dragon Lords that rivalled the likes of Dirvelek.

Like Dahak for instance, buffing his incalculable strength with his vast Wild Magic to hold himself firmly into the ground, stubbornly refusing to allow himself to be the food of a traitor.

"There's no way...! There's no fucking way I will die like this!"

Indeed, the Crimson Dragon Lord will NOT allow himself to die such a pitiful death, not after everything he has lived, not after everything he has fought!

"We have received so much pain already, and you dare to inflict upon us even more!? After everything we've endured!? You don't deserve to call yourself our Emperor! You're truly not even a Dragon anymore! Mairgoleido!"

Apsu's words however fell on deaf ears, their former Emperor decided they all must die, and there's nothing he can do about it.

...or is it...?

Apsu mustered all the Wild Magic he could without letting go of his firm grasp on the ground, condensed it all on his mouth, and for the first time in front of others he unleashed his breath weapon.

It was the most powerful breath attack Apsu ever unleashed, an unimaginably hot cone of electrified plasma was fired directly at Mairgoleido's open mouth, and to everyone's shock (including Apsu's own) the attack worked! So strong was the breath attack that Mairgoleido was stunned, interrupting the vacuum.

Ironically enough, the vacuum itself tremendously increased the speed and potency of the plasma cone aimed at his mouth, Apsu managed to turn Mairgoleido's newfound power against himself!

And he won't let this opportunity skip by, he proceeded to fire even more powerful plasma attacks towards Mairgoleido in order to keep him stunned and create an escape window for the few survivors, no matter how small.

"Everyone! Let us turn our backs to this land and live to fight another day! We are what remains of the Dragon Empire! As long as we live, our legacy shan't die! Follow me!"

And just like that, Apsu flew away at supersonic speeds, and the few remaining Dragon Lords including Dahak decided to follow him.

There's nothing left for the True Dragons here. Their previous Emperor, Barghelide=Vaision, is gone. Their current Emperor turned his back on their kind and transformed himself into an abomination of the same cloth as the filth. And the sole remaining Prince, Tsaindorcus=Vaision, is nowhere to be found, and there's nothing he could do anyways, not anymore.

They will find a new land, they will live, they will prosper. As long as there's no more alien filth, as long as no one else becomes a second Mairgoleido, the remaining True Dragon Lords will live in peace.

Apsu naturally became the "de facto" leader of the True Dragon Lords that followed him, a pseudo-Dragon Emperor so to speak, and he wisely led his refugee peers in their search for a new and peaceful place where they could rest from all the calamities that befell their kind.

Little did they knew back then that the lands that they eventually found and adopted as their new home, the supercontinent that the Sky People christened "Kolorioh", would also become the nesting ground of future waves of YGGDRASIL beings...

The Dragons of the New World, what a sad tale they have to tell.

But back to the newly formed Anti-Player Alliance in Maerû, by the time that Mairgoleido recovered from Apsu's flurry of attacks, the disobedient Dragons had already escaped his grasp. Turns out that he was still not fully used to his new World-class Enemy body, so he couldn't exploit his new strength as efficiently as he wished.

Had Mairgoleido been in perfect control of his new body, then not a single Dragon Lord would've escaped his grasp. But alas, he already devoured most of his insolent subjects, the ones that escaped him were meager weaklings save for Apsu and Dahak. He has Dirvelek on his side though, so he considers it a victory, his plan can still succeed.

And speaking of Dirvelek.

"You, why did none of you intercepted the Gold Dragon Lord? I could've devoured him and the Crimson Dragon Lord as well."

His mouths which were still dripping blood were addressing all 4 of his allies, but he was mostly talking to Dirvelek, since only he would've actually been able to do something about Apsu.

"Reaaaally? A being like you needed us to clean his mess? What a joke."

Dirvelek's mocking remark was infuriating, but true. It's his own fault that those 2 escaped, and it's also likely that he would've accidentally devoured Dirvelek as well if he moved from the spot he was standing in, and Mairgoleido needs him alive, a dead Dragon can't grow any stronger.

"Well, if you're salty about it, maybe you can try eating that guy over there?"

The one that Dirvelek was referring to was a Dragon Lord that managed to "hide" from literally everything that just happened in this place. He remained totally silent during the rageful mob screams, didn't made a stand to join the side of the Dragon "traitors", he even managed to resist the devouring vacuum, but didn't followed Apsu and the other Dragons that escaped. The reason was simple, flying away in the search of new lands sounded way to troublesome for him, and he's just to lazy to muster the energy to do that.

Of course, Dirvelek was talking about Huyrtob himself. The Mountainous Dragon Lord was sitting in the exact. same. spot. he was sitting at when he arrived, the vacuum didn't even managed to move him a fraction of a centimeter. Of course, as a Dragon Lord that specializes in the earth and minerals, being able to glue himself into the ground is trivial for him, he was the only one that didn't struggled to resist the vacuum, even.

Mairgoleido was obviously curious about this Dragon that escaped everyone's notice. He got near Huyrtob to have a better look at him, hoping to use his newly enhanced senses to analyze him, but as he got to a certain distance of his personal space, Huyrtob unleashed his magma breath attack against Mairgoleido.

"Keep your distance from me, your royal assness, your Soul stinks."

It wasn't near as powerful as Apsu's electrified plasma, but he definitely felt that nonetheless despite being a "Super Boss" that even the filth fear. This Dragon Lord is no small fry, with enough polishing Huyrtob could become someone on par with Dirvelek, at least that's what Mairgoleido thinks.

"You have great potential, my subject. You didn't turn your back on me like the other disobedient cowards, so I shall forgive your insolent act against me."

After saying those words, Mairgoleido took to the skies with his multiple wings and spoke to his allies.

"My brethren, this is the first day of a new world. Our enemies get weaker, yet we shall only grow stronger! Follow me."

"Where are we going?"

"To the place where it all started, the place where my father forcefully ripped a portion of this world's Soul, the place where he summoned the filth contaminating our world."

The other 4 Dragons that agreed to join the new Alliance also took to the skies and followed their leader's trail. All except Huyrtob that is, he just stood there, alone, staring into the clouds.

He had no idea what to do about the current situation, it seems the former Emperor spared his life, but didn't made any active attempts to recruit him. Perhaps he just expects Huyrtob to follow him? Perhaps he thinks that he will eventually chose to join him simply because he has nothing better to do?

If that's what Mairgoleido thinks, then...he's right. Huyrtob has literally nothing else to do with his life at this point, with nearly all his kind dead or missing, what else does he have?

"Sigh, whatever. It's not like they're in the wrong, I do hate the filth, it's their fault that this mess exists in the first place after all."

So with a newfound determination burning on his eyes, Huyrtob stood up from his sitting spot, turned to the direction the others went, and...! Begun to walk.

...what? Why isn't he flying? Because that's too bothersome, that's why. The place Mairgoleido mentioned isn't going anywhere, so there's no need to hurry, is there?

He's perfectly capable of reaching that place by walking, there's no need to overexert yourself for no reason, he just needs to walk.

And walk...and walk...and walk...

Step by step he gets closer.

He WILL get there, eventually, someday.

Just need to keep walking, yep. Walk.

He's not lazy, he's just preserving his energy, you never know when an enemy will ambush you, will you?

That's right, Huyrtob isn't lazy at all! He's just patient! It's everyone else who's impatient and always rushes to everything, it's everyone else who's in the wrong!

These are the types of thoughts that Huyrtob constantly repeats on his head while lazily doing anything. Always putting the minimum amount of effort in everything he does. Truly, "Deadweight Dragon Lord" would've been a more accurate title for Huyrtob, but eh.

He was always behind his comrades of the Alliance when it came to their training to destroy the filth as well, but the reason he was tolerated by them was because of the results he displayed and which nobody could argue against.

Turns out Mairgoleido was also right about Huyrtob's innate potential; when he puts the effort, he truly is on par with the greatest Dragon Lord prodigies that the New World has ever seen. Such a waste, to see all that potential locked up in such a lazy and indolent creature. Why are the Dragons of this world always showered by such misfortune? The Dragons never practiced the religious act of worshipping Gods, so they have nobody else to blame for such cruel twists of fate besides their own greedy Emperors.

But nevertheless, their joint training continued for several decades before petty squabbles and impatience eventually forced each of them to abandon the place where the last Dragon Emperor summoned the filth, the place that the Sky People christened "Rust Mountains", and go their separate ways.

Dirvelek could never hope to topple Mairgoleido, the other Dragons weren't even near half his level, and Huyrtob was a strong but lazy scrub, he was so bored that he was the first one to leave the group.

The spiked nobody who's name was Guste Mik also left the group soon after him, turns out the sole reason he even agreed to join the Alliance was so he could become strong enough to defeat Dirvelek, but he was gone now, so there was no reason for Guste Mik to remain in the group.

The pale creature who turned out to actually be Sulte'rioj after all was the third one to leave, he claimed to have learned everything he needed from the others and then abandoned the group without saying a single word.

Cure Elim took longer than the previous 3 to leave, most likely needed to muster up the courage to do so, but if Huyrtob were to speak his mind he would say that Cure Elim was the one that improved the most out of all the members of the Alliance. He may still be a coward, but now he's a slightly stronger coward.

At the end only Mairgoleido, who abandoned his title of Prismatic Dragon Lord and renamed himself the World Tree Dragon Lord in honor of his new and much more powerful shape, and Huyrtob himself were left.

The Mountainous Dragon Lord for his part wasn't willing to spend so much energy in looking for a place to call his own like the others did, so he remained where he was, EXACTLY where he was, even after the World Tree Dragon Lord himself completed his preparations or whatever for some sort of master plan he didn't wanted to tell the others and also left the Rust Mountains, Huyrtob remained in the same spot, and hence that place became his "home".

What's wrong with living in that remote place? He put a considerable amount of time and effort to walk all the way there, he has every right to stay in that place for as long as he wants!

Besides, the Rust Mountains didn't remained desolated forever. Eventually, the ever-expanding Aarakocra found and decided to study the mysterious phenomenon that made the local mountains turn into such unnatural reddish coloration, with time they settled in said place to build a community, unaware at first that Huyrtob was there since that Dragon literally looks like just another mountain when he's asleep, he even camouflaged himself by turning his mountain-shell into the same reddish tint of all the surrounding place. And by the time the Aarakocra realized that they were building a city in the territory of a True Dragon Lord, it was too late.

Huyrtob used his powerful Wild Magic to trap them, using a modified version of the [World-Warping Wall] in order to make them unable to even call for aid. It wasn't until they promised to fulfill his demands (crown him their Mountain God, that is) that Huyrtob released them and allowed them to continue their lives.

Of course, this entire incident was isolated in the Rust Mountains since Huyrtob didn't wanted to spare the energy required to hunt down and coerce the entire civilization, but all the Sky People received the benefits of studying and learning from the Mountainous Dragon Lord regardless, a win-win situation if you ignore the temporal kidnapping part.

And for a few centuries Huyrtob's life remained relatively peaceful, he never heard of the other members of the Alliance or of any lingering filth, but he did kept his eyes open just in case. An invisible sensory field that was also a modified version of [World-Warping Wall] surrounds all his territory, a field that doesn't prevents teleportation of any sort, but rather it simply alerts Huyrtob of the presence of any True Dragon Lord or filth that dares cross his territory.

The first time his alarms were sound was decades ago, when someone known as "Crown Prince" of a King or God or whatever decided to conquer his servants or something. Apparently, this Emperor-something was an extremely powerful weilder of the filthy magic that the damned group of 8 used to pollute the world, and he was in the middle of an expansion campaign for his nation which was led by the firstborn son of this filthy spellcaster.

Huyrtob doesn't remembers all the details very well, but he does remember the disgusting stench of said Crown Prince. A tint so similar to the Souls of the Dragon Emperor's filth, yet it felt a bit different somehow. Huyrtob commanded his servants to lure this creature to him, but at that moment was also when the father of said Crown Prince ordered his son to retreat from his lands to never return.

To this day Huyrtob still wonders just what the hell was that creature. A being so similar yet still different to the Dragon Emperor's filth, could it be that the father of that Crown Prince was a filth himself? Huyrtob doesn't entertains that idea so much since it's too troublesome for him, he prefers to simply wait for the next time a piece of filth invades his territory, and this time he will be ready.

And it seems his patience paid off because, a second ago, his sensory field captured the presence of another filth once again. And this time, he's sure, this second creature that sounded his alarms is indeed a true filth of the Dragon Emperor. There's no doubt about it, unlike that Crown Prince who's Soul was extremely similar to the filth but not really the same, this insectoid creature is indeed 100% alien, and he's not letting it escape this time!

It was when the High Priest was completing the final part of the burned animal sacrifice, the aforementioned weekly tribute, when he received a telepathic message from his people's local God.

"[My subject, can you hear me?]"

"!...my lord!?"

Telepathy is one of the abilities Huyrtob developed as a side-effect of his laziness, since that way he doesn't has to actually waste so much energy to communicate in the form of speaking, and can do so at long distances as well so he doesn't actually has to waste energy to get close to others.

"[It is time, the lingering filth has once again dared to step on our sacred lands. Bring it to me, dear subject, and this time, be certain it reaches me.]"

"Worry not my lord, we have prepared accordingly for this day. Right now my son must be there welcoming this filthy being, and we will bring this being to you just like we promised."

"[Oh, is that so? You knew that the filth would arrive ahead of time?]"

Huyrtob set off his sensory field to only warn him about other Dragons like him and alien filth, he never used it to actually keep an eye on his servants or monitor them. That requires far more energy that he's willing to spare.

"Yes, my lord. Days ago we caught eye of the creation of a teleportation circle that was being built nearby, and we kept an eye for whatever might arrive through it. And if such being caught your eye, then it must be just like we suspected, that circle was used to send an alien filth against us. Against you, my lord."

"[I see. The polluted rabble always placed so much trust, so much faith, in these creatures that never even belonged to our world. To think they even consider the stupid idea that they can use them to destroy me, they truly are inferior beings.]"

"But we aren't inferior! Thanks to you, my lord, we are above all the polluted rabble that dares worship these false Gods, and we will show our loyalty to you for eternity!"

If you ask Huyrtob, he would say that he doesn't cares much about being worshipped, but that would be a lie. Just like how Mairgoleido basked on the feeling of being the Dragon Emperor (regardless of how short such thing was) Huyrtob loves, loves, LOVES to bask on the adoration and praise of the Sky People. Is the sole thing he never feels lazy for.

"[Very well. Lure this creature to me so I can devour it, so I can grow stronger. And you, my subject, you will be rewarded.]"

"Yes, my lord."

And just like that, the telepathic connection broke.

"So today is the day, uh?"

The High Priest was now totally alone with the burnt offering he just sacrificed for the Mountainous Dragon Lord. He took a glance at the knife he had on his talon, the one he used to swiftly kill the animal before burning it.

"Yes, today is the day..."

And, in what seemed to be a burst of fury, he impaled the calcinated corpse with said knife, a revenge-thirsty expression painted all over his avian face.

"Today is the day we finally get rid of you, false God..."

Worshipping the Mountainous Dragon Lord did bring tremendous benefits to the Sky People, yes, but as the centuries went on, Huyrtob eventually outlived his pragmatic purpose. They already learned everything they could learn from him, the True Dragon Lord no longer has anything else to offer them as a society, and now they're back to being prisoners of Huyrtob.

It's not like they can just stop worshipping him out of the blue or evacuate their entire city without Huyrtob noticing, nor can tell call the other cities of their civilization for help either.

Huyrtob was dead serious back then when he demanded to be worshipped as a God, and is still dead serious now. They can't just try to escape his grasp without awakening his fury.

The Sky People does have communities in Kolorioh were the Gods of Light and Darkness reside, beings that could indeed destroy Huyrtob if they wanted to, but these 2 Players have an entire supercontinent with their own issues to look after, they can't abandon their own people to save the people of a supercontinent they have no business with. The Sky People of Maerû has to look for a solution themselves.

And when their scouting parties reported the arrival of a Player 100 years ago they hoped that they finally found their solution, since Players can't help but expand their influence and show of their power in flashy ways. In fact, you could say that about any intelligent creature with power, they can't help but revel in said power.

However, to their dismay, the God-King Ainz Ooal Gown wasn't the narcissist power-hungry megalomaniac they thought he was. He was cautious, intelligent, cunning, and always calculated the risks. There's no way he could be tricked or bribed into risking everything to destroy an unknown and dangerous enemy like the Mountainous Dragon Lord.

When time passed and his firstborn son was placed in charge of an expansion campaign designed to annex lands into his Sorcerer Kingdom, the Sky People saw their second chance. Shura Ulain Gown was prideful, aggressive, competitive, thirsty for worthy challenges, and above all, he was powerful, extremely so. Luring someone like that into challenging the Mountainous Dragon Lord would be childplay.

And they were SO close of accomplishing such thing...the Crown Prince set foot in their lands, the Rust Mountains, by his own arrogant will after a series of battles that would be remembered as the Unholy War, they didn't even had to look for him! Everything was going so smoothly until his father, Ainz Ooal Gown, stepped in and took his son away. The expansion campaign was even cancelled as well, everything was ruined again!

Further research into the matter revealed that, at that time, Ainz Ooal Gown recently formed a loose alliance with the Platinum Dragon Lord, the younger son of the last Dragon Emperor. The Sky People's sages theorized that it was Tsaindorcus the one that informed the God-King that there was a powerful True Dragon Lord ruling the Rust Mountains, and thus he most likely panicked and brought his son back home, aborting the expansion campaign as well to avoid the risk of crossing paths with another dangerous being.

The Sky People's patience was running low and their desperation was growing bigger. The High Priest of that time personally paid a visit to the God-King, fell to his knees, and humbly asked Ainz Ooal Gown for his aid in the liberation of his people. The God-King, ever so calculating, was aware of the benefits the Sky People could offer to his continent-spanning Kingdom, but reached the conclusion that the risk was too great.

Turns out that they raged war against a True Dragon Lord years before the expansion campaign, a war against the extremely ancient and powerful Chromatic Dragon Lord, and it was a battle that they could barely win. It took a good while for Nazarick to recover their strength after that epic battle, and the God-King said that it would take decades before they were ready to fight another being like that.

Not all was lost, however, since the God-King knew by then that more Players like him were sure to arrive in the future, and assured the High Priest that if he can bring that Player or Players to his side, alongside the numbers and resources they might potentially bring with any possible base, then the power of Nazarick would be greatly augmented, and even True Dragon Lords would be nothing more than small fry to him.

He would gladly aid our cause if that scenario comes to pass, the God-King said, but it was hardly much solace for the Sky People back then since the next Player advent was many years away. But now, now that advent has finally arrived.

Days ago, an emissary of the God-King made contact with the current High Priest, informed him of his new scheme to destroy all the Dragon Lords of the Anti-Player Alliance in order to cull out and destroy the World Tree Dragon Lord for good. However, Ainz Ooal Gown didn't wanted to spare power in mere "side-kicks" of Mairgoleido so he would instead utilize the new Players that recently arrived this century to make quick work of them. All the Sky People has to do is lure the Player that he sends over to them into a death match against their draconic oppressor, easy enough since that's exactly what Huyrtob himself wants as well.

The High Priest even allowed members of Corpus of the Abyss to create a teleportation circle just right outside of their city, and also created a fabricated story they would tell to the Player that arrives as well.

The sole difficult part would be to make sure the Player never leaves nor suspects that he's being used, so the High Priest instructed his family and servants to be discrete and never reveal their intentions, be hospitable and pretend to help the Player with anything he needs, since a tricked individual who was thrown into a mysterious situation would obviously be desperate for answers.

And now, the moment finally arrived! The God-King was true to his word and sent over a being capable of destroying the Mountainous Dragon Lord and free them from their grasp. He does hope, however, that his son Tai'me doesn't screws it up.

'He's a smart boy, he's got this.'

As he reassured himself that everything would turn out alright, he calmly teleported himself to his personal room, changed his clothes and used a [Clean] Spell on himself to remove any scent of smoke, put on his glasses, and teleported to his office.

Who knows how long it will take for Tai'me to lure the Player all the way to him since taking the Player to a transportation cabin would seem to suspicious, and the High Priest is the only one high-level enough to use a teleportation Spell powerful enough to take the Player all the way to were Huyrtob is, since their city is still hundreds of meters away from the Dragon Lord's physical body.

The High Priest took a sit and begun to flip some documents that were already on his table. A few minutes that seemed like hours went by before his Eladrin servant Bah'ku rushed in and spoke in an agitated tone.

"You holiness! He's here! You son brought him here!"

The High Priest's heart jumped to his throat, the Player is here, in this temple. If their deception is discovered, there's no telling how angry the Player could get, and all the people in the temple...no, all the people living in the city would be in jeopardy. But there's no turning back, it's now or never. There's no way they will wait another 100 years for the chance to be free.

"It's alright Bah'ku. Relax, remain calm, tell them to come here, I'm waiting for them."

"Yes your holiness."

The Eladrin quietly left his office before another few endless minutes passed by, and before he knew it, Bah'ku returned with his son and the Player, a 3 meters tall insectoid with magical runes etched on his exoskeleton. Hard to believe at first sight that the power of this being is so God-like, but no matter.

'This is it. The future of our people here depends of what I do next. Focus. Focus. Focus...'

The High Priest needed a few seconds to steel his resolve before finally deciding to speak.

Both he and his son were using their fabricated story in order to fool the Player, whose name is Ragnar, into thinking that they too are just as confused as he is about his current situation, that way Ragnar would form a false sense of camaraderie with them and would trust them.

And it seems to have worked, Ragnar dropped his guard and even gave permission to be appraised by the High Priest.

The moment of truth.

With his talon wide open, the High Priest begun to prepare a special custom-made 5th Tier Abjuration Spell specifically designed for this moment. There's a magically marked spot right in front of the place where the Mountainous Dragon Lord's body rests all the time, all he has to do is teleport the Player there.

Easier said than done, since teleportation is a complex magic, but he can do it, he's the High Priest of the Sky People community in the Rust Mountains. While the Heavenly Pope that resides in their civilization's capital in Kolorioh can use magic up to 7th Tier, those communities that live peacefully in the other side of the world never had to develop their magic to this levels, so perhaps even their Pope can't use the complex Spell the High Priest is carefully casting right now.

However, as the Spell was near completion and his heart was about to sing victory, Ragnar apparently discovered the trick and suddenly manifested 2 large and heavy axes out of nowhere. In a split second the High Priest paralyzed, but a split second later he recovered his resolve and completed the Spell, successfully teleportating Ragnar all the way to the place Huyrtob is.

The pieces are in place, all they can do now is pray to their actual Gods for the Player's victory. The High Priest can't wait to inform his people that they are finally free after all this is done.

"Well done, son. I'm proud of you."

Tai'me formed a huge smile on his avian face, an expression that was also painted with an great sense of relief.

"Not gonna lie, that was a bit scary. I had to tell that Player a few bits of secret knowledge to get on his good side, I hope that's okay?"

"Don't worry about that now, we should instead monitor the conflict from afar. If the Player is defeated, is possible that the Mountain Devil will be weakened, in which case we will swiftly swoop in for the kill."

That last line was delivered with sharp and unbreakable determination. As the leader of this community, the High Priest is more than ready to give his life to release his people from the Dragon Lord's tyranny.

A future where they can wake up without having to worry about the ridiculous demands of a being who looks at them like vermin, a future without fear of the wrath of a being that could destroy them on a whim.

A bright future, that's all they want, and if Ragnar can deliver them such thing, then it's possible that the vacant left by the Mountain God may be filled by a nascent Insect God...

[...]

"Damn you! DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU AAAAAAALL!"

Such are Ragnar's wrathful screams while he trashes inside Huyrtob's throat. He couldn't avoid being swallowed just now, but he can however be an impossible snack to swallow. His onyx axes [Modi and Magni] were ripping apart the Dragon Lord's innards with tremendous prejudice, the Mountainous Dragon Lord's shell and scales may be as sturdy as they are, but nobody is a strong inside as they are outside.

Huyrtob obviously couldn't endure it no more so he used his magma breath to vomit Ragnar and violently spit him out towards the ground.

Insectoid Races are almost always vulnerable to fire, and Ragnar's Race of choice is no different, so a magma attack would normally inflict great amounts of damage to Ragnar despite his monstrous stats. However, the damage Ragnar just received is actually minimal, since his accumulated rage and the dangerous situation he has been suddenly thrown into allowed him to subconsciously activate his [Primal Rage] ability.

The Barbarian's [Primal Rage] Skill usually increases the Player's strength and speed in exchange of a temporal decrease of defense, but Ragnar's build has 45 Racial Levels composed of Insectoid Classes, Races which are noteworthy for the tremendous increase of natural armor they grant to the Players who build them, on top of the Racial Skills of course.

Even if its defense were to decrease, the exoskeleton of an Insect Player who build enough Racial Levels would still be able to endure great amounts of punishment.

But Ragnar didn't limit himself to just that racial advantage, he also took it a step further by exploiting a loophole with his [Wild Evocator] and [Runescarred] Job Classes that allowed him to actually increase his defense while using the [Primal Rage] Skill instead of decrease it.

Anyone who personally knew Ragnar back in YGGDRASIL would agree that he was nothing short of a true, unbeatable monster. Until they met Anchelo, that is.

"Ah, what a feisty piece of filth. It seems I will have to kill you first, and then devour you. What a bother."

Ragnar for his part didn't responded to that statement. Instead, he simply replaced his clothes with his usual Divine-class gear which merely consisted of his [Belt of the Jötnar] and [Monster King Necklace] besides his twin axes.

He just gazed at the Mountainous Dragon Lord with eyes filled with fury, and said the following.

"You know...I'm actually glad that I was thrown here, because right now the only thing that I want...the sole thing that I want to do...is to ravage something as HARD AS I CAN!"

And just like that, Ragnar unleashed a powerful howl while his body was engulfed by crimson-red flames, the physical manifestation of the [Primal Rage] ability.

"Uh, you really will make me work for it? Damned filth..."

With an annoyed expression on his face, Huyrtob created the biggest [World-Warping Wall] he could in order to prevent any possible escape or any arrival for help. Even though his enemy openly declared his intention to destroy him with his own hands, Huyrtob will take no chances.

Ragnar threw himself forwards at high speeds full of murder intent, he's fully prepared to kill this Dragon Lord in front of him, and will truly hold nothing back!

He would've ripped apart Huyrtob's head, but the Mountain Dragon made a swift 180 degrees rotation to slam Ragnar with his heavy tail, sending him flying away despite the Barbarian's strength and momentum.

The Dragon immediately followed up with a huge jump, a simple move that would easily crush flat any opponent of Huyrtob since he's also capable of increasing his weight and mass to be twice as heavy as he normally is, combined with the tremendous heights his jumps can reach thanks to his powerful legs, this simple move would easily kill any unprepared Player with regular a build, equipment, and PvP skill.

But again, Ragnar is anything but "regular".

Huyrtob's massive stomp connected, the impact of his fall was akin to that of a meteor that fell from outer space. The cataclysmic shockwave instantly reshaped the entire battlefield, even the clouds surrounding the mountain peaks were pushed away. Even the Birdman city that was hundreds of meters away would've been reduced to rubble if not for the defensive Spells protecting it, and even then the city was still heavily shaken by the attack.

But that wasn't enough, the unquenchable rage of the Insect below Huyrtob's body would NOT be extinguished by this!

Despite being crushed by the equivalent of 2 mountains falling on him from tremendous heights, Ragnar lifted, LIFTED, Huyrtob's still heavier body with his own arms and threw him away with great fury as if the Dragon Lord were a mere baseball.

"RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Using the Skill [Hammer of Thor] Ragnar aimed at Huyrtob's belly while he was still in midair, creating a powerful electric impact that pushed Huyrtob even further, and even created heavy cracks on his lower shell too since the the belly is almost always the weakest part of a turtle's shell, and it seems that same logic applies for Huyrtob's physiology.

"Urgh! Annoying filth! Why don't you just sit and die!?"

For the first time in very long, Huyrtob felt pain. He recovered his balance in order to land safely, and after using his Wild Magic to close his wound he used another Wild Magic Spell he calls [Scorching Scales] that hardens his already impenetrable scales and adds a layer of volcanic heat to them in order to make sure anyone who dares touch him won't come out unscathed.

"Now you've done it! Congratulations filth, it's very difficult to piss me off, but you went ahead and did it! Forget being bothersome, I will use everything I have to annihilate you!"

Now both the World's End Berserker and the Mountainous Dragon Lord are filled to the brim with murder intent.

"You know what!? I don't care! This fucking world! The fucking people that lives in this world! And my own fucking luck! All of that can go to hell! Starting with you!"

Ragnar blames not only the backstabbing natives of this world for the current situation he's in, but his own poor luck as well. Nobody would blame Ragnar nor his friends for blaming their own poor luck, after all, there's no way they could've seen the intricate strings that Momonga has been silently pulling from behind the scenes all this time.

What a "coincidence", that Meitro arrived to Mount Keitenias specifically when Cure Elim wasn't busy elsewhere collecting more Souls and Undead.

What a "coincidence", that Asmodel arrived to Sulte'rioj's underground lair specifically when the Vampire Dragon wasn't busy elsewhere with his research nor collecting blood.

What a "coincidence", that Anchelo arrived to Dirvelek's stolen lair specifically when the Deep Darkness Dragon Lord wasn't in one of his deep slumbers.

And what a "coincidence", that Teinu arrived to the Ikrit Desert region specifically when the local Human tribes where attempting to run away.

That's what one may think at first glance, but they would be wrong. SO wrong.

It was Nazarick's forces what either evacuated or eliminated any living creature left in Mount Keitenias to make sure that Cure Elim wouldn't move from the prepared spot.

It was Ainz himself the one that controlled the Undead servants of Sulte'rioj in order to convince the Vampire Dragon that there was no new progress on his magical research nor new harvested blood.

It was Nazarick again the ones that woke up Dirvelek and made sure he would remain awake for Anchelo's arrival.

And it was an agent of the Sorcerer Kingdom the one that informed the desert Human tribes of the existence of Ainz's nation in the first place.

After decades of delicate preparation, there's simply no way that someone like the God-King would leave anything to chance, no matter how small the detail. Destroying the Anti-Player Alliance is something that MUST be done.

But Ragnar doesn't knows nor would care about that, all he cares about is reducing the Mountain Dragon in front of him to a pile of shattered stones with his own axes.

His accumulated rage flared up once again, igniting his [Primal Rage] even more which made his crimson fiery aura even bigger than before. Huyrtob followed suit and ignited his [Scorching Scales] with even more heat, and with no more words to be said the 2 simply rushed forwards at full force, ready to rip each other apart piece by piece.

Huyrtob attempted another tail swipe, but Ragnar saw that coming and flew upwards at blinding speeds ready to bring his axes down with an extremely buffed [Mountain Cleaver]. But before he could cut the Dragon's shell he was hit by a flying piece of large debris that Huyrtob telekinetically moved to interrupt his attack.

In all his blazing anger Ragnar totally forgot that the Mountainous Dragon Lord also has geokinetic abilities that allows him to mentally move the earth, so he should've seen such thing coming as well.

Huyrtob didn't wasted this opportunity and proceeded to unleash an unstoppable barrage of bullet-rocks, each one larger than the previous one, on top of Ragnar. But this did little to stop the Barbarian since those giant bullets were just mundane rocks, not even enchanted with Wild Magic. The best they could do was temporary distract Ragnar for a few seconds, yet that's precisely what Huyrtob needed to prepare his [Molten Skies] Spell.

Humongous amounts of rock were coalesced and melted into large, floating orbs of unnaturally hot magma orbiting around Huyrtob, orbs that flew straight towards Ragnar at a speed that betrayed their size.

Even Ragnar, in the state he currently is, would be seriously hurt if all those magma orbs created with defense-bypassing Wild Magic manage to connect, so he used a risky move.

"[Ymir Andaðu]!"

A tremendous snow blizzard erupted in all directions from Ragnar's body, taking the shape of a huge cold tornado that continuously increased in size. So potent was this Skill that all of Huyrtob's magma orbs were extinguished and left inert by the cold, even his [Scorching Scales] had their heat tremendously weakened by this AoE Skill, but such thing would naturally be expected from an EXP consuming Skill.

It's true that by using such Skills Ragnar runs the risk of reverting to Level 99, but he was dead serious when he said that he will vent his all accumulated wrath by destroying Huyrtob with everything he has, even if such thing ends with him being slightly weaker when all is said and done.

For now he's safe, he has enough EXP left to use at least one more of those Skills, but he will only use it if he's certain that the Dragon Lord will die with that final hit, so he will now focus on chipping away Huyrtob's health as fast as he can. And to do so, he decided to unleash his trump card right here and now.

"[Skill - Einherjar]!"

2 balls of white light coalesced at Ragnar's sides, which slowly shaped themselves into insectoid form. If one ignored the bleached-white axes and the glowing exoskeletons, they were the spitting image of Ragnar. But the resemblance is not merely cosmetic however, the weapons and stats are identical to Ragnar's, and because of their nature as Golem-like constructs they enjoy a huge miriad of resistances and immunities.

[Einherjar] is a trump card bestowed by the [Viking] and [Valkyrie] series (in Ragnar's case, he possesses the [Viking: Axe] Job Class), and while normally you can only summon 1 of these powerful constructs, Ragnar's ability to summon 2 is yet another loophole his build managed to exploit.

Of course, the near-impossible to get Job Class known as [Ragnarøk] is capable of summoning up to 5 [Einherjar] constructs, so Ragnar's feat isn't that impressive in comparison to those invincible monsters of Trinity, but it's still quite an accomplishment.

And if that wasn't enough, his constructs also have the same magical tattoos that Ragnar has etched on himself as well, meaning that they can also use the majority of Ragnar's most powerful Skills. Another contrast with the [Einherjar] summons of most Players that could only use a limited number of their Skills.

The 3 Barbarians lunged themselves at full speed towards the Dragon Lord who attempted to stop their advance with a powerful magma breath attack, this time enhanced with huge amounts of Wild Magic, but Ragnar responded with a powerful Racial Skill from his [Insect Emperor] Class known as [Emperor's Screech].

The massive soundwave collided with the breath attack and both cancelled each other out, which allowed Ragnar and his construct clones to begin their relentless assault on Huyrtob's gargantuan body.

Despite his tremendous durability, Huyrtob's scales and shell where being chipped away by the brutal axe swings of his 3 opponents, and even increasing the temperature of his [Scorched Scales] beyond their normal limit did little to stop or slow them down. The Dragon Lord simply couldn't understand why his opponent was so powerful, he has fought filth like him before but they weren't near as strong as this insect is.

The reason for Ragnar's ridiculous strength is actually quite simple. He's angry, very, very, very angry. And he's also a Barbarian, a Class of Fighters known for their ability to draw strength from their inner rage.

Back in YGGDRASIL, Barbarians were simply the warriors that focused on attack power and primitive forms of combat rather than weapon variety that more common warriors enjoyed, and their [Primal Rage] was simply a mechanic that allowed them to increase their physical abilities for a short bit.

But here, in this world where flavor in a game became real, the power of Barbarians is no longer a mere mechanic. Here, Barbarians truly do draw their strength from their rage, and also unlike in YGGDRASIL there's no numerical limit of how strong your fury can make you.

The angrier you are, the stronger you become. Quite simple.

And here's Ragnar, someone who decided to put his trust in a Human called Daifuku who proceeded to trick him and distanced him from his friends. And is also someone who made the colossal mistake of trusting yet another stranger who also proceeded to trick him as well, this time by forcing him to face a True Dragon Lord that could very well be capable of killing him.

Not to mention that his friends could be suffering terrible fates for all he knows, all because they put their trust into someone who seemed nice and polite.

Ragnar is the angriest he has ever been in his entire life, and hence, his power as a Barbarian skyrocketed to levels it never has before. If Anchelo in his [Channel Divinity] state were to challenge Ragnar right now, the outcome of their battle would be in doubt.

But in any case, Huyrtob was trying all the Wild Magic Spells he knew in an attempt to defend himself from the filth, but the most he could do was scratch his enemies. The simple fact that the Mountainous Dragon Lord was capable of imbuing his attacks with fiery magma (an Insect's fatal weakness) was the sole reason he could even scratch Ragnar in the first place.

Huyrtob may be a lazy scrub, but he's no ignorant, he knows that if this keeps on, he will inevitably die. So it seems he has no choice, he has to use his own trump card right here and now.

Using his innate connection to the earth, Huyrtob used his Wild Magic to reach as deep as he could, reaching lower than the silicate crust, lower than the viscous mantle, lower than the liquid outer core, all the way down to the absolute lowest place his magic could reach; the very solid inner core of the New World.

With a temperature of 5,430 degrees Celsius (9,806 degrees Fahrenheit), the heat of the planet's core rivals that of the surface of the sun, and with a magic that allows him to telekinetically pull fragments of the nucleus of this world all the way to the surface, Huyrtob holds the potential to destroy the entire world if he so desires.

But luckily for everyone, Huyrtob never bothered to develop his abilities to the point of being able to easily destroy the world, since even pulling a relatively small fragment of the inner core, alongside all the magma from the mantle that such fragment drags alongside it, requires a tremendous amount of effort and focus, not the mention the risk of burning himself to death as well.

But considering his current situation, the Dragon Lord has no choice but to run the risk, even if that means destroying his own slave Race alongside the filth. Looking for another servant species sounds incredibly bothersome, but Huyrtob has no intention of dying, so he went ahead and activated his trump card.

[World Incinerator]

The ground below them begun to raise and heat up like a baking bread, even Ragnar despite his blinding rage could still feel a chill run up his spine, his enemy was up to something. He could also tell because the Mountain Dragon stopped trying to attack and withdrew himself into his own shell like a turtle would, and added a Wild Magic Spell that greatly increased his own defense on top of it.

The raising ground now begun to crack, slowly taking the shape a a volcanic mouth ready to vomit all the lava screaming for release. Ragnar wasted no time and used his necklace's daily ability to coat himself in a second exoskeleton of enchanted rock to increase his already buffed defense even further, and then braced himself with even more defensive Skills on top of each other.

And it's a good thing he did all that, because if Ragnar would've skipped even a single one of those steps, then the resulting eruption would've reduced him to nothingness.

[World Incinerator] spew forth upwards without mercy, calling it "hellishly hot" would be a ridiculous understatement. The sun-like magma made quick work of the Einherjar and was painfully cooking up Ragnar himself. His entire body was slowly melting, if not for his second rock exoskeleton he coated himself with, then he would've ended just like his constructs.

The skies blackened with ash, the entire battlefield looked like nothing short of a hellscape from the distance. Even the poor Sky People were suffering the consequences of Huyrtob's Spell, suffering tremendous levels of heat despite the Spells protecting their city. And even if they manage to survive, they would still fall victim to symptoms akin to those of insolation.

Eventually, the eruption ended since Huyrtob lacked the necessary amount of energy required to create an attack of such magnitude for prolonged amounts of time. His laziness was the sole saving grace of both Ragnar and the Sky People, but that was little solace to them because [World Incinerator] may've ended, but the effects are as painful as they can get.

The Sky People was now suffering the horrible effects of prolonged exposure to high temperatures, the poor children had it worse. But none of that is as bad as what Ragnar is going through right now.

His second stone skin had all of its power drained and crumbled away, exposing his steaming exoskeleton and his etched runes that had all their magic totally drained as well, thus were now dulled and colorless. His internal organs were in a pitiful state, and even his unfathomable rage was nearly gone at this point. His vision was blurry, his senses were dull, he could barely stand up, let alone fight. Even holding his own onyx axes was burning his hands.

And as it turns out, Huyrtob was only barely in a better state than Ragnar. His shell was steaming hot, his scales were charred black, and his eyes were so dry he could barely see.

He gave out a few smoky coughs and addressed his enemy.

"That...hurt you more than...it hurt...me..."

Ragnar for his part could hardly make out the Dragon Lord's words, his own auditive organs were nearly destroyed after all.

"This is it...filth...I will make sure that y-you die...for...good!"

Mustering his remaining Wild Magic reserves, Huyrtob telekinetically moved the piece he took from the New World's core in order to create the eruption, an extremely large and still hot chunk of iron-nickel alloy that was nearly as big as he was, and begun to reshape it into the form of a large mineral spear.

Ragnar's eyesight was damaged but he was still able to recognize such thing floating above the Dragon Lord. He had to move, despite how painful such simple thing was right now. He had to fight and survive, despite the voice in his head screaming for the sweet release of death.

If he will die, then he will go out giving everything he has, so he decided to use his last EXP consuming Skill as a final move against the Dragon Lord. After all, considering his wounds it's very possible that he will die regardless if he wins or not, so he can go out burning out as many EXP consuming Skills as he can before kicking the bucket.

But now, he has to do something about that large mineral spear, so he will use the most powerful Burst Damage Skill on his arsenal, the same Skill that destroyed the final Boss that he and his friends fought in the final day of YGGDRASIL, before being taken against their will to this horrible world full of betrayers and murderer monsters.

"[Ymir Reiði]!"

Behind him the upper half of an spectral Giant manifested itself, he had bluish skin, long white hair and beard, pure white eyes, and on each side of his head there was a giant tusk that curved itself downward. This was Ymir, the primordial Jötun and ancestor of all Giants.

Huyrtob saw that Giant and begun to panic, he began to increase the sturdiness and power of the mineral spear taking form despite the Soul cost of doing such thing. It seems he underestimated the Dragon Emperor's filth yet again, and in the state he is in he can't afford a long battle, so he has to make sure to finish him with this final attack.

Both final strikes were finally prepared.

The Giant readied his fist to strike the moment Ragnar lifted his axes, and he launched his fist towards the Dragon Lord the same moment Ragnar launched himself at it. That simple jump that required the last ounces of his strength shattered what remained of his legs, his membrane wings are all but gone now so he couldn't use flight to reduce the weight on his legs before making the jump.

Huyrtob for his part coated his hardened mineral spear with a mantle of magma and launched it forward as well.

As it turns out, a piercing attack of such magnitude buffed with Wild Magic could easily rip apart the bludgeoning attack of someone in Ragnar's sorry state, even if it's an EXP consuming Skill. So for all intents and purposes, Ragnar is done for.

Hence, the following turn of events made absolutely no sense.

When both the Giant's fist and the mineral spear connected, it was the spear what was shattered into smithereens rather than the Giant's fist. The Skill even managed to connect with Huyrtob's body which shattered a huge portion of his shell and pushed him back many meters away.

Even Ragnar himself couldn't believe how effective his attack was, the amazing sight filled him with such confidence that he even felt his painful burns disappear and his energy return!

At least, Ragnar thought it was his newfound confidence what made his strength return. That is, until a pair of mysterious figures appeared out nowhere, figures that were sprinting towards the Dragon Lord at speeds that no native of this world should be capable of running at.

Thanks to his recovered vitality, Ragnar's senses where back to full gear and thus could have a clearer view of those figures. They were 2 Humanoid beings, had blonde hair, large pointy ears, and dark complexions.

If Ragnar was allowed to guess, he would say that the 2 Humanoid figures are Dark Elves.

"Yahooooooo!"

One of those Elves gave a cheerful shout before using a Ranger Skill to manifest a huge amount of arrows made of light, arrows that proceeded to rain on top of the Dragon Lord and shatter his already feeble shell even further. Then, the other Elf used a Tier Magic Druid Spell to create an earthquake that made a fissure big enough to trap Huyrtob in it.

"You filth! You dare try to manipulate the earth in front of me!? Insolent!"

Filth...now that Ragnar's mind is clear and no longer being drowned by rage, he can clearly recall the fact that this Dragon Lord kept addressing him as "filth". And now, he's addressing the 2 Elves as "filth" too. Coincidence?

He's in the middle of a death match right now, so Ragnar doesn't has the luxury to think about that. But at the very least he can be sure that these new figures aren't his enemies because now it's plain obvious that it was the Elf Druid the one that healed his wounds and made him recover his strength.

The why of their actions shouldn't matter at this point, all he has to do right now is accept this helping hand and win as quickly as possible. The Dragon Lord might have something far more powerful than that apocalyptic eruption up his sleeve for all he knows.

With his restored membrane wings he catapulted himself forward at full speeds, and before Huyrtob could even react he used [Hammer of Thor] to deliver a clean strike to the Dragon's head.

It seems such attack caused much damage since the Dragon Lord begun to painfully trash and roar, but it could also be the frustration of being cornered and heavily wounded while his enemies are on full health what's contributing to Huyrtob's rage.

Now it was the Mountainous Dragon Lord the one who was very, very angry. But since he has no Barbarian Job Classes on his build, his wrath won't give him any extra strength nor restore his vitality.

What Huyrtob can do in his current state however is a last ditch, desperate effort to destroy the filth.

Using a Spell similar to [Molten Skies] Huyrtob begun to form a colossal orb of lava above them, but it was much bigger than the ones from before, around 10 times larger than Huyrtob himself.

He's truly desperate, using such taxing Spell despite the withered state his own body and Soul are. But what makes such thing even sadder is the futility of such thing, because even this is unable to break the confidence of his 3 aggressors.

"[Skill - Petrify]!"

"[Maximize Magic - Bind of Gaia]!"

Both Elves used abilities that not only completely paralyzed Huyrtob's body, but also interrupted the formation of whatever he was trying to create right now. The powerless lava simply lost its orb shape and fell on them like magma rain, rain that didn't even made a little burn on their bodies because all 3 of them were currently protected by the Elf Druid's defensive Spells and the Ranger Elf's buffing Skills.

'These Elves are something else. There's no doubt in my mind, they're YGGDRASIL beings just like me...'

Them being extremely powerful natives of this world could very well be a possibility, but it's easier for Ragnar to simply assume they're from YGGDRASIL. Once this is over, he will demand answers from them.

"You. Damned. FILTH!"

A furious Huyrtob used all his remaining strength to spew a breath attack at Ragnar's direction, but it was so meek and little that it would be childplay to dodge it, or better yet, overpower it.

"[Skill - Emperor's Screech]!"

The Racial Skill was more than enough to push back the magma breath and hit Huyrtob directly just like it did before.

"I think it's time to end this, sir Player!"

Oh, the Ranger Elf even knows that he's a Player! These 2 are definitely from YGGDRASIL, there's no doubt about that now, but that Elf is right, it's time to immediately end this.

After seeing how his last ditch effort so utterly failed, the Mountainous Dragon Lord gave up on life. His body begun to subtly glow in an orange-red light, and it begun to swole as well. It was obvious what was going on, Huyrtob plans to blow himself up and destroy everything in a 4 kilometres radius while he does so.

The 3 might survive, but who knows what would happen to the nearby Sky People. They did backstab him, but Ragnar doesn't thinks they should all die because of that, at least not before they can give him answers.

And so, Ragnar mustered all the remaining fury he had left for one last burst of [Primal Rage] and flew upwards at high speeds while the 2 Elves strengthened the grip of their paralyzing abilities to be completely sure that Huyrtob doesn't avoids this final strike.

Ragnar lifted his axes up and then lunged himself downward like a meteor towards the Mountain Dragon's neck, amassed all his strength, and delivered this battle's final blow.

"[Skill - Mountain Cleaver]!"

It was a clean, perfect cut. The weakened scales of Huyrtob were little more than butter to Ragnar's Divine-class axes, his head powerlessly fell shortly before the rest of his body did, both the body swelling as well as the glowing stopped for good, meaning that they killed Huyrtob just in time.

The last lingering thoughts inside the Mountainous Dragon Lord's dying head were the following:

'I knew I shouldn't had trusted you...Mairgoleido you stinkin liar...I should've instead looked for a nice and cozy hole to spend the rest of eternity in...but that would've been such...a...bother...'

After all was said and done, both Elves got near the Dragon's head to examine it and made sure he's indeed dead. During this time was when Ragnar took the opportunity to carefully analyze them. From a distance, of course.

Both Elves were dressed in mostly white clothes, but the sexual dimorphism between them made easy for Ragnar to realize that they were a male and a female. Yet, both were unquestionably attractive for Humanoid standards, their shared heterochromia even added an exotic air to their looks as well.

Had Ragnar been a Humanoid rather than an Insect, then perhaps he would be feeling something for that well-endowed Dark Elf beauty.

The male Dark Elf, the Druid, held a plain-looking wooden staff while the female Dark Elf, the Ranger, had what seemed to be a whip hanging from her waist. Such equipment rang some bells in Ragnar's mind, he thinks he has a vague idea of who these 2 are, but he can't be sure.

Now that Huyrtob is dead, Ragnar can afford a second to breathe easy and relax. But he didn't put away his weapons though, theese Elves may've helped him win but he still isn't sure if he can trust them. He has been backstabbed twice in a row already, he's never dropping his guard around strangers ever again.

After a few seconds of silence the female Dark Elf spoke first.

"So that was very wild, uh? We sure showed him who's boss, won't you say sir Player?"

She spoke in a very cheery tone, it seems she enjoyed the brief confrontation with the Dragon Lord a lot. The male Dark Elf on the other hand had the same stoic expression, if Ragnar were to guess he would say the male Elf looked bored, if not annoyed.

Ragnar didn't wanted to take any chances so he made them a question.

"Thanks for helping me, you really saved my ass there. But...why did you do it? You don't know me, and I don't know you."

After hearing those words, the female Elf scratched her blonde hair a bit and responded in an embarrassed tone.

"Well, truth is, we do know you sir Player."

"What!?"

"Yeah, we know you and your 4 friends too. Your crystal home, your guardian NPCs, what you have been up to..."

She even showed her own tongue in a playful manner, the female Elf gave the impression of someone who has just being caught doing something inappropriate, like a kid attempting to steal cookies.

The male Elf had a concerned look on his face when he finally spoke for the very first time, addressing the female Elf.

"Sis, is it really okay for you to be telling him all that?"

The female Elf, his sister it seems, immediately covered her mouth with both hands, drawing a shocked expression on her face when she did so.

"Ah! You're right! That was top secret...well, top secret to the mortals at least. I think Lord Ainz won't mind if the other Players know about it, now that their contribution to his plan is over."

"Lord Ainz", uh? Seems his gut feeling was true. And from her words it also seems that Momonga concocted some sort of grand scheme that Ragnar was forced to take part of, and apparently his friends were also forced to be part of it as well.

A small rage begun to swell up inside him again, but in the exhausted state he currently is in, his body can't really endure the pressure of more Primal Rage, so Ragnar left his anger slide. Instead, he decided to ask the Elves another question.

"You went through a lot of trouble to help me, was that an order Mo-, uh, Ainz gave you? Did he commanded you to aid me?"

"Uh? Nah! We simply wanted to increase your chances of survival, so we lent you a hand!"

The female Elf was all cheers while the male Elf continued to have a worried expression painted on his face.

Ragnar was confused for a bit, NPCs he never met even once wanted to help him? And against Momonga's orders, no less? Something feels wrong, so he decided to ask one more question.

"Then, why? You never met me before, and I certainly never met your master either, why risk yourselves like that for my sake?"

Both Elves remained silent for a few seconds before the male Elf answered the question, this time with a more confident tone.

"Because, we actually want that you and Lord Ainz eventually meet. You and your 4 comrades."

"...uh?"

It was the female Elf who spoke next.

"Yeah! It would be really great if you and Lord Ainz can get to know each other, but that can't happen if you die, so we decided to make sure you don't!"

She was showing a great cheerful smile while her brother also had a softer but still genuine smile painted on his face.

Ragnar now was even more confused that ever, he couldn't even figure out what to ask. But there was no need to ask anything since the Elves explained themselves a moment later.

"For 100 years we've served Lord Ainz. It's our greatest pride and joy to be subjects of the Supreme Being, but with the passing of the decades we all began to subtly notice the loneliness that plagued our beloved master. It wasn't physical loneliness of course, there's always a servant nearby who's ready to serve any whim of our King, no, it was a loneliness that nobody in this world could began to fathom, let alone attempt to cure."

Ragnar was silently but cautiously listening to the Elves, any lingering anger he felt was all but gone now, but it would still be foolish to drop his guard.

"Lord Ainz was the sole Supreme Being from YGGDRASIL in this world. He always held hope that one day he would see his comrades again, our dear Creators, but such day never arrived. But still, our Lord keeps waiting, and waiting, hoping for the day he no longer feels the crushing solitude that only someone like him could understand."

It seems Momonga still had a mortal soul despite being stuck in the body of an Undead Lich for so long. Surely, any normal person who is suddenly thrown into a magical world and commands absolute power would surely feel lonely over time, especially with nobody to talk with.

But wait...

"What about, his children? His sons and daughters, he still feels lonely even with a family?"

The Crown Prince Shura Ulain Gown, the Reaper Twins Ankuru Chama Gown and Nishi Kenrai Gown, also the recently born Maiko Mochi Gown, those 4 are Momonga's children according to the religious tomes he and his friends read back during the days they remained as guests in a Troll village.

"Oh right, the princes and princesses are a real treasure! There's no doubt about that. But...they're still children of the Supreme Being born in this world, they can't truly understand their father the way other Players could, or see things from his perspective even if they tried."

Of course, that much is obvious. Ragnar bets that those "Godlings" won't even be able to understand what DMMO-RPG means even if a Player explains it to them, and that goes for everyone else in this world most likely. He bets even the NPC will never truly understand what they truly were back in YGGDRASIL.

"And so that is why...that is why some of us secretly hoped that you and your companions would be the cure to the inescapable sense of desolation that has tormented Lord Ainz so long."

Ragnar didn't knew what to say. Simply imagining being in that very same situation, alone for 100 years, left him at a loss of words.

Up until now he felt nothing but anger towards Momonga, forcing him and his friends to fight to the death against unknown and strong opponents just for his own ends, being used as little pawns in a chess board, he wanted to find that skeleton and hammer some courtesy lessons into him (with his axes, that is). But now, Ragnar isn't sure of what to think.

"Oh right! Lord Ainz told us that if we come face-to-face with one of you, we should give you this."

The famale Elf took a small piece of decorated paper out of her pocket, placed it on the ground, and used her fingers to slide it towards Ragnar's feet.

They know that Ragnar was still wary of them so they're keeping their distance, it seems they truly bear no ill against him after all.

Ragnar picked up the small note and noticed that it was written in Japanese, there's no doubt that Momonga himself wrote this:

[My deepest apologies, I forced you into such an unsavory situation, and for that I truly am sorry.

I do hope that with time you understand the circumstances that forced my hand and, by extension, yours. I assure you, there was no malice behind my actions even if you think otherwise, and I do have every intention of rewarding your contribution to my plan.

This is my world, I truly hope all of you can be part of it, and as long as I rule it no more danger shall befall upon you from this moment forward, you have my word.]

Uh, Momonga at least has a semblance of decency it seems. Of course, this might be another trick, but Ragnar can't be certain. What he is certain of however is that he wants to return to his friends' side, the sooner the better.

"So, now that this battle is over, can you perhaps tell me where my companions are?"

"Right, about that. You can ask the local Sky People for aid. Turns out that they were being opressed by the Dragon Lord you just killed for several centuries, you know, so surely they must be overflowing with gratefulness for you!"

"Really? So they were also part of this whole scheme? They purposely fooled me so I could kill this Dragon..."

"Both them and us were in a difficult situation, sir Player, I hope you can give them some slack and forgive them for playing along with us."

The female Elf had both her hands clapped together in the shape of an apology, she was removing the blame away from the Sky People so Ragnar wouldn't feel angry at them.

"You insist I forgive them, you sure you can't be the ones who help me find my companions? Do you even know where they are?"

Ragnar doesn't knows why the Elves are telling him to go back where the Aarakocra are, since both of them are right here, surely the aid from the Tomb of Nazarick would be a better option than the Sky People's if he wants to go back to his friends' side, considering THEY are the ones that took them part and teleported them to parts unknown in the first place.

"So sorry sir Player, but that's a direct order. We are not to aid none of you to reunite. You have to find your way back together by yourselves."

'NOW you are following Momonga's orders!?'

"Please under-"

The female Elf was cut short by a sudden violent quake that came out of nowhere, it must surely be a very powerful one if it can be felt so high up in mountain peaks like these. For a split second Ragnar felt the small fear that the Dragon Lord might still be alive somehow, but he was decapitated, nobody can survive that. This tremor is definitely not caused by the Dragon they just killed.

"Sorry sir Player, but we must go right now! Come on, Mare!"

"Yes!"

In that moment, both Elves teleported away just like that.

The female Elf called her brother "Mare". Turns out that its true, those 2 really are the Floor Guardians of the Forest Floor of Nazarick and became adults in the span of a century.

But none of that really matters, the world is shaking and Ragnar still doesn't knows where his friends are, only he and this enormous Dragon corpse were left here. Perhaps the Sky People will really help him after all if they were really slaves of the beast. Still, why going through all the trouble of forcing their hand, apologizing for it, yet refuse to help them reunite? Just what is going on in Momonga's head? No matter, if push comes to shove and turns out that Momonga is infact just hiding behind a benevolent facade, then he has this new knowledge of Zauriel and Temuk at the other side of the world.

Is very possible that even Momonga knows who those 2 are, and will gladly trade that info for an insurance of safety, since he still isn't sure if his words written in a note are honest enough.

At that moment Ragnar could also see the Sky People's city in the distance, it seems they temporary deactivated the illusion Spell protecting it. They want Ragnar to return to them despite what they did, perhaps the Elves were telling the truth after all.

"Whatever, if Momonga won't help me, then I will find my friends myself! Just wait for me guys!"

He spread his wings and took flight. He won't punish the Sky People for what they did, but he sure as hell will make sure that they properly compensate him for treating him like a tool! They will tell him everything they know about the world, for starters. The more secret information he amasses, the greater the value he will have for Momonga.

He's done putting his fate in the hands of others. From now on, Ragnar will forge his own path in this world, a path where he and his friends will enjoy peace and happiness, he swears!

[...]

"Whew, we're here at last, it seems everyone arrived too."

Aura and Mare arrived at the designated spot where they are meant to fight against, and destroy, the Dragon Lord that founded the Anti-Player Alliance.

The full forces of Nazarick were stationed here, and a few forces bred in the New World were also called to aid in this specific time. Their master is pulling back no punches this time, the destruction of this being is an extreme priority, and rightfully so.

In any case, even though their mindset was prepared for an all-out war, the twin Elves took notice of something that brought them a deep sense of pure joy.

"Look sis, the young masters and the young mistress are standing near Lord Ainz!"

In the distance they saw their master and his 3 grown up children standing side-by-side, for the first time since the birth of Lady Maiko the Sorcerer King could enjoy the company of all his adult children.

"How long has it been since they were together in the same place? If only the circumstances weren't so dire."

Indeed, it took a calamity like this for the Gown family to reunite. Running an entire world is an arduous task that requires tremendous amounts of time after all, instances where Ainz can be with all his children are precious few.

Ainz himself felt partially thankful to this Dragon Lord for giving him an excuse to call and see Nishi and Ankuru who are always so busy elsewhere as Prince and Princess of the Sorcerer Kingdom. It's not that he loves them more than his firstborn Shura, the simple fact is that Shura is his heir and thus the one Prince that needs to learn the most from him, so he's almost always around. The same can be said about Maiko since she's still a toddler, way too young to be traveling around the world by herself so he can afford to be with her most of the time.

Nishi and Ankuru on the other hand were never meant to inherit the throne, so once they reached adulthood and gained an adequate amount of knowledge they left the nest to find their own paths in life. Ainz really misses them most of the time, but he has no intention of chaining them to Nazarick just to keep them around.

But now, thanks to the reawakening of the most powerful Dragon Lord, Ainz can finally see all his children together again. He would even spare the Dragon Lord if it weren't for the fact that his continued existence is an ailment Ainz can no longer allow in this world.

Yes, the Dragon Lord who created the Alliance is a disease that must be wiped out as soon as possible.

As the tremors stopped, Ainz saw the very being he was waiting for emerge from below the surface of the planet. After a mind-shattering roar the "Dragon" spread all his wings and took to the sky, Ainz needed to call his attention so he used [Fly] to gain altitude and set off an enormous amount of fireworks to lure the beast toward him.

And lured he was, the "Dragon" landed right in front of him. Perhaps he recognized Ainz as a Player, or maybe he just was curious since he has never seen fireworks before. In any case, the creature was in front of him, so Ainz spoke in a calm tone.

"Greetings! It's an honor to finally meet you, Mairgoleido=Vaision."

The Dragon-like being, Mairgoleido, remained silent. In any case, Ainz was completely certain that he could hear him, so he kept speaking.

"You sure did a number on this entire world, didn't you? Was all of that worth it just in preparation to face me? Well, you can stop hurting our world now, here I am."

There's a reason Ainz agreed with Tsaindorcus' plan of using the just-arrived Players in order to lure Mairgoleido out of his hiding place. Why he went through all that trouble instead of just letting the Anti-Player Alliance alone. Why he's putting Nazarick in risk now, as well as his own children and the children of the NPC as well. There's a reason for all of this.

That reason being the gargantuan being standing in front of him right now, that draconic being who is the biggest, fattest hypocrite the New World has ever seen.

What Mairgoleido has been doing all this time, buried so deep below the surface, is to drain the very magical life force of the planet, the Soul of the New World, in order to eat it and increase his own power beyond its natural limits. Had he been allowed to continue doing such thing, the forests worldwide would've eventually withered and died, the oceans would've dried, the very air would grow unbreathable.

Even now there are several parts of the New World that have paid the price of Mairgoleido's selfishness. The massive desert that the Thousand Blade Dragon Lord took as personal residence used to be a beautiful and lush piece of paradise complete with fertile lands where people could enjoy bountiful harvests. But because this specific Dragon Lord needed to become stronger, every single Race that lives there paid the price, many tribes went extinct and the few that remain are barely managing to survive. And that is just one example.

Mairgoleido would say that such thing is a necessary sacrifice, to purge the world from the filth. But truth is that Mairgoleido is simply a petty and prideful bastard, he will see the entire world burn before allowing aliens that never belonged here to live on a world he believes is his by birthright.

And that is why the simple fact that Ainz referred to the New World as "our world" was enough to make this arrogant being snap.

"You sure are full of yourself, to claim ownership of a world that never belonged to you."

"Oh, so you can indeed listen to me. You...forgive me, what title should I address you by? Are you still the Prismatic Dragon Lord? Or you prefer World Tree Dragon Lord now? Or maybe Dragon Emperor would be a more fitting title to someone of your lineage and power?"

Ainz was being very respectful to Mairgoleido, but such respect was clearly one-sided.

"It is Dragon God for you, filth of my father."

Indeed, the previous Player that arrived before Ainz to this side of the New World, the leader of the Thirteen Heroes, did in fact knew Mairgoleido as the Dragon God, just like the leader's heroic companions back then did so as well...

[At that very moment, at the other side of the New World]

Out in the open, in the midst of a beautiful and well-kept garden there were 2 individuals quietly sitting on luxurious chairs, a table with a chess board between them. Such a tranquil scene would usually give off a normal air of serenity, but the individuals sitting in said chairs are anything but normal.

In one of the chairs there was a man whose physical appearance could only be described as "majestic". A heavenly figure coated from head-to-toe with the finest jewelry and the very best fabrics mortal hands could ever make. His own body sported 4 golden feathery wings, had a silver halo glimmering on his head, his skin was a metallic bronze hue which softly reflected any light just like his gemstone ruby-red hair did, and his eyes lacked any pupils or Human features, instead they were a pure and intense opal-blue.

At his opposing side there was also an individual dressed with jewels and fabrics of the finest quality, but his own body could hardly be described as majestic, let alone heavenly. He was basically a skeleton, there's no mistaking such thing, but he was anything but a "simple" skeleton. His finger bones ended in pinty claws, his shoulder bones had spiky protrusions, his teeth were pointy and sported large canines, had an oversized boneshin on his skull, and his overall skeletal frame was very darkened, giving his bones a grayish tint instead of a pale-white one. His most noteworthy feature however was the crimson fire on his empty eyesockets, a faint but perpetual glow.

The angelic being calmly moved a chess piece to take out another chess piece from the skeleton's side, then asked said skeleton a question.

"That was a very nasty earthquake, don't you think? I even felt a soft chill on my spine, like some sort of premonition of disaster."

The skeleton was also calmly moving his own chess pieces while they continued with their conversation.

"It was. That definitely wasn't a normal phenomenon, we've never experienced anything like it during the last 500 years."

"Do you think it could be an omen? The return of the Aboleths? Or perhaps the son of Barghelide is up to something nasty? Maybe his other son is making a fuss?"

"Mmm, the Aboleths returning is an impossibility, both you and I made sure of that."

"Yeah, the Aboleths are gone in our side of the world, but they could very well be hiding in the other side of this planet."

"Ah yes, the new world recently discovered by our explorers, the place where Xerena claims to originate from. The continent that the Dragon Lords claim is where Barghelide was killed and where Mairgoleido is supposedly up to no good."

"You think one of the Dragon Princes had something to do with the earthquake? Dragon Lords are supposed to have this weird connection to the world, perhaps one of them has something to do with all the sudden loses of fertile land and unnatural increase of polluted and lifeless forests and seas."

What the World Tree Dragon Lord has been doing in Maerû naturally affects the entire New World.

"Perhaps we could ask one of our vassals if they felt something?"

"I feel they would've already rushed to tell us if that is the case."

"...you really do trust others a lot, even after all this centuries."

"Heh, what can I do? Could be this body of mine making me like that, maybe I've been like that since always, maybe both."

A deep silence proceeded to fall between them, for a while only the sound of the moving chess pieces could be heard. Eventually, the conversation renewed.

"So if it's indeed one of Barghelide's sons going rampant, then that continent is virtually doomed. I feel so sorry for the inhabitants there, they won't even know why they had to perish."

The angelic being said such thing with a genuine sense of sorrow, even though he has never met anyone in that continent.

"Mortals die all the time, old friend. Feeling sadness for their passing is a waste of your tears."

The skeletal being has always been the most pragmatic of the pair, most likely his Undead nature made manifest to give him innate apathy for the living.

"I suppose you're right. But I do feel pity for our own lack of power as well, if we weren't so short on resources and forces, then we would've brought prosperity to this entire world already, not just our continent."

"But the very fact that this continent is ours is precisely why you shouldn't waste time feeling pity. If whatever is happening to this world reaches us, we will take care of it. Be it Mairgoleido, Tsaindorcus, or both, it matters not."

Both of them have plenty of experience fighting against True Dragon Lords, hence they know very well the mechanics and functions of their gimmicky Wild Magic. They're confident in their victory should they ever cross paths with one or both of the Dragon Princes.

Their numerous Max Level servants are nothing to scoff at either, nor is the near-limitless amount of loyal Hero-level soldiers that can be spawned from their respective fortresses. And that's without even mentioning the awesome military power that both of them have been slowly but steadily building throughout the entire continent over the centuries.

A national might that would make Momonga green with envy is at the deck and call of these 2.

"Yes, it matters not. As long as it isn't a pesky Aboleth, we should be alright."

Indeed, both of them agree that they would rather fight against 10 True Dragon Lords than facing an Aboleth ever again.

The terror, the inscrutable horror of the Aboleths, is something these 2 could very well spend the rest of eternity without.

Is something the entire world could spend the rest of eternity without.

And with this, only the final Chapter of Arc I is left!

This Chapter took me longer to complete than I would've wished, but hopefully it doesn't take me too long to release Chapter 16. And look at that word count too! I feel like a dum-dum for splitting my Prologue in 2 back then. lol

Also, a few other small projects connected to my story are in the planning stages as well. They won't be as long though, but that also means that writing them won't take as long as the main Arcs or the prequel.

The little prelude was referring to Huyrtob, obviously, it's his Chapter after all, but it doesn't apply to just him, nor just to the members of the Anti-Player Alliance. In this story I really want to hammer down the differences between Gods and mortals, since in modern media a "Deity" can usually refer to any being that is simply much stronger or smarter or bigger than everyone else, and in my opinion a God shouldn't be just that.

The gap between a mortal and a God should be far wider than heaven and earth, and I was getting real bored of stories featuring "Gods" whose only purpose was to be beat down and smacked by mortals just because the mortals had friendship or willpower or some other ridiculous bullshit. A God should be a wall mortals are never able to see the top of, let alone surpass. And not just physically as well, a God should have a superior (and rightfully arrogant) perspective of the mortals "below", the mindset should be an alien one akin to a being who watches the entire world from above everything else.

A giant in a world of ants, that's what I think a God should be, and that's what I want to portray in this story. I guess we will know if I succeeded on my purpose after my story is completed.

With that out of the way let's go to the Level Sheets.

Tai'me

Epithet

No epithet

Racial Levels - 1

01 - Aarakocra

Job Levels - 7

7 - Priest

Total Level - 8

The reason some Demi-Humans and Heteromorphs in the New World don't progress their Racial Levels is because many of them chose to build and polish their skills instead of strengthening their own bodies.

Job Levels are acquired by training your abilities in a particular field, while Racial Levels are acquired by training your own basic body and natural gifts. Humanoids don't have inborn abilities of any sort, that's why they can't build Racial Classes.

Yuei'tok

Epithet

[High Priest]

Racial Levels - 1

01 - Aarakocra

Job Levels - 32

10 - Priest

09 - Archpriest

04 - Hierophant

09 - Oracle

Total Level - 33

Eh, now I realize I never called Tai'me's father by name even once throughout the whole Chapter, lol. While Divine Casters can't focus on a single School of Magic to the same degree Arcane Casters like Wizards can, they can still specialize on them to some level. [Divination] is what the spellcasters of the Sky People almost always chooses to study the most, followed closely by [Conjuration] and [Abjuration].

The d20 savvy among you would know how useful those 3 Schools of Magic are, especially outside of combat. Combat minmaxers almost always dump them in favor of [Evocation] or [Necromancy] but some combat builds can still make use of those 3 Schools to great effect in battle.

And now the False God.

Huyrtob=Keiyvlais

Epithet

[Mountainous Dragon Lord]

Racial Levels - 50

10 - Dragonling

10 - Young

10 - Adult

10 - Old

05 - Elder

05 - Ancient

Job Levels - 51

10 - Primitive Caster (Genius)

10 - Iron Dragon

09 - World Connector

06 - Dragon Eater

08 - Ore Lord

05 - Dragon Overlord

03 - Monk (Dragon)

Total Level - 101

While Huyrtob was technically a prodigy of sorts, he didn't put the same level of effort the others did to hone his own abilities. He's easily the third strongest member though, as you can guess from his Level he was very close to the Deep Darkness Dragon Lord, but would still lose against him in a fight (by a hair at least, lol).

There's more I want to say, but I feel that saying such things would be more appropriate in the next Chapter, so I will said so there and then.

What I will say however, is that after the final Chapter of the first Arc I will then release a special "Settings" Chapter which will be the long promised display of the Levels and Equipment of the 5 new Players that arrived 100 years after Nazarick.

The people that don't care very much about such mechanic things can ignore Chapter 17 if they want, Chapter 18 will be the official continuation of the story as the first Chapter of Arc II.

Oh yeah and in case you're wondering, Ainz truly has no idea of Zauriel and Temuk in the other side of the New World, just like how Zauriel and Temuk have no idea of Ainz either, but they do have suspicions though, since a wave of Players arrived to Kolorioh 100 years before Nazarick did (200 years before this story's setting) so both of them do know that more Players keep arriving to the New World.

But in any case, the 2 sides of the New World are still separated from each other, with only the Sky People, some surviving True Dragon Lords, and Xerena the Traveler being publicly aware of the different halves. So far, that is.

...uh? Who's this Xerena the Traveler that Zauriel and Temuk mentioned, you ask? She's...um...she's a nice piece of work. She won't be prominent in this story, but she IS a very important character nonetheless, and you all will know why eventually. She will be mentioned here and there, but she will be a background individual most of the time.

Oh! Apsu and Dahak will of course be featured in the future, especially when the story reaches Kolorioh. But are they and all the Dragon Lords they helped evacuated still alive? Will they appear in the present time, or just in flashbacks that will depict their violent encounters with Zauriel and Temuk? It seems y'all will have to wait and see. Wink

And before wrapping this Chapter up, a reader recently asked me what are the prerequisites of the [Mal'akh] Racial Class I've teased in previous Chapters, that Racial Class that is the absolute strongest one in YGGDRASIL. Since it's unlikely that a future Player in my story will be a Mal'akh, I have no issues revealing that here for all to see, so here is what you have to do to obtain the [Mal'akh] Racial Class:

[To qualify to become a Mal'akh, a character must fulfill the following criteria.

Karma Rating: Neutral or Positive.

Weapon Proficiency: Proficient with simple weapons.

Skills: [Heart of Giant] and [Soul Synthesis].

Special: Must have 5 Levels in the [Grigori] Racial Class and the [Blood of YHWH] Item]

Most of these prerequisites are simple enough, the [Grigori] Racial Class in particular was a bit hard to obtain but it was still doable. The tricky part is [Blood of YHWH] since this specific Item was only dropped by 1 specific Boss, and that Boss only.

The Celestial Lord of the Sixth Heavens, the absolute strongest of the World-class Enemies.

Remember? The one Seraphim attempted to defeat but failed miserably? Turns out Trinity was more than capable of defeating that Super Boss as many times as they wanted without forming any sort of alliance with others, they weren't the No. 1 Guild in the entirety of YGGDRASIL for nothing. And also because of their notable independence, they could reap all the benefits from their victories without having to share them with other Guilds as well, including the [Blood of YHWH] Item that allowed their Nephilim members to become the strongest Race in the entire game.

Nephilim progression basically went like this:

15 - Anakim

10 - Rephaïm

10 - Nephilim

05 - Grigori

05 - Mal'akh

Most Nephilim power-gamers like Takemikazuchi and Yamaiko never went past [Grigori] since Trinity had very strict recruitment standards, so the only Nephilim Players who could max out their Racial Levels where those accepted by Trinity. And also because of the crazy prerequisite to obtain that Racial Class, Mal'akh Players were in fact stronger than World Champions, so while Imogen was the strongest Fighter, he wasn't really the absolute strongest Player. In fact, the weilders of the Job Class I casually mentioned in this Chapter, the ones who had [Ragnarøk], would obviously be able to defeat a World Champion as well. Those 9 Fighters were strong, for sure, but not the strongest.

Also, since Mal'akh is the final step on the Nephilim line, their physical appearance is abstract in nature. Just like the aesthetic disparity between Takemikazuchi and Yamaiko, no Mal'akh looked the same as another, but most of them had wings (either feathered, leathery, or both) and horns of any size, some had extra limbs, tails, additional eyes, and even animal appendages. Abstract Races are excellent for customization, you can go crazy!

And with this, I say goodbye for now.

Next Chapter, the World Tree Dragon Lord.