The Devouring Dragon

"Dwarven King Vargan," I greeted neutrally, keeping my face blank as I stared forward at the dwarven king.

[Vargan] [Dwarven King] - Level 95

Vargan also looked like a typical fantasy dwarf - he had long braided hair, a rough ugly face, and was very short. He was decked out in a suit of metal armor and had a massive axe leaning on the side of his throne.

His level wasn't bad - not bad at all. Ragnar had definitely been stupid when he thought he could take over the whole forest on his own. 

Even with his borrowed skills, Ragnar wouldn't have stood a chance at taking over the Land of Iron. The dwarven king was decently strong, and his generals were also far stronger than the dire wolf ones had been

Speaking of his generals, they were also in the room. On each side of the king stood two generals, making four in total.

[Thrain] [Dwarven General] - Level 70

[Rurik] [Dwarven General] - Level 62

[Skarn] [Dwarven General] - Level 77

[Baldrek] [Dwarven General] - Level 85

Along with Thrain, the four dwarf generals stood stiffly, looking at me naturally. They all looked rather similar - with long hair and ugly faces, along with wearing suits of armor and having a weapon attached to their back. 

The only exception was Baldrek, whose appearance fits his name - he was bald as hell.

"Dire Wolf King Valon," Vargan greeted back, staring down at me from his large iron throne. His voice was deep and gravely.

We were currently in the very depths of the Land of Iron, inside Vargan's throne room. After more communication with Thrain, the dwarven king had called for a meeting, but would only do so in his own territory.

I guess my reputation preceded me - I was terrifying enough that he wouldn't meet me even in a neutral location, much less in my own territory.

As I ventured through the Land of Iron, being guided by Thrain, mere minutes earlier I had been pleasantly impressed. It was called the Land of Iron for a reason - the territory was less like a forest and more like a fortress.

Large stone walls surrounded the entire area, and there were stone buildings scattered throughout the forest that I had seen on my way here. In a way, it was like a city and forest mixed together.

It also was a sign of just how big the Familiar Forest was - in my past life, I had assumed it was just a little forest that familiar creatures liked for some reason. Now, I realized it was more like the size of an entire country than just a small forest.

Which wasn't that surprising in hindsight - the underworld was massive, being at least as big as the human world, if not bigger. A single devil clan could own territory the size of entire countries, so the forest being so massive wasn't too big of a shock.

"It's Beast King Valon," I corrected easily. I wasn't actually offended, but I had told Thrain my proper title before, and I was sure he had conveyed it to Vargan.

He was misspeaking on purpose - whether to see if I'd correct him or if he was just an asshole, I'm not sure.

"'Beast King?'" Vargan feigned surprise, "Calling yourself the king of all beasts when you only rule over lowly wolves is a bit arrogant."

Oh, so we're playing this way, huh?

This is what I get for trying to play nice in this damn forest.

"I don't think I asked for your opinion. You're starting to piss me off," I said bluntly, activating [King's Aura] as I stared down Vargan with narrowed eyes. In an instant, a thick tension filled the room.

"You made me come all the way out here, and yet you're sitting all the way up there on a throne. We're both kings, aren't we? Are you trying to say you're above me?" I challenged, my hand clenching into a fist as I took a step toward his throne.

A slashing of metal rang out as the generals all reached back for their weapons. Baldrek even took a step toward me as a hostile air filled the room.

"...You've only just become a king. Haven't you heard that you should respect your elders?" Vargan grunted back, the man's face still neutral as he looked less offended than his generals were at my words.

"Only if that elder shows me the same respect. I've shown a lot of respect so far, but you…" I took another step forward, causing the generals to tense up even more, "Have been quite rude, haven't you? Do you think I don't know why you asked me to bring my Queen with me?"

Vargan had sent Thrain to lead me through the Land of Iron with the request that both I and Raya went for the meeting.

Obviously, I hadn't brought Raya with me. If things took a turn for the worse, I could massacre my way back to my territory with no problems, but Raya would be a hindrance. 

Now that Vargan was being so standoffish, I knew my concerns were well founded. He was cautious of me, and he wanted Raya to be here so I couldn't risk a fight breaking out.

Then, he would be able to control the meeting - in his eyes, he'd be able to make me accept an unfavorable side of the alliance at best and force me to leave with my tail between my legs at worst.

"I simply wanted to meet her," Vargan lied, his face still neutral, "And yet, you didn't respect my request. Should I take that to mean you don't respect me?"

"That's up to you," I merely replied, a smirk forming on my face, "I've never eaten a dwarf before, and yet you're making your neck look so delicious. Should I take that to mean you want your head torn off your body?"

The tension in the room shot even higher, sweat forming on the four general's necks as Baldrek took another step forward. He reached back, pulling a massive mace off his back.

"Watch your words, yo-"

"Hah! Relax, Baldrek," Vargan chuckled, the man's face relaxing slightly as he stood up off his throne, "To threaten me in the middle of my own kingdom, brat! You must have some balls of steel! We'll get along well, Beast King!"

"I think we will, Dwarven King," I matched his grin.

"You're here to form an alliance, are you not? Call me Vargan!" Vargan chuckled, gesturing for the generals to relax as he walked down the steps in front of his throne, becoming level with me - well, not actually level, since he was about half my size.

"Then you can call me Valon," I replied friendly, reaching my hand out to shake his. 

"Come, let us get comfortable! You can leave us, generals," Vargan called, gesturing towards a room to the side.

"A-Are you sure, my King?" Baldrek asked, still looking at me wearily. In response, Vargan merely waved him off. As he led me into the side room, I blinked in surprise.

The room around us was a bar - a very human-like bar. There was a long, yet very short, bar in front of us, along with multiple stone stools, and a short dwarf woman behind it.

"Get us some drinks!" Vargan ordered, and the dwarf girl nodded quickly and went into a room behind the bar.

"So, you really don't want the Succubus Queen's land?" Vargan asked, glancing over at me as we both sat on the stools. This was far from the meeting place I had expected, but it was fine nonetheless.

"Indeed. You can have it all," I nodded, lying. 

Obviously, I needed to take over the whole Familiar Forest, so I needed the Succubus Queen's land as well. But, if I let Vargan think he was getting all of it, then he'd give me a lot in return.

The dwarves and cyclops were different from the dire wolves - they were actually intelligent, meaning they likely wouldn't submissively follow me if I just murdered their king.

Instead, I'll get all the benefits from their creation skills that I can now, and then kill them for skills later.

I could leave some of them alive to make weapons and armor for me personally, but I couldn't leave enough alive to risk a rebellion.

"All you want in return is our help in defeating her?" Vargan asked, nodding appreciatively at the bartender as she brought a large wooden mug to us, "I won't complain, but that seems like the alliance is quite in my favor."

"That's all, but," I replied, smirking slightly, "In the process of helping us, I want to make use of your abilities. I want a badass weapon and armor, along with armor for my subordinates."

"Hah, there's always a catch!" Vargan chuckled, but didn't seem off-put by my request, "That's a small ask for getting rid of that woman and getting her land."

"I take it you don't like the Succubus Queen?" I asked, reaching forward and grabbing the large mug. I raised it up, pressing it to my lips, and then blinking in surprise at the taste.

It was alcohol. Not just some knock-off drink they made out of forest materials - it was genuine.

"You'd be right," Vargan grunted at my question, "We're staying out of each other's way right now, but I've been in this forest for a long time, and so has she. She lets her underlings run wild, and my men suffer for it. I'd be glad to be rid of her."

Fair enough.

"How'd you make this?" I asked, gesturing to the mug of alcohol.

"We don't. We buy it from a town not too far away," Vargan answered, waving his hand in a random direction, "The devils might be annoying, but they make some damn good beer, don't they?"

So, he has a connection to the outside world- er, the outside underworld? 

"They do," I nodded, deciding to pry for more information, "Do they ever come into the forest? Devils, I mean."

I knew that they did - it was called the Familiar Forest for a reason, but I was hoping he'd elaborate on that and confirm some of my thoughts.

"They do, but only in the dragon's territory," Vargan grunted, confirming my theory, "They're only interested in getting familiars. Power attracts leeches, and that dragon is very powerful. She attracts all types of leeches, and the devils make them into their familiars."

That confirms it - Tiamat's territory is where Rias went with her peerage for familiars, and where devils in general go to get them.

"Why aren't they interested in anywhere else? They don't want to buy weapons or armor from you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

I wasn't sure if devils had materials of a higher quality than what the Land of Iron worked with, but it didn't make sense for them to ignore the rest of the forest entirely.

Judging from the constantly glinting and light glow around Vargan's armor it was magical in some way.

"Not because they aren't interested, but because they can't," Vargan responded, shaking his head at me, "We're some of the best smiths in the whole underworld - they'd love nothing more than to get their hands on some of our products, but the dragon won't let 'em."

Tiamat? Is she protecting the dwarves from the devils, or does she just not want such items being in the devil's hands?

"Why?" I asked, pressing for more information.

"Because this whole forest is actually hers," Vargan grunted, waving his hand in the air, "She lets them get their familiars in a little corner of her area, and in return, they don't venture anywhere else. The only reason we get to call ourselves kings is because she's a lazy bitch who doesn't stop us. I'm not risking her wrath to try and make business with any big-time devils - I have to be careful even when getting just this beer!"

That made sense - I was wondering how someone like Ragnar, not to mention an entire stone city, managed to stay around and untouched. 

Considering Ragnar had a whole legion of dire wolves under his command, some high-class devil should've forced him into his peerage to gain that power at some point.

I glanced over at Vargan as he drank his whole beer down in a single gulp, slamming it down and calling for another one.

He ended up being a pretty nice guy in the end - he was willing to make an alliance, and would even kit both me and my entire army out in magical gear.

It was a shame I'd have to kill him.

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AN: Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be out in a couple of days or so, but you can also read 20 chapters ahead of my public posting schedule at Patreon.com/Koyon !