The Red Dragon Just Wants To Do As It Pleases

Not only had his injuries healed, but even the eye he had devoured earlier had grown back.

"An Abyssal Demon Dragon? Or an offspring of an Abishalom Demon?"

Gutemund, who had thought he was under some kind of Exorcism Spell, looked at the standing 'David' and asked with a face full of confusion.

But it didn't seem to make much difference to him either way.

If it were a fully formed Abyssal Demon Dragon or an Abishalom Demon from Hell, Gutemund would have turned tail and fled immediately.

But a mere Half-Dragon? Who does he think he's looking down on?

"I, Lord Gutemund, am a noble... PUH..."

Before Gutemund could finish his boast, David shot up like a cannonball and blasted him into a bloody mist with a single punch.

Only his head tumbled through the air, landing on the bloody battlefield, his face etched with disbelief.

The way this power was wielded even surpassed the common understanding of an Abyssal Demon like himself.

"That's it?" David said, somewhat speechless. He felt that today's dream wasn't playing by the rules.

Theoretically, the more agitated his emotions became, the more complex and aggressive the dream content should grow, with formidable enemies spawning from all directions as if he were wreaking havoc in Heaven.

Gutemund, looking up at the Half-Dragon in the sky—now in its 'Arrogance' form—soon started to laugh again.

"Yes! This is how it should be! This is the kind of evenly matched battle that I, Lord Gutemund, have been anticipating!"

"Mother of the Abyss! Grant me Your gaze! I will prove to You that I, Gutemund, am the one worthy to ascend to the lofty position of Demon Lord, even Demon Prince—a Demon among demons, the King of Chaos within Chaos!"

Accompanied by Gutemund's fierce and fervent battle cry, remnants outside the battlefield immediately transformed into tendrils of flesh and blood. These tendrils bound the soldiers who were injured or hadn't managed to escape, replenishing Gutemund's own ravaged form amidst their desperate screams.

Gradually, a true demonic body—a mountain of flesh and blood nearly twenty feet tall and weighing close to 8,000 pounds—took shape before the horrified and despairing gazes of the knights and serfs.

"War God Tempas above... please save Your devout followers from the brink of the Abyss..."

The noble commander on horseback trembled, his lips pale, as he watched his retinue being consumed one by one by the amorphous flesh and blood, muttering,

But David, who had more than enough time to interrupt the manifestation of this demon's true form, watched the 'boss's entrance cutscene' with keen interest, a smile playing on his lips as he said,

"Heh, just as I thought, there's a second phase. But me? Damn it, I've got three!"

In his 'Arrogance' state, David felt that since he could manifest the Half-Dragon form, he could definitely materialize his true Red Dragon form as well.

Thus, David's body 'evolved' further, taking on more aspects of his Red Dragon form.

"Redscale!"

At the same time, a group of Dragonkin fleeing from the mountain pastures witnessed this seemingly out-of-control scene.

"What should we do? That's a true demon! Even if Redscale becomes a Half-Dragon with the help of that entity, she'd still be no match for it."

"Pray..." the girl who was tacitly regarded as their leader said, grinding her teeth, "Pray like Redscale! Since she could harness the power of that entity, maybe we can too! Either way, once that demon fully manifests, none of us will escape! What's her usual prayer?"

"I remember a bit of it. It goes something like, 'Crimson Calamity...' I forgot the middle part, and the end part too..."

However, another boy remembered the latter part:

"If... if You truly represent the end of all things..."

"Then please grant Your humble servant ultimate peace and destruction."

"Annihilating this sinful land along with us?"

"..." The girl was stunned, as were the other Dragonkin children.

Is this even a summoning prayer? Can words like these truly call upon such supernatural beings?

But just as despair began to consume everyone, the hairs on their bodies and the few scales they possessed bristled.

In that instant, it felt as if the very air had frozen solid.

Because a few kilometers away, beneath David's primary eyes, a second pair opened—eyes that seemed to burn with eternal flames and the magma of eons.

As these new eyes gazed upon Gutemund the Demon, who was only halfway through his manifestation, he suddenly froze solid—like a mouse instantly turned to an ice sculpture in the super-freak storm from *The Day After Tomorrow*.

It wasn't that he couldn't move.

He dared not move!

It was as if he were facing a true Demon Lord—no, a Demon Prince!

Before such power, he was less than a speck of dust within a grain of sand.

It can't see me, it can't see me, it can't see me!

And those eyes indeed seemed to ignore him completely, glancing 'upwards' instead. Then, 'David's' mouth opened and a new voice asked,

"David Uthos?"

David also glanced 'downward' from his dream perspective, and a jolt of terror shot through him as he stammered,

"...Mom?"

Before any response came, David, thousands of kilometers away in his lair on the New Continent, jolted awake, exclaiming,

"Damn it, how did that suddenly turn into a nightmare?!"

The feeling was uncomfortably similar to being a child, halfway through some forbidden 'spellcasting', only for his mother to burst in, mop in hand, to 'clean up'.

Yet, back in Valden Country on the New Continent, even without David as a medium, the second pair of eyes on 'Redscale's' face lingered. The mouth moved, speaking to itself,

"Running off so quickly. Aren't you afraid you'll strain your cloaca?"

The descended Dragon Mother seemed to sense something. She glanced at the noble knight who, terrified by her Dragon Might, had fallen from his horse. Then, she gently blew a breath of air in his direction.

Instantly, everyone—from the immobilized Gutemund the Demon to the distant private soldiers of the noble—combusted from within, as if made of paper, turning to ash.

After completing this seemingly insignificant act, she cast a thoughtful gaze towards the distant hills, then closed her eyes once more, returning to her slumber.

It was as if she, too, had merely experienced an inconsequential dream.