Devil Emperor

If one were to ask, what was the most powerful pillar among the 72 Pillars of the Underworld, it would be the Bael House. After the death of the original four Maous, it was the first Bael, Zekram Bael who became the de-facto leader of the Underworld, together with the Great King Faction. They were the ones who filled the emptiness after the death of original satans and stabilized the Underworld.

Now many years has passed from the time, but the House of Bael still stood proudly on top of the pyramid. Yes, there existed Four Great Satans, but alas they were more like some icon than real leaders. They were heroes from the Civil War, that was the truth, but real political power was in the hands of Elder Council and various Pillars.

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Zekram Bael was the first generation Bael. First Great King right-hand of the original Lucifer. After his fall, he became the leader of all Devils and his House was something like the royal family of the devil kind. Even when new Four Great Satans emerged, it didn't change anything for the Bael House as they were still the most powerful house in the political field.

Currently, Zekram Bael had long retired, at least on the surface. Even though he retired, current Lord Bael didn't make even one decision without consulting it with the first generation. This only show, how much influence Zekram held, despite not being so active in politics.

Zekram is a middle-aged looking man with black hair and peaceful violet eyes and wears noble attire. He has an aura of strong dignity that exudes from him. On the surface, the Underworld and Anti-Maou Faction only had two Super Devils.

Ajuka Beelzebub and Sirzechs Lucifer, two of the current Four Great Satans. In the dark, even though not many people knew about it, there existed more. Like Rivezim Livan Lucifer, son of original Lucifer, who went rogue or Zekram Bael, who 'secluded' himself from the world. On the surface at least.

Today, Zekram Bael was sitting on the courtyard of his castle, that was located in some unknown mountain range in the Underworld. He was sitting there and drinking green tea, that was prepared by servants. Flags of the Bael Clan with a purple flower were decorating the castle.

He wasn't alone in the courtyard. There was a young man training, with the dark-red spear in his hands. The spear itself was beautifully crafted, with various runes were carved in it and it was constantly radiating blood aura of slaughter.

He looked around 17 - 18 years old and his he had pitch-black hair, with silver lines mixed in them. His purple eyes together with his stance were giving very noble aura, like that of King or Emperor. He was very handsome, one could say he looked like some prince charming.

Suddenly the Crimson Aura of Power of Destruction started enveloping the spear as the young man slashed forward with his spear, destroying all training dummies before him. One must know, that those weren't ordinary training dummies, but enhanced with magic.

"Good, very good Zarathul. Your control over Power of Destruction became stronger, now you can coat your spear with it as much as you want."

Said Zekram happily after he saw the success that young man, Zarathus accomplished.

"Thank you, father. Without your guidance, it would take me much longer to achieve what I have accomplished."

Zekram Bael didn't have many descendants on his own. Only a few of them, but sadly most of them already died. He was the longest-lived devil of their race. Truth to be told, there wasn't anyone that has lived so long, every devil would be killed sooner or later in the past due to constant wars.

Zarathul was his last remaining direct descendant, his son. He was born around two hundred years ago, after the end of the Civil War against the Old Satan Faction. He was an extremely talented young man, and after the death of his mother, Zekram was taking care of him, by himself. Even across the Underworld, only those devils of 72 Pillars were aware of his existence, others not.

He remained together with him secluded from the rest of the world, training for that what will come. Zekram Bael was the very old devil and he was even more cunning than he was old. He knew that peace lasted for too much. Soon, the war would be coming, and there were, of course, many internal and external problems that devils were facing.

"Father I want to leave to get a new peerage member. I am also done with refining my Evil Pieces to mutate them as you have instructed."

Said Zarathul with excitement in his voice. There were many secrets that powerful devils and old devils were keeping for themselves. For example one of them was that there existed a method to make all Evil Pieces mutate. It was a very tiresome process and took too much time. The process was simple, one would refine every piece in his Demonic Energy, forcefully mutating them. The disadvantage was that it took too much time. More than century to be precise.

"You can. Go to visit Bael Castle when you leave and say hello to your family there. I heard that the kid Sairaorg, despite the fact he didn't inherit the Power of Destruction was able to attain formidable power and go to see Sirzechs, he would be able to give you a few pointers about the Power of Destruction, he is also a natural genius in using it."

Remarked Zekram when he answered to Zarathul's question.

"Also, if you want to go to participate in the Young Devil's Gathering this year."

The reason, why he was allowed to participate in the Young Devil's Gathering, was simple. Even though he was over 200 years old, most of that time, he was in a deep sleep due to his special condition. He was born with special lineage from his mother's side.

Anti-Magic.

Because he was born with Anti-Magic and Power of Destruction, he was forced to be under deep sleep and wake up once for ten years until his powers would be assimilated and won't pose threat to him.

Power of Destruction was the trademark of the Bael Clan and it is a type of demonic energy, that grants its users great explosive power and can completely annihilate things when used. On the other hand, Anti-Magic was basically a series of special innate abilities to disrupt and destroy magic in general. Be it normal magic, magical circles or anything that had mana in it. For example, most notable Anti-Magic spell was called Gram Demolition, that demolished record of Magic. It disrupts mana is spells and magic circles, causing them to disperse or explode on the spot.

"Zarathul, have you progressed with the Magic Body Infus.e.m.e.nt?"

Asked Zekram with great curiosity. Magic Body Infus.e.m.e.nt was a special method that allowed individual to infuse a huge amount of Magic Power and Demonic Power to their bodies, thus making their bodies extremely strong. This was Zarathul's idea after he found out, that he had no talent in Senjutsu and Touki after conversing and training with his [Bishop] and Sairaorg.

"For now good, but it is becoming harder and harder to make any progress in the Magic Body Infus.e.m.e.nt. You need the almost impossible amount of magic power and demonic power to reach an Ultimate-Class in Body Level. One could say, it is almost as hard as the mastering Touki and Senjutsu. Also, compared to them, it is lacking explosiveness of Touki, but the effects of Magic Body Infus.e.m.e.nt are permanent, albeit bit weaker compared to the usage of Touki."

Said Zarathul as he experimented with Magic Body Infus.e.m.e.nt. He was a bit disappointed that he had zero talent in Senjutsu and Touki thus he decided to search for another alternative. Together with his friend researcher, Maou Ajuka Beelzebub, they find a specific way for devils to increase their body strength by infusing magic and demonic power into them.

"Zarathul, who do you want to recruit to your peerage this time? I recall last time, you created huge problems and demolished the whole forest when you fought against your Queen."

Said Zekream and Zarathul started feeling as grim reaper was standing before him. One must admit that his father was a very strict and dutiful person. When Zarathul was recruiting his [Qeen], they had fought and destroyed the whole forest. It took combined works of tens magicians to re-create forest that they have destroyed. Of course, Zarathul got a huge scolding for that, but alas he recruited very strong [Qeen] and she was also pure-blood devil from some extinct devil clan.

"Crom Cruach."

Said Zarathul with a very low voice, hoping that his father won't be able to hear him. Unfortunately for him, his father's senses were very good and he heard that name very clearly as he started screaming at him the moment the heard the name.

"Are you insane kid? You are thinking about recruiting the Crescent Circle Dragon, strongest Evil Dragon in existence? Do you wanna be killed?"

Zekram was amazed at the insanity of his son. Trying to recruit Crom Cruach, probably the strongest Evil Dragon in existence was pure suicide. Even though Zarathul was Ultimate-Class Devil, 2nd-Tier to be precise, he was still like an ant compared to the behemoth like Crom Cruach.

"But Uncle Rizevim told me it is safe and he will persuade Crom Cruach to become one of my peerages, besides that, I have several muted rooks prepared for him to reincarnate him into Devil Dragon."

Said Zarathul in an innocent voice as he looked fearfully at his father who was now very angry. This behavior started when his mother died, as his father was then protective of him. He let him leave the Castle, only when he reached High-Class standard of power and even then he was secretly monitored by Ultimate-Class Devil. Now, this wasn't necessary, as Zarathul was rather strong and experienced many Life and Death situations that tempered him as a warrior, but when he had so-called suicidal ideas he would still be scolded by his father.

The devil could gain more Evil Pieces than they have by hunting stray devils and taking Evil Pieces from those strays. This was considered a secret between old nobles and Clan Heads of Pillar Houses. Aside from them, very few people were aware of this method. Of course, Zekram taught this method to his son, when he received his Evil Pieces. By using this method, you could either strengthen your already existing Peerage by infusing more Evil Pieces into them or gaining new members. A better choice was, of course, strengthening already existing Peerage Members, cause having too many peerage members could be a stain on your soul and it had also some minor disadvantaged. On the other hand, strengthening already existing Peerage members was better as they could unlock their potential and you could reincarnate stronger people into your peerage.

"Rivezim told you? That ungrateful bastard, just waits when I find him, Super Devil or not, I am one too and I will beat him into pulp for feeding you with this non-sensed."

After Zekram finished this sentence, the cheerful voice sounded from another end of the courtyard.

"Oya, Oya, come on Zekram why must you be always so serious man? I thought it would be more fun with you, but I see that with age you are becoming more and more like some skeleton who don't understand humor."

Rivezim had the appearance of a middle-aged man in his forties with dark silver hair and hazel eyes. He had a silver beard on his chin and was radiating weird creepy aura around his body. He also wore same Maou Lucifer attire as Sirzechs, although in silver color.

"Yes I not understand, I do not understand your non-sense you are spouting. What are you scheming Rivezim? At first, you came here, with that kid, Vali and you brought him here for him to obtain his own Evil Pieces. Before that, you brought him that spear, Gáe Bolg, that you have probably stolen from the Celtic Pantheon and now you are in cahoots with Crom Cruach?"

Asked Zekram with a suspicious voice as he looked at Rivezim. Zarathul just sat down onto the ground and looked at both of them as they were quarreling. They were always like this. When they met they would create havoc as they got into argument.

"Why must you be suspicious of everything Old Zekky? Kids are family so they should get along. Also, that thing about Crom Cruach is not non-sense but I have really managed to persuade him to become a member of his peerage. It needed only small promise, that all."

Said Rivezim with innocent smile totally not getting along with his face and personality. Zekram's expression twitched in anger when he heard the nickname, 'Old Zekky' how Rivezim called him.

"What did you primed him? Gold? Treasures? Female Dragons or Devils?"

Aksed Zekram with amus.e.m.e.nt as he looked at Rivezim.

"Possibility to be in the center of the next Great War, far greater than anything before us. Zekram you have felt it too, don't? War is coming, something unknown and something powerfull will strike us all. Devil society is divided into several factions and is too weak to resist. I know what have you been doing for the last two hundred years and I think my actions have helped you a good deal. Soon this whole world would be turned into one huge battlefield when the Age of Gods would return and we will be standing in the middle of it."

Even though Zekram didn't like Rivezim, he admitted he is right in all points. Devil Society of today was dived in several factions, and mostly these factions didn't get well along with each other. First one was Ars Goetia or 72 Pillars, now only 34 Pillars that remained. Another faction was that of Extra Demons, that secluded themselves from politics for centuries and didn't interact with them. The last faction was that of Reincarnated Devils from other races. the state of Underworld wasn't good, truth to be told it was terrible. There was only one solution and that was to untie all devils under a single banner, but that was not possible for now. This merit could be achieved only by overwhelming strength, and not even Sirzechs Lucifer, the current strongest devil achieved that merit.

But there was a chance for it, and that chance was names External Threat. It was known, among the higher-ups of various Pantheons, that soon or later, Age of Gods would descend once again, when Calamity would happen. Weak would perish and strong would become stronger. Christianity Pantheon was one of weakest due to them being divided. Sadly compared to Angels and Fallen Angels, Devils were divided even more and thus were in rather a bad position.

"I know Rivezim, I have worked on this for centuries, after the so-called Great War and after our Civil War. Fortunately, my work already started bearing first fruits, with almost all of the Elder Council agreed to my suggestion. Next thing would be to stabilize the situation with Reincarnated Devils as their numbers are becoming larger and larger. If the current situation would continue, the only result that awaits us is another Civil War so I already took necessary preparations. The only thing we are lacking now is someone to be the one who would lead."

Said Zekram to Rivezim as both of them looked at the same direction, where Zarathul was peacefully sitting in the cross-legged position and meditating. All that training he did, blood and sweat were only with one goal. To become the leader of the next generation. Same when Lucifer and other three satans build the Devil Society and led armies to the Great War. Same when current Four Great Satans lead the Anti-Satan Faction in the Civil War.

Both he and his father were aware of the importance of strong leadership. His father hoped that he would be able to become the leader of next-generation, next Maou, but not with the title of Lucifer, Beelzebub, Leviathan or Asmodeus. The leader with the supreme title of Satan, because of that Zekram poured a huge amount of resources in grooming his son, because he saw talent in him. Devil Race was very vulnerable because they were divided and they lived in peace for more than several hundred years. Soon enough times would change and they would need to fight again and be united.

"I will send Crom Cruach here after a week or so. He said if the kid is able to fight him properly he wouldn't mind becoming his servant. After all, that dragon is a pure battle maniac so if Zarathul gives him a good fight, he might agree to the proposition. Oy, nephew I will pray for you, hahaha..."

Said Rivezim as laughed and after that he conjured magic circle and teleported away, leaving Zekram and Zarathul in the courtyard alone.

"Father, when the Age of Gods arrives what would happen?"

Asked Zarathul after he opened his eyes from meditation. His father often mentioned the name, Age of Gods or he called it also, Cataclysm, but he never said what it would be. The only thing he said, it would be a catastrophe of unpredictable size, a war that would engulf all living things.

"Conjunction of Spheres is the real name. Nobody knows when it would happen, but when it happens, it would cause war. Various spheres would open, dimensional paths would be connected and it would be possible to travel between worlds. It happened once, a long long time ago, albeit on a much smaller scale. When the dimensional paths would open it is an opportunity to invade the world on the other side and plunder resources, but you must know, as we can invade others, even we can be invaded by others. This is my greatest fear, that we would be invaded by the powerful enemy and because our incompetence to create united devil nation, we would be annihilated."

'Conjunction of Spheres. So it is true in the end. I have read several things about it in ancient scrolls, heavenly opportunity or eternal damnation awaits us? If we are able to invade some magical world and obtain enough resources, we could rise our strength to be able to resist strong Panthons like Indian or Norse.'

Said Zarathul to himself as he thought about various possibilities in his mind.

"Heavenly opportunity or Eternal Damnation. If we are able to obtain more resources, we could raise our standing in the supernatural world. Currently, the Norse Pantheon, Greek, Indian Pantheon, Shinto Pantheon or Celestial Court of Jade Emperor are able to wipe is in a matter of days. So father, if we want to survive we must unite and fight as one Devil Race?"

Asked Zarathul in a curiosity. Currently, there were many Pantheons that are able to wipe them out in a matter of days. Even though Devils had two Super Devils, they were not enough to protect against Pantheons full of Gods.

"Yes, we need to move quickly as in a few years the Conjunction of Spheres would happen. You need to reach the level of Super Devil as quickly as possible and if not Super Devil than at least Satan Class. I have already started moving all the pieces. When those terrorists from Old-Satan Faction would strike again, we could use that opportunity to push up the unification of Devil kind under a single banner. Fortunately we have managed to solve the problem with King Piece when it was invented as that could brig us massive trouble and the standing of Reincarnated Devils is not so bad compared to the past, but still, there are many things that need our attention."

Said Zekram to his son, as Zarathul nodded his head.

"So you are basically using the Old-Satan Faction as a scapegoat to speed up our unification? What about the Four Great Satans?"

Asked Zarathul as he knew that his father would use everything to achieve his goal. The goal of preservation of Devils and their prosperity.

"I have already talked about Sirzechs about this and he agreed to my plan. Truly the younger generation is more progressive compared to us old men. Because he refused the offer to be a leader, you need to get stronger as fast as possible. Those four are aware of the fact, our society is slowly declining and that were are becoming like a target for other powers in the Underworld such as Hades and his grim reapers."

This was certainly a piece of good news, that Sirzechs agreed to the plan, as he was strongest Super Devil in their faction. Current Four Great Satans were modern, we could call it like that. Progressive was another term. As all of them were aware of the tension in the Underworld between Reincarnated Devils and High-Class Devils. Even though Zekram managed to do some things in shadows to improve the standing of Reincarnated Devil to avoid another Civil War, it was still not enough. Maybe now with help o Four Maous, it would get better. Zekram already controlled almost whole Elder Council and most of the Clan Heads. Only some of them were bit reluctant, but that would disappear with the new threat of Old-Satan Faction.

"Father I would be going now, to see how my peerage is doing, so if you excuse me."

Said Zarathul with a polite bow as he exited the courtyard and went to his peerage members, consisting of only [Qeen] and [Bishop] pieces.

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Zarathul returned to his part of the castle, where his two peerage members were already waiting for him. Kuroka was former Stray Devil, Nekoshou whom Zarathul saved, when he exposed deed that the Naberius, her former master committed. This gave Zekram huge opportunity to cleanse few of his political rivals and those who didn't support changed he was going to do. Even now, after year he was still using that incident to his advantage, as it could speel another war with Shinto Faction and Youkai Faction if they exterminated Nekomatas that were living in the Underworld.

She was from already extinct devil clan, Partas Clan that not lived in the Underworld despite being devils. She wandered around the various realms of this plane, searching for the strong opponents to fight. She originated from Asgard as her clan relocated there before the Great War between three factions. All members of her clan were in-born fighters and warriors and despite being devils they were respected in the Asgard, to point Esdeath was for some time even Valkyrie, only Devil Valkyrie in existence. Sadly, her clan was massacred in a fight with the Fire Giants of the Muspellheim and then she left Asgard. One time, she found Zarathul and they fought. Of course, Zarathul won, but then happened something unexpected. Esdeath went to him and aggressively kissed, proclaimed his as her husband. Zarathul then took her with her to the Underworld where she became his Queen of the Bael Amy that was newly reformed by Zekram Bael and was responsible for conquering many lost regions which belonged to the extinct pillars. Her cruelty and sadism in the fight were widely known, as her very good treatment of her subordinates. Even though she looked rather scary, she deeply loved Zarathul and after some time, he returned her feelings to her.

She was also, fianceé of Zarathul as she was pure-blooded Devil from the noble clan, despite her clan left the Underworld. Esdeath had very high prestige in the Underworld as she often leads troops in skirmished against the Old-Satan Faction or wild monsters that were roaming the Underworld. She already reclaimed two territories belonging to the Extinct Pillars that were the territory of wild beasts, thus expanding the Bael Territory. Even current Lord Bael showed fear of her, but he was happy because of her work, the army of the Bael Clan rose in quality and expended even their territory.

On the other side, Kuroka was a beautiful young woman with a voluptuous figure, long black hair with split bangs, and hazel-gold eyes with cat-like pupils. Her attire consists of a black kimono, a yellow obi, a set of golden beads, and an ornately detailed headband. The kimono features a red interior and it is open at her shoulders. She was very playful, easy-going, simple-minded, and enjoys teasing people. She is also rather vulgar, using her beauty and sensuousness as a weapon in her arsenal of teasing. Despite her mischevious nature, Kuroka is very kind and compassionate who cares about her loved ones as her sister. She enjoyed always teasing Zarathul and she never stopped saying how she wanted a litter of kittens. Devil kittens to be precise. At least, she gave a new feel to his peerage which only had Esdeath, who was overly strict and often even he feared her.

"Hello, Esdeath, Kuroka."

Greeted them Zarathul as he entered the room. As soon as he entered the room, Esdeath opened her eyes from mediation came to him, fiercely kissing him on his lips. Kuroka seeing this pouted in jealousy.

"You already had enough, you weird s.l.u.t. Go away from my mate, now!"

Yelled Kuroka at Esdeath, to which she only looked at her with an innocent smile and winked at angry Kuroka. In terms of strength, Esdeath was above Kuroka in all aspects, be it in Magic or close combat. As Kuroka could be considered as 3rd-Tier Ultimate-Class, while Esdeath was same as Zarathul, 2nd-Tier Ultimate-Class.

"Lazy useless cat. At least I am more useful than you, who just spends all the time sleeping and doing nothing."

Commented Esdeath in an indifferent voice, as she knew that only thing Kuroka was doing was just lazying around or going to see her younger sister at the Gremory Clan, but that was all. Compared to that, Esdeath was general of armies of Bael Clan, a post gave her by First Great King himself, and she was constantly training soldiers or fighting wild beasts of the Underworld that took a liking to the abandoned territories of extinct Pillars. This gave Esdeath pride in helping her future husband. Also, the fact she was his official fianceé, as it was blessed with the blessing of Zekram Bael, current Lord Bael and also approved by Elder Council was a very huge advantage for her. Not talking about the fact, she was the first one whom Zarathul has confessed to.

"Esdeath, Kuroka please don't quarrel. We don't have time for this. I have talked with my father now and even uncle Rivezim stopped, saying that he prepared meeting with potential peerage member."

Both of them stopped quarreling, just occasionally throwing provocative glances at each other. Mention of gaining new peerage member piqued the interest of both women, hugging his arms.

"Who is it, Darling?"

Asked Esdeath in a seductive voice, to which Zarathul had a very hard time resisting.

"Crom Cruach, Evil Dragon is known as the Crescent Circle Dragon who is said to be strongest of Evil Dragons. I personally don't know what is uncle Rivezim scheming, but he contacted Crom Cruach and persuaded him to meet him, so I would have a chance to recruit him into my peerage. Apparently even Vali gets the same chance, with another Evil Dragon, but I don't know the name."

Answered Zarathul as both Esdeath and Kuroka almost lost their breaths. Both of them knew, who Crom Cruach was and how powerful he was. Esdeath showed a wide smile on her face, as she took pride in her future husband who wanted to have the strongest Evil Dragon as member of his peerage.

"Zar-chan, when we will make some little kitten, nya?"

Asked Kuroka in an adorable cat-like way as she looked at her mate. Sadly, Esdeath was sitting right beside them, and she had now very angry expression as she looked at Kuroka.

"Darling is my fianceé, so it is understandable that he would have children with me at first."

Said Esdeath and now they were at it again. Zarathul just rubbed his forehead in annoyance as he listened to their child-like quarrel over him, but alas he didn't care too much of it.

"Oh right, Esdeath how is progressing training of Bael Army?"

Asked Zarathul in curiosity as he didn't know much about the current progress of their clan's armies. When he recruited her, he discussed with his father and gave that Conjunction of Spheres is coming, Zekram made her General of Bael Armies.

"Good, all armies have been reformed and we have recruited new soldiers. Currently, I am focusing more on the Battle Formations and to cultivate all of them, to have the strength of the Mid-Class Devil at least. We have completely cleaned two smaller territories next to the Bael Territory, that belonged to the extinct Pillars, expanding the Bael Territory and also, many new soldiers gained experiences of Life and Death Battles, not like to stupid Rating Games."

Explained Esdeath about her achievement as Zarathul patted her head. He was very happy that Esdeath was doing good in the military, she had great talent in that field. She even managed to train good lieutenants to lead troops and recruited experienced warriors to act like drill sergeants.

Both of them didn't like Rating Games, as they were nothing more than games in their point of view. It lacked the feeling of Life and Death battle, as in the Rating Game its main reason was just to show off. For younger devils, it was probably the only way to experience combat, albeit simulated one to a big extent. Because of that, Zarathul never participated in Rating Game and he didn't even have that on his schedule in near future, but he often went with Esdeath when she was hunting for powerful wild beasts and when she was leading army.

"Also, the structure of the Army has been changed. For start, all commanders must be experienced on the field of commanding soldiers, so no spoiled brats that never fought in the war. Another thing, the commander must be at least 1st-Tier High-Class Devil in terms of strength, and one army must have at least on Ultimate-Class Devil present in case of emergency."

One of the reasons, why Devils lost many soldiers in the Great War was because they were led by incompetent commanders mainly. Pillar Heirs who didn't have any experience, education or knowledge about the leading troops. Now Esdeath re-structuralized whole army structure to be more efficient and stronger.

"I am proud of you, my darling."

Said Zarathul as he kissed her on her cheek, to which Esdeath blushed slightly. A rare sight, to see someone as Esdeath, fear general and cruel sadist, to blushing like an ordinary girl. As Zarathul looked at her current embarrassed state, he was immediately aroused. Suddenly he felt, that Kuroka was hugging him from behind while nibbling on his ear.

"Come on, nya."

Whispered seductive cat to his ear, as he pushed Esdeath on the couch they were sitting and starting to kissing her fiercely, and soon, even mischievous cat joined them and in a few minutes, only m.o.a.ns of p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e and extasy were heard through the room.

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Next day

Above the castle, where Zekram Bael and Zarathul Bael were living, the huge dragon was flying. A majestic jet black Western Dragon with a black and golden aura surrounding him. He looked strong just by the look and beside the black and golden aura surrounding him, there was an air of noble dragon and domination.

"So, where is the kid that the weirdo Rizevim mentioned?"