Two weeks have passed since the tournament ended and it was the day that Matthew planned on leaving the mainland toward the island of Phulu. After saying his farewells to his friends and family, Matthew went to the San Coro International Harbour several days before. Matthew ran across forests and deserts to get there. He thought it would have taken longer, but he got there within two days.Matthew was wearing a red hooded and long sleeved jacket to cover himself from the sun, and a scarf that covered his face. His body was covered in sand.There were two guards at the gate and more on the walls. The two guards saw Matthew approach them and greeted him.“Hello there, sir. How can we help you?” One of them asked.“Hi. I want to head to the harbour. Where is that?”“Oh, you mean the international harbour? It’s in the City of Kubalt, west of here. Err, if you don’t mind me asking, how did you get here? I don’t see a carriage.”“Oh, don’t worry about that. So it’s west of here, right?” Mat
There was a castle made out of smooth sandstone standing in the middle of the city. The castle’s area alone covered a fifth of the entire city. Knights were posted all around and on the walls and were also patrolling in groups within the castle’s premises.A carriage tattered in golden colour arrived at the front gate of the castle. The knights escorting the carriage opened up the carriage door and formed a line all the way to the gate. Matthew got off the carriage. He changed out of his hoodie and was wearing his usual jacket now. It took an entire night to get here.A lizardman in white robes and a turban on his head came out of the gate and walked toward Matthew. He was probably an important figure in the castle. When he was close, he stopped and kneeled.“Lord Dragunov, please follow me inside. Her majesty Queen Cleopatra is waiting.”Waiting? She sure got up early just to see him. It was literally just after dawn.“Lead the way.”“Yes, sire.” It was only when Matthew said so that
About one week has passed since their departure. They were about halfway to the Cobalt capital city. Matthew was starting to get used to life on the sea. Everyday, the crew caught fish using fishing nets and Matthew would help them pull a large haul if needed. With his strength, the fish were brought on the deck with ease.The captain always made sure that everyone had their fill and hosted the feasts every night. Everyone was given three meals a day. The captain had to make sure that no one gets sick on the ship, or else it may impede their duties.The captain was a man in his late 60s with a large body and equally large heart. He was a nice old man and speaking to him left an impression on Matthew that he was full of wisdom. He spent his years at sea for almost four decades already. It was no wonder that he knew how to take care of his crew.Matthew was chatting with the captain after dinner. Matthew was holding a cup of fresh orange juice while the captain had a mug of beer. They w
A pirate ship had engaged in combat with the merchant ship. Thanks to Matthew and Afro’s involvement, the pirates were subdued with ease. They were tied up and brought onto the main deck of the pirate ship.“Thank you for your help, sirs.” The captain said to Matthew and Afro after they threw down the last of the pirates.“You’re welcome.” Afro said. He was currently in his shark form. His shirt was torn and only had an oversized white shorts.“Ugh! Who’d have thought a Dragon Emperor would be here?”“We were fully equipped to handle this.”A couple of the pirates whispered to each other.“Oi!” The captain stomped the deck and shouted. “You are either going to tell me who sent you, or you will be food for the fish!” The captain was incredibly furious and scary.“Ha! As if we’d tell you!”“We’re loyal to the captain!”“Is that so?” The captain picked the pirates that spoke up. “Then I suppose an example would suit you better?” He dragged the pirate to the edge of the ship and held him
A few more days passed and they finally saw the Cobalt Harbour. The ship’s crew was busy preparing the ship for docking. Afro helped out as well since half the crew were on the pirate’s ship. Matthew tried to help as well but he didn’t know what to do exactly and could only watch them.The anchors were dropped and the sails were furled. Once the ship was docked, both the ship’s crew and the harbour’s began working to unload the ship. The pirate ship was practically empty and only its tied up crew members were brought onto the pier. There, Cobalt authorities were discussing with the captain.Matthew and Afro got off and were not that far from them. It was not their place to be involved in the nation’s procedures.“Well, I’ll be heading back home now. Do you need any help finding a ship to Phulu?”“No, I don’t think so. I’ll ask the people nearby. Well, they’re practically surrounding me already.” Matthew could tell that everyone had their eyes on him.In this part of the world, humans
“Sorry to have kept you waiting.” Shima said as he walked side by side with Matthew.They were walking in the palace and passed by guards that were on patrol. All of the guards saluted them as they did.“You didn’t have to come personally.” Matthew replied.“When my guest is someone as esteemed as you, as king, I believe only I am fitting to accompany you. Aside from Lady Cobalt of course.”Shima Melcros, the king of the Cobalt United Kingdom. He was a blue scaled fishman with a slender stature yet defined muscles. He only wore a kilt made from beautiful translucent jellyfish-like material and had a golden ribbon resting on his shoulders. On his neck were five pairs of gills. His hands and feet were webbed like a duck’s and fins on the forearms and on his hind legs. Shima had yellow fish-like eyes and his ears were fins. His hair was blue and reached his shoulders.“What brings you to my palace?” Shima asked.“Well, I was just stopping by to meet Cobalt originally. But since all route
“Who are you? And why do you disturb my slumber?” A deep mature female voice resounded in the chamber.Matthew got a good look at Cobalt. She was lindwurm type dragon with a long flat tail like a crocodile’s. Her arms were webbed and had fins on the side. She had deep blue eyes and frills on her cheeks. She also had three horns on top of her head that curved to the back. The scales on most of her body were dark blue from her spiked spine and became lighter as it went to her under belly until it was white. Upon better look, Matthew noticed that she had gills behind the frills.“Your aura feels familiar. Answer me, human.” Cobalt spoke again.Matthew returned from zoning out a bit and introduced himself. “Oh, I’m Matthew. We just came by to visit you.”“We?” Cobalt lowered her head to inspect closer, but there was really no one other than Matthew.“Hello there Cobalt.”“It has been a while.” Arshild and Draco spoke through the Dragoknight.“Those voices… Arshild and Draco? My, where are
600 years ago, there was a great war that shook the entire world. Unlike the World Wars on Earth, the Scarlett War was not a conflict of multiple countries against other countries. It was a conflict between one country against all others.This story took place about two years before the war.Leviticus Scarlett was a half human half demon. He was always treated unfairly because of his origin. His mentality was strong and endured the abuses, until a certain event happened and made him snap.He came alone and was floating above the ocean where the Kraken dwelt below. They struck a conversation before the fighting began.“Why do you come, O king of demons?” The Kraken asked.“To kill you, ancient one.” Leviticus answered.“I know of your strength. You are not someone that I can defeat, that I know.”“Then why not surrender and die a quick death?”“You are too arrogant, king of demons. You should learn that your way of achieving your goal is pointless for the people will never agree.”“I o
At the edge of the pit, it was them. A total of nine of the Scarlett family members.From the right, a woman with long red hair and black and white dress was casting a healing spell on Bilgrae. A male elf in full black armour with a star shaped bang of three red points and two white points and his black hair was split in the middle. A demon with dark violet hair and a pair of horns at the side of her head and wore a jet black skin tight suit which exposed certain parts, Crymillia. In the middle, it was a man with short bright red hair wearing a black and gold robe. Then, a man with black hair in a red and black suit. Another demon with about the same features as Crymillia except that his hair was short and he wore a black cloak over his suit. Then there was a man with spiky red hair in a red robe with a high collar, Crone, the one that Matthew and his friends fought at the Great Sandcastle. Finally, there was the black feathered avian human, Skystorm.Seeing Skystorm in good health, M
Confronting Bilgrae now was what he expected to see from a Dragon Emperor.Matthew was now at maximum output of his astra and all of it was condensed in his body. Bright red scales covered his entire body and he grew slightly in size. His muscles became more toned and also increased in size. A pair of horns of a darker tone of red grew out of his forehead that curved to the back of his head. Both of his eyes were glowing golden as his hair was.“Let’s finish this!” Matthew did not delay any further. He couldn’t maintain this form for long so he must finish the fight quickly.Matthew dashed toward Bilgrae who was ready for Matthew. Their fists clashed again and this time, not only was Bilgrae pushed back, he felt pain in his knuckles. Matthew was much stronger than before and far faster too. Utilising his speed, Matthew went for another punch to Bilgrae’s gut.“Oof!” Bilgrae got the air knocked out of him with the first hit.Matthew followed up with a barrage of punches. Bilgrae truly
After being blown away by Skystorm’s wind, Matthew regained his footing and was met with the big lizardman, Bilgrae Scarlett. Bilgrae had a smirk on his face. Matthew stood up and faced Bilgrae, but his eyes were not on him. Matthew’s eyes fell on Falynx in the far distance.“Are you still concerned about that monster?” Bilgrae asked with his deep voice.Matthew looked at Bilgrae now. “It’s hard to know which one is the monster here.”“Heh, you’re right. All of us are monsters deep inside. It just takes one misstep to turn a person into one. You’ve been there too.”“No I haven’t.”“Maybe not to you. But the whole world saw you as one. Now that monster suddenly turned into an emperor and they suddenly glorified you, while some still hate you of course.”“Hmph.” Matthew huffed.“You’re angry with me, I understand. I purposely did not kill that beast. Out of compassion.”“Don’t lie. You Scarletts don’t know what that means.”Bilgrae wasn’t smiling anymore. “You don’t know how merciful fa
Akame and Skystorm were separated from Matthew and Bilgrae. Akame stood up after being blown away by the powerful gust of wind created by Skystorm. Their eyes met. Both of their irises were bright red and gazed deeply.“I will be your foe, Red Cardinal.” Skystorm said.“What relic will you take? What will you use it for?” Akame asked.“Straight to the questions huh… That’s not any of your business. Why would you care what we take anyway if you’ll die?”“To evaluate whether it’s worth fighting for or not.”“Hmm, a smart choice. If you don't want to fight, then I shant confront you. Sadly, it seems that Lord Dragunov disagrees with you. If he is in the way, then we must remove him. I don’t think that leaves you an option now.”Backing out from this would mean that Matthew will be fighting two people. If they weren’t among the Scarlett Army’s strongest, it probably wouldn’t be hard for him to deal with alone. Both of their foes were really strong and Akame had no expectation of defeating
After their encounter with Falynx, they reached an agreement to conduct an investigation as they intended. Falynx had flown back to the surface on its own. Matthew and Akame headed to the temple and arrived at the front door.For some reason, even though they were underground, it was as clear as day down here. It was not dark and not too bright either, like a cloudy day.There were stairs that led to the door and the walls in the area were already partially destroyed. Some of the stairs were also gone. The giant door was made of stone and seemed to be intact with little cracks around the hinges.Matthew pushed one of the doors open. It was surprisingly heavy so Matthew had to lean into it to move it. Akame went inside first and inspected the place. There was a stage and a podium carved out of stone at the end of the great hall. A mural was carved out of the wall behind the stage depicting a supposed god holding the sun in his hands.Matthew left the door open and joined Akame to look
In the middle of the desert, there were two figures running across the sands. Clouds of sand were left behind in their quick steps. The cloak provided by the minister was really working. No sand was sticking onto them.“We’re getting close.” Matthew informed Akame.Almost two hours have passed since they left the city. Many monsters came their way but they were easily dealt with. It caused a little delay but not enough to affect their momentum. Falynx’s presence was still about 10 kilometres away.“Be ready for battle.” Akame said.“Remember though, don’t kill it.” Matthew reminded her.A few minutes later, a gigantic figure could be seen flying in the sky. The creature had the body of a snake, the head of a crocodile and six pairs of batwings. Its yellow eyes with black vertical slits looked down at the incoming people below.Falynx bowed its head and began descending. Matthew and Akame saw this as an engagement in battle. Matthew called out the Dragoknight to his arms and increased
The sun was already high up in the sky in the Capital City of Kubalt. The weather was hot and dry as usual in San Coro. The street around this particular area was not that busy since it was right in front of the Palace of Al-Jauhara. One would occasionally see knights patrolling the area. Akame was waiting under the intense heat of the sun. She had covered herself in a large black cloth to protect herself from the heat. The guards out here only wore light armour compared to the ones inside, probably because their armour would be too hot to wear outside. Not too long after, she finally saw the one she was waiting for. Matthew was jogging toward her. He wore his long sleeved red hooded jacket and an orange shirt under it and a pair of black pants. He also had his usual travelling backpack with him. “Phew, sorry, did you wait long?” “Not too long. Did you not use a teleportation scroll?” Akame asked. “I did, but the closest one was to Yanbue City. Neither Platinum nor Rose were famil
“What brings you here, Akame?” Matthew asked.Just a few moments ago, Akame had arrived in front of Platinum’s cave. Someone like who was a Coloured Hunter, passing through the Blackwood Forest and up the cold mountain was not a problem. Or not.Akame was hugging herself to keep warm but it was not helping at all. “Achoo! C-can we talk somewhere warmer?”“Oh, come on in.” Matthew invited her inside.Akame went in and they both made their way to the living room. Matthew didn't think that it was alright to bring her to the others directly. The living room had a fire to keep them warm, so here was enough.“Ah~” Akame warmed herself up by the fire and put her hands out.“So, what are you doing here without equipment to survive on a mountain? Certainly you didn’t come to interview us?” Matthew asked.“Queen Cleopatra sent me. We will investigate the ruin she mentioned together.” Akame said with the same emotionless voice as usual.“Cleopatra? Well, I was gonna head there in a few days anyw
Matthew and Rose arrived at the foot of the mountain just by the Blackwood Forest where they dropped off of the carriage while Guinevere headed back to her palace. It was already very late in the afternoon when they got to the forest. Matthew carried Rose's luggage in hands while he also wore his backpack."I can carry my own stuff." Rose said."No, I will carry them for you. Anyway, are you sure you'll be fine?""My magic resistance is quite high. I also know how to disperse mana if it does accumulate inside me. How long exactly is it going to take to get up there again?" Rose looked up at the ledge near the mountain peak where Platinum's abode was."Well, usually only a few hours if you're moving at my usual speed. If we're walking though, a few days at least." Matthew said."But we're not walking, right?" Rose asked."Nope." As Matthew replied, a shadow flew past over them.A jade green dragon circled them as she descended to the ground nearby. Upon landing, the dragon folded its w