Dragon Gods Reign

[Hall under Salin]

After spinning around in surprise, both Allaire and Jennia stood still as if they were statues. Looking at the women hovering in the air a few meters away had made them nearly forget to breath.

The woman’s flawless and seductive beauty, her flawless skin and near perfect face stood in stalk contrast to her demonic appearance. But despite this these leathery bat like wings on her lower back, the slowly swaying slim, whip like tail with a stinger on its end and the two horn growing upwards from her forehead only served to enhance her beauty even more.

She was clad in what can only be described as a strange mix of armor and dress. Her upper body was covered in a smooth solid metal armor that tightly clung to her body. This emphasized her figure, as the armor only had distance to her skin between her breasts, with one protuberance covering both. At her shoulder this armor ended abruptly, transitioning to the fabric that covered her arms. This red fabric looked unnaturally solid despite being clearly soft and it covered the half of her upper arm that faced away from her body. It ended in a metal bracelet just above her elbow that held it in place, leaving her lower arm and hands free.

At her legs she wore a loose, dress like clothing that extended to just below her knees, extending a bit further at the back. While it initially looked smooth pure black like the breastplate, upon closer inspection it became clear that it was made from many pitch black scales connected together perfectly. At her shins she wore protectors made from metal that covered their front, with these having a similar design to the breastplate. Her shoes were again elegantly designed, though with clear aspect of practicability, like the lack of high heels.

Her figure was so entrancing that none present doubted that there was anyone who would show interest in her. Though in Darganth's case it was more so because he knew that to be the case.

“And even with your gift this meeting is pure luck. Your future is hidden even from yourself it seems.” She said to his question, a smile on her lips.

“It has its perks.”

“Certainly. And as much as I would love to continue our reunion, I do have to complete my task here first. Though we still have some time after that, I doubt that Irsyr is going to be that strict with his rules in this situation.” Lyadria said with a smile.

“Only if he changed during the years. But we should have a few minutes.”

Thinking about Darganth's words for a few seconds, she turned to Siuring slightly annoyed. Snapping her fingers, the ethereal figure Zagril appeared next to her.

“Lets make this quick, I need every second.” She said. At those words Zagril smiled victorious.

“Lady Lyadria, may I ask of you to first dispose of those tree pests? They nearly interrupted the ritual.” He asked her.

Turning towards him even more annoyed annoyed, she formed a sadistic smile. Before he could even react, she snapped her fingers which caused a black spike to rip open a hole in his stomach before simply vanishing again. Turning away from him, she ignored him and his pained expression.

“Sacrifices should keep quiet.” She said, shocking Zagril.

“Now to you. For this ritual to work you need-” She started, but was cut short by Zagril.

“What do you mean sacrifice? You told me that this is the ritual to become a demonic dragon, how am I the sacrifice?” He shouted.

“Because it isn't you who becomes a demonic dragon. Why would the first dragon create a ritual that kills a dragon?” She said, amused at his shock.

“But didn't the queen-” Zagril started perplexed but was interrupted by Lyadria's laughter.

“Do you rely think that even she could do this? And even if she could, why make it more complicated by boosting the weaker of the two components? Dargons are already more powerful than demons, this ritual just adds a bit to it. Besides, freeing a demon from our forced loyalty to her is a bad idea, dragons are much easier to trust.” She explained in between her laughs.

This explanation made everyone but Darganth look at her in shock. Never had they expected that the supposed beneficiary would in truth be the sacrifice in this ritual. But after a moment of thought they realized that it wasn't that the ritual sacrificed its user, it was far more likely that the demons just marketed the wrongs in the wrong order.

Seeing the looks of disbelieve she was getting, Lyadria chuckled.

“What can I say? Finding demons who want to sacrifice themselves is hard, this way its just way less bothersome for me. And while I could force you into it, finding dragons who want to partake in it is even more of a bother, this way I solve two problems with one slight change of words.” She said with a shrug.

Seeing Zagril wanting to say something from the corner of her eyes, she gagged him with a wave of her hand.

“But enough of that. Hey, little dragon, I still need to know whether or not you want the ritual to happen. And I hope you do, it would be a waste to have another one fail due to you kinds pride. But at least he can vouch that demon dragons are just another species of dragons, may help in your decision.” She said in a hurry, pointing towards Darganth at the end.

This made Siurin look at Darganth questioningly.

“She is right.” He confirmed.

Hearing this confirmation, Siurin fell into thought. On the one hand was his pride as a dragon, though this factor lessened after Darganth's words. But a slight aversion was still there, conflicting with the promise of strength this brought. While he was in thought, Lyadria frowned impatiently.

“I accept.” He said after some time.

When he said those words a smile formed on Lyadria's face. With another snap of her fingers, the soul of Zagril dissolved into a mass of black energy. Slowly being siphoned towards Siurin, a black sphere formed around him. At the same time the ritual below dissolved, allowing Vagha and the other dragons to come closer.

When the sphere fully formed she nodded in satisfaction and turned to Darganth. Vanishing and arriving before him faster than anyone of them could see, she kissed him while throwing her arms around him. As he already knew her personality, Darganth was only momentarily stunned and quickly reciprocated the kiss.

“How I would love to pounce on you right now.” She said after an intense kiss. This made Allarie and Jennia glare at her even more than they did before.

“Though those two seem to be against it. Didn't wast your time here it seems.” She said with a smile.

“Things happened.”

“How's Nemoress?” He asked after a short moment of silence.

“Quite distressed. Ever since your death she gave herself fault for it.” Hearing this Darganth's expression fell.

“Please tell her that I don't give either her or Visuria any fault.”

“I will.” She said, giving him another kiss. This time also invading his mouth with her tongue, she hand slowly traced down his upper body.

“If you continue like this Nemoress will get jealous.” Darganth told her with a smirk, once her hand reached just above belt height.

“It would be worth it.” She said with a smile, “Though I suppose we will have to stop here.”

Letting him out of her embrace, she took a step back. Noticing Allaire and Jennia walking closer, she inspected them curiously. After a moment she became surprised when she noticed the dragon mana inside Allaire.

“I am Allaire.” “Jennia.” The two introduced themselves.

“Lyadria, right hand of Nemoress, the primordial goddess of darkness. Though that mainly came from being a certain someones favorite demon. Though not as much favored as you seem to be” She said, addressing the last part at Allaire.

The way she said the last part of the sentence caused Allaire to tense up a bit, something that Lyadria leaned into by staring at her. Keeping up this pressure for a few seconds, she suddenly switched and gave Allaire a warm smile.

“Just kidding. I have no interest in becoming one of his wives, I am already content with how things currently are. Its not like I slept rarely with him in the past.” She said, making Allaire's tension vanish.

Before they could continue talking, the sphere surrounding Siuring collapsed. Looking towards him, they found a dragon with black and red scales standing there. While they weren't void black like those of Darganth, they weren't far of. Additionally his body now wasn't as sleek like most dragons, instead looking edgier and having similarities to armor plates at many places.

These edged protrusions combined with the additional spikes and horns to form a more feral and brutal appearance. The largest of those new horns were on his head, two black ones that curved forwards formed in addition to the previous two large horns that grew backwards. His head, neck and most joints also had new spikes, with the most prominent ones being the row growing upwards at the forearm of his forelimbs. Each was larger than the previous one, culminating in the one at the elbow measuring nearly half the length of the upper arm.

“It seems my time is over. I will see the two of you soon, till then have fun having him just for you.” Lyadria said to Jennia and Allaire.

Giving Darganth another short kiss as goodbye, she vanished and reappeared again next to Siurin.

“While it doesn't have to be now, you should come to the realm of darkness soon. While you are still a dragon, you are now also a demon so you have to come there at least once. Additionally all of the others live there, but it is up to you whether you want it too.” She told him.

“Alright. I still have some things to do, but once I am finished I will come.” He said.

Giving one last smile to Darganth, she teleported back to the realm of darkness.

Once she was away, Siurin transformed into a humanoid form. Watching his brother walking towards him, he smiled warily. He knew what most dragons would think about abandoning their original species, he himself struggled with that decision just now. Observing him, he awaited his brothers reaction.

“I'm glad you are fine.” Vagha said friendly, much to Siurin's delight.

“Thanks, I knew you would come.” Siurin said, causing the other eight to look at each other slightly awkward. While none of them intended to leave him behind, they did let their pride obstruct the from freeing him earlier.

Seeing this Siurin looked at them questioningly. Not wanting to answer, their gazes sprung between each other until ending at Darganth. Seeing their looks he just smiled evilly.

“Right, now that this is over you still have a punishment to receive. You are quite lucky that nothing serious happened, so will be merciful. First you will clean up the rest of the city, ensure that its burning ruin will serve as a warning for others. The remaining formations will probably rough you up a bit, but its not supposed to be nice for you. I will tell you the second part after you are done.” He said. While the eight nodded, Siuring grew even more confused.

“Punishment? For what?” He asked.

“For being a bunch of idiots whose pride prevented them from asking for help. And Vagha, for you this will be all. You at least tried to help him while despite not wanting to ask for help so I will lessen your punishment.” Darganth added, much to Vagha's delight.

Siuring was meanwhile looking at them in disbelieve, causing them to lower their heads in shame. While they wanted to defend themselves, they knew he had every right to judge them so they kept silent. This awkward silence continued until the hall suddenly started to shake.

Looking toward the ceiling, they noticed pieces of rock falling down and cracks to form all over it. Realizing instantly that it would soon collapse, they directly teleported to the balcony where the elves still stood. With the ritual ended, the mana started calming down again, though they still couldn't teleport far enough to reach the surface from their position.

Hurrying back up the stairs, they managed to open up a portal at about half way. Arriving where the royal palace once stood, they found themselves surrounded by debris and flames. Hurrying through this chaos were thousands of soldiers, trying to extinguish the flames and protect the few still living humans.

Soon their eyes fell onto the source of the tremors they had felt underground. Standing amidst this destruction was the nearly 120 meter long figure of Averyla. Standing around her in a half circle were four peak forth rank aura user, all encased in an aura avatar that rivaled her height.

 

[Realm of darkness]

Teleporting to the realm of darkness, Lyadria found herself back under the familiar black sky. She currently stood in what seemed to be a city, though around her was no semblance of order. Demons of all sizes and statues walked around, not caring for the others. This lead to the weaker ones scrambling away from those who were more powerful, hoping not to get crushed on accident.

Additionally, multiple fights happened all around, some more violent and some less. A few ended even in the death of one of the participants, though most of the time the winner was soon also ripped to shreds by someone else. Though most of this happened between the weaker ones, with those of them who failed to gauge their opponents strength accurately getting ripped to shreds easily.

The only constant among all of this was that none attacked far below their power without provocation.

When they noticed her arriving, they all first looked towards her with lust in their eyes. But just as fast as that change occurred, their expression changed and they started to run in fear. Seeing three trying to attack her instead of fleeing, she let their head fly with a mere wave of her hands.

“Why does my kind become more impulsive each year?” She wondered out loud in an annoyed tone, before making her way along the road.

Arriving at the foot of the steps leading to an enormous palace, Lyadria spread her wings with a bright smile. Quickly arriving at the top, one of the guards reflexively wanted to stop her but quickly recoiled when he noticed who she was. Waving her hand dismissively at his fearful apology, she made her way inside.

Walking through the grand halls, she passed by hundreds of servants who all bowed when they saw her. Not hurrying, she stopped from time to time and stared at one of the trophy’s displayed while reminiscing. After some time she found herself standing in front of a massive double door. Pushing its two wings open with a were tough, she arrived inside a hall even larger than the one Siurin was kept in.

Flanked by pillars every few meters, there stretched a walkway of about two kilometers before her. Looking down its length for a few seconds, time seemed to slow to a crawl. The servants walking over the large open space on the other side of the pillars seemed to come to a standstill, with only Lyadra still moving normally.

Making her way to the other end of the room, her clothes slowly changed with every meter she walked. Her armor slowly vanished, leaving her shins free while the chest piece was replaced by an outfit made from the same silk as the cover on her upper arm. Transitioning seamlessly from the dress around her legs, a black clothing piece formed. Stretching up her body, it stopped just below her left armpit, with the end going diagonally to her right shoulder.

This left a small part of her left breast visible, while covering the right completely. From the right shoulder stretched a small piece of fabric, going behind her neck and connecting to the fabric on her left arm. At the back of the dress was a red symbol, depicting a moon at a forty five degree angel and a spear going through its center, the tip coming out of the outer edge of the moon.

Just as this change ended, she arrived before the throne at the end of the hall. Sitting on the throne was a women, clad in a black black dress, who looked around the room in disinterest. When she noticed Lyadria nearing, a small smile flashed over her lips but it vanished as quickly as it came.

Stopping before the throne, Lyadria covered the immediate area around them with a curtain of shadows, isolating them from the rest of the hall. Only now did she start smiling, having kept a stoic face ever since arriving in the realm of darkness.

“I guess you were successful?” The women asked Lyadria.

“Oh, far more than that. The fact that another demonic dragon now serves under you is secondary to who I met.” Lyadria said with a smile.

Raising her eyebrow in interest, the women corrected her posture a bit and sat upright. The indifferent air around her had vanished completely, being replaced by a suffocating majesty.

“Stop stretching it, what happened?” She asked impatiently. Few things were more important than another demonic dragon under her, at least currently. After all, even the eternal war with the angels calmed at least somewhat.

Even now with Visuria fighting personally once more, she denied to take personal action. She even kept the most powerful demons from going to the front, instead carefully protecting them and nurturing new ones. Over the millennia the elites under her have risen drastically, now reaching a number where she was confident to push the angels back to their realm.

Despite this she refrained from doing so, much to the resistance of most powerful demons. But she didn't care for their opinion, they never had nor ever will have the power to oppose her. Just a handful few knew that this army was never supposed to win against the angels, instead its purpose is to allow her to win against the three primordials.

“Darganth revived.” She just stated, causing the women to jump up in shock.

After this moment of shock, her expression brightened. Getting down from the throne, she walked down the stairs leading up to it with a bright smile. As soon as she reached their end, three pairs of wings unfurled behind her. Two between her shoulders, one black feathered one similar to those of angels and one pair of black bat like wings. The last pair sat at her lower back, a black bat like pair similar to Lyadria's wings.

“Wait!” Lyadria shouted when she noticed the womens intention.

“What?” She answered in a slightly harsh tone.

“Think about it, what will happen when you go there now? Those three will know instantly.”

“And? Its not like they could do anything to him.”

“That's where you're wrong. He is weakened, massively so. While he still has his authority, his power barely reaches the peak of the third rank. And his body isn’t immortal, dying would force him through the same process again.” Lyadria said. This shocked the women massively.

Getting lost in her thoughts, she just stood there for a few seconds. Soon a realization hit her, causing her to smile while also adopting a furious expression.

“She knew!” The women suddenly shouted, confusing Lyadria.

“Visuria already knew of his rebirth, that's why she started attacking personally again.” Those words shocked Lyadria for a moment. Before she could talk, the women suddenly started to laugh. Seeing the irritated look Lyadria gave her, she explained.

“It seems that I am not the only one that learned from the other. I force a bit of structure into my elites and she started using chaos as a distraction. I have to say, I didn't expect it.” She said with an amused smile. This shocked Lyadria, though the more she thought about it the more sense it made.

“All this chaos just to create a distraction, that is unexpected from her.” Lyadria said, still slightly in disbelieve.

“Yes. And you know, that is a game two can play far better.” The women said with a smile before vanishing.