First Demonic Dragon-Chapter 1271: What Does This Mean?
A shadow passed over the restaurant from outside.
Abaddon dropped out of the sky soundlessly. Wrapped around the collar of his robe was a small white snake that appeared to be sleeping.
Two men closest to the front doors opened them before Abaddon could even raise his hand to reach for them.
"My lord..."
"It is an honor to see you."
If the mood before was reverent, now it was practically holy.
Abaddon stepped inside, and nearly every soul within the restaurant knelt before him.
"Rise, everyone. I am not here to intrude on your dining."
The men slowly rose to their feet and tried their best to resume ’normal’ behaviors.
Abaddon walked up to his daughter, shaking his head at the sight of her face covered in sauce.
"... My dignified little princess." He sighed as he wiped her face with a cloth.
Odessa had been eating at the restaurant with a few of her friends when everything broke out. She hadn’t really had the time to think about decency.
’D-Dad, what happened was...’
"I know already, Odie." Abaddon patted her head.
He turned to the dragons and the humans, both frozen in place.
"...Let us discuss this somewhere where we will not disturb the other patrons."
Abaddon vanished almost instantly. Taking the party of seven with him.
Odessa didn’t display it, but she was rather nervous about how her father would react.
She knew that he loved his people almost as much as he loved his own children. Just the same, she was fully aware of the fact that humans were some of his least favorite beings.
"You worry too much, sweetheart..."
Odessa almost jumped out of her skin when she felt something slither on her shoulder. ’O-Oh, it’s you, mom... How many times do I have to ask you not to appear like that..?’
Odie looked around as if checking to make sure no one could hear her telepathic conversation.
’...I peed myself last time, you know?’
Ayaana’s musical, half-tired laughter sounded like mockery to her daughter’s ears. "Well, when I can hear your teeth chattering with fear from all the way atop your father’s shoulder, naturally, I feel I have to come and say something."
The white serpent slithered in front of her daughter’s face and gave her nose a small lick.
"Trust your father. He said that he was trying to do better, and I believe him. He won’t do something that would disappoint you."
Odessa suddenly felt a bit guilty for her doubts. It was true that her father had been trying to do better as of late. And she, as his daughter, wanted to believe in him wholeheartedly.
Her father wouldn’t disappoint her. She was almost sure of it.
"Now, if you’re done doubting your daddy now... Would you mind going over to the counter and ordering your mother some food?" Ayaana asked sweetly.
’...You’re not going to stay here and eat with us or anything, a-are you?’
"Ugh! Are you saying I can’t sit with you and your little friends?? Are you embarrassed by me or something!?"
Odessa was almost beginning to wish that she had never called her parents at all.
-
The great hall of Abaddon’s castle was somehow the quietest it had ever been. Even with occupants inside.
The black dragon lounged upon his throne with a gaze that would have been difficult for anyone to read. Let alone those who were less powerful than himself.
"It seems I wasn’t very clear on our views when you arrived here."
When Abaddon’s gaze settled on the humans, it was as heavy as lead. They shrank back as if this were the first time they realized what kind of being they were living under.
"Tehom has stood without issue for time immemorial. My people have lived in harmony, with any differences between them amounting to conflicts of personalities or circumstance."
Abaddon leaned forward on his throne, but for some reason, he seemed to be right in front of the human’s faces. He felt as tall as a mountain.
"I would rend apart any of my children or descendants if I learned they were picking at each other for any surface-level, petty reason. It is an appalling waste of brain cells, it is craven, and it is abhorrently human."
Abaddon said the word as if he were disgusted by it. He gripped the edges of his throne with claws sharp enough to cut the stone.
"Let me be clear so that there can be no more confusion. You will not think to belittle my dragons. You will not think to belittle your fellow humans. If you break these two sacred laws, you will be thrown out into the wilderness so that you can feel superior amongst the mud and twigs. And my only concern will be for the animal that eats you first. Hate is terrible for the blood pressure, I hear."
Kaiser and his partners tried their damndest not to smirk. However, Abaddon’s anger was not one-sided.
"Do you find something amusing, Captain?"
The young dragon immediately began to sweat. "N-No, my Uma-Sarru..."
"My displeasure with you is not insignificant either. Causing a scene for all of your brethren to see, worsening already-strained relations. Not to mention, my youngest daughter was inside that restaurant.
Had she not stopped you, you likely would have done something to scar her for life. Were you not one of my own, that alone would have put your life into question. My disappointment in you is great."
Kaiser brought his head down so quickly that he cracked the marble. He seemed as though he were about to cry.
"T-This humble one will accept any punishment given! It was not my intention to cause the princess stress, I simply-"
"Enough." Abaddon held up his hand, and the dragon didn’t make another sound.
As a leader, Abaddon was trying his best to be fair and not show much favoritism. But it was difficult.
He knew Kaiser. He knew his heart.
The dragon was a good man. Honest, hardworking, and kind. He prayed to Abaddon every single day at exactly six a.m.
He asked for strength. Wisdom. Insight. He wanted to establish himself as a beacon for the men underneath him to look up to.
He thought hard about what Odessa would want him to do. To be fair and balanced with humans and dragons alike.
"...Mark this. I do not wish to have this conversation with any of you again-"
Abaddon suddenly slumped over in his chair. He groaned as he brought his hands to his head, a deep pounding reverberating against his skull.
"My Lord!"
"Emperor!"
Only the dragons got up to attempt to aid Abaddon. However, he held his hand out for them to give him space.
"DUKEE!" The dragon roared.
In a cloud of smoke, the old man appeared right in front of Abaddon. His face was fraught with worry.
"Young master, what is the-"
"G-Get them out..! NOW!"
Duke had memories of serving Yara and Helios before he followed Abaddon.
He had never, in any life he’d lived, seen Abaddon in this kind of state. It terrified him to the core. But he could not find it within himself to disobey the young man he had watched grow into a God-Beast.
Duke turned his back and disappeared. The other occupants of the room vanished shortly after.
As soon as Abaddon was alone, he abandoned all sense of decorum.
He stood up, screaming in agony as he clutched his head.
With a single swing of his tail, he smashed his throne to pieces. He roared, and flaming lightning burst from his mouth.
His body began to betray him. His skin turned pitch black, and his scales spread like wildfire. His hair fluctuated in color. At one moment it was it’s usual crimson, at others it appeared a split black and white.
As his tattoos began to shine gold, Abaddon smashed his head into the ground to relieve the pain in his skull. However, his efforts bore no fruit. The pressure in his head continued to build and build.
The space around Abaddon began to distort. Gravity slowly lost it’s grip on the world around him.
Unable to contend, Abaddon turned his head to the ceiling.
Blood spilled from his third eye as a devastatingly powerful beam fired from his forehead.
When it struck the ceiling, it did not simply burst through it.
The shock of the blast ripped apart the walls, the floor, the ceiling, and everything it touched. In the blink of an eye, an entire castle was crumbling, it’s debris in free-fall.
Abaddon was among that debris, his mind clouded and his eyes hazy.
But he could see now.
Visions flashed by in his mind, almost too fast for him to comprehend what he was seeing.
But there was a man. One whom Abaddon could swear he’d seen before.
He was a warrior. Fair-skinned and clad in black robes. In his hand, he wielded a two-meter sword no wider than three fingers put together.
Behind his back flapped two great, feathered wings. Perhaps once angelic, now they seemed to belong to some brand of fallen angel.
Abaddon watched the dark angel cut through scores of enemies, all to reach a single treasure. A simple mound of rock, surrounded by glowing red crystals.
Old blood stained the stone, causing it to course with power. Abaddon didn’t need divine intervention to know that it was his.
Once the dark angel reached the rock, he hurriedly snatched it up before looking back in Abaddon’s direction. Finally, he could see the man’s face.
His left eye was missing, covered by an ornate eyepatch. But the eye that remained was a deep violet. His hair was a unique brand of scarlet. It almost perfectly resembled the color of wet blood.
Once he grabbed hold of the stone, there was a rush of energy around the angel before he was engulfed in a column of fire.
What stepped out of the flames was not of heaven or hell. Rather, it was a colossal red dragon, larger than two mountains stacked atop each other.
The dragon raised it’s head and let out a blood-curdling roar.
"CHARGEEE!!!"
