The dragons channeled their mana and unleashed Dragon Fear, making the impact of their roar far beyond that of an ordinary predator’s roar. A dragon’s roar could completely paralyze the muscles of living beings and even shake the very foundation of their mana halls. Those exposed to the Dragon Fear spasmed violently and coughed up blood as their mana went wild within them. Some even blacked out on the spot. ‘W-What’s going on?!’ Siegfried couldn’t make sense of why a whole swarm of dragons had appeared out of nowhere. “How dare you?!” The Gold Dragon leading the dragons roared in a thunderous booming voice. “You evil being! Did you really think you could descend upon the Middle Realm and escape unscathed?!” Siegfried instantly recognized the Gold Dragon at a mere glance. ‘Eh?! Isn’t that Elder Gerog?!’ He had seen Gerog’s true form before, so it wasn't strange for Siegfried to identify him immediately. ‘But why is he here? And why with the other dragons too?’ Gerog and the rest of the dragons landed on the walls of Odessa, crushing them under their weight. Their reptilian eyes scanned the area as if they were looking for their prey. “Show yourself! Stop hiding like a rat!” “Come out this instant!” “You insolent wretch! You’ll regret setting foot in the Middle Realm!” Gerog and the dragons roared once again, shaking the very ground. Siegfried cautiously approached them and greeted, “Erm... Hello, Elder?” “Hmm?! What are you doing here?!” Gerog asked, puzzled by Siegfried’s sudden appearance. “Well, uh... What happened was—” “Hoho! As expected of an honorary dragon!” “W-What do you mean by that? I haven't said anything yet—” “You must’ve sensed that vile creature’s aura and rushed here before us, right?!” “Hah! Truly impressive! Just what I’d expect from an honorary dragon!” Gerog seemed to have completely misunderstood the situation, as he thought Siegfried had come early to confront the invader from the Demon Realm. Meanwhile, the other Dragon Lords were just as impressed. “Of course! That makes perfect sense!” “What did I tell you? That kid is really special.” “Yes, I agree. I really like that boy.” They spared no praises and looked visibly pleased. “Wait... don’t tell me you already took care of him? But that would be impossible even for you! Did you perhaps get lucky and manage to strike him down the moment he descended? Is that what happened?” “I must know! Come now, tell me what happened!” Gerog eagerly pressed Siegfried to spill the tea. Siegfried finally realized why Gerog and the other dragons had shown up. As the guardians of the Middle Realm, they possessed the ability to instantly detect the descent of powerful demons such as the demon lords. They would immediately mobilize in response. “No, that is not what happened, Elder.” “Hmm? What do you mean by that?” “Well, actually...” Siegfried hesitated for a moment. He was wary of speaking the truth in front of the millions watching, so he flew up to Gerog’s ear and whispered, “Actually... I am that demon lord...” “I, uh, recently made a trip to the Demon Realm, and...” Whisper, whisper, whisper... Siegfried gave Gerog a quick rundown of what had happened. Gerog’s eyes widened more and more in disbelief as he listened. What Siegfried had told him was truly unprecedented. This was the first time that something like that had happened, despite the long history of the world since the dawn of creation, and it was also something that no dragon could ever imagine. “Is... Is that really true?” “Yes, well. It just kind of turned out that way,” Siegfried replied, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. Then, he smiled and said, “So, technically, nobody descended from the Demon Realm. There is nothing to worry about. Haha...” “And this sort of thing might happen from time to time in the future. It would be impractical for you to come every single time so...” “Yes, that’s true. It sounds like we will have to recalibrate the detection system.” And just like that, Siegfried’s use of Demon Lord’s Descent caused a giant misunderstanding that ended with the arrival of Gerog and the dragons. The misunderstanding was resolved, but unfortunately, that wasn't the end of the problems... “Anyway, I understand what you mean. We will be taking our leave now. Good luck with everything.” Gerog left those parting words and turned around to leave. True to their nature as dragons, which were an inherently lazy species, he wanted to return to his lair as fast as possible and just go back to sleep. However, Siegfried was not about to let the dragons just walk off like that. “Elders! Please, wait a moment! Are you just going to leave ?” Siegfried called out, stopping the dragons in their tracks. “Hm? The demon that descended was you, no? So isn’t that the end of it? What else is there left for us to do?” “No, that is not what I meant. Are you going to just leave like that after wrecking things?” Siegfried frowned and asked. “Huh? What do you mean by that?” “We fought hard to defend this place, but you went and smashed the walls,” Siegfried grumbled, pointing under Gerog’s feet. Sure enough, Gerog and the dragons had destroyed the walls and the structures protecting Odessa. “I was out here fighting for nearly an hour now! I fought with my life on the line!” “R-Right, my apologies...” “And how are we to defend ourselves in the next battle without our walls or towers?” “I-I apologize for this. I really have no excuse...” “Sigh... I seriously can’t take this anymore.” Siegfried let out a long sigh and covered his face with one hand. For more chapters visıt 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⟡𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕥⟡𝕟𝕖𝕥 Gerog squirmed uncomfortably the more Siegfried made his irritation obvious. The relationship between Siegfried and the dragons was clearly one-sided now, and it went without saying that the one who had the upper hand was not the dragons, but rather, Siegfried. Sure, the dragons were paying him to get rid of the Dragon Slayers, but the truth was that Siegfried was the only one capable of protecting them from their natural predators. If Siegfried ever decided to go on strike, then the dragons would not even be able to step outside their lairs without fearing for their lives. “W-What do you want us to do, then? We are truly sorry about this...” Gerog asked, sounding completely flustered. “What else? You have to restore everything back to how it was.” “Were you going to just leave it and walk away?” “N-No! Of course not!” “Then please get to work. Our enemies will eventually come back, and we cannot leave this place .” At Siegfried’s words, Gerog quickly sprang into action. “Everyone! What are you standing around for? Move it! Let’s get to work!” Gerog did not stop there. He turned to the other Dragon Lords who had come with him and ordered them to help repair the collapsed walls and structures. And so, an utterly shocking scene unfolded. “Heave-ho! Heave-ho!” “That wall’s crooked! Lay the foundation properly, will you?!” “Is this the right angle?” “Move! Let me take a look!” Gerog and the other Dragon Lords began huffing and puffing as they repaired the fortress walls. A once-in-a-lifetime sight few would ever witness unfolded before the eyes of the people. The truth was that Gerog and the Dragon Lords could easily rebuild the walls with magic, but they didn't do that. The answer was simple—panic. They were flustered upon hearing that Siegfried had become a demon lord, and when they saw him snap about the damage they had caused, they panicked. They were so panicked that they forgot to use magic to fix everthing. “Does he... have a relationship with the dragons, too?” “An honorary dragon? Is he even human?” “This is just bizarre...” “I never thought I would witness something in my life.” The people of Odessa were left speechless as they watched Siegfried casually talking with the Dragon Lords. To make things even more shocking, he even went as far as ordering them to do hard labor. Considering that dragons traditionally never viewed humans as equals and often looked down on them with contempt, this scene was nothing short of a huge shock to them. Siegfried’s reputation was bound to skyrocket even further once stories of this sight were made and spread. The Martial God, Siegfried van Proa, not only had a close relationship with the Dragon Lords, but he even made them rebuild fortress walls. This was a tale that would inevitably spread like wildfire. Once that happened, Siegfried’s fame would soar, along with the influence of the Church of Heroes. The fastest-growing religion on the continent among NPCs was none other than the Church of Heroes. On top of that, it even expanded its influence to Adventurers, causing them to join the church in droves just to receive quests. In other words, Siegfried had already formed a massive power base before he could even try to gather followers. Meanwhile, the Dragon Lords restored the collapsed fortress walls in no time. Gerog turned and proudly declared, “All done! It looks good as new, right? What do you think?” “Well, yet, but... What about the defensive magic circles and the busted anti-air cannons?” Siegfried asked, inspecting the fortress walls. “How are we supposed to defend against the enemy without any magic circles or anti-air cannons? Are we all just supposed to stand there and get bombed by their battleships?” “Ah! I didn’t think of that!” Realizing that Siegfried had a point, Gerog stretched the bridge of his snout awkwardly with a claw. “Hold on just a moment!” With that, Gerog opened his Inventory. “Leave the magic circles to me!” The other Dragon Lords began carving an array of magical defensive circles into the fortress walls with their draconic incantations. This was a huge boon for the Kiev Kingdom. A defensive magic circle cast by a Dragon Lord was far superior compared to those made by human mages. Just then, Gerog pulled out ten cannons from his inventory, each one designed like a dragon’s head, and handed them to Siegfried. “I made these for fun about one thousand five hundred years ago. I hope it is to your liking.” Curious, Siegfried examined the cannons Gerog had given him using the Rune of Insight. [A cannon crafted by Dragon Lord Gerog as a hobby roughly 1,500 years ago.] [Capable of firing in all directions, it can serve as both an anti-air cannon and a ground cannon.] [It uses AAA-Grade fire mana stones as its energy source, and it will require no physical ammunition as long as it has mana.] [Effect: Fires the 10th Circle offensive spell Hellfire twice per minute.] Siegfried jumped in shock after seeing the details of the Dragonhead Cannon. A cannon capable of firing two rounds of Hellfire every minute was not a joke. It was all because Hellfire was considered one of the most powerful and destructive tenth-circle magic spells. ‘One of these packs has more firepower than fifty of our new cannons!’ Just imagining the damage that a cannon capable of firing Hellfire would do was enough to send a chill down Siegfried’s spine. Siegfried’s nose twitched as soon as he saw the details of the Dragonhead Cannons. It was the unmistakable scent of money; he had instinctively sniffed it out. ‘First, I’ll lend these to the Kiev Kingdom and charge them a usage fee. Then, I’ll take them back to the Proatine Kingdom, break them down, research every single part, and learn whatever technology we can get from them.’ His mind had already begun spinning with all the ways he could benefit from the cannons. In just that split second, he came up with a way to profit from them and enhance the Proatine Kingdom’s military technology, too. “So, will that do? Surely that’s enough, isn’t it?” Gerog asked. “It is more than enough, Elder. I am truly grateful for your generosity, Great and Mighty One!” Siegfried exclaimed, bowing deeply to Gerog. Even if he had pushed hard during their negotiations, Siegfried knew that dragons had a soft spot for flattery. Thus, he made sure to show proper respect after the negotiations. “Bwahaha! Think nothing of it!” Gerog laughed heartily, looking clearly pleased by the flattery. The Dragon Lords were clearly delighted by Siegfried, as he had become even more powerful after becoming a demon lord, which meant he was now even more effective as a shield against the Dragon Slayers. “Then, is that everything?” “Good, good. In that case, we will take our leave now. Take care.” With those final words, Gerog quickly took off with the other Dragon Lords. “Yes, let’s get out of here before he squeezes anything else out of us!” In truth, Gerog and the Dragon Lords were terrified that Siegfried would milk them even more by using various excuses. On the other hand, Siegfried hummed happily. After all, he was walking away after scoring ten Dragonhead Cannons from Gerog. Suddenly, Siegfried felt dizzy, and the world around him started spinning. Exactly one second later... He collapsed to the ground.