The New Ruler

Raphael stared at Milmos again in puzzlement, "Why aren't you at Pillar Mountain? What are you doing here? Who's in charge at Pillar Mountain now?"

This demonic creature had already been terrified out of his wits by the red dragon's sudden arrival.

This time was different from before - he had defied Raphael's will again and again. It was impossible for him to get away with it every time.

"Please allow me to explain," Milmos started to say something, but two giant figures, one gold and one red, descended from above.

"So much reinforcement! Raphael, you really have quite the setup," Old Blaze said, eyeing Sinister Wing mercenary band with an appraising look, clearly impressed by their formidable strength.

Arnold, on the other hand, was drawn to the black dragon. "Raphael, where did you pick up this adolescent female dragon from?"

Zenny defiantly held her ground, unwilling to be belittled. "Adolescent? I've been through more battles than the number of times you've taken flight!"

Arnold didn't get angry. He cautiously crawled forward to examine the fur on Zenny's head. "What's this? How can a dragon have fur?"

As he spoke, he reached out with his claws, attempting to brush aside the tuft of long hair to see what was underneath.

But this provoked Zenny's fierce resistance!

The black dragon swiftly retracted her neck, then lashed out with her left claw, unleashing a wave of dark energies towards Arnold!

But the golden dragon merely flicked his fingertip nonchalantly in mid-air, and a transparent bubble materialized, bobbing in front of him.

Upon contact with the bubble, the dark energy wave slowed as if stuck in a sponge, gradually losing its momentum. The dark magic was then diluted, and the bubble turned black before bursting apart, leaving only a few droplets splashing out with no further effect.

"Quick reflexes, little girl. You've certainly seen your share of battles."

Old Blaze rudely clambered onto the golden dragon from behind. "Looks like you came on too strong, prompting her defensive reaction."

Arnold hurriedly denied this. "I was merely expressing goodwill and curiosity."

The sight of two full-grown, formidable dragons calmly bantering made the Sinister Wing mercenaries realize they were not even worth these dragons' attention.

"You…"

Zenny was furious at being indirectly "harassed." She didn't think herself weaker than these dragons and wanted to show her strength so they wouldn't underestimate her.

But Raphael slithered over, and this red dragon exuding an aura of death and immense power forced Zenny to stand down.

"Just a stunted dragon created by humans. Other than enhanced magical power and speed, utterly useless." With a sweep of his tail, he shooed Arnold and Old Blaze away. "Go wait for me at Pillar Mountain. I'll join you after dealing with these matters."

Arnold and Old Blaze exchanged a glance, shrugged nonchalantly, and took to the air, leaving the place.

"Now let's take this opportunity to discuss our alliance," Raphael turned his head impatiently towards the motley crew before him. "I have a lot more to deal with. Which of you punks is going to keep your word?"

Among the four team leaders, the black priest Paladin showed no intention of moving.

The little witch Saphirette wore a dejected expression, clearly not daring to face the demonic dragon directly.

Baring his fangs, Raphael glanced sidelong at the black dragon Zenny. "Can you speak for them? I've already dealt with quite a few dragons from the human world. You look like some kind of mongrel born from those runts mixing with other weird creatures."

Immensely proud, Zenny took several deep breaths, furiously pointing at the werewolf Anubis. "He's the overall commander of the whole mercenary band. Take it up with him! I'm only in charge of combat, my word doesn't count!"

Seeing the demonic dragon shift those amber vertical pupils towards him, Anubis cursed his unreliable comrades while personally experiencing the formidable presence of Morey's soldiers.

He doubted he could muster the courage for a suicidal charge under such oppressive might.

"I'll get straight to the point. You may have just arrived here and not understood the rules, so I'll let that slide," Raphael lowered his head, bearing down on the werewolf.

Anubis summoned the courage of his next life to avoid being paralyzed by the overwhelming aura of terror washing over him.

"But from now on, you are not to act on your own. You will follow my orders - or those of anyone I delegate authority to. If I tell you to die, you cannot live! Otherwise, I will personally teach you the meaning of 'rules'!"

The putrid draconic roar made Anubis shut his eyes, his mind going blank as stars burst in his vision. He could only nod frantically, desperate to end this torment.

"Good." Raphael raised his head, satisfied. "Of course, I'm not like those blood-sucking profiteers among humans. You won't need to worry about food and lodging. As for payment, it will satisfy you - but that's after the war is over."

Anubis continued nodding dazedly in agreement.

Not lingering with the mercenaries further, Raphael ordered the blood wyvern, "Take Milmos, and those two humans," he pointed at Viscount Moran and Shena, "back to Pillar Mountain!"

Alvis then stepped forward, shouting, "Hey! Red Dragon Lord! Remember me?"

Raphael smiled. "You come along too."

Finally, he instructed Hil, "Keep a close watch on this bunch. Contact me with the communication orb if anything happens."

The rat dragon chieftain accepted the order with a kneeling bow.

With a disdainful snort, Raphael took flight with a howling windstorm, surrounded and followed by numerous blood wyverns back towards Pillar Mountain.

"Why don't you tell me what mischief you all got up to while I was away!"

Upon returning to the mountain, Raphael immediately cornered the unsteady Milmos who had just landed in the reconstructed community area. The surrounding scaffolding, tools, and Terran No. 2 dummy machines were knocked over, with kobolds and dwarves working there scattering in retreat.

"Master! Master! I…"

Just as Milmos tried to explain, a raven flew out from somewhere and perched on Raphael's protruding demonic horn, gazing at him with a mocking expression.

"I know you abandoned your post and incited conflict with the humans, mobilizing the kin and nearly escalating into armed confrontation!" Raphael gritted out word-by-word, thick drool seeping from the gaps between his fangs.

"You…you truly have extraordinary perception over us," Milmos panicked, at a loss for an explanation as he kept scooting backwards on the ground. But there was no escape behind him as he faced his enraged master.

"It was I who advised him to do this, and I was the one calling the shots from start to finish. I made him believe that acting this way could bring you greater wealth and benefit. Milmos only cooperated out of consideration for you," Alvis finally stepped forward to defuse the situation for his comrade.

Raphael closed his mouth and turned his gaze towards him, abandoning the pitiful creature who kept crawling back in fear. "Alvis, my strategist, I didn't expect you to give me such a 'surprise' upon our reunion! Why don't you explain yourself and see if I can spare your life?"

"Of course!" Alvis looked towards Shena and Viscount Moran. "After I arrived here, I found that the most powerful and vibrant populace was monopolized and ruled by certain individuals. They controlled these people's work, food, shelter, even their very lives. They were the true, uncrowned kings of this land."

"That was my intention - I need professionals to manage those humans to eventually use against their own kind," said Raphael.

"On that note, I have actually put it into practice for you - I borrowed a sliver of the power leaking from your talons to temporarily banish them and try managing things myself. You'll find it wasn't difficult at all. You can ask the dwarves and resident kin - despite staff shortages during the few days I was in charge, there were no disruptions and construction progressed steadily."

Raphael narrowed his vertical pupils upon hearing this. He knew efficiently utilizing a million people required immense managerial skill, and the collective force produced would be enough to counter the humans.

It was impossible for the dragon kin to manage - ignorant of human knowledge and rules, using brute force subjugation would only tank efficiency, becoming a liability.

If these civilians were seen as assets, they would constantly depreciate in Raphael's hands until becoming worthless.

The human nobles were the only reliable proxies who could increase the value of these assets while preserving their inherent worth - which was why Raphael left them alone. The "crops" would eventually ripen for harvesting, no need to bother until then.

"I had considered dividing power among the nobles, but never found suitable candidates," he mused. "Milmos was cultivated to improve the old kin's efficiency. Its competition with Enokeitie drove up my domain's production and construction rates. Now it seems another opportunity has arisen."

Raphael fell silent for a long while as Alvis felt assured of his plan's success in his heart.

After understanding Erl's situation, he immediately analyzed that the red dragon was "contracting agents" to manage malignant assets. It wasn't full trust in the human nobles, but a lack of choice.

"My goal is power! Only then can I control my own destiny instead of being ordered around like a tool!" Alvis thought. "Raphael must know concentrating power in one force is risky, but the external pressure is likely too great for him to manage the future consequences."

"Everything I've done proves I can handle the populace issue for him while also having a broad perspective - avoiding personal desires that undermine the overall strength. It's a qualified interview performance."

Alvis wanted to rise quickly, but the situation had changed - the two domains were already ruled by Enokeitie and Milmos. They hadn't erred, so Raphael wouldn't remove them. Plus, Alvis didn't want to be a steward in an insular environment.

Only the populous Erl was his target.

But the old nobles were deeply entrenched, their roots sunk into this land. Raphael couldn't engage in outright conflict - at most, he could insert Alvis, leaving him a mere figurehead.

So Alvis exploited the conflicting factions and his old ties with the dragon kin, assembling dwarves, humans and dragon kin to strike precisely at the nobles' weakness, forcing them to temporarily relinquish control of administration.

Next was the test phase - ensuring Erl and the factions' stability while proving his ability to Raphael, taking the chance to rally some forces. At least the dwarves, Komo and Amelia had cooperated with him, supporting him from behind to avoid being sidelined as a mere puppet.

Deceptions like mobilizing the dragon kin without permission were minor issues, not Raphael's red lines.

"All this effort setting up this gambit was to pass this test with the red dragon," Alvis watched the pensive demonic dragon, unconsciously wiping his sweaty palms.

"Donnier, that was the lad's aim," Moran whispered to Shena.

"Fair enough," Shena nodded after considering it. "Human greed is boundless. If we truly win this war, our upfront investment's returns will turn any being green with envy. The demonic dragon will definitely come for us. Having an emergency regent proxy puts our minds at ease."

"You are indeed a talented one," Raphael finally opened his mouth. "I could tell from the first time we met - you dared charge me fearlessly."

Alvis' thumping heart gradually slowed as he exposed his teeth, as white as the red dragon's, grinning up at him. "Thank you for the praise. I came here with no way back, so your cause is my lifelong pursuit."

Two hours later, a blood wyvern flew out from Pillar Mountain at top speed, delivering a sheepskin scroll bearing a fiery phoenix crest into the center.

Komo then listened in disbelief as the dragon linguist translated, before excitedly rushing to the nearby printing workshop.

During the civilian's midday work break to eat, patrol squads and scores of blood wyverns mobilized, disseminating the latest government announcement by land and air.

Barbara, still building the school, sat on a brick wall, reading:

"By order of the regent proxy of Erl Kingdom, a new position of 'governing official' shall be established to oversee Erl's affairs, propaganda, education and administration. Independent finance, engineering and food departments not under the governing official's jurisdiction will also be set up."

Barbara took a bite of the juice-dripping bread, hopped off the wall to scoop water from the large barrel in the corner to drink, then continued reading: "Alvis Deluca shall serve as the governing official, appointing Tony de Komo as propaganda minister, Iris Amelia as administrative minister, and a host of dwarves as military manufacturers."

She scanned the myriad clauses for her own role, seemingly relegated to a basic engineering worker.

"Hey, little girl, do you know what this means?" An eerie voice came from behind Barbara, startling her. Turning, she saw it was old Rudolph, the madman.

"What does it mean?" Barbara asked worriedly, more concerned if the old man had an episode.

This time, Rudolph didn't flail about or speak in that bizarre language, but rather fretted, "They've subdivided the work - bad news. It means this regime's power will grow stronger, and an intellectual has joined the demonic dragon's ranks. In my long life of reading, the harbinger of any formidable nation's rise is constantly subdividing responsibilities and duties - like constructing an efficient machine."

"And this!" Rudolph's age-spotted hand pointed to one word. "Education! They're starting to prioritize education! They're planning for the future! If they have the capacity to spare for the days ahead, it means the present situation is stable."

His bloodshot eyes widened as he muttered, "We may end up lifelong subjects of the demonic dragons."