Chapter 29 : We decided not to call this a meeting (1)

Death.

Murder.

A life snuffed out.

The end of the line.

There was only one conclusion.

Every single cell in their bodies trembled in fear, screaming the same desperate warning—

Run.

Run from that black dragon. Now.

Fly. Fly anywhere. Just escape to the skies.

But cruelly, their legs… their wings… refused to obey.

Their entire bodies had frozen stiff from the sheer killing intent exuding from the black dragon. They couldn’t even twitch a finger.

Like mice before a snake—no, a perfect image of predator and prey.

Just a passing glance from those crimson eyes was enough to send every scale on their bodies bristling.

They were never even on the same level to begin with.

The being in front of them may look like a dragon—but she was something else entirely.

The wide, terrified eyes of the Blue Dragon clan quietly shifted to the right.

Toward the one and only Ancient Dragon Lord.

It was unmistakably a desperate cry for help.

Please… Please do something about your daughter. We’re scared shtless.*

‘[[[Lord… please… save us…!!]]]’

In response, Aquila turned his head in a sharp motion—without a shred of hesitation.

‘I want to live too, Your Honor.’

‘[[[YOU’RE THE DAMN JUDGE, YOU F*CKER!!!!!!]]]’

And just like that, the final lifeline the Blue Dragons had clung to… snapped in an instant.

A lifeline that turned out to be moldy and rotten all along.

Like—seriously, Lord? You’re really gonna do us like that? Do you even have a conscience? Do you even qualify as a person—no, a dragon?!

Damn it. It’s over. There’s no hope left. We’re completely f*cked.

At this rate, total annihilation was guaranteed.

In the blink of an eye, that black dragon would tear their throats out with her claws.

“I have to survive… no matter what…!”

Bacalion made the painful decision to use his very last resort—one he swore he’d never use.

Betrayal.

That’s right. He was prepared to sacrifice his parents and clan as collateral, paying 1000 life points in exchange, just to run the hell away.

Because this whole trial? It wasn’t even his idea to begin with!

He begged them not to do it, but his idiotic parents had insisted and forced it forward!

And now look! Look where that got them!!

Honestly speaking, he’d already paid for his crimes with bodily injury. There was no reason for him to be groveling before Olivia like this!!

He told them not to do it! He warned them! And now—now he was done. F*ck it all.

They didn’t listen, and now they could deal with the consequences.

‘I’m not dying here!!’

‘I’m way too young to die!!!’

With that glorious mental gymnastics in place, Bacalion bowed his trembling head low, pressing himself flat against the floor.

“L-Lady Olivia, please, hear me out! This trial was… it was all my parents’ doing—”

At that moment—

“””[We apologize!! O Great Lord of the Black Clan!!!]”””

BOOM!!

“…Huh?”

Unable to process what had just happened, Bacalion let out a dumbfounded noise.

His parents—Sillin and Leviathan—had prostrated themselves before him, heads pressed to the ground before he could even react. And not in their humanoid forms either. They had released their polymorphs, revealing their true dragon forms.

“W-What!? M-Mom? Dad?! What the hell is this—?! D-Don’t tell me…!”

Shocked, Bacalion stammered in a whisper. But halfway through his sentence, he seemed to realize something crucial and went completely pale.

As if someone had bashed the back of his head with a hammer.

He clenched his fists so tightly that blood began to drip from his palms.

Sillin and Leviathan—his very own parents—were trying to sacrifice themselves to save him and their entire clan…!

As parents, as leaders of the Blue Dragon Clan, they had resolved to take the full blame for the trial upon themselves.

How noble. How dignified.

This—this was true noblesse oblige.

And in contrast… what had he been doing until now?

He had plotted to sell out his family and escape alone. An utterly selfish plan.

Disgraceful…! And he dared call himself the firstborn son of the Dragon Lord leading the Blue Clan?

Bacalion ground his teeth, burning with shame.

Yes… he had once vowed to dedicate his entire life to the prosperity of the Blue Clan.

If it meant peace and revival for the clan, he was even willing to become the foundation stone—sacrificing his own life without hesitation.

His trembling had long since ceased.

If anything, wasn’t he the root cause of this whole disaster in the first place?

Bacalion no longer wanted to run away.

Like his parents, he released his polymorph and bowed his head in dragon form, speaking in a calm and composed voice.

“[No, Great Lord of the Black Clan. My parents have done nothing wro—]”

He tried to speak.

THUD! THUD!

But before he could finish, the ground-shaking impact echoed again.

Sillin and Leviathan slammed their heads against the floor even harder than before, cutting him off.

“[M-Mom! Dad! Stop it! This trial is my—!]”
“[—Please, forgive the impudence of our foolish son!]”
“[As his parents, it’s our fault for failing to stop his reckless stubbornness!]”

…Wait.

“[He’s always been timid, clueless about the ways of the world. We never imagined he would go as far as to steal our family seal and directly petition the Ancient Dragon Lord himself!]”

………Wait, what??

“[We begged him to withdraw the charges! But he threatened to kill himself if we didn’t obey his will. We had no choice but to comply!]”

His mother’s voice pierced deep into his ears.

This was real.

“[W-Wait a second! Mom! What kind of bulls—!]”
“[Yes, he may be a fool, but he’s still our precious child…!]”
“[What the f*ck are you two even talking about right now!!!??]”

Bacalion’s desperate cries were thoroughly ignored as his parents embraced each other tightly, tears streaming down their faces.

It was Oscar-worthy melodrama.

“[Sniff… Darling…!]”
“[Don’t cry, honey…! I’m the one who failed our son…! It’s all my fault…! sob]”
“[Hmph, yeah! It is your fault! I told you not to drink so much that night!!]”

SMACK!

Sillin smacked Leviathan’s back hard.

“[OWWW!? D-Darling!? That hurt!]”
“[Of course it f*cking hurt! Did you think I smacked you out of love!?]”

Meanwhile, the rest of the Blue Clan began murmuring.

So Bacalion was just a piece of sh*t after all?

Would offering that bastard up fix everything?

“[You f*cking b—Gah!]”

Thud.

In the end, Bacalion collapsed on the spot, clutching the back of his neck.

It was a total public execution. Parents vs. son. Total knockout.

It was chaos—utter, glorious chaos. Madness was in full bloom.

Turns out, filial betrayal isn’t just a privilege for the kids.

***

Meanwhile, Dante and Olivia were standing to the side, watching the whole mess unfold with expressions of utter disbelief.

If you’re wondering why Olivia of all people was quietly listening and not immediately going for their throats—

It’s because Dante had desperately held her back, soothing her and begging her to just observe their reaction for a little while.

In truth, he was stalling for time to prevent a full-blown dragon massacre.

Still, the results had exceeded even his wildest expectations.

They say even a hedgehog won’t raise its spines against its child. But dragons?

They’d sell their kid at a bargain-bin price just to save their own skins.

So this is what happens when a creature’s back is against the wall.

When it comes to survival, love and bloodlines don’t mean sh*t.

Aha. These lizards aren’t even on par with hedgehogs. This is why you can’t trust reptiles.

“Why.”
“They basically self-destructed. So… now what?”
“What do you mean ‘now what’? We won the trial.”
“Holy sh*t, that was insane.”

Wow. The trial was nothing but a joke. Why the hell were they so nervous before?

“Well then… I guess it’s about time we go pluck those bastards’ reverse scales.”

Crack, crack—Olivia rolled her knuckles as she began approaching the panicked swarm of Blue Dragons.

Or she tried to.

CATCH!

Had it not been for Dante clinging to her waist.

“Olivia… I get how you feel, really. But can we not kill them? I think I’ll have nightmares if we do. Besides, you already got your revenge.”

“Hmm. Then… what if I just take out twenty of them?”

Her sweet tone was completely at odds with the terrifying words she uttered.

Dante shook his head frantically.

“…Ten?”
(Shakes head rapidly)
“…Five.”
“Can’t you spare a thought for my delicate heart that doesn’t want to see a bloodbath of dragon guts right in front of me!?”
“Delicate heart my ass. You don’t even know what delicate means, you dumb f*ck.”
“Still!!”
“…Fine. But in exchange—”

She spun around and wrapped her arms around Dante’s neck, wearing the smuggest grin like she was being incredibly generous.

“Hey, we won the trial, and look—my dad’s right over there. Why not go straight into the family introduction and knock out the honeymoon too!?”

“ARE YOU FCKING SKIPPING HALF THE DAMN STORY, YOU CRAZY LIZARD!?”
“Love doesn’t need stages, dumb*ss!!”
“Yes it f*cking does, you goddamn unhinged psycho dragon!!!”

Were they dreaming right now?

Or had they died before realizing it and were now watching some surreal afterlife illusion?

At some point during their chaos, the Blue Dragon Clan had quietly stepped away.

And the Ancient Dragon Lord Aquila, who had withdrawn earlier for safety, now watched Dante and Olivia’s back-and-forth with a blank, stunned expression.

A heavy silence fell over the clearing.

Some eyes held shock, some held horror, others held confusion, anger, frustration, even despair.

The dragons watched quietly, every gaze filled with a kaleidoscope of emotions.

Because that Olivia—the wild, narcissistic, and absolutely psychopathic black dragon—

Was casually chatting with a demon boy.

The same Olivia who once shredded a dragon into 36 pieces for insulting her and scattered the remains across the seven seas…

Was showing affection for someone who cursed at her nonstop…?

Even calling her most hated word—“lizard”—over and over… and she wasn’t obliterating him?

The infamous Olivia, who didn’t even listen to her parents, was obediently responding to a demon’s request without a single argument…?

And what now? Marriage? A family meeting?

That cold, proud, cruel black dragon—who they thought had black blood instead of red—was in love?

Bullsh*t.

Don’t even say it out loud.

Something was clearly wrong.

Yes, this wasn’t reality. This was a hallucination!

This could never happen.

Even if the world split in half, it could never happen.

Even if the heavens collapsed and the earth cracked open, this would still never happen.

That mad dragon, in love with someone? This had to be an omen of the end of the world.

If—by any chance—someone could actually make this happen in real life…

────Then that person must be a god.

“?, Lady Olivia, uh… their eyes look kinda weird. Why are they looking at me like I’m some sacred being or something…?”

“What? Who the hell’s looking at my man like that without a single f*cking ounce of fear!?”

Growling, Olivia snatched Dante up and hugged him tightly.

“Hey, you see this guy?”

“……”

“This cute, lovely, sassy little thing who can turn into a sweet, loyal puppy in a second—do you see him, you fcking bastards!?”

“W-We see him…!!”

“He’s mine, so why the fck are you looking at him like that? Want me to gouge your eyes out? Stop staring or I swear—!”

“Eeeek…!!”

As every dragon shoved their heads into the dirt like ostriches, Olivia smiled in satisfaction and gently tapped Aquila’s horn.

“Dad, you don’t have to bow. You’re the father-in-law, after all. Gotta at least take a good look at your son-in-law’s face.”

“[Y-Yes… daughter…]”

“…Why are you using honorifics now?”

Who wouldn’t.

Aquila was too terrified to even meet his own daughter’s eyes.

“AND WHY THE HELL IS MARRIAGE EVEN PART OF THIS CONVERSATION IN THE FIRST PLACE?!”

From that moment on, Aquila—and eventually the entire dragon race—engraved one truth deep in their hearts:

Dante is our only hope.
He is the leash that restrains the Mad Dragon.
He is our final bastion.

His death would mean the end of the world.
His injury would bring storms of blood to both the dragon and demon realms.
And the day Olivia and Dante become one…

────Would be the day world peace is finally achieved.