Chapter 916: The Dragon’s Pact

“A toast!” Leonidas bellowed from his floating palace, raising his goblet. “To Isabella for slaying a dragon lord, and to our enemies for their temporary retreat!”

Orion, Makareth, and Isabella were gathered around him. Isabella just rolled her eyes. Her opponent had only been at the upper-legendary tier, and Orion had been forced to step in at the last second to clean up the mess. It wasn’t exactly a victory she could brag about.

But Leonidas didn’t care; the bro just wanted an excuse to drink.

“Big Boss, I don’t think these dragons are as tough as they’re made out to be,” Makareth boasted, already several drinks in. “They’re pretty easy to kill!”

After several successful skirmishes, he was starting to look down on the dragons’ low-to-mid-tier forces.

“Kid, you haven’t seen anything yet,” Leonidas chided. “The dragons’ regular armies haven’t even been deployed. What you’re facing now are just their second-rate vassal races. Even that dragon Isabella killed was probably some outcast they didn’t care about.”

“Never underestimate a weak enemy, and never fear a strong one. You need to be careful, Little M.”

With two hotheads of the legendary level under his command, Leonidas felt obligated to lecture them, hoping they wouldn’t get complacent.

“Bro.”

Orion, who had been quietly tearing into a roasted fish, suddenly looked up and got Leonidas’s attention, pulling him away from his drinking contest with Makareth.

“Heh heh. I was just getting ready to stretch my legs, and these reptiles are finally making a move,” Leonidas said, putting down his goblet. He stood and stared into the distance.

From the direction of Dragonflame Island, both he and Orion could sense three powerful arch lord signatures, moving slowly toward them. After a series of minor defeats and heavy losses to their vassals, the dragons were finally responding.

“So, my bros, is it time for some action?” Makareth chimed in. The kid had a silver tongue. After just a few days, he had started calling Leonidas “bro” just like Orion did, and had extended the honor to Orion as well—a level of familiarity that not even Kraken had achieved.

“Weren’t you just complaining that the enemy was too weak?” Leonidas shot back. “You and Isabella can take the lead on this next one. Go test the waters.”

“Don’t worry, bro! Leave it to me and Sister Isabella!”

Orion and Leonidas exchanged a look. Makareth was a true Demon, always setting traps for others while finding himself a convenient shield. With that one sentence, he had just dragged the ever-eager, clueless Isabella to the edge of the abyss with him.

Now, if anything went wrong, Leonidas and Orion wouldn’t be able to scold him without also scolding her.

The clever devil, Orion thought.

Poor, clueless girl, Leonidas thought at the same time.

Titanion Realm, Stoneheart City.

On the throne of his castle, Orion opened the survivor’s chest he’d acquired during the Dragonflame Island raid. It was the reward he had been most looking forward to lately.

The box dissolved into a shower of light, but what appeared in Orion’s hand was not a piece of equipment, a skill scroll, or even a miniature building.

It was a palm-sized rune, pulsing with a mysterious aura.

[Dragon’s Pact]

Type: Rune (Special)

Quality: Legendary

Attached Effect: Draconic Dread

Description: The wielder of this rune is witnessed by the ancient Dragon God and exerts a suppressive effect over all dragonkind. The probability of successfully subjugating draconic creatures is greatly increased.

Note: This rune can be fused into a weapon or piece of equipment, where it will automatically generate a special effect or skill that suppresses dragons.

Item Evaluation: Runes and dragons have an ancient, intertwined history.

Orion stared at the rune in his open palm, lost in thought. He’d never acquired a special item like this before and had little experience with them. But he knew it was incredibly valuable—essentially a permanent, high-tier taming skill for dragons.

The option to fuse it into a weapon was something he had no use for at the moment.

He closed his hand into a fist. The Dragon’s Pact dissolved into a phantom dragon of light that coiled around his right arm. When the glow faded, a faint, shimmering dragon tattoo was left on his forearm.

Just as Orion lifted his arm to inspect it, a wave of cheers and excited shouts drifted up from the castle’s main square.

“Look! The prince really has a dragon!”

“Whoa… it really is a dragon! And it’s black!”

“What a cute baby dragon!”

“And the princess is really pretty, too!”

In the square below, nearly two hundred Tribe younglings were gathered—all of Pallas’s friends from the youth camp. He had used his dragon’s hatching as an excuse to invite them all over for a party.

Of course, the idea had most likely come from the true boss of the Stoneheart Horde’s next generation, his older sister Elara.

At that moment, Pallas was the center of attention. Hovering over his head was a tiny, completely black dragon whelp. It was so young it hadn’t even grown scales yet, and it flapped its fleshy wings, snapping and snarling playfully at the surrounding younglings.

“My wolf pup won’t move!” a young boy named Degar cried out. The wolf pup he had brought to show off to his friends was now huddled between his legs, trembling uncontrollably. Degar was the youngest son of Thundar, and considered the one with the most potential.

Several other children were in the same situation. Their own young pets—a Raptor, cave spiders, a Flame-Tiger, a thunderhawk, a vulture—had all retreated to their small masters’ sides, cowering.

“Brother,” Elara said, walking up to Pallas and pinching his cheek, which was puffed up with pride from all the compliments. “Tell your Akediel to retract his dragon aura. He’s scaring everyone’s pets.”

Pallas pouted, annoyed at having his face pinched. But one look at Elara’s deceptively sweet smile sent a shiver down his spine. He quickly communicated with the black dragon, Akediel, who immediately suppressed his aura and landed gently on Pallas’s shoulder.

The whelp’s arrival was met with a new wave of oohs and ahhs from the children, who crowded around Pallas once more.

Not far away, on a long veranda at the edge of the square, a group of off-duty Stoneheart Horde elders had gathered to watch the younglings’ celebration. It was a chance for the children to play, show off their pets and weapons, and, most importantly, enjoy a special feast.

The elders had all come voluntarily to help with the food, since a pack of younglings would be hungry after playing all day.

As they saw Orion observing from above, they bowed.

“My lord!”