My Dragon King System-Chapter 314: Knowing When You’re Beaten

When the light finally cleared...

Most of the ground and everything within several hundred meters of it was gone entirely now.

And at the center of a massive scorched crater lay two figures...

Astaroth’s body rested limply across Asmodai’s legs as he cradled her gently. Her skin was covered in burns and her breathing shallow...

She laughed weakly, it sounded broken and mixed with tears as her life began slipping away...

"We... almost had him..." she whispered hoarsely between labored breaths.

Asmodai said nothing. His own body was covered in scorched burns as well and tears welled up in his eyes as he held his twin sister close.

"You stupid girl" he said, then smiled a bit.

Her hand reached up weakly to touch his face one last time, then it fell and her body starts disintegrating into floating dust.

Asmodai closed his eyes tightly as grief tore through him immensely. He may not have shown it so much but his twin was the only one he did actually care about.

Footsteps approached slowly, and it was Orion’s. He walked forward until he stood just a few meters away from Asmodai who still cradled Astaroth’s fading body.

The Archon said nothing at first, allowing them this moment of peace.

Finally he said in a quiet tone; "I commend you for surviving that. If circumstances were different, I would have loved to keep fighting you both."

He paused before adding solemnly: "But your kind has to go."

He raised one hand toward the sky once more and another bolt of lightning descended from above to strike his open palm directly.

Asmodai did nothing in present. Not even his head was raised. Losing Astaroth had broken him, and deep down he knew this Archon was far stronger still.

Orion then brought his hand downwards as the second Bolt descended.

——

At the Mirean Sea...

High above those waters, three figures floated in midair.

Vyntis, the Archon had both arms crossed as water coiled around his body in elegant spira as they circled his torso, arms, and legs.

His expression was calm, almost bored, as he regarded the two demon lords before him.

Korvax, the Demon Lord of Eternal Cycles, floated several meters away. His body was covered in wounds and bruises.

Beside him was Zephron, the Demon Lord of Sloth. The former human mage looked like he’d been through a meat grinder.

His clothes were torn and singed and blood was splattered across his face and chest. One arm was definitely dislocated or broken.

The purple-tinted shades on his nose was barely positioned right, with one lens completely shattered and the other with cracks.

And yet, despite all of that, Zephron wore a playful grin on his face. He raised both hands out in a gesture of surrender.

"Yeah," Zephron said cheerfully. "I quit."

Silence.

Vyntis blinked in surprise, as his expression shifted from boredom to confusion.

Korvax’s head quickly toward Zephron.

"What did you just say?" He demanded.

Zephron’s grin widened. "I said I quit, man. I’m out."

He gestured toward Vynthis with one hand while keeping the other raised in surrender. "This isn’t working out for me."

"What do you mean you quit?!" Korvax’s voice rose in disbelief and fury mixed together.

Zephron shrugged, then turned to face Korvax fully now. "Face facts, man," he said casually.

"That guy right there—" He pointed directly at Vynthis with his thumb. "—is like five times stronger than us at the very least."

Zephron continued, unbothered by the incredulous stare Korvax was giving him. "And look, maybe you’ve got infinite lives or whatever because of your whole ’eternal cycles’ shtick—"

He made air quotes with his fingers, wincing slightly as the motion aggravated his injuries. "—but I don’t have that luxury."

Korvax opened his mouth to respond, but Zephron kept talking.

"I already survived dying at the Black Dragon’s hands once," he said, adjusting his broken shades with one finger even though they immediately slid crooked again. "And let me tell you, that was not a fun experience. I am not doing that again."

He paused for dramatic effect before adding with a grin: "So yeah. I’m quitting."

Korvax stared at him for a moment, with his expression cycling through shock, anger, and finally settling on disgust.

"I always knew adding a human to our ranks was never a good idea," Korvax muttered bitterly.

Zephron gasped in mock offense, pressing his good hand to his chest. "Ouch! That hurts more than this guy’s water magic." He jerked his thumb toward Vynthis again.

Then he shrugged once more.

"Good luck though!" Zephron said cheerfully. "You’ve got this! Probably!"

Korvax’s eye twitched.

Zephron turned slightly and began adjusting his shades again, pushing them higher on his nose.

"Alright then, I’ll be going now."

Vyntis finally spoke then. "You think I’ll just let you leave?"

Zephron glanced over at him and grinned, then raised both hands above his head in a peace sign and winked at Vyntis through his shattered shades.

"Peace out!"

Vynthis moved to act immediately, raising one hand toward the sea below them.

The water responded instantly to his will and massive wave rose up from the Mirean Sea and surged upward toward Zephron’s floating position.

The wave twisted mid-ascent, reshaping itself into a spiraling column of water that homed in on Zephron like a missile seeking its target.

Zephron didn’t even flinch. Still holding up his peace sign and still grinning like an idiot, he simply disappeared.

Blip.

vanished via teleportation magic just as the water column reached his position.

The spiraling column of water had nowhere else to go now and so it continued forward on its trajectory directly toward Korvax instead.

"Dammit!" Korvax snarled as he saw the attack coming straight for him now.

He hurled himself sideways in midair but it was barely fast enough to avoid it. Because then, the massive column caught his side, sending him spinning before he recovered several meters away.

Water slammed into his battered body, and he coughed hard as it forced its way into his mouth.

Vyntis tilted his head slightly as he stared at Korvax with something close to pity or perhaps amusement, it was hard to tell which.

"Your ally has abandoned you," Vyntis said calmly

Korvax said nothing but he knew with absolute certainty, that this wasn’t going to end well for him.

——

The battle at Dragonhold raged on.

Laela’s green magic circle flared as she raised her left hand toward the two giant worm beasts that approached to attack she and Arianna.

The earth beneath them responded instantly to her will.

Massive wooden palms erupted from the ground below each leech; palms so enormous they dwarfed even the monstrous worms themselves.

The hands shot upward and closed around the bodies of the two leeches before they could react.

The creatures screeched and thrashed violently, with their segmented bodies writhing as they tried to break free from Laela’s grip.

But Laela clenched her fist tighter.

The wooden palms responded in kind and their screeches grew even louder and desperate.

Arianna turned toward Laela then and called out, "Throw your spear at it!"

Laela nodded and hurled the spear in her right hand, toward one of the trapped leeches with all her strength.

At the same moment, Arianna threw her sword toward the second leech.

Both weapons closed the distance rapidly and just as they neared their targets, Arianna whispered a single word:

"Expand."

The effect was immediate as both weapons began to grow mid-flight, expanding in size until they were no longer mere spear and sword but colossal instruments of destruction.