Just as the Empire and the Kingdom were locked in a brutal fight…
Five kilometers from the battlefield, tens of thousands of meters up in the sky, the air had somehow become blanketed in "dark clouds."
But as they drew closer, it became clear those were no clouds at all.
It was a gigantic dragon, so massive it was like an island drifting overhead.
"Not bad. It's my blood, after all. In just a few days, it's already reached this level."
Naohara sat cross-legged on the Heavenly Dragon Lord's head, looking toward the battlefield several kilometers away.
When he saw the Bloody Emperor knock Gazef back with a single move, Naohara couldn't help but marvel.
No wonder. This was the same existence that had once been able to contend with Dragon Blood inside his own body.
Sure, the main reason Dragon Blood never fully devoured that human blood back then was because of the game's restrictions, but it still proved how extraordinary that human blood really was.
"After fusing with the human blood you shed during your transformation, even weak humans might gain a chance to step into our realm."
After glancing at the battlefield, the Heavenly Dragon Lord spoke.
The Bloody Emperor's situation was similar to the atavistic God-kin of the Slane Theocracy, yet also different.
For now, no one could say what his upper limit would be.
But purely in terms of lifespan…
Even among humans, atavistic God-kin only lived one or two hundred years at most.
The Bloody Emperor, on the other hand, had fused with human blood. From the look of things, even if he didn't become an ageless human like Aureole, living for several thousand years should not be a problem.
"Just luck. I honestly thought he'd explode."
Naohara shrugged.
He had even prepared a Resurrection scroll at the time. The fact that the Bloody Emperor didn't explode was, in a way, a real shame.
"By the way, Heavenly… why aren't you sleeping? How do you have time to come watch this with me?"
Naohara shifted the topic and looked down at the Heavenly Dragon Lord beneath him, genuinely puzzled.
After spending this time together, Naohara already understood the Heavenly Dragon Lord's personality inside out.
Without a doubt, this was a true slacker dragon.
Unlike the "slacking" Naohara shared with Herohero, the Heavenly Dragon Lord lived by one principle: if he could lie down, he would never move.
He did not care in the slightest about Players or the survival of the Dragon Race.
All he liked was lying down and sleeping. His greatest dream in dragon life was to sleep until the end of time.
Even his reason for submitting to Nazarick was simple.
Setting aside whatever the Brightness Dragon Lord had to do with it, he had actually done it so he could sleep more peacefully.
It was ridiculous.
Naohara even had reason to suspect that, hundreds of years ago, the only reason this guy was willing to fight the Eight Greed Kings was not for the Dragon Race's survival, but because they had disturbed his nap.
"Tch. It's because of Brightness. He kept saying I should show off a bit, leave you with a good impression and all that."
Faced with Naohara's confusion, the Heavenly Dragon Lord did not hesitate. He spilled everything immediately, then complained about the Brightness Dragon Lord without restraint.
"So it was Brightness. That explains it."
Hearing the grumbling right beside his ear, Naohara quickly understood what was going on.
Unlike the Heavenly Dragon Lord's slacker mindset, the Brightness Dragon Lord had been working himself to the bone these past few days.
For example, even now, he was still discussing with the Vampiric Dragon Lord how to teach the undead to learn Wild Magic.
Having the Heavenly Dragon Lord come along like this was probably also because of the Vampiric Dragon Lord and the others.
Brightness was worried.
Worried that if the Heavenly Dragon Lord kept this up, one day he would become a completely irrelevant minor character.
After all, dragons like the White Dragon Lord were still weak, but their racial levels were high, and that alone mattered.
For dragons, racial level was everything. Job levels came second.
If this had been during the Dragon Race's peak, back when Wild Magic had not yet been tainted, then with the White Frost Dragon Lord's racial level as high as 46, plus the job levels gained through inheriting Wild Magic, there was no question he would have deserved the title of Dragon Lord.
The Wyrm Dragon Lord, the Diamond Dragon Lord, and the others were the same.
Not to mention, those guys knew how to flatter.
The Brightness Dragon Lord had personally witnessed the White Frost Dragon Lord's flattery path.
In just a few months, his level had jumped from the low 40s straight to 77.
That was when the Brightness Dragon Lord understood one simple truth.
In Nazarick, what use is a True Dragon Lord?
What use is being strong?
Knowing how to flatter is what matters.
Given enough time, dragons like the White Frost Dragon Lord, who only needed to raise their job levels, would quickly become powerful fighting forces.
That's the real reason the Brightness Dragon Lord matters so much to the Heavenly Dragon Lord.
You have to admit, the Brightness Dragon Lord thinks far ahead. And when it comes to his old friend, the Heavenly Dragon Lord, he's treated him pretty well.
Even if that guy doesn't appreciate it.
Still, just looking at the Heavenly Dragon Lord right now made it obvious. He might be complaining nonstop, but deep down he trusted the Brightness Dragon Lord. No questions asked, he came over immediately.
Watching the Heavenly Dragon Lord keep grumbling, Naohara shook his head and couldn't help sighing.
What a pair of weirdos.
Did they really need to be this careful? He wasn't some kind of devil.
And even if the Heavenly Dragon Lord was lazy as hell, he was still part of Nazarick now. How could Naohara ever screw over his own side?
(Actually, this one's Momonga's fault. Check Chapter 180 for the details.)
"Yo, Naohara."
A voice sounded right beside him, yanking Naohara out of his thoughts.
"Momonga? You finally finished dealing with paperwork?"
He turned and saw Momonga drifting over at an unhurried pace, clutching a bag of fresh popcorn.
When he got close, Momonga opened his backpack. Under the Heavenly Dragon Lord's intense stare, he tossed him a massive tub of popcorn.
After paying his "bribe," Momonga activated [Mask of the Dead].
He briefly shifted into human form, then dropped down onto the ground next to Naohara.
"If you'd helped me with the paperwork, I wouldn't have ended up coming over this late."
Momonga sounded faintly aggrieved.
"Honestly, Momonga, you really haven't rested in ages. Even if the Undead don't need sleep, you still have to unwind once in a while."
"Mm… when I get the chance, I'll find someone to handle the paperwork for you."
Naohara took the popcorn, crossed one leg over the other, and ate as he spoke, carefully avoiding any mention of helping himself.
"Ha… I hope so."
"There's too much going on in the Sorcerer Kingdom. Albedo can help, but that's all she can do. Her personality just isn't suited to managing everything."
Momonga popped two kernels into his mouth, then took a long gulp of cola. It was obvious how much pressure he was under.
Running a country meant dealing with all sorts of things, and the workload was exactly as horrible as you'd imagine.
And in his previous life, Momonga had just been an ordinary corporate worker. He had no idea how to govern a nation.
On the surface, the three of them looked like Supreme Rulers calmly directing everything from the shadows. In reality, they were just three people who talked big.
They'd once sworn they'd build an eternal nation belonging to Nazarick, but when it came to actually doing it, they were a mess.
So when Naohara brought up finding a "lackey," Momonga agreed with both hands and feet.
He really hadn't had a vacation in forever. The last time was when the three of them went to clear the Eight Fingers dungeon together.
"Hey, hey, quit thinking so hard. They're fighting again. Watch the show, watch the show."
Naohara looked down toward the ground and patted Momonga on the back.
"Gazef?"
Momonga followed his gaze. The battle below had reached its final phase.
Against the Bloody Emperor's overwhelming strength, Gazef was getting driven back step by step. If he hadn't been protected by the Kingdom's four secret treasures, he would've lost long ago.
Even so, his situation was still grim.
Watching Gazef fight with everything he had, memories of Carne Village surfaced in Momonga's mind, and he went silent for a long time.
There was no question Momonga admired Gazef. But admiration was all it was.
Normally, Momonga wouldn't have minded giving him a hand. But this time he couldn't, because Gazef was standing in Nazarick's way.
The Empire annexing the Kingdom was inevitable. It wasn't something that could be changed.
Naohara felt the same way.
Maybe for Gazef, protecting the Kingdom until he died really was a decent end.
The two of them kept watching.
Down on the battlefield, as time dragged on, even with the Kingdom's Four Great Treasures equipped, Gazef finally hit his limit.
The gap in strength between them was just too big. A few pieces of equipment couldn't magically erase that.
The Kingdom's army was utterly defeated, and the Empire's victory was unquestionable.
But just as Gazef was about to be cut down, a group suddenly charged in, blocked the Bloody Emperor's attack, and saved him.
Up in the sky, Momonga's expression slowly darkened.
"Blue Roses?"
"If I remember right, they attacked Entoma before."
(PS: It was just Gagaran landing a single hammer blow.)
Momonga turned to look at Naohara.
"Don't worry about me. Last time, I held back only for Evileye's sake, and because of what we used to have."
"Now we're just strangers."
Naohara clapped his hands with a light laugh, but his eyes were cold.
After what happened with Entoma, the only person in Blue Roses that Naohara cared about anymore was Evileye.
"Come to think of it, Evileye left the Kingdom… no idea where she went. Once this busy stretch is over, I'll go find her."
The thought surfaced in Naohara's mind.
"I see. Understood."
Momonga nodded.
To be honest, back in the Kingdom, if Momonga and Herohero hadn't been thinking about Naohara's connection with Evileye, they would've already moved against Blue Roses.
"Alright, the show's over, so I'm heading out."
"Keep your Message open. Herohero's about to wake up, and we need to get ready for the coronation ceremony. We've dragged it out so long that some of the people are already starting to get uneasy."
"Got it. I'll go find you a lackey. Wait for my good news."
Naohara stood up, yawned, then sent a Message to the Bloody Emperor.
He walked to the edge of the Heavenly Dragon Lord skull, leapt out, and vanished in an instant into the pure white clouds.