It was a rare occurrence for the Dragon King to personally step onto the battlefield.

And when the Dragon King did participate in battle, it was for one of two reasons:

Either the victory in this war was absolutely necessary,

or the opposing Dragon King-level combat force had already emerged.

Anna couldn’t understand why the Crimson Flame Dragon Clan had any pressing need to seize the Silver Dragon Clan's territory. The two great clans had borne no grudges against each other for thousands of years. Why, then, did they suddenly launch this attack?

Pinned to the ground by Constantine's dragon claw, with her blood nearly drained and barely clinging to life, Anna felt her strength ebb away.

She could only hope that His Majesty had managed to escape successfully, that the two princesses were safe, and that His Highness—who seemed to lack combat abilities—could somehow protect his wife and children.

Anna’s body was on the verge of collapse. She knew she could not survive Constantine’s next attack.

And yet, she still tried to resist.

A feeble stream of Dragon Flame erupted from her mouth. Unfortunately, this attack was so weak that Constantine didn’t even bother dodging or defending against it.

Constantine gazed down at Anna from above with his crimson dragon eyes, filled with pride and disdain.

Gradually, he began to gather highly concentrated Dragon Flame in his mouth, intending to end Anna's suffering once and for all.

Accepting her fate, Anna finally stopped struggling and slowly closed her eyes.

Dozens of silver dragons charged recklessly at Constantine, ignoring the dire consequences. But with Anna, the acting commander, now defeated, the army’s morale was shaken, and they had no leader. Their suicidal charges were utterly pointless.

As the searing heat surged closer, amidst the sea of fiery red light, Anna seemed to see the face of death itself.

But then, she suddenly heard the sharp cry of a bird piercing through the air.

The next moment, the Dragon Flame that had been about to incinerate Anna was shattered by a single strike.

She opened her eyes, bewildered, unable to understand what had just occurred.

Judging by Constantine's reaction... Could it be that His Majesty had come to their aid?

No... Impossible.

His Majesty was still in the midst of labor; it was unthinkable for him to arrive under such circumstances.

But then again, who else other than His Majesty could so effortlessly disperse Constantine’s Dragon Flame?

Constantine slowly lifted his dragon head, gazing at the long trench carved into the ground ahead. Dozens of crimson dragon corpses lay scattered along its edges.

At the far end of this trench, at the gates of Silver Dragon Castle, stood a solitary figure.

Clad in black-and-silver armor and encircled by arcs of lightning, there was no mistaking it—this figure had instantly slain several Crimson Flame dragons and interrupted Constantine’s fatal strike against Anna.

Narrowing his crimson eyes, Constantine muttered, "So that’s the target they spoke of... Impressive indeed."

Leon began to walk forward slowly, his pace deliberate as he approached the battlefield.

The silver paint covering the surface of the Black Gold Chariot had already dried—an improvised disguise he had used to conceal his human identity before arriving at the battle.

The paint had been easy to find; he had used plenty of this kind of paint while crafting puzzles for Noa and Muen.

In the past wars, most Dragons had only recognized him by his signature black armor. While this makeshift camouflage was a bit crude, it was better than nothing.

Besides, with the cover of night, identifying flaws from a distance would be nearly impossible.

The Chidori attack he had used earlier had already drained some of the magic power stored within his Dragon Mark.

Leon placed one hand on his chest plate, sensing his current level of magical reserves.

Then, raising his head, he glanced at the massive dragon standing before him—Constantine.

Calculating quickly, he thought, “Before my magic runs dry, killing him shouldn’t be a problem.”

Initially, when Leon had seen the Silver Dragon Clan gaining the upper hand, he had assumed that his intervention wouldn’t be necessary.

He had planned to stay at Roswitha’s side with his daughters, serving as the final line of defense.

But the moment Constantine descended onto the battlefield, turning the tide with overwhelming force, Leon realized just how desperately this crazed male dragon wanted to win this war.

Fine. If Constantine was so determined to claim victory, Leon would be just as resolute in ensuring he wouldn't.

Outsmarting dragons had always been Leon’s forte.

His gaze swept across the battlefield littered with corpses as he roughly estimated the number of Crimson Flame forces. Internally, he sighed with relief—thankfully, he hadn’t acted prematurely. Otherwise, wasting his magic earlier would have meant facing Constantine with nothing but physical blows.

With limited reserves of mana, expending it all on small fry only to face the boss unarmed? What nonsense.

As Leon stepped into the battlefield, the Crimson Flame forces took notice.

Several crimson dragons rushed toward him, forming an enclosing "cage" with their massive bodies to trap him tightly within.

Together, they unleashed their Dragon Flame, intending to burn Leon alive within the makeshift prison.

Even Constantine seemed momentarily astonished by this human’s audacity. To walk forward so fearlessly... was he insane?

But the reality soon proved that Constantine had overthought things.

From the gaps in the "cage" burst brilliant arcs of lightning. The next moment, a powerful surge of electrical magic blasted the enclosing dragons outward in all directions.

Leon remained standing steadily in place, his body enveloped in searing lightning.

At that moment, the buried longing in Leon’s bones for dragon blood was reignited.

An overwhelming aura emanated from him, causing his small figure to appear, in the eyes of the dragons, as if he were a demigod of thunder descending upon the battlefield.

This oppressive power struck fear not only into the ranks of the Crimson Flame Dragon Clan but also into the silver dragon soldiers, who felt a peculiar unease toward this mysterious "ally" they had never encountered before.

"He hasn’t taken on a dragon form and yet can release such devastating magic in human form... Is he the Silver Dragon Clan's newly groomed Dragon King?"

"And this pressure he exudes... Why does it feel... so oddly familiar?"

"Who is under that armor, really?"

The Crimson Flame soldiers couldn’t stop whispering among themselves.

But Constantine's resounding dragon roar silenced all questions and fear.

"Whoever he is—kill him."

At Constantine’s command, dozens of crimson dragons launched another offensive against Leon.

The sharp cry of a bird filled the air once more.

Leon slightly spread his arms, summoning lightning magic—Chidori—in both hands.

He crouched slightly, his pace quickened, and soon he was sprinting toward the enemy with ever-increasing speed.

The two sides clashed in seconds. Like a blade forged from lightning, Leon tore into the wave of dragons.

Blood sprayed through the air, lightning erupted in dazzling arcs, and amidst the crackling of electricity came the anguished roars and wails of the Crimson Flame forces.

The pain of being torn asunder by electricity far exceeded that caused by mere blades.

Clad in his black-and-silver armor, Leon cut through his enemies like a force of nature, leaving a path of broken bones and spilled blood in his wake.

It was a one-sided massacre—ruthless and unstoppable. Whether in humanoid or draconic form, under the might of unrelenting lightning, they were as fragile as paper.

Still, this wasn’t even Leon fighting at his full strength.

He was simply eliminating these nuisances to conserve his magic reserves for Constantine.

In the Castle, Noa stared wide-eyed in awe and terror.

She could hardly believe that the humanoid "meat grinder" on the battlefield was her father.

The gentle man who spoke softly, cooked, cleaned, and cared for her mother—he seemed like a completely different person now.

While Noa had always suspected her father might be someone extraordinary, seeing it with her own eyes made her wonder in amazement—wasn't he a bit *too* extraordinary?

“I thought His Highness wasn’t good at combat...” one maid murmured.

“Me too. I've never seen him set foot on a battlefield before.”

Could it be possible that every enemy who had seen him in action... had been slain by him?

Lying in bed, Roswitha silently listened to the staff gossip about him.

Closing her eyes, the panic in her heart began to subside.

"This... This is the real you, isn’t it, Leon Casmod."

Back on the battlefield, Leon used the head of a crimson dragon as leverage to propel himself skyward.

Lifting his right hand high above his head, he gathered immense lightning magic into it.

S-Rank Lightning Magic: Heavenly Thunder Annihilation!

Leon was done wasting time with these weaklings.

With a thunderous strike, lightning rained down, annihilating the Crimson Flame forces around him in an instant.

He gracefully landed back on the ground, scanning the battlefield before locking eyes momentarily with Sherry.

"Take your forces and clear out the remaining Crimson Flame dragons," he ordered.

Sherry froze—his voice beneath that armor was all too familiar.

"Y-Your Highness?!"

"What, do you need me to autograph something too?"

"N-No... I mean..."

"Whatever it is, save it until after I’ve killed Constantine. Now follow orders."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Leading the remaining silver dragon soldiers, Sherry plunged back into the fray.

Leon’s earlier attacks had already shifted the momentum, leveling the playing field.

He couldn’t keep wasting his magic on small fry, and the silver dragon soldiers needed to finally pull their weight instead of standing by to spectate.

Now, then—

Leon turned, his eyes locking onto the massive crimson dragon several hundred meters away.

It was time for the main course.

Constantine also understood that claiming a simple victory in this battle was no longer possible.

He released Anna and transformed into his humanoid form—a red-haired, red-eyed man clad in a flowing robe.

Leon and Constantine slowly advanced toward each other.

When they were about ten meters apart, they both stopped.

Sizing each other up in silence, it was Constantine who broke the stillness first.

"I didn't expect you would actually make a move."

Hearing this, Leon was slightly taken aback.

Though the sentence was short, it carried a lot of information.

At the very least, it meant Constantine had already realized that beneath the armor… there was a human being.

But Leon had only fought the soldiers of the Crimson Flame Dragon Clan before. He had never met this Dragon King.

So how did Constantine know about him?

"Once heralded by the Empire as the strongest Dragon Slayer, and now you're helping the Dragon Clan? Isn't that quite ironic?" Constantine said indifferently.

He not only knew there was a human under the armor, but he had already confirmed Leon's identity.

For some inexplicable reason, Leon felt that this surprise attack by the Crimson Flame Dragon Clan was about far more than just expanding territory.

It seemed as if there was a bigger conspiracy hidden behind all of this.

However, in this urgent moment, Leon had no time to dwell on such thoughts.

Suppressing his initial astonishment, he replied calmly,

"You dragons can fight among yourselves and tear the sky apart if you like. I couldn't care less. But if you keep pushing, my wife and kids might get caught up in this. That changes everything."

"Heh, a wife and kids... Cosmod, once the strongest gains a weakness, they are no longer the strongest."

Leon slowly raised his right hand, lightning once again gathering in his palm.

The blue glow reflected on the blood-streaked helmet, and the man beneath the armor replied firmly, enunciating each word:

"Constantine, I will show you what real strength means. And let me tell you something—they are not my weakness."

As his words trailed off, Leon vanished in an instant.

The next moment, he reappeared beside Constantine in a flash of lightning.

"They are my family."

A dragon's reverse scale—touch it, and you die.

A piercing shriek filled the air as Constantine leapt away. But Leon's Chidori struck the ground, unleashing a cloud of dust that reached the heavens.

Before Constantine could prepare his retaliatory spells, Leon had already emerged from the dust cloud, heading straight for him.

"So fast..." Constantine gasped silently.

To chase down even the speed of the Silver Dragon Queen—that was indeed fast.

Unable to launch an offensive in time, Constantine could only unfold his dragon wings into a defensive posture.

This was a signature tactic of the Dragon Clan: if you can't win, retreat into a shell.

Years of battle experience and Leon's muscle memory all kicked in. He adjusted his posture just in time, stepping onto Constantine's wing and using it to propel himself into the air, landing right behind the Dragon King.

Before Constantine could react, Leon unleashed another Chidori. This time, it struck hard against Constantine's back.

When the Dragon Clan uses its wings to defend, the back becomes the greatest vulnerability.

But this was the Dragon King, after all.

Even at such close range, a direct Chidori from Leon failed to pierce Constantine's body—

Yes, in Leon's mind, not being able to pierce straight through someone meant they were formidable indeed. Clearly, he'd need to try harder.

What Leon didn't realize, however, was that Constantine's back had already sustained significant trauma from that blow.

Leon withdrew, putting some distance between himself and Constantine.

Constantine turned slowly, gasping for air, his dragon wings opening wide.

His crimson dragon eyes burned with fury.

"Cosmod, you've made me angry."

"Is that so? Then I'll kill you, and that'll save you the trouble of being angry anymore."

"Human, your arrogance will cost you your life!"

With a deafening dragon roar, Constantine transformed once more into his giant dragon form.

Compared to the enormous shadow of Constantine’s body, Leon's human figure seemed frail and insignificant.

The massive figure loomed over him, but Leon was no stranger to such scenes.

Bigger Dragon Kings? Been there, done that. How could Constantine possibly scare him now?

The massive crimson dragon flapped its wings with a thunderous boom, raising its head high.

Moments later, three enormous magical arrays lit up behind Constantine.

Within the arrays, the elemental forces of ice, fire, and wind converged, forming countless blades that all shot toward Leon.

Yet Leon did not dodge. Instead, he prepared for a head-on counterattack.

He had the skill and bravery to gamble his life. There was no need to waste time with evasive maneuvers.

The power of lightning surged through his body, greatly enhancing both his defense and his speed.

Leon darted and weaved through the storm of elemental blades. Even when struck, the powerful lightning around him shattered the attacks into harmless sparks.

He moved faster and faster, becoming a blur of blue lightning as he closed in on Constantine's massive forelimb.

Constantine tried to retreat.

But he was too late.

A surge of lightning burst forth from Leon, paralyzing Constantine's entire left forelimb.

The Dragon King lowered his head, spewing Dragon Flame in an attempt to drive Leon away.

But Leon's speed was far beyond his expectations.

Before the feeling in his forelimb could even return, Leon had already kicked off Constantine's knee and leapt effortlessly onto his back.

Standing atop the Dragon King’s back, Leon raised his right hand as dark clouds gathered overhead in the dim night sky.

Thunder rolled through the clouds, and lightning danced unpredictably across the heavens.

At that moment, Leon appeared as though he were a deity channeling the untamed forces of nature. This wild, unrestrained power—lightning—was wielded by him with unparalleled finesse.

S-Rank Thunder Magic: Ten Thousand Thunder Calling.

Boom!—

"ROAR!!!"

A devastating bolt of lightning struck down fiercely. Constantine let out an anguished roar as his spine and entire torso lost all sensation.

A human… a mere human—how could he possess such strength!?

Constantine flapped his wings desperately, trying to shake Leon off his back.

But Leon now bore the demeanor of an indifferent executioner.

His sole intention was to end the life of this beast beneath his feet.

The "Ten Thousand Thunder Calling" had depleted much of his magic. So now…

"This will be the final blow, Constantine."

Leon brought his hands together, then slowly drew them apart. The lightning within his palms shaped itself into a long blade.

Gripping the thunderous sword, he thrust it heavily into the scales on Constantine's back.

The sound of rending flesh, the Dragon King's agonized screams—these were melodies to Leon, the legendary Dragon Slayer Cosmod.

But it wasn’t over.

Leon clenched the blade tightly and charged along Constantine's spine toward his neck.

Where the blade passed, lightning erupted, blood and flesh scattering, the hard scales shattering into fragments.

Constantine's cries of suffering brought the entire battlefield to a halt. Both the Crimson Flame Dragon Clan and the Silver Dragon Clan ceased their fighting to look on in shock.

They all stared in disbelief.

Constantine's enormous body lay prostrate on the ground, like a collapsing mountain. His dragon blood cascaded down his back, forming rivers.

Even Constantine's proud head drooped down weakly after several futile attempts to lift it.

Before the warring factions of the Dragon Clans could comprehend what had just occurred, they saw a figure appear slowly atop Constantine's head.

Leon stood, gripping the lightning blade in his right hand, one foot planted on Constantine's forehead.

After a night of fierce battle, dawn finally broke.

The sun rose over the horizon, dispelling the darkness and the bitter cold.

Its rays fell upon Leon's black-and-silver armor, as though baptizing him with light.

Every dragon present gazed upon him, their expressions ranging from fear to shock, even hatred.

But Leon didn’t care.

All of this was for the sake of protecting his family.

"Protecting this fragile family"—that was the promise he had made to Roswitha.

He slowly raised the thunder blade and severed one of Constantine's dragon horns.

Constantine breathed weakly. Leon crouched down atop his head, looking into the fading light of the Dragon King's eyes. He spoke softly,

"I told you, I would show you what it means to be the strongest."

—