"Huh?"
Veldora looked at Luminas, blinked again, and asked in genuine confusion, "Uh… who are you?"
"VELDORA!!!"
The Storm Dragon's casual attitude completely set Luminas off. "Go to hell!"
Black wings unfurled behind the girl as she transformed into a scarlet-black pillar of light and shot straight toward him.
"Lady Luminas!"
Hinata instinctively moved to follow, only for Artoria to grab her shoulder. "Don't be reckless. This fight is far beyond you."
"But—!"
BOOM!!
Before Hinata could finish, a figure flew back even faster than it had charged, crashing into the far wall.
"Cough… cough, cough…"
Luminas staggered out of the crater, her eyes blazing crimson as she glared at the burly man standing in the center of the hall with his arms crossed.
"Gahahaha!"
Veldora burst out laughing. "I still don't know who you are, but attacking me takes guts! I'll give you credit for that!"
"Damn it!"
The humiliation made Luminas's rage impossible to contain.
What frustrated her even more was Veldora's sheer power.
She hadn't gone all-out in that sudden strike, yet the result left her questioning reality.
She hadn't even touched him. The terrifying magicules swirling around his body had simply blasted her away.
Why was this wicked dragon so impossibly strong?!
Luminas had believed that awakening as a True Demon Lord would finally give her the strength to take revenge.
Reality had just slapped her hard across the face.
She couldn't win. Not even close.
Especially now.
As Veldora released the magicules he normally kept suppressed, the god-tier domain that exceeded a billion units nearly made Luminas feel as if she were facing the entire world.
"Veldora…"
"Huh?"
Hearing his big sister's voice, the Storm Dragon's aura instantly deflated. All his bravado vanished.
He turned around, cold sweat pouring down his face. "B-Big Sis, you saw it yourself—I didn't even do anything!"
"She's faking it! She's trying to frame me!!"
Most importantly, Veldora knew exactly where he was. Inside the Demon King Castle's grand hall, he had been extremely restrained, careful not to damage a single brick or tile.
Otherwise, that single clash would have killed Luminas with the backlash from her own attack.
Yes—her own attack.
Magicules from the god-tier domain, bolstered by Damien's Creation Dragon God authority, were practically indestructible.
A mere Demon Lord-level strike against a True Dragon simply couldn't hurt them. Instead, it would rebound straight back at the attacker, often amplified.
That was exactly what had happened to Luminas.
Her attack failed to break through, and the force had bounced right back at her.
"That's enough, Queen of Nightmares."
Seeing the situation spiraling, Ultima stepped forward to stop the farce. "Lord Storm Dragon, Lady White Ice Dragon, please calm down and let her explain."
"I don't mind," Velzard said lazily.
Veldora had no real temper either.
To him, Luminas's charge had felt like a tiny butterfly suddenly flapping into him. Getting angry over something so trivial would make the great middle-schooler dragon look petty.
As for Damien…
He simply watched the show.
He had read about the grudge between Luminas and Veldora back when he was still reading the novels.
Truthfully, the whole thing had been Veldora's fault.
So he didn't blame Luminas for lashing out inside the Demon King Castle.
If he himself had encountered the enemy who once massacred his people and nearly wiped out his entire race, he wouldn't have stayed calm either.
"Treyni, heal her."
Normally, a vampire of Luminas's caliber should have recovered from such light injuries instantly.
Unfortunately, Veldora's god-tier magicules far surpassed anything inherent or extra skills could resist.
Without an Ultimate Skill, it would take Luminas at least ten days to half a month to recover.
"Understood."
Treyni hurried forward, channeling life force into Luminas and suppressing the residual divine power.
"A dryad…?"
Luminas recognized her species. Treyni smiled gently. "Yes, but I've evolved into a High Spirit now."
"A High Spirit? What's that?"
Luminas stood up. She had calmed down considerably.
"My apologies for the earlier rudeness," she said to Damien, though her gaze toward Veldora remained icy. "I simply couldn't restrain myself upon seeing my old nemesis, the wicked dragon."
"Hey, hey, seriously—who are you?"
Veldora scratched his head. He didn't mind being called wicked, but at least explain the situation first.
"She is the Queen of the vampire race," Velzard supplied. "Luminas Valentine."
"You haven't forgotten what you did in the past, have you?"
"Vampires?"
"Ah!!"
The word clicked instantly. "So it's you!"
Thousands of years ago, while rampaging across the land, Veldora had passed through vampire territory.
There had been no real grudge.
He had simply found their kingdom annoying because it was in his way, so he casually smashed the entire Night Rose Palace and nearly wiped out the whole vampire race.
Luminas had been one of the few survivors from that era. She had later trained relentlessly and awakened as a Demon Lord.
Additionally, three hundred years ago, one of the main reasons Veldora had been sealed was because of Luminas.
Although the overall plot had changed, certain details remained the same.
Future Chloe would still become the strongest Hero, travel through time, and three hundred years ago help Luminas seal the rampaging wicked dragon Veldora.
That timeline had already been fixed by future Chloe, and Damien saw no reason to alter it.
So old grudges and new ones piled together.
Having been targeted by Veldora twice, Luminas could hardly stay calm the moment she saw the Storm Dragon.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
After hearing the full story, Rimuru could only sigh. "Yeah… this really was Veldora's fault."
"A wicked dragon that rampaged across the land?"
Artoria nodded. "With a grudge like that, losing control is completely understandable."
If you want to read up to 50 chapters ahead, don't hesitate to visit our patron: pat reon . com/XElenea