Westminster Bank

"As for the Blood Department, we’ll have him fuse with the corpse of that Thunder Wolf Dragon Beast King instead. The Demon Hunters from the Van Helsing Family were too vicious; the body of that Third Generation Ice Scale Dragon was too mangled. Even after burning it ten times with the Immortal Fire, we couldn’t preserve the Dragon Soul. Now, our only hope is the Bone Department."

"Who is it! Who’s there!"

The High Priest suddenly jolted and looked toward the direction where Baron was hiding.

Beneath his mask, his pupils turned gold. Spiritual Pressure, carrying Dragon Mighty, surged like a tide toward the direction he had sensed.

’Feeling that Spiritual Pressure, my heart clenched. I’d changed into a Blood Department uniform beforehand, but with someone from the Blood Department already here, not to mention the High Priest... the chances of pulling off the impersonation are slim to none.’

’Should I reveal myself? What would I do then? There are five of them here. I can hit four of them instantly with my Spear Sword, but I’m not sure if they’ll dodge. To guarantee fatalities, I’d need to follow up, so I can only kill two people for sure...’

"Do I need to come and get you myself?" the High Priest said coolly.

Baron drew his Spear Sword.

SPLASH!

But the sound wasn’t Baron opening fire. Instead, there was a commotion in the blood pit.

A figure in a diving suit climbed out. He took off his oxygen mask and said, "As expected of the High Priest of the Dragon Eater Church. Your senses truly are sharp."

"You are..." The Golden Eyes beneath the High Priest’s Face Armor narrowed slightly.

The man took off his diving goggles. "Just a lost swimmer, that’s all. My apologies for interrupting your chat. You all seem busy, so I’ll just step outside for some air."

"Seize him," the High Priest ordered.

The diver was quickly captured.

"Tie him up and interrogate him. Find out who sent him. And while you’re at it, see if his Tier is high enough to serve as the Human Soul for a Dragon Attendant. If so, kill him."

"And if it’s not?" the diver quipped.

"If not, we chop him up," the High Priest said coolly.

"Mercy!" The diver dropped to his knees without a second’s hesitation.

Hiding in the corner, Baron slapped his forehead. He had recognized the snarky voice already, but this shameless display confirmed his suspicions beyond a doubt.

’Jack, you damn fool, how did you end up here?’

’So my mission just got a difficulty spike. It’s gone from *Secret Infiltration* to *Saving Dumbass Jack*, is that it?’

Baron peeked at the people around the altar again. ’This is going to be tough with so many opponents whose strength I can’t gauge.’

Especially with the High Priest still on the scene.

’At this point, all I can do is wait for an opportunity.’

’I hope Jack can hold out until I can rescue him.’

.........

Sometime the next day, a dragon’s roar, so powerful it felt tangible, suddenly echoed from the mountains.

At that moment, everyone—from the Trial Takers inside the mountains to the Law Enforcers standing ready outside—understood one thing: the seats at Dragon Spear Plaza had been decided.

The baptism would officially begin in one hour, with the appearance of the Dragon Spear. When that happened, the impact of the Dragon Spear Baptism would cause the Barrier sealing the Dracul Mountain Range to temporarily vanish. It was also highly likely that the Dragon Calamity would erupt at that same moment.

Outside the mountains, the Old Race guests at the Dragon Hunting Banquet who lacked the strength to fight dragons had been safely quartered in the manor. Meanwhile, team after team of Dragon Slayers from the Beowulf Family, along with vassal Dragon Slayer Clans, stood ready outside the mountain range.

The invited Law Enforcers from various Law Enforcement Organizations and Old Blood Clans had also completed their preparations.

At the forefront was Silver Lion Wilder, already clad in full armor, an imposing figure with a Longsword at his waist. Even his personal contracted Magical Beast, the Silver Holy Lion, had been dispatched to the scene.

The Silver Holy Lion is the undisputed king of the Silver Lion Group. This is why, despite having contracted a Silver Lion, Wilder did not join the Lion Eye Knight Order. Instead, the Holy Hall appointed him Knight Order Leader of the Dragon Heart Knight Order, one of the Six Great Knight Orders. This post made him the designated successor to the Commander of the Templar Order.

As for why his Dragon Heart Knight Order hadn’t been deployed this time, it was because they were away investigating abnormal volcanic activity in the Inner Side of the Scottish Highlands, which they suspected was the work of Lawbreakers.

Behind Silver Lion Wilder were the forces from various Law Enforcement Organizations. Among them, the sprawling crowd of Intern Wizards from Edinburgh Wizard Academy was the most conspicuous.

The Beowulf Family had these Intern Wizards stationed behind the other forces. Their primary role, should the Dragon Calamity erupt, was to use Shared Magic in unison to unleash power equivalent to that of a top-tier Bronze Mage.

Not to mention, they had all been invited (or rather, tricked) to come by their academy’s dean with the promise of "earning internship credit," and therefore needed to be especially well-protected.

(P.S. Rumor has it this excuse was suggested by a Magic professor from the ancient East.)

............

RUMBLE.

An hour later, another tremor shook the mountains, followed by the sky-rending roars of the Dragon Descendants.

This signaled that the twelve seats at Dragon Spear Plaza had been claimed, the Dragon Spear was about to manifest, and the Barrier sealing the mountains was about to crumble.

"Who is it? Who got the first seat?"

Once it was clear the Dragon Spear Baptism was about to start, the same question arose in everyone’s mind—from the Trial Takers still rushing toward Dragon Spear Plaza to the people outside preparing for the small-scale Dragon Tide that would follow the Barrier’s collapse. They were all desperate for the answer.

Lidton, the acting Patriarch of the Beowulf family, glanced at the Elder presiding over the ceremony. The Elder took the cue and had his subordinates pour more blood onto the altar at the valley mouth. He then plunged the Giant’s Sword into the altar’s center. With a twist, an image reflected from the blade onto a screen that had been set up nearby.

The image that appeared before them was of a mid-sized butte. At its peak was a massive circular plaza paved with pure black basalt.

Judging from the several-foot gap between the plaza and the rest of the fractured butte, Dragon Spear Plaza must have been violently wrenched up from the ground.

At the far end of the plaza sat a massive skull, dozens of feet high. It was the skull of a Dragon. Light streamed through the cracks in the bone, creating the startling illusion that the Dragon was alive.

A long spear was impaled at an angle in the skull. It was made of wood, with vines wrapped around it in exactly nine coils—the Nine Dragon Pattern.

’Could this twig really be the legendary Dragon Spear?’

Everyone present was stunned. But the stoic expressions on the faces of the Beowulf Family members told them that yes, it was.

The identity of the giant Dragon skull was then self-evident: it was the legendary Pure-blood Ancient Dragon, Glanville, slain by Beowulf.

In the center of the plaza stood twelve chairs woven from vines, each occupied by a figure. These were the ones who had won the seats.

At their head was none other than Isabella, the eldest daughter of the Beowulf Family.

Next were Jose, Adam, Tune, Roy, Gold... and in the final seat, Princess Freyja Lancelot of Lancelot’s Family.

Others who had activated the Dragon Spear’s guidance but lacked enough Dragon Scales for a seat surrounded the plaza. They watched the Dragon Spear atop the Dragon Bone with bated breath, clearly also waiting for the baptism to follow.

Lidton smiled. "Just as I expected."

"It’s a shame the Elder Council has already made the most appropriate choice."

"Is it truly the most appropriate?" the Elder beside him suddenly asked.

Lidton didn’t answer. On the screen, the Dragon Spear atop the Dragon Bone had begun to change. The vines and moss covering its shaft started to flake away.

The moment they did, a massive wave of Spiritual Power erupted, sending several unprepared Trial Takers on the plaza flying.

One of the twelve seat holders was also nearly blown away, but vines shot out from his chair and held him fast, saving him from the same fate.

At the very moment the wave of Spiritual Power struck, the Barrier outside the mountains briefly shattered from the impact. Simultaneously, a dragon’s roar erupted from deeper within the range.

The sound wasn’t loud, but it was unnervingly clear.

Immediately after, the depths of the mountains grew agitated.

The Dragon Tide... no, the Dragon Calamity was about to begin.

It was at this exact moment that Baron, still at the Dragon Sacrificial Altar, finally located Jack, who was trussed up like a holiday turkey.