Dragon King: Throne of Demons and Gods-Chapter 94: When the Wind Shifts

Bel stood in place.

The wind was gone. The cold of the frozen dungeon didn’t exist to him.

He was lost in thought.

What would he become next? What kind of evolution was waiting beyond the Trial Dungeon? What kind of form would he reach after the Obsidian Box?

His claws crushed the frozen ground.

"More power..."

He could feel it calling to him. The temptation. The hunger. He wanted to open that path right now.

But then, his eyes caught something.

[One attempt only.]

He blinked.

One attempt?

He frowned. That line felt... different.

A normal dungeon key just opened a rift. You could go in and out, take your time. You could even come back later. There was never a line saying "one attempt."

He stared at the key.

"Why say that?"

Bel’s mind started analyzing it. A dungeon could be entered multiple times until cleared. And technically, others could follow you in.

It was just a tear in space.

But this...

This was not just a dungeon.

If it said one attempt, maybe it meant something else. Maybe it wasn’t just about the key.

Maybe it was about him.

What if, once he entered, that was it? No exit. No pause. No second try.

He thought back to his first Category D dungeon.

He almost died. A few bad hits. A better defense from the boss and he would’ve been gone.

This?

This had to be worse.

A dungeon made for a demon’s ascension.

Bel clenched his jaw.

"No. Not yet."

He remembered how he started. How careful he had been when the system first gave him quests. He studied every item. Every monster. Every pattern.

He didn’t rush then. He shouldn’t rush now.

Especially not now.

He looked at his inventory. The reward from that last dungeon was still there.

[Void Gate Key - Category C]

If he kept farming like he did earlier, he could keep leveling. In just half a day, he got enough experience to get nine levels after his evolution.

He still had room to grow.

He still had time.

"Yeah... Let’s not gamble everything on a single shot."

He turned.

His massive claws tapped against the frozen ground. Ice cracked under his weight.

He walked.

Step by step.

Until he reached the glowing edge of the dungeon.

One last glance back, and then he emerged.

But then...

A chill.

Not from the wind, not from the ice in the rift behind, but from something deeper.

Bel’s eyes widened.

He felt it.

A sudden panic, not from him, from everything.

Dozens... no, hundreds of heartbeats. Fast. Scared. Minds freezing up.

Birds scattering. Beasts running. Deep underground, high in the trees.

All fleeing.

He knew that feeling.

The same one he always felt when monsters fell under his pressure.

"My pressure... it’s active?!"

He looked around. He could feel them. Beasts. Fleeing like prey. His pressure was covering a terrifying range.

He frowned.

Out of battle, he always kept his pressure hidden. Concealed.

His Aura Suppression was active by habit.

"It’s active. I feel it. My pressure is active. Even without trying."

He tried to keep his calm, focusing to conceal it.

But nothing changed.

The pressure still pulsed out from him like an invisible storm.

"Why can’t I hide it?"

He stepped back, claws scraping the ground.

And then he paused.

His eyes narrowed.

"Wait... this form. Is it... too strong to suppress?"

He looked down at himself.

He looked at his hands, claws. His body, huge, monstrous.

It had to be that.

"Is this it? Is it this form?"

He narrowed his glowing eyes.

Was this full dragon form too powerful to suppress?

It made sense. His concealment was built for his previous forms. Even his draconic form had rules.

But now, as a full drake...

Maybe this body couldn’t be hidden at all.

"I don’t have time to test. I need to reduce it. Now."

He focused.

So he closed his eyes and focused inward.

Like always.

The same way he switched between draconic and human forms before.

He pictured his true body. Smaller. Lighter. Human, and then, his body began to change.

Slowly.

The scales retracted inward. The heavy muscles softened, shrinking slightly.

The horns shortened, pulling back. His jaw receded, losing its monstrous edge.

His claws shrunk into clawed hands. His shoulders leaned forward. His legs, thick and beastly, thinned.

His tail remained, thinner.

When he opened his blue eyes fully again, he was breathing normally.

Still taller and more muscular.

A draconic form... but also humanoid.

A hybrid, half-human, half-drake.

And the moment he reached this form, the pressure shrank.

From covering the forest to a ring, around ten meters around him. No more.

Bel exhaled slowly, then looked at himself.

Still taller than a human and covered in dark, smooth scales.

His arms were lean, powerful. His body flexible. Sharp lines marked his scales along the forearms, the spine, the jawline. A tail curled behind him, balancing with ease.

He was a monster, but he looked... Manageable.

"This... this is new."

His voice was clearer. Still deep, but more his.

He looked at his hands.

Not claws, not human. Something between. He flexed them.

Then, he noticed something else.

His stamina.

It was going down.

Slowly, like a candle on a still day.

But for the first time since evolving, it was draining.

Bel blinked.

"So... full dragon form is super strong. Permanent. But it can’t hide."

He lifted his arm.

"Human form. Weaker. But stable. Easy to use all my skills and hide."

Then he looked at himself again.

"And this..."

He turned his arm over.

"This is a mix... a hybrid form."

His dragon form unleashed more pressure, more strength, and had infinite duration.

His human form used the least and moved best.

But this...

This hybrid seemed like a middle ground. High consumption. High power. And still flexible.

"The deadliest form."

He smirked. His tail flicked.

"Most draining... but probably the most useful."

He grinned. He had to test it, immediately. And there was only one place worthy for that kind of test.

Bel reached into his inventory and pulled out the Void Gate Key.

[Void Gate Key - Category C]

Bel held the key in his hand, ready to open a new rift, but then he paused.

His aura was still pulsing, even though it was now limited.

But earlier, it had spread wide, too wide. He could already imagine it: people sensing it, rumors flying, curious fools trying to investigate.

If someone stumbled into the dungeon while he was inside, it could be trouble.

"Better get some distance first, just in case," he muttered.

He closed his eyes for a moment and focused.

The world changed.

He saw it. The ambient mana swirling faintly in the air.

Heat signatures glowing in the distance. Red and orange dots flickered in the air like candles.

He scanned the area.

A dense concentration of heat to the northeast. That had to be the city. He turned the other way. Nothing but blue.

"Perfect."

He crouched slightly.

[Bolt Mode]

Lightning exploded around him.

The air cracked.

In a blink, he shot forward. The ground burst as he vanished in a flash.

The shockwave blasted through the trees. Grass flattened, trees bent. Insects and a spider were tossed into the air like paper.

He was gone.

Far away, In the capital, the wind shifted.

The Guild Master stopped and looked up at the sky.

"...Was that just me?"

He shook his head and started walking again, adjusting his cloak, until he bumped into someone.

"Watch it," he muttered, not even glancing.

The man didn’t move.

"Hah... such attitude," he said, his voice dry, slow, and very, very calm..

The Guild Master frowned, stopped, and turned around.

He opened his mouth to speak, but the man continued.

"Regret that tone, boy," the man said without looking back. "Especially toward someone who won’t be alive much longer."

That stopped the guild master cold.

He turned sharply.

Standing there, wearing a plain cloak, the man turned his head slightly. Just enough to show a soft smile.

The Guild Master’s heart skipped.

"You’re... The Shield of God."

The old man smiled.

"Haven’t heard that in a while."

The Guild Master felt like a child again, staring at a myth.

"This... this is the first time you’ve been in the capital since..."

But the old man raised a hand.

"Let’s not bring up that useless day." His smile grew thinner. "Instead... how about you invite me for a drink? To celebrate."

The Guild Master blinked.

"A drink? O... Of course! Of course I invite you... Oh... but... What are we celebrating?"

The old man’s smile widened.

"My murder."

The world seemed to freeze around them.

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