Norma was as gentle as ever.
"Yes, sir. No problem, sir!"
Then she activated the beauty filter—fair skin, a slimmer face, larger eyes...
Ren Asakura's photo instantly transformed from a handsome young man into a ridiculously good-looking heartthrob.
So stunning, in fact, that he barely looked human.
"Oh, my dear Miss Norma! You're even more amazing than I imagined. If I took this photo and started an online romance, I'm pretty sure most beautiful women wouldn't be able to resist me."
Angers took a deep breath and lit a cigarette for himself.
Smoking during such an important meeting would usually be considered highly inappropriate—but who was going to stop the principal?
Beside him, the head of the Equipment Department, dressed in a full biohazard suit, looked at Principal Angers with undisguised disgust.
As if he were some revolting microbe.
Perhaps even more disgusting than a microbe.
"You seem to know us quite well."
Angers spoke, though this time his tone lacked its usual cold edge.
"Of course," Ren Asakura replied. "After all, you're the audience I desperately wanted—just like a gourmet longs to invite the best food critics."
"A brilliant and well-crafted masterpiece, if not reviewed by professionals, is no better than a pile of dog crap."
Ren spoke with pride.
"Interesting," Caesar said with a faint smile.
Chu Zihang remained as cold as ever, though his eyes were full of vigilance.
"Then I'll take a good look at this so-called 'masterpiece' of yours. But keep in mind, my standards are very high."
At some point, a smile had appeared on Angers' face, as though he truly intended to appreciate some great work of art.
"Of course, of course! After all, the Joker's marvelous life is so full of twists and turns. The funniest part? The supremely arrogant White King was stripped of everything and had his throne stolen by the Joker..."
Angers felt like he'd just heard something outrageous.
And so did everyone else.
According to hybrid records, the White King had long since died—executed by the Black King.
"The White King? Are you joking? In the history of dragons, the White King was executed by the Black King ages ago."
Angers spoke with a calm but clearly doubtful tone.
"Yes, the White King is dead. But his bones remain. Gods do not die—not if they don't wish to. When the Holy Remains and Sacred Blood merge, the god slumbering in the Grave of the Divine will awaken. He was the Black King's prototype—a twin on the same throne."
Ren Asakura's voice grew solemn, as though he were reciting an ancient epic.
But for hybrids, this was no cause for celebration.
"I doubt you hijacked Norma and crashed our meeting just to tell some baseless myth."
Angers' expression turned grave.
The Dragon King awakening.
The White King's resurrection. And what about the Black King?
Angers' mind was racing ahead of everyone else's.
If the Dragon Kings began awakening one after another, this stable world would plunge into full-scale war—between humans and dragons.
Yes, humanity had nuclear weapons now—but their destructive power was immense.
Not something you could just use casually.
Ren Asakura's face held a mysterious smile.
"I haven't even properly introduced myself yet! My name is Ren Asakura. I'm an immortal—or, to you, I might as well be a god. When the distance between people becomes vast enough, one becomes a god to the other. Just like how ancient people worshiped Dragon Kings—they believed the beings who wielded unimaginable Word Spirits were gods. But today, science can replicate these feats."
This explosive statement actually received approval from the Equipment Department.
"Yes, that's right! We're living in the age of science. No creature can resist a well-made bomb. Just recently, I invented a new alchemical bomb with enough explosive power to destroy a small town. I think, Principal, we should test it out on a Dragon King. The only downside is that it can't be detonated remotely, so we'll have to send in a field agent…"
The head of the Equipment Department spoke with unrestrained confidence.
Clearly, this group of bomb-obsessed maniacs had once again cooked up some insane contraption.
But the only response the head received was a single word.
"Scram!"
Anger's expression turned incredibly sour as he spat it out.
He'd never had a good attitude toward the school's Equipment Department.
Sure, these tech nerds were impressive when it came to crafting weapons—but every single one of those weapons was a bomb. And not just any bombs, but the most bizarre types imaginable.
"So you're dumping all this information on us, just like that? Aren't you afraid we'll refuse to be your so-called 'audience'?"
Anger's tone was far from pleasant. It was a test.
As one of the most elite dragon slayers, he didn't like being manipulated.
Neither did the other students.
Being strung along like puppets was incredibly frustrating.
Ren Asakura watched the expressions on everyone's faces through the video feed, and looked deeply heartbroken.
"Oh dear, how tragic. If my 'art' ends up with no audience, I'll be devastated. Of course, if my audience says cruel things, that's even more heartbreaking. It's like that author who shares my name—getting stabbed by his readers over and over, until even his underwear was almost stripped away."
He covered his eyes with his hand, pretending to sob.
So fake. So obviously fake it was practically insincere.
"Hey, bro, that acting was awful!" Fingal quipped right on cue.
Ren Asakura looked even more hurt, but then lowered his hand—revealing a smile on his fake-crying face.
An evil smile.
"To spare my fragile heart from being stabbed again and again, I'll just eliminate the problem at its source. If none of you show up, then I'll let the King of Bronze and Fire, Constantine, launch some fireworks right above your beloved Kassel College. And I'm sure you're familiar with the name of this particular firework. It's called—Candle Dragon."
"…What the hell?!"
The Vice Principal couldn't stay seated anymore.
The students' expressions turned grim.
The Speech Spirit Candle Dragon had once appeared in the historical records during the fall of Baidi City.
The result? Total annihilation.
Its release covered an enormous range.
Temperatures of several thousand degrees, expanding outward, devouring everything in its path.
Baidi City had been reduced to scorched earth.
If that thing went off above Kassel College, none of them would even have a chance to escape.
Within the domain of the Candle Dragon's Speech Spirit, no living being could survive under those thousands of degrees of heat.
Anger's eyes burned with fury.
He thought of his old friends—the comrades who had formed the first generation of the Lionheart Society with him.
But in the end, a Dragon King had attacked them.
Only he had survived.
He carried the burden of their deaths, and the hatred of the Dragon Kings.
That was all his life had left.
"So the King of Bronze and Fire has awakened too?"
But just then, Ren Asakura stepped out of the video frame.
All that remained was his muffled voice:
"Constantine, come over here—say something real nasty!"
°°°
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