"Give up my fangs? Disappear? You dare... you dare make such a proposal after massacring my people? Do you really think that I, the Dragon Emperor, will bow to the demands of an insignificant being like you? That I'll abandon my kingdom, my people, just because YOU, filthy human, order it?"

The Dragon Emperor's fury was momentarily replaced by pure shock. He never expected anyone would ever ask him such a question. But Marshmallow sighed as if talking to a spoiled child.

"It's not an order, it's an offer. The alternative is death. Choose wisely, Dragon Emperor."

The dragon let out a threatening growl. Never had he felt so insulted. "My wisdom tells me to protect my people and avenge the fallen. Don't you understand the value of what you've destroyed? Every dragon you killed was unique. We noble dragons are an ancient lineage. Who are you, filthy human? Even if you were a king, how could you redeem yourself for the sin you've committed? You've taken the lives of a superior race just for your greed!"

The Dragon Emperor's tone was a crescendo, but Marshmallow shrugged off his ranting. Ancient lineage? Sins? Greed? What the hell was he talking about? Marshmallow only cared about his own skin. He wouldn't hesitate to erase a simple mass of data.

You know what? I'm gonna spill the beans.

"Listen, Dragon Emperor. Maybe you don't understand the situation. This is a game, a simulation. You, your dragons, and this valley are all part of a virtual world created to end a real war. Even this body of mine you see before your eyes is nothing but an avatar."

Marshmallow sighed as if talking about something obvious. At those words, the Dragon Emperor could only respond with further anger and confusion.

"A... game? What the hell are you talking about?! Don't mock me!"

"I'm saying that the only real lives in danger here are those of players like me," Marshmallow explained. "I need these fangs to fight on equal terms against BloodLust and the Novgovians. If I lose, the only real thing that will be erased is my life. You and your dragons are just code."

"RRRAAAAAWWW!!!"

The Dragon Emperor had reached his limit. He'd never encountered a being that irritated him so much. What was he talking about? Code? He, who felt he belonged to a lineage so full of pride, had to attribute his existence to a simple numerical sequence and computer instructions?

He would never accept it. His code rejected this revelation from every angle. And even if it turned out to be true, he would do everything to prove otherwise. It was Marshmallow who didn't exist, not him, who was the Dragon Emperor.

With a roar that shook the very mountains, the Dragon Emperor lunged at Marshmallow with blind fury. With a single beat of his enormous golden wings, he launched himself forward, and his massive body moved with surprising speed for its size, aiming to crush Marshmallow with a swipe of his paw.

But Marshmallow didn't move. With a fluid gesture of his hand, he created a barrier of blinding light around himself. The Dragon Emperor crashed against it with the force of a meteorite, but the barrier didn't yield. The impact generated a shockwave that shook the entire valley, raising clouds of dust and debris.

"Impossible!" the Dragon Emperor roared, staggering back stunned. "No magic should resist my strength!"

Marshmallow smiled. "I told you, you're not real. How can you hope to beat me?"

The light barrier had a particular function. The smaller the area it covered, the greater its resistance. Earlier, the young dragon had been able to crack it simply because Marshmallow had raised a barrier large enough to envelop both himself and the Undead Dragon. In this case, Marshmallow had created a barrier that enveloped only himself. Only Serthar would have been able to break such a dense and concentrated version of that barrier.

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In any case, Marshmallow's provocation had the desired effect. The Dragon Emperor, blinded by rage, opened his jaws and unleashed a torrent of golden flames. The fire completely enveloped Marshmallow, turning the surrounding area into an incandescent inferno. Rocks melted and the air itself seemed to burn.

But when the flames dissipated, Marshmallow was still there, unharmed. And his barrier shone more intensely than ever. However, the Undead Dragon ended up melted by the flames, and with it, all the dragon fangs he had farmed up to that point.

So, Marshmallow saw red.

"Do you realize what you've done? You've destroyed all the dragon fangs I had farmed!"

Up to that point, there weren't many. About a dozen. And the skeletons and dragon carcasses were far away, so they hadn't been touched by the flames.

However, Marshmallow really hated waste. Initially, Marshmallow hadn't intended to get serious. He didn't want to use Overdrive, hoping to get by without it since this opponent wasn't even remotely comparable to Serthar. He would barely have been able to kill Balor the Immortal a few times.

But maybe it wasn't the time to be so picky.

"Maybe you haven't grasped the enormous gap between us. I thought I'd play with you a bit more, but I think it's time to end this."

The Dragon Emperor, sensing the change in his opponent's aura, instinctively backed away. For the first time, a glimmer of fear ran through his limbs.

"What... what are you really?" the Dragon Emperor asked uncertainly.

"I've already told you. I'm a living being, which is what you're not!"

The air around him began to vibrate, charging with incredibly dense energy. "Overdrive Oblivion!" Marshmallow shouted. Then, suddenly, a blinding light erupted from his body and a beam of pure white energy burst from his hands. The Dragon Emperor didn't even have time to scream. His body, which he believed indestructible, crumbled in an instant, reduced to less than dust.

But the Oblivion didn't stop. The beam continued its relentless course, obliterating everything it encountered. Entire mountains were reduced to nothing for miles and valleys vaporized in the blink of an eye. When the energy dissipated, a vast portion of Dragon Valley had been completely erased from existence. Where there was once life, now only absolute void extended.

Maybe I overdid it... The Overdrive Oblivion does its job a bit too well.

Sighing, Marshmallow decided to get right to work. The battle was over, no dragon would disturb him anymore. Now he had to start over collecting fangs since the previous ones had been destroyed in the clash with the Dragon Emperor.

"Hey, you!" He called to the skeletons he had summoned earlier. "Let's get back to work. We've got fangs to collect."

The skeletons had remained on standby during the battle but were now reanimated, beginning to scour the area for usable dragon remains. Marshmallow's Overdrive Oblivion had directly hit the Dragon Emperor. However, the Dragon Emperor had unleashed his golden flames across half the valley. This flame blast had not only hit the Undead Dragon but had also damaged numerous dragon carcasses, and this was a problem. With the carcasses destroyed by the flames, many precious fangs were probably lost.

Nothing could be done about it now. It was time to take what was left. Marshmallow observed the skeletons work for a moment, then joined them in the search.

Clearly, the Dragon Emperor's carcass was also lost. Marshmallow hadn't been able to control the power of the Overdrive Oblivion, but it was the lesser evil to face. If he hadn't done so, the Dragon Emperor would have ended up liquefying the entire Dragon Valley, and at that point, it would have been impossible to farm fangs. However, it was when he decided to join the search that he noticed something strange. A golden light flickered weakly at the exact center of where the Dragon Emperor had been annihilated.

Mysterious object detected

Intrigued, Marshmallow cautiously approached. As he got closer, the pulsing light grew more intense.

Ultra-Legendary object discovered: Primordial Dragon Armor

Do you want to claim this item?

YES

NO

He was amazed. An ultra-legendary armor? What was this about? This could change everything.

"An armor that should derive from the Dragon Emperor?" he muttered, considering the possibilities. "This could be a crucial weapon in the battle against BloodLust."

He hesitated for a moment. Was there a chance it could be a trap? Yeah, of course there was a possibility. But the prospect of the power he could gain from this armor was too tempting.

"Well," he said with a determined smile, "I didn't come this far to back down now."

Without further hesitation, Marshmallow pressed [YES].