Dragon King: Throne of Demons and Gods-Chapter 37: Scars and Fire

The cavern was quiet except for the soft crackling of dying embers and the weak breaths of the survivors.

The four rescued women were wrapped in whatever scraps of cloth they could find, their bodies frail, their eyes empty. The fight was over, but the weight of everything that had happened still filled the air.

Bel sat on a broken rock, breathing heavily. He looked down at his fingers, running them over his nails. They had turned black, sharp, almost like claws.

His red eyes narrowed.

This was the beginning of a transformation. His body was shifting, becoming something else. A dragon? The thought lingered in his mind.

"If I keep evolving... how much of me will be left? Will there come a point where I'm no longer human at all?"

His gaze shifted to the system screen before him.

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[Draconic Evolution System]

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Name: Belzerion

Title: Lindworm of the Scorching Abyss

Race: Dragon

Class: Lindworm

Level: 31

EXP: 3,600/20,000

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Core Stats:

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HP: 152/700

MP: 180/250

Strength: 130

Toughness: 115

Intelligence: 85

Speed: 110

Agility: 113

Stamina: 120

Pressure: 30

Unassigned Stat Points: 10

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Draconic Core: 35%

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Unlocked Traits:

Final Wyrm: Grants extreme endurance, rapid recovery, heightened battlefield awareness. Bloodlust further amplifies physical attributes.

Goblinbane: 20% increased damage against goblins.

Fire Mastery: Fire-based attacks are more effective, resistant to heat damage, and capable of absorbing ambient flames to replenish stamina.

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His Draconic Core and Pressure had skyrocketed. He could feel it now, his presence was too strong. Hunting in the wild was no longer an option. Any creature that sensed him would flee before he even got close.

But then, his gaze fell to his experience points. 20,000 to level up.

That was ridiculous. Just before, he had only needed a small fraction of that. Yet... he glanced at his last gain. A single demon of that level had given him 3,600 experience points.

If that is true...

There had to be even stronger demons out there. Stronger enemies, greater rewards.

His path forward was clear: taking the guild's exterminations quests and leveling up.

Then, he felt a new shift in the air and turned.

Lena.

She flinched when he looked at her so suddenly but forced herself to take a breath and step closer. Her hands trembled slightly, though she tried to hide it.

"You need healing..." she said, her voice steadier than her body. "You're in bad shape."

Bel looked at her, then at her hands, then at her eyes. Her healing was too slow. It had taken forever just to raise his HP earlier, and after everything she went through, while being a beginner... It was obvious.

He shook his head.

"Save your energy. The elf needs it more. If you heal me, you'll pass out."

Lena opened her mouth to argue, but then she stopped. Her hands curled slightly before she bit her lip and nodded. Was she that useless? Was this why he refused her help? Without another word, she turned toward Ilya.

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The elf was still standing by the nest, staring at the mess she had made.

Lena approached carefully, expecting rejection.

"Let me..."

"No." Simple as that.

Ilya stepped back, her voice rough, her body tense. Lena lowered her head, unsure what else to say. Silence stretched between them, heavy.

Then Ilya moved, not toward Lena, but toward Bel.

She stopped a few steps away, her gaze cautious.

"... Can you still use fire?"

Bel sighed. He had a feeling where this was going.

"Yes. But I'm not wasting energy on corpses."

"Not them," she said sharply. Then, after a pause, she took a deep breath. "I need you to burn my skin."

Lena froze.

"What?"

Ilya gripped her own arms.

"I want it gone. The filth, the touch, the memories... This skin they soiled... I want them burned away." Her voice was steady, but her eyes were damp. "Only then will I accept healing."

Lena's breath caught. This was her fault. She should have been stronger. She should have saved them sooner.

She would have probably suffered the same fate, but at least she could feel brave enough to look at her directly in the eye.

Bel was silent. He understood and nodded.

Lena trembled as she ripped a piece of her cloth, and Ilya, crouching, bit down on it.

Bel exhaled, remembering the sensation, then raised his hand.

The fire came slowly, controlled. The flames touched her skin in waves, burning only the surface layer, painful but precise.

Ilya's body tensed. She bit down harder, her hands clenched into fists.

Lena's hands hovered over the burned skin, healing the wounds as quickly as she could. It was slow, too slow.

The fire burned. Lena healed. The cycle repeated over and over again.

Minutes felt like hours. Sweat dripped from Lena's forehead. Ilya shook, cried, gasped. Sometimes, she almost stood up and had to be held by Bel, but she refused to fall.

And they kept going.

When it was done, Ilya's body was unmarked, but she could barely stand. Lena reached out, catching her before she collapsed.

The cave fell silent.

Bel lowered his hand, watching the last embers fade. He turned his gaze away, giving Ilya her space.

This time, it was over.

A little while after, the cave was behind them.

The forest ahead was thick, but the path leading out was clear. The four rescued women were weak but able to move.

Their eyes remained hollow, their bodies frail, but they were alive. That was the only thing that mattered now.

Bel took a deep breath, testing the air.

"No demons nearby. The forest is clear. A few monsters here and there, but nothing dangerous for you... theoretically."

He turned to check on the others. Ilya was walking normally now. Some parts of her body still bore faint marks of burns, but not something a healer in good condition couldn't deal with.

She looked better, stronger. She carried herself differently now, as if she had shed a weight that had been holding her down.

Lena hesitated before stepping between them, her arms slightly spread as if trying to block them from seeing each other directly.

"Hum, wait. Before we talk... we should find something suitable for everyone to wear."

Ilya didn't even look at her.

"Shut up."

Lena winced, her lips pressing together.

"I... I'm sorry." She stepped aside, lowering her head.

Ilya turned to Bel, ignoring Lena completely.

"Not dangerous for us? You're not coming back to the village?"

Bel sighed, shaking his head.

"No. I only needed to complete the quest to get my license. I don't need to report directly to the village."

Ilya nodded as if that answer made perfect sense.

"I see... so you're a real newby too. Well, at least you were worthy of this quest, unlike some people."

She looked down, her fists tightening.

"I'll return to my village." Her arms wrapped around herself, fingers pressing into her skin. She trembled slightly. "I'll... get rid of everything. Everything they left on me. Then..." Her voice dropped lower, shaking with barely contained rage. "Then I'll come back. And I'll massacre them. Every single demon in this world."

Bel looked at her, then at the sky. Dark clouds were forming.

"It's good you're alive," he said simply. "There'll be plenty of opportunities." He exhaled slowly. "Demons aren't rare anymore."

After that, they continued toward the village. Bel walked with them, at least until they reached the outskirts.

When they finally reached the entrance, they stopped.

Lena turned to him, hesitant.

"You're really not coming with us?"

Bel shook his head.

"No."

"But..." Lena looked at him, her brows furrowed. "It's thanks to you that we're alive... Plus, you need rest."

Bel said nothing at first, then glanced at his hands. His fingers had returned to normal, but his appearance... the red teint of his skin on some parts...

He looked more like a demon than a human, so it seemed better to wait till he completely recovered his normal form before interacting with humans.

"I've already decided," he finally said. "I leave."

Ilya, draped in a simple sheet to cover herself, stared at the village before nodding slightly. She turned on her heel.

"Me too, the victims are back, so I can leave now."

Lena's eyes widened.

"What?"

But Ilya barely spared her a glance. Instead, she spoke to Bel, as if Lena wasn't even there.

"I prefer not going to that place, especially like that. I don't trust humans anymore."

Lena flinched.

"The arrogance of my party, their foolishness, their passivity, their hypocrisy." Ilya's hands curled into fists. "This will serve as a lesson to never rely on humans again. Or anyone completely." She lifted her gaze, her expression. "I'll kill every demon with my own hands, with my own power."

Then, as if to herself, she added.

"The next one on the throne will be an elf."

Bel observed her for a moment before a smile played on his lips.

"You're strong. Very strong. He exhaled, stretching his shoulders. "I'll be leaving now."

Ilya gave a small nod, as if that answer was expected. But just as he turned, she spoke again.

"Where are you going?"

Bel paused, raising an eyebrow. That question felt out of place. Why would she care? More importantly, why ask when she had just declared she wouldn't trust humans anymore?

He turned slightly.

"What's the point of asking that? Didn't you just say you have no reason to rely on humans?"

Ilya blinked, then responded, almost too naturally.

"Yes... and... you're not human. Right?"

Bel's expression blanked, his thoughts stalling for just a second.

He stared at her, but Ilya wasn't looking for confirmation. That wasn't a guess. That wasn't an assumption. She had said it as if it was a fact.

Her gaze was sharp, analyzing him.

"Your presence, your aura... it's not human. It's not even close. At first, I thought it was just the way you carried yourself, but no..." Her expression darkened, analyzing him. "You feel like a beast. At least, that's the closest comparison I can think of. But your aura spreads further than any beast man I've ever encountered."

Bel exhaled slightly, his fingers twitching.

"Beast men?"

Beast men were a rare race, humanoid, yet sharing traits with animals, possessing sharper instincts, stronger bodies, and most importantly, a distinct presence.

In human cities, they were rare, and even in adventurer guilds, only a handful ever made an appearance.

And yet, Ilya had mistaken him for one.

Bel frowned slightly.

So my aura has changed that much?

Ilya crossed her arms, tilting her head slightly.

"Why would someone like you try to pass as human?"

She wasn't accusing him, her tone was merely curious. But a second later, she hesitated, then shook her head.

"No. Forget it. That's not my business. You're free to do what you want."

Bel was silent for a moment, considering her words. He hadn't thought about it before, what he was trying to be. Human? A monster? Something in between? Did it even matter?

All he was focused on till now was getting the numbers bigger, without thinking about where it would lead him. The Demons? The woman? It wasn't that their danger didn't exist, the problem was that he stopped caring about them each time he started his hunts.

Ilya let out a slow breath.

"Your name."

Bel blinked, tilting his head.

"What about it?"

"Tell me," she said simply. "If I hear about a monster tearing through demons, I want to know if it's you. And it's good to have a rival to keep me motivated."

Bel chuckled, but just as he was about to say it, he hesitated. The name hovered on the tip of his tongue, a weight pressing down.

Belzerion. His true name.

Among the stories about demons he had read, there was a legend that Demons revealed their true forms when their real names were spoken.

He exhaled and settled instead.

"Bel."

She held his gaze for a second, then nodded, as if sealing the name in her memory.

Bel glanced at Lena, who had been quiet the whole time, standing just a bit away, watching them with an unreadable expression. He gave her a slight nod, a wordless farewell, before turning away.

His footsteps faded into the distance, his silhouette vanishing into the forest.

Ilya watched until he disappeared from view, then clenched her fists.