Muriel THE Demon Lord

At that moment, Lilith, who had witnessed Muriel up close before her, stood up from her seat and leaned forward to get a better look at the arena below. The black wings and tail that had emerged from Muriel's body seemed terrifying to others, but to Lilith, they were beautiful. She saw the magnificence of the dragon. The legendary dragon had come to set her free.

Long ago, when she was a small child, Lilith used to dream of a black dragon from legend that had freed all the slaves on this continent. She believed that one day, that dragon would return to grant her freedom as well. Now, as she gazed upon Muriel, she realized that the dragon from her dreams had not died or disappeared. It was standing right in front of her, alive and real.

“The Dragon of Freedom, It was real.”

After Muriel finished transforming, she didn't give the three any time to think about how to handle her. Instantly, she charged toward them, leaving no opportunity for anyone to utter a single word to cast a skill. Muriel slammed into Oliver, sending him flying away from her, then used her tail to wrap around him mid-air, smashing his head into the ground before throwing him in Aura's direction.

Aura leaped to avoid Oliver's body as it was hurled toward her. Meanwhile, Grimold quickly cast a spell, conjuring five ice lances and launching them at Muriel immediately. But Muriel, upon seeing this, chuckled slightly and breathed dark blue fire, almost black in color, at the spears, turning them into steam instantly. Grimold had to roll to the side to avoid being roasted alive by Muriel's flames.

Oliver slowly got up, dazed and disoriented. His head had been slammed into the ground with such force that he nearly passed out, but even he understood that staying down would mean death. Although the rules of this tournament prohibited killing, it seemed that, for the three of them, this rule had become just powerless letters on a board.

Aura tried her best to approach Muriel from behind. However, even though her speed was impressive for a human of her level, in front of nature's ultimate predator, that skill was only enough to delay the death approaching her with every second she darted and dodged around Muriel. Each time she tried to evade Muriel's attacks, her body grew more exhausted until Muriel's wings finally struck her, sending her flying away from Muriel.

With Grimold's ice element at a disadvantage against Muriel's dragon fire, all the ice she conjured to attack Muriel evaporated into steam before even reaching her. Desperately, Grimold tried freezing the ground beneath Muriel's feet to slow her down, but Muriel quickly realized the tactic and flapped her wings, soaring into the air. She then spewed a mixture of white, viscous saliva and fire onto the battlefield below. The napalm-like flames clung to the ground, burning intensely and continuously. The sand beneath began to melt into glass, and thick black smoke rose, obscuring the arena. Muriel's fire had cut off all escape routes for the three of them.

Looking down at the trio with a gaze of pity, Muriel saw three highly skilled humans by human standards trying to defeat her, but in the end, none of them could compare to the power of a dragon. She didn't even need to tap into her demon lord powers. The heat surrounding Grimold grew so intense that she started losing consciousness; her legs wobbled, and she collapsed toward a nearby patch of fire.

As her body hit the burning ground, Grimold let out a scream of pain and tried to cast a healing spell, but the agony was too overwhelming to concentrate. Seeing Grimold's suffering, Muriel swiftly dove down, her scaled foot crashing down on Grimold's head, crushing it instantly. It was a swift end, though not without pain, but at least it was quick.

Now standing on the scorched ground, Muriel lifted her head to face Oliver, who stood before her, sword and shield in hand, clad in his steel plate armor. It must have been unbearably hot inside, with his body slowly roasting from within, yet the knight still had the courage to stand his ground against he. Muriel respected his courage—no, she admired it. She took a deep breath and unleashed a torrent of black flames upon Oliver, pouring out every ounce of her breath. He had no time to scream. His body melted, fusing with his family's steel armor before he even realized what had happened.

"May you find endless slumber," Muriel murmured, her voice cold and indifferent, showing not a hint of remorse for having ended the lives of the two. Yet, there was no mockery in her tone regarding their efforts.

Finally, Aura, who had managed to rise after being struck by Muriel's wing, now sat motionless on the ground. Her mask, shattered, no longer concealed her face. Fear gripped her. She could do nothing but sit there, paralyzed by fear after witnessing the deaths of Grimold and Oliver right before her eyes. The flames surrounding her crept ever closer, yet what terrified her more was Muriel herself. The Dragon walked through the blazing wall of fire she had set ablaze herself, as if the searing heat, which was turning the earth to glass, did not affect her in the slightest. Aura's instincts screamed at her to flee, yet her body refused to obey.

“Veenciel! Veenciel! Do something already! Stop her!” A woman’s voice shouted from the entrance of the arena below. It was Saleh’s voice, urging Veenciel, who had been sitting silently alone in the special seating area all this time.

“So, that's all they could do, huh, boss? Just scream and burn,” Veenciel replied calmly. In her hand, she held a black orb the size of her palm, while her other hand gripped the handle of a black briefcase. Rising from her seat, she leaped down from the stands into the arena below. The moment her feet touched the ground, the dark blue flames burning across the battlefield were extinguished by the force of the shockwave and wind created by her descent. Saleh immediately ran to Aura as soon as Veenciel put out all the dark flames.

"Sorry to interrupt your fun, black-haired dragon. Since this is our first meeting, I suppose I should introduce my—"

"What are you babbling about? Aren't you that white-haired elf I met the other day?"

Muriel cut off Veenciel mid-sentence. Veenciel was shocked that Muriel knew who she was. But before Veenciel could say anything, the black orb in her hand began to emit a faint glow, followed by a burst of laughter. Instantly, Muriel looked down at the black orb. Although she couldn't see anyone's face or anything from the orb, as soon as she heard the voice speaking in this world language using a translation skill, common among those from another world, Muriel immediately recognized the accent. She knew right away that her target was speaking to her.

"Impressive, really impressive! I never thought your power would be this incredible. Wow, the power of a dragon is truly formidable."

"Ugh, how annoying. Just an orb, but no real body?" Muriel thought as she continued to stare at the black orb. At the same time, she considered how she might respond to deceive the person behind the crystal. But before she could say anything, he spoke again.

"Ah, your name is Muriel, isn't it? A fitting name for a dragon. Let me make you an offer right now—join us, become my mighty steed, and I'll give you half of all the treasures in this world, once we’ve saved it from all the demon lords."

The orb continued to speak, while Muriel gazed at it with a calm, indifferent expression. However, within her, a fire of fury burned intensely. This was the same cunt that had taken the core of her sister, and now he had the fucking audacity to offer her a deal as if they were equals. With every passing second, Muriel felt more disgusted by the man whose voice she was forced to listen to. She wanted to crush, burn, and destroy him. But, for now, she needed to meet him face-to-face.

So, Muriel knelt down on one knee and lowered her head—not before Veenciel, but before the black crystal in Veenciel’s hand.

Lilith, who was watching, felt a wave of despair, sadness, and hopelessness wash over her when she saw Muriel kneel and bow before Veenciel. Was the Dragon of Freedom just a myth? Would she remain a slave forever? Had the gods above abandoned her to her fate? Was her freedom truly lost forever?

"I... shall serve you from this day forward, my lord," Muriel spoke slowly, each word breaking her spirit in a different way.

"Hmm, more obedient than I thought. But if you want to meet me, you’ll need to show more loyalty than that. Stand up. Veenciel, give her some clothes."

"Yes, Boss."

Veenciel placed the black orb between her chest and, with both hands, opened the black briefcase in front of Muriel—Muriel stood up, simultaneously looking down at the black clothes in the box. She sensed a surprisingly weak magical power emanating from this uniform. Reflecting on it, she realized that Veenciel’s own outfit and the others wearing it held a similarly faint magical aura. As Muriel examined the uniform more closely, she noticed that it was made from a silk-like thread, though, it seemed more like spider silk, possibly from an Arachne. Disgusting, gross and filthy.

Muriel took the uniform, and her gaze fell upon a half-black, half-white mask that had been under the uniform. She picked it up with her other hand and put it on her face. Immediately, she heard a sound like glass shattering. She wasn’t entirely sure, but it seemed that the magic engraved in the mask couldn’t handle her power and shattered on its own. Muriel stared at the black uniform in her hand for a moment before a sly grin slowly spread across her face. Then, a dark liquid flowed from her body, covering her and the uniform entirely for a moment.

Veenciel was somewhat startled by Muriel’s swift actions, but the crystal ball on her chest remained silent, so she thought nothing more of it. As Veenciel slowly raised her head, she saw Lilith standing there, staring at Muriel with a look of despair. However, before she could do anything, the orb emitted a sound once more.

"Veenciel, tell Lilith to come down. As soon as Muriel finishes changing into the uniform, I'll have both of them proceed with Mission Plan A immediately," the crystal orb instructed Veenciel, its voice filled with a hint of joy, like a child who had just received a new toy.

"Right away, boss. Skill Activation [Short-Range Communication]," Veenciel replied, activating the skill and looking toward Lilith.

"Lilith, please come down to the arena. The boss wants you to go on a treasure-hunting mission with our new dragon," Veenciel communicated with Lilith through the skill. Upon hearing this, Lilith quickly turned toward Veenciel, startled, before nodding and hurrying to find her way down to the arena.

Shortly after Veenciel gave her order, the black liquid flowed out from Muriel's body, revealing her in the black uniform that covered her completely. The familiar black princess dress she usually wore was nowhere to be seen. However, she still wasn't wearing any shoes, and of course, her hair remained tied with red ribbons on both sides, just as before. At the same time, Lilith finally reached the arena floor. Although the flames had been extinguished, the aftermath of the destruction was still clearly visible. Even so, Lilith made her way over to Veenciel, trying hard not to look at anything else around her.

“These outfits are enchanted, huh? Defense, illusion, healing spells. They're much weaker than the scales of my own clothes, but since I’ve already absorbed the outfit, it might be useful to deceive these fools,” Muriel thought to herself as she looked up at Veenciel. But in the meantime, something else caught her eye—Lilith, particularly the slave collar tightly around her neck. "How pitiful," Muriel thought. She decided the first thing she'd do when they were alone, would be destroying that filthy collar.

“Our boss has assigned you both to a treasure-hunting mission. He wants you to head to the dwarf kingdom of Listerok, and find the treasures he desires. Here are the details,” Veenciel said, handing a folded piece of paper to Muriel. Muriel opened it, glanced at the contents for a moment, then folded it back and tucked it into the pocket of her uniform.

“Dwarven Kingdom, huh? Perfect, I could use something from there.”

“You have one week to find it. Your time starts now,” Veenciel concluded her instructions to Muriel, then walked over to Saleh and Aura, leaving Muriel and Lilith to talk.

“Lady Muriel, is it? M-My name is Lilith,” Lilith said, looking up at Muriel. Her expression showed fear, but more than that, it conveyed excitement—standing before a dragon, even if, in Lilith’s mind, she’s not the legendary Black Dragon, it was overwhelming for her.

“That’s not a name from this world. Did that guy give it to you?” Muriel observed Lilith for a moment before slowly smiling at her.

“Yes, Lord Samwell is my master,” Lilith replied, but her tone hinted at disappointment. The exact reason was unclear to Muriel.

“I see. Well then, let's get going. Listerok is quite a distance from here.” Muriel walked behind Lilith, hugged her, and spread her wings before launching into the sky, disappearing in an instant. It wasn’t until a moment after she vanished that those below heard the sonic boom as Muriel broke the sound barrier.

High above the clouds, the two of them had a clear view of the Western Continent. Muriel was flying toward the towering mountain range that divided the continent at supersonic speed, but neither she nor Lilith seemed affected by the extreme velocity. Lilith gazed down at the vast land below, marveling at the view from above the clouds. Although she had flown to Senwara the previous night, this was the first time she truly saw the world beneath her while flying—thanks to this Black Dragon’s wings.

“Freedom... It’s so beautiful,”