Shut Up Malevolent Dragon I Dont Want To Have Any More Children With You Chapter 720

[ … words ]

“Turns out Vida brought a dragon here that ended up in the ban list for the trial…”

Well, that does suit that battle maniac’s personality.

And besides, it was a hundred years ago—back in the old ironclad trials, where there were no second chances. Now it’s even more extreme.

“At the very least, one dragon elder, though unable to participate in this trial, is allowed to spectate the entire event and cheer for their friend,” said Senel.

Cecilia’s eyes lit up. “Cheer? Oh, great~ I love cheering people on!”

Leon silently observed this pair.

“Are you sure this is the partner who searched for the Five Spirit Crown with Chavida for hundreds of years, and not just an oversized red-and-white idiot?”

“Now then, for the gentlemen who wish to participate in the trial, please follow me. Tonight, we will conduct race verification and the first stage of the trial.”

Leon nodded, then glanced at Vida and Cecilia.

“I’ll go confirm my identity first. You two should find a place to rest.”

Vida gave a deep, heavy hum in response.

Cecilia, on the other hand, cheered Leon on without hesitation.

“Go, Leon! Speedrun it!”

Leon chuckled, not saying much, and turned to follow Senel for the race verification.

When they entered the cave, a long line had already formed ahead of them.

At the end of the line stood a giant Recording Stone and a magical formation glowing in a circular pattern.

“Trial participants must step into the magic circle. The Recording Stone will then confirm their race,” Senel explained. “That way, there’s no way to disguise oneself as another race to sneak into the trial.”

“Mm, sounds good.”

The magic used to detect race wasn’t particularly complex, but what made it special was that its knowledge wasn’t shared outside of certain groups.

Only a handful of people across the entire Samael continent knew how to perform this spell.

Leon knew he was a blood-and-iron human, so he wasn’t worried at all—

Wait.

The calm, composed mindset he had just moments ago suddenly took a sharp nosedive.

Leon furrowed his brows slightly, as if he had just realized something.

He looked down at his palm and murmured,

“Where… do I really come from…?”

—

About forty minutes later, it was finally Leon’s turn for race verification.

Unconsciously, he clenched his fists and pressed his lips together, hesitation flickering across his heart.

Not because he was afraid of failing the verification and getting disqualified from the trial.

But rather… what if he wasn’t human—

“Leon Casmod, please step into the formation. Hurry up, there are still many trial participants waiting.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

Leon snapped back to reality, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.

After adjusting his posture, he stepped into the formation with a lingering sense of unease.

In the few short seconds of waiting, Leon closed his eyes slightly.

He hadn’t expected this kind of step to be part of the process at all before coming here.

It was too abrupt, leaving him without any time to mentally prepare.

Tsk—

Old Con really…

If it weren’t for the fact that he had crushed everyone else a hundred years ago, the Divine Stallion Tribe wouldn’t have added this race verification step in the first place.

Yep, it was all the Red Flame Dragon King’s fault.

Leon made a bitter joke in his mind, trying to endure these torturous few seconds.

“Race verification complete. Human.”

The moment he heard the word human, the tension in Leon’s body instantly eased.

Even though he still had no clue about his origins, at the very least, his humanity had been confirmed.

That alone was enough to put part of his mind at ease—like a heavy stone finally landing.

“Oh, that makes him the second human we’ve had here tonight,” one of the trial officials casually remarked to his colleague.

“Yeah, I wonder what’s been happening on the other side of the continent all these years. There were never any humans in our trials before.”

As Leon stepped out of the formation, he overheard the two officials chatting.

“A second human? There was already one before me?”

That piqued Leon’s curiosity.

More than who had gotten the dragon race banned, he was more curious about who else, aside from himself, had come here seeking the Fire Spirit Divine Stallion’s blessing.

“Trial participants who have passed the verification, please proceed this way. The first trial will now begin,” Senel called from the front.

“Oh, coming.”

Leon quickly followed her, passing through the cave.

They arrived at the entrance of a stone chamber, where Senel turned and said,

“This is the first stage of the trial. You arrived just in time—one participant is already ready inside.”

“What is the content of the first trial?”

“Hand-to-hand combat.”

“Oh… so we’re jumping straight into action, huh…”

Senel shook her head with a smile.

“The first-stage hand-to-hand combat won’t eliminate any participants. It’s simply a way for our Divine Stallion Tribe to assess each participant’s abilities.”

“The differences in ability will also affect the later trial stages.

So, it’s best not to hold back—

Otherwise, if you keep your full strength hidden, you might end up suffering for it later~”

Leon smirked and nodded.

While the principle was to give it his all, if he was being honest, right now, his principle was still somewhere near his hands.

If he really followed Senel’s advice and went all out in this fight, he’d probably be able to skip straight to the blessing ceremony by tonight.

After getting a simple rundown of the rules, Leon pushed open the stone door and stepped inside.

—

As he entered, he realized that while the outside of the cave seemed ordinary, the inside was a whole different world.

Standing at the entrance, he could see the entire trial arena.

The interior resembled a gladiator’s colosseum, with a spectator area circling above and a battle platform below.

Because of the sheer number of participants, the battlefield was divided into ten sections.

That meant ten matches could take place simultaneously.

And just before stepping inside, Leon had noticed that there were even more trial arenas outside this one.

“There sure are a lot of people looking for a blessing…”

Leon sighed, making his way down to the arena.

Under the guidance of the Divine Stallion Tribe’s staff, he and his opponent approached the battlefield from opposite sides.

His opponent was a massive figure with an imposing presence.

Dark skin, marked with faint glowing patterns.

On his shoulder, a mammoth-shaped totem tattoo was etched.

“This match: Albert of the Black Skull Tribe versus Leon Casmod of the Human Race,” the trial official announced.

“Black Skull, huh… Was kind of hoping I’d run into the other human first.”

Leon stood with both hands casually in his pockets, eyeing his opponent with a relaxed expression.

Meanwhile, from the spectator seats, murmurs began to spread.

“This guy named Leon sure has rotten luck, huh?”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t know either? Albert is the one who, a hundred years ago, regrettably lost to Constantine.

You could honestly say that if it weren’t for the dragons being so ridiculously strong, Albert would’ve been able to receive the Divine Stallion’s blessing based on his own strength.”

“Oh… So that guy really is strong. That human really is… unlucky.”

“Even though this trial won’t eliminate any participants, running into Albert right in the first match is bound to take a toll on Leon’s morale going forward.”

“I think the biggest issue is that he’s just a human. I heard that humans aren’t very good at hand-to-hand combat. They always rely on tools and weapons to compensate. But this is pure unarmed fighting…”

“Yeah… Let’s just hope the human doesn’t lose too miserably.”

…

“So my opponent is actually Old Con’s defeated rival?”

Now that made Leon take things a little more seriously—

If he didn’t control his strength properly, he was worried he might knock the guy out in one punch.

After all, Senel and the others had already said that overpowered races weren’t allowed to participate in the trials.

Leon definitely didn’t want to {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} make the same mistake as Constantine, getting himself and his entire race banned from this event.

What if, in the future, humans became stronger and started coming here for the Divine Stallion’s blessing too?

Imagine his fellow humans going through hell to reach this place, only to be told:

“Sorry, Casmod was too broken, so we banned him and your entire race.”

Leon would go from human hero to public enemy number one—a goddamn griefing troll.

“You’re out of luck, little human.”

Albert cracked his knuckles, his massive frame trembling with anticipation.

“Do you know that a hundred years ago, I nearly defeated one of the greatest dragons of that era—Constantine?”

“Oh, right, my bad. I forgot humans don’t usually live past a hundred years, so of course, you wouldn’t know about that.”

The massive black-skinned warrior’s words were laced with both boastful pride and open contempt toward Leon.

“Nearly defeated Constantine?”

“Guess I’ll have to ask Old Con about it later—so you were nearly soloed by this big dumb brute?”

Leon casually raised his hands.

He wasn’t actually about to throw a punch—just adjusting his stance.

But to Albert, this silent response reeked of mockery.

Albert stomped the ground, and the heavy boom of his foot made the entire arena tremble.

“Arrogant human brat! Let me show you the power worthy of standing against a Dragon King!”

With that, Albert charged at Leon.

His massive build slowed him down considerably.

From Leon’s perspective, it was practically slow motion.

Albert swung at him with a flurry of left and right punches.

Leon dodged them all effortlessly, moving with a casual grace.

His opponent’s fists barely grazed his ears, not even close to landing a hit.

At this level of combat, Leon didn’t even need to activate his enhanced senses.

“Damn it… You just keep dodging like a coward, human!!”

Albert brought both fists together and slammed them down toward Leon, sending up a thick cloud of dust.

But there was only smoke, no damage.

Leon had already leaped high into the air, effortlessly avoiding the attack.

“You bastard!!”

Albert roared and launched into a second round of attacks, his right fist aiming straight for Leon’s face.

Leon sighed, watching him with a deadpan expression.

“He’s wide open.”

He was already tired of this newbie-level opponent.

Leon planned to end this in one move.

But just as he was about to counter, his sharp eyes caught something in the stands.

The Divine Stallion Tribe members in the audience—

They were all holding notebooks, carefully watching and writing down notes about the fight.

“Tsk… Of course it’s a point-based system.”

If he one-shot this so-called “uncrowned king” of the last tournament, Leon’s hidden ranking would shoot through the roof.

So, he decided to play it smart.

Instead of dodging, Leon deliberately took the punch.

As Albert’s fist landed, Leon barely flinched and smirked, saying,

“You call that a punch? This isn’t even enough to warm me up.”

For a max-level boss, this was like getting hit by a tutorial enemy.

Albert froze.

No way.

This guy was hacking.

Leon took a deliberately exaggerated step back, pretending to be knocked off balance.

Albert stepped forward, folding his arms arrogantly, towering over him.

“The referee hasn’t called the match yet,” he said smugly. “But I’d advise you to just surrender now. Save your strength for the later trials.”

Leon lazily stood back up, dusting off his clothes.

Then, he muttered,

“One minute.”

“What?” Albert frowned.

“From the moment we started fighting until now, it’s been exactly one minute. And by the time the next minute is up, I’ll have knocked you out.”

Albert’s grin vanished.

He clenched his fists again.

“Arrogant human… Don’t blame me if I don’t hold back!”

He roared and charged again.

Leon continued dodging, but now he occasionally pretended to get hit by a few punches.

From Albert’s perspective, he was getting frustrated as hell—no matter how hard he tried, Leon looked completely calm and unaffected.

From the referee panel’s perspective, it was a perfectly balanced back-and-forth fight.

From Leon’s perspective—

“Damn, why does one minute feel so damn long? Should’ve said thirty seconds.”

Finally, the countdown reached its final seconds.

Leon saw his opening.

With a swift counterattack, he landed a single punch right into Albert’s gut.

It looked like an ordinary hit—

Leon’s other hand was still in his pocket.

But only Albert knew just how hard that punch had been.

It was precise.

It didn’t knock him out, but it completely robbed him of his ability to move.

As Albert collapsed, Leon glanced up at the massive clock hanging over the arena.

“Ah… right on time.”

He walked up to Albert’s fallen body, looking down at the big, dumb brute.

“You said you wanted to show me the power that could stand against a Dragon King?”

Leon lowered his voice.

“Should’ve mentioned this earlier—”

“I’ve killed more Dragon Kings than you’ve ever met.”