341 Demon Emperor
A massive black-scaled dragon collided with a winged shark, and the impact echoed throughout the demon sea, scaring away some of the nearby creatures. It even scared Arthur’s wives, flying away toward the nearest island, not far from where the ship sank into the water.
It was no longer a battle between a mage and a magical beast but between two blood-starved beasts! The winged shark flew with the collision, but that was not enough to hurt him badly, so it went toward Arthur with its mouth open, trying to bite one of his legs!
The shark was giant but not as big as Arthur’s dragon form, and even though they both looked like beasts, dragons were a kind of superior intelligence, especially Arthur, a mage by nature. There was no way Arthur would let the shark bite him that easily.
When the shark’s mouth was near his right leg, Arthur activated his Emperor Eye, making the enemy’s attack look slower, giving him an edge when dodging it.
He moved his leg, avoiding the bite, opening his mouth and sending a dragon’s breath toward the shark! Arthur could use a whiff of any of his essences, and he opted to use a fire breath.
Massive burns appeared all over the shark’s body as the fire breath engulfed him. The fire breath was way bigger when in proper dragon form, and it was so massive it covered the whole shark, which was as big as a mountain!
Even though the attack was powerful, it was still not enough to finish the shark. It did not fly toward Arthur again and was visibly less aggressive than before. Then, a voice tried to contact Arthur, and he allowed it.
“Do you want my territory? I accept defeat!”
It was strange to talk in that tongue, and even though Arthur had never studied, he knew it well, just like when he spoke with Sully! That was one of the perks of being a dragon.
“Why would I want your territory? I am just passing by, and you attacked my ship and friends.” Arthur said.
Truth be told, he wanted to kill that shark for doing what it did, but there was no denying that the shark had the power equivalent to a rank 3 mage too! Arthur was at the peak of rank 3, so it would be easy to kill the beast in normal circumstances, but not there where they were!
If the shark wanted, it could go back toward the deep sea, and following after, it would be stupid, as lots of other beasts were down there, waiting for prey to be so stupid to go.
“You are just passing by? I will return to the sea while you are here and will only come out after you leave to not disturb you. I am sorry about your friends,” the shark said, diving back into the sea, his safe place.
“Should I follow it or not?” Arthur thought.
His heart wanted him to go, but his mind told him it was not the right call, “I can kill him in the future.”
Now that Arthur had seen the shark’s aura with his Emperor Eye, he could follow it no matter where it went or how much time it passed. That was one of the many powers of that strange eye and one useful for future revenge.
Arthur looked around to see if his wives had reached the island yet, but could not see them at all, even after using his Emperor Eye.
“Strange,” he thought, flying toward the island in his dragon form.
The island was not the only one around. It was like an archipelago of islands, but the distance between each island was long, and that part of the sea called the demon sea had tons of beasts, making it a dangerous task to travel from island to island.
“I should return to my human form to not scare the animals around here.”
When Arthur got close to the island, he could sense something was amiss, and when he turned around, a barrier formed behind it. It was not looking good, but before trying to break the barrier, Arthur wanted to find his wives, who were not there!
He looked near the island’s shore and saw them there, Jane, Wisa, and Sybille. They had passed out for some reason and ended up on the beach.
The first thing he did was check if they were alive, and thankfully all of them were okay, and all Arthur needed to do was wait a few hours for them to return.
With the help of his magic, Arthur built a house made of earth and placed his wives inside to ensure they had a layer of protection while he tried to destroy the barrier around the island.
Truth be told, he was almost sure his power, a peak rank 3 mage, would be enough to quickly destroy that barrier, and it turned out that was not the case.
Hell, it was even worse; no matter what attack he used, there was no scratch on the barrier! His final move was to use his devour skill, which always helped him in times of need, and even his cheat skill from the system failed.
“What? How is this even possible?”
Arthur did not know, but that island was not ordinary. It was a myth, just like the Sky City, which belonged to the dragons. In fact, that island was even rarer, and no one could find it by normal means.
It might sound ridiculous, but even with a power equivalent to a rank 6 mage, it would be impossible to break the barrier with pure force alone. He was stuck with his wives, and it was up to him to find a way to leave or perish…
~~~~
“What happened?” Jane asked as soon as she woke up.
Wisa and Sybille had the same questions inside their minds, and Arthur told them about his fight with the shark, but more importantly, they were trapped on a desert island!
“Even your power of a rank 3 mage did not scratch the barrier? Let me see it!” Sybille said as she got up and flew toward the barrier to see it up close.
She returned after some time with a not-so-good face. Even Sybille, who had a deep understanding of barriers, and magical formations in general, could not comprehend the one surrounding the island.
“We are truly trapped here… Well, let’s think positively. We can maybe find more information about the barrier inside this island!” Sybille said.
What she said made sense. The island they were on was massive, way bigger than most of the islands around that archipelago. It had to have something about the barrier there, as Arthur did not believe they would stay trapped there for eternity.
“Are you all okay? If yes, we can start exploring this place and look for a way out!” Arthur said.
They nodded, so they all left the island’s coast, going deep into the tense forest, looking for a way out of there. Arthur believed it would take them a long time to find something, but contrary to his expectations, there was a small wooden cabin close to where they originally were.
“A cabin! Although I believe there is no one there,” Arthur said to his wives, pointing toward the wooden cabin.
Ironically, there was someone in there. A middle-aged man with a long grey beard and hair. It was clear the man had been there for a long time, but the most surprising thing about the man was his strength, which Arthur could not sense at all!
“Huh? Who are you? Everyone on this island knows no one can get close to my house! I am the Demon Emperor, after all!” the bearded man said.