The four draconian elders and the draconian warrior champion who is the first born of the King of Dragons readied themselves as the other dragons ran away.
Though they have come from a prideful race, the other elite dragon guards knew that they would only be a nuisance to the elders and the draconian warrior champion if they were to jump into the battlefield.
"WOW~ I am honored! To have not one, not two, not three, not four... but five dragons fighting me at the same time, ah~ I might just tear up once I tell my brother how I became victorious against the race that was revered to be the most powerful back in the Age of Blood"
Payne sincerely said without any intentions of insulting the dragons.
However, the dragons whose pride pierces the sky just like the location of their kingdom, became mad at the provocation(?) that Payne uttered.
"Hah! Someone who hasn't even live a thousand years dares to belittle our noble race?! Die, you vermin!!!"
As one of the elder dragons charged in, in just a split second, his head and limbs were all detached from his body.
Thud.
Blood splurted around as the corpse of the dragon who fell on the ground as the vampire, whose eyes glowed redder than the first rose*, stole the attention of the remaining four.
"What? That's it? Since he was called an elder, I even went as far as transforming. To think that your level only amount to this much. Sigh~"
A tatoo like pattern appeared on his pale skin. His fangs grew longer and his dark mana grew darker and denser.
"I wonder if the king will also be a disappointment?"
The four who were frozen in place knew that they had underestimated their enemy too much.
'N-no way! Just now, those movements are...'
'They were as fast as the king's!'
'And the power to cleanly chopped off an elder dragon's scales with such ease... he is without a doubt on the same level as the king!!!'
As they have isolated themselves for far too long, the dragons who were ignorant about the matters of the world did not knew that the vampire in front of them was revered as the strongest and most powerful one to the point that his presence alone made Everblack stronger as a nation.
That even Aelius bothered to form friendly relations with them as they knew that if they were to declare war against Everblack and that even if they do win against the vampires, they will have to pay a high price for a meaningless victory.
"Show me more of what you lot can do. So that I will be all warmed up once I get to your king"
Knowing that they will lose their lives fighting the monstrous vampire in front of them, the four stood tall as their pride as the strongest race remains in their heart and soul.
The pride of those at the top to not fall. And the resolve to win against anyone to maintain that spot.
"AAAAHH!!!"
The four dragons coordinated their attacks.
One would even say that they were performing a choreographed skit from how well they timed each others' attack.
Boom!
But not even their teamwork manage to land a single hit on Payne.
"Is this the so called power of friendship in children's books? How laughable. Are you going to say how arrogant I am from dodging your attacks when I could easily kill you all?"
With their pride that was rubbed to the dirtiest and murkiest sewer water one could possibly imagine from the insult Payne said, the dragons lost their reasoning and blindly attacked the man in front of them.
"AAAAHH!!!"
As the sea exploded from the attacks of the dragons, as the stratosphere's* temperature got altered due to the high concentration of mana that the dragons' fired, storms brewed and countless water spouts and tornadoes formed.
But even with that,
"You guys only have explosive powers, huh. In reality, your combat skills that did not develop due to your race's dependence on your mana capacity, innate destructive capabilities, and natural high firepower, you lot are all behind the times already"
Payne sucessfully evaded all of their attacks as he punctured them with needles made from blood.
"Ack...!?"
As the barrage of never ending attacks continued, the four noticed that Payne was getting faster and faster.
"You... arrogant vampire... so you weren't even using your full power just now, huh"
"What are you talking about? Oh, I see~"
Payne leaned down to the dragon's ear.
"Its not that I got faster or anything, my blood just contains poison. A poison similar to depressant drugs. Once it circulates in your body, your muscles will relax until you all fall asleep to something you will never wake up from"
As the draconian warrior champion could no longer move, as well as the three remaining elders, Payne sat down on his back as he pulled his hair out of amusement.
"You see, my body has a unique constitution which is why my parents experimented all kinds of things on me when I was a child. That was the reason why each one of my bodily fluids have different effects. And it is also the reason why I am immune to most poison in the world"
Swoosh.
A dark mist was released from a dragon's mouth.
With no intention of fighting back, Payne let the elite dragon soldiers to take away the bodies of those he defeated.
"A poison dragon, huh? And here I was just talking about my past regarding poison... sheesh, how comedic fate really is"
The next three minutes, Payne defeated the hundred elite dragon soldiers without killing them.
Paying attention to his work, Payne tossed the bodies of those who could not move down where Darius was for him to feast on.
"This race... is truly idiotic. But had they learn how to fight properly, it would have taken me longer from enjoying the fight. Sigh~"
"RROOOOOOOOOAAAAARRR!!!"
A golden dragon descended and transformed its appearance similar to a human's.
"How pathetic. To think that they would lose against a mere vampire. They all deserve to die"
The King of Dragons said as he spit on the head of the dragon elder that was killed earlier with disgust.
"Shouldn't a king be mindful about their subjects?"
"I don't think someone like you who only values fighting would be interested on such boring topics"
With nothing else on his mind, Payne smiled that it reached his ears.
"Right. That's my brother's forte. And this is mine!!!"
Swoosh.
The Dragon king's hair became platinum as he unsheathed his weapon.
"A dragon who relies on artifacts? Hahahahahaha!!!"
"Screw you! This sword's only ability is
"Thank you for the explanation, dumbass"
Between the howling storms and the raging waterspout and tornadoes, the two stood and locked eyes at each other as they felt thrilled to be able to find someone who was on the same level as them.
Someone who would be able to stand up against them.
__________________________
Note:
1.) The phrase 'Redder than the first rose' is a phrase that originated from the vampire's who called the first ruler of vampires, Queen Carmilla's eyes were similar to the first red rose that symbolizes their race.
When used in a sentece, this means that whoever it is, they are on the same level as the Queen of Darkness who is respected by every vampire which is also why this term is extremely rare to be used in Everblack.
It can be reffering to how beautiful someone is just as how ethreal and majestic Queen Carmilla was.
It can be reffering to how smart and tactical someone is just as how skilled at commanding Queen Carmilla was.
2.) Stratoshpere is the part of the atmoshpere that was used in the story as the Dragon Kingdom lays on top of a mountain that surpassses the Troposphere where most weather things happen. It is also just above Troposphere.
While I have done my research regarding this topic, I am not really sure whether the sudden increase of temperature in the Stratosphere would be enough to cause such disasters, but hey, this is fiction so anything goes.
I am also sorry if someone is offended by this, I just lack knowledge as the internet won't really provide me anything useful regarding the matter.