"Is everyone here?" Drake asked, his gaze briefly scanning the group.
"Yes, we're all here!" the others echoed.
Nox's teammates—Mira, Brutus, Fenix, kasiy, Toren and Zara—stood alongside him and Drake at the top of the Royal Castle. They were making preparations to travel to Frostpire, where the Competition of Kingdoms would be held.
Each decade, the tournament's location changed from one kingdom to another. The organizers believed that keeping the competition in a fixed place would give an unfair advantage to the dominant dragon species of that region. To maintain balance, the location was shuffled regularly.
Of course, this method still granted the host kingdom's dragons an edge, but it was an unavoidable reality that had long been accepted.
By coincidence and luck, this year's competition had been scheduled to take place in Frostpire, within the Royal Coliseum. This was one of the reasons why Frostpire's citizens were so enthusiastic about winning asthe Frost Dragons naturally thrived in frozen environments.
"Hey, you want me to give you a lift?" Brutus offered with a grin.
"No, thank you. Zara will give me a lift," Nox politely declined with a light smile.
Before Nox's eyes, a radiant light enveloped everyone, and when the glow faded, a group of Frost Dragons stood before him, exuding a chilling coldness capable of freezing the very air around them.
Nox admired the dragons, ignoring the faint spark of greed that flickered in his heart. The dragons all shared similar traits, but their sizes and builds varied greatly.
Brutus and Toren were on the muscular side, built like armored titans, while Drake and Fenix, dragon forms appeared lithe and refined, exuding the aura of lightning-fast agility.
As for the females, Mira, Kasiy and Zara, they were elegant and delicate in appearance, but the ferocity in their eyes was unmistakable.
After a few moments, Nox mounted Zara, and the Frost Dragons took to the skies, soaring toward the Royal Coliseum.
Midair, Nox glanced around, watching as a sea of dragons filled the sky. Even in the Dragon Realm, not all dragonkind could shift into their dragon forms. The transformation age was set at fifteen, so it wasn't uncommon to see dragons carrying their younger offspring on their backs.
"Wait… wouldn't it raise issues if the others find out that Nox can't shift?" Mira asked, concern creeping into her voice.
"True, I didn't account for that in the plan," Drake muttered, frowning as he tried to think of a solution.
"Well, we could always say he doesn't like shifting or something along those lines," he suggested after a moment.
"Yes, that could work," the others agreed.
The conversation ended as they neared the coliseum. Though they had arrived a little late, the competition had yet to begin. However, the entire arena was already packed with dragons of all kinds, filling the air with excited chatter.
Despite being dragons, the spectators were all in their human forms, as the competition forbade non-participants from shifting within the stands.
The Frostpire team was led to a waiting room—a chamber where competitors gathered before the tournament officially began.
"Alright, as we all know, each team is required to have at least eight members," Drake addressed the group. "The nature of this competition is elimination-based, and our team could be randomly pitted against any of the other kingdoms."
"The goal is to be the last team standing, which means that losing even once results in immediate elimination. There are no second chances."
"How will our opponents be selected?" Nox asked curiously.
"That, we don't know. Each decade, the organizers introduce new methods of pairing the kingdoms together," Drake explained.
"I just hope we don't get matched against the Light Dragons or the Lightning Dragons," Mira murmured to herself, recalling the disastrous match years ago when the Earth Dragons were eliminated on the first day by the Lightning Dragons, despite the hype surrounding their strength.
Drake's expression darkened for a brief second before returning to normal. Nox noticed the subtle shift but chose not to comment.
"Even if it's them, we just have to give it our very best," Drake said, attempting to raise morale. However, his words weren't met with much enthusiasm—it was clear that the Frost Dragons were wary of the Big Four.
Light, Lightning, Shadow, and Fire Dragons… Nox mused to himself, contemplating the four dragon clans favored to win the tournament.Each one of them carried a reputation as fearsome as their elements, their past victories cementing their dominance.
Nox had heard tales of their strength during the past days—how the Light Dragons' brilliance overwhelmed opponents, how the Lightning Dragons' speed left little room for retaliation, how the Shadow Dragons struck unseen, and how the Fire Dragons reduced challengers to ashes. Nox's fingers tapped idly against his arm. He looked forward to encountering them.
Meanwhile, in the royal seating area, King Dracos Frostpire gazed down at the coliseum, watching as the organizers made the final preparations.
His sharp eyes drifted toward the other dragon monarchs. Some of them fidgeted nervously, while others remained calm. A few even had smug, cocky smiles on their faces.
Naturally, the monarchs wearing such arrogant expressions were the Overlords—leaders of the strongest dragon kingdom.
Yet, even among them, one stood out. The Light Dragon King. His expression remained utterly neutral, almost as if he were bored, disinterested in the entire event.
Suddenly, the Fire Dragon King smirked and turned toward the Light Dragon King. His molten-gold eyes flickered with amusement as he leaned forward, resting an arm on the throne's armrest. The air around him shimmered from the sheer heat radiating off his body.
"So, tell me, Light Dragon King," he said, his deep voice carrying across the gathering of rulers. "What brings you here after all these years? Has your kingdom finally run out of resources?" He chuckled, shaking his head. "I suppose even the mighty Light Dragons must crawl back when the well runs dry."
King Dracos Frostpire chuckled under his breath. "Oh, it seems things are about to get exciting."
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