Riding a dragon is a must!
While the Ghost Ship is mysterious and ancient, how can it compare to the domineering thrill of standing atop a mighty dragon's head, soaring across the continent?
"Let's go to the Royal Capital."
Naruto stood on Black Dragon Monarch's head, grabbed a hand, took out the Ghost Ship's route map, confirmed the direction of the human kingdom's Royal Capital, and then issued commands to Black Dragon Monarch.
Black Dragon Monarch had been dormant for a thousand years, and after releasing his accumulated resentment, he felt like a spring breeze on a galloping horse. He let out a deafening roar while unreservedly releasing his pressure, flying from high in the sky towards the Royal Capital.
The Royal Capital.
It was the foundation upon which humanity stood in the Goblin Slayer Continent, and also the foremost of the five great cities. Rumor had it that it preserved ancient war weapons left behind by humans, capable of resisting giants and dragons.
Black Dragon Monarch's flight speed was no slower than the Ghost Ship's.
Rushing like the wind and lightning, he soon discovered a magnificent and vast medieval city on the boundless plains.
The city was divided into an outer district, an inner district, and the innermost Royal Castle.
Outside the city walls, there were endless golden wheat fields and slowly turning windmills. Its grain production was in no way inferior to that of the Wind Capital.
The sheer number of magic towers and giant ballistas, several times more than those in the Wind Capital, showcased the Royal Capital's defensive capabilities.
"We're here. That's the Royal Capital."
Naruto stood on Black Dragon Monarch's head, gazing into the distance. The Royal Capital, which perfectly matched his imagination of a medieval Western fantasy castle, immediately came into view.
At this moment.
A loud and profound bell rang, echoing above the Royal Capital's city walls.
Immediately, a beacon was lit on a watchtower, notifying the other garrison soldiers that an enemy was approaching.
"Oh, have we been discovered already?"
Naruto was quite surprised.
Black Dragon Monarch was still at least dozens of kilometers away from the Royal Capital, far beyond the limit of ordinary human vision. It seemed there were individuals among the city's defenders who specialized in lookout magic.
Discovering enemy invasions earlier allowed for more ample time to prepare and set up defenses.
Although the Royal Capital had been safe for several centuries, the soldiers defending the city were indeed the elite of the elite, acting faster and more effectively than the soldiers of the Wind Capital.
Soon.
Magic towers were activated, and giant ballistas were already strung with heavy Mithril arrows.
Furthermore, hundreds of priests performed defensive miracles, setting up defensive barriers similar to the Holy Wall on the Royal Capital's city walls.
Naruto estimated that with such defenses, even if the hundred-dragon calamity that almost annihilated the Wind Capital were to invade, the Royal Capital would be able to withstand it.
However, the Royal Capital was not facing a hundred-dragon calamity, but Black Dragon Monarch, who had lived for five thousand years.
Although both were Dragon-Grade, Black Dragon Monarch's strength was even greater than Dragon Mother Tiamat's.
Even a fully defended Royal Capital was just a somewhat prickly thorn to Black Dragon Monarch; it might be a bit painful to play with, but that was all.
Above the Royal Capital's city walls.
The garrison officer in charge of guarding the northern city wall breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving the message from the lookout general.
"So it's just one dragon. Although it's a black dragon, there aren't many of them. We can handle it."
"Isn't this too grand a display?"
"Well, let's just consider it a drill. I'm sure Crown Prince won't mind."
As the garrison officer's thoughts raced, Black Dragon Monarch, carrying Naruto, was already rapidly approaching from dozens of kilometers away.
"S-sir—"
"Something terrible has happened!"
The lookout general rushed forward to report.
"What's got you so flustered again? It's just one black dragon, what's there to be afraid of!" the garrison officer reprimanded with a frown.
The lookout general's face was pale. He pointed to the sky outside the city and said, "Sir! It—it's not an ordinary black dragon, but—but a Dragon!"
"What? A Dragon!"
The garrison officer was greatly alarmed. He quickly looked and saw a colossal creature rapidly approaching at the edge of the sky, leaping over mountains and crossing plains of wheat fields, as if it would arrive at the Royal Capital in the next moment.
"S-so huge! It's definitely a Dragon."
"I just don't know if it's a black dragon that just became a Dragon, or a black dragon renowned in history."
The garrison officer cried out in horror.
Pure-blooded dragon species: a hundred years for a Wyvern, a thousand years for a Dragon.
The historical records of the human kingdom showed that for a thousand years, no Dragon-Grade black dragon had ravaged human cities.
So the black dragon before them was either one that had just become a Dragon.
Or it was… Black Dragon Monarch from a thousand years ago!
"Oh n-no!!!"
"It's Black Dragon Monarch, who was killed by the hero a thousand years ago! He's actually been resurrected!"
"Oh no, oh no! Quickly notify Crown Prince, and also the Adventurers' Guild headquarters, hurry, hurry! Otherwise, the Royal Capital—no, the entire human kingdom might be destroyed in an instant!"
The garrison officer grabbed the collar of a nearby soldier and screamed hysterically.
His voice contained both fear and despair.
The Royal Capital's defensive power was fine for dealing with Wyverns, but against Black Dragon Monarch, who had lived for five thousand years, it was simply insufficient.
The attacks from the magic towers would probably only tickle Black Dragon Monarch's scales.
"Boom—!!"
With a deafening roar, Black Dragon Monarch, moving at extreme speed, descended from the sky and landed heavily hundreds of meters from the city gate. The moment his thick dragon claws touched the ground, a large amount of soil immediately splattered, and the earth shook.
The defending soldiers and officials were pale-faced; they hadn't even reacted.
Now, they were within the range of the giant ballistas and magic towers, but facing Black Dragon Monarch, whose killing intent surged and whose might was like a prison, they were terrified to their core. They couldn't even muster a hint of resistance. Their mental defenses collapsed one by one; some were dazed, some knelt, and some fainted from fright.
These soldiers were indeed elites, but they were also ordinary humans.
Facing Black Dragon Monarch, who had lived for five thousand years, they were no different from ants.
The power gap was too immense!
"Xiao Hei, put away your might."
"Don't scare them."
Naruto calmly ordered.
He had forgotten Black Dragon Monarch's original name, so he gave him a new one: Xiao Hei.
Black Dragon Monarch showed no dissatisfaction. He closed his dark golden dragon eyes, lowered his head, and folded his wide dragon wings, like a black mountain, lying down near the city wall to rest. His every breath caused the moat's waves to churn continuously.
With his might and killing intent withdrawn, Black Dragon Monarch still looked astonishingly magnificent, but the heavy stone in everyone's hearts seemed to have been lifted, and they immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
"H-how... how terrifying a Dragon."
"Facing him, we don't even have the courage to resist."
"How incredibly powerful and terrifying is this?"
The hundreds of soldiers on the north city wall sighed in relief; some slumped, some leaned against the wall.
They looked down at their hands and legs, finding them still trembling uncontrollably.
"Sir, look, there seems to be a person on top of the black dragon's head?"
"R-really! There really is a person standing there, it's a young man!"
"I think I just heard him call Black Dragon Monarch 'Xiao Hei'."
The sharp-eyed soldiers who saw Naruto immediately exclaimed.
Soon.
Their expressions turned strange as they looked at each other, realizing something incredible: Black Dragon Monarch, who had disappeared for a thousand years, might have been subdued?!
Otherwise, how could the black dragon, described in ancient historical scrolls as representing ferocity and arrogance, allow someone to ride on its head, be called 'Xiao Hei,' and obediently lie down, almost like an obedient puppy?
If that were truly the case... how did the other party manage it?
Naruto flew from Black Dragon Monarch's head and landed on the city wall. The fully armed and well-equipped warriors instinctively stepped back, clearing a large area for him.
The other party was clearly just a sunny and cheerful-looking young man in somewhat strange clothes, but the soldiers instinctively feared Naruto.
Until—
Crown Prince, who had rushed over, saw Naruto and cried out in surprise and delight, "Shinigami-dono!"
"Shinigami?"
The surrounding soldiers were all startled.
But they quickly reacted.
"Could it be that 'Shinigami' who recently rose in the Adventurers' Guild?"
"The super-expert who pacified the Goblin army of the Great Snow Mountain, then resolved the hundred-dragon calamity of the Wind Capital, and was hailed as the strongest Gold-Grade Adventurer, given the title of Shinigami."
"It's said among the common folk that he's the new hero."
"This is my first time seeing him in person; I didn't expect him to be so young."
The soldiers began to converse amongst themselves.
Crown Prince stepped forward, greeted Naruto, then stepped on the city parapet, gazing at Black Dragon Monarch beyond the moat. His eyes widened dramatically, he instinctively took a step back, then put one hand on his hip and the other on the hilt of his sword, laughing heartily: "Shinigami-dono, where did you subdue a Dragon-Grade black dragon from?"
"If I'm not mistaken, it should be the legendary Black Dragon Lord Raphael, right?"
"Raphael?"
Naruto looked back at Black Dragon Monarch, who was feigning sleep, and muttered, "Xiao Hei sounds better."
Black Dragon Monarch, who was feigning sleep, suddenly opened his cold, dark golden vertical pupils, then lifted his wide, thick dragon wings, covering half his dragon head, as if he couldn't bear the shame of being called that.
"Xiao Hei is indeed... not bad."
Crown Prince awkwardly chuckled, then his expression became a little troubled: "Shinigami-dono, could you ask Xiao Hei—Raphael to move a bit?"
"With him there, our northern city gate won't be able to let merchants and commoners in."
Naruto looked down at the area beyond Black Dragon Monarch and indeed saw people lining up to enter the city.
Even Crown Prince, a Gold-Grade Adventurer, was intimidated by Black Dragon Monarch's pressure upon their first meeting, let alone ordinary people.
"That's easy to fix."
"It's just that I didn't think it through completely."
Naruto stood firm. He saw that the shadow beneath his feet had, at some point, silently extended outwards, growing longer and larger, finally enveloping a behemoth like Black Dragon Monarch.
Soon.
Black Dragon Monarch, who was feigning sleep, seemed to sink into a dark quagmire, continuously descending, and disappeared without a ripple.
This magic trick of making a black dragon vanish into thin air truly made Crown Prince's eyes widen like saucers.
"As expected of Shinigami-dono, your methods are truly formidable." Crown Prince couldn't help but exclaim.
If it were anyone else, Crown Prince, also a Gold-Grade Adventurer, might have had some competitive thoughts.
But facing Naruto.
Crown Prince had no thought of competing, only admiration and reverence remained.
"By the way, Shinigami-dono, are you here for the transfer mirror?"
Crown Prince naturally remembered his transaction with Naruto back in the Wind Capital.
Naruto nodded and continued, "There's one more thing: I want to meet the King."
"You want to meet the King?"
Crown Prince frowned slightly, pondered for a long time, and then sighed, "To be honest, normally, I'm sure the King would be overjoyed to meet Shinigami-dono."
"It's just that now—"
Crown Prince's peripheral vision scanned the surroundings. He walked with Naruto to an uninhabited corner and replied in a lowered voice, "The King is currently critically ill and comatose; no one can see him."
"Critically ill?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow, a look of confusion flashing in his eyes.
The King was critically ill, on the verge of death, and unconscious. What was going on with the system's mission?
Was it to use the Shadow Monarch's power to control shadows, kill the King, and then transform the King into a "shadow"?
It shouldn't be, right—
Naruto's gaze fell on Crown Prince, and he suddenly understood.
The old King was dead, but there was a new King.
Wasn't the Crown Prince before him the future new King?
With a thought, Naruto said to Crown Prince, "In that case, I won't disturb the old King. I'll just get the transfer mirror and leave."
"No problem, I'll send someone to fetch it immediately."
"Since Shinigami-dono has rarely come to the Royal Capital, why not stay for a few more days and experience the difference between the Royal Capital and other cities?"
"The Royal Capital's prosperity is truly unique, you know~ Especially the interracial pleasure quarter, ahem, ahem—"
Seeing someone approach, Crown Prince, halfway through his sentence, immediately changed to a dry cough.
"In any case, Shinigami-dono, you're welcome to enjoy the Royal Capital. I'll send someone to host Shinigami-dono, and as for the expenses, just put them all on my tab." Crown Prince said with a smile.
"Alright, thank you, Crown Prince." Naruto nodded.
Over the next few days.
Naruto indeed rested and explored the Royal Capital, and successfully obtained the transfer mirror.
As for the interracial pleasure quarter that Crown Prince casually mentioned, he was a little curious. With a mindset of research, exploration, and the pursuit of truth, he went in to take a look.
He left after seeing it.
A few more days passed.
Naruto left the Royal Capital, visited the Sword Saintess of the Water Capital, and Sage Doria of the Wind Capital. As for Gun Goddess Heather, she had gone off to train her combat skills somewhere again.
One night.
Naruto was on the deck of the Ghost Ship, flying above the clouds. He took out the Green Moon Altar and gazed at the Red Moon, which looked exceptionally large and bright. "The Green Moon holds the origin of Goblins, and also a Goblin Origin Card."
"Since that's the case, what does the Red Moon, which is even larger and more mysterious than the Green Moon, hold?"
"Origin Cards of other races?"
"Now, the answer can be revealed."
Naruto immediately activated the Green Moon Altar, which was covered in splendor.
"Whoosh—"
From the altar, a dazzling pillar of light shot up, seemingly piercing through the night sky and directly connecting to the distant Red Moon beyond the world.
As long as one ascends the Green Moon Altar, they can go to the Red Moon!