Dragon King: Throne of Demons and Gods
Chapter 111: Old Lions Don’t Kneel

Chapter 111: Old Lions Don’t Kneel

An explosion tore through the battlefield.

Back in the royal chamber, Aurus slammed his hand on the table, making the entire crystal slab tremble violently.

"Lloyd!" he roared.

The King and the two princes jumped in their seats.

Adrian clenched his fists, his voice tight with anxiety.

"Sir Aurus... What happened...?"

They all stared at Aurus, their faces tense, their breath caught.

Aurus, eyes burning with frustration, could only mutter.

"Lloyd..."

On the battlefield, Lloyd stood still. He was breathing heavily, staring at Midas.

Then, slowly, his gaze dropped to his left side.

His arm... or what remained of it.

Only torn flesh and shattered bone hung there, cracked open and scorched black.

Midas whistled, arms crossed, nodding in mock admiration.

"Now that’s a show," he said, smiling. "Hard to imagine what that kind of power could do... but here we are. Even a Sacred..." he chuckled, clapping slowly, "can be annihilated by a single attack."

Lloyd narrowed his eyes, ignoring the pain. His mind raced.

There was no mistake, that was his power. But there was more to that.

He looked at Midas, heart hammering.

He didn’t just steal my spell...

He gritted his teeth.

He stole the blessing itself...

With the blessing of the stars, Lloyd was supposed to be untouchable to cosmic-type attacks. But Midas’s beam struck him like nothing.

Midas tilted his head.

"What’s the matter, old man?" he teased. "You willing to negotiate now?"

He waved the golden coin lazily between his fingers.

"Sell me your knowledge. I’ll give you the secret to my little trick. Trust me, it’s a bargain. Way better than dying like a fool."

Lloyd’s eyes narrowed even further.

Avarice... A coin... There was nothing like that in the past era. His ability... it’s not a simple steal skill. It’s something else.

The stars above flickered, casting a somber light over the field.

Midas spun the coin again.

"Come on now. Don’t make me lose patience. I’m offering you a deal. Otherwise..." he grinned wider, "you’re just gonna die for nothing."

Lloyd spat on the ground, his face twisted in disgust.

"Arrogant brat."

Midas raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?"

Lloyd’s aura began to rise again. Slow at first, then roaring like a wildfire.

The ground shook under his feet.

His energy turned from pure gold into a wild mix of red and gold, swirling and snapping around him like a furious storm.

"You think I’d fall just because you stole a skill from me?" Lloyd roared, his voice echoing across the plains. "Who do you think you’re dealing with, you insolent fool?!"

His aura exploded outward, sending shockwaves across the broken land.

"I am LLOYD! THE ARCANE MASTER!"

He raised his right hand, pure raw power gathering into his palm.

"What you took..." Lloyd sneered, "was a mere extension of my body."

Midas’s smile faltered.

The demon clenched the coin tighter and pointed at him.

"Fine. Then I’ll just destroy that body."

Above, the stars answered. A storm of beams rained down.

But Lloyd vanished instantly.

Flashes of light tore the ground.

Lloyd and Midas clashed, their figures blurring like flashes of lightning through the devastated battlefield.

Midas shot forward first, golden energy swirling around his body.

"Celestial Dance: Mercury Wrath!" he shouted, copying Lloyd’s previous attack.

A wave of silver light ripped through the air.

Lloyd twisted his body mid-air, narrowly dodging.

Before he could catch his breath, Midas raised his hand again.

"Celestial Dance: Neptune Flood!"

A massive torrent of water erupted from thin air, aiming to drown Lloyd under its crushing weight.

Lloyd spun sideways, riding the gusts of magic, his coat flaring like wings. He landed briefly on a floating chunk of debris, only to push off again.

"Celestial Dance: Uranus Break!"

A wild arc of golden lightning surged downward.

Lloyd somersaulted over it, feeling the static heat graze his heels.

Midas laughed, a light, taunting sound as he threw another technique without pause.

"Celestial Dance: Pluto Cage!"

Chains of golden energy shot upward, trying to trap Lloyd.

Lloyd ducked under one, pivoted, and kicked off another floating rock to escape.

He gritted his teeth, sweat running down his forehead.

He’s copying my techniques perfectly. This bastard even dare using them faster than I did...

Dodging, spinning, moving like a shadow through Midas’ barrage, Lloyd’s mind raced.

How did he steal my power?

He thought back to everything that had happened.

The moment the coin appeared.

The moment he focused on the debt.

It’s not a coincidence... Avarice... A debt...

Midas grinned as he fired another beam, missing Lloyd by a hair.

He insisted on it. That I was indebted to him. That I acknowledged it.

Lloyd leapt over another blast.

Plus... he reacted when I tested it earlier. When I "apologized" and "owed" him more... It has to be related to...

Lloyd felt a chill creep up his spine.

Mid-air , his body stiffened. His momentum faltered.

His eyes widened as he realized.

"Sh—"

Midas appeared above him in a flash of golden light.

"An old man doesn’t move like that," he murmured.

Midas slammed his fist into Lloyd’s back.

Lloyd felt the ground rushing up to meet him, the battlefield spinning wildly in his vision.

He tried to twist, to push mana into his limbs, to correct his fall... but his body didn’t react.

His arms barely twitched. His legs felt frozen.

"Tch... damn it," he thought, gritting his teeth.

There was a helpless moment where he knew he wasn’t going to dodge this one.

Then, like a meteor, Lloyd slammed into the earth, the impact rattling his bones and sending a thunderous shockwave through the broken field.

Far away, back in the war room, Aurus slammed the table with both hands, face twisted in rage and fear.

"LLOYD!!!"

The dust rose slowly, swirling around the broken battlefield.

Lloyd lay on the ground, his body trembling.

He was in deep pain, through every bone, every nerve.

His cloak was shredded. His right arm bent unnaturally. His ribs felt like cracked wood, each breath painful.

Forehead and cheeks were deeply cut and bruised.

His thoughts were blurred at first, a white noise clouding his mind.

But slowly, he frowned.

"Tch..."

Why? Why did that fall damage him so much?

It wasn’t a spell. It wasn’t some special magic. It was... just a fall.

Lloyd struggled to push himself up. His hand shook violently as it pressed against the broken earth.

Midas stood a few steps away, spinning a golden coins between his fingers.

"Feeling like negotiating now?" he asked casually. "I’m only trying to help you, you know. You’ll die here either way. I’m just giving you a way to make it meaningful."

Lloyd didn’t answer right away. His mind churned.

There had to be something.

He watched Midas carefully.

Destroyed over and over... and yet, every time, he just... materialized again. Like it was nothing.

He stole techniques. Copied powers. But there was more.

Lloyd looked down at his legs.

He gritted his teeth.

"My mana’s fine... but..."

His body. His muscles. His stamina.

It was heavier. Slower.

Like the world itself was pressing down harder.

"Curious..." he said. "Why do you want my knowledge so much?"

Midas flipped the coins again, catching them in his palm.

"Simple. You’re a treasure. A vault filled with experience, magic, lost history. You’ve seen secrets no one else knows. You’re practically a library yourself."

Lloyd frowned. His gaze lowered... and froze.

Three coins. There were three spinning between Midas’s fingers.

Earlier, Midas only had one, but now three? Lloyd’s mind processed everything, every information he had in that moment.

The debts, the coins, the stealing. All churned in his mind, and finally, his pupils shrank.

"That’s it..." he thought.

He pieced it together. The damage. The fall. The weight. The ease with which Midas kept growing stronger the longer they fought.

"He took my resistance and my stamina."

Midas noticed his stare and clenched his fist around the coins.

He frowned deeply, his playful tone sharpening.

"I don’t like that look you’re giving me," he said. "That stupid blind hope. You think you can do anything?"

He pointed at Lloyd with his gloved hand.

"Think smartly, old man. You’re not just weak. You have no chance."

Lloyd stayed quiet for a moment.

Then he chuckled.

A low, painful laugh from deep in his chest.

Midas’s frown deepened. A vein bulged on his neck.

"What’s so funny?" he snapped. "You’re about to die."

Lloyd wiped the blood from his mouth, still chuckling.

"It’s nothing," he said. "You wouldn’t understand."

He slowly rose, trembling but standing tall.

"For an old folk like me, losing to some arrogant brat would’ve been a tragedy."

He smiled, bloody and defiant.

"But now? Now I’m relieved."

His eyes gleamed.

"Because you... you’re vulnerable. You’re the weakest opponent they’ll have to face."

Midas’s fingers twitched. His eyes narrowed into golden slits. The light around him grew more unstable, more furious.

A flash of light shine next to Lloyd, before an invisible force slammed him on the ground.