Supreme BeastTamer: I Can Copy and Upgrade Skills 10x!

The netizens of the Dragon Realm were all gossiping about the sudden turn of the tournament.

"That attire and crest, it's definitely the Supreme Court. What do you think is the reason?"

"I don't really know, but it's probably one of these: either he did something wrong or he was taken to be rewarded. But I doubt it — if he were to be rewarded, they wouldn't have taken him away in that manner."

Suddenly, the sound of the city bell, which had not sounded for the past three years, reverberated through the entire city, and the eyes of both the Frostpire citizens and citizens of the other kingdoms widened in shock.

Everyone present, including the dragons of the other kingdoms, was very familiar with this sound! The city bell was rung for only two situations:

When there were celebrations — or an attack on the kingdom.

And right now, there was no ongoing celebration, which could only mean what the people of the Dragon Realm hated the most...

"An Attack!!! We're under attack!" someone shouted, his face pale and dread palpable in his tone.

"To the west! The corrupted dragons have attacked again!" a voice boomed throughout the city, and the soldiers were quickly on the move, heading towards that direction accompanied by a few brave ordinary citizens.

While chaos unfolded outside with everyone scrambling to the west to defend the city, Nox remained standing there for several seconds, lost in thought, before suddenly, the doors of the private chambers burst open. His gaze snapped towards that direction and he saw Drake, Zara, and the others.

"Come on, we have to hurry!" Drake shouted in a panicked voice. "The Scourge monsters have attacked again, and this time it seems it's not only our kingdom that was targeted but the entire Dragon Realm!"

"The entire realm? What do you mean?" Nox narrowed his eyes.

"Apparently, the other Monarchs also received news that their kingdoms were targeted as well, so they had to leave," Zara explained with a grim expression on his face. "Basically, everyone is for himself."

"How frequent are these attacks?" Nox asked, and added in a deeper voice, "And tell me what truly lies at the Marked Zone in the ancient forest. Don't hide anything."

Drake drew in a sharp breath and after some hesitation, he sighed as he began to speak.

"...The Marked Zone isn't just some wasteland sealed off by the Supreme Dragon Court. It's... worse than that." His voice dropped low, barely above a whisper, as if afraid the shadows themselves might hear.

"There are corrupted dragons there. Thousands, maybe a million. After the first clash with the Alpha Scourge dragons several years ago, its infection somehow seeped into those dragons who fought on the battlefield — the ones too strong to be fully destroyed, but too far gone to be saved."

Drake's fists clenched at his sides, his eyes flashing with hidden anger.

"The Supreme Dragon Court and the Eight Monarchs knew. They've always known. They chose to bury the truth."

Zara nodded grimly. "They decided that if the netizens of the Dragon Realm found out... that our number one threat was practically breathing down our necks all this time... there would be mass panic, maybe even civil war. People would lose faith in the Monarchs' ability to protect them."

A heavy silence settled over the room. Nox stared hard at Drake, his mind spinning. He had suspected something deeper was at play when he first heard about the Marked Red Zone, but to hear it confirmed like this... it was worse than he imagined.

"So all this time..." Nox said slowly, "while they paraded tournaments, festivals, peace treaties... the real enemy was just... there? Watching us?"

"Exactly." Drake's voice was filled with disgust. "The Court thought they could keep it contained. Patch up the seals every few years. Sweep it under the rug. As long as no one found out, the realm would keep turning like nothing happened."

"But now..." Zara added coldly, "with this attack, I'm not so sure of it again."

Damn. Nox felt conflicted. After the competition, his initial plan was to confront King Dracos about their deal — now this? What should he do?

Ding! Ding!

The city bell rang again, loud and urgent. A chilling reminder that the attack was still raging. The ground trembled faintly underfoot as distant explosions echoed from the west side.

From outside the chamber windows, Nox could see streaks of light — magic blasts — soaring through the sky. The guards and the brave civilians were probably battling tooth and nail as smoke already drifted above the city walls from the west.

Nox exhaled slowly, forcing himself to push aside his selfishness for now. There was no time to ponder about the deal now — if the Frost Dragons were destroyed, then there would be no deal to begin with.

Nox turned towards the exit and began to leave. Just before he passed through the door, his voice resonated:

"Come on, let's go help. I've been hearing about the Scourge Dragons for a while now; how powerful could they be?"

Without another word, Nox and his companions turned and rushed out of the grand chamber.

They emerged from the arena's inner halls to the outside, and the scene that greeted them was chaos. The western sky was lit with an orange glow; smoke billowed upward. Even from a distance, Nox saw silhouettes of winged beasts wheeling above the city's west gate, and heard faint screams carrying on the wind.

After some minutes of running, they finally arrived at the western gate, to find panicked citizens fleeing and city guards locked in battle with corrupted dragons.

A pair of guards hurled spears crackling with magic at an oncoming beast — a muscular dragon with dangerous purple eyes. It was easily twice the size of a normal dragon, and its body seethed with black flames. The spears struck the creature, momentarily staggering it, but the abomination snarled and pressed forward, seemingly unfazed by pain.

It lunged towards the two guards and, opening its wide maw, the corrupted dragon devoured them within a few seconds.