Chapter 598: Hit the nail on the head

Elion allowed his bloodlust to fade, but his expression remained staid and solemn.

Regardless, his short outburst earned a few frowns from Wendy and some of the councillors, but they ultimately allowed him his little tantrum.

Elion continued.

"Of course, I endured the constant torment from William and his companions for the better part of six months or so. That was until William attempted to kill me while we were inside the dungeon."

Cain immediately shot to his feet.

"He’s spouting lies!"

Wendy turned toward him with a frown.

"Please refrain from interrupting. You were given your chance to speak." Cain grumbled under his breath, but he reluctantly sat down regardless.

Elion continued without much change to his expression.

"If you check the academy records, they will say that I fell to the lower floors because of an unfortunate accident, but that was never the case."

He paused briefly.

"Anyway, I’m not here to argue about my near-death experience. The point is, I survived and came back."

His gaze slowly swept across the court.

"However, I didn’t survive simply because of luck. In fact, I was almost certain of my death. I had been reduced to a pile of mangled flesh, lying there helplessly while waiting for the beasts of the dungeon to find and devour me eventually."

Elion’s voice grew quieter.

"But while I was lying there, the most unexpected thing happened, call it a stroke of luck if you will."

Elion paused.

"A drop of bloodline essence appeared out of nowhere and entered my body. More specifically..."

His gaze swept across the court.

"...a Greater Dragon’s bloodline essence." Shocked gasps could immediately be heard throughout the chamber.

Dawncrest scoffed, looking back toward his fellow nobles.

"Can you believe this boy’s delusions?!" He began laughing uproariously. "Hahahaha!"

Whoosh!

The violent, loud clap of something massive unfolding suddenly echoed throughout the court, the sound almost like the pages of an enormous book being torn open.

"Haa!"

"Impossible!"

"What?!"

A chorus of shocked exclamations immediately followed.

Many people near the back even jumped to their feet, some even slamming both hands against the tables in front of them.

"Hmm?"

Cain’s laughter abruptly died as he turned back around toward Elion, wondering what the sudden uproar was all about.

And his expression froze.

Rows of beautiful emerald scales were rapidly slithering across Elion’s skin, covering parts of his arms, neck, and face.

Behind him, a pair of enormous leathery wings had completely unravelled, their massive wingspan stretching outward and casting a shadow across the floor beneath him.

Lastly, two prominent emerald-blue horns protruded from Elion’s temples, curving menacingly over his head.

Dawncrest’s jaw dropped.

His eyes almost seemed ready to pop out of their sockets.

Liora was no better.

Her previously calm facade had all but disappeared in the wake of Elion’s shocking revelation as she stared at him with wide eyes.

Even the six councillors seemed to have momentarily forgotten their lofty positions.

Three of them had risen to their feet without even realising it, their jaws slack as they stared at the appalling draconic features covering Elion’s body.

Though the others did not stand, their shock was written plainly on their wisened faces.

Alexander was no different.

The King was leaning forward on his throne now, both hands resting firmly upon the armrests as he stared at Elion, his eyes narrowed into saucers.

Of course, the sudden transformation had completely ruined parts of Elion’s clothes, but he didn’t particularly care.

Though he hadn’t bothered revealing the tail, since just this would be enough to bring out the desired result. More importantly, he gave them no chance to recover from their shock.

"As you can see..."

Elion looked down at himself before gesturing toward his transformed body with both hands, almost as though he were presenting some rare specimen for everyone to admire.

"Actual proof. Not the bullshitting these two here have been doing."

Not a single person batted an eyelid at his choice of words; they were simply too stunned, and Elion continued before anyone could interrupt him.

"This dragon bloodline is responsible for my sudden burst in strength; not just that, it also increased my talent. As for these physical changes, they appeared after a recent breakthrough. After all, those who know me also know that I used to be shorter and much thinner than I am now."

He spread his enormous wings slightly as everyone seemed to have been stunned into silence.

Elion smiled triumphantly before looking toward Dawncrest.

"Of course, I’ve kept this to myself up until now. After all, no one wants to reveal all their cards to people they don’t trust."

His smile slowly disappeared.

"But seeing as I’ve been given no choice by these lying hypocrites, it has come to this."

Elion opened his arms wide, taking a single step forward in Cain’s direction.

"Because of envy! Because the subject of his torment suddenly became powerful enough to challenge his cruel tyranny, your son became green with envy!"

His voice gradually rose, becoming rougher as a faint draconic roar began mixing into every word.

"After I humiliated him, you decided to get rid of me!"

The pressure within the chamber suddenly intensified.

"Acting like some pious noble protecting the kingdom!"

His wings spread wider.

"You are nothing but a greedy, disgusting, sorry excuse for a noble!"

Elion’s final words thundered throughout the entire Royal Court, carrying with them a deep draconic roar that caused the very air to tremble.

This time, every single one of the six councillors burst to their feet.

"THAT’S ENOUGH!"

Wendy’s voice thundered through the court.

At the same time, several powerful auras erupted from behind the councillors’ table, colliding with the pressure rolling off Elion and causing the air between them to distort faintly, shocking them even more.

Elion’s wings twitched.

For a moment, the entire chamber seemed frozen on the verge of exploding into chaos.

Then Elion slowly closed his mouth.

The faint growl rumbling beneath his voice disappeared, and the pressure surrounding him gradually receded.

"My apologies." Just like that, the pressure around him vanished almost as quickly as it came.

With a thought, the enormous wings folded inward before seemingly sinking back into his body.

The emerald-blue horns followed, gradually receding into his temples, while the scales covering his skin disappeared one after another.

Within several seconds, Elion looked human again.

His clothes, unfortunately, hadn’t been nearly as fortunate.

Several tears ran across the back of his shirt where his wings had erupted, while smaller rips had appeared around his shoulders and arms.

He didn’t seem to notice it, though.

When he raised his head again, people were whispering everywhere while looking at him with shocked but complicated expressions.

Wendy stared at him incredulously.

Of course, since he technically hadn’t been told to stop, Elion smiled and decided to continue.

"I will admit, it was quite amusing, having to watch Duke Dawncrest and Liora trying so hard to weave their little story."

He chuckled lightly.

"Unfortunately for them, they seem to have miscalculated. No doubt, they must be biting their nails right now, wondering how all their carefully constructed plans have suddenly come crumbling down because of one simple thing."

Elion’s smile widened slightly.

"But this is the reality of things."

He looked toward the pair, and he was pleased to see that, indeed, he had been right. Both of their faces had gone ghastly pale as the reality of the situation dawned on them.

Cain’s face quickly turned red.

"P-Preposterous!" he spat out.

But Elion raised a hand before he could continue, wiggling his index finger at him, while his smile turned into a smirk.

"Of course, I’m sure Duke Dawncrest will argue that possessing a Greater Dragon bloodline doesn’t necessarily prove I’m not a demon."

"Of course it doesn’t!" Cain snapped.

"Not directly, no..." Elion admitted. "Indirectly though...." He deliberately left the last part unsaid.

"I remember at some point you suggested that I may not be a demon, but that I may have formed a contract with one."

He glanced around the court.

"I’m sure determining such a thing would be a simple affair for some of the people gathered here. And do forgive me for being presumptuous, but I believe even the great King Alexander should be able to tell such a thing at a glance."

"The insolence!"

"How dare you address His Majesty so casually!"

A few people immediately voiced their displeasure at Elion’s casual mention of the King, but he simply filtered out the noise and continued.

"In any case, I don’t think there’s much use in dragging out this whole trial. I’ve already invalidated much of your ridiculous claims with a single reveal."

His attention returned to Cain.

"How about we simply confirm whether these demonic characteristics you spoke of can actually be linked back to me? In fact, let’s start with you proving that said demonic characteristics even exist. It could all be a hoax that you formed, as you did this entire story. After all, you didn’t seriously think that the great minds gathered here would simply take your word for it, did you?"

Elion smiled pleasantly as he finished. By now, Cain Dawncrest was practically fuming like an angry bull.

His jaw was clenched tightly, and the veins along the side of his forehead had become noticeably more prominent.

It was clear that Elion had hit the nail on the head.