Roaring Heroes Battle the Overlord (Ainz)

Chapter 88: Mourning the Past

"Who could kill them?" Old Tony's hands trembled slightly as he held *The Mystery of Magic*.

"It was Ainz Ooal Gown's people," Barrett answered for EeDeChi.

"The king of the Sorcerer Kingdom, that demon god?" Old Tony seemed to realize something. "No wonder you believe in the existence of 10th and 11th Tier magic. Even bards spinning myths only dare to go up to 9th Tier magic."

He placed *The Mystery of Magic* on the oak table, the heavy, ancient book causing ripples in the red tea-filled porcelain cups. For the top-tier human mages, whose combined wisdom produced this book, in the shadow of Ainz Ooal Gown, it felt as insignificant as toilet paper.

"Give it up; you can't learn 10th Tier magic," Old Tony said softly. "That's the realm of gods, untouchable by mortals."

Many mages had approached the ruins of the war between the kingdom and the Sorcerer Kingdom with skepticism, investigating the blurred lines of legend and reality. After confirming the terrifying magic Ainz Ooal Gown unleashed was indeed real, he had transformed in their minds into a god of magic, a cruel and merciless deity.

"On what grounds do you say I'm not a god?" EeDeChi leaned back in the wool chair, asking.

"Don't kid around; you a god? You're just a bit more talented," Old Tony mocked. "Would a god sit in a soft chair with us? Roast by the fireplace? Drink red tea? And not even notice the tea has been expired for a month?"

EeDeChi paused, while Barrett quickly spat the tea he had just sipped back into the porcelain cup.

"Why'd you spit it out?" Old Tony complained. "I put freshness magic on the tea. Barrett, do you believe your teammate is a god?"

"Me?" Barrett glanced at EeDeChi. To him, this quirky and unlikable leader displayed power that far exceeded the realm of "human." While EeDeChi looked and acted like any other human, Barrett leaned towards believing she was an ancient dragon transformed into human form.

Dragons masquerading as humans in human towns, though rare, are not just a figment of imagination. Barrett once teamed up with a half-dragon for an adventure.

The half-dragon's backstory was quite tragic. His father was a juvenile black dragon who transformed into human form. Out of curiosity, he traveled to human cities, and during his journey, he forcefully raped a tavern maid. Fifteen months later, the maid gave birth to the half-dragon but died during childbirth.

In the adventurer community, there's a half-true, half-fake story about a group of orichalcum-level adventurers who went dragon hunting and found a cute little girl in a valley near a dragon's lair. The girl claimed she was kidnapped from a nearby village by the dragon and had escaped while it slept, so the adventurers let her guide them.

However, under the full moon that night, the girl spread her wings and transformed into a dragon. With a fierce breath of fire, she burned the sleeping adventurers alive, leaving only one who had wandered off to relieve himself to escape, creating a chilling tale that circulated among adventurers.

After spending time with EeDeChi, Barrett didn't believe she was a brutal dragon. While she exhibited many dragon traits—like impatience, decisiveness, arrogance, and self-importance—she wasn't at the level of breathing fire just yet, which gave Barrett some peace of mind.

After a moment of thought, Barrett said to old Tony, "I believe she has talents that far surpass ordinary people. She might be an ancient dragon."

"I'm a genuine human, not a dragon," EeDeChi frowned.

Old Tony stroked his goatee and replied, "The magic we use is classified by its rules and power into tiers: 1st Tier, 2nd Tier, 3rd Tier, and so on, which is why we call it Tier Magic. But before Tier Magic, the world was ruled by the Wild Magic of the dragons."