Although Gryme refused to yield, Vaan took no further action against the dragon. After all, there was no need.

His opponent had been incapacitated and unable to continue fighting; his victory was conclusive.

Gryme had inhaled a substantial amount of mercury and various other toxic metals. His condition would only worsen with time.

Of course, Gryme could use magic to cure himself, but only when he was in the right state of mind.

In his current state of mercury madness, he couldn't think straight or move according to his will, let alone use magic.

Nevertheless, Vaan was curious about whether the effects of toxic metals would persist even after the end of the transmutation period or not.

"You would rather die than yield? Do you think your death is worth it?" Vaan coolly asked before saying, "Your hatred has exceeded mere discrimination against my race. However, I don't remember doing anything to incur such hatred from you. So what the hell is your problem?"

Nevertheless, Gryme's mind deteriorated to the point that he could no longer form coherent words, not even in the dragon tongue.

No man or dragon understood his jibber-jabbers.

..

Meanwhile, Jergag and the rest of the dragon crowd remained outside the battle ring; none of them had the intention to interfere in the fight unless the involved parties requested it.

At the same time, Jergag was brooding over Vaan's previous words.

'Old heroes are forgotten as new ones rise,' Jergag mused with a frown.historical

Although he no longer took on any leading positions in the tribe, many dragons still respected and listened to him due to his seniority, strength, and past contributions.

Thus, it was new to him that dragons from the younger generations repeatedly ignored his words and disobeyed his will.

Nevertheless, he was still a Peak-level Rank 4 being. Therefore, for these dragons to disregard him despite not being on his level showed that they had no respect for him.

Even if he wanted to return to the earth and reunite with the Fire Dragon God in the afterlife, he didn't want to be forgotten like this.

'This old dragon can't leave the world just yet. The tribe still needs my guidance,' Jergag inwardly sighed.

Perhaps the Fire Dragon Tribe had been powerful and respected once upon a time, but that was in the past when the Fire Dragon God was still alive.

Back then, they could live with their heads held high and command respect and reverence from myriads of races with just their presence.

But now?

Now, they were living out their days like turtles hiding in their shells to avoid the eyes of their predators, who seek to subjugate and hunt them for their precious materials.

"A proud dragon, huh? How stupid. There's nothing great about being a dragon nowadays. Our dragon tribe's glorious days are long over. Showing off our great strength to the local humans doesn't make us great, only the bigger bullies."

"Senior Jergag..?" the surrounding dragons shifted their attention to the elderly dragon, uncertain whether Jergag was speaking to them or himself.

However, they were affected by the elderly dragons' mood and couldn't help but listen attentively.

"It's time to wake up. We are not proud dragons," Jergag stated.

"Perhaps, we were in the past, but those days are over. There is nothing great about us today. This old dragon has seen more development from the humans than he has from the dragon tribe in the past three hundred years. Given time, humans will rise and surpass us—if we continue to hide in our shells and stagnate, that is."

"Dragons need to stop living in the glory of the past. If you want to relive the glorious days of the dragon tribe, then rise, grow, become stronger, and surpass your ancestors. You can be the herald bearers of a new golden age for the dragon tribe, but not like this. Bullying weaker humans won't achieve that."

"Let today's fight be a lesson for you all. Even if your opponents are weaker, they can still defeat you. So put aside your arrogance and pride. We are no longer great. I repeat, we are no longer great," Jergag reminded.

After the elderly dragon's short speech, the surrounding dragons all became depressed, as if the elderly dragon's words had struck them right in their sore spots.

"Actually, Gryme isn't usually like this, Senior Jergag," a Mid-level Rank 4 dragon mentioned with a depressive sigh before continuing, "Being a proud dragon was just an excuse. Gryme just wanted to seek justice for the kid that got killed by the black witches. That kid was someone he knew."

"Is that so?" Jergag coolly glanced at the dragon and said, "And what the hell does Vaan have to do with it? Justice was already served. The killer died in the most gruesome way and at the hands of another human, no less."

"Yes, that's true. However, it was still unsatisfactory precisely because it wasn't done by us dragons. Thus, Gryme is taking his anger and grievance out on other humans," the dragon explained.

"That's no excuse for poor behavior," Jergag strictly stated before saying, "If a black dragon killed someone you know, would you kill the black dragon's entire family and tribe?"

"Well.. no," the dragon replied awkwardly.

"And yet, you find Gryme finding trouble with Vaan to be acceptable because he is a human?" Jergag asked before saying, "Can't say I'm not disappointed. This old dragon expected better from all of you."

After getting reprimanded, the younger dragons all lowered their heads in shame.

"You're all lived several hundred to a few thousand years, but all you have to boast about are your strength. You all better focus on training your mentality," Jergag lectured.

"Yes, Senior Jergag," the dragons quickly complied. "We will keep your words in mind—"

"Arghhhh!"

Gryme's distant cry suddenly caught everyone's attention before they stared inside the battle ring and saw Gryme writhing in pain.

"This stubborn lad.." Jergag uttered with a frown before saying, "This fight has been dragged on for too long. This old dragon will stop it. Otherwise, another dragon will die today."

Shortly after Jergag swept the crowd and saw no disagreements among them, he immediately flew inside the battle ring.