[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-first-demonic-dragon":3,"chapter-first-demonic-dragon-first-demonic-dragon-chapter-977":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","First Demonic Dragon",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},1078797,1393,"Chapter 977: Freedom of Choice","first-demonic-dragon-chapter-977",977,"\u003Cp>Chapter 977: Freedom of Choice\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Courtney knew that this whole trip was going to be something like a training camp for her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even with that in the back of her mind, she remained relatively upbeat about the whole situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a chance to readjust her blunder from yesterday after all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And doing it in front of her boyfriend? Well, that was just extra motivation!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or at least it would have been, if the enemy that Courtney was supposed to fight had been anything close to normal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“H-Hey, Courtney! Don’t go towards the light! Come back home!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Courtney had already passed out and looked to be halfway towards the upper room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t worry, dude.” Jazmine patted him on the back. “If she were actually going to bite the dust, her brother would’ve sensed it and pushed her back to life.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Belloc looked up from his comic book. “I dunno. Still kinda peeved about that boxers comment earlier…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Abaddon cracked his knuckles menacingly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“B-But anything for family.” Belloc hurriedly went back to reading Battle Beast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>*Gasp!*\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Courtney suddenly sat up dramatically and at too fast a speed to stop herself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a result, her forehead slammed directly into Aj’s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A loud crack reverberated through the air, and the pair of young lovers went down like a dual house of cards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hm… I wonder if that counts as PDA…?” Darus thought to himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His thoughts were cut short when someone suddenly placed a hand on his shiny head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…And slammed his face into the counter repeatedly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“H-Hey! What is the meaning of this, Absalom!?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The large, statue-like dragon remained completely stone-faced as he shook Darius like a wet towel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you absolutely mental…? Why on earth would you think it was a good idea to have the young princess fight a world-eating monster..?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Absalom didn’t stop shaking Darius even for a second. Making understanding him somewhat difficult.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“W-W-W-W-W-W-e l-l-l-iterally j-just -l-let her f-f-fight a w-w-orld burning d-d-dragon y-y-yesterday…!!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And without the sword she received from her parents, she would have died. What would possibly make you think that this was a good idea??”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Absalom suddenly paused as if he’d just now realized how his words could be misconstrued.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, but I don’t mean that you are lacking any promise at all, Courtney.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Courtney held up her thumb as she tried to stop her nose from bleeding. “It’s cool, uncle, I know I’m a work in progress.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Absalom’s arm must’ve gotten tired from shaking Darius, because he handed him to his brother Hakon so that he could continue right where he left off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eventually, Darius turned into a literal pile of rocks and broke down in front of everyone’s eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only when he was free from the brothers’ oppressive grip did he turn back and start pleading his case.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“N-Now wait just a minute! I know it may seem crazy, but at least let me plead my case!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone unanimously glanced towards Abaddon, since, as Courtney’s father, he had the final say in this matter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He took longer to respond than normal. No one here could quite read his expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Go ahead.” He finally said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Darius grinned brightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We all know what it’s like, right? The best way to grow is by throwing yourself head-on into a fire against a superior enemy! Experiences like that have made each of us the men we are today!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Darius thought his argument would be convincing. And it was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To Satan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which, unfortunately, tanked Darius’ credibility with everyone else.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m disappointed in you, Darius.” Helios shook his head. “After all of our talks, you should already know just how much battles like that have taken from me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Asmodeus: “Every time I have had to fight against an opponent better than myself, I have almost certainly come out of it darker in mind and spirit. It’s not what I want for my grandchild.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mateo: “Courtney doesn’t have to get it together all at once now. She can take her time, learn the basics, and climb her way up from there.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Iori: “The child is only 190-”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone: “19!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>*Ahem* “T-That just proves my point even further. We’re trying to breed a hardened god of war. Just trying to teach a young woman how to use her gifts a bit better.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pointed to the large Kun Peng in the sky. “This is unnecessary to accomplish that.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had been years since Darius had been so soundly defeated in an argument. Usually, once he started ranting and raving, everyone here just kind of let him go on a roll without bothering to stop him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was easier that way. Took less time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Darius sighed at his sound defeat and prepared to drop the matter entirely. “Alright, alright, lads. You’ve sufficiently made your point. I guess we can just-”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What if… It’s what I want..?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone slowly turned towards Courtney as if they were surprised to hear from the one whom all of this was about in the first place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I mean, I…. I know I probably can’t beat it, but… shouldn’t I get to decide if I at least want to try or not?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This isn’t like the time you wanted to try raw garlic, kiddo. A Kun Peng could seriously hurt you.” Abaddon said softly. “And then your old man would have to kill an already endangered species.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Courtney felt like her father said that last line with far too much simplicity in his voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But whether I’ll get hurt or not… Isn’t it still my choice if I want to try something at the end of the day?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The word no was just on the tip of Abaddon’s tongue. But it didn’t leave his lips for some reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And just for a moment, Courtney’s silhouette was replaced with another. And he knew why he was having so much trouble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Agghhh…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Abaddon dropped his center of gravity while rubbing his head. He was tempted to grow his hair back out so that he could tear it out in fistfuls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“….Alright. I guess we can do this.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He snapped his fingers, and time completely stopped. Not just for this planet. But the entire solar system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let’s just… spend a bit of time going over some things first, alright?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Courtney bit her lip to contain her smile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t smile at me, I’m mad at you right now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Courtney kissed her father on top of the head.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Sometimes I think my life would have been easier if I only had boys.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>*Buzz-Buzz!*\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Courtney began stretching, Abaddon pulled out his phone to check it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he saw the call was coming from Audrina, he became tempted to change his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘She’s… not about to yell at me for letting our kid do something dangerous, is she?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>lately i’ve been doing this diet thing where whenever I get hungry I just go watch videos of people popping cow abscesses and I think the last time i ate a full meal was like 2 days ago.\u003C\u002Fp>",1163,"2026-06-03T10:37:03.293Z","2026-06-03T10:37:07.212Z",1,"novelbin.me","bc0c421e46640c98861480fb66ea3f190fde963d7d6c6803e648b8915fda4d59","first-demonic-dragon-chapter-978","first-demonic-dragon-chapter-976",1284,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Ffirst-demonic-dragon-cover.jpg"]