Dragon Lord

Dragon Lord (ドラゴンロード) is the title for the most powerful dragons found in the New World. They are considered to be one of the strongest beings in existence alongside Players and their descendants, God-kins.

Background
The position of Dragon Lord holds a special significance among Dragons. It is a title only given to those who have either reached the highest age category amongst their kind (Ancient), possess special powers, or can use exotic magic. In the Web Novel, other Dragons treat the Dragon Lords with respect.

Age of the Dragon Lords
Six hundred years ago or even further back, there was a time known as the "Age of the Dragon Lords". Back then, the Dragon Lords were considered to be the rulers of the New World, ruling it through the use of their Wild Magic.

Eight Greed Kings
Around five hundred years ago, a war broke out between the Dragon Lords and the player group known as the Eight Greed Kings. That group of players had hunted down dragons and killed off most of their kind. Platinum Dragon Lord noted his fellow True Dragon Lords had attacked one Greed King in a group of their own with many dragons. Even after defeating just one of the Eight Greed Kings, the dragon's side had suffered multiple casualties. Unfortunately, in the end, the Dragon Lords lost and their rule came to an utter end.

On the other hand, the rule of the Eight Greed Kings didn't last very long, as they had a fallout with each other that resulted in them killing each other. With the demise of these players, Platinum Dragon Lord then took residence in their floating castle thereafter. He did so as a way to guard their powerful magic items against falling into the wrong hands.

In addition, it seems that the Slane Theocracy had also been hunting them down in its campaigns against non-humans. For instance, the Theocracy's supposed attempt to subjugate the Catastrophe Dragon Lord.

At around the same time, the arrival of Tier Magic corrupted their use of Wild Magic, causing the Dragon Lords to lose the ability to cast it properly. Tier Magic was first introduced by the first known players to arrive in the New World, the Six Great Gods, and was later spread even further thanks to the efforts of the Eight Greed Kings.

Dragon Lord Alliance
Among the many Dragon Lords, there is the faction of those who have strengthened themselves and gathered comrades in order to deal with Players, and those who have not. Three hundred years ago, the Dragon Lords had been gathering strength and allies in preparation for the next wave of players. To accomplish this though, six of the Dragon Lords together formed a loose alliance in hopes of trying to even out the odds in a fight against a level 100 player.

Evil Deities
The majority of the surviving Dragon Lords did not seem to get involved in the battle against the Evil Deities. However, Platinum Dragon Lord had allowed the Thirteen Heroes to take some of the magic items of the Eight Greed Kings to aid them in their battle against the Evil Deities and even joined the group by controlling an empty set of armor and attacking the Evil Deities from a distance using magic. It was known that at least six True Dragon Lords were still alive at this time and each formed a loose alliance to combat the invading players.

Present Day
Fortunately, there were Dragon Lords who survived the purge of their species by the Eight Greed Kings, as some of them did not bother to participate in the war effort with their fellow dragons. Nearly extinct in the present day, the surviving Dragon Lords have gone into isolation.

Though some have remained at least somewhat active from time to time. Platinum Dragon Lord continues guarding the items of the Eight Greed Kings while Brightness Dragon Lord's founding of the Dragon Kingdom, but has now gone into hiding. In other instances, there was Heavenly Dragon Lord who kept flying around in the sky and Deep Darkness Dragon Lord holing up in a giant cave underground. There were also Dragon Lords, including the Platinum Dragon Lord, serve as the highest authority of the Argland Council State.

The Undead King Arc
It was mentioned by Nigun Grid Luin while the Sunlight Scripture was attempting to assassinate Gazef Stronoff, that the Black Scripture was dispatched for the upcoming resurrection of Catastrophe Dragon Lord along with the protection of a World Item.

Moreover, there happens to be a brief mention of three magical items that were unimaginably powerful in the New World. One of these items came from the Dragons, who were once the masters of the world before they were decimated by the Eight Greed Kings. The most powerful Dragons, the Dragon Lords, are said to have made these items.

The Dark Warrior Arc
Clementine told Khajiit Dale Badantel that if secret information about Zesshi Zetsumei were to be a leak, it would lead to total war with the surviving True Dragon Lords. At the same time, it could possibly drag the Slane Theocracy into the kind of war where they might likely get destroyed in the crossfire.

The Sealed Evil Tree Arc
Pinison Pol Perlia believes the potential candidates out there who can likely defeat Zy'tl Q'ae were the Dragon Lords.

The Lizard Man Heroes Arc
Zesshi Zetsumei thought that Shalltear Bloodfallen must either be Vampiric Dragon Lord or Elder Coffin Dragon Lord as she was too strong to be classified as normal vampires of the New World.

The Men in the Kingdom Arc
During the demonic disturbance, Evileye believed that Jaldabaoth was as strong as the Platinum Dragon Lord.

The Invaders of the Large Tomb Arc
A group of workers discussed about powerful individuals they happen to know of and among them were the Dragon Lords from the Argland Council State. There were some who believed there are only five of them in total, but other people stated that they are actually seven.

Rigrit Bers Caurau traveled to the floating castle of the Eight Greed Kings to visit the Platinum Dragon Lord. While discussing a new threat that had appeared in the world, Rigrit asked the Platinum Dragon Lord if they should ask for support from the other Dragon Lords. However, he doubted the Heavenly Dragon Lord and Deep Darkness Dragon Lord would aid them and if they could even be able to find the Brightness Dragon Lord.

Later, when a Dragon invaded the Imperial Palace of the Baharuth Empire, Emperor Jircniv initially mistook it for one of the Argland Council State's Five Dragon Counselors, until it was revealed that it belonged to Aura and Mare, who were sent to enact retribution for the Worker invasion of Nazarick.

The Ruler of Conspiracy Arc
During a conference meeting held in the Slane Theocracy, the Cardinals accepted the fact that Platinum Dragon Lord is not affected by their World Item, Downfall of Castle and Country. Yet they were hopeful and confident enough that the World Item's power will work on Catastrophe Dragon Lord successfully in case it does appear. Moreover, the Cardinals are reluctant of deploying Zesshi against the Elf Country because if they were to carry it out, the group believed it will incite Platinum Dragon Lord to likely respond in kind. In the end, they decided to call for a diplomatic meeting with the said Dragon Lord concerning the elves.

The Craftsman of Dwarf Arc
The White Dragon Lord, Olasird'arc Haylilyal encountered Ainz Ooal Gown in Feo Berkana. Attempting to do battle with Ainz, he was quickly killed by the undead. The Dragon Lord's corpse was later taken into Nazarick for harvesting. His family was later subjugated under the rule of the Sorcerer Kingdom and have since been used as a means of transportation.

Strength
Dragon Lords are dragons who have reached the highest age category known as "Ancient" among their kind. According to the Web Novel, Dragons that are in this stage of their development, have a strength that cannot be defeated by the race of humans. Either that or there some powerful Dragons that possess special powers unique to themselves.

Very few Dragon Lords to this day can use Wild Magic, which grants them abilities completely different from Tier Magic. However, it seems that the essence of Wild Magic was corrupted by the invasion of YGGDRASIL players, so it is becoming more and more difficult to use Wild Magic properly.

Also, there are some dragons like the Blue Sky Dragon Lord, and the White Dragon Lord, in the New World who have already begun practicing or using Tier Magic rather than their traditional Wild Magic.

If prepared with enough resources and manpower, every ten of the True Dragon Lords were potentially strong enough to guarantee victory against each one of the Eight Greed Kings. It was said that at least six among the surviving True Dragon Lords should be able to evenly rivaled a level 100 player in combat. In a way, this does speak of the volume of a True Dragon Lord's power at its prime, unlike the current kinds at present.

It has been stated that Dragon Lords can not under normal circumstances practice both the usage of Wild Magic and Tier Magic together simultaneously. Past Dragon Lords from the era of the Eight Greed Kings and prior who can use Wild Magic cannot use Tier Magic. Likewise, after that era, future Dragon Lords and current ones who can use Tier Magic cannot use Wild Magic. At present, Dragon Lords innately learn Tier Magic through the Racial Classes they have acquired over the course of time while aging in strength. Meanwhile, few True Dragon Lords who are still alive from the distant past have access to Job Classes that had special correlation with their acquirement of Wild Magic. If one were to invest in one form of magic than they would be unable to use the other, however, a notable exception would allow bypassing this restriction under certain conditions.

Moreover, each True Dragon Lord out there are considered to be an impossible opponent for every member of the Pleiades to triumph over even if all of them were to work together in fighting one.

Players
According to Suzuki Satoru, it seems the Dragon Lords harbor hostility to YGGDRASIL players. This hatred towards players probably dates back from their encounter with the belligerent group of players known as the Eight Greed Kings and has grown ever since. It came to the point where the surviving True Dragon Lords created a loose alliance in the event that the next players who arrived in the New World posed a threat to them.

True Dragon Lords

 * Brightness Dragon Lord
 * Deep Darkness Dragon Lord
 * Elder Coffin Dragon Lord
 * Heavenly Dragon Lord
 * Platinum Dragon Lord
 * Dragon Emperor

False Dragon Lords

 * Blue Sky Dragon Lord
 * Diamond Dragon Lord
 * White Dragon Lord

True False Dragon Lords

 * Dark Scale Dragon Lord

Unclassified Dragon Lords

 * Vampiric Dragon Lord
 * Catastrophe Dragon Lord
 * Demon Tree Dragon Lord (Web Novel)
 * Swordmaster Dragon Lord

Trivia

 * In the Web Novel, the list of known dragons was different except for the Platinum Dragon Lord. Also, it is described that the "True Dragon Lords" were annihilated by the Eight Greed Kings, and recent dragons can barely match with the ancient dragons.
 * According to Platinum Dragon Lord, if the True Dragon Lords had banded together earlier to fight, they would have won against the Eight Greed Kings.
 * A lot of the Dragon Lords were known to have been slain by players, ranging from the Eight Greed Kings to Ainz Ooal Gown until now. Yet the opposite could likely happen with the Deep Darkness Dragon Lord being the only one known so far who was able to kill a Player in contrast to the opposite happening to him.
 * The Theocracy considered the dragons with the power to use Wild Magic as the "True Dragon Lords."
 * The Argland Council State and the Dragon Kingdom are currently under the rule of at least one Dragon Lord.
 * The Platinum Dragon Lord doubts that the remaining "True Dragon Lords" will lend him military aid against players or even participate in a war against them at present.
 * Three of the Dragon Lords: Brightness Dragon Lord, Elder Coffin Dragon Lord, and White Dragon Lord were apparently known to reside in mountainous regions.