Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: Dragon Heart #2
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With the rough explanation finished, Integra clapped her hands, making Luther's hologram vanish before she spoke.
[That concludes the overview.]
[It will take another 49 hours, 12 minutes, and 39 seconds for all the displayed work to complete.]
It was the longest time required so far, but it made sense.
The changes were that massive, after all.
"Thanks, Integra. I'm counting on you."
[Leave it to me.]
Integra thumped her left chest with her fist twice, then dissolved into light and disappeared.
Now, with his view cleared, Luther's eyes fell on Aru.
"Looks like the conversation's over."
Crouched down with her chin resting on her hand like she was just spectating, Aru curled up the corners of her mouth and asked again for confirmation.
"That was you talking to that prickly fairy, right?"
"Ah, yeah."
[I'm not prickly.]
[I'm rational, reasonable, and affectionate.]
Integra protested, but her voice didn't reach Aru anyway.
Aru just kept smiling with her eyes, flashing a peculiar grin.
[What a suspicious expression.]
[Best to steer clear of a woman whose thoughts you can't read.]
But contrary to Integra's words, Aru's face seemed utterly transparent.
'She's enjoying this.'
More precisely, she was finding Integra's grumbling cute?
It seemed she'd had quite the chat with Integra while Luther was unconscious.
"Alright. Now that your fairy talk is done, let's start ours."
"Ours?"
"Yeah, there are some things you absolutely need to hear. You mentioned Hecatoncheires earlier, right? The ones who tried to kidnap me. Could you tell me more about them?"
Even if they were the lowest rank, it was an organization capable of dispatching a real dragon, not some hatchling.
When Luther had first brought up Hecatoncheires, Aru had figured it was just the name of some assassin guild that made hits for hire.
But things had changed.
'And...'
Luther's existence.
Integra had said he got tangled up in this by chance, and that didn't seem like a lie.
But brushing it off as good luck felt wrong when Luther was so extraordinary.
He traveled with a fairy, absorbed the power of a Dragon Heart, and wielded immense magic using the royal necklace as a catalyst.
And an organization powerful enough to mobilize dragons, as mentioned by such a mage.
If all this really aligned by coincidence, wasn't it basically fate?
Aru wasn't just asking about Hecatoncheires.
She planned to gauge the 'existence' of Luther through his answers.
Dawn was breaking.
Beneath the dark blue sky, Aru's blue eyes seemed to gleam sharply.
Luther let out a long breath and met her gaze as he spoke.
"Hecatoncheires... seems to be an organization of dragonkin inheriting the blood of the demon dragon Helcanes. That's what the dragon I fought let slip in its humanoid form, so I don't know more than that."
[Hmm.]
Integra let out a subtle sound at Luther's obvious fabrication but decided to observe for now and stayed silent.
Aru furrowed her brow.
"The demon dragon Helcanes... you don't mean from the creation myth, do you?"
"Yeah, probably that Helcanes."
"Wow, suddenly the story's veering into pretty unreal territory... But it makes sense. If it's really an organization of dragonkin, they'd need that level of pedigree."
The biggest difference between hatchlings and true dragons was intelligence.
Sure, some hatchlings were clever, but they were still just smart beasts at best.
Dragons were different.
They were the pinnacle of all life, boasting immense intellect to match their mighty bodies.
And dragonkin.
Beings between dragons and humans.
Most dragonkin were inferior to dragons.
But some among them possessed abilities that surpassed even dragons.
Because they were imperfect dragonkin, not perfect dragons.
A dragon's mighty body and superior intellect.
Combined with human greed and wildly intense emotions.
This made dragonkin inherently flawed, but it also granted them 'potential' that perfect dragons lacked.
The three original dragonkin who led them were called the First Three.
They were Helcanes's true heirs.
'Of course, Aru probably wasn't thinking of the First Three.'
Dragons—those drakes—tended to hole up in their lairs, observing the world without acting.
Their numbers were too few to begin with.
Dragonkin, by contrast, were minuscule to other races but far more numerous than dragons, and true to their human side, they loved stepping to the forefront of history.
Flip through any history book, and you'd spot dragonkin names now and then. Aru had likely recalled those.
"Got it. I'll look into it."
With that, Aru tilted her head slightly and stared straight at Luther's face.
Unlike Karen's sharp gaze or Lilia's moist eyes, Aru's were playful yet mature.
She kept looking at him, then casually remarked as if it just occurred to her.
"Luther... you're a wandering adventurer, right?"
"Yeah, that's... Yeah?"
Setting?
Luther blinked in surprise, and Aru narrowed her eyes into crescents, smiling in satisfaction.
"Yeah, a setting. I'll go with that for now."
"Princess Aru?"
But Aru just kept grinning, then stood up and said.
"Too bad, but looks like we've arrived."
[Multiple life signs detected from the southwest shore.]
At Integra's words, Luther whipped around, while Aru lightly stepped past him toward the riverbank.
Morning was breaking.
The pitch-black sky had shifted to deep blue, now tinged with dawn's glow, and sunlight from afar made the water sparkle.
The already fierce current churned even more violently.
[Life signs are continuing to increase.]
[An incredibly powerful one!]
Integra's voice rose involuntarily.
It wasn't just numbers; among them were truly formidable presences—far surpassing even the dragonkin Balboa.
-Splash-!
Right then, Malkuth Kingdom's elite soldiers began emerging, slicing through the water.
Atop sea horses with horns called 'kelpies,' they gripped tridents, looking every bit like fully armored land knights.
[Exactly 100.]
Five abreast in rows—fifty forming one phalanx, with two such formations side by side.
And between those phalanxes.
A massive serpent cleaved through the surface.
This long-necked sea dragon among the mightiest hatchlings wielded the power to summon storms.
Malkuth's 100 elite riders and a serpent seemingly twenty meters long.
But that wasn't all.
The source of the life sign that had startled Integra remained.
-Boom!
The water exploded with a roar.
The being that burst through rocketed upward.
At its peak, nearly thirty meters up, it spread its limbs wide and bellowed.
"Peliaru Princess!"
"Y-Yes, I'm right here."
Aru plugged her ears with both hands as she replied.
Whether he could even hear was questionable.
But apparently her smiling face was enough; the airborne figure laughed heartily and descended to land.
-Thud!
It flipped through the air several times before punching the ground to stick the landing.
Sand flew everywhere from the shockwave, but Aru had anticipated it and retreated far from the bank, avoiding harm.
"Always so flashy with your entrances, Sandalphon."
"Ha ha-!"
The giant man—Sandalphon—responded not with words but booming laughter as he rose.
[Estimated height: about 5.2 meters.]
[Correction: 4.9—4.5?]
Just as Integra said.
Sandalphon's initial five-meter frame shrank with every step.
'The sea giant Sandalphon.'
One of the future Seven Great Heroes, a key figure in the 'Southern Front.'
A famed warrior of Malkuth Kingdom, he could freely adjust his size.
[Locked at 2.3 meters.]
[Be careful, Master. This planet's lifeforms utterly ignore conservation of mass.]
Integra spoke in a voice laced with shock and awe.
But Luther tensed for a different reason.
'The madman Sandalphon.'
In Dragon Hunter Origin, Sandalphon was a lunatic.
Starting to lose his mind after Peliaru Princess's brutal death, he fully snapped on the day Malkuth fell.
He could still converse normally most days, but in battle, he became a berserker slaughtering anything in sight—thousands of land-dwellers died by his hand.
Facing such a Sandalphon.
'Calm down, Luther.'
Aru hadn't died.
Malkuth stood strong.
Sandalphon wasn't mad yet.
So meeting him shouldn't be an issue—
'No, why's he glaring like that?'
Indeed.
The 2.3-meter behemoth, muscles like plated armor, scowled fiercely at Luther the moment their eyes met, glaring like at a mortal enemy.
"Princess Aru, who's this punk?"
[Strong hostility toward Master detected.]
He didn't need telling.
Aru sensed it too, grabbing Sandalphon's massive hand and pulling it toward her as she yelled.
"Sandalphon! Luther saved me from a kidnapping attempt! That makes him a benefactor to Malkuth Kingdom—and you!"
Sandalphon narrowed his eyes at her shout, then spat at Luther.
"That true?"
His face said he'd kill Luther regardless, but Luther nodded slowly.
"Yes... it is."
Luther's voice came out hoarse unbidden.
Sandalphon's aura was overwhelming.
Honestly, stronger than Balboa's dragon fear.
[Master, preparing for combat.]
[Even incomplete, activating nanosuit—]
But then.
The scowling Sandalphon suddenly grinned, bursting into laughter as he slapped Luther's shoulder.
"Ha! Thought you were just a pretty boy, but you've got guts too! Staring me down while I glare? I approve your rank-up to 19th on Princess Peliaru's groom candidates!"
"Sandalphon!"
"Uh... what?"
Sandalphon, Aru, Luther—in that order.
Sandalphon kept slapping Luther's shoulder, laughing wildly in excitement, while Aru yanked his hand away, face flushed.
Luther just stared at Sandalphon in bewilderment.
The sudden shift was one thing, but his beaming face was utterly alien.
'In the game, he always scowled.'
But this Sandalphon was different.
His laughing face looking at Aru was like an uncle teasing a cute niece.
[Master, tell him to stop hitting your shoulder.]
[And firmly reject any groom candidate nonsense.]
Tough demands to fulfill.
So Luther naturally stepped back, shooting Aru a look demanding explanation.
"Sorry, Sandalphon's not quite right in the head."
"Hey, Princess, that's harsh."
"Then act more normal."
At Aru's scolding, Sandalphon pouted and grumbled like a sulking child.
Watching a giant act like that was mind-bending, but Aru smiled familiarly and began explaining softly.
"So, here's what happened—"
She'd fallen asleep in Anus Village's fancy inn, only to wake in Luther's arms.
A rough-looking dragon was rampaging to kidnap her; she'd barely escaped to the riverbank using the royal necklace, but it attacked again.
"I thought it was really over then, but Luther beat the dragon and saved me again. Amazing hero, right?"
Aru hugged Luther's arm coquettishly, and Sandalphon started glaring again, while Integra ranted about her brazenness and demanded he shake her off.
Thus, Luther just stood there blankly, nodding.
"Hmm, I see. Quite the hero."
Sandalphon stroked his chin contentedly, scanning Luther up and down before saying.
"Promoting you from 19th to 10th on Princess Aru's groom candidates."
'This guy's driving me nuts.'
Better than the original's psycho, sure, but hyper-enthusiastic bro-mode Sandalphon was just as tricky.
"Anyway, Princess Aru. His Majesty the King is greatly worried. Prepare for a spanking when you return."
"Ugh... no helping it."
Aru slumped, sighing deeply, and Sandalphon laughed again before turning to Luther.
"Luther, you're a benefactor of Malkuth Kingdom. If it's alright, come with us?"
"Ooh, great idea."
Aru perked up instantly at Sandalphon's words.
But Luther had to shake his head.
"Sorry. I've got business here... and companions, so it won't work."
[Correct. Master must find the fragments.]
Aru pouted openly in disappointment, but Sandalphon just nodded once and pulled a small metal badge from his belt.
"Malkuth's merfolk never forget a debt. Bring this anytime to the kingdom. You'll be welcomed grandly."
"Thank you."
"Don't come too late. Got it?"
Luther nodded at Aru's follow-up too, and Sandalphon pointed at Balboa's corpse, slumped far off.
"If you're alright with it, we'll dispose of that dragon. Tough to transport like that. Oh, if you want to trade or use the materials yourself, feel free to refuse."
[Hand it over to them.]
[We've sampled it already, and transport's tricky.]
[Provided they offer fair compensation.]
Integra stated her view crisply, so Luther recalled Dragon Hunter Origin's market rates and said.
"I'll hand it over if the price is right."
"How's this?"
Sandalphon clapped lightly, and two elite soldiers approached with coin pouches.
Nearly ten times what he'd gotten for Jogres byproducts.
Generous, considering Balboa was the lowest-grade dragon.
"Not bad, right?"
"Yes, that's a fair amount."
Luther accepted, and Aru beamed while Sandalphon boomed with laughter.
About ten minutes later.
Balboa's net-wrapped corpse sank into the river, leaving just Sandalphon, Aru, and Luther on the bank.
"Don't forget to visit Malkuth Kingdom. It always welcomes you."
"See you later, Luther."
Sandalphon grinned and waved, Aru smiled and hesitated as if reluctant to part, then suddenly lunged into Luther's arms.
"I'll be waiting."
She whispered softly, stood on tiptoes, and brushed her lips against his cheek.
"Hehe."
Blushing shyly, she turned, while Sandalphon grinned wider, mentally bumping 10 down to 7.
"Well then, until next time."
"See you!"
Aru and Sandalphon waved grandly one last time before diving into the river.
The sight of the 100 elites and serpent submerging was fantastically stirring.
Absolutely not because of Aru's kiss.
[Master, that excuse feels pretty lame.]
"No way."
[Sigh.]
Integra sighed softly, skipping further grumbles to appear beside Luther—not her usual mini form, but life-sized.
She gazed at the river where Aru had vanished, then slowly turned to Luther.
[Master.]
"Yeah, Integra."
[We have some private talk now, right?]
The question lingering since last night.
Knowledge Integra didn't know, but only Luther did.
Luther nodded slowly, taking a deep breath.
No trace of her usual playfulness, she met his eyes with a serious gaze.
"Integra."
[Yes, Master.]
"I've entered the game."
[What?]
He threw it straight at her.
Facing Integra's bewildered expression, Luther continued.