Lord of Dragons
Long ago, the wisest among humans said:
Dragons are the first lifeforms born from the era of light and darkness alone, before the world was properly born.
So perfect and flawless that nothing could threaten them, they had immense self-love and frequently treated even their own kin as enemies.
Their role was to guard the balance. They existed to clearly define the boundary between light and darkness, protecting the still unstable world.
And among them, the mightiest dragon became a brilliant star—their father and Constellation.
【Lord of Dragons】
The incarnation of the most intense life force, representing the unquenchable flame.
A noble Constellation more than worthy of the highest ranks.
"O dragons, you who bear the breath of the creator. Plant order in chaos and be the bridge between darkness and light."
"Shine eternally."
I immediately recalled the memory of seeing that message window for the first time.
Another fond recollection.
Constellation, ‘Lord of Dragons’ has recognized your existence.
"Nice to meet you," I said, and a message window popped up right away.
Constellation, ‘Lord of Dragons’ is extremely furious at you!
There were just too many reasons for the Constellation overseeing dragons to be pissed at me—it was hard to even pick one.
I'd stormed into dragon territories and lairs, showing them what true human praise really meant.
And I'd dismantled plenty of them for loot.
'Don't be born so expensively.'
As game currency, dragons were sky-high value.
The player community even had posts mocking dragon hunts now and then.
Anyway.
The Constellation called the Lord of Dragons had plenty of reasons and triggers to rage at me.
But in this timeline's progress, I'd mostly smoothed over that bad blood.
'I cleared all those quests for him.'
I still couldn't forget the nightmare of those quests rolled out under the guise of "proof of friendship."
Offer trophies from monsters at opposite ends of the continent, or rare gems with abysmal drop rates.
Designed purely to grind your gears.
Dragon faction quests at hellish difficulty.
'But I cleared them.'
I didn't give up.
And as a result, I got a beautiful devotee as my reward—one of my game's goals and motivations.
A dragonkin devotee with two lovely horns on her head.
'How could I resist?'
The romance surging from deep in my heart was unforgettable, so seeing the name Lord of Dragons naturally brought her to mind first.
But now...
Constellation, ‘Lord of Dragons’ roars for you to return his daughter that you abandoned!
"What the hell is this bullshit?"
Avatar of the Black Sun: Eeeeek...!!
Matching my bewildered feelings, the Avatar of the Black Sun freaked out.
"What the hell's your problem?"
Avatar of the Black Sun: I-it's a dragon...! You're weird for not being scared...!
"Oh, is this your first dragon?"
Avatar of the Black Sun: Of course...! Facing a dragon means you've massively interfered with providence or broken the world's laws!
Is that so?
In the story, dragons properly appear only in the final act.
Built up as balancers of the world, they show up right at the end.
Of course, their overwhelming presence and aura make them a high-difficulty race in player evaluations.
'Well, yeah.'
But to me, it was all in the past.
Strong or not, I'd faced them multiple times in previous rounds, and I was confident I could handle them easily now.
Heir of the Lost Star: A dragon? How intriguing. Absolute, have you clashed with them before?
The star kids seemed hugely curious about the situation and asked without hesitation.
'Now it's more like a love-hate thing.'
The brawling days were long gone; now we had that sour affection.
We disliked each other but wouldn't outright attack.
Avatar of the Black Sun: B-but... why is that Constellation so mad at you—
The Avatar of the Black Sun, mid-chat, seemed to realize something and hurriedly sent another message.
Avatar of the Black Sun: No way, no way. You... made that Constellation's child a devotee...?
'Isn't that obvious?'
Beautiful dragonkin devotee—how could anyone resist?
Avatar of the Black Sun: Y-you're insane. Totally insane...!
'Stop freaking out.'
Recruiting a dragon as a devotee.
Sure, to the world's natives, it'd sound crazy, but in the game, it was a legit challenge.
Bringing powerful devotees into your cult to expand your forces—that was the main goal.
So no matter how much they were world guardians or ultimate races, the possibility was always open.
"Anyway."
What threw me was that last message.
Abandoned who?
Constellation, ‘Lord of Dragons’ is greatly furious at your shamelessness!
"No, what did I even do?"
I was just as baffled.
Me abandoning a devotee I'd personally taken in? Impossible.
"Must be some misunderstanding?"
Constellation, ‘Lord of Dragons’ rages that you're lying to him!
That fiery temper hadn't cooled at all; no sign of it calming down.
But if he just kept raging out of nowhere, how was I supposed to grasp the situation?
"Stop raging and explain properly."
That's why I asked.
I'd never kick out a devotee myself, so about whatever was happening now—
Constellation, ‘Lord of Dragons’ wishes to meet you in person.
A Possession request came back.
"Hm."
Avatar of the Black Sun: No...!
"What's that?"
The Avatar of the Black Sun frantically tried to stop me.
Avatar of the Black Sun: You can't go, definitely...!
"It's just a meeting. We're only talking."
Her ingrained terror of dragons must be massive.
I couldn't remember when I was supposed to be scared.
Shall we move to the location?
To the system's question, "Yeah."
I accepted to figure out what was going on.
"GRRAAAAAH!!"
The moment I arrived, the enraged dragons' attack welcomed me.
Avatar of the Black Sun: Kyaaah!!
"Shit."
Avatar of the Black Sun: I told you not to go!!
Heir of the Lost Star: This is dangerous.
A volcano-filled landscape boiling with lava, matching the furious Constellation's mood.
Dozens of dragons targeted me from sky and ground.
So many types—it was like every dragon in the world was here.
'Makes sense.'
This was the home turf of the dragon-overseeing Constellation, so naturally more than those scattered worldwide.
"Whoa..."
A sight I'd seen countless times in-game felt several times more thrilling in reality.
The stage once confined to a screen was now a living dragon domain.
These former monsters, now with distinct personalities, unleashed max attacks at me.
How far had I come?
Avatar of the Black Sun: D-danger...!
Heir of the Lost Star: Run, Absolute. Even you can't handle this scale—
Worried messages popped up in the corner, but the dragons' attacks were faster.
They'd timed it perfectly, as if expecting me.
"Hm."
Curiously, my Possession-manifested body felt no threat from those attacks.
Intense heat that could melt anything, plus breaths of every deadly property.
"Nice."
It was a chest-thumping spectacle.
If not aimed at me, it'd be great viewing.
Curtain of Divinity (S)
Armor of the Heavens (S)
Absolute Defense (S)
Leisurely, I layered mid-tier defense skills to block the attacks.
Not content with top-grade divine power coating my body, an 'absolute domain' formed around me, permitting no attacks.
-BOOM!!
The dragons' all-out assault hit.
The world flipped outside, but my central area remained serene.
Avatar of the Black Sun: ...Ah.
The trembling Avatar of the Black Sun finally reacted late in the crisis.
"Why so scared?"
Avatar of the Black Sun: N-no.
Heir of the Lost Star: Perfect. I expected you'd block it effortlessly from the start.
Avatar of the Black Sun: Shut up...! You were gonna run with me earlier...!
'What are you guys doing?'
I ignored the Constellations doing their comedy skit and sorted the situation.
While hunting for attack skills, a good idea hit.
'Holy sword—wanna try it?'
I recalled Elion using her Holy Sword.
Grade: Mythic
I reached into the sub-space rift in the air.
A satisfying grip met my hand.
I drew it out—
Avatar of the Black Sun: Eeeeek...!
The Constellations' panic button and object of terror.
Heir of the Lost Star: Oooh, beautiful. So beautiful...
My personal Holy Sword, gifted directly by the star kids.
"Ooh."
Ornate decorations rose from the hilt, topped by a stunning blade forged of star power.
"Self-defense, right?"
-GRRAAAAAH!!
I grinned back at the dragons still glaring fiercely and swung the Holy Sword lightly, just like Elion.
-...!!
Violent divine power spread in the attack range.
Followed by...
Fire Dragon, ‘Ignis’ has been slain!
Ice Dragon, ‘Glacia’ has been slain!
Earth Dragon, ‘Terra’ has been slai...
Clear chimes announcing the dragon massacre.
"Refreshing."
The massive horde vanished without a trace.
Constellation, ‘Lord of Dragons’ is extremely furious at your tyranny!
Constellation, ‘Lord of Dragons’ uses ‘Possession’.
Finally, the sky split, and the father of dragons revealed himself.
