To Destroy Humanity, You Must Save This Man
On the battlefield, a thick, oppressive mass of dark clouds blanketed the sky.
The weather had been fair only moments before, and the sudden change left even the priests who served the gods bewildered—when a colossal black bolt of lightning struck. Fire spread in its wake, and the battlefield filled once more with screams of agony and the belated roar of thunder.
Unlike ordinary lightning, this was a divine punishment that seemed to devour all light itself. Each time it hammered the earth, humans, beasts, and monsters alike either perished or fled the cursed ground in utter terror.
And there, a massive dragon revealed herself, her bright yellow eyes gleaming across the sunless dark land beneath the storm clouds. With her wings spread, she was large enough to cover an entire castle. She who appeared without warning, at any time and any place—the tyrant among dragons.
The Tyrant Dragon, Leahkis.
"...I have to meet her, for fuck's sake."
In web novels, it was practically tradition to send groom candidates off to dragons. They'd get all cozy with some dragon that could somehow polymorph, bonding over "human affinity" or whatever. Sure, I'd daydreamed about that kind of thing—but I never thought I'd actually be the one getting sent.
"Ahh..."
I stared blankly out at the world rushing past. The scenery whipping by was so beautiful it almost brought tears to my eyes.
No—it really did. Out of pure, seething injustice.
What the hell? They're just shipping me off like this?
The Daetia family I had transmigrated into traditionally sent groom—read: food—candidates to the dragon. Some kind of house tradition, apparently.
Unfortunately for me, I had woken up as the second son. The silver lining was that I had two younger brothers beneath me. So as long as I found a decent position for myself quickly enough, one of them would end up as the groom-slash-meal. I'd been living it up in high society, working that angle hard.
I'd even sweet-talked a rather fine young lady with my silver tongue. A duke's daughter, no less! Me—the second son of Count Daetia!
A duke's house as the other party! The Daetia Countdom's golden age was just around the corner.
And then, when the time came, those two poor little brothers of mine...
"Suicide...? Wow. You really wanted to screw me over that badly?"
They were dead. Cold corpses. Not moving.
Was being a sacrifice that unbearable? Whatever. A serious problem had just landed in my lap.
The eldest son had to carry on the family bloodline, so he was exempt. Which left... me?
The greatest lover of the age, the man who had captured the heart of a duke's daughter, was going off to marry a dragon?
I did not want to live this life. Maybe I should just die myself, send the eldest instead, and make that my crowning achievement?
"...Ahh."
I could only let out bitter, hollow sounds as I surrendered myself to the rattling carriage.
I stared blankly at the ceiling for a while, then glanced sideways out the window.
—Rumble! Crash! Kyaaaaaaah!
It was a mountain of rock lit by flashing lightning. On that barren land without a single tree, countless bolts of lightning raged without end.
If there had been a decent manor out there, it would have been a haunted house. If there had been a castle, it would have been the Demon King's final fortress. Level 999, probably. Something like that.
"Just looking at it, this place is screaming 'do not enter'..."
For the record, the horses pulling my carriage were headless dullahans.
Yes—undead horses. They simply carried out orders, felt no fear, and focused only on the task. Apparently the coachmen kept panicking and bolting so often that they'd switched to these.
Only thorough when it comes to stuff like this.
Bastards. All of you can go be dragon food together.
I'd planned to escape the moment the coachman stopped, run back to the young lady who was still completely smitten with me, and go into hiding whether the Tyrant Dragon got angry or not.
That plan was dead. Oh, wonderful. An express carriage straight to hell.
And then the carriage stopped. The jolt nearly threw me to the floor.
If this was a ride to hell and it just stopped... then this place was hell, right?
"...Ah, shit. I can't even joke anymore."
I was straightening my clothes and trying to work the tension out of my body when—
—Hiiing!
The headless dullahan bastards started snorting and stamping, telling me to get out already.
—Thud-thud-thud.
They stamped their hooves. Come on, that was just cruel.
I glared at the headless horse brats with pure resentment, then sighed and opened the carriage door.
—Creeeak.
The moment the old hinges groaned and my foot touched the rock outside, the dullahans pulled off an elegant drift and tore off into the distance. They vanished even faster than when they'd brought me—practically giddy about it.
"...Ah."
I watched their retreating backs in a daze, then let out a long, defeated sigh. All that was left was me staring stupidly at the dust swirling where the horses had been.
"Should I just die?"
Honestly, that didn't sound like a bad option. A slight turn of the head and there were plenty of sharp, stalactite-like rocks perfect for cracking my skull open on.
...Still. I should at least see the dragon.
One of fantasy's great romances. See a dragon, then die.
Who knows—maybe I'd survive? Maybe I'd even end up with a dragon wife.
...Not that I particularly wanted one.
I shrugged, forced a smile that said everything was fine, and turned my head.
"Hiking is... not it."
High up...
Very, very high up, there was a cave.
I wanted to live, yet I was killing myself just to die. The pure contradiction of it was laid out right in front of me.
"Hah... haaah..."
I wiped the sweat streaming down my whole body with one hand and gasped out dying breaths. When I lifted my head, the vast, dark cave was finally close. So why was the path still so long?
Objects in mirror are farther than they appear—something like that, maybe.
The Daetia family was supposed to brief you on the proper procedures before meeting the dragon.
...Except my loving little brothers went and killed themselves right beforehand.
I'd come to the estate ready to shed a few tears and give them a sad little goodbye wave. Instead I got shipped out without hearing a single word of it.
Meaning I had absolutely no idea what was about to happen.
"You—goddamn... bastards...!"
I gritted my teeth and forced myself higher up the mountain until I finally reached the cave mouth. Panting, breath stuck in my throat, I lifted only my head to look.
There was no signboard, but it was easy enough to tell this place was my grave.
"...Let's go."
Without even time to shudder at the sheer scale of the cave, I dragged my trembling legs forward, step by heavy step. I'd dressed so finely for the sake of my little brothers becoming fine meals—excuse me, grooms—and now I was covered in dust and sweat.
Disgusting.
Maybe the dragon would find me too revolting to eat...
Better to just kill me and toss the corpse. No need to keep me alive.
"Still... it's pretty impressive."
I'd been calling it a cave for convenience, but this was unmistakably a nest. Gold coins littered the floor, and the deeper I went, the more treasures appeared.
Fitting for a symbol of greed. Though there were plenty of bleached bones, too.
"They even decorated the walls with murals. Not bad."
If I was doomed to die anyway, I might as well look around. I wandered this way and that—and strangely, there were things that looked like they belonged to humans. The place was starting to feel more and more like a human dwelling, which was startling, when—
I arrived. At a massive door.
—Rrrumble.
The great doors opened of their own accord, revealing the dark space beyond. I couldn't see it, but the vast resonance told me everything.
That was the dragon's lair.
I swallowed dryly and followed the dark path—when suddenly—
—Sssslip.
"...!"
The moment I reached a certain point, goosebumps prickled over my entire body. Something close to pure instinct dropped me to my knees and bowed my head. My eyes trembled.
Several minutes of silence passed. Then the rustle of fabric, and a faint light began to spill out.
"This Monarch... already knows."
From the darkness, bright yellow eyes slit vertically like a serpent's fixed on me. Hostility lived in her gaze. The moment that razor-sharp stare touched me, I swallowed hard again.
Cold sweat ran down the back of my neck. I creaked my head upward.
"Humans are not to be trusted."
The first thing that entered my vision was a black staircase. Following it upward, I saw a throne made of skulls.
A silver-haired woman sat with her legs crossed.
She met my eyes and grinned, sharp teeth gleaming in the dark. A delighted smile, as if she were savoring my terror.
"Over long years, This Monarch has watched countless of their kind. No matter how kind they seemed, they always hid a blade behind their backs."
"Tyrant Dragon..."
I forced her epithet out in a shaking voice.
"No matter how thoroughly one crushes them, they will one day turn their blades. And so This Monarch knows."
"...Leahkis."
"Humans must die. No matter how pitiful a sacrifice you may be."
Her bright yellow eyes flashed.
In that instant, something invisible seized me by the throat. I was lifted into the air.
"Ghk... kkh!"
All I could do was thrash. I couldn't breathe. My hands clawed at nothing.
Leahkis wore a chilling smile, as if she were thoroughly enjoying herself.
Fuck... fuck... fuuuuck!
I had to live. I had to survive.
I still had no idea what was going on, and my brain was overheating.
"Ghhhk— y-you must—you must spare meee!"
From everything she'd said, one thing was clear.
She hated humanity. If she was showing that much raw feeling to a stranger she'd just met, the hatred ran deep.
If I wanted to live, I had to use that somehow—
"...Writhe in agony."
"Only I—ghhk—only I can! I can annihilate all of humanity—! Ghk!"
"...?"
Confusion flickered through Leahkis's once-terrifying eyes.
I strained every vein in my neck and shouted. I forced a smile onto my face, trying to look even halfway convincing.
It was so strained it came out grotesque—but what choice did I have?
"If you spare only me! I shall deliver all of humanity—the entire world—to you! I shall lay them all at your feet—!"
A once-in-a-lifetime chance!
I forced that smile wider and roared it out.