Dragon in a Romance Fantasy (3)
Dragon in a Romance Fantasy (3)
Maybe it's because I've lived my whole life, including my past life, as a city dweller.
I already miss the thick heavy metal smog in the skies above Lunatium and that distinct parking garage smell wafting from the Hyperloop subway tunnels.
Now that even carbon capture technology has been developed, if everyone just admitted that artificial beauty is superior to natural beauty and covered the entire land in asphalt, bugs and endemic diseases would disappear, and we'd be truly happy.
"What kind of absurdity is this? A clown doll that exists outside the supreme providence of life dares to sit at the table where the world's major affairs are discussed."
"Great Ashtangite-nim! It is time to show this clueless fool the dignity of a dragon!"
"I allow it."
Grrr-!
Dragons of all colors—red, blue, yellow, green—glare at me with their massive bodies.
Just as Aurelion said, it seems I was the popular attraction at the dragon summit.
Dozens of external pressures, enough to easily make a person burst and die just by being glared at, are being directed at me.
"Ugh. This is why I hate nature. It's not elegant in many ways."
"...Huh?"
"W-what-"
But well.
Swish-
I resist refreshingly and lightly swing my shield to brush off the bug carcasses.
I came to the mountaintop by passing through the middle of a dense forest, so my whole body is covered in bugs from the collisions.
Even when I open my mouth and move perfectly fine despite the Dragon Fear emitted with killing intent, the dragons show signs of being extremely flustered, as if they hadn't expected it at all.
I chattered away happily.
"Rather than mere organic lifeforms that are just the leftovers of evolution, having lived however you pleased, leaving you with nothing but unnecessarily large bodies, stubbornness, and arrogance... Wouldn't it be better to say that a clown doll, born from the mysterious combination of steel and black gold under a calculated mathematical intention that was beautiful and harmonious from the start, follows the providence of the universe much more beautifully?"
"Y-y-you, insolent... You are so drunk on your own self-importance that you cannot distinguish between what should and should not be said. You base and wicked creature. Your lowly state, failing to recognize the excellence and sublimity of evolving life, is ignorant and unlearned, and it is clear you will harm the order in the future."
Did they say Ashtangite?
It seems he's the representative of the dragons; an old man who has polymorphed and grown a long beard like a Taoist immortal, he has been criticizing me with displeasure from the very beginning.
I confidently refuted Ashtangite's pathetic logic.
"Ah, evolution. Are you saying that inelegant biological coincidence is sublime?"
"What did you say?"
If you are a living being, you have gone through the chains of natural selection and evolution, and dragons, made of blood and flesh, could not have avoided evolution either.
Evolution, while sounding like a positive nuance of 'getting better than before' at first glance, is actually a concept where progress and regression are mixed.
Life cannot be fixed like a machine or code.
It means you cannot inherit only the good points of your ancestors.
Humans are the same.
Bipedalism gave humans the freedom of both hands, leading to the use of tools, and the use of tools led to the utilization of fire...
It is safe to say it was a major evolutionary development that became the foundation of human civilization.
However, bipedalism caused a fatal defect in human body design.
Difficulty in childbirth.
To walk upright, the pelvis had to become narrow, and as a result, a structural difficulty was created where it is hard for the fetus to pass through the mother's pelvis during childbirth.
Unlike other creatures that finish childbirth relatively easily, humans uniquely involve great pain and danger during childbirth because of this design flaw.
An evolved lifeform is nothing more than a bundle of code that has left technical debt behind and implemented functions as they came.
It's not as elegant as you think.
On the other hand, me?
Wow, a ro-bot tin can!
A body and parts precisely manufactured in the cutting-edge Lunatium semiconductor factory.
A design imbued with every intention of the technician, honed by accumulated knowledge and know-how.
Brain software implemented with mathematics, the truth applied throughout the universe.
Literally, a body created with everything perfectly planned.
My machine body is...
From a single screw and bolt to every part that makes up my whole body, there is no planning error or omission.
Every part is assigned its own role, and it faithfully performs its role to achieve its unique function.
My existence, walking around properly, is proof that order has been established right in the midst of nature's chaos.
"Given this. If I am not more elegant than you dragons, then what on earth is elegant? Are these ignorant flying bugs that couldn't even think to preserve their own lives by faithfully following the providence of life, and instead burst upon colliding with my body, the ones that are elegant?"
"Y-you wretch...!? How dare you, in whose presence, insult us, who have protected the order of the world, by lumping us together with such absurd sophistry...! Aurelion. Why on earth did you bring such an idiot who doesn't understand reason here!!"
Tremble-!
He's huffing and puffing, but he can't actually refute me properly, only covering up the absence of logic with anger.
Meanwhile, because his logic is severely lacking, he can't even attack me, the messenger, and instead attacks a third party, Aurelion—it's cowardly and petty in itself.
He was personally proving that the length of time one has lived is not proportional to the level of intelligence.
I stepped forward before the arrows could be directed at Aurelion, Tenebris, and the Black Dragon clan who kindly brought me here.
"Aurelion! Look at that low-class attitude! How can he be so rude in front of us, who have been coordinating order-"
"About that [class] you mentioned, though."
Thud-!!
I declared, slamming the bottom of my beloved shield onto the ground.
"You self-proclaimed coordinators of the world, and me. Which side has a higher class? Isn't that quite an interesting topic?"
"...!"
Flinch-
The dragons lined up like folding screens around me are restless.
Young and weak individuals like Tenebris still reveal killing intent out of a desire to win, but the adults who are of a certain rank are afraid to even dare meet my gaze.
As they say, you see as much as you know.
Recognizing an opponent's skill is only possible if you have at least a minimum level of internal strength, indeed.
"...My patience for tolerating your recklessness has a limit. Mortal."
"I know you all die of old age and die from injuries. In that sense, aren't I closer to an immortal? At least I don't die of old age!"
"You refuse to lose a single word. Very well, Trixie."
Crunch. Crackle-!
Ashtangite stops his polymorph.
What is revealed is a massive white dragon with a height of 30m.
A living, moving 10-story apartment with wings glares at me as if to kill me.
"The price for your recklessness, I will punish with death myself!!!!!!!!!!!"
Kwoaaaaa-!!!!!!
I jump lightly and move from my spot.
As the pure white flash emitted from Ashtangite's mouth strikes the spot where I was standing, the ground evaporates instantly.
"Ah, Dragon Breath, hotter than flames. There was a time when that was a romance for me too."
"You wretch!"
Whoosh-
The white dragon thrusts its massive claws to strike me down.
I don't dodge and face it head-on.
Thud-!!
I raise the shield that generously covers my body and face the violence of house-sized mass head-on.
The ground I'm standing on is sinking and becoming deeply dented, but the shield and my body maintain their shape perfectly.
"Y-you bug-like wretch! What kind of strength is this...!"
"It is the miracle of the Reinforced Adamantite Alloy skeleton designed to precisely distribute the load, and the Micro-Nuclear Fusion Powered Hydraulic Press Motor."
"No matter how much you chatter on with your pathetic words, this is the end! Know your place and be crushed to death like a bug!!!!"
Tremble...
Even though Ashtangite is pressing down on me vertically from above, the vibration transmitted through the shield conveys that his strength is failing.
Because even though he is in an advantageous mount position with the help of gravity, he can't finish it at all.
Smirk.
I smile and push with a little more force, pushing back the claws.
The massive, mountain-like figure is slowly pushed upward as if winding a spring.
"Ashtangite, who has lived the longest, is losing in a test of strength...?"
"I-it makes no sense! To a mere mortal like that!"
The dragons are astonished at the spectacle, akin to David pushing back Goliath.
"Grrr... Why. Why am I being pushed back...!?"
"It's too easy; I think I could fight with a one-handed penalty."
Tap.
I am a man who does not lie.
I leisurely lower one arm that was supporting the shield and push the massive Ashtangite with only the strength of the arm wearing the shield.
"Y-y-you abominable wretch...!!"
Grind-!
I can totally beat you with one hand.
Ashtangite grinds his teeth at the deeply insulting provocation.
It's here. The pattern.
"I will kill you! Trixie, you wretch, I will melt you away so cleanly that not even a speck of dust can be found in this world!!!"
Flap-!
Ashtangite gives up the test of strength with me and spreads his wings to leap into the sky.
Just by the 10-story apartment-sized being jumping once, the distance between me and Ashtangite immediately widened by tens of meters from the ground.
And then, he opens his mouth wide to prepare for unreasonable violence.
Dragon Breath.
A sphere of pure white flame, as if emitted by a white dwarf star, rotates inside Ashtangite's mouth and grows larger and larger.
How absurd would it have been if ordinary soldiers had witnessed this?
Because even if they fought hard on the ground like a dog chasing a chicken, if things went wrong, they would just fly up and unleash an asymmetrical bombardment.
"But right now, this is exactly what I was hoping for, you stupid, old, winged lizard."
Smirk-
To make a group kneel, the performance of the moment you bring down the strongest is indeed the most important thing.