Chapter 311
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 311
Chapter Title: Dragon (1)
The dragon was literally beaten to the point where dust flew on a rainy day.
The Empire's Greatest Swordsman watched the sight and let out a great sigh of admiration.
It was wondrous enough just to see a living dragon, but to witness that dragon getting thrashed...
Every time Demian swung his club, the massive body went flying, and shattered scales and teeth scattered in the air.
Dragons had vanished from the world long ago, but the weapons made from their bodies had been handed down to the present day under the name of the strongest.
As far as the Empire's Greatest Swordsman knew, a single dagger made from dragon scales was worth as much as an entire castle.
The Empire's Greatest Swordsman gazed at the teeth and scales piled thick on the ground and did some mental calculations.
How much would all that be worth in the world?
“Demian!”
The Red Dragon, after taking a thorough beating, flattened itself on the ground and cried out.
At that groveling sight, Demian halted the club he had been about to swing.
“This foolish wretch acted arrogant without knowing its place! I am truly sorry!”
The Red Dragon went so far as to slam its head into the dirt.
“Now you’ve finally learned some manners.”
“It’s all thanks to you, Demian!”
“Good. Very good.”
Only then did Demian lower the club with a satisfied look on his face.
“Your beating skills are no ordinary thing.”
“You flatter me. With so many arrogant fools around, my technique improved naturally.”
The Empire's Greatest Swordsman recalled Demian threatening the Elf Supreme Commander.
He wondered if he himself fell into that category but chose not to ask.
“By the way, I’ve heard your clubbing is so profound that it leaves no wounds even when struck.”
“You can achieve that with the right technique. This time, I just swung away bluntly out of sheer bad luck.”
The Empire's Greatest Swordsman nodded without realizing it.
There was something about the dragon’s attitude that made one’s blood boil.
“Hey.”
“Yes, yes!”
The Red Dragon answered promptly. Its eyes darted to the club in Demian’s hand.
A dragon in the world wary of a wooden club. The Empire's Greatest Swordsman couldn’t hold back a chuckle.
“Why are the dragons looking for me?”
“To learn why the pact was undone. The Elder Council seeks you to hear the full details!”
“Pact? What’s that?”
“Pardon? You don’t know? Then how did you undo the pact?”
It was an unfamiliar term to Demian. But the Red Dragon looked back at him as if it were the strange one.
“With the pact undone, demons have flooded onto the surface in droves, haven’t they?”
Demian’s eyes widened at those words.
He had been just then puzzling over how the demons had crossed to the surface so easily.
“What exactly is this pact? What was it that kept the demons at bay?”
“The pact is... an utterly vital and absolute rule. We dragons were bound by it too, unable to come to the surface.”
The Red Dragon’s expression grew grave. Demian’s face turned equally serious.
Demian waited for the Red Dragon’s next words. But the Red Dragon fell silent.
“So?”
“Pardon?”
“You’re not saying that’s all, are you? Tell me more about the pact.”
“I don’t know anything beyond that?”
The Red Dragon spoke with an innocent expression.
“I’m still too young, so the elders in the council told me no more! That’s all I kn— Wa, wait! The club! Don’t raise the club! Don’t hit me! I was wrong!”
The Red Dragon spasmed in panic and scrambled backward. Demian lowered the club he had raised.
“Where were you planning to take me?”
“We dragons dwell in a place called the Shadow Realm. It’s another dimension modeled after the surface world. I meant to escort you there.”
“I see. Then go back and tell those Elder Council bastards this: if they want an explanation, come here themselves.”
It was still unclear whether the dragons were enemies or allies.
Judging by the Red Dragon’s overbearing attitude, they were more likely foes.
He had zero intention of venturing into some other dimension like the Shadow Realm.
He also slightly disliked taking orders from others.
“De, Demian...”
The Red Dragon sneaked a glance at Demian’s face and spoke cautiously.
“W, would you please come with me...?”
“Have you lost your mind?”
Demian scowled and lifted the club. The Red Dragon screamed once more.
“B, but if I go back alone, the elders will kill me!”
“Did it not occur to you that you might die by my hand first?”
Demian glared at the Red Dragon, infusing his gaze with killing intent. The Red Dragon’s face drained of color in an instant.
“N, no... They said we need Demian Haksen to drive away the demons...”
The Red Dragon muttered as it huddled in on itself. At that moment, Demian pressed the Red Dragon urgently.
“Is there a way to track the demons?”
That was precisely what Demian had been agonizing over.
Demian had no means to locate the demons. He could only wait for them to reveal themselves.
“Yes, there is. But I heard it requires your presence to use...”
“Let’s go.”
The Red Dragon blinked in bewilderment at Demian’s words.
“Re, really?”
“Does it sound like I’m joking?”
The Red Dragon hiccuped as Demian shot back with a fearsome glare.
“U, understool! I’ll open the portal right away.”
While the Red Dragon prepared the portal, Demian turned to the Empire's Greatest Swordsman.
“Eos, I’ll be off now.”
“You sure it’s wise? Looks dangerous.”
Dragons’ might had become legend, passed down over more than a millennium.
The Shadow Realm would surely teem with such dragons.
No matter how formidable Demian was, worry was inevitable.
“I’m confident I can protect myself, so don’t fret.”
“You’re not one to lie.”
The Empire's Greatest Swordsman nodded as he spoke.
“Preparations complete!”
The Red Dragon announced to Demian.
A massive portal had already yawned open in the air.
Demian bid farewell to the Empire's Greatest Swordsman, then climbed atop the Red Dragon’s head.
“Let’s go.”
Demian issued the command, but the Red Dragon didn’t budge.
Demian peered down with a puzzled expression.
“What are you doing?”
“W, well... Do you really have to ride like that...?”
“Then where am I supposed to sit?”
“How about my hand?”
The Red Dragon grinned obsequiously.
“For a dragon to let another race ride its head... It’s an outrageous insult... If word got out, my standing would... Heh heh.”
Demian began retrieving the club from his subspace.
“W, we’re off!”
The Red Dragon bolted in terror toward the portal.
* * *
What manner of being is a dragon?
Most would picture a colossal frame, wings, and flames spewing from its maw.
But those versed in dragons recalled something else.
The originators of magic.
Indeed, the first spells were born from mimicking the dragon tongue dragons employed.
Dragons wielded a unique language called dragon tongue to unleash all manner of supernatural phenomena.
The dimension known as the Shadow Realm had been forged using dragon tongue as well.
It was a realm crafted by numerous mighty ancient dragons who sacrificed themselves for the cause.
“So, has Balhad returned?”
In the Shadow Realm’s vast temple.
One dragon there spoke.
Its scales were caked with moss between them, betraying untold ages of life.
“Presiding Elder, no word yet.”
“Demian Haksen’s resistance must be fiercer than anticipated.”
The other dragons assembled in the temple chimed in one by one.
“More troubling is sending Balhad alone. Word is this Demian Haksen isn’t just ordinarily savage.”
A white-scaled dragon voiced its concern. The others erupted in laughter.
Their immense bulk made the guffaws thunder out beyond the temple walls.
“Ferocious or not, it’s human. How much fight can it muster?”
“Balhad’s a tad dim... er, good-hearted, but tops the young ones in skill.”
“We ought to fret over whether Balhad brings the human back safe, not Balhad himself.”
“As long as he can talk, it’s fine.”
The dragons traded barbs and roared with laughter when—
“Grandma! Grandpa!”
A hatchling burst in. So tiny it barely reached the feet of the temple’s dragons.
“The portal’s open! Looks like big brother Balhad’s coming back!”
“Oh, splendid. Everyone, let’s go greet Balhad.”
The temple dragons all filed out. Their sheer size shook the earth and kicked up dust with every step.
Outside, the portal hung open in the sky.
Moments later, a Red Dragon emerged from it.
“Balhad! At last...”
The dragons, eager to welcome Balhad, froze.
Balhad’s appearance was... off.
“Th, that fellow... Wh, why’re his scales all gone?”
“Not gone—smashed to bits? L, looks beaten black and blue.”
“Teeth are all snapped off too?”
No trace remained of the proud Red Dragon. It looked as wretched as a plucked chicken.
Balhad descended slowly to the ground. The dragons rushed to his side.
“Balhad! What in the blazes happened?!”
“De, Demian. We, we’ve arrived.”
Balhad lowered his head to the earth as he spoke. The human atop it hopped down.
The elder dragons’ eyes converged on the human.
A mere pebble next to a dragon. Yet the human showed no fear and bellowed.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Demian Haksen.”
The human swept his gaze over the dragons and added,
“You lizard brats were after me, so I came in person. Be thankful.”
The dragons all stared down at Demian with slack-jawed disbelief.