The God-Eating Dragon
“Kyaaak—!!”
“Uwaaak!! S-Save me!”
“Run!!”
Even the people lost in drug-induced haze couldn't hide their shock at the dragon looming before them. The hallucinogenic powder that had ensnared their minds proved utterly useless against the dragon's overwhelming presence, and they scattered in all directions.
[Where do you think you're going?]
But Shan showed no mercy. Each one was precious sustenance to him. With a single sweep of his wings, over a hundred people inside the tent had their heads severed clean off.
Splaaash…!!!
Blood erupted from the severed necks like fountains, but it oxidized into mist before even touching the ground, absorbed straight into Shan's body.
“Nice. Saves me the trouble of cleaning up trash.”
Adel spoke without a hint of emotion, despite the corpses strewn everywhere around him.
[I've lived for ages, but you're the first human like this. So utterly indifferent to death.]
“It's not indifference. My creed is that those who must die, die. So the world doesn't claim those who fight to live and deserve to.”
[You talk like you know the future.]
“What if I do?”
Shan's eyes flickered, betraying a crack in his composure at Adel's response.
[Interesting. Heh heh heh… If you know the future, what becomes of me?]
“You're asking if that pathetic life of yours drags on, undead and unbroken?”
Shan flinched. His scales bristled upward like spines, a clear sign of his fury.
[Answer the question.]
“Curious about the future? Fine. You die.”
[…What?]
“By my hand. Today.”
[…You mad bastard!! How dare you mock me?!]
Kieeeek—!!
With a shriek that clawed at their eardrums, Shan reared his head. Four magic circles materialized above him, resonating to amplify his roar.
[Multiple magic circles without incantation… That old lizard's lived long enough. His mana rivals a low god—no, surpasses it.]
Garon growled lowly, eyeing the crimson arrays. His flames flickering from Karno's greatsword wavered under the dragon's onslaught. The draconic mana was overpowering his divine power.
[Hey, big guy. Looks like we'll both need to focus. One slip, and he might devour us too. He's already eaten one god.]
“A dragon ate a god?”
[Yeah. Stay sharp.]
Karno gripped his greatsword tighter, face tense as he assumed a stance.
Clang—!!
In that instant, Shan launched into the air. Light burst from the gaps between his scales with every beat of his wings.
[Dodge—!!]
Garon's shout rang out. Karno twisted his body sideways and leaped with all his might.
Kwaaagaang…!!
A jet of dark crimson breath erupted from Shan's maw. At the same time, his tail whipped around, condensing red light on his back that plummeted like meteors into the ground.
Boom—!!
Boom—!
Kwaang—!!!
“Urk?!”
Karno couldn't fathom how to overcome this calamity-like assault.
Tap…!
Tatap…!!
But incredibly, while Karno had dodged aside, a figure charged straight into the pouring breath.
“Hup.”
Adel held his breath and thrust his fist forward into the breath stream.
Clank—!
With a metallic grind, the [Gauntlets of Ründel] deployed.
Tzzzzzt…!!!
Gripping the gauntlets, he crumpled the inferno-hot breath like so much scrap paper.
Woooong—!!
Seizing the Lion Bow with the now-glowing crimson gauntlets, the runes etched into the bow limbs ignited.
Shaaak—!!
Shashaak—!!
Pulling the string with all his strength, a razor-sharp arrow pierced through the shattered breath.
[Gurk…?!]
Shan, mid-roar, jerked his head aside in panic. The first shot grazed his cheek by a hair's breadth.
Puk—!!
But the second struck true, embedding in his eye.
[Kraaaagh—!!!]
The dragon's massive body shuddered violently. As he thrashed his head in agony, the magic circles behind him wavered and dissipated.
“Dragons are among the apex monsters of the continent, no doubt. But that doesn't make them immortal.”
Adel brushed past Karno as he spoke.
“Mortals bound by death always have a weakness. And a weakness means they're huntable.”
[You… you bastard…!!]
With an arrow lodged in one eyeball, Shan bellowed at Adel in rage.
But before his fury could connect, Adel kicked off the ground and dove under the dragon's legs.
The moment Shan twitched, Adel's hand dagger pierced between the scales.
[Think that puny poison can fell me?!]
As the dragon said, poison was barely effective against him. And a dagger no longer than a palm merely pricked.
But Adel used the embedded blade differently—as a foothold.
Kwaduk—
He stomped the dagger jammed in the scale and leaped upward.
Tak—!
Tatak—!!
Adel stabbed dagger after dagger into scale gaps, racing up Shan's back at blinding speed.
[You rat…!!]
Shan shook wildly to dislodge him, but Adel was already atop his head.
“An ancient dragon, blinded by his own power to the truth.”
[…What?]
Standing on Shan's skull, Adel continued.
“You pretend not to know what's behind me.”
In that moment, Shan felt a chill wrack his entire body—the closest he'd come to the death he'd always evaded.
It was the Void.
[Kneel and bow your stiff neck to me, you lizard whelp.]
Black miasma flowed as Kalderet, in wolf form, patted Shan's head.
[Lies…!!]
Shan muttered in a trembling voice, stunned by Kalderet's appearance.
[Kalderet… You should have been erased!!]
[Have you ever seen a god truly vanish? We may lose our way for a time, but we do not perish. Only mortals fade. Like you.]
[Gurk…!!]
[Shan, curb your foolish greed before you err. Spit out the god you swallowed.]
[…Shut your mouth!! A forgotten god like you dares—?! Think I'll fear you?!]
Wuuuuung—!!
Light once more seeped from the gaps between Shan's scales.
Crack…
Craaack…
Incredibly, the wounds where daggers had pierced healed over, and even the arrow-pierced eye regenerated.
“……”
The golden iris, moments ago destroyed, rolled smoothly now, glaring at Adel as if nothing had happened.
[I have escaped mortality's chains.]
It was no mere healing. Even restorative magic couldn't regrow a severed limb perfectly—it merely reattached. This was true regeneration, like sprouting a new one.
'Not healing—regrowth.'
Restoring total loss transcended simple recovery.
“Not magic, then.”
Adel could tell it wasn't draconic power.
[Correct. Divine power.]
Kalderet eyed the ability with disgust.
[A mere dragon wielding a god's might. As if it were his own.]
As he said, it differed from a God's Blessing. No permission sought, no contract—he wielded it freely, like casting a spell.
'Like Descent, but wilder.'
Unlike true Descent, where one stood affirmed atop a god, Shan's power was raw and untamed.
[Power from the god he devoured. I can guess which black lizard it was.]
“Who?”
[One fleeing death would crave life above all. Only pure-blood gods embody life.]
“Pure-blood…”
Adel's eyes narrowed.
[Yes. He swallowed Nephrem, the high god of pure blood. Nothing else explains that miraculous regeneration.]
Once Ralka's contract god, Nephrem—worshipped by the Nell Church as a pure-blood high god.
Gods of blood were tied to life itself.
“Nephrem's power would make restoring an eye trivial.”
Pure-bloods excelled in recovery; true-bloods in tenacity.
“But even without a contractor, a high god eaten by a dragon…?”
Adel was stunned by Kalderet's words, yet it made sense.
'Indeed, in my past life, no Nephrem contractor ever appeared.'
Even when Ralka hid the [Platinum Ring] in Ruinxen and revealed it, no worthy owner claimed it.
'What if it wasn't a lack of owners, but no god at all…?'
It explained the absent contractor—and the god's absence from the continent.
But one thing nagged.
'In half a year, Cratel is freed by Karno. Meaning Shan gets hunted by him.'
The Liberator King's rise heralded the Dragon Slayer.
Karno's emergence meant dragon-slaying could be fulfilled.
'But…'
Even with dragon-slayer blood, killing a god-devouring dragon seemed impossible.
'How did he kill Shan?'
[Kraaaagh—!!!]
Suddenly, immense mana and divine power surged from Shan's body.
[Kalderet…!! I'm curious what happens devouring an ancient god!! I'll eat you and every god on the continent!]
Madness radiated from Shan, empowered by Nephrem.
'I see.'
From his frenzy, Adel pieced together his death.
His body couldn't contain the divine power; light leaked from scale cracks like water from fissures.
'Karno didn't kill him. Shan couldn't withstand the swallowed power. He's being crushed by it, dying from within.'
Nephrem granted superb recovery, but the overwhelming force drained his life faster. He'd barely sustained it by feeding on the slave city's humans.
[Yes. He failed to fuse mana and divine power like you. As a dragon, his vast mana lets him cling on… but barely.]
Like pouring more water into a dam with a finger-sized hole—widening the breach.
“Shan, spit out the god you swallowed. Otherwise, the divine power will consume you.”
Adel said quietly.
[Shut… up…]
But Shan snarled back, as if deaf to the warning.
“True. Looking at you, it'll only buy a few hours—meaningless. Just thought I'd save myself some hassle.”
Adel spoke calmly to the dragon.
Then he nocked another arrow.
“Shan, it seems the death the Lion Bow heralds is yours.”
“You're really going to fight that monster? It's beyond a mere dragon now.”
Karno's voice shook at Shan's imminent explosion of rage.
“You think so?”
Adel chuckled at the question.
“To me, it looks like a feast. My true blood is still starving empty.”
“What does that…”
“Only dragon mana can sate this hunger.”
He licked his lips.