Dragonai's Invasion (6) - The Black Dragon's Fatal Mistake
Bandseuk, the black dragon and heir to Tamorparty, had read the entire letter that even the king of Venishipamu found troublesome to receive directly. “What the hell is this letter? Why is it so damn long…?!?” Tamorparty had tossed it aside without bothering to read the details, thanks to Kemmir’s excessive flowery prose. Fortunately, he had three clever sons. Bandseuk, the eldest and the one said to have led the charge to exterminate the red dragons, had read the letter to the very end.
“What? The red lizard that used to live there awakened as a two-element dragon, so we shouldn’t mess around anymore? Two-element dragon, my ass!” Bandseuk had the wrong myth in his head. “That tail-less lizard who got beaten by Father and hid trembling in a corner of the great mountain for five hundred years!”
His sons had suggested invading Lusa again to plunder the richest eastern kingdom with its abundance of beautiful women. They especially coveted the beauties of the Lusa imperial palace. Their father, Tamorparty, had been strangely cautious.
“He is a two-element dragon. Until his generation passes, we cannot invade Lusa again. Remember this! You may rampage as you please against anyone else, but never oppose the two-element dragon unless it is me!”
Yet his sons dismissed the warning. “Kekekek, just wait until those five hundred years of the non-aggression pact are over! I’ll drag off every last virgin and every eighty-year-old hag! Those Bratan bitches, Hebonia bitches, Yuskallut bitches… they all look like they crawled out of an orc’s firewood pile.”
But Lusa was different. Somehow, that kingdom kept producing legendary beauties who made even elven maidens pale in comparison. Was it because the Goddess of Beauty, Tricia, had once taken a nap there?
“That aside… that Ira bitch from five hundred years ago… heh heh heh. She was something else! If women like her, who even Father fell for, are overflowing in Koban City…!!”
Though not as massive as his father, Bandseuk was a fully grown adult dragon whose body resembled a giant black star. He believed he alone could conquer the Lusa Empire.
Whoosh—whoosh—!!!!
After reading the letter his father had discarded, Bandseuk secretly departed without telling his three brothers. “Heh heh, the legendary beauty with four billion appearance points is holding her wedding here…?!?” He intended to descend in person and turn that wedding into his own.
Soon, the white paradise-like sight of Koban City, with its dazzling procession of carriages, came into view. “Well, well. It’s developed even more in the meantime? That bastard Dragonai! Was he hogging this honey pot all by himself?! Kheheheh. Doesn’t matter. From today, this city is mine!”
Just as Bandseuk prepared to descend upon Koban City—
‘Piyuuuuuung—’
Bang—!
Fireworks exploded right in front of his face. Seira’s carriage had reached the very gates of the Black Star Castle.
“Kuh… kuhuhuk!!!! I never expected such a grand welcome for my hundred-year vow with the four-billion-appearance girl…!!”
Hundreds of fireworks burst brilliantly across the night sky, unaware that Bandseuk was twisting in midair from the sting. Delighted, he performed an even flashier aerial show while sipping imaginary rice wine.
Meanwhile, the pedestrians on the streets gazed up in awe at the colossal black dragon silhouetted against the brilliant fireworks.
“Whoa! The Grand Duke is amazing!”
“How did he make such a huge dragon shape in the sky?”
“Is it a balloon? Or magic?”
“Waaaah—! It’s moving! The black dragon is moving!”
Only after the fireworks lit up the dark sky did the citizens spot the black dragon that had been nearly invisible against the night. They cheered excitedly.
「Hey, you bastards!! Stop setting off fireworks!!! Cut it out already! It stings, damn it!!」
The officials, merchants, and citizens setting off the fireworks grew even more excited.
“Whoaaa!! The Grand Duke’s sense of humor is the best! When did he prepare that line?”
“Too funny. He says stop the fireworks, so we should set off even more! Kikikik.”
At that, an almost cross-shaped barrage of fireworks densely embroidered the night sky.
“Agh, it stings—! Ow, it hurts. You’re all dead now….”
Seething with rage, the dragon finally landed on the ground.
「Kyaaooooooo—!!」
The black dragon unleashed Dragon Fear and coiled atop the spire of the Black Castle, the source of the densest fireworks and the Grand Duke’s residence.
“Uwaaaaah!”
“Kyaaaaah!”
People panicked and fled in terror at the sight of a real dragon.
“Fire—!! Breath—!”
As the dragon exhaled a scorching breath, the soldiers on the walls who had aimed arrows at it instantly turned to ash.
‘Deng—! Deng—! Deng—! Deng—! Deng—! Deng—! Deng—!’
Seven urgent bell tolls rang out. This was the highest-grade crisis signal widely used throughout the Lusa Empire, sounded only for disasters beyond human capability or the gravest emergencies. It ordered the mobilization of all regional forces and the immediate evacuation of all VIPs to safety. Naturally, the Grand Duke and his beloved Seira were the top priority. The emperor’s sister, the Grand Duke’s official wife, and his favored concubines ranked second.
Of course, Delie, who had already fallen out of favor, faced a different fate.
The Black Star Knights also poured out of their barracks upon hearing the Dragon Fear and scattered into action. Among them was Delie, who had once dreamed of becoming a quasi-Cinderella only to become a plaything for the hellish order. While the other women were chained to prevent escape, Delie—either because she was new or because she was too popular—had been entertaining roughly forty or fifty knights in various places with various tools and acts.
Her arms and shoulders trembled. A dull ache throbbed in her lower abdomen. Her legs were numb and powerless. Forcing her battered body to move, she secretly followed the knights outside. Today was the one day the entire order had been deployed, making it possible.
At that moment, her figure caught Bandseuk’s eye. A naked woman wearing a dazzling silver wig. She was passable for a human— no, she possessed the level of a legendary beauty! Ignoring the knights who were spreading out in formation, Bandseuk suddenly approached her. Lowering his massive face, the size of a fortress tower, he asked,
“Are you Seira?”
Having heard rumors of Seira, Bandseuk could not help but mistake her. After spending his days gazing only at dwarves in their kingdom, where appearance scores were similar to orcs, seeing a legendary Lusa beauty after so long was enough to cause the misunderstanding. He regarded Delie with curiosity and asked again.
“H-Hiiiiiik…?! I-I am….”
That morning, the Grand Duke had selected his six most cherished concubines and fitted them with silver wigs. Since he rarely gave his heart to women, these six must have been chosen purely by appearance ranking. The former territory of the Korazm Kingdom had a population of about twenty million—roughly a quarter of the empire’s people. Yet Korazm was said to produce more beauties than anywhere else in the empire. Even more so in Koban City, the regional capital.
“Ooh, the blessing of Goddess Tricia…!”
The very land where the Goddess of Beauty had lain down and taken a leisurely nap. It was only natural that beauties were born without end. In other words, the top one hundred beauties selected by the Grand Duke in Korazm were on par with the empire’s finest. Among them, the six he kept closest were said to rival even Princess Lucia and Princess Ailier, the twin jewels of the empire. Delie, the most outstanding among those six, possessed charm that could match or surpass even the elemental dragons!!!
Even the Grand Duke might have overlooked one or two mistakes out of reluctance to lose such beauty—if he had never met Seira. Until Seira’s appearance, he had often turned a blind eye to Delie. But after Seira arrived, Delie had been cast aside like cold rice.
And now, naked, wearing a silver wig, covered in traces of rough play from dozens of knights, Delie stood before the black dragon.
While deflecting thousands of arrows and the weapon auras of hundreds of knights with a barrier, the black dragon shouted the system command at Delie.
Information!
Because seeing was believing.