Chapter 300
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 300
Chapter Title: Lesson 58. Spartoi - 5
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A shocking moment where the intentions of their ancestors, passed down through thousands of years, were completely overturned for the descendants.
The supreme Spartoi, crafted in the likeness of a dragon with the sole purpose of exterminating the dragons left in the universe, had its concept inverted through the exact same process as itself—contact with the True Dragon Sword. In that instant, it was reborn in a form perfectly suited to Asha.
It wasn't some grandiose transformation.
In the process where the dragon-slaying curse embedded in the Mechadragon was replaced with an amplification of draconic power, the originally suppressed draconic material synchronized with Asha's magical power, causing changes in its luster and hue.
To put it simply, the Mechadragon had just become a Mechagold Dragon.
"Feels like a virus spreading."
As Ban Yu-won muttered while watching the massive dragon-tooth soldier's entire body shimmer with brilliant gold, Lilith chimed in with a retort.
[Actually, wouldn't it be more like a vaccine? Spartoi were originally soldiers who obeyed the dragon's command, after all.]
"I guess we'd have to ask the ancestors to be sure, but they're long dead anyway. If they didn't like it, they should've stayed alive."
And it seemed the dragon-tooth soldier wasn't the only one affected.
As Ban Yu-won released the fusion with Abel and descended lightly to the ground by emitting a concept, he turned his gaze to Camelot's Guardian Knights, who had already finished off the swarming monsters and fallen into formation.
"Wh-what is this change...?"
"I don't know, but... the moment Her Highness thrust the holy sword into that dragon!"
"It's Her Majesty, not Her Highness! But still, this is..."
Camelot's Guardian Knights were exceptionally strong compared to the other knights, but they still looked like ordinary humans on the surface.
Yet at the exact moment Asha captured—no, dominated—the Mechadragon, they began to undergo changes.
Not a color shift like the Mechadragon, just a slight increase in height and muscle mass for each of them... but the boost in combat power was far greater than it appeared.
"4-Irecto... no, 5-Irecto? This can't be real. Is this the true power of the dragon-tooth soldiers?"
[I get why that scatterbrained princess was so confident now. There must be at least a hundred of them, and if we're just talking levels, they've all caught up to your toes, Master.]
"Upper-dimensional forces that look flawless no matter how you slice it..."
The hints had been there from the start.
A knight order that pledged loyalty solely to the royal family across generations.
They obeyed only the commands of the royals who carried the bloodline, and their abilities more than doubled on battlefields alongside their ruler—a special trait.
One might think it was some generational contract magic, but there was an even simpler explanation: the creation of dragon-tooth soldiers.
While the holy sword had drawn some attention among lower dimensions, the truly vital resource had been hidden away just like this.
"No way, real dragon-tooth soldiers?"
Aire, who had landed on the ground a step ahead of Ban Yu-won, was already staring in awe at the spectacle.
It made sense—she'd been shocked enough to nearly faint when a mechanical dragon bursting from underground turned out to be a dragon-tooth soldier. And now, a whole cadre straight out of myth had appeared as a bonus!
Even she, who had anticipated the True Dragon's legacy, hadn't expected actual dragon-tooth soldiers.
"Ugh, ahhh... I can't keep up. Not with Melodyia's fake dragon-tooth soldiers..."
"Why are you getting so down about it? Think of it as a great training aid."
Ban Yu-won patted her shoulder in surprise at how dejected Aire looked—more than he'd expected—and tried to cheer her up.
Aire's drooping ears perked up.
"You'll... help me improve?"
"That's what we agreed on from the start."
His straightforward reply made Aire beam with joy, though she also looked embarrassed.
"Ughhh... I wanted to be the one helping, but now I'm not just outdone by the queen—I'm getting even bigger help from her."
[I told you not to call me queen!]
Kyaooo—! The Gold Dragon roared.
In that insanely powerful roar, Ban Yu-won sensed a overwhelming pressure bearing down on its entire body—a unique draconic wave infused with an incomprehensible concept.
"Dragon Fear..."
"Oh, is this that?"
"Hostile creatures below a certain rank freeze in place, and in severe cases, drop dead outright. A authority symbolizing the True Dragon's majesty."
No wonder everything had gone quiet the moment the Gold Dragon bellowed—small birds, wild animals, and even flying insects had all plummeted to their deaths.
What kind of insane performance was this? If every house had one of those Gold Dragons, pest control would be a thing of the past.
[Ah... energy's draining...]
Perhaps because its new master Asha wasn't yet accustomed to it, the Gold Dragon thrashed wildly with Dragon Fear for a while before halting. Then it vanished in a burst of dazzling golden light.
All that remained was Asha, now clad in noticeably different armor.
The metal guards protecting her chest, waist, and thighs bore new dragon motifs, while the leather parts gleamed with an oddly luxurious sheen.
Given how the armor glowed gold, it seemed the Gold Dragon had miniaturized and fused directly with her protective gear.
Mass conservation laws being blatantly ignored was nothing new at this point, but when Ban Yu-won sneakily examined the armor's concept, he could only whistle at its overwhelming defensive power.
She could probably just wear it as-is without ever properly wielding it.
"Abel doesn't have compatibility like that..."
[The True Dragon's authorities aren't to be underestimated, huh.]
"Ah, Yu-won—!"
Asha, snapping back to her senses, wobbled slightly in place before spotting Ban Yu-won and charging over to throw herself into his arms.
The armor made her feel rigid to the touch, but the moment he held her, her alluring feminine scent washed over him, reminding him she was very much a woman.
"Th-thank you—! I could claim it because you gave me courage!"
"Honestly, I don't feel like I did much, but if you think so, that's what matters. Always be grateful to me."
[Not even a drop of spit to moisten your mouth before saying that.]
No, let's rethink this.
He'd held the Mechadragon in check to keep it from rampaging, given Asha the hints to capture it, and even encouraged her with heartfelt words. Wasn't it basically him who caught the Mechadragon?
If Ban Yu-won was the trainer, the Mechadragon was the Pokémon, and Asha was just the monster ball!
"Asha..."
Aire watched with a complicated expression as her friend buried herself in Ban Yu-won's embrace.
Whether she noticed the faint jealousy mixed in or not, Asha greeted Aire with a bright smile.
"Thanks to you protecting Yu-won too, Aire. I got some seriously reliable power!"
"More importantly right now, the knights."
"Huh? The knights... why are they all like that?!"
Asha finally noticed the changes in her subordinates at Aire's pointing out.
They'd been stunned or kneeling in shock from the sudden physical transformations—but the moment she turned her attention to them and approached, they recovered at an astonishing speed.
"Your Majesty!"
"It feels like waking from a long, long dream. A very long dream...!"
"The shackles that bound and confined us feel like they've all been shattered. Our true liege is none other than Lady Asha!"
"Ah... this sensation."
She'd only been marveling at the knights' changes, but soon grasped the essence of it.
How could she not? The moment she'd secured the Mechadragon, she'd felt the same connection with it—and now she felt it with the knights too.
"I see... you all had the power of the dragon within you."
"We're not entirely sure, but it seems that way."
"But what matters is that we are your faithful servants."
Already fanatically loyal to Asha from the start, as if brainwashed, the knights now pledged blind devotion—like it was the purpose of their lives—kneeling before her.
These were the Spartoi: war machines masquerading as ordinary humans, forever unable to truly become human.
Asha, momentarily flustered by the oath of exactly one hundred dragon-tooth soldiers, soon wore a willing smile.
"I already knew that. With that in mind, I hope you'll all follow me. To protect my precious friend..."
She trailed off, glancing back at Ban Yu-won with a slight smile before turning to them again.
"...and lend your strength to the war to safeguard my future royal consort."
"Gladly, Your Majesty!"
Royal consort—the queen's husband.
He'd noticed it when she started calling him "darling" as a pet name for her friend, but now she wasn't even hiding her rampage.
A couple has to sync up properly; you can't clap with one hand.
"She gets some power and immediately goes overboard again."
[So you hate it? One hundred dragon-tooth soldiers plus a genuine Gold Dragon.]
Ban Yu-won let out a snort at Lilith's sarcastic remark.
Everyone kept going on about "dowry" like bringing troops alone would seal a marriage alliance with him.
"Asha, come here."
"Huh? Wait, ow!"
"I told you not to get ahead of yourself."
Asha rubbed her forehead where she'd gotten a flick, tears welling in her eyes as she shook her head.
"No, this is... this is me stating my ambitions! Besides, I've prepared such a lavish dowry...!"
"It's not a dowry, you dummy."
"You told me before—I know how you feel. But I have to remind you periodically like this, or you'll forget..."
"Jeez."
"Heh."
She was getting cheekier by the day—who'd she learn that from?
He glanced at Aire, who shook her head firmly and glared at Asha.
Asha just grinned without retorting.
Sensing the subtle tension between the two, Ban Yu-won wondered if this was typical dragonkin interaction.
"Ahem, I'd love to head straight back to Fairy Tail, but..."
Asha cleared her throat, drawing everyone's eyes, and gave a wry smile.
"I think we need to hold Father's funeral first. You'll both be there, right?"
"Ah."
"Ah."
Yuder Light Camelot.
A bit incompetent, fairly greedy, and the culprit who'd ruined his precious eldest daughter's early life by falling for every one of his ancestors' traps.
Yet he'd been a surprisingly decent king to his people, and a reasonably kind family man to everyone except his eldest daughter.
Proof of that: his funeral was grandly held, yet no one harbored any resentment.
"Here are my little siblings."
"Wow..."
"This guy... is he really our big sister's boyfriend? He's so handsome..."
And so, at the former king's funeral, Ban Yu-won met Asha's siblings—the remaining royals—for the first time.
Come to think of it, she had younger siblings!
The kids, who had been bawling over their father's death, stopped crying the instant Asha brought Ban Yu-won over and swarmed him in curiosity.
"I heard you had siblings, but I'd forgotten."
"I was the only one doing outside activities. But the general public might even be more familiar with them. I mostly handled border skirmishes and wars with external dimensions."
"Oppa, oppa, are you really marrying our big sis? When she was our oppa just a little while ago?"
"What's this guy lacking that he'd go for a tomboy like our sis...?"
"Dummy, it'll be a side wife."
"Got it, political marriage!"
"..."
It was hard to inherit Asha's striking golden blonde hair and blue eyes.
Even on Earth, media often depicted blonde beauties, but finding natural blondes without dye was surprisingly tricky. Yet Camelot's royals all looked just like Asha, as if proving their noble blood.
And unlike Asha, they were all lively and mischievous to a fault.
"Did these kids... suck up all of Asha's social energy in the womb?"
"Don't say weird stuff, or they'll hate you."
"In exchange, Asha got the dragonkin's power. These kids... excellent as humans, but their draconic blood is faint."
As Ban Yu-won observed the children, Aire seemed to have sorted her feelings and muttered while shaking her head.
"Still, they've all been well-educated. They'll do fine even without me."
"Without you, sis?"
"I'm leaving. Not completely, but..."
Asha declared.
"I'm in the middle of courtship. If the marriage works out, I'll come back with kids."
The children's jaws dropped.
That day, Ban Yu-won realized Asha had changed decisively—but of course, there was no escape.