Chapter 38
<Goddammit, you brat!! When the hell are you coming back!!>
Clang—!
Entur grumbled as she blocked the Fierce Dragon’s claw, which slammed down like a lightning strike, with an ice shield.
By the way, the “brat” she referred to was Ruth.
He had suddenly said, “I’ll be right back, so hold it off for a bit,” and disappeared somewhere.
Thanks to that, Entur was left to wrestle with the Fierce Dragon alone.
Guoooooooo—!!
<Shut that mouth! You’re not even a real dragon, so stop roaring like one!>
Chiiiing!!
Three ice spears forged from cold energy shot forward like rays of light and struck the Fierce Dragon’s massive body.
No, calling it “struck” would be an overstatement.
The thick layer of Demon God Stone energy enveloping the monster’s entire body easily bounced off the ice spears.
At best, it only irritated the creature. But Entur was just as furious.
<……Hah. This is exactly why this body didn’t want to form a servitude contract.>
If she were in her prime,
A mere fake dragon like this would have turned to dust with a single breath.
The reason Entur was currently struggling against the Fierce Dragon wasn’t because she was a spirit.
It was because, before being a spirit, she had become someone’s ‘servant.’
A servant’s power level was readjusted to match the contractor’s level.
Considering that a servant’s strength was usually similar to or slightly below the contractor’s stats……
<That brat needs to grow up quickly so this body can live comfortably…….>
It was only natural that the current Entur was far weaker than in her prime.
Of course, as the contractor grew stronger, the connected servant would grow alongside them.
Ruth’s level-ups directly translated to Entur’s level-ups.
Moreover, with <Authority of Growth>, Ruth possessed infinite potential.
Considering that, someday Entur might even surpass her prime…….
But that was still a distant future.
Crackle!
<This is driving me insane…….>
Entur bit her lip as she watched the poisonous gas leaking from between the Fierce Dragon’s fangs.
It was a sign that it was about to unleash a second Poison Breath.
She wondered if she could completely freeze it with cold energy.
Many villagers were still evacuating behind her. If she only half-froze it, the remaining poison would cause casualties.
Gulp.
The moment Entur’s throat bobbed, the Fierce Dragon’s maw also opened wide.
Boom—!!
<……Huh?>
Just before it could proudly unleash its breath, the monster suddenly crashed to the ground.
Like a machine that had lost power.
<What?>
As Entur, who had also lost her momentum, tilted her head with a question mark floating above it,
Step—.
Footsteps that were far too leisurely for the urgent situation reached her ears.
Entur turned toward the owner of the footsteps and couldn’t help but say something.
<You said you’d be right back, so why are you so late!>
“I came back in two minutes.”
<You should’ve come faster!>
“Don’t tell me you were struggling? The legendary ancient dragon, against something that isn’t even a proper dragon?”
<Eh?>
Entur pondered for a moment.
After a brief pause, she placed her hands on her hips and declared boldly.
<Of course not! It was so easy I was almost bored to death!>
“I see.”
‘You’re easy too.’
……Ruth swallowed those words and quietly looked at the Fierce Dragon, which was now bowing its head obediently.
Fwoosh—.
The black energy flowing from the monster’s entire body was being drawn into Ruth’s right hand.
More precisely, it was connected to the ‘Demon God Stone’ he was holding.
“The controller works nicely.”
Now, how should he play with this thing?
***
“Huk! T-the Monster of the Mountain…….”
“W-what the hell is going on?”
Meanwhile,
As the village rapidly fell silent, the residents who had fled or hidden began to emerge one by one.
Soon, they saw
The Fierce Dragon standing motionless like a dead rat in the middle of the street and couldn’t hide their shock.
Of course, that didn’t mean anyone relaxed their guard and approached it.
While everyone cautiously kept their distance from the Fierce Dragon,
“Ah!”
Several villagers spotted the Demon God Stone in Ruth’s hand and let out gasps.
As if they had seen it before.
“That orb!”
“T-that’s it! They used that orb to steal my lifespan!”
“Mine too! Those who were dragged away for not paying the protection fee all had to offer their lifespans to that orb!”
“Then that thing is what killed my father!?”
Ruth frowned slightly at the sudden outburst but was still able to roughly piece together the situation.
‘I knew there was a setting where those who couldn’t pay the protection fee to the <Silver Snake Group> had to pay with their souls, but…….’
He hadn’t known that this Demon God Stone served as the vessel for those souls.
That detail had never been mentioned in any game script.
<Black magic artifacts are all similar, aren’t they? Disgusting objects that use innocent people’s lifespans, souls, or life force as fuel.>
Entur spoke with clear disgust.
Dragons, except for the fallen ones, originally revered pure mana created by nature.
So it was only natural for Entur to loathe anything related to black magic.
“That accursed orb!”
“Because of that orb, my mother, my mother……!!”
“Let’s destroy it right now! I don’t even want to look at it!”
The heavily scarred residents of Riter pointed at the Demon God Stone and raged, but
Huu.
Ruth let out a soft sigh and shook his head.
“You can’t.”
“W-why not?”
“This orb is the suppressor that controls the ‘Monster of the Mountain.’ If we destroy it here and now, the creature will start rampaging again.”
“Ah…….”
At the words “start rampaging again,” the agitated people froze as if doused with cold water.
While a gloomy silence hung in the air, a woman spoke with a trembling voice.
“E-even if the Monster of the Mountain has been subdued for now… what about those <Silver Snake Group> bastards?”
“…….”
“T-they sent the Monster of the Mountain without any warning. Doesn’t that mean they were openly trying to kill us?”
Now that they knew the ‘Monster of the Mountain’ was a monster controlled by the <Silver Snake Group> thanks to Ruth,
The villagers realized the true meaning behind today’s events.
“They must have noticed that their subordinates who went to collect the fees were killed. This was definitely retaliation—they tried to massacre us.”
“Correct.”
“Then what are we supposed to do from now on?!”
The woman shouted with tears in her pale face.
Fear spread like wildfire. Although they had survived for now, the villagers trembled in terror as they imagined the horrific future that awaited them.
“Y-yeah. T-those bastards will come to the village and kill us all!”
“M-maybe we should ask the Empire for help…….”
“You idiot! You think the Empire would even listen to us?! If they were going to help, they would’ve done it long ago! To them, we don’t even exist!”
“M-maybe it’s better to just keep paying the protection fee and survive. Even if we’re being played by their scheme, if that’s the only way we can live—”
Kugugu—!
At that moment, an overwhelming pressure that shook the ground swept over the area.
The villagers, who had been wallowing in despair and speaking weakly, fell silent as if by magic.
“Because I need you to focus—”
Ruth had released his aura to silence them.
It wasn’t an aura meant to harm. He had only slightly revealed his presence as a warning.
“Please stay quiet for a moment.”
““…….””
It was just one person. A young boy, at that.
Yet the villagers felt a chill run down their spines at his single sentence.
They hadn’t even felt this much dread when facing the Fierce Dragon.
“Si-on Nephitie Eshilin.”
Fwoosh—!
The moment he recited the secret incantation he had learned from Alfonso’s memories, black flames ignited on the Demon God Stone.
At the same time,
Guoooooooooooo—!!
The Fierce Dragon, which had been quietly dormant, let out a roar and awakened.
The villagers were so shocked by the sudden scene that they nearly fainted and hurriedly backed away, but……
“Huh?”
“……Eh?”
The Fierce Dragon simply flapped its wings and flew back into the sky, showing no hostility whatsoever.
Only then did a few quick-witted people look back and forth between the Demon God Stone in Ruth’s hand and the Fierce Dragon, muttering.
“D-don’t tell me he’s controlling the Monster of the Mountain with that orb?”
“H-he can not only suppress it but actually control it……?”
Ruth had only said the Demon God Stone was a suppressor that controlled the ‘Monster of the Mountain.’ He had never mentioned it was a full controller.
No, more than that.
‘……Just what is his true identity?’
The way Ruth handled the Demon God Stone as if he knew everything, and how he controlled the Fierce Dragon, appeared even more mysterious in the eyes of the villagers.
Not only had he single-handedly blocked the Fierce Dragon’s attack earlier, but he had also beaten the five collection agents to death like dogs.
To the villagers, he felt less like a human and more like some transcendent being who had descended from the heavens.
“Let’s go. Fake dragon.”
<What?!>
“No, not you. That one.”
Saying so, Ruth used the Demon God Stone to send the Fierce Dragon flying far into the distance. His eyes burned with intense motivation.
It was only natural.
<Sub Quest – Savior of Riter>
Content: Eliminate all elements threatening Riter Village.
Reward: Acquire 10,000 BP
A quest offering an unprecedented amount of BP had appeared. How could he not be motivated?
***
“It’s strangely quiet on the slum side. If the Fierce Dragon is rampaging, we should be hearing the screams of those beggar bastards all the way here.”
“I-I was just starting to wonder about that too.”
Branch Leader Bruno Kurt frowned as he looked toward Riter Village.
“It’s too delayed for just handling fifty sewer rats. Something must have happened to Alfonso.”
“Should I take a few idle men and go check?”
“No. I’ll go myself. I need to see it with my own eyes.”
As Bruno rose from his chair, the subordinate who had been carefully watching him flinched.
He had been Bruno’s closest aide for over five years now, but……
He still couldn’t get used to that terrifying pressure that felt like a mountain moving every time he faced it.
‘H-he just keeps getting stronger with each passing day.’
As expected of someone leading a branch of a major criminal organization, Bruno’s realm was frighteningly high.
From what he’d heard, Bruno’s past was also impressive.
He had once defeated Walter—the man who was now known as the North’s top knight—in a spar.
‘To think those sewer rats dared provoke someone like him—their guts must be made of steel—.’
Whoosh—!!
At that moment,
From outside the building, far in the distance,
Bruno caught sight of something massive flying toward them with powerful wingbeats.
“……The Fierce Dragon?”
Was it returning after finishing the job?
No, if that were the case, Alfonso should have contacted them in advance through the communication artifact.
Crackle!
“…….”
As the distance closed rapidly, Bruno finally noticed the poisonous gas leaking from between the Fierce Dragon’s jaws.
In other words, it was already too late.
“You son of a—.”
Kwaaaaaaaa—!!
The Poison Breath struck the heart of the <Silver Snake Group>’s headquarters.
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