The Reincarnated Assassin is a Genius Swordsman 1144

 Chapter 1144

 

“W-Why, why is a dragon here!”

The Holy King Hopen’s face turned pale as he panicked at the sudden appearance of the dragon.

“Damn it all! First it was the witch, and now a dragon?”

Saintess Olga ground her teeth, glaring up at the sky with visible irritation.

“……”

Raon gripped Heavenly Drive and observed the giant dragon that was covering the sky.

‘Golden scales.’

A filthy Gold Dragon, huh.

The dragon’s entire body was covered in golden scales, the same color as my own hair. For some reason, every single one of those gold tribe bastards I’d encountered had been downright unpleasant to look at.

‘Seeing as I didn't sense any movement in the air, it must have used teleportation.’

The dragon had appeared out of nowhere. But since I’d sensed a distortion in the flow of mana high in the sky moments ago, I was certain it had arrived through teleportation.

That’s correct.

Wrath looked up at the Gold Dragon’s belly and nodded.

The King of Essence also felt that slight twist in the mana.

‘I felt it too. But it doesn’t seem like ordinary teleportation.’

For such a massive body to move through space, yet for me to sense only a faint trace of mana, it could only mean that this dragon’s mastery of magic was exceptional.

Moreover, the Holy Kingdom of Schper was surrounded by holy power barriers that blocked teleportation spells. The fact that the dragon had managed to bypass that defense meant it was no ordinary dragon.

‘Not just its magic, the essence inside it is unusual too.’

Judging by its size, it hadn’t yet reached the level of an ancient dragon, but its mana was greater than one.

Having met and fought many dragons before, I could now roughly tell a dragon’s age and strength just by looking at its body and wings.

This dragon was huge enough to cover the sky, yet it hadn’t reached the realm of an ancient dragon.

However, strangely enough, even though that Gold Dragon wasn’t an ancient one, it possessed mana that exceeded that level. The purity and vastness of that mana made my stomach churn, as though nature itself were in motion.

You’re right.

Wrath narrowed his eyes in agreement.

That lizard has gathered an absurd amount of mana for its age. Truly…

He smacked his lips as he looked at the dragon.

It must taste delicious! It’s not too old either, so the meat should be tender!

Wrath lifted both arms and started dancing, saying they should hurry and cut off the dragon’s neck to roast and eat it.

“Raon.”

“Sir Raon!”

Evelyn and Dorian, having sensed the dragon’s presence, ran up behind him.

“W-We were just about to leave, and now a dragon….”

Dorian clutched his head, lamenting how nothing ever went smoothly these days.

“It’s probably because of my fight with Lust. The demonic energy must have spread around.”

Raon frowned slightly as he recalled his fight with Lust.

“Even the wall of holy power couldn’t have completely blocked that energy.”

Hopen, Olga, the holy knights, and the priests had done their utmost to hold the barrier, but in the end, the wall of holy power had shattered.

Cracks had already formed earlier, so it wasn’t strange that a dragon could sense Lust’s authority and demonic energy.

What was truly strange was that the dragon had appeared now, not during the fight with Lust.

“That dragon’s… a little strange.”

Evelyn brushed her hair back as she examined the dragon, sensing something off as well.

“S-strange or not, we have to deal with it right away! It could fire a breath attack at any moment!”

Dorian drew his sword with trembling hands, insisting they should take it down before the Holy Kingdom suffered further damage.

That coward actually said something right for once!

Wrath exclaimed as he looked at Dorian.

Good! Go cut off that lizard’s head and present it to the King of Essence!

“We’ll have to deal with it quickly.”

Olga also raised her fist, imbued with holy power, determined to kill the dragon as fast as possible.

“Wait.”

Raon lifted his arm to stop Dorian and Olga at once.

“That dragon…”

He looked into the dragon’s eyes, which were lowered toward the ground, and shook his head.

“It doesn’t seem like it wants to fight right now.”

If the dragon had wanted to attack, the best moment would’ve been immediately after it teleported in, by firing a breath attack.

Yet unlike Lord or the other ancient dragons, this one was merely floating in the sky, observing us.

So you’ll let it go?

Wrath’s blue eyes gleamed.

That must not happen! Catch it and roast it no matter what!

He shook his head fiercely, unwilling to let the rare chance for roasted dragon meat slip away.

‘I’m not planning to roast it right away.’

Since Lord and the ancient dragons had abandoned their nests and gone into hiding, there was no way I would let one that appeared on its own just slip away.

‘I’ll have to capture it first….’

Raon reached for Heavenly Drive to slash at the Gold Dragon’s wings—

Wooooong!

Four magic circles appeared around the gold dragon, and from within them emerged four different beings, an elf, a dwarf, an orc, and a goblin, each with a distinct color.

“Those…”

Evelyn frowned as she looked at the four beings that had appeared around the Gold Dragon.

“They’re all dragons.”

She spread her fingers, pointing one by one as she explained that each of them had transformed into an elf, a dwarf, an orc, and a goblin.

“Yeah. They seem to be around the same age too.”

The four newly appeared dragons looked, like the Gold Dragon, to be adult dragons not yet at the level of ancient dragons, each possessed tremendous mana.

“F-Five…”

Dorian’s jaw trembled as he realized there were now five dragons.

“T-They’re all dragons?”

Hopen swallowed dryly in shock.

“W-We should evacuate immed—”

“This time, we don’t need to do that.”

Olga stopped Hopen.

“Look at that man’s expression. He’s calm. Even if there are five adult dragons, he can handle them.”

She caught the composed look in Raon’s eyes and smiled faintly.

Five! Five lizards!

Wrath smacked his lips again, delighted that the number of prey had increased.

There are five of them, so roast one at least!

He waved his hand, telling Raon to burn one with the flames of Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation.

‘Well, that’s not a bad idea.’

Raon nodded with a cool smile.

‘Since there are five of them.’

If there had been only one, I would’ve captured it for information, but with five, killing three and capturing two to interrogate didn’t sound like a bad plan.

“Evelyn. Make sure none of them can escape.”

Raon gestured to Evelyn as he gave his order.

“Okay! Just give me a moment!”

[Those lizards….]

As Evelyn nodded and prepared her spell, Lust’s voice came from within the pinkish air current.

[They probably came because they sensed my scent. Let me handle this.]

Lust’s voice was chillingly cold, as if the very sound could freeze the air. It seemed Demon Kings truly regarded dragons as nothing more than oversized lizards or moving food.

[No, he’ll do it.]

Just as Raon was about to move to slice off the Gold Dragon’s head—

[Are you Raon Zieghart?]

A mana transmission came from the Gold Dragon.

It was cold and sharp, but unlike the dragons he had encountered before, it carried no ingrained hatred toward humans.

[Follow me. You wouldn’t want to cause harm to the other humans here, would you?]

The dragon gave a small nod of its head toward the northern mountains that supported the Holy Kingdom of Schper, then took flight in that direction.

How arrogant!

Wrath swung his fist furiously.

A mere lizard dares to order you around? Just cut off its head!

He shook his head violently, demanding Raon start by chopping off its tail.

[You’re letting it go? That’s pretty arrogant of it.]

Lust’s voice dropped, displeased by the dragon’s tone as well.

‘Those two really go well together.’

Seeing them now, I thought Wrath and Lust had surprisingly similar ways of thinking, they might actually get along better than I’d expected.

“…Let’s follow it for now.”

Raon gave a short nod and slid the half-drawn Heavenly Drive back into its scabbard.

“Y-You’re saying you’re going to follow it?”

Dorian gaped at him, speechless.

“It could be a trap.”

Olga furrowed her brows, questioning his decision.

“I can dismantle any traps.”

Evelyn shook her head, mana gathering between her palms.

“Do as you wish.”

She smiled softly, as if to say it didn’t matter what he chose to do.

“Those dragons…”

Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at the dragons flying ahead, not even glancing back, as if certain he would follow.

“They don’t seem like they intend to fight right away.”

“H-How can you tell?”

Dorian blinked in confusion.

“Just a feeling.”

In mana messages, what were called mana transmission, always carried traces of emotion. From that dragon, I had felt coldness and composure, but no malice or intent to kill.

“I’ll contact you later.”

Raon waved a hand to Olga and Hopen, then turned north, following the dragons toward the mountains.

“W-Wait for me!”

Muttering that he was scared, Dorian nevertheless ran with all his strength to keep from losing sight of Raon.

“See you later.”

Evelyn gave a gentle wave and turned into light, vanishing from sight.

“Sir Raon has protected Schper once again….”

Hopen clasped his hands together as he looked around the garden now bathed once more in sunlight.

“He truly is a mysterious man.”

He let out a faint laugh, saying Raon hadn’t changed at all since the first time they met.

“Don’t you think so?”

“……”

Olga didn’t respond. She simply kept her eyes fixed on the direction Raon had gone.

“Saintess?”

“I’m going too!”

She bit her lip firmly, as if making up her mind, and ran toward the northern mountains.

“Huh? Why!”

“He might get hurt!”

Without even looking back, Olga shouted that she was going to heal him in case Raon got injured, and ran off.

“Uh…”

Hopen shook his head, recalling how Raon had once turned the northern central district.

“No matter how I see it, it’s the dragons who’ll end up getting thrashed….”

*   *   *

Thud.

Raon stood atop an unnamed mountain peak, staring at the summit across from him.

Wooooooong—

The Gold Dragon, watching him from high above the sky, descended slowly, wrapped in brilliant light.

Now’s the time! Just cut it down!

‘I’ll feed you later. Stay still for now.’

Raon pushed Wrath aside, who was smacking his lips, and fixed his eyes on the blazing golden radiance.

Fwaaaaaaah!

The dragon, larger than the mountain itself, stepped out of the grand light as a blond-haired, blue-eyed young man. On the surface, he didn’t look much different from a human.

Crack.

Behind him, the elf, dwarf, orc, and goblin who had hovered in the air also descended. Though their appearances matched their respective races, Raon could feel the fierce and oppressive presence of predators radiated from within them.

“Why did you call me here?”

Raon laid a hand on Heavenly Drive at his waist as he looked at the Gold Dragon. He could sense no trace of goodwill from him, so if he said even a single wrong word, Raon was ready to cut him down on the spot.

Why even ask! It’s obviously here to pick a fight!

Wrath wrinkled his nose, muttering that all lizards were the same.

“Two days ago, the one you fought was a demon king, wasn’t it?”

As expected, the dragon seemed to know about his fight with Lust.

“Before asking that, shouldn’t you tell me who you are first?”

“Hmm….”

The Gold Dragon frowned, as if offended by being questioned by a human.

“What? Upset because a mere mortal spoke to you?”

Raon narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip. From what he knew of dragons’ behavior, the next thing would be an angry outburst about insolence. Just as Wrath said, the time for roasted lizard might be near.

“My apologies.”

But instead, the Gold Dragon placed a hand over his chest, closed his eyes briefly, then reopened them.

“I am Bartius, an adult dragon of the gold tribe.”

He slightly lowered his chin as he stated his name.

Eh? W-What…

Wrath’s jaw dropped, as if that was the last thing he’d expected to hear.

“And the ones behind me are the adult dragons of the red, black, blue, and white tribes.”

Bartius went on to introduce the dragons standing at his back.

“I’d like to test myself against that human.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Raon Zieghart….”

“So, he’s one of the six humans classified as special class threats.”

“One of only six humans classified as top-level danger.”

Each dragon reacted differently upon looking at him.

“I’ll ask again. The one you fought, was it a demon king?”

Bartius repeated his question.

“And if it was?”

The fact that he asked that way meant he already knew. So Raon answered without hiding it.

[What stupid lizard. I’m not the only Demon King here, you know.]

Lust sneered, amused that the dragons hadn’t realized there was another Demon King standing right before them.

You’re sounding a bit arrogant.

[I’ll just wipe them out.]

[No, stay still for once!]

Raon stopped Wrath and Lust, then looked back at the dragon.

“So you’re the one who drove out the demon king.”

Bartius let out a rough sigh, twisting his lips. Though it sounded like a scoff, it didn’t seem directed at Raon.

“A truly fucked-up era, when what must be done is left undone, and what must never happen comes to pass.”

He let out a bitter laugh at either someone else, or perhaps himself, then slowly lifted his gaze.

“What are you trying to say?”

Raon narrowed his eyes, looking straight at Bartius.

“I came here to see for myself, the human known as Raon Zieghart.”

Bartius raised his hand at a deliberate, almost lazy pace.

“Can you show us hope?”

From him radiated the intent of someone seeking battle. Unlike other dragons, there was no murderous will in it, but the determination burning within him was hot enough to melt aura itself.

“In return, if I win, you’ll tell me everything.”

Raon aimed Heavenly Drive at Bartius and tilted his head arrogantly.

“It won't take very long.”

 

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