Ch. 90
‘I’m a certified pro at being unlucky in this world!’
Maybe when God made me, He got sleepy while setting up my fate and accidentally dumped way too much misfortune in there.
Crash!
Right in front of me, what was once a chandelier fell and shattered into pieces.
The collapsed ceiling had suddenly turned into a deadly disaster.
Undine? No.
“Undaine! Water Screen!”
Fwoooosh.
Undine couldn’t handle this scale.
Undaine’s summoned form instantly spread out in all directions, forming a surging barrier.
Falling debris bounced off the shield with a thud, the barrier rippling each time.
Because it was cast hastily and on a much larger scale than usual, the defense was clearly weaker.
It might block falling rubble, but nothing more.
If the dragon so much as waved its hand, it would be torn apart instantly.
Still, within the barrier’s range was King Dikel III. Not intentional, but the emperor too.
“Ugh!”
“Please, save me!”
“Aaah!”
Unluckily, those outside the barrier were crushed by the collapsing ceiling and screamed in pain, but there was no time for anyone to help.
Nobles far enough away just screamed and stampeded out of the hall.
Knights drew their swords and surrounded the emperor, but as if that would work on a dragon.
I rushed through the nobles cowering and covering their heads, dashing toward the king.
“Your Majesty!”
I called out urgently, but given the situation, even the king looked a little dazed.
Still, compared to others who were wetting themselves or sobbing, the royal composure was holding.
“We have to run!”
“Oh my god…”
Following the king’s gaze upward, I saw the dragon looking straight down at us through the broken ceiling.
My jaw dropped and a groan slipped out.
“It’s huge…”
I knew this was a strange world, but to actually see a dragon with my own eyes—I still couldn’t believe it.
Those giant golden eyes sent chills down my spine, and the size of the claws tearing up the ceiling made me shudder.
Honestly, I’d thought I was pretty tough.
I really believed that after everything I’d already been through, nothing could faze me anymore.
Who would have guessed I’d encounter a dragon—something said to appear in the human world once every five hundred years—at my very first debut party!
Just how much worse can it get?
You insane god! Ever heard of balance?
[Which one of you is the emperor?]
The dragon, its face poking through the ceiling, asked.
No one could move.
It was as obvious as breathing that any movement meant death.
In the way it spoke directly into your mind, the dragon reminded me a little of Rai.
But its presence was far more grand and overwhelming.
The nobles’ eyes all immediately turned to the emperor.
“I—I am the emperor of this empire! O great dragon!”
Well, what else could he do? The emperor, ruler of all, fell to his knees and bowed.
The other nobles followed, all dropping to their knees and bowing in a wave.
The knights set down their swords. King Dikel III did the same, and so did I.
It wasn’t the time to make any rash moves, so I sent Undaine back. The barrier disappeared.
No more playing around—so I also dismissed Undine, who had been keeping Rashamu trapped.
I imagined everyone was thinking the same thing: ‘Why is there a dragon here?’
Once it knew who the emperor was, the dragon got right to the point.
[Bring me jewels. Enough to fill this hall!]
“J-jewels…?”
[And all the mithril you have.]
Enough jewels to fill this hall? And mithril, too?
“G-great dragon! Even if we emptied all our storerooms, it would never be enough to fill this hall. Please, have mercy…!”
[Not my concern. Bring it all!]
The emperor tried to negotiate, but a dragon was a dragon for a reason.
The mightiest being of the middle realm, called the closest thing to a god, the supreme predator and tyrant of this land.
The power and wisdom it had amassed over ten thousand years was beyond comparison—a being of absolute authority.
I’d heard gold dragons were supposed to be gentle, wise, and merciful… Guess not.
“Have mercy! If we give up everything, we’ll be destroyed by our enemies!”
[Don’t worry. I just came from dealing with those enemies.]
Ah, so the dragon was making its collection rounds.
It was famous that dragons loved jewels, piling them up like mountains in their lairs.
And where did they get them? By seizing them like this. But why was it after mithril, too?
That wasn’t a jewel, but a weapon material.
“Bring the jewels! Bring all the mithril!”
Realizing negotiation was pointless and dangerous, the emperor gave swift orders to the knights.
I glanced up at the emperor. Unlike when I first saw him, he looked weak and small.
Before a dragon, a crown was nothing more than a bell on a cat’s collar.
Just a useless ornament that drew attention.
Under a being that defied the laws of man, human authority meant nothing at all.
—
This was bad.
I’d been lying flat and silent for nearly an hour.
The longer this dragged on, the harder it seemed for us to survive.
No matter how many jewels were gathered, it wasn’t nearly enough to fill this giant hall. And the dragon’s patience was already gone.
To think it could live ten thousand years but couldn’t wait for this—what a temper.
[It’s not enough!]
“I’m sorry! We… we can’t fill it right now. But if you give us time…”
[Grooooo.]
The dragon rumbled its throat as if urging them on, and at that sound, a few nobles collapsed in a faint.
Most people didn’t even dare sob for fear of offending the dragon.
The nobles inside the shield had survived the falling debris, but now they were utterly trapped in the dragon’s shadow.
I, too, started sweating cold with nervous tension.
Just the presence of a dragon was overwhelming.
[Rai, can you beat a dragon by any chance?]
[Excuse me? Master, are you out of your mind? That’s impossible…]
Yeah, I must be crazy. I asked just in case, but what’s impossible is impossible.
A knight rushed over and whispered something into the emperor’s ear. Judging by the emperor’s ashen face, it wasn’t good news.
The emperor bowed low, desperately trying to appease the dragon.
“O great dragon, this is everything we have! Please, forgive us!”
The jewels and mithril prepared were an enormous amount by human standards.
The true strength of the empire was on display—yet it still looked pitifully small compared to the size of the hall.
And nowhere near what the dragon expected.
[You kept me waiting for this? You call this everything? I flew all the way to the empire for this!]
“Please believe me! We gathered every last bit!”
[Lies! You’re hiding more!]
“No!”
The dragon lashed its thick, long tail in anger.
Anyone hit by that would be crushed like tofu.
[Still so empty! Humans can never be trusted!]
The furious dragon opened its massive jaws wide, gathering light inside its mouth.
A deep, dazzling golden glow.
“Oh god!”
“Kyaaaah!”
I knew what it was. A breath attack.
The dragon’s greatest weapon. More destructive than an 8th-class mage’s spell. One of the five weapons that could destroy the continent…
[I’ll ask one last time… Will you hand over everything you’ve hidden?]
“Please, please! That’s all we have!”
[Humans are liars! I’d sooner trust a snake than you.]
The emperor pleaded, but the dragon looked ready to unleash the power gathering in its mouth.
The emperor’s face was utterly hopeless.
So was everyone else’s. The look of those who’d accepted death.
Even King Dikel III quietly closed his eyes.
He might be a Swordmaster, but in this situation, it didn’t help at all.
Only magic could stop magic.
By the scale of mana swirling, this attack would be enough to melt everyone here. It wouldn’t just kill us—it would erase us.
No matter how I thought about it, I was the only one who could do anything. I didn’t want to, but it had to be me. I needed to survive, after all.
‘I refuse to die like this.’
I have to live. I have to protect the king, and as annoying as it is, all these nobles too… There was no time left to think.
The dragon was just about to unleash its breath.
The moment I sensed it about to explode, I screamed desperately.
“Rai!”
[Yes, Master!]
“Stop that attack!”
With that frantic shout, Rai shot from my wrist and launched into the air.
(T/N: Ooooooh, here comes the dragon arc!!)
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(T/N: Still not back to a regular upload schedule, but I’ll be uploading at least 5 chapters per series every week, in order based on the most recent series I picked up. No fixed days yet, but I’ll keep the bulk uploads coming as best as I can!)
