Chapter 216
“Aaaah!”
“Th-that! What is that?!”
“Run! No, no—get out of the way!”
People fled in a frenzy.
Every one of them was startled and horrified.
Men ran with their shirt collars flapping.
Women kicked off their shoes without hesitation.
It was a rapid evacuation, like a mass exodus.
Toward the fleeing banquet guests, Bibeong roared.
“Bibeong—!”
That booming cry sped up everyone’s retreat by about ten percent.
No wonder.
‘What on earth is that…!’
Fear and confusion swept through the crowd.
They had simply come to a banquet.
To enjoy delicious food and fragrant wine.
To admire the beautiful, magnificent grand garden.
To feel proud of being invited to the Queen’s banquet.
To strengthen connections with those of similar status.
“Bibeobeong—!”
“…!”
So why did they have to face a gigantic monster right in front of them?
No—why had a gigantic monster suddenly appeared at all?
They couldn’t understand it, and they didn’t want to.
That was why.
“Move faster, please!”
“Here—grab my hand!”
They ran for their lives.
Like a tide pulling back, the guests poured out of the banquet hall and kept running—farther and farther away.
The crowded hall became deserted in an instant.
A small smile formed on Lloyd’s lips.
‘Hoo. It worked.’
Honestly, he’d been doubtful.
Even as he brought out Bibeong, he wondered if it would really work.
Because quite a few of the banquet guests already knew Bibeong existed.
‘Of course. Bibeong helped build this garden, too. He did an incredible job. Thanks to that, rumors spread all through the royal capital.’
To exaggerate a little, hardly anyone in the royal capital didn’t know about Bibeong and the other mythical creatures.
The only exception would be a newborn.
That was why he’d been worried.
He needed to get people out of the banquet hall somehow, but would they really run at the sight of Bibeong?
Still, he went through with it.
Because he was counting on the shock.
‘Most people have only heard rumors. Very few have actually seen him in person—especially not up close like this.’
Hearing about a huge monster and seeing it with your own eyes were completely different experiences.
Like staring up at the tallest building in the country—one you’d only ever seen in pictures—standing right in front of it.
Except Bibeong moved and roared.
‘He’s a hundred meters long—basically the size of a building. If a guy like that stands on two legs, moves, and roars? If he even does a tap dance while his belly fat jiggles? People will freak out and run. That’s just human nature.’
That was the effect Lloyd had been aiming for.
If a building-sized beaver started doing a hula dance in front of you, wanting to get away would be the natural response.
Even if someone knew Bibeong was gentle, he didn’t think it would matter.
‘Even a tame polar bear—if it roars “GRAAAH” right in your face with no barrier, you’d be lucky not to wet your underwear. Even if it’s holding a cola in its paw.’
In any case, it worked exactly as he’d hoped.
Most of the guests panicked and ran—far more than he’d expected.
Aside from a few servants and musicians who clung to their duty, the banquet hall was completely empty.
Instead, Royal Guards filled the space.
They fixed stern gazes on him.
“Lloyd Frontera, the eldest son of Count Arcos Frontera, and the knight who follow him—kneel immediately and obey orders.”
An authoritative command.
A gaze even more intimidating.
Lloyd swallowed a bitter smile under the Royal Guard Captain’s stiff expression.
‘They must think I caused a commotion during the banquet.’
This was the completion ceremony banquet.
And this side had suddenly produced a massive mythical creature.
It had spread fear indiscriminately and caused chaos.
The banquet was, naturally, ruined.
He’d probably be reprimanded harshly.
Lloyd watched the Royal Guard Captain and called Bibeong over.
He fed him blue sunflower seeds.
He slipped the shrunken creature into his inner pocket.
Then he knelt obediently, as ordered.
“I’m going to get scolded pretty badly this time. If nothing else happens, that is.”
“…I didn’t think you’d bring out Sir Bibeong.”
Javier grumbled as he knelt beside him.
Lloyd chuckled and glanced at him.
“I couldn’t think of any other way to evacuate everyone in an orderly manner.”
“Wasn’t there a more moderate option, like informing Her Majesty the Queen?”
“That only works if you get confirmation—no, approval—from Her Majesty. You’d have to explain everything and persuade her. It’s slow. How long would that whole process take?”
Right as he finished saying that, someone joined the conversation.
“I wish you had started to that explanation and persuasion—even now.”
Before he knew it, Queen Alicia had approached.
Only three steps away.
Cold eyes looking down at those kneeling.
Fortunately, there was no anger in her gaze.
Instead…
“It’s perplexing, Lloyd Frontera. The you that I know is not someone who would recklessly commit such atrocities.”
“I am sorry, Your Majesty.”
“No. Before apologizing, tell me the reason first.”
Her firm voice cut through formalities.
A faint smile touched Lloyd’s lips.
‘As expected, Queen Alicia.’
She wasn’t ordinary.
Even now, she didn’t make a hasty judgment.
She didn’t lose her composure or get heated.
She simply fixed him with cold eyes.
Lloyd answered calmly and quickly.
“Yes. If I may, I will state only the main point. Right now, inside that dragon skeleton, I sensed an explosively increasing flow of Mana—something abnormal.”
“You sensed Mana?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“You sensed something that even I did not?”
“To be exact, Sir Javier sensed it.”
“……”
The Queen’s gaze shifted to Javier and hardened for a moment.
Had she realized she still couldn’t keep up with him?
But that wasn’t what mattered now.
Even at this moment, the Mana inside the dragon skeleton was growing more intense.
“Therefore, I dared to take an unreasonable course of action.”
“To prioritize evacuating the people?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“And you also calculated that causing a commotion would bring troops here. Is that correct?”
“I am sorry, Your Majesty.”
“It is too early to apologize. I must confirm it.”
She gave the order.
The Royal Head Magician came running in a hurry.
He approached the dragon skeleton and pointed his staff.
He concentrated for a long time.
He sensed the flow of Mana.
Meanwhile, Lloyd remained kneeling, biting his lower lip.
‘This feels like getting a test answer sheet graded.’
Of course, it was a perfect-score answer sheet.
Unlike the Queen, who did not possess the Asrahan Heart Technique, he could sense the Mana inside the skeleton in real time, even from a distance.
And he could feel it.
‘It’s getting stronger and stronger.’
Almost like the Mana of a living creature.
A heart beating.
Blood vessels throbbing.
Breathing.
Finally opening its eyes and moving.
“……”
Could that thing really start moving?
Then what would they do?
An ominous premonition surged through him.
For a moment, Lloyd lost himself in thought.
If that premonition was correct, there was only one answer.
‘Of course, I run.’
A setting from the novel Iron Blooded Knight suddenly came to mind.
Undead monsters—resurrected from death and set in motion.
Among them, two were said to be the strongest.
‘Hell Knight. And Bone Dragon.’
A dragon’s skeleton was a lump of magical power in itself.
But if that skeleton were resurrected and moved, using that as its source…
That would be a Bone Dragon.
It was described as a moving disaster.
‘Who said it? Javier did, in the novel—back when he was still a Swordmaster. If you encounter such a thing, running is the only way to survive. Only a Grandmaster—an existence that exists only in theory—can face a Bone Dragon.’
Iron Blooded Knight.
Unusually, Bone Dragons in that novel were stronger than ordinary dragons.
The comparison was simple.
If a normal dragon was an ordinary person, then a Bone Dragon was a skeleton.
Just as ordinary people are easily defeated when they face a skeleton.
Even a normal dragon couldn’t be guaranteed safety against a Bone Dragon.
Only some dragons—those strong enough to be called warriors—could subdue Bone Dragons.
But if, just by chance, that dragon skeleton revived and started moving…
If it became a Bone Dragon and began to rampage…
‘Then we run without looking back.’
Lloyd decided that.
And he resolved to grab Javier—kneeling beside him—and run together.
‘Of course. Neither I nor Javier has any reason to risk our lives here.’
He wasn’t a hero.
He wasn’t some superhero from a movie.
He was just an ordinary person who wanted to enjoy retirement in peace.
Talent for combat?
He didn’t have much.
Somehow, he’d survived crises and ended up with the Asrahan Heart Technique and a Mana Heart, but he’d never expected to show off unrivaled martial power because of it.
‘It’s for self-defense. Just that—nothing more.’
But if the opponent was a Bone Dragon that only a Grandmaster could face, then running was the smartest choice.
He didn’t even feel guilty.
‘There’s an army here. And there’s the Queen.’
They were the ones meant to protect the country.
With people like that present, he didn’t want to risk his life on purpose.
‘So please. Let my prediction be wrong.’
Lloyd watched the Royal Magician and the dragon skeleton with a tight, nervous heart.
At the same time, he focused on the Mana inside the skeleton.
‘Please.’
The flow intensified.
‘Ah, please.’
The Mana grew more violent.
Without realizing it, he swallowed dry saliva.
‘Please. Really.’
Even if the Queen scolded him, he didn’t care.
He just wanted this to pass as a harmless incident—no accidents, no disaster.
He wished and prayed sincerely.
And then…
‘…Huh?’
From within the dragon skeleton, the swelling Mana abruptly stopped.
Then it began to weaken.
Like a Bitcoin graph that peaks and then dips.
Or like finally buying your own home after years of suffering—only for the price to start plummeting the very next month.
“……”
Lloyd glanced at Javier.
Javier was looking his way.
The man gave a slight nod.
He felt it too.
‘It’s certain. The Mana is weakening.’
Lloyd smiled without meaning to.
The Mana inside the dragon skeleton rapidly subsided, to the point where he wondered if it had ever flared in the first place.
The Royal Magician seemed to sense it as well.
“Your Majesty. As the eldest son of the Frontera Family stated, it is true that Mana is detected inside the skeleton, but its momentum is not strong enough to warrant concern.”
“Not enough to be concerned about?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
The magician withdrew his staff and answered politely.
“I have seen records of cases like this occurring from time to time. A dragon’s bones inherently contain abundant Mana, and the records state that this abundance can sometimes cause a flow on its own.”
“So the flow was real, but not at a particularly dangerous or abnormal level.”
“Yes, Your Majes—”
Boom!
It was before the magician could finish.
The dragon skeleton’s forefoot moved.
It crushed the magician in an instant.
“…!”
A fierce vibration ran through the ground.
Dust exploded upward.
In the midst of it, the dragon skeleton raised its head.
The Bone Dragon roared.
…!
A silent roar.
Its vocal organs were gone, so it roared with Mana alone—making it even more powerful.
…Kwaaaa—!
A pure Mana shockwave blasted in every direction.
It blew away the tables.
The platform shattered.
Trees were torn up by their roots.
Plates and wine glasses broke into thousands of fragments.
Everything within a three-hundred-meter radius was swept away.
“…G-Guwaaak!”
A servant was flung back with a short scream.
Royal Guards endured it, bleeding as fragments struck them.
Within that storm of Mana, Queen Alicia’s eyes widened.
‘This is… what!’
Her gaze locked onto the Bone Dragon.
She couldn’t believe it.
She had thought it was merely a trophy.
A tool to commemorate her achievements.
But…
‘Could it be.’
This wasn’t a coincidence.
This wasn’t something that had simply happened.
Doubt and suspicion crossed her mind.
She pieced together every memory tied to that skeleton.
The dragon skeleton brought back after subduing the remnants of the Black Wizard.
Her placing it at the center of the royal capital.
The ceremony meant to commemorate it.
And now—the skeleton rampaging during that very event.
Finally…
The Bone Dragon looking down at them from a dizzying height.
The moment her gaze met its.
She understood.
‘…I’ve been deceived.’
The group of Black Wizards came to mind.
She had thought she’d subjugated them easily.
She’d praised herself for achieving a great victory.
But now she saw it clearly.
That had been a mistake.
A blunder.
Arrogance.
The moment she realized it, Queen Alicia was already kicking off the ground.
Brilliantly shining Aura gathered on her sword.
She moved to erase her own mistake with her own hands.
Thud!
A dash like a shooting star.
The Bone Dragon’s forefoot rested on the ground.
She sent her blade toward its ankle.
Aura flashed ominously.
And it bounced off—uselessly.
Clang!
“…!”
She couldn’t even leave a scratch on the Bone Dragon’s ankle bone.
Shock settled into her eyes.
But she didn’t panic.
She shouted calmly.
“Lloyd Frontera!”
The one who had foreseen this first.
The one she could trust most in this moment.
Perhaps the one who could tell her how to break through.
She searched and called for Lloyd.
And then she saw it.
“……”
Lloyd was already running far away—faster than anyone else, unlike the rest.