Chapter 75: Volume 4 - CH 19

‘This is as far as I’ll go. Any further, and I would meet Ghrud.’

At a distance where they could barely see the city walls of Rinecol, Irumera had Kyle and Shildonia get off.

“So Ghrud is up ahead, huh?”

‘Yeah, I can feel him…but, he doesn’t seem to be in his right mind…He also must have caught on to my presence, but showed no reaction.’ Irumera spoke with a heavy tone.

Even if Ghrud knew he was being used, he couldn’t meet Irumera. This is the law.

“Must be hard being restrained by that law.” Kyle wasn’t speaking in a cynical tone, but rather out of pure sympathy.

That’s why Irumera couldn’t stand it, but also couldn’t argue against it.

‘Although I hate the idea of saying this to a human…I’m leaving Ghrud in your hands.’

“Leave him to me.” Kyle declared with confidence in his voice, to which Irumera ascended into the sky once more.

“Then let’s go, he’s over there!” Shildonia hopped on Kyle’s shoulders, pointing the way up ahead as she rested on his head.

“Am I some horse…” Kyle complained, but he didn’t expect her to get down this easily, so he just lived with it.

As Shildonia’s main body was the jewel inside the sword, this appearance of hers was created by raw mana, simply an illusion of her main body. She could simply erase this appearance but was most likely used to it this way. As she basically didn’t weigh anything, Kyle could run just as fast as usual.

“I was looking at it from the sky, but that Ghrud completely wrecked this small area,” Shildonia said, remembering the smoke she had seen.

“Yeah, the burning smell is all over the place.”

Finally, they reached one of the places Ghrud destroyed.

“…This is rough, alright.”

Trees were pushed over, grass completely burned up with flames. As it had rained the day before, a bit of water remained and stopped the forest around from catching fire. Looking around, several adventurers were scattered around the area, injured as they were groaning in pain. When Kyle rushed towards the nearest adventurer, it turned out to be a familiar face.

“Hey, pull yourself together! What happened?”

The man’s face was distorted in pain, but he somehow managed to open his eyes. He and Kyle met at the ‘Dawn of the Fire Dragon’, and his name was Getsuga.

“Urk…You were…Kyle, right?”

“Know each other?” Shildonia asked, to which Kyle nodded.

“Oh yeah, you were…Yeah sorry, I don’t remember.”

He remembered seeing the man’s face before, but it didn’t leave that deep of an impression. Having even his name forgotten, Getsuga showed a bitter smile, or he tried to, but the pain wouldn’t let him. Around him were other adventurers who suffered burn wounds, or scars induced by claw attacks, but luckily no casualties were to be found.

“Were you attacked by Gh…a dragon?”

“Yeah…it happened out of nowhere. Right as I wondered if that dragon would approach us, it suddenly attacked…With no chance to run, we tried to fight back, but it was all in vain…”

It appeared like Ghrud attacked the adventurers near Rinecol. Getsuga was a well-known adventurer, but he had no chance against a dragon.

“I see…sorry, but I have to leave you here. There’s something I have to take care of.”

Confirming that the other adventurers were safe and in no imminent threat, Kyle stood up.

“Wait, where are you going? …Don’t tell me.” Looking into the direction where Kyle walked off, Getsuga could not hide his surprise.

“Yeah…I’ll have to exterminate a dragon.” Kyle grinned.

As Kyle kept on running, an ear-splitting roar of Ghrud reached his ears. As he was hidden by the large trees, he couldn’t see him, but it felt like Ghrud wanted to be found, as he spewed fire high up in the air.

“He sure loves to do it flashy, and stand out…The one who ordered him to do that must be nearby as well.” Shildonia said with an indifferent expression.

As she still rested on Kyle’s shoulders, her comment really stung, but her weight was non-existent.

“So, in the case that we end up fighting, what kind of strategy are we going with?”

“I prepared a great amount of recovery magic medicine, and I have that as well just in case, so we’ll be fine…I’d like to think.”

As magic stones with attack magic imbued into them wouldn’t work against a dragon, Kyle had to rely on direct and physical attacks. They finally made it through the row of trees and spotted Ghrud in the distance. On the outside, he looked similar to Irumera, but the impression he gave off was completely different.

Unlike Irumera, who had an intelligent gaze in her eyes, there was no light to be seen in Ghrud’s. The same could be said about his body. It gave off no life, simply looking like he was controlled. Of course, the pressure he gave off was still tremendous, but compared to the other dragons he met, Ghrud seemed almost sad. You wouldn’t think that he was one of the dragons who stood at the summit of this world.

“…Let’s look for the Mera follower who’s controlling him.”

Ensuring that Ghrud wouldn’t see him, Kyle looked around looking for anybody fitting that description, and found it immediately. Although they were apparently trying to hide in the shadows of a tree, they weren’t doing their best job, as they stood at a location where Ghrud was easy to see. That near-elderly man spotted Kyle as well, flashing a bright smile as he approached him. At first glance, it seemed like the innocent smile of an elderly man, but in a different way from Targ, it sent a shiver down Kyle’s spine. He gave off the same impression as Barrel from the Mera cult, who he had met in the Imperial Capital Luos.

“Ahhh! If it isn’t Kyle-sama! Nice to meet you! I am a faithful servant of Mera-sama, called Rockfall! It must be a blessing of Mera-sama that we are allowed to meet like this.” Rockfall shed tears of joy, as he prayed towards the sky. “I’m glad you managed to make it in time, really. That odd demon suddenly went on a rampage, and I wondered if we were done for…but as expected, with the guidance of Mera-sama, you are to become the savior of all humans!” He nodded like he was throwing a drunken fit.

“What do you mean ‘made it in time’, huh? What are you plotting here? Why are you controlling that dragon!” Kyle pulled his sword, pointing at Rockfarl’s throat, but he showed no fear in the slightest, keeping a delighted smile.

“I was waiting for Kyle-sama, of course. And, all of this is for your sake as well.” Rockfall laughed like he was confused at Kyle not knowing this.

“For my sake? What do you mean?”

“Oh? …Ahh, according to the orders of Their Holiness, you have yet to accept the destiny you had been given, was it…” Rockfall showed a somewhat dubious expression but quickly convinced himself with these words.

“My destiny…?”

“Yes, that is—to become a hero.” Rockfall showed a smile that looked as if it came from the bottom of his heart, and this bottomless goodwill filled Kyle with unprecedented fear.

“Why…why is this Holiness person so obsessed with me becoming a hero! What is your reason for being so focused on me?! Tell me!” Kyle pressed his sword forward, as it bit into Rockfall’s throat.

Blood came gushing out, and yet Rockfall was as relaxed as always, smiling eerily.

“That I do not know. I simply abide by Their Holiness’ orders.”

“At this rate, both you and your allies will die, you know?”

“Indeed, I am aware that my fellow believers and I will die as martyrs, but Their Holiness has told us of the human world that we will achieve through this.” Rockfall grinned, saying that his death had already been written in stone. “Not to mention…even if I were to die, the hypnosis on the dragon will not be undone, so rest assured.”

Kyle once again trembled in fear at how far Rockfall and his allies were willing to go for their goal.

“Naturally, that dragon has already attacked several adventurers, and has been bestowed an evil reputation under us humans, but you needn’t worry. We have kept the human casualties to a bare minimum and will compensate those who have been hurt. They have been wrapped up in this unwillingly, so that is the least we can, and will do.”

It appeared as if his love for humans alone was overflowing to the point it seemed twisted. Excited, Rockfall continued one-sidedly.

“It had not been our intention for humans to get hurt in this incident…We had originally planned on burning down the nest of those vexing black long ears, when another dragon appeared. We had to quickly change our plans…but the result does not change. Please, go and defeat that dragon. I have restrained its movement, so with your abilities, it should be easy for you. Please, gain even greater honor by becoming a [Dragon Slayer]!”

As Rockfall stated, Ghrud was easily visible from their position, located in a terrain that was made for fighting. As the city must have received reports about a dragon appearing close by, all their attention must be on there as well. And, this was all for Kyle’s sake. Have him defeat the dragon, and become a [Dragon Slayer].

“Is something wrong? I believe it was your goal to become a hero in the first place, Kyle-sama, was it not? Why are you hesitating now?” Rockfall seemed utterly bewildered.

“I won’t give you a speech about morals and how you shouldn’t use others, but…I don’t plan on sacrificing anybody for my goal. Neither a dragon nor the dark elves.”

“Hum? No, but…they are not human, yes? Both the black long ears and this dragon. Who cares what may happen to them?” Rockfall showed a reaction like he had been met with disbelief, making it sound like that kind of thought process was the norm of this world.

“I won’t get anything more out of talking with you like this…Free Ghrud right away.”

Or so Kyle said, pointing his blade at Rockfall again, fully aware that even gouging his eyes out or slicing off his limbs wouldn’t do much.

“That is your duty, Kyle-sama. Please strike down that dragon and grant it true freedom.” Rockfall’s eyes lit up like a child excited for a present, pointing at the dragon.

Trying to keep any sane conversation was pointless. Or rather, the more they talked, the further they drifted apart.

“Kyle, this is just a waste of time.” Shildonia, who had been silent up to this point, spoke up.

Time was up.

“I wish you fortune in battle!” Rockfall grinned and sent off Kyle.

“These kinds of people will never leave…we already had them in Zaales.” Shildonia spit complaints.

Ghrud was located awfully close to the city walls of Rinecol, at a larger open space easily visible that allowed for the perfect one-on-one fight. Albeit unwilling to play along with the Mera cult’s plot, Kyle now stood face-to-face with Ghrud. However, he couldn’t allow everything to go their way. It was his goal to bring Ghrud back home safely, not to strike him down here.

“Listen, Ghrud! You are being controlled! Return to your senses!” Kyle screamed as loudly as he could, but the empty look in Ghrud’s eyes didn’t vanish. “Is there any way we can forcefully break the control?” Kyle clicked his tongue and asked Shildonia.

“Depends on the method used to control him. If it’s magic controlling his mind, there’s a chance of undoing it by dispelling the magic. However, it seems like Ghrud is under the use of magic and drugs to create some sort of hypnosis. Undoing it would take time. The other method is more of a ride-or-die. But…” Shildonia whispered into Kyle’s ears, which made a puzzled expression appear on his face.

“That really is ride-or-die.”

“And also our only option right now with the limited time we have. We can’t fall back either, no?”

Ghrud was already attacking people, so he might just turn towards Rinecol for real if left uncontrolled. This will result in subjugation units being sent out. As he had already been weakened for Kyle’s sake, he would most certainly be killed then.

“I’ll be mentally supporting you. Go out and be ready to die.”

Kyle shook his head, cast strengthening magic on himself, and approached Ghrud.

“…Let’s go!” Kyle proceeded with his sword pulled, and as he reached the close distance of the dragon, even Ghrud reacted now.

Thus, the battle began. However, as Ghrud’s movement was controlled and dull, it couldn’t compare to the normal attacks of a dragon during a fight, now seeming sluggish and slow. More accurately speaking, it looked like a string-controlled doll’s movement. Without even spewing any fire breath, Ghrud simply swung his large claws, bearing his fangs…Of course, that was enough of an attack to send most adventurers running, but Kyle could react to that just fine.

“…I guess this is what they meant by him being controlled.”

Despite the situation he was in, Kyle couldn’t help but feel sympathy for Ghrud. After evading a giant claw soaring towards him, Kyle jumped onto Ghrud’s back, rushing up his head. Even for a being this big in size, Ghrud’s reaction was awfully slow. Reaching Ghrud’s neck, leaped into the air. He used the acceleration of his fall down to slam the sword into Ghrud’s head. If Kyle had any intent on killing the dragon, the battle would have been over now.

Even with the high defense power of a dragon, an attack by Kyle and Shildonia as a sword could heavily injure him. If he slashed at the dragon’s head with the intent to kill, he could have finished this with one attack. However, as Kyle’s goal was to simply bring back Ghrud alive, he used the hilt of his sword to use a dull attack.

“Wake…up already!!”

‘Gaaah?!’

Being on the receiving end of this severe impact, Ghrud raised a scream of agony for the first time. This was the strategy Shildonia came up with—or if you could even call it a strategy. By inflicting physical pain on his head, it could assist in him regaining his consciousness…Or rather, beat him up until he comes back to his senses, which sounded a lot more violent than what Kyle wished for.

“I guess that’s one hit in…”

After putting his might into the attack, Kyle took his distance to observe any possible change. Ghrud seemed to have regained some of his senses, as he for the first time ever glared at Kyle.

“Hm, seems like that worked just fine.”

His eyes contained a glimmer of consciousness that wasn’t present before, which led Shildonia, the mastermind behind this strategy, to show a fiendish grin.

‘Guh…A-A human…’

Ghrud uttered a few words. Light returned to his eyes, and expressions showed on his face. However, as one would expect, the emotions residing in either of these were pure anger. After all, the moment he woke up, he was greeted by a cheeky human attacking him. His breathing started to go out of rhythm, and from the openings of his fangs were flames sparking up here and there. It appeared as if he regained some of his consciousness, but that also awakened his true battle potential.

“Well…I expected as much.”

Met with this raw anger and fury, Kyle subconsciously took a step backward. For Kyle, this was a first, as he never retreated when fighting an opponent, but Ghrud’s pressure was most likely enough to render the average human unconscious.

“Seems like he’s not fully back yet…but also too much for us to take it easy.”

“Not like we had any other choice.” Kyle agreed with Shildonia.

‘You human…!!’

Ghrud looked towards the sky, roaring in fury. It was different from his previous roars, simply used to make his position known, and instead contained his full energy to the point it was almost alluring. Even Kyle felt all the hair on his body stand. Guessing that he must have regained his full consciousness from the light residing in Ghrud’s eyes, Kyle screamed.

“Listen, Ghrud! We were sent from Zeurus to…”

‘Silence!’

Ghrud was now reigned by anger instead of mind control, as he opened his mouth, using his flame breath to attack Kyle. Met with this almost beautiful flame that could melt all armor, Kyle accepted it directly, not attempting to evade it. Seeing Kyle, a human far weaker than him, engulfed in his own flames, Ghrud was certain that he had burned Kyle to a crisp. However, Kyle broke through this wall of flames, rushing below Ghrud’s head right as he was in the middle of still spewing fire.

Kyle jumped up instantaneously, swung his sword upward to slice at the dragon’s jaw. Or rather, since he used the hilt of his sword again, it was more like he smacked his jaw. As a result of this, while spewing fire, Ghrud’s mouth snapped closed.

‘Gafu?!’

An explosion inside of his mouth occurred, smashing several of his fangs, as the flame breath leaked out of his nose. He seemingly also squashed his tongue between his fangs, as Ghrud howled in pain. That alone was an immense amount of damage, but Kyle did not get out of this unscathed. He wore dragon leather armor that had a high heat and flame resistance, but the dragon’s flame ignored most of that resistance, so his whole body was riddled with burns. While Ghrud was recovering from the pain, Kyle took out an emergency healing medicine, but that only acted as first-aid treatment.

‘Y-You bastard?!’

Ghrud was now in a fully enraged state, approaching Kyle, who also committed a mistake here. Kyle had assumed he had fully seen through Ghrud’s movement, but the intelligence the dragon possessed surpassed his imagination. Ghrud swung his arm which had a wing growing from it, creating a gust of wind. Hit with this extreme impact, he reflexively tried to withstand it, but that ended in failure. The better choice would have been to get knocked away by the wind to keep distance between the two, but Kyle instead chose to stand strong, taking the wind head-on, which led to him averting his gaze from the opponent a mere second. That however was more than enough for the giant body in front of him to disappear.

“Above!”

Shildonia gave Kyle a sharp warning, who immediately looked up, only to be met with the sole of Ghrud’s large leg covering his entire view. He was planning on crushing Kyle with his entire body weight. There couldn’t be any attack with more destructive power than this. Without a doubt, it’d cause an impact great enough to make you feel an earthquake had occurred. Assuming that he had succeeded in this attack, Ghrud raised his giant leg, only to find nothing. Right as he looked around to search for Kyle—

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“Over here!!”

A scream reached Ghrud’s ear. Turning towards the direction he heard it from, he now took a direct hit to his cheek.

‘Guha?!’

The opponent he was so certain of having crushed now rammed his sword into his face with no remorse. Kyle used all his might, both hands on the sword, to slam this attack into Ghrud, which had him fall over.

“It’s…been a while. This sensation…I didn’t want to ever drink it again…but I still relied on it.” Kyle was breathing a lot more heavily than before.

His eyes were colored deep red.

“Blood Eye…huh.” Shildonia knew about these symptoms and let out a saddened voice.

Blood Eye raised one’s physical abilities, making your eyes and ears sharper and more perceptive, but it also dulled your pain, which made it a very effective drug to use during combat. As a price to pay for that, it ruined your body, practically shortening your lifespan. When Kyle closed his eyes, he reflexively drank the bottle he had with him, and that decision turned out to be correct. Thanks to this, he managed to barely evade Ghrud’s attack. He then followed up with another attack on Ghrud’s head.

“I’m glad I had Minagi make a sample…although I really didn’t want to use it.”

“Don’t…force yourself.” Shildonia could warn Kyle but had no way of stopping him.

She knew that this was the necessary evil in this situation but certainly wasn’t happy.

“It’s fine, my final goal in life is to live in happiness until I die of old age,” Kyle uttered the dream of about every human alive.

‘Damn you, human! Damn you, human! How dare you!’

Suffering three consecutive attacks to the head, the hypnosis seemingly had been undone fully, as Ghrud spoke coherent words. Kyle assumed that maybe now talking with him might just work, and screamed out loud.

“Listen to me! I was asked by Zeurus to bring you back! Irumera is worried about you as well!”

‘Wha…why is a human like you…?!’

With the names of Zeurus and Irumera appearing as part of the conversation, Ghrud seemed even more flustered than after the three-hit consecutive onslaught.

‘N-No! You won’t deceive me again! You must be one of those guys from before!’ Ghrud howled in anger, attacking Kyle again.

“What, so you were deceived after all? Smooth talk is too strong?”

‘Silence!! I will no longer listen to some worthless human!’

Although he had lived for more than 500 years, he was still a child in the eyes of a grown dragon and did not know anything of the world outside. He probably didn’t know about the danger of the Mera cult, and fell right into their trap, ending up being controlled.

“I understand how you feel! Having such a huge burden pushed onto you, you probably just wanted to leave the World Tree and experience true freedom, right?” Kyle’s words sounded like he was talking down on Ghrud, agitating the dragon even further, as he repeated tail and claw attacks.

‘Silence! Silence! Silence! I will not stand any sympathy from a mere human!’

Ghrud continued his attacks, with Kyle evading that while slowly moving backward.

“Yeah, you’re just some rotten brat, I see. Of course, Zeurus would have his own share of trouble with you…! Take his advice to heart for once!”

‘Shut your mooouth!’

Ghrud was fully enraged now, not even listening to Kyle anymore. Luckily, because of the injuries on his mouth, he wasn’t spewing any more fire. However, the consecutive physical attacks put Kyle into a defensive streak.

‘Small fry!’ At this, Ghrud was even more furious.

Kyle saw this as a chance to counterattack, but luck was on Ghrud’s side this once. While evading another attack, Kyle tumbled over one of the pieces of Ghrud’s fangs that had been blown off during the previous explosion and fell over.

“Crap…?!”

‘Eat this!!’

Ghrud didn’t miss that and continued with another full-force attack. Kyle was unable to evade it in time and was hit by the full might of Ghrud’s talon. Using his sword as a shield, he managed to avoid critical damage and was blown to the side. Even with a perfect block, the sheer might of a dragon’s single attack was unstoppable, as he was flung away like a piece of trash, rolling along the ground two to three times, finally coming to a halt. The ground below him was drenched in blood, and Kyle stopped moving completely.

In terms of human strength, Kyle was a magic swordsman of the highest level, but when dealing with a serious dragon, he was powerless. This was the absolute difference in strength between the two races.

“Kyle!” Shildonia screamed, but no response came.

‘Foolish…imbecile!’ Ghrud was gasping for air, glaring down at the human he had defeated.

The satisfaction of having dealt with a small fry filled his body. And once he had calmed down, he started to grasp the situation he was in and looked around. He spotted a small girl that most likely was the ally of the human, but she seemed powerless, so he ignored her. Instead, he was reminded of the people who had deceived him, controlled him, and made him do their bidding. Thinking that they should still be nearby, he turned to his side—

“Fell for it, huh?”

Ghrud heard a voice from the side he previously had been attacked from. For the first time ever, Ghrud was filled with a certain emotion—fear. He turned towards the voice and saw Kyle directly in front of his face. He was still tattered in wounds, blood dripping from every part of his body, and yet his blood-drenched face flashed an invincible smile.

‘Wha…’

Ghrud couldn’t even ask himself what just happened, as Kyle rammed the hilt of his sword right into Ghrud’s middle forehead.

“Never let your guard down, kiddo!”

Met with this impactful attack that made every part of his body quiver, Ghrud was unable to support his large body anymore, and his body sunk to the ground.

‘Y-You bastard…you were…still…alive…?’

Ghrud now glared at Kyle once again, his eyes devoid of any compassion but for a different reason from when he was controlled. He was filled with an emotion a dragon like him had never experienced before. As his consciousness itself was shaken, Ghrud’s view was moving up and down, left and right. His chest was filled with an urge to puke, adding this as another first-time experience. After those four severe attacks to his head, Ghrud’s head was obscured. And as he cowered on the ground, Kyle stood next to him.

“Seems like it worked just fine…Sorry to knock you out right after you’ve woken up, but take another nap, will you!” As if to finish Ghrud off, Kyle once again slammed the sword on his head.

‘Ga…ha…’

All light vanished from Ghrud’s eyes, as he finally lost consciousness. Kyle confirmed that Ghrud was still alive, and then relaxed his body. At the same time, cheers came from the city walls of Rinecol, but Kyle had no more strength to answer them.

“I’m exhausted…” Kyle was gasping for air like a fish on land, using his sword as a support to keep standing.

He had broken bones all over, and his organs were screaming in pain. Rather than moving, simply keeping himself conscious was all he could do, to the point it was a miracle he was alive. Without the Blood Eye which dampened the pain, he probably would have passed out by now. Kyle tried to take out recovery magic medicine with his shaking hand, but he couldn’t manage that, dropping it. Luckily, Shildonia managed to catch the bottle and helped Kyle drink it.

“You utter fool, what were you thinking.” Shildonia’s expression was filled with anger, and yet she also looked close to breaking out in tears.

“I had no other choice…If I don’t go overboard like that, there’s no way I can beat a dragon.” He finally got to drink the magic medicine, showing Shildonia a weak smile.

Because of his promise to Zeurus, he couldn’t let Ghrud die. And since convincing him clearly didn’t work either, Kyle’s best bet was to make Ghrud pass out. First to undo the hypnosis, then to achieve this goal, he focused all his attacks on Ghrud’s head. It wasn’t exactly a plan of action, but that was Kyle’s best bet.

Although he didn’t use the sharp blade of his sword, all of his attacks had his whole weight and power behind them. Let alone a human, even a demon would have been wounded fatally by these, but he bet on the high vitality of a dragon, and continued to hammer them into Ghrud’s head. Until the third attack, it worked just fine as surprise attacks, but after the continued onslaught, Ghrud clearly upped his caution. He only attacked Kyle with his claws or tail, not offering his head as a weak point.

If Kyle took his time and went on the defense for an opening, his head would recover. That is why Kyle bet on this final surprise attack. He purposefully let himself be hit by this attack that may have very well killed him. If so, Ghrud surely would have dropped his caution, and shown an opening—or so he planned. The only thing he had to be careful of was to actually survive, which luckily worked out.

“Even so, that was far too reckless…Letting your flesh be ruptured, your bones be broken by a dragon like this.”

“Oh come on, as long as I’m not dead, it’s my victory.”

“It was flawless acting, indeed…You even deceived me.”

“Well, acting…I was one step away from death…or maybe half of a step? I myself am surprised I made it through that alive…Ah, keep that a secret from Lieze, alright? She’ll just worry about me even more.”

If she learned of that, she’d first beat him up, and then bawl her eyes out for three hours to no end. Getting beat up was one thing, but he really didn’t want to make her cry.

“Hm, if you want me to stay quiet, then I expect proper compensation.”

“You’re already sponging off me, what else do you want…”

“Be quiet. I was worried as well, you know.”

The peaceful atmosphere that usually reigned between the two slowly returned. However, it didn’t take long for a cheerful voice to crush all of that.

“Wonderfully done! What a sight for the eyes!”

Rockfall clearly didn’t understand the situation he was in, as he rushed towards Kyle with a bright smile on his face, receiving a harsh glare from him. There were a thousand things Kyle wanted to ask. Even if he was a follower of Mera, with a few torture and Minagi’s skills, he should be able to squeeze something out of him. Judging so, Kyle was about to restrain Rockfall, when—

“Still, not only defeating it, but also showing off a close fight, this will surely positively influence your…repu…tation…Huh?”

Rockfall had been brimming with joy, when he suddenly caught on to something being wrong with his own body, looking down at himself.

“Since when has this been growing from me?” He asked, as he looked at the arm growing from his chest.

This arm held Rockfall’s heart, still beating, held in the arm. He was utterly baffled, simply staring down at his own arm.

“Okay, that’s one problem…done.”

Targ had teleported right behind Rockfall, crushing the heart in his hand. Rockfall collapsed to the ground like his strings had been cut, convulsed once, and then stopped moving.

“Phew, it appears I managed to save face at least a small bit.” He spoke like he finished a day’s worth of work, when Kyle glared at him. “Oh, is there any problem?”

“…Appearing at the very end, snatching somebody else’s hard work, demons can be quite petty, huh?”

This was all Kyle could say in his current state. He couldn’t afford another battle right after his fight with Ghrud, but Targ evidently had no intentions of doing so either.

“No no no, you hadn’t planned on killing this man in the first place, am I wrong?”

“Because there were things I wanted to ask him!”

“Well, that sadly would be of demerit for us…Plus, I am quite certain Zeurus-san would be quite displeased to hear you’ve kept the one controlling Ghrud-san alive, no?”

Realizing that what Targ said made sense, Kyle clicked his tongue.

“Not to mention that Zeurus-san is quite fair. As I have punished the evil human who controlled Ghrud-san, he will surely evaluate my action highly.”

Just as he said, Rockfall pretty much turned into the enemy of all dragons in this one incident. The Mera cult has nothing to do with them, and when ignoring his procedure and handling, Targ most certainly acted for Ghrud’s sake. Knowing Zeurus, he would see this as a shared effort by both Targ and Kyle’s group.

“…You ran away from Seran after barely making it out alive, so I don’t think you should be acting so arrogantly,” Kyle said, which made Targ show a dubious expression.

“…You don’t think I came here after killing that human?”

As Targ was hiding his wound, Kyle should have had no way to see through his act.

“There’s no way Seran would lose against you, and he also wouldn’t let you go, so the fact that you’re here…means you ran away.” Kyle now looked at Targ in confusion, which had Targ open his eyes wide.

“What unfathomable trust you possess…He was also certain that you would win against Ghrud-san, to my surprise…Indeed, this has been my absolute loss.”

Targ had come here to confirm Ghrud’s condition. If Kyle had lost, he would have killed the person controlling the dragon.

“Well, I do not aim for any more than this, and you seem quite exhausted…so, I have to return and report what has happened. If you would excuse me.” Targ said when Kyle called out to him.

“Wait! There’s one thing I want to ask you! This person you plan to report this to…is it a demon who has black wings…and no horn?” Kyle only asked this on a whim but felt like he was close.

“Oh? Um…how does a human like you?” Targ was bewildered, letting Kyle know that he was on-point.

Kyle remembered the Demon Lord he fought at the end of the Great Invasion during his previous life after a struggle to the death. This Demon Lord would come to power in two and a half years, bringing ruin to humanity. Kyle wanted to question Targ further, but he moved backward, signaling that he was done talking.

“My sincerest apologies, but I cannot answer that question. I am certain you will have your chance to find out…So, if you would excuse me.” Targ flashed a fishy smile as always and disappeared.

“Kyle…”

Shildonia must have understood the severity of the situation, and showed a deadly serious face.

“Yeah…I finally have a lead. I need to meet him again.”

As Targ was a demon, that surely would prove difficult, but it was Kyle’s only hint at this time. If he could get more information out of him, he could stop the [Great Invasion] as a whole.

“…By the way, him being out cold is nice and all, but how do we get Ghrud back to the World Tree?”

“I actually didn’t think about that myself.”

The two looked at Ghrud who was still unconscious on the ground, crossing their arms. Since Kyle’s victory over Ghrud had been seen from Rinecol, it wouldn’t take long for people to come to look at the dragon. Realizing that he was just unconscious, they would most likely attempt to finish him off.

“Can’t help it, we will have to call Irumera over.” Shildonia commented.

“I thought she wasn’t allowed to meet him?”

“I mean, Ghrud is unconscious now, so…it should be fine? Irumera is pretty innocent and easy to deceive after all…That should work.”

“…I bet Ghrud was deceived in the exact same way…” Kyle sighed.

In the end, Irumera went with no comment, and they succeeded in safely bringing back Ghrud to the World Tree.

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