Editor : Amethyst00



Whooosh—

An unpleasant wind blew in, choking the breath.

A long time ago, during the Age of Calamity, even the fierce winds reeked of death.

"Lysinas is the Dragon Queen?"

Hearing Leo's words, Gymeon burst into laughter.

"Huhuhu—what a funny joke. Do you really think a black dragon that lives in darkness deserves the title of Dragon Queen?"

Gymeon covered his face and shook with laughter.

"The Dragon Lord signifies the most noble being in the world. A chosen one acknowledged by the gods. And that foolish, dull woman is supposed to be the Dragon Queen? Hahaha! Hilarious! Absolutely hilarious!"

As he laughed like a madman, Gymeon pointed at Leo.

"You've amused me, and that's praiseworthy. But you've also made me feel displeased."

Suddenly halting his laughter, he spoke indifferently.

"For the crime of telling such a lowly joke, I'll give you a painful death."

Flash—!

A bolt of light streaked by.

Gymeon had no doubt that the attack would sever one of Leo's arms.

Leo swung the arm not holding his sword.

BOOM—! KRAAANG—!

With a heavy crash, the mass of mana soared into the sky and exploded powerfully.

Gymeon's eyes twitched.

Leo had deflected Gymeon's magic with his hand.

"You lowly species."

"Getting insulted by a lizard like you doesn't feel great, you know?"

"You—! You called me a lizard again, didn't you?"

Gymeon's eyes flashed.

Watching him, Leo rolled his neck.

Gymeon, the Chosen One.

Before the Age of Calamity, he was designated the next Dragon King.

As such, he wielded powerful draconic magic.

Even in the current era, the Dragon King holds the highest status in the world.

Ruler of Dragonia and the one who selects and trains heroes.

In every sense, a being that moves the world.

But compared to before the Age of Calamity, that status has fallen.

Back then, the authority of the Dragon King was absolute.

A single word from the Dragon King could wipe out a nation in an instant.

Chosen by the gods.

Guardians of the world.

That was the dragon race—and the one who commanded them was the Dragon Lord.

If the current Dragon Lord exists for the world, then the Dragon Lord of that era existed to rule over it.

Well, the reason their overwhelming influence declined is because of this bastard.

Disgust filled Leo's eyes.

The previous Dragon King died fighting against Erebos and Tartaros.

He gave his life for the world.

After his death on the battlefield, Gymeon became Dragon King.

And with his choices, Gymeon completely shattered the already fragile balance of the world.

He swore loyalty to Erebos and betrayed the world.

The betrayal of the Dragon Lord—the strongest being—was enough to throw the world into shock.

And Gymeon never once felt shame for that choice.

"So, you think I should have sacrificed myself for the world?"

Terrifying mana began to radiate from Gymeon's body.

"My life, for the world? Why should I? I'm the chosen one."

Whiiiirrrr—!

Countless magic circles formed around him.

"The world exists for me—Gymeon! You lowly human!"

A roar exploded from Gymeon's mouth.

Dragon Fear.

An attack that could shatter the mind of anyone with weak mental defenses.

Exposed to it, Leo merely frowned slightly.

"So noisy."

"What?!"

Gymeon's expression twisted in shock.

Leo grinned savagely at him.

"Chosen one, my ass."

From the moment he was born, Gymeon had been worshiped.

Born as the noble White Dragon, gifted with extraordinary talent.

From a young age, the gods blessed him, declaring he was born to rule the world.

That's why he betrayed the world without hesitation or shame.

Because for him, it was natural.

During the Age of Calamity, countless traitors were executed from the shadows.

But the worst of them all was this lizard.

Because of Gymeon's betrayal, the world lost faith in dragons.

The moment the noble Dragon King turned his back on the world, countless people fell into despair.

And in that despair, Lysinas—his kin—appeared and spoke of hope.

She carried the burden of the distrust Gymeon had created.

For countless years, she fought a lonely, painful battle.

Until she met me.

Leo's grip tightened.

Even after Dweno joined and the Arhi party was formed, Lysinas still bore the weight of Gymeon's betrayal.

Whenever she spoke of saving the world, all she got in return was cold ridicule.

The great heroes knew just how deeply that distrust had tormented her.

That's why I wanted to kill him with my own hands.

Not just Leo.

Luna, Dweno, even Aaron all ground their teeth vowing to take down Gymeon.

But in his past life, Gymeon wasn't slain by the great heroes.

After Fafnir was annihilated by the heroes, Gymeon fled to Tartaros.

There, he was killed by the Lich King and turned into an undead, his will erased.

It was Gymeon who had given Fafnir—originally a mere mid-level beast—those swarm traits and abnormal reproductive and growth powers.

Once Fafnir was gone and of no further use, Gymeon was disposed of.

A fitting end for a traitor.

But neither Leo, Luna, nor Dweno could accept that ending.

Leo lowered his stance.

WHOOSH—!

In a flash, he vanished.

SWOOSH—!

Leo appeared behind Gymeon, his sword slicing with a chilling sound.

"That's just an afterimage of mine."

Gymeon suddenly appeared behind Leo, sneering.

STAB—!

"……!"

"I know."

"Gah?!"

In Leo's hand, the one not holding a sword, was a long spear.

He had summoned it and stabbed it backward.

Then, spinning, he kicked Gymeon squarely in the abdomen.

BOOM—!

With a massive crash, Gymeon's body flew backward.

"How dare you! A lowly human injuring me—the Dragon King!"

Fury burst from Gymeon's body.

"Who the hell recognizes a traitorous lizard like you as Dragon King?"

Leo scoffed.

There was no use talking.

But he didn't ignore Gymeon's words either.

He simply denied them.

No one in the world acknowledged this lizard as the Dragon King.

Not that it matters to me. It's just…

It disgusted Leo that the lizard claimed to be greater than Lysinas.

Flash—

Leo's pupils turned black.

Seeing Leo's eyes transform into a dragon's, Gymeon looked horrified.

"What? So you're not just borrowing Lysinas' power?!"

"Let me show you just how powerful the true strongest dragon is."

Dragon mana surged through Leo's body.

Black energy flared from his fingertips like blades.

Dragon… Fear?

Gymeon froze.

What stood before him was—

A single person, yes, but also a dragon in every sense.

bl

"Duran! Support in Sector 3!"

Crackle crackle—!

At Carl's shout, thunder surged.

Duran rushed to the designated area and unleashed lightning.

"Oh! Not bad, rookie!"

Seeing it, a dwarf warrior laughed heartily.

THUMP— THUMP— THUMP—

A massive demon giant burst through the sea of fire and reached the wall.

Seeing this, Carl grinned.

"Knew they'd break through! Drianna!"

At Carl's cry, Drianna spoke to Aru, who was hanging off the head of her hammer.

"Let's go, you dumb cat!"

"Who are you calling dumb?!"

Grinning, Drianna began spinning wildly in the air.

Her insane strength combined with centrifugal force.

And then she hurled the hammer—with Aru still hanging on—at the giant demon.

WHOOOOOSH—!

Golden aura surged from Aru's body.

Planting her feet on the head of the flying hammer, Aru leaned back, looked forward, and stretched her knees.

WHAM—!

With Drianna's power and Aru's leg force combined, the hammer accelerated like a missile.

"Hyaaaahhhhh!"

Aru's body pierced straight through the demon giant's solar plexus like a bullet.

SPLAT—!

"Guhh?!"

The demon let out a dying scream.

Aru, having one-shotted the demon with a kick, flew toward Dweno.

"Sir Dweno! I've come to help!"

Tap!

Landing on the ground, Aru crushed a demon's head who was aiming at Dweno's back.

And then—

"Ow hot hot hot!"

Landing in the sea of flames, Aru screamed.

Dweno shouted at her.

"What's hot about this?!"

"It's hot for me!"

"Then it seems you need to go into a furnace too!"

"How did it come to that?!"

Despite freaking out, Aru moved swiftly.

Surrounded by aura armor to resist fire, she avoided friendly fire.

But that didn't mean she could handle the heat.

"The enemies just keep coming! You should return to the wall soon!"

"Hmm! We've crushed their momentum—perhaps it's time!"

Dweno grinned—then…

ROOOOAAAARRRR!

A dragon's roar echoed from the sky.

CRASH—!

"A dragon?!"

Aru was horrified to see a dragon crash right in front of her.

"Where did it come fro—?"

"Gymeon."

Dweno muttered in a low voice.

"You know this dragon?"

"Of course."

Aru turned to Dweno—and felt goosebumps.

Dweno wore a vicious expression.

"He's the demonic dragon that betrayed the world."

[You lowly humanssssss! How dare youuuuu!]

Gymeon, having lost all reason, roared at the sky.

His body was shredded.

A completely one-sided battle.

Though Leo and Gymeon had nearly equal power, there was a vast gap between a hero who saved the world and a dragon who begged for life and lived in safety.

"Where are you looking, lizard?"

[Even a dwarf dares to insult meeeeee!]

SPLAT—!

A chilling sound rang out.

Dweno's battle axe ripped through Gymeon's wing joint.

[KYAAAAAAAAAAKKK!]

Gymeon's agonized scream echoed.

Then Dweno's axe brutally struck again.

Crack! Snap! Crunch!

Standing atop Gymeon's body, Dweno hacked him to pieces—not enough to kill him, but enough to completely ruin him.

Even Aru and the nearby demons froze at the brutal scene.

Thunk—!

Dweno slung his battle axe over his shoulder and looked up.

"What are you staring at?"

Leo, who had come down to the surface chasing Gymeon, stared at Dweno.

"You… do you remember?"

"Remember? What are you talking about?"

"Then why kill him like that?"

Scowling, confused, Dweno slammed his axe down.

CRACK—!

Gymeon's head, already near death, was sent flying.

Dweno spat.

"This bastard betrayed the world."

He looked down at Gymeon's severed head in disgust.

Then looked curiously at Leo.

"I'd say this kind of end is more than deserved, don't you agree?"