Overgeared

Intelligence wasn't a measure of goodness. Compared to insects who just responded to their instincts, the more intelligent a creature, the more selfish and cruel they were. It was simple when thinking of humans.

[Is it Gujel?]

[No, it is his son.]

[There must be many who are drooling.]

The dragons—the ultimate transcendent species, they were always great. They overwhelmed all others in both wisdom and strength. However, they had never been the subjects of the world. It was because they were brutal. It was virtually impossible for parents who ate their children or siblings who killed their siblings to work together to do big things.

Dragons were creatures that existed to the end. All they could rely on was themselves.

Baaaaang…!

The sun seemed to fall to the ground. If a bit of exaggeration was added, it was reminiscent of a quasar. The waves of blood caused by Marie Rose and the energy of the Breath shot by Xenon swallowed up all the substances around it and eroded the giant city of Reidan.

'It is dangerous.'

Xenon spread his wings wide. At the same time, he rose to the troposphere and his eyes headed toward the far east. It was the direction of his lair.

From the moment he was born until when he became an adult. It was a home he had built up for over a thousand years. Even after becoming an adult, Xenon invested almost every moment except for the time sleeping to construct his lair. It was to create a stronger and more hidden home.

This was a dragon's habit, not because Xenon was particularly cautious. Staying in the lair was the dragon's most obvious survival strategy until thousands of years passed after adulthood and they built up enough power.

"It is disgusting."

A small person rose in front of Xenon's giant head. Red blood spread out like a shroud and colored the sky with its own color. It was Marie Rose who followed him. If Xenon was the size of a mountain, she was only a small dot. Marie Rose was very small compared to Xenon. Even so, Xenon felt overwhelmed.

A world where everything that touched his gaze was red. This was already the domain of Marie Rose.

"You turned my dear husband's city into dust. You deserve to pay for it."

[It is your fault that it reached this point.]

"I naturally have to punish you. This is what my dear husband wants."

[This demon…]

The appearance of Marie Rose smiling with a flush on her face made Xenon feel appalled. He felt pity for the one called 'dear husband' by this crazy being.

"Leave a wing for your sins," Marie Rose spoke as kindly as possible.

Although she was displeased with Xenon, she made a rational judgment rather than any excessive decisions that would kill him. It was because her eyelids were getting heavier. She woke up for a while after hearing a big fuss, but she was already at the limit. The Curse of Sloth inherited from Beriache was eating at her body and her thinking again.

[It won't be good for you if you take your time like this? Act moderately and get out of the way.]

Xenon didn't agree with the judgment that Marie Rose believed to be rational. He regarded it as excessive greed. It was natural. Like himself, who was being chased by other dragons, she was in a tight position when it came to time. Xenon knew Marie Rose was about to fall asleep. He didn't think there was a need to match her obstinacy.

Marie Rose's gaze chilled as she looked at the roaring Xenon. The sight of her long eyelashes descending was like a moving brush. It felt like the brush was taking a break for a while after drawing big and dark eyes. "Gray, you are a low level hybrid."

In fact, wasn't she born to satisfy their aesthetics? Marie Rose, who was so beautiful that she made people wonder this, looked good even when she was cursing. Her disdainful gaze gave Xenon a form of stimulation that he had never known. He would've been dazzled by Marie Rose at this moment if he hadn't used Dragon Words beforehand.

"The cut wing will grow again over time, but you are driving yourself to an early grave due to your vain pride."

The shroud of blood that covered the sky—a change occurred in Marie Rose's domain. The whirlpool made Xenon's vision and spirit turbid. It meant that a dragon's mental defenses had been penetrated. The astonished Xenon hurriedly used magic to purify his thoughts.

A second change occurred in the blood shroud. It swelled up everywhere and tens of thousands of awls popped out to unexpectedly pierce Xenon in the center of the area. Sparks popped up every time a red awl touched Xenon's scales. The majesty of the absolute defense was revealed. None of the tens of thousands of awls pierced Xenon's scales. Instead, they melted and flowed down as a handful of blood. Even so, Xenon wasn't relieved.

A huge pool of blood made by the melted awls. He was wary of the deep swamp that came up to his thighs.

[Blood, it can't hurt me.]

Blood flowed from Xenon's eyes as he squeezed out the Dragon Words. It was the aftermath of designating the substance 'blood' itself as an immune target. He suffered incomparable side-effects compared to when he rejected the 'blood of a particular target.'

Instead, the effect was excellent. The pool of blood that reached Xenon's thigh was scattered everywhere. Xenon felt liberated. He had a gut feeling that now was his chance to escape.

This was until he saw the smile on Marie Rose's face.

"You are simple."

There were a lot of remnants of Beriache remaining in Marie Rose's head. It was the knowledge and experience of one of the first three evils.

"My mother's theory was right."

Convenience simplified thinking. Therefore, the Dragon Words were poisonous. Dragon who relied on Dragon Words would surely regress…

Beriache's prediction was correct.

Xenon—a young dragon born with gray scales and a low hierarchy was overly reliant on Dragon Words. He was tricked by meaningless deception and paid a harsh price.

Demonic energy—both wings were captured and torn by a force that was as powerful as the blood that Marie Rose inherited from Beriache.

[Kuaack…!]

Xenon belatedly realized what happened as he felt his absolute defense temporarily collapsing the moment he was held by demonic energy.

The 3 evils of the beginning—their intrinsic power was naturally demonic energy. He overlooked the basics and became too obsessed with blood. It was because Marie Rose showed blood magic that was too overbearing. It was right to say that he was completely pushed in this fight.

"Then goodbye."

This was enough punishment. Marie Rose lightly waved her hand and really left without any regrets. She used Xenon's blood that was soaking the ground as a medium and moved underground.

Xenon failed to shoot a Breath at her. It would just be re-announcing his location to the other dragons who would be chasing him. He used magic while resenting his choice and incompetence for losing both wings while trying to protect one wing

'I have to leave soon.'

A portal was opened in front of Xenon. The coordinates were naturally a place other than his lair. It was the end if it was backtracked to the coordinates of his lair. From now on, he would have to escape through portals for at least decades or hundreds of years. At the end, he was more likely to be dead than alive, but… there was no other option for Xenon, who lost his wings.

'Won't it be possible to survive if I momentarily slip away from the pursuers and flee to the East Continent?'

Xenon was trying to move through the portal only to move back in astonishment. At the same time, the portal split in half. Xenon recognized the identity of the sword that cut the portal with one glance. It was a sword made from his father's remains.

[You…?!]

Xenon was greatly flustered. After he woke up, his father's remains had stayed in the same place. It was the direction of Reinhardt, the place the humans referred to as the capital of the Overgeared Empire. Yet in front of his eyes, traces of his father that he never felt before appeared.

The identity was Gujel's Sword. It was a divine sword held in the hands of a Sword Saint.

"For now, you will be secured by the Tower of Wisdom."

A sword that slashed anything—Biban spoke after cutting the portal that distorted space and stopping Xenon's escape. It was close to an order.

One human being… commanding a dragon? The weight of the tower's name was too great for it to be improbable and offensive.

Xenon's trembling gaze was fixed to Biban's back. A man of dignity who transcended the limits of his species—Dragon Slayer Hayate was quietly staring at Xenon.

"It is better for you to get a chance to defend yourself in the tower than be eaten by your own kind here," the 2nd Seat, Fronzaltz, persuaded the hesitant Xenon.

The purpose of the Tower of Wisdom was to suppress the disasters that dragons would cause. They couldn't tolerate a situation where Xenon and the dragons' chase would make the continent turbulent. They wanted to prevent any dragon from eating Xenon and evolving.

"There is no time," Radwolf checked the dragon radar and urged Xenon again.

[…I understand.]

Xenon gave up on resisting. It was better to follow the tower member and grasp an opportunity than to die here. However, things went differently from what they intended.

"……?!"

[……!!]

Suddenly, a new portal opened at the scene. It was a trace of someone finding this location and trying to cross over.

"Hup!"

Biban's sword neatly slashed at the portal. There was just a problem. The portal reopened as soon as it was cut. It was even four at the same time. The location of each portal was different. It was created in all directions from the location of the portal just cut.

"So persistent…!"

Biban clicked his tongue and drew a full moon with his sword. The portals generated in all directions were slashed without a time difference and extinguished. Then—

This time, 32 portals were opened. Eight portals were created in all directions around each of the four portals that had just been extinguished. It was very quick and accurate.

"Who keeps disturbing me…?!"

Biban used the Matchless Swordsmanship. He cut all the new portals and urged his colleagues with a look. It was a signal to send Xenon to the tower. However, the required magic power to teleport a dragon was different from the magic power required to teleport humans. An additional 64 portals were opened before Jessica and Fronzaltz' collaborative incantation was completed.

This time, a voice was heard from the portal. It was already great to be able to open 64 portals at the same time, yet each portal had voice transmission magic fused with it.

"I won't miss it," the voice said.

"……!"

The voice that rang from all directions caused the expressions of the tower members to stiffen. It was because they identified the voice.

Braham Eshwald—the apostle of the Overgeared God and the legendary great magician. Additionally, Beriache's direct descendant.

They observed the world, so there was no way they wouldn't recognize the voice of one of the most important and noted figures.

"This damn thing."

They were being disturbed by Grid's subordinate?

Jessica told the flustered Biban, "The other person is too bad. In this way, he will eventually arrive here first."

The existence of the tower would be discovered…

The tower members felt the crisis and all their gazes shifted to Hayate.

"We will step back first." Hayate quickly made a judgment.

[What about me…?]

Xenon asked in a hurry, but it was useless. The tower members had already left the scene. Xenon had no choice but to reopen a portal. However, Braham appeared from one of the 64 portals, ahead of Xenon's belated portal. The problem was that Xenon's magic flow was poor due to the continuous use of Dragon Words and Braham's magic usage speed was similar to a dragon.

"……?" Braham's expression stiffened as he arrived at the scene. He followed Marie Rose's footsteps only to find a dragon. He was so flustered that he couldn't control his facial expression properly.

[……]

Xenon was wary of the chasers who would already be very close, so his expression was also uncomfortable. There was an awkward silence for a moment.

Kurarararara!

Then from the far sky, the cries of the pursuers were heard.

'It's ruined.'

The tower members who just arrived at the tower checked the dragon radar and their hearts sank. The number of dragons displayed on the rader, including Xenon, was a huge four.