Upon arrival, Ryner saw a dragon attacking his acquaintances. He activated the autopilot and jumped out of the plane’s cockpit. He punched the monster’s head into the ground to kill it, but it was tougher than he expected.

“RAAAAWWWRRRR!!!” [Dragon]

“W-whoa!” [Ryner]

The red dragon stirred under his feet. It got up and violently shook its head, flinging off the human standing on top of its skull. Its body was reinforced by magic. It was using a spell much like body strengthening, though it was more of an instinctual skill than a spell.

“What was that for?!” [Ryner]

After landing on his feet, Ryner asked the dragon as he shook his fist, sounding rather indignant.

“I was only standing on your head! After I punched it… Which reminds me, you’re not dead.” [Ryner]

His voice lost power near the end.

“DON’T INTERFEERRRRRRR!!!” [Dragon]

Ryner’s eyes widened slightly.

“… It talks!? A talking dragon! Man, I love these guys.” [Ryner]

He seemed rather happy upon learning that the dragon could speak words, though he hurriedly ducked to avoid its tail. He grabbed Elsa and Ellis by their waists and dragged them into the forest like luggage, taking huge leaps off the ground.

“G, good to see you. You’re my knight in shining armor~.” [Ellis]

Ellis greeted his savior and threw in a joke in his feminine voice.

“No need to talk, because, well, you two look like roasted crap.” [Ryner]

“I see that horrible sense of humor is still a blight upon your lips, much like your entire existence.” [Elsa]

To answer his sarcasm, Elsa shot her own insult, but her voice sounded uplifted, a detail her brother didn’t miss as he happily grinned.

“Don’t you guys have healing potions?” [Ryner]

“Already drank them. It’ll take a few minutes before we can move properly.” [Elsa]

Ryner gently dropped the twins to the ground and confirmed the location of the rampaging dragon through the gaps of the trees. It was going after Zane, swinging its thick limbs and shooting powerful fireballs. The S rank adventurer was jumping around and counterattacking with his spear of lightning.

“(So he’s the one with my Heaven’s Blade.)” [Ryner]

“You, you have quite a bit to explain, starting with why you aren’t deemed S rank when you wield such strength. Furthermore, why are you… Wh-what’s that?” [Elsa]

In the midst of her questioning, the masked, hooded man pulled out a large, black object from a blue circle of light. Both Elsa and Ellis stared at him, wide-eyed.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing important, more or less.” [Ryner]

He casually said as he set up his railgun and took aim at the red monster. Blue lightning ran between the small gaps of the barrel as a whirring noise could be heard. He waited a few seconds for the gun to fully charge and pulled the trigger. A loud, explosive noise reverberated through the air, causing the twins to cover their ears reflexively. The bullet roared as it collided with the dragon’s head.

“Seriously?” [Ryner]

But, it didn’t pierce through its scales. The railgun was powerful enough to shoot through a dragoon’s skull, yet it only stunned the beast.

“Talking dragon is not a normal dragon. Noted.” [Ryner]

After shaking its head, it angrily glared at Ryner and shot fireballs in the forest. They exploded and burnt up a good chunk of the forested area, where the hooded man was. Then, its attention went to back to Zane who stabbed into its side.

“Yeaahh, that didn’t work.” [Ryner]

While on one knee, Ryner muttered as he watched the ash-covered area right next to him. Elsa and Ellis were struggling on the ground, on both his sides. If he was a bit late in escaping, they would have turned into cinders.

“Th, that attack just now, was that an Artifact? And you took it out from nowhere… A unique ability?” [Elsa]

“Haha… Sis, I don’t think now’s the time to question him. We’ve got a dragon on our hands.” [Ellis]

“Yeah, what he said. Rather, why don’t we just escape like this? The dragon’s busy going after that guy with the spear. Hell, it looks like it’s more interested in killing him than u-.” [Ryner]

When Ryner suddenly stopped talking, the red-haired siblings stared at him curiously, wondering what was wrong.

“Is something the matter?” [Elsa]

“… I noticed a dead dragon on a huge cart when I came here. Did you guys take it down?” [Ryner]

“No. We were only tasked with protecting it on the way to town. It was Zane, the man currently engaging the dragon by himself. Why?” [Elsa]

“So it was just him alone?” [Ryner]

“Yes. What does tha-.” [Elsa]

Realizing the meaning behind his questions, Elsa widened her eyes for a second before narrowing them and nodded her head. On the side, her brother watched them, clueless.

“I see. That would certainly be the logical conclusion, but there’s no proof. Furthermore, what will you do if it’s true?” [Elsa]

“First, I’m gonna go check the proof.” [Ryner]

Ryner said as he stood up.

“Second, if it’s true, then he should take responsibility.” [Ryner]

Leaving behind the twins, he rushed out of the forest and slammed into the side of the dragon’s head. It roared angrily and tried to shake him off, but he clung onto one of its horn and peered into its huge eye. He could clearly see the murderous rage contained in that orb, rage that he was familiar with.

“Zane is the name of the spear-wielding human.” [Ryner]

When he declared that, the dragon roared with even more fury, right before Zane stabbed its back, which broke through its scales, and unleashed a stream of lightning. Ryner jumped off and dashed towards the S rank adventurer who also leapt off to take some distance. The dragon was writhing in pain because of the current running through its large body.

“I don’t know who you are, but don’t get in my way. This is my prey.” [Zane]

He said as he readied his Artifact. His fearless smile hung on his lips despite the fact that he was doing minimal damage to his enemy. But, having already fought one before, he expected a drawn-out battle.

“Oh, glad to hear it. I plan on leaving it all to you.” [Ryner]

Ryner replied in a friendly tone and, not sparing him a glance, Zane resumed his fight.

“Burh!” [Zane]

However, just as he jumped forward, his foot was grabbed and he fell down face first.

“With that said, freaking fight somewhere else!” [Ryner]

The masked, hooded man spun around in place and threw him by the feet with all his strength before he could do anything. Like a doll, he flew in the sky, high over the trees and the dragon. He could hear his wives calling out to him in shock and worry.

“ZAAAAAAAANNNNNEEEEE!!!!!” [Dragon]

The dragon, who recovered from that deadly, electrical attack, followed his flight with its eyes and roared his name. It spread its wings and took off. Seeing how its attention was focused on that single man, Ryner was pretty much convinced that his assumption was correct, so he quickly jumped onto its back.

“(Transport of dead dragon. Second dragon appears. Rampages.)” [Ryner]

While hanging onto the spikes on its back, he steadily made his way to its head.

“(Appears to be after Zane, the one who killed the first. Proven true. Reason?)” [Ryner]

He stood on top of its large head, much to its annoyance, and peered into its eye while dangerously hanging upside down. Although it was a dragon’s eye, he had seen it often. He had seen it in other people and he had seen it in a mirror.

Enduring the intense shaking as it tried to fling him off, Ryner asked him his assumption.

“Is it revenge?” [Ryner]

As if the question delivered some sort of blow, the pupil shook and the violent shaking ceased.

“Is that human the only one you’re after?” [Ryner]

“…” [Dragon]

The dragon didn’t answer. It was unusually silent despite having roared all the time since attacking the convoy. It only kept staring at the masked man, studying him.

“Who was that dead dragon?” [Ryner]

However, to this question, it answered.

“… My Ha’Kavda.” [Dragon]

The deep, growling, guttural voice contained hatred, pain and sorrow.

“… She is what you humans call, a wife.” [Dragon]

“Is there no stopping you?” [Ryner]

“None!” [Dragon]

“… Then this is none of my business. You, him and your grudge, it’s your problem. How you settle it is your decision.” [Ryner]

Ryner looked away from the huge eye and gazed down. Below, he could see Zane, standing alone in a grassy field and glaring his way.

“This fight is your decision. It’s all you.” [Ryner]

He let go and gravity took hold of him. The dragon turned its head to stare at his falling figure for a second, but then he released a loud roar and dived straight for his enemy.

“ZAAAAANNNEEEE!!!!” [Dragon]

Fireballs were shot and Zane swiftly moved about, avoiding the flaming fields that were ten meters wide. A flower of flame bloomed upon each impact as the dragon tried to turn him into ashes. This time, it stayed up in the air to keep its distance and one-sidedly bombarded him.

However, victory wasn’t as simple as that. Having already experienced this tactic, Zane decided to invoke his trump card for this situation, his unique skill. His left arm was enveloped in a red light that formed a giant gauntlet with sharp fingers. The next moment, he swung his fist and shot it like an arrow. A red line connected it to his hand. It went straight for the dragon that changed its course at the last second to dodge it and harmlessly flew past it.

“Gotcha!!” [Zane]

But, Zane expected that. He smiled, showing his canines and pulled his outstretched arm back. The gauntlet that was bigger than a person was reeled back and the fingers closed, latching onto one of the dragon’s wings. No longer able to maintain its flight despite desperately batting its one free wing, it fell to the ground. Its freefall created a crater, but it survived the impact and got up hurriedly. The human was already upon him.

Having brought the fight to close range once again, Zane assaulted the huge beast with his powerful Artifact, breaking its scales and ravaging its body with lightning. On the other hand, the dragon would trample or burn him using its strong limbs or deadly fire breaths. Their battle raged on. It was a duel that no ordinary person could take part, let alone get close to.

Zane’s huge, red gauntlet stopped the stomp of a giant leg and his spear broke through the scales of the foot’s sole. The dragon’s fireball hit the human dead center, propagating flames outward like infernal waves.

Thrice, Zane took some distance to chug down the miraculous red liquid that healed his wounds over time. On the third time, his opponent managed to knock the bottle of healing potion out of his hands by slamming its tail into him. Still, that wasn’t enough to defeat him. Just like the red dragon, the S rank adventurer could take a beating and neither side stopped as they accumulated wounds and fatigue.

The earth trembled as craters and large footprints were left on the ground. Great fireballs that birthed infernal fields and blue lightning that came from an ancient weapon were freely released. A human and a dragon continued to kill each other as they ignored the blood they shed.

Eventually, the battle came to an end.

“RAAAWWWRRR!!!” [Dragon]

With one last thrust into its chest, Zane brought it down. The broken scales no longer protected it and blood was seeping from the numerous stab wounds that were already there. The lightning that entered its system rampaged about, attacking its organs. The beast shook and writhed before stopping with its head in the air, its eyes gazing at the sky. Just as Zane backpedaled, it fell down powerlessly. Smoke was coming out of it and a burnt smell was present.

“Haa, haaa, finally.” [Zane]

Tired and beat up, the victor stood in front of the defeated. He raised his spear, ready to give the finishing blow.

“You weren’t bad.” [Zane]

But, before he could bring it down, a carefree, out of place voice was heard right next to him.

“You weren’t bad yourself.” [Ryner]

Surprised and shocked, he reflexively swung his spear, intending to hit the sudden intruder with the shaft, but he missed. It was dodged by a hair’s breadth as his target leaned his body to the side.

“For someone without the qualification.” [Ryner]

“Huh?! How did?! It’s you again, you bastard!” [Zane]

Zane pointed his spear at Ryner. His low voice conveyed his anger and irritation. He remembered how he was suddenly thrown far away. If he didn’t have a large mana pool to reinforce his body beyond human limits, then he would have died for sure.

“Are you a damn enemy? You want me to stab your guts and fry your brains?” [Zane]

“Normally I would say something like ‘Try it, brat”, but he’s dying. So, I don’t have time for you right now.” [Ryner]

The next second decided everything.

Ryner closed the distance with such speed that Zane couldn’t follow him with his eyes at all. Then, a frontal kick squarely hit him in the stomach and he was sent flying, bouncing off the ground like a ball. He was barely holding onto his spear as well as his consciousness. His insides felt like they were burning up. If not for his body strengthening spell, he would definitely be dead.

Once the annoying one was gone and down for the count, Ryner shifted his gaze to the dragon that was barely breathing. It faintly opened its eyes and stared at the masked human.

“… Kill me…” [Dragon]

It asked in a feeble voice.

“You wish to die, not to live?” [Ryner]

“… To live after suffering… Defeat at the hands of… My wife’s killer… My honor… Wouldn’t permit it…” [Dragon]

“Is honor more important to you than your life?” [Ryner]

“… My wife was more important… Than anything.” [Dragon]

It coughed blood in the middle of its sentence.

“… You really want me to kill you?” [Ryner]

“… Better you, human… Than him… It would be… Honorable.” [Dragon]

After a moment of silence where both sides stared at each other, Ryner pulled out the White Wing from his pocket dimension.

“One question. This is what you chose. It’s the result of your decision. So, are you… Satisfied with your revenge?” [Ryner]

A low chuckle was heard, followed by painful breaths.

“No… Of course not… But… This is… What I want… At the very end…” [Dragon]

Ryner slightly nodded.

“… Both you and your wife’s body will be used to make weapons… But, I’ll be sure to prevent that.” [Ryner]

“… Thank you, human.” [Dragon]

After the dragon conveyed its gratitude, it slowly closed its eyes as its breathing turned peaceful. Ryner jumped in the air and pointed his sword at its cranium. As he fell on top of its head, he stabbed his sword downward with all his might and a blade of light stretched out, piercing through its skull. There was a bit of resistance, but having depleted its mana, no magic was protecting its body. Both the blade and the light were forcefully pushed through the scales, bone and brain. There was a growl of pain and the dragon’s body jerked.

Then, it became silent and immobile.

Ryner pulled out his sword and got off from the carcass. He put his White Wing back in his pocket dimension and quietly gazed at the corpse.

“… For the record, it was none of my business, but I would’ve done the same.” [Ryner]

Just as he murmured those words, a gauntlet of red light flew towards him from his right. The sharp fingers like claws were heading straight for his head. But, without looking to the side, he hit it with the back of his right fist.

“BURST!!” [Zane]

However, instead of being knocked away, the gauntlet exploded.

“You’ve got guts, stealing my prey, kicking me away.” [Zane]

Approaching while using his spear like a staff to lean on was Zane, who was ragged and limping. He spit out a bit of blood when he spoke to the masked individual. His glare showed his murderous intent.

“If you get in my way, I don’t care who you are, noble or hero, I won’t show mercy, bastard.” [Zane]

As the smoke from the blast cleared, Ryner lowered his hand and turned his head. His clothes were singed, his jacket was torn up and his shirt was in tatters. As a result, his right arm was fully uncovered. Tears through the fabric of his shirt on his right side showed his skin. The hood, which was affixed to the helmet, was blown off. The headgear was cracked, but still held together. The reinforced glass that covered his face now had a hole as pieces fell, exposing his right eye.

Zane noticed the scars and the muscles he carried and narrowed his eyes.

“Turns out that this dragon came after you because you killed his wife.” [Ryner]

“Huh? So he wanted to get revenge on me?” [Zane]

“Pretty much.” [Ryner]

Ryner answered in a relaxed tone and shrugged his shoulders.

“Hmph, guessed he failed, then.” [Zane]

“You don’t look too surprised.” [Ryner]

“That’s just how the world works. The strong live and the weak die. He wasn’t strong enough to kill me, just like his wife. That’s all there is to it.” [Zane]

The masked man completely turned his body to face him.

“His wife?” [Ryner]

“He failed to kill me, she failed to kill me and he failed to protect her. Simple as that. Now, you and I-.” [Zane]

“The rules of nature sure sound annoying when they’re coming from your mouth.” [Ryner]

“You want to fight me too? Perfect.” [Zane]

Disregarding his wounds, the S rank adventurer glared at the one who stole his prey and tossed him about.

“I’ll stab your guts and fry your brains.” [Zane]

Zane growled menacingly as he got into a stance, ready to charge.

“Try it, brat.” [Ryner]

Ryner calmly answered back. His voice had a tinge of coldness that would have made anyone hesitate to get near him, but his opponent was different. He rushed at him. Body strengthening kept him going despite his wounds and fatigue. But, that didn’t mean much against his current foe.

The man wearing the broken mask caught his spear by the shaft, a few centimeters before his exposed white eye. Seeing that, Zane grinned and willed his Artifact to discharge lightning. Anyone but the wielder would suffer damage and he expected the same to happen now.

But, it didn’t. In fact, nothing happened.

“Huh?” [Zane]

“I told you.” [Ryner]

Perplexed, he tried to pull his weapon back and gain some distance to collect his thoughts, but Ryner didn’t let go.

“You don’t have the qualification.” [Ryner]

The next moment, Zane screamed in pain as his body was ravaged by electricity. His own Artifact turned against him and it continuously discharged blue lightning. He forced his shaking fingers to let go, totteringly took a few steps back and fell on one knee. Smoke was coming out of him.

“A god may have let you use this spear, but I won’t.” [Ryner]

Standing before him was the masked man, wielding his Artifact as if it always belonged to him. His eyes were wide open at the sight that he never believed was possible. Ever since he acquired it from a ruin, anyone who tried to take it would get zapped. It was like he was the only one allowed to touch it. However, as if it had chosen a new master, the Artifact didn’t reject his opponent.

“Ugh… You… What’d you do…? WHAT’D YOU DOO?!!!” [Zane]

He forced himself to get up and used his unique ability. A clawed gauntlet of red light covered his left arm and he wildly swung it at his head. Ryner used the bladed tip to knock it away and followed up with a strike to Zane’s shoulder using the end of the shaft. An electrical discharge caused him to stagger and grimace in pain. Ryner spun in place and hit his opposite flank with the spear’s tip. Another lightning surge attacked the adventurer’s body.

“Argh! Urgh! Basta-! You! Gah! Fuc-! Sto-!” [Zane]

Without missing a beat, Ryner pummeled him using the two ends of his Heaven’s Blade, releasing lightning upon each impact. He spun around and rotated his weapon to build speed, using the recoil from his attacks to chain the next one.

“Everyone ran, but you bravely fought the dragon. You had the power to fight a freaking dragon head on.” [Ryner]

While beating him up, Ryner spoke to him in a rather cold voice.

“You were damn cool. You were damn brave. Damn fast. Damn tough. Damn strong. But, you know…” [Ryner]

He spun around and punched Zane in the face. It was a splendid, superhuman right hook that caused his head to bury itself in the ground.

“There’s a difference between being a badass, and being a jackass.” [Ryner]

The emotionless voice spoke from above the downed adventurer. He struggled to get up, but a foot stomped on his head, burying his face in the dirt. As the dust that was raised by the violent wind from the attack settled, no sound could be heard. Zane stopped twitching and laid powerlessly at his adversary’s feet.

“Hunting dragons isn’t a game, brat.” [Ryner]

Ryner, having won, stored the Heaven’s Blade that he came to get in his pocket dimension and walked towards the corpse of the dragon. He put his hand forward and the blue circle made of rings of different sizes appeared. He walked forward and the circle that was in front of the dragon’s head moved with him. Whatever part of the corpse it touched was sucked in and placed in another dimension. The circle expanded to absorb the huge body as it went from the neck, to the wings and to the tail.

Eventually, the dead dragon disappeared.

Since he did everything he needed to do, Ryner left the place at blinding speed. He saw Zane’s three wives rushing towards his defeated form, but he ignored them. When he arrived at his destination, the men and women that were part of the caravan had gathered together. They escaped in all directions when the dragon rampaged, but now that it was gone, they returned for the precious cargo. A few of them were finished fixing the damaged cart carrying the corpse of the dragon’s wife.

“Wha, what?! Who are you?!” [Someone]

“Wait, wasn’t he there, fighting that-.” [Other one]

Ryner showed up, pushed his way to the cart and stored the carcass in his pocket dimension like he did previously.

“WHAT?!” [Someone]

“T-t-t-the dragon just…? Huh?!” [Other one]

“He made it disappear?!” [Another one]

He ignored the commotion around him and left just as quickly as he arrived. Many tried to stop him since he just made a pile of gold coins vanish, but no one could even touch him. He entered the forest that was burnt during the earlier fight. Before he went too deep in the forested area, he stopped since his damaged helmet was starting to bug him. Fragments of the broken visor snapped because of the wind pressure whenever he moved quickly and hit his face.

He took off the helmet, held it in his hands and stared at it.

“Honor to the end…” [Ryner]

He muttered. That dragon had similar values to warriors he had met in the past. They were warriors that would rather die than live in shame. Even when they fought on the same side, he had killed many in the name of honor. Their values were something that Ryner comprehended, but did not share. If he was defeated, he would crawl in the mud and continue to fight on no matter what. That was how he fought and that was how he had lived most of his life. He didn’t have honor like them.

After all, he had already gone through every shame and disgrace that numerous worlds could throw at him.

“Hmm?” [Ryner]

Interrupting his thoughts were the presences of two people that were fast approaching. He could see them at a distance between the trees and so could they. It was Elsa and Ellis who were healed. The older sister was carrying her sibling because she ran much faster than him with body strengthening. The gap between an A and B rank was considerable.

The two had chased after him when they saw his figure dashed into the forest. There was a lot they wanted to ask him such as his exceptional strength, the weird Artifact he used and the unknown ability he possessed. They had, like many, witnessed him make an entire dragon disappear as it was touched by a mysterious, blue, circular light.

Yet, all of these questions were blown out of their minds, or more precisely, out of Elsa’s mind.

While Ellis was staring at Ryner’s exposed face curiously, his big sister was blushing and stopped in her tracks. The two sides were too far apart to see small details, but body strengthening fixed that problem since it improved their eyesight.

For the first time, she saw the man beneath the mask and it caused a strange feeling in her chest, as if her heart was beating harder than usual. Certainly, she was tired from having chased after him, but it felt different. It was a sensation that made her flustered as she stared at Ryner’s face, something that Ellis didn’t miss which made his eyes sparkle.

However, before they could open their mouths or get any closer, Ryner turned around and left. Although Elsa yelled at him to wait, he didn’t and soon, he disappeared from their sight. They didn’t know that he had called in his plane that was on standby and boarded it, leaving the area for good.

That was how the masked adventurer showed up out of nowhere and beat up a famous S rank adventurer before stealing his Artifact and two dragon corpses. Needless to say, a request to capture him was sent out and his adventurer status was revoked. Unfortunately, no one knew what he looked like because when the receptionist in charge of his registration asked to see his face, he was wearing a disguise.

That was why everyone was searching for a man in his forties that had blonde hair, a huge scar on his left cheek, blue and white eyes and a splendid, bushy beard.

The only ones that saw his real face were a pair of red-headed twins, but they chose to keep quiet about it. One person hated the thought of seeing him captured while the other did it for his sister’s happiness.