Chapter 50

Gerhardt gawked in utter astonishment at what he saw.

In all his years as the man commonly referred to as, 'the backbone of the Empire', had never witnessed such a thing.

Out of the dozens of wars and international conflicts he has faced in his lifetime, and then all the battles he had ever even simply heard of... Not a single one of them, contained something like the being in front of him.

His extensive experience was why Gerhardt knew, instinctively, and more than anyone else, that they had lost this battle... No, it would be too much of a stretch to even call it a battle. Words couldn't describe the overwhelming sense of defeat he felt merely by gazing upon it, and the matter itself was difficult to even conceive as reality.

―A white mountain that had appeared out of seemingly nowhere.

No, it wasn't quite a mountain, as it was rather oddly shaped; the mountain had a long neck and a head with features. It was covered in huge, dazzling white scales, and had four limbs attached...

It was like something straight out of a nightmare... a beast of impossible proportions; so much so, that every little movement it made seemed to be in slow motion, and emitting this invisible pressure.

Soon after its unforeseen emergence, the colossal monster sprouted a pair of equally giant wings and let out a tremendous sound; as if to announce its arrival to the world.

{ROOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR....!!!!}

It lasted for what felt like an eternity, but despite that, no one could hear anything, or stand, after the first half-second or so―because all of their eardrums had been almost instantly ruptured, and along with it, their balance was destroyed.

Most who were unlucky enough to serve as witnesses to this inconceivably grand event that went contrary to all common sense, were unable to even think straight. The few that were able, though, had one thought in common:

......Dragon God......

Gerhardt was partly included in this belief. He also had another thought floating around in his mind, however:

...The prophecy never mentioned anything like this...?

With yet another reason to not trust divination of the future, he cursed the Emperor in his mind for the sham prophecy his younger sister had foretold.

【Jae POV】

Using the enhanced power of Envy's alive form, a Doppelgänger, I managed to successfully 'transform' into Aphy's Dragon form.

[...H-Haha... Even I've never done something as crazy as imitate a 'true' Dragon. No, well, I never even saw one before meeting you... Not to mention the holder of a [Ruler] title...]

―Or so Envy says.

But isn't she a dual [Ruler]?

Anyway, I didn't have to think twice about it, as she is the strongest thing I know of, maybe aside from that God.

Honestly, I surprised even myself.

I half doubted whether it would even work in the first place, but... it turns out there was no problem after all.

Other than the 'heavy strain', but that doesn't even affect me right now.

Though, I admit, it felt strange at first...

Once I had activated the power, I felt magic energy continuously well up inside me; it was so strong and potent, that I thought I'd explode.

After that, the physical transformation soon started, making it slightly easier as time passed.

As countless, impenetrable scales, formed all over my body, every fibre of my being moulded into something else.

A pair of terrifyingly large wings and a long tail emerged on my back and lower end.

My physical body changed and grew to such proportions that I really felt like a peerless, unmatched being.

The amount of mana that surged within me was equally monstrous, like nothing I had ever witnessed.

It was incredible.

In fact, if I straightened my neck, I reckon I could easily lift my head above these dark grey clouds hovering around.

Once it finished, the excruciating pain I was feeling before the process was non-existent, and, on the contrary, I felt so full of vitality that I didn't know what to do first.

―I felt completely... and utterly unstoppable.

I was already addicted to this powerful form, even though not even a second had passed.

...Attempting to open my Status to catch a glimpse of Aphy's stats, it unfortunately failed, and so did when I tried to open the Soul State.

Well, it doesn't really matter.

After all, whether or not I'm able to check the numbers―it has no bearing on the strength I feel coursing through my veins.

The weight of my body is tremendous because of my sheer size, but my strength is more than enough to compensate.

It very much appeals to my pride, also.

Speaking of which, Pride isn't speaking after what he said earlier...

Anyway, the only downside to this is that the air stinks.

There is not enough natural mana in the atmosphere of the planet for a true Dragon like Aphy to be satisfied...

Well, I can just about tolerate it.

That reminds me... these little guys have never seen a true Dragon before, have they?

No, from what I recall being told by some Demons, there exists a different species of Dragons in this world compared to the ones that reside in the Pride Dungeon.

I think it's because they are just a hybrid breed between Drakes and Wyverns, so they have a similar appearance to Dragons.

Either way, it must be quite an experience for them, huh.

As soon as the transformation process had completed fully, and my gigantic, golden reptilian eyes, opened, I naturally glanced around at the surroundings.

My first thought was...

――Tiny.

...Huh...

Everything is so small...

I thought this was the capital city of a large country...?

Wouldn't it be at least a few thousand square kilometres in area in that case?

It's a medieval city, so maybe a bit smaller, but still...

...Well... Maybe, I've forgotten just how enormous true Dragons really are.

It's been such a long time since I've seen one after all.

But still, the city looks so meagre from up here that it really just feels like a miniature playset...

The city, which is on fire, and the people within it, who are dying... It's all so insignificant from this view.

I thought it was funny, and I wanted to laugh, but due to the limitations of this body, I couldn't.

Suddenly, I had the urge to spread my wings and let out my voice.

To announce my presence.

It seemed to be a primal instinct of the immensely prideful Dragon race, and since it struck me in the form of a terrible itch, I couldn't resist it.

{ROOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR....!!!!}

―To scratch that itch... was so satisfying that it felt better than an addictive drug.

As I observed the ant-like humans scattered on the ground―some even beginning to flee from that one display of my might―I felt no less than a God.

If only I could meet that crazy angel in this form...

To attest to that addicting feeling, my roar was so powerful that it alone was enough to extinguish the blazing city of all its puny flames.

It goes to show how preposterous a true Dragon is.

So...

Is this...

...How Aphy feels, all the time?

I'd normally be envious, but since it's something I can replicate thanks to Greed, I don't feel the need to be jealous.

Right now, it's as if I'm on a high; I genuinely don't think anything or anyone in this world can obstruct the current me.

――Except for one thing, that is.

Time Remaining - 0h : 58m : 59s

Tch.

A minute has passed already?

...I shouldn't get carried away.

Think seriously, now.

How do I make the most of this time?

Because of the 'heavy strain' placed on my body, I don't know if I'll be in any condition to fight after the timer ends, so I should make sure I'll be in a safe situation for when that time comes.

First, then, let's get rid of any enemies.

Or, should I just take the kids and leave like this?

No, I can't spot where they ran to from up here.

I'm too big to escape anyway, and that idea goes against my pride...

Then, I'll remove any obstacles like that army, and leave until the timer reaches zero.

I'll also mess up the city a bit so they won't try to come after me; for the time being, at least.

This way, they'll have to spend time on repairing the city instead of hunting me down.

It should distract them enough.

...Yeah, that sounds good.

Afterwards, I'll leave until the transformation is over, heal any damage I'll receive as a side-effect, then return to pick up Rena and Bailey and get away from this place for good.

Just so that I know now, I'll go... towards that mountain range over there.

If they follow me quickly enough or reach me before the timer ends, I might not even have to return.

With that plan in mind, I lightly swung my tail downwards.

*WHOOOOOSH---BOOM!*

―Despite being only an insignificant motion from me, the damage it caused to the city was immeasurable.

My tail crashed violently into a group of extravagant-looking buildings, causing thousands of remnants of buildings, and gallons of blood to splash on my tail and the air, and dye the ground red.

Next, I swayed it side-to-side; further demolishing all sorts of infrastructure and facilities with ease.

However, that wasn't all.

You have levelled up You have levelled...

Oh?

You have reached the maximum level limit Due to reaching the appropriate level, one skill from the『Seven Sin』series is applicable for Level Up process

...To be honest, I completely forgot about this feature.

Skills applicable for Level Up Process:

「Wrath」「Gluttony」「Pride」

These are my options this time...

It's hard to choose so suddenly.

Can I decide later?

[No! Wait a moment, fuck! Pick me! Please!]

...Yeah, I have limited time right now, so I should make important decisions like this later.

[Son of a bitch! Oi, you asshole! I'm begging! Pick me right now!]

Ignoring the curses from Wrath, I admired the capabilities of a true Dragon... Or, more specifically, Aphy.

Even from all that devastation, her tail does not gain even a single scratch...

[Oh, yes! About that. Just what... who are you imitating right now? The aura you emit in this body is all too familiar to me, and your appearance is just like...]

Huh?

What, you mean Aphy?

['Aphy'...... O-Oh, wait, hold on...]

What?

Pride stuttered...

I've never seen that before.

Does he know Aphy or something?

They were both [Rulers of Pride], so it'd make sense...

Could he have been a Dragon too?

[...Hah... Ahahaha! No, this might be good! Nevermind. Of course, that'd be the case...]

Huh.

I was confused by his conflicting words, but since I wasn't too interested in Pride's secrets, I let it be.

Anyway...

...This is quite fun, isn't it?

I've been dominated so effortlessly by my enemies in the past, but now, the tables have turned.

I have nothing to be afraid of like this.

Practically invincible for this one hour, and I can do whatever I please.

Having this much power... is good.

If I wanted to, I could turn this entire city into nothing but rubble, and it would take but a single swipe of my claws...

However, I won't do that.

I don't want to completely obliterate the city.

The peasants and similar lower-class citizens are... most likely innocent, anyway, so I will at least spare them if possible.

Everyone else can perish or survive, I don't particularly care.

Although, there is something I am curious about.

―How powerful is a Dragon Breath attack from Aphy...?

I really want to find out...

Down there, near the entrance of the city, I can see the Empire's soldiers still haven't fully entered the city―about a third of them are stationed outside the gates to prevent people from escaping, it seems.

They'll be sufficient.

With my mind full of expectation and excitement, I positioned my colossal head to directly look at that large collection of soldiers.

I then wondered how to trigger a breath attack, but as soon as I did, I began to feel a warm, tingling feeling arise in my chest.

It was around the area of my lungs―maybe slightly higher?

I think there is a special kind of organ there that helps generate the breath.

Either way, I could feel a strange mix of energy and mana gathering, and quickly rising in intensity.

The pleasant energy moved from my chest to the base of my throat, and from there, it escalated further.

The warmth that, at first, felt just like that of the sun on a day with clear skies, became something so extreme that I was even a little astonished, and the amount of magic energy I could feel converging in that one spot was quite amazing.

Probably, it was more than half my entire mana capacity.

With this strange mix of energies, that only continued to grow stronger and more prominent as time passed, I became just as excited.

Uncontrollably, I somewhat opened my mouth which was pointed at the soldiers.

On my draconic face, it probably was what closest resembles a smile.

Simultaneously, I felt as if a power generator was whirring inside my throat.

The buildup of tremendous magic energy and heat, which had been rapidly escalating until now, slowly began to shrink.

I thought it was dissipating at first, before I realised it was condensing itself to increase the power, range and speed of the breath, similar to a laser.

Though I still needed to hold it together, I marvelled at how this body could do almost this entire process autonomously and without my interference, as it seemed like something that should ordinarily take a lot of focus and concentration.

Then, because I grew both too excited and careless, my concentration momentarily slipped.

Some of the compressed energy leaked a bit from the base of my throat and out of my mouth.

It exited my jaws in the form of a spurt of pure white fire that shone as bright as the sun itself; as if to preface what was to come.

At this point, the soldiers were well on their way in the opposite direction of me.

Fleeing as far as their small bodies can take them―as fast as humanly possible after noticing my desire to attack.

Though, of course, no matter how fast or far they ran, it would never be enough.

Hah.

It's really quite moronic.

Did they really think they could outrun a being like me (Aphy)?

Or were they simply frightened and therefore not thinking straight?

Whichever may have been the case, I prepared the final step for the use of the breath.

Transferring the compressed energy to the back of my throat, I powered it up to the point where I thought its potential could go no higher.

And then...

―I fired.

One week has passed since then.

The world was in complete disarray at the sudden emergence of the colossal monster inevitably dubbed the "Dragon God".

Every country was moving as fast as they could in preparation for a possible attack by the Dragon God, but most knew there was not much they could do anyway, and as such, the world was currently in a time of great despair.

Seronia's capital city had been almost completely ruined, and the country had no choice but to surrender to the invading Kalypian Empire. Now, Seronia was a non-independent country underneath the Empire, and the Empire was busy trying to sort the refugees of the ravaged capital city.

The entirety of the Empire's administration were overcome with heaps of paperwork as a result of this: Over 7,000 military casualties as a start, building temporary refugee camps, sorting various people into separate camps based on status, delegating resources and labour forces, et cetera.

Hell, the estimated number of civilian deaths was in the tens of thousands, but every day, more and more bodies are found buried underneath the rubble. Overall, it was a catastrophic event for the people of Seronia.

What's more, the chances that the city could one day be rebuilt... were not looking favourable. This is because of the final breath attack the Dragon God unleashed.

Contained within that single attack was like an infinite amount of magic energy, as seen by humans. When it impacted the ground, it not only incinerated the land to such a degree that it pretty much just evaporated into thin air, creating a massive crater, but the environment itself also became heavily contaminated.

It was to the extent that even the ground outside the crater was not much more than ashes too unstable to build foundations upon, and the air was so overly saturated with mana that just being in the area was extremely poisonous to all life.

If someone from Earth were to look at it without context, they would definitely think a slew of nuclear weapons had gone off, and that it was equivalent to the radiation that followed. No, perhaps this kind of 'magical radiation' was even more severe.

In other words, the attack was so mind-bogglingly powerful that it rendered a substantial chunk of the land uninhabitable for at least a decade.

The 'Holy Country', Theosse, released an official statement about the Dragon God's appearance, declaring that the creature was "God's messenger", that the attack on Seronia was "divine retribution", and that no countries should attempt to fight the Dragon off; lest they receive the wrath of God.

Consequently, some members of the Seraphim race stepped forth and testified that it was not the doing of their God, calling Theosse's statement blasphemy, but opinions were divided nonetheless about the matter. Lots of God's were known to have existed anyway, so the one that was responsible could have been anyone amongst them.

Some even thought that the monster itself was a God and that Seronia or its king had committed a sin grave enough to warrant that kind of punishment. No, there were plenty who thought so, as it wasn't too far-fetched of a theory. All that was left was for people to speculate what Seronia had done to deserve this―resulting in a fair bit of discrimination towards the Seronian people.

In any case, things were a huge mess for everyone, whether you were involved or not.

Asphal also seized the opportunity and announced that they would come to assist any country who found themselves under threat by the Dragon God, and proclaimed that, even if they were in an unofficial war with Seronia, it was regrettable that such a disaster had befallen them. Leila only did this because she knew who the real perpetrator behind the incident was, and was confident that Jae wouldn't do something as absurd as this again.

And, in the midst of this hectic time, Jae was busy.

*cough, cough!*

―Busy dying, that is.

"Master...!"

Just before his time was up, he spread his wings and flew northeast of the city into a large mountain range, as Sloth didn't work. When his imitation time ran out, he reverted into his human self and was in terrible condition.

"U-Uhh, drink this water!"

Thankfully, it seemed no one dared to follow the Dragon God as it travelled, creating whirlwinds and tearing the sky with each flap of its wings.

"T-Than--Bleeeeuuurrghhh...!!"

Never mind coughing blood―Jae vomited litres upon litres of blood, saliva, and gastric juices. Even when his body had run out of all that, it still wasn't the end. There was plenty of dry heaving, and somehow, his body always found something to eject from his system.

It was always so unpleasantly violent, too.

"Haa... Haa... F-Fuh... G-Gh--Bleeuuurgh...!"

Ever since the imitation ended―Jae had been in this state for just over a week now, and both Rena and Bailey were distressed over what to do.

The three were currently living in a small wooden cabin they happened upon in the mountains, as it was far, far away from any civilisation, and meeting other people would be terrible when Jae was like this. He was lying down on a bed in one of the rooms, as he was unable to properly move his body.

"Ughhhh--Kahk...! U-Uehh... H-Heal...... Buh-Bleeeuurrrghh...!"

"D-Daddy..."

Magic was currently unusable for Jae, and neither was there any item within the Inventory that could help.

In the first place, there was no physical injury that he could detect or feel inside himself, so it was impossible to pinpoint what exactly the problem was.

All he felt was a continuous and sharp stinging sensation across his whole body that screamed in agony―it was a combination of what felt like something pressing down, hard, on his flesh, and burning, at the same time. Therefore, even if he could use magic, Healing Magic likely wouldn't have any effect whatsoever.

"Kahk--hahk! Ughhh..."

His eyes rolled around inside his head from the pain, it was too prominent for Jae to focus on anything else.

...Fuck... This damn... fucking... heavy strain... my ass...

Of course, the previously mentioned 'heavy strain' was the obvious cause of his discomfort, but since there weren't any visible problems with his body, Jae initially thought he'd be fine. At the very least, he never expected it to be this bad.

This shit... is worse than dying... a hundred times over...

Needless to say, he was wrong.

The kids, Rena and Bailey, silently looked at Jae with a sad gaze as he told them.

"...You guys... can continue training... I'll--kugh--kugh... be fine..."

They regrettably listened to what he said as they clenched their fists, frustrated with themselves for being unable to do anything about the situation, so they left the room and sat down depressingly.

They would need to go out and hunt some animals for food in a bit, but that was all they could do to help right now. They would also need to feed him, as Jae couldn't even eat food or drink water by himself.

The two lamented their inability to fix Jae's condition and were not at all in the mood to train.

Jae, of course, was also thinking of methods to recover. The glaringly obvious solution, for him at least, was to integrate a second Unique Skill for Greed that would heal him, but there was a problem with that, and it was that there was not a single skill in the entire list that he thought would help.

You see, it's because all the healing-related Unique Skills only either recover physical or mental injuries, erase negative status conditions, or "repair the soul". Although the latter seemed semi-feasible, Jae still had his doubts about it, and that was enough to dissuade him from trying it.

Most of all, he didn't want to end up wasting one of his two remaining slots with a useless skill. He couldn't think of anything else. Well, in the first place, it was hard for him to just think about anything other than the pain he's in, so there wasn't much of a chance, but he did think that the anguish would end eventually.

Hahhh... What would she say if she saw me like this...... Honestly, it's ridiculous...

Additionally, each passing second felt like an eternity, which certainly didn't help. He didn't think it would last for an entire week, but now that a week had already come and gone, Jae was beginning to get unsettled, with thoughts like, 'what if it lasts for months?', swirling around inside his head.

...No, that's stupid... If it persisted for that long, there wouldn't be a point to the skill in the first place...

The situation was, to put it lightly, unfavourable, and all Jae did in the meantime was fiddle around with his Status and Soul State, in an attempt to take his mind off of it.

"Ughh... I'm not... doing that... ever again..."

Who in the world would have thought that the one responsible for the destruction of Seronia's capital city was in this pitiable condition?

"―Dragon God? The fuck kinda monster izzat?"

Ryan raised an eyebrow at what Nicolas told him.

"...A God of Dragons... Scary stuff, huh.", Kaitlyn commented.

Ryan's group had, inevitably, also heard about the terrifying news that was making rounds across the globe.

They were sitting in their room at an inn after just arriving at a town. He had Nicolas quickly gather some information, and they began to discuss it after booking a room.

"Isn't it? We told you this world is scary, Amelia.", Nicolas said as he scratched the back of his head with a wry smile.

"..."

Amelia was silent. It appeared like she didn't hear the others' conversation at all.

She had only been in this world for just over a week and was informed about various things, such as common sense and how the System worked. However, what she wanted to know most of all, was impossible to get adequate information on.

"...Why...?", she mumbled to no one in particular.

She only continued to stare at the scroll in her hands―a bounty request with Jae's name on it.

"...It's that again, huh...", Nicolas said.

All three looked at Amelia, who had kept the scroll on her at all times. She had angrily inquired about it previously; after it was shown to her for the first time, but the only thing they could respond with is that they weren't entirely sure. Still, she desperately asked again.

"...Are you sure you don't know anything about him? Nothing at all? Please..."

"Not since he disappeared..."

"Ah..."

Amelia lowered her head in disappointment at Nicolas' reply, before Kaitlyn joined in, wanting to reverse the saddened mood.

"Well, there was the story that the Princess narrated, right?"

"But that was bullshit, wasn't it?", Nicolas retorted, "Come on. We shouldn't get her hopes up for no reason."

"You know that it can't all be false though; even Ryan agreed on that, didn't he? There must be at least some truth to it."

"I mean, maybe? Still, it's not reliable..."

Amelia spoke up after hearing about something unusual.

"No, wait a second. Please tell me what you know. Even if it's not entirely credible, anything; I just want some thread of hope to hold on to."

"Ehhh...", Nicolas groaned and scratched his neck, "...Fine."

He reluctantly informed her of what Eleanor told them in regards to Jae's disappearance when they had first arrived in this world.

"―Demons? What...?"

"Yeah. And that he was on the side of evil, or whatever. Anyway, that's probably not true, because we've seen Demons ourselves, and they're pretty much just normal people, aside from having horns."

"I see... Could we visit them then?"

"Huh? I mean..."

"Why not?", Ryan interrupted, "I was thinkin' of goin' there at some point anyway, so we can go now. Sooner rather than later; nothin' to lose from it."

"...O-Oh. Okay, then are we going to the Demon Country next?"

"Obviously?"

The conversation was moving very quickly from Nicolas' view, but there was no particular problem.

"Where is it though?", Nicolas asked. Kaitlyn mocked him.

"Didn't you listen in class? From where we are now, it'll be directly to the east."

"Shut up, okay? I was doing other important things like secret information gathering."

"Suuuree~"

The party of four gained a destination rather abruptly; they would head east, to the Demon Country of Asphal. Smiling, Amelia gave her gratitude to her old classmates.

"Thanks, guys. I do appreciate the help."

"No problem."

"Don't worry about it. We hope Jae is alive too, of course."

"―Oi, this ain't for free, aight? You're with us for a year whether ya find that guy or not. Got it?"

Ryan's blunt attitude contrasted with the others', but Amelia didn't mind it too much. Instead, she was looking forward to the future that lay ahead.

Jae... I'll find you soon. Wait for me.

Naturally, the man in question had no idea that someone was searching for him, or who it might be.