Chapter 63: Dawn of Dragons

I gaped at Alicia's struggling figure, and it took me a few moments to absorb what had just happened.

The ancient dragon glared at me, squeezing its claws around Alicia, who was going limp from the sheer force of its grip.

"W…what the hell?!" I murmured, still unable to wrap my head around what had just transpired.

"If you don't want this girl crushed, you better not move from that spot."

The ancient dragon raised a pale, trembling Alicia for emphasis as it threatened me desperately. So it had descended to this level, huh?

"…"

But that wasn't what surprised me. No…it wasn't indeed. It was the fact that Alicia was the one who got taken as a hostage.

What the fuck.

What the flying fuck!?

Just how many times did that pathetic bitch need saving? This was the third time in a single day! Every single time…what the fuck, man!? Was she a trouble magnet or something?! Or was she just incredibly unlucky? Why was it that every time a crisis happened, she just so happened to be a victim!? First it was the wyvern breathing fire on her, and then she got thrown off the airship and needed to be saved, and now she was taken hostage by the ancient dragon?!

Seriously!? Every single time!? Was Alicia Clarence created solely to be the damsel in distress character or something?! It was getting really, really old.

"Goddammit, Alicia-san!" I shouted out of sheer frustration. "You had one job! One job!"

All Alicia had to do was escort the princess to safety, and get away from the ancient dragon. Once they did that, I could look for a chance to escape on my own. But now that Alicia went and got herself caught by the ancient dragon, I had lost any chance to flee. I never thought that I could defeat the ancient dragon – it was simply too powerful and durable. The best I could hope for was to run away after I ensured that the others had gotten to safety.

But that whole plan had been ruined by a girl who needed saving for the third time in just a single day.

"Can't you be useful for once?! Do you expect to get saved every fucking time!?"

"Sorry…" Alicia sniffed, tears pouring down her pretty face. Oh, stuff it. Don't think that you can get away with being useless just because you're super-pretty.

I was so tempted to kill Alicia along with the ancient dragon, or at least leave her to her fate. The ancient dragon could take her hostage and kill her for all I cared. I was done. I had enough of trying to save her every single time, only for her to stupidly fall into yet another crisis again. She just never learned. Or maybe that was the way her character was designed.

I didn't care.

Unfortunately, I couldn't. I refused to. That was a line I refused to cross. I wasn't a bully. The moment I pulled a callous stunt like that, I would become no different from the bloody bullies I swore revenge on. I was better than them. I could still hold the higher moral ground for now. But if I left Alicia to die, then I could no longer claim that higher moral ground.

Damn it.

"Shut the hell up!" the ancient dragon roared at me. I finally turned my attention to it.

"You're pathetic," I sneered. "An ancient dragon needing to rely on a hostage to get the advantage over a human opponent…I wonder how humiliating and shameful it will be for you if word gets out to the other dragons."

"I told you to shut up!"

The ancient dragon's tail slammed into me, crushing me to the ground. If it wasn't for my Redwood jacket, I would have been pulverized instantly. As it was, I managed to use sheer strength to block the attack, holding the tail above me with my hand.

"Impossible!"

The ancient dragon snarled and withdrew its tail, stunned. I heaved and stumbled. Even with the defensive layers, the burden placed on my body from that single attack had nearly shattered every bone. The protective screens had cracked, even as they were now regenerating, but the impact of the blow had penetrated the supposedly impenetrable defenses and sent immense tremors throughout my fragile body. Even if I possessed an invincible shell, the body inside was not as durable as the armor protecting it. My regeneration was kicking in, but I knew I wouldn't be able to last a couple more attacks of that magnitude. If I wasn't an undead, I might have died from internal injuries alone.

Ancient dragons were on a completely different level.

"Stop resisting, or this girl will be dead."

"Well…"

"Don't say a single word," the dragon growled. I cocked my head at it, trying to put up a brave front. The dragon noted my silence and meek compliance.

"Seems like you can't handle the impact."

"Huff…huff…"

I breathed heavily, not rising to the bait. Dusting my Redwood jacket off, I glared at it.

"What are you talking about? I'm…I'm just a normal human, you know…"

"Don't lie!" the dragon thundered, forgetting its earlier order for me to not say a word. "A mere human isn't capable of fighting like this!"

"Tanaka!"

Alicia shouted, despite being unable to free herself from the ancient dragon's crushing grasp. Clenching her fists in frustration, tears streaked down her face.

"Don't worry about me! J…j…just do it!"

"Do what?"

"Attack the ancient dragon! Kill me along with the ancient dragon if you have to! Don't hold yourself back on my account!"

I was very, very tempted to do that. But before I could reply affirmatively, the ancient dragon scoffed and chortled.

"Don't even bother to pull a bluff. I know you're not the type of person who would sacrifice other humans for victory. You're a hero, aren't you? A real one, unlike those fakes claiming to protect the human kingdoms."

"…"

There was so many things wrong with that statement that I didn't even know where to begin to correct the overgrown lizard.

Instead, I just sighed and shook my head. If the ancient dragon thought I was a hero, I might as well play the part. Besides, it was right. I refused to be as dishonorable as the ancient dragon, or as self-serving, arrogant and selfish as Kobayashi and my other former classmates. Remembering how Kobayashi sacrificed Samejima just to achieve victory over the Demon Lord, I hardened my resolve.

I refused to sink to Kobayashi's level. I wasn't Kobayashi. I was way better than he ever would be. If that made me more of a hero than him, then so be it.

Honestly, I wasn't interested in being a hero or whatever. I was only invested in holding the higher moral ground over Kobayashi Kenji, so as to justify my revenge. It might seem meaningless and hypocritical to other people, but quite frankly, screw other people. I had my own principles and I refused to back down no matter how hypocritical people thought I was.

"Tanaka! Please!"

Alicia was still pleading with me, but I shook my head and refused steadfastly.

"No."

"B…but…!"

"Look, I don't care about your nobles' honor or valor or self-sacrifice or whatever, but I have my own principles. No matter who or what turns against you or betrays you, I will never turn my back on you. That applies to any of my comrades. As long as you don't betray me, I will never betray you."

"…"

Alicia was weeping, at a total loss for words.

It took every ounce of willpower that I had to stop myself from laughing. I couldn't believe Alicia was buying my utter bullshit. Come on, even she couldn't possibly be that naïve and gullible, could she? Or…

Never mind. I was increasingly losing my faith in her intelligence. Not that I ever thought she possessed any intelligence to begin with anyway.

"Hmph." The ancient dragon snorted. "Brave words…I expected as much from you, real hero. But your courage and valor end here. I cannot allow you to live. So…please die."

With a thunderous roar, the ancient dragon crushed me with its immense paw.

"!?"

The ancient dragon pulled its tremendous paw back when it felt that something was odd. It glanced down and saw a shimmering barrier surround me.

"Eh?"

The dragon was not the only one confused. Even I was startled by the sudden appearance of a barrier. This wasn't my Dark Barrier, but a shimmering, translucent blue cuboid barrier conjured by someone else.

And there was only one other person I knew who possessed a special ability called Barrier.

Crack…

Even as the ancient dragon lifted its tail, the cracked barrier shattered into a million pieces, unable to withstand that single blow. It wasn't even as strong as the protective layers generated by my Redwood Robe.

However, it had done its job.

"What the hell is this?!" the ancient dragon roared. Alicia cried out as it tightened its grip, almost crushing her to death. Gritting my teeth, I prepared to dash forward to pry her out of the claws in one piece, but before I could even take a step forward…

"!"

WHOOSH!

A barrage of sacred weapons slammed against the ancient dragon, raining down on its position from above. A particularly large broadsword cleaved through the armored scales in its arm, causing the dragon to howl in pain and release Alicia. While she was trying to scramble away, the dragon reached for her again, only for the same blue shimmering barrier from before to materialize around her.

"What…?"

The dragon's claws bounced off the barrier, but it packed enough force to send both the barrier and the girl within hurtling into the ground. Alicia cried out as she vanished in an explosion of soil and dirt, which obscured her from sight.

"Geez…"

I glanced at Nagano Nanaka as she stepped beside me, shaking her head in disapproval.

"I guess you need my help, after all."

"Of course I do!" I retorted, annoyed. "Where were you the entire time?! Why did you leave me to fight the ancient dragon all by myself?!"

"I was expecting you to pull a Tanaka the Wizard and kick the dragon's ass," Nagano replied with a shrug. "I guess reality is completely different from fiction after all."

"Obviously! I'm not some overpowered ossan who has millions of MP and can defeat an ancient dragon on my own! Speaking of which, I'm surprised you actually read Tanaka the Wizard."

"It was a funny story, especially at first, but it does have a lot of flaws," Nagano acknowledged. "I mean, if you were that overpowered, why would you ever need a team? It would be so retarded. At best, you would only need me, everyone else is completely unnecessary. That's just garbage writing, and it ends up becoming a situation where all the other characters are here for the sake of being here. If you can even call them characters in the first place."

Like Alicia existing for the sole sake of being the damsel in distress, and not actually being anything more than a flat, two-dimensional character with no sense of depth whatsoever. If she turned out to be the heroine of this story, I would personally contrive all sorts of ways to eliminate her. I would shudder to think if she was one of the romantic interests.

Furthermore, Nagano was right. I wasn't some overpowered protagonist with god mode on. I couldn't win against every single enemy in Restia. That was why I was searching for potential allies and making friends. This wasn't some edge-lord power fantasy where I could curb-stomp my opponents with brute force. I needed to be clever about it, forge proper alliances to outmaneuver my enemies tactically and strategically, and not overestimate my own strength. If I slipped up and got killed, everything would be over.

There was no second chance or reset button.

"What the fuck are both of you rambling about now!?" the ancient dragon bellowed as it turned to face us after batting away the barrage of sacred weapons.

"Can you win against that ancient dragon, Nagano-san?" I asked, pointedly ignoring the dishonorable, oversized lizard. She smiled.

"Not by myself. Just…don't drag me down, all right?"

"I'll do my best."

"Are you going to summon that mecha of yours again?"

"No." I shook my head. "I think I have something more…appropriate for this particular enemy."

Despite herself, Nagano grinned as she sent another hail of sacred weapons downward on the ancient dragon.

"I look forward to it. I'll cover you while you do your thing."

I shook my head and smiled. "It's already done."

"…huh?"

Nagano blinked as she glanced at me, only to recoil when she saw dark shadows being cast all across the valley.

"You…!"

The ancient dragon must have realized the danger, for it immediately lashed out. Fortunately, Nagano was on hand to conjure another barrier to protect me from harm. Gritting her teeth, she raised her hand and pointed toward the air.

"Oh no, you don't!"

Sacred weapons materialized above her before raining down on the ancient dragon, but they barely pierced its armored scales. They harmlessly clanged off the dragon's protective scales and bounced uselessly on the ground before disappearing.

"Are those really sacred weapons?" I asked Nagano. She shook her head mirthlessly.

"Sorry…I'm more of a support class, and I'm not meant to fight the enemies directly on the frontline. That's why I needed a party instead of immediately setting off to rescue the princess on my own when she was captured."

"Support class?"

"I forge sacred weapons…but these weapons are temporary projections. Obviously I can't replicate the real thing with this projection spell. These duplicates are vastly inferior to the real things, so they don't have a lot of power. Even if I infused them with mana to self-destruct, they still don't do a lot of damage."

But it was enough to distract the ancient dragon long enough for me to give those shadows life. Smiling, I threw my hands out and called forth my legions of undead.

"What's…that?"

"Zombie wyverns," I replied as the ancient dragon stared at the heavens, its jaw dropping agape in shock. A flock of black, decaying wyverns were swooping toward the ancient dragon, their skeletal maws open to emit ghastly cries.

And that wasn't all.

The corpse of the crimson dragon that my party had just slaughtered the other time was riding on the tail-end of the flock, flapping its enormous wings as it descended upon the stunned ancient dragon. Once a bright crimson, the red scales of the undead dragon had taken on a sheen of gray, making it look more like volcanic rock that the jewel of dragons.

"You…you dare desecrate our proud dragon race…!" the ancient dragon spluttered. I stared at it coldly, still protected behind Nagano's shimmering barrier.

"You tried to kill us. Did you really expect us to roll over and let you stomp all over us? I thought you dragons were intelligent, but you're clearly delusional if you expect us to willingly die just because you want us to."

"Shut up!"

The ancient dragon roared, but the undead wyverns unleashed a barrage of black, necromantic flames that slammed into its body, staggering it. While the ancient dragon reeled, the undead crimson dragon let loose a stream of devastating flames that bathed it.

"AAAARGH!"

With a roar, the ancient dragon tried to swat the flock of wyverns away. Its maw yawned and it incinerated one of the undead wyverns that failed to get away in time. The rest of the wyverns fearlessly descended upon the ancient dragon, scrabbling and slashing at it with their claws. Unlike Nagano's ineffectual sacred weapons, the undead wyvern's toxic claws succeeded in tearing out scales and leaving huge streams of blood flowing from the ancient dragon's wounds.

The icing on the cake came when the crimson dragon barreled right into the ancient dragon, its jaws clamping down on the latter's throat. The ancient dragon thrashed about, but the flock of undead wyverns and the crimson dragon held on stubbornly, leaving grievous injuries.

"You…! Don't underestimate me!"

The ancient dragon used brute force to yank the undead wyverns off its bleeding body and pulverized a few to the ground. With a whip of its tail, it sent the undead crimson dragon crashing against the side of a mountain. An avalanche of rocks rained down on the zombie dragon, but it stood back up as if not feeling any pain.

"I am an ancient dragon! I'm far more powerful than any of the other dragons put together! Did you really think you can defeat me with these mockeries?"

"No," I agreed as I watched the ancient dragon crush another wyvern with its tail while pulverizing another with its claws, ripping it into shreds. The crimson dragon lunged forward, but the ancient dragon whipped its tail out and caught it before it could reach its target, sending the smaller dragon careening into the side of another mountain. Within moments, there were only three undead wyverns left. "I never thought I could."

"…!"

The ancient dragon glared at me, refusing to believe what I had just said. Meanwhile, Nagano looked puzzled.

"Then what are we supposed to do?"

I shrugged. "If my zombies are currently unable to beat the ancient dragon, then we'll just have to strengthen the zombies."

"Huh? How?"

I wasn't very enthusiastic about revealing my hand in front of Nagano – I still didn't trust her or the Iron Knights fully – but against an enemy as powerful as the ancient dragon, I couldn't afford to hold back. Furthermore, Nagano had just told me what her special abilities were and showed her own hand. It wouldn't be fair otherwise.

Since when did I care about being fair?

Then again, that was precisely the kind of attitude that Kobayashi would adopt. Ganging up on me with multiple classmates, bullying me through all sorts of unfair ways, using his grandfather's name to his advantage…

Yeah, I was better than Kobayashi. I wasn't going to reduce myself to his level.

"Thousand Astral Graves!"

"!"

"!!"

Both the ancient dragon and Nagano sprang back as the gigantic gravestones burst out of the ground, once again casting everything in their shadows. The surviving three wyverns morphed and transformed, becoming larger. In fact, three of them merged and melded into a single three-headed dragon with a vast wingspan and tremendous claws. The trio of heads screeched before breathing devastating necromantic flames that blistered the ancient dragon's beleaguered scales.

"Ugh…!"

But that wasn't all. The crimson dragon had grown to the same size as the ancient dragon and was lumbering forward. Black spikes burst out of its limbs, neck, spine and tail, and its fangs enlarged. Its claws expanded, and the ground shattered under their grip. With a thunderous roar, the crimson dragon reared its head up and expelled an atomic stream of grey fire. The spines on its back, tail and neck lit up with eldritch flames before the atomic stream emerged from the enhanced crimson dragon's jaws and nearly severed the ancient dragon into two.

"AAAAAAH!"

The ancient dragon clawed feebly and retaliated with a burst of crimson flames, a bright, blazing supernova that would have incinerated any crimson dragon had they been a normal crimson dragon.

However, the enhanced crimson dragon was no longer a normal crimson dragon. Additionally, it had Nagano's help.

A blue barrier came to life, shimmering between the ancient dragon and the crimson dragon. The flames slammed into it, almost disintegrating it immediately. Nagano fell to her knees, but she gritted her teeth and struggled to withstand it. Eventually the ancient dragon's flames overwhelmed her defenses and washed over the crimson dragon.

However, Nagano's barrier had diminished most of the ancient dragon's firepower and the crimson dragon didn't get more than a few blisters. Being undead, it didn't even feel any pain snarling, it lashed out with its tail and now it was the ancient dragon's turn to be flung against the mountain. With a grunt, the ancient dragon struggled to its feet.

But the three-headed wyvern-dragon was now upon it, its trio of heads lashing and biting ferociously at the fatally hurt ancient dragon. Growing in defiance, the ancient dragon grabbed the necks of the wyvern-dragon and crushed them. Rearing back, it bathed the three-headed dragon in supernova flames that melted the graying scales of the zombie wyvern. Using brute force, it then ripped the two heads off the wyvern-dragon.

The remaining head wailed, but responded with a blast of necromantic flames. The ancient dragon, true to its reputation, countered that with a beautiful jab by plunging its claw right into the wyvern's jaw. The zombie's eyes widened, but it was too late. The necromantic flame washed back inside its own throat and it choked, its rotting tissue further damaged by its own foul magic. With a snarl, the ancient dragon then unleashed its flames on the trapped wyvern, which exploded.

"AAAARGH!"

The ancient dragon fell back, its claws now missing. Blood streamed from the rotting stump, with black corruption rapidly spreading over the severed limb like gangrene. Barely conscious from the excruciating pain, the ancient dragon amputated its own stump at the shoulder, using its other claws to slash off what remained of its arm. The rotting appendage fell to the ground and burst into dust.

"Hah…hah…"

The ancient dragon was heaving, both in pain and exhaustion. Its once regal features were now ashen, and blood profusely poured out of its shoulder. Shambling back, it turned to glare at me…

…only to see the enhanced undead crimson dragon lumbering toward it. Eldritch black-blue flames crackled along the dorsal spines of the immense dragon and its maw yawned.

"Fuck you, and fuck all of humanity," the ancient dragon spat before his head and the upper half of his body was obliterated by my undead dragon's atomic breath.