Chapter 22: A dragon and a human.

Rigel knocked on the door to Hugo's office, and he heard Hugo's trembling voice telling him to come in. When he entered the office, he saw Hugo sitting at his desk, staring out the window with mixed emotions written on his face.

"I'll be taking my leave, Sir," Rigel looked at Hugo.

Hugo turned around to look at Rigel and he looked confused, "Where are you going?" He looked at the sword on Rigel's back and wondered if Rigel planned to hunt more monsters.

"To face the black dragon," Rigel answered without hesitation and his eyes were filled with determination and confidence. "I'm not going to ask for help this time, and I prefer to be alone," he added.

"Are you thinking of killing yourself because you lost an arm?" Hugo found Rigel's answer ridiculous and didn't make sense. "If you think you're useless, you're not," he pointed out because he believed Rigel was putting on an act to hide his true feelings.

Rigel furrowed and had no idea what Hugo was talking about. It seemed there was a misunderstanding between him and Hugo, but he didn't try to clarify the misunderstanding. He had a plan in mind, and he didn't plan to stick around with Hugo and the others since he planned to enter the tower.

"It's complicated, Sir. I'm not looking for validation here, and I have my own reason why I'm doing this," Rigel responded as he looked at his hand. "I'm planning to kill the black dragon, no, I'll kill it," he stared into Hugo's eyes with a serious expression.

Hugo raised his eyebrows as he held his breath because he didn't know if he should believe in Rigel, support him, or doubt him. He only stared at Rigel without saying a word.

"I'll take my leave, Sir," Rigel said and then left the room and closed the door.

Rigel grabbed a bag and took a few MREs that was enough for a few days. He didn't need guns anymore with the sword he had, so he left with only a sword and a bag full of rations. He didn't tell anyone about him leaving, and then he was gone into the city and disappeared into the night.

2 days had passed, and Rigel reached the border of the Czech Republic. He saw the whole country in flames, and the flames couldn't be extinguished. The fire was different from any normal fire because it was from the black dragon's mouth, something magical that no humans could understand.

He could see wyverns flying in the sky filled with dark clouds because of the black thick smoke that formed those dark clouds. Nobody was sane enough or brave enough to set foot into the dragon's lair, but not Rigel. He walked into the flattened land without any fear in his heart.

Because of the black thick smoke, his movements were undetectable by the wyverns. It gave him the advantage of approaching the black dragon that was right in the center of the country. He could see how big the dragon was from a far distance, and whenever the black dragon stretched its long neck, it almost reached 100 meters while its body was lying on the ground.

Rigel looked at his right hand and wondered why his hand felt so numb for the past 2 months. He could feel tingles on his wrist up to his fingertips, but he didn't know what caused it. He had a hunch that it had something to do with the stone that he absorbed from the drake because he remembered he was paralyzed from his legs up to his nape.

"My chest was burning after I took the Wyrm's stone, then my body was paralyzed after I took the Drake's stone. One is fire and the other is lightning," Rigel muttered as he clenched his fist, trying to let the blood flow on his hand. "I'll get the answer soon enough," he sighed.

After taking the safest route, he could see the black dragon sleeping around 200 meters in front of him. The back dragon was massive and its black wings that were lying on the ground were as wide as a football field or even wider.

"There's no going back now," Rigel walked quietly as he unsheathed the sword and held it tightly.

The black dragon opened its eyes because it felt a threat coming toward it. When it looked ahead, it saw Rigel walking with a sword in his hand. The dragon immediately stood up and its height was 200 meters and then it roared as it spread its massive wings.

No matter how strong a person could be, there was no way they could kill that dragon. The size difference was too much and the dragon could easily burn them to a crisp, not to mention it could fly. But Rigel kept walking and stared into the dragon's eyes, challenging its existence.

The dragon roared down right on top of Rigel's head, mocking his existence in exchange. The roar was so loud it shook the ground, extinguished the flames, and blew the thick smoke away.

Rigel couldn't cover both his ears, and he collapsed and fell to his knees, realizing the difference in the hierarchy of existence. He was a mere mortal trying to fight a mythical being where the legends said their existence was close to creation itself. His head was spinning from that and he lost his strength as he trembled in fear, but he tried to overcome it and used the sword that he stabbed on the ground to support his body.

The dragon looked at Rigel and it knew that it would be a waste to kill him with its might and otherworldly strength. But then it heard Rigel's scream of resistance, trying to stand up, and glared at the dragon with determination to fight. The dragon took a second to look at him until it suddenly moved its head and bit Rigel's body into its mouth, leaving only his legs behind on the ground and the rest inside its mouth.

Rigel didn't realize his lower half was gone as he saw how terrifying the inside of the dragon's mouth was. Its razor-sharp teeth, rough and muscular tongue, and lastly the bright red light that emitted from its throat. He didn't hesitate to crawl into the dragon's throat and then stabbed his sword against the wall of muscle and flesh.

He tried to stab it as deep as he could and then pulled the sword down with him to hurt the dragon as much as he could. But he felt a hot and stinging pain under his waist, and when he looked down he saw boiling saliva that looked like lava. The dragon spat the saliva and burned Rigel's whole body, killing him slowly and painfully.

"Gah!" Rigel opened his eyes and gasped for air because the last thing he remembered was inhaling the boiling saliva that was so hot it burned his lungs. The image of him dying back there was still vivid and he couldn't stop trembling.

"You really lived up your life," Lysara'elmaris said as she walked out of the corner. "Everything that you did, entertained me," she looked at Rigel and she looked happy with Rigel's decision in dealing with things.

Rigel took a deep breath with his eyes closed as he tried to erase that lingering fear and pain. After he managed to calm himself down and get rid of those emotions, he opened his eyes. He realized he was no longer inside the cathedral, he was in a narrow hallway with chains hanging from the ceiling and nailed to the walls.

"Have you calmed down?" Lysara'elmaris asked as she stood with grace.

Rigel nodded his head and he noticed the unfamiliar scent that somehow made him feel at ease. He realized the scent was coming from Lysara'elmaris's body, and made him wonder if she was trying to comfort him or if it was just her natural scent.

"Who would have thought to see you again so soon, Rigel," Lysara'elmaris stared into Rigel's eyes with her expressionless face. "What about this time? Was that death on purpose or not?" she asked.

Rigel remembered that Lysara'elmaris had warned him that if he died like a fool for the second time, she wouldn't bring him back to life again. He was so afraid to tell her the truth, but he didn't want to lie or make an excuse.

"I was planning to die, but this is better than I had expected. I never thought the dragon would swallow me," Rigel answered.

"Of course, he would. You possessed a lot of nutritious power inside you," Lysara'elmaris pointed out as she walked past Rigel. "Those stones that you absorbed, they're something that anyone wished to have, even a dragon couldn't resist taking them," she continued.

"I was about to ask you about that," Rigel said and looked at Lysara'elmaris' pale shoulders and how slim her body was from behind. "What are those stones? And why does my body react to them?" he asked.

"It's time for you to learn how to utilize them," Lysara'elmaris raised her eyebrows. "It's time for you to learn how to use magic," she glanced at Rigel from over her right shoulder.