Asahi shook off the dragons, who gripped his arms. He pulled their cheeks as if he was punishing two mischievous kids. "You both are annoying me. And Ddraig, you. Are you scared of fighting Great Red in her peak form?"
Ddraig dodged his inquisitive gaze. "I'll always play catch up if you train her. She learns so fast from you. I can never beat her if she keeps growing!"
She had seen Ruby's growth. The dragon god went through massive changes during the brief battle. With Asahi's training, she'd grow beyond her imagination.
Asahi let the two go and pulled at Ddraig's demon-like horn. "Since when did you become a pussy? Are you the same Red Dragon Emperor who fought with Albion for centuries?"
Ddraig was a battle maniac, someone who could give up her life for a good battle. She drastically mellowed down after giving her concession to be the core of the Boosted Gear. As if she lost her fondness for battles or it wasn't as prevalent as before.
Asahi narrowed his eyes on Klyscha, who clasped her hand behind her back and whistled. The culprit was standing before him!
"I have had enough of one eternal rival with Albion." Ddraig waved her horns to shake him off. "You and Klyscha are my goal. Ruby is just a side objective. I want to beat her soon and move on!"
"A side objective?" Ruby wrapped her fist in sturdy red scales. "This side objective can obliterate your soul."
Asahi ignored the two dragons. His instincts refused to accept Ddraig's passionate words at face value. She was lying, or she didn't realize the words coming out of her mouth were dishonest, contrary to her real desires.
Klyscha snapped her finger. The clouds parted, and the sky ripped apart. A dazzling light beam poured down on Ddraig. So quick that Ddraig couldn't react. The beam of light rained down on her for a few seconds, then gradually faded.
"What in tarnation was that?" Ddraig confusedly looked around, checking her hands for any injury. "You did it again, Klyscha. You desperate goddess who can't have enough of his cock—" Ddraig covered her mouth, which blabbered words out of control.
'Why am I badmouthing Klyscha?!'
Klyscha folded her arms under her breasts. "I made you reveal the thought hidden deep within your consciousness. They are the most disturbing but also the most honest thoughts harbored in your mind."
Ruby gave an amused smile at Klyscha's explanation. "You're truly a frightening opponent. How much can you achieve with your control over dreams?"
"…Anything."
Klyscha had no limits when it came to dreams, even in her inferior vessel.
"Then why are you letting Asahi conquer other women? You can just show his dreams and whatnot about his desired women. Isn't that easy for you?"
Ruby would have done what she said if she was in Klyscha's position. She was possessive of her things, otherwise, she wouldn't have kept Ophis away from her home for so long. All dragons shared her trait to different degrees.
"It wouldn't work." Klyscha looked at Asahi. "My love doesn't just want to fuck women. He wants to conquer their hearts and develop a meaningful relationship."
"You can do that in dreams, too. Create a loop of dreams and trap him inside. He wouldn't know."
"Oi, stop giving her evil ideas."
Asahi intervened. He trusted Klyscha with everything but Ruby was going too far in provoking Klyscha. If Klyscha ever had a mood swing, his life would crumble.
"Dream and Reality overlap when you're at my level…" Klyscha muttered. "Ruby, I am here to give him happiness. Taking away his freedom is… not the way to achieve it… Enough about me! My love, let's interrogate this depraved dragon!"
"Who are you calling depraved?! I will—"
Ddraig whined for a moment before her hands flew to cover her mouth. She had to literally shut her mouth to stop leaking her inner thoughts.
Asahi walked up to Ddraig. "Why are you against the idea of me training Ruby?"
He peeled off her hands, leaving her with no room to wriggle out of this situation.
"I don't like it when I picture you training her. I am your pet, darn it. You tamed me first. Why are you giving her more attention than me?!" Ddraig poured her heart out and stared blankly, stunned by her own rapid fire confession.
"You're jealous." "She is jealous."
Asahi and Klyscha spoke in unison, revealing Ddraig's intention behind her angst for Ruby.
The Dragon God in question burst into laughter. "You…" Ruby coughed, holding back her laughter. "Pet, taming, attention. Ddraig is a cute dragon. No, a cute pet."
"Stop." Ddraig clutched her head as she got on her knees and hid herself in the grass. "Stop! Stop! Why does everyone bully me? I am Ddraig, the Red Dragon Emperor. People fear me, respect me, and admire my strength. Hic, why does nobody take me seriously?"
Her mental breakdown stunned everyone. Klyscha's reality warping powers lowered Ddraig's mental defense; it worked too well on her. It reminded Asahi of Ddraig's depression in the novel after Issei became famous as the Oppai Dragon and the Breast Dragon Emperor. Asahi bent down in front of her and rubbed her horns. Her tough horns were slippery to hold.
"Klyscha, remove the spell."
"Done." Klyscha kneeled beside Asahi and patted Ddraig's back. "You don't need to cry. You're a big dragon."
Asahi gently lifted her horns, revealing her tear-stained face. Seeing the dragon mommy of his dreams cry was adorable and pitiful at the same time. The fact that she held up until now was a testament to her willpower. After all, she died, willingly agreed to be a part of a destructive weapon made of her remains, got tamed as a pet, and received teasing on a daily basis by Klyscha. She went through things no other dragon could even imagine.
"Ddraig, I bully you because I take you as my family. 'Treat me like your kin.' You proposed it yourself."
Ddraig sniffed and rubbed her tears with her fingers. He gently beckoned and all her tears drifted away. The droplets hovered there for a moment before vaporizing into steam.
Ddraig pulled herself to her feet and tried to flex her biceps. "Asahi, spar with me. I'll show you the strength of my new human form."
"Yes."
"I'll—" Ruby's words cut off as her voice became silent.
"Sit on the sidelines today. We'll fight next time. Observing and learning is your lesson for today."
Ruby heard Asahi's voice inside her head and nodded. If she wasn't dealing with Asahi, she'd have acted overbearing and forced him to agree. She did the same in Mount Olympus, creating a ruckus that'd certainly go down in history as one of the disasters.
Ddraig smashed her knuckles against each other and her aura surged, manifesting as faint red energy around her. Her skin hardened and split, transforming into scales similar to the scales found on her body.
Ddraig's dragon armor was darker than Ruby's humanoid vessel and far more sleek. Ruby felt like an idiot, once again. Ddraig created a vessel comparable to her with the same ability of manifesting dragon scales without sacrificing any beauty.
'My first vessel was ugly.'
Then again, her perception was different before she tasted a definite victory at Asahi's hands. She would probably never go back to her dragon form. The sense of freedom in a small vessel was phenomenal.
***
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