| 037 | A Dragon All Along

The feeling when you confront your suicidal friend as they hopped off the roof while smiling at you before disappearing and turning into a gargantuan pitch-black serpentine dragon was a strange and unique feeling.

It wasn't just any serpentine dragon. It might as well be an eastern dragon with a length of 300 meters and a diameter of 20 meters. 

Abraham felt complicated, yet somewhat amazed by the intriguing circumstances he found himself in.

To think that his dragoness friend would actually be a real dragon. It was within understandable terms that she was but a humanoid beastfolk with dragon-like traits. But to literally transform a dragon? 

It was nothing short of a fantasy. 

"You're crazy, Laplace." He smiled as though not bothered by the massive pitch-black serpentine dragon gazing at him with its dominating golden eyes.

'That's the first someone said such words to me.' A soft voice echoed in his mind while the serpentine dragon lightly growled at the Fleet Admiral.

At first, Abraham was surprised to hear the voice of Laplace inside his mind. But it wasn't unbelievable as she had recently become a dragon in mere seconds.

The capabilities she had might be a lot stranger than he had previously thought. 

"Hmm. How would they act, then?" Abraham inquired with light curiosity. The bit of dread that shrouded his heart faded through the calmness of the remarkable situation.

'Well, it was along the lines of… Crying for mercy, screaming for help, running away, or kneeling and praying for divine grace.' Laplace responded with intrigued.

Abraham, the man who had freed her, was always strange. The way he acted was different, somewhat foreign compared to the usual common sense of the world.

It was a breath of fresh air, but it was also an invitation to curious thoughts regarding who he might really be and what his United Navy really was.

Abraham raised an eyebrow after hearing Laplace's response. The expected reactions weren't far-fetched as Abraham could already imagine it in his mind.

Crying for mercy when cornered by a gargantuan serpentine dragon. Screaming for help, not wanting to face the force of nature alone.

Running away, which was the smartest choice, though a useless one. And finally, praying to the serpentine dragon, giving faith and devotion.

Practically, surrendering themselves to the force beyond their comprehension. 

"That may be because I feel a bit jealous of your ability. Transforming into a giant eastern dragon is cool and exciting. Obviously, this may be because I don't understand the implications of becoming one."

"But to be honest, I don't care what implications there are. The ability to become a dragon is amazing." Abraham was honest with his answers.

"And it's not like I didn't fear you, at first. I just got over it when I realized that it was you all along. Besides, anyone would feel the dread of meeting a giant dragon face to face for the first time."

One sometimes wonders whether or not the Fleet Admiral had maxed out his speech skills. For a recovering man from the realms of deviousness, he was great at his words.

'Abraham, you're still hitting on me even though I'm practically a giant serpentine dragon. A fang of mine is already the size of your body.'

'You're interesting…' The pitch-black eastern dragon let out a silent growl as its head levitated nearer to the Fleet Admiral. 

*Ding!*

| I believe that the dragoness just accused you of being a fur- |

'Shut it, Systema. I'm not one of them. And to be fair, dragons are awesome.' Abraham felt embarrassed as the two were now condemning him of baseless accusations. 

| It ain't baseless if every moment you talk to the dragoness. You try to charm her with your maxed-out speech of eagle freedom. |

'What- And where did you learn that?' He felt confused as his precious partner was starting to punch him with accusation after accusation even though he was innocent.

| An unproven innocence. |

'Yeah, yeah…' Abraham shook his head and looked at the golden and arrogant gaze of the pitch-black eastern dragon.

Even though it seemed like the dragon was looking down on him. Abraham couldn't fight against the allure of regality that the dragoness unconscionably emitted. 

"That's just how I am, Laplace. And despite being a dragon, you're as beautiful as you were before. Perhaps, a bit better." Abraham found the eastern dragon form awesome.

He wouldn't deny such a basic fact.

'I guess you haven't changed. You're the same as the moment I met you.'

"Which hasn't been that long," Abraham added, which made the pitch-black eastern dragon chuckle. 

'At any rate, Fleet Admiral of the United Navy. How about we plan our counter-attack. The Elder Leviathan is a vengeful being. It wouldn't leave your fleet alone, even if you don't instigate it.'

Laplace decided to change the subject to the pressing one, which was the lurking Elder Leviathan at the bottom of the high seas.

Abraham realized that he was so consumed with his conversation with an actual dragon that he forgot for a second about the circumstances they found themselves in.

"Understood, let's strategize."

"Let's first start with how to bring the Leviathan Alpha or Elder Leviathan out of the cradles of the abyss," Abraham uttered, to which Laplace immediately replied.

'I'll handle that.'

"Okay, assuming you got the guy into the surface. We'll assist you however we can against the fish. I'm sure you don't want to be spoon-fed of your deserved victory, correct?"

With the existence of a gargantuan eastern dragon, he was confident in fighting against Leviathan Alpha. After all, what's better than having a monster brawl in the middle of the seas.

'It looks like you understand me very much, Abraham. I don't really try to fight against Leviathans as I have no reason to do so, but that doesn't mean I'm weaker than them.'

Laplace stated with unmatched arrogance, befitting the dragoness. 

It made the devious side of Abraham imagine him being stepped on and insulted by the dragoness. However, such devious thought was quickly thrown away into the void of his mind.

Where it will never be heard of ever again. 

"That sounds convincing." Abraham nodded in understanding and remarked. 

'I shall haul the Elder Leviathan to the surface then. I'll be up in a moment, Abraham.'

'Take care.' Her soft and enticing voice sounded out in his mind.

Abraham swiftly got out of his trance and saw the pitch-black eastern dragon grinning at him, showing off its silver fangs that were the size of the middle-aged man.

It then turned its massive head to the rough waters and quickly slithered towards the tides. It plunged into the ocean and swam inside of it with an unmatched speed.

A brawl between two monsters was about to begin.

"Captain Lux, you can get out now," Abraham muttered after some time of staring into the vicious seas. Behind him were several Marines emerging from the metallic doorway.

With them was the captain of the UNS Light Bringer, Captain Lux. From his expression, he appeared to be extremely worried.

But Abraham didn't have an interest in explaining much for now. Instead, what he needed to do first was keep his promise and prepare the armada for the battle.