A creature as majestic as it was terrifying was running in the direction of the girls.
Its body was large, six meters tall and ten meters long.
Its scales were hardened to withstand great amounts of weight as well as heat.
It had minerals or gemstones embedded in its back, tail and elbows of its legs.
Its head had a diamond-shaped crown and its horns were horizontal reaching its jaw.
All its skin was brown like mud.
It was a medium-high level monster known as a dragon.
To be more specific, an earth dragon.
One of the many races of dragons out there.
But one of the two most powerful types.
Surpassed only by fire dragons for flying.
But they are superior to water, wind and wyvern dragons.
This creature could only be faced by A-ranked adventurers... but, even so, even they were not assured of victory.
"Here it comes!"
Celia shouted as they all moved into attack position.
She was in front, behind her Eli drawing her sword.
Lily was in the rear and Evelyn to Celia's side.
Evelyn was the first to attack according to Celia.
They had no experience in combat or in groups, but....
"-Evelyn, slow their paws!"
They had something special.
They were a harem team.
They were all in the same faction, there was a hierarchy and that hierarchy had to be respected.
Eli was at the head of that hierarchy, the others knew it, not even Lily who was her best friend would contradict her.
Therefore, Eli entrusted the task of leader to Celia because of her lack of experience.
She fought in different groups so she knows what she is doing.
Evelyn used magic.
"Mud magic!"
The earth where the dragon was passing through began to melt and turned to mud.
The dragon fell into it and looked like a dog in a pool.
"Princess your turn!"
Eli pointed her sword straight at the mud.
The bright red color of the flames enveloped her sword.
"Eat this! Fire magic!"
In the shape of a crescent moon, fire magic attacks were launched.
"Flaming cut!"
The crescent-shaped flames flew straight into the mud.
Their skin was tough; it was clear it wasn't going to work.
But they knew that.
Dragons were a class thing so everyone knew that.
Their weaknesses to be more clear.
The mud began to harden quickly and the dragon was trapped.
It could not get out as that slime was created by magical power.
The magical power increases the strength of the mud and with magical flames it gains more power.
Resulting in a perfect trap.
The dragon was motionless.
It was Lily's turn.
She was a support character dedicated to healing, her role was not to attack.
But that didn't matter to her at the moment.
She wanted to be useful.
For her sister.
For her family.
And mostly, for her beloved.
She learned something from the books about her friend.
As she clasped her hands together, a faint white light covered her body and then Lily screamed.
"Bonds of light!"
From the ground manifested a magic circle the covered the dragon's entire body.
White chains wrapped around his body which further immobilized him.
The dragon screamed as it could not move.
Now that he was immobile, it was her chance.
Celia loaded two bullets into her rifle.
One of them was an explosive and the other corrosive.
"Magic rifle: double load..."
She pointed the gun straight at the head.
"Holocaust of pain."
With that said, two projectiles shot out merging together.
A purple bullet hit the dragon's head.
A great explosion resounded in that place.
The girls were protected by Lily who created a shield.
The explosion was so big; the place was eroding.
When the explosion ended, the place reeked of sulfur.
The girls stayed there until the air was breathable.
Almost an hour, just lying there.
Lily was fine, so there were no problems.
On their way out, they went to check on the dragon.
It was dead.
Its skull was destroyed.
Its body torn apart.
The reason for that was because magical power was the only thing that could hurt it.
The girls screamed with joy.
But that joy was short-lived as from the background another dragon was coming.
This one was bigger and its skin was darker.
They made the same formation and it happened.
Evelyn first.
"Mud magic!"
Then Eli.
"Flaming cut!"
It was Lily's turn.
"Light bindings!"
And finally Celia.
"Holocaust of pain!"
And as it happened with the other dragon, this one was smeared in mud, hardened by heat, bound with chains of light and a great explosion.
The explosion was small.
It must have ended the same way.
"Yes, we killed a dragon!"
"We will be known as dragon slayers!"
"The profits for slaying one will be great!"
They all feasted with joy.
Evelyn ran straight to the corpse to check which parts were not destroyed.
That was her worst mistake.
"So, Eve-"
An object flew out at high speed and crashed into a wall.
Turning to see what it was, the faces of the three were mortified.
"lyn..."
Celia looked at the object embedded in the wall. Her face gradually became distorted by what she saw.
"Huh?"
Lily collapsed to the floor with tears in her eyes.
While Eli... "EVELYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYN!!!"
She screamed in horror at what she was looking at.
Her friend, Evelyn, had her stomach punctured by a large stalactite.
The entire stomach area was destroyed.
Blood was pouring out of her eyes, mouth, nose and ears.
Her legs and arms were broken.
Eli was trying to walk to check if he was okay.
She staggered.
Celia grabbed her by the shoulders.
"We must leave right now Elize!"
"But... what about Evelyn?"
"She's not here anymore, we must leave as soon as possible!"
From the background Celia watched as little by little the dragon rose uninjured.
From the resistance to that damage, it must be an alpha dragon, a dragon king.
Dragon kings were the epitome of monstrous strength in a dragon's nest.
They were surpassed only by the dragon gods.
Not even an ancient dragon can defeat them.
"Something like this is normal in adventurers' jobs!"
"We were too stupid and overconfident!"
"We should get out of here and call for reinforcements!"
Eli was crying.
Something like this was impossible to imagine.
Her legs were unresponsive.
Celia left Eli to grab Lily who was still vomiting on the floor.
Grabbing both of their hands, they ran off at the top of their lungs.
"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Damn it! Damn it!"
Her breathing was heavy from the recent event.
"You must be fucking kidding meeeeeeeeeee!"
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
She lost partners, but they were not people close to them.
Evelyn was someone she could get attached to because she was cute and fragile.
Now she was nothing more than a piece of meat.
They all ran crying to get out of there for their lives.
But that being would not let them.
The earth dragon king took a great leap and stood in their way.
As it stopped, they could all feel the cold embrace and caress of death surround them.
The dragon's mouth opened and a light emerged from the back of its throat.
Celia closed her eyes, Lily cried out Razel's name while Eli loved her mother.
The end of these girls came.
... Or so it was supposed to.
A large object jumped from behind and bit the dragon king's neck.
Celia opened her eyes and couldn't believe her eyes.
"Another earth dragon?"
A different earth dragon appeared and bit the dragon that was trying to kill them.
The new dragon tore off the scales and then the skin of its prey.
Red blood spurted out painting the walls like a fire hose.
After a few seconds of the fight, it was all over.
The golem lamps were with them, glowing brightly to illuminate the creature.
A beautiful dragon that looked like a wolf was in front of them.
Its scales were reddish like bricks.
Its claws were red and the tips of its tail looked like a spiral of spikes.
Its back had no minerals or anything, but on its sides it possessed something similar to wings made of rainbow-colored quartz.
Crystals grew from its neck giving it the appearance of hair and its head was shaped like a wolf.
Its eyes were golden and of a normal reptile.
It possessed four horns: two front horns pointing downwards and two rear horns pointing backwards in a U-shape.
It was majestic to see.
But at the same time the girls were terrified.
The danger had not yet passed.
Celia swallowed saliva.
"Princess, I'll play the dream and you'll escape."
"Huh? What are you saying!"
"It's the only way for anyone to escape, I have magic grenades so I'll be able to be a perfect decoy. Consider this my way of attributing to your house."
Celia's resolve was clear; her sacrifice was imminent.
"Now, go!"
She released the hands of the protagonist and the villainess to flee.
She was a NPC of the game, but one person of this world.
She was showing that she wanted to at least protect someone before she died.
But, the moment they got separated and Celia took a grenade.
(What are you doing?)
She stopped because of a mysterious voice.
She didn't understand what she heard, but she didn't care.
(I hope you're not going to do something silly like that?)
"Again!" Celia was starting to get scared because of the mysterious voice.
(I'm here.)
Her eyes moved to the front, in the direction of the dragon.
Before she could press the button for the explosion countdown.
(Is this how humans thank the one who saves their life?)
She dropped the grenade.
(They are the worst race on the planet for a reason.)
And she uttered words of fantasy for a fantasy world.
"... It spoke. The dragon spoke."
"Eh... eeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Celia's eyes almost popped out.
Eli and Lily stopped for the same reason.
"Eeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhh!"
Neither could believe their eyes.
(What's wrong with you humans? Is this the first time you've seen a talking dragon?)
"HE SPOKEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"THE DRAGON SPOKE!"
The dragon looked at them as if he were a freak.
(What nasty humans.)
◇◇◇
Several minutes passed once they calmed down.
When their hearts no longer gave the impression of beating out of their chest, they heard the dragon.
(My name is Fanoss. I am the earth dragon king of this territory.)
The words came not from his mouth, but from his pharynx.
(Because dragon kings are very advanced beings, we developed the ability to communicate with other species. You hear a reconstruction of different sounds that I make with my pharynx at great speed).
None of them knew what to answer as it became more and more surreal.
(If you wish to know about me, I was given the name by a legendary warrior many moons ago. If I am not mistaken, it was about 600 moons).
(That warrior defeated me and gave me a name as a reward for a good fight. I was joyful, it was thanks to that individual that I became a dragon king).
(As time went by, I grew older until I became a wise dragon.)
"Wise dragon, you say?"
(That's right. Wise dragons are those who can talk and reason. Those who don't are just beasts that kill.")
"This... dragon lord." Lily said sheepishly.
"Why did he help us?"
The dragon, Fanoss looked at them.
"It's normal for a fool to come for my life, there were a few today, already found two who fled from my power. And, when I saw them in danger, I felt bad for you."
Celia ducked her head.
"If only you had shown up earlier... one of our friends wouldn't have."
They all stared at the floor at the tragedy.
"Did something happen?"
"One of our friends was killed by the dragon you killed."
Eli said, looking at the ground.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Her body is over there."
Celia pointed in one direction.
Fanoss turned his head and said.
"There's just a stain there."
"Well, it is, but there's also a punctured body.
"I know humans are strange beings, but are they also blind? Your companion is with you."
"Stop making fun of us! A good girl was killed by one of your own..."
"No. As I tell you, there's no such thing. There are four of you in front of me."
"You're very nasty you know."
"Here, Celia-chan."
"Thank you."
Celia accepted a handkerchief from behind her back.
After taking it...
"Huh?"
She realized something.
At her side was Lily and at the other was Eli.
So whose hand was that?
After turning around.
"I'm glad they're okay."
Evelyn with her face covered in blood was smiling at him.
"GYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
Eli and Lily also looked back and screamed.
They all screamed again.
They watched Evelyn covered in blood with her clothes shredded, but her wounds were healed.
They all stood up and started groping Evelyn.
Lily touched her belly, Eli her face and Celia groped her breasts and ass.
"Kyyyyyyyaaaaaaaah!"
Evelyn shouted and all the others backed away.
"Evelyn... it's you, isn't it?"
Evelyn, the girl who should be dead, smiled.
"Yes. I'm sorry I made you worry, but... you didn't want you to know my secret."
The girls had a lot to say.
But Evelyn reassured them by saying.
"This is a secret that only my father should know."
She moved her hands to her chest.
And, as if it were a closed food pouch.
She opened it and they all could see something unimaginable.
"Evelyn... you."
Where a heart should be, there was a red magic stone.
"Are you a Doll?"
She shook her head.
"Wrong, I'm something very different. Maybe you guys know it as the latest breakthrough in alchemist magic."
Eli remembered something from long ago, her mouth dropped open.
"Homunculus."
Neither could believe that.
"But, it was only supposed to be an urban legend!"
"Creating a human being by such an ancient practice is impossible!"
"It's not if you have the right magic stone. My father years ago found it, a source of great magical power capable of supplying electrical power for decades or perhaps centuries, the legendary..."
Eli completed Evelyn's words.
"Philosopher's Stone. But, something like that is an urban legend, the reason why alchemy is nothing more than a memory is precisely because of that."
Evelyn smiled as she closed her chest.
"My father told me, that he wanted to have a family, he had been so many years trying to have children with different women, but it was useless. Then, one day he found the solution to create a living vessel that ages using ancient medicines."
"The materials were different, but the oldest of them and vital was a tulip growing in the vanfield forest."
Celia recalled a certain mission of her father's on which she could not go.
"It can't be."
"Yes."
Evelyn nodded.
"Thanks to that. My father was able to create a fake human body that can pass for a normal human being."
An awkward silence ensued.
"Don't judge my father please, he just wanted to have a daughter. He had me, I thank him for everything he did, and I will never regret it. I would like to ask you please, don't spread this around, if you wish I will leave, but I ask that-"
Lily quickly stood up and hugged Evelyn.
Next to do so was Eli and last was Celia.
As she cried, they all shouted at her in that order.
"You scared me!"
"Don't ever lie to us again!"
"You're not dead because that stone can cure you, right?! Don't be an idiot, just because the stone cures you of everything, doesn't mean you're immortal!"
"Hey, aren't you mad at me for lying and not being human?"
"Of course not! I'm glad you're alive!"
"I really suffered for you, I don't want to feel that again!"
"Don't ever hide anything from us again! Did you hear?"
Evelyn began to cry.
"Yes... I won't lie again.
Fanoss saw that and seemed to smile.
(It's a very emotional moment.)
◇◇◇
"Where are you taking us dragon-chan?"
Fanoss carried them on his back straight to the exit.
Lily got acquainted with him very quickly.
(You girls are very fragile; you'd be eaten easily.)
"Thank you."
Eli thanked her from the bottom of his heart, but not only was the mission in charge of the palace not over, there were no earth-eating worms either.
Bad things would happen if they came back empty-handed.
Eli didn't know what to say back to the palace.
She was very worried about it.
(We arrived.)
She was getting ready to get down and go straight home, but as she lifted her face.
She observed a secret area of the cave.
Her red eyes glittered with the rare minerals that were hidden here.
(I don't like these things, they are too bright and keep me awake. The other dragons you saw are intruders. I can deal with them only if they promise to come and visit me).
The girls didn't understand why a dragon was helping them so much, but they thought it was because she was alone.
If so, they didn't mind coming to visit him.
"With this, Rosenberg Household will be able to sell for the most and at a great price for our funds!"
"Yay, money~!"
They were all happy, and hugged Fanoss.
A dragon helping humans was crazy, let alone a friendly one.
But he had a reason for doing it, and it was simple.
The serious expression on his lizard face warped into a green old man's face.
(Cute girls are the best! Their bodies are so soft!)
(Their thighs are so plump and pink! Their butts are so soft that riding me generates a nice sensation!)
(Best of all is the pressure of their breasts against my body. Aah, this is wonderful!)
Those awful thoughts had only one explanation, and that was.
(I never expected it to use my gaming avatar as my new name! Fantasy worlds for losers kept by their mothers is the best!)
He was a reincarnate.
And not just a normal one, a nasty overweight over forty-year-old hermit passed away while having fun with his pillow, but a heart attack ended his life and he ended up here.
As an earth dragon king, who happened to be one of the strongest pets of a demon king.
Surely the girls must never find out about this.
For their sake.
(Gentle schoolgirls are the best!)