The cabin Bright had built was now reduced to nothing but a bout of flames and rubble. The sight before me made my heart drop immediately. Bright grabbed my hand as I attempted to step toward the burning cabin.
"Don't panic, Til and Hina are still alive. I can sense their auras nearby" He says.
I nod, but even so, I was still pissed. Who could possibly do something like this? He tightly gripped my hand, I could see from his expression that something wasn't right.
"Don't react but we're surrounded from all sides." He says softly.
Bright had noticed the humans inching closer as they gathered from all sides. How long have they been there?
"Hey, you there! Where is the monster that lives here!" A voice shouts among the large group of humans that have gathered.
Before Bright could answer, another human whispered something to the human man while also staring in Reesa's direction.
A lit torch swung in her direction, "what's this now? Is there a reason you have an ogre by your side?" The human leader asked. Judging from that disgusting leer in his gaze, he didn't have any good intentions in asking that question.
"Whose asking?" Bright asked stepping a bit in front of Reesa to block their gazes.
"You don't need to know. If you hand over the ogre woman then I'll give this one to you." The man held up a hand.
Another human, female, stepped from the trees. Til was forcibly being held hostage by this person, but there was no sign of Hina. It made sense though, because there was no way human trash like these guys would have been able to capture her so easily anyways.
"Master!" Til calls out.
The man smirked while looking in their direction, "as I thought. The orc boy belonged to you."
The woman unsheathed her dagger and placed the blade to Til's neck. Reesa tried to go around Bright, but he stopped her. "You dare!" Reesa's expression showed anger to a max degree. He wasn't even sure if he have ever seen her this mad before.
He needed to get them out of this situation. With Til in their possession, things weren't looking good. Its a wonder they hadn't just killed him for being a monster. There was only one way he could fight this.
"I won't hand over the merchandise I bought with all my money. If I hand her over, how will you compensate me?" Bright asked the man.
"How about this. As the only ogre in the area, it must be reasonable to hand over the criminal responsible for the deaths of many humans, right?" The man asked with a smirk.
Bright flinched. So, this is where they want to lead it. They can't bargain the normal way, so they'll lay the blame on her instead. "And what makes you sure that it was my ogre that did it? She's only a normal ogre." Bright says.
The human man slightly narrowed his eyes, "that is where you're wrong. And I'm certain you know that since you refuse to give her up. That ogre is a Demon Kijin that just evolved into a First-Rank Noble. I'm not blind." The human man stated.
Not good. Bright gripped her hand even tighter his gaze narrowing a bit.
"If you don't want to hand her over then I won't hesitate to..."
"Let's stop there." Bright interrupts.
The human man does not relax his stance and kept his gaze on Reesa.
"What is your name, Human?" He asked.
The man stepped a bit more forward. Bright could already tell that the man was of noble birth due to his appearance.
"Prince Judus Artemis," He answered.
"Prince Judus, I am Bright, I am the owner of this mountain. While I am sorry for the loss of your people, I will have to deny your request. Hand over the child and leave here." He tells him.
Prince Judus did not waver, instead he narrows his gaze, "there's no way I can agree. We will kill this orc child and that woman there. We won't leave until our fellow men are avenged!" Prince Judus roars.
"And what if I say that you have the wrong people?" Bright asked.
"There's no way! That monster definitely had a hand in it! And why should we not kill the orc, he's a monster isn't he? If you choose to protect them then even if you're a human I will have no choice but to kill you!" Prince Judus says with determination.
"So, you had no intention of letting go of Til." Reesa says her anger boiling even more.
Dammit! This is going south fast!
The mana Reesa had buried deep inside began to pour out in waves. It was so dense that the humans could not ignore it. While they were dead set on putting the blame on her, it was the mana spilling out which sealed the deal.
This set out a chain reaction. The human female with the dagger pressed to Til's neck suddenly screamed out. Blood spilling from the place her arm used to be. Til no longer stood amongst the crowd of humans and the woman was on the ground screaming in a painful agony.
"Agh! My Arm!" she cries her face pale as a ghost.
Standing on the other side of Bright was Hina who had just rescued Til single-handedly. Looks like her training has been going well. The humans were trying their best to calm the woman down while also staying alert.
"What the hell!? What just happened??" the panicked humans seemed to be quite confused.
Til looked up at Bright who reached down to pat his head. It seems he could no longer play nice, he had given up on reasoning with these pathetic beings. Bright gently pushed Til toward the other two, "I'll handle it, you two stay with Reesa," He ordered.
"Yes Master!" Hina and Til chorused.
He faced the humans before him, "I guess I have no choice but to show you the real me." He says showing a malicious expression.
Well, it's been a while since he killed a few humans. A few more should be no problem, right?
[Prince Judus's Perspective]
The mistake that he never thought he could make, happened on this very mountain. The first mistake was his lack of knowledge about the legend of this mountain. And the second mistake was pissing off the very legend that resided in this mountain. Staring up at the shiny gold scales of a large and magnificent being, Prince Judus was at a loss for words.
It's a dragon!
It's the most terrifying and amazing thing he's ever witnessed .Why would there be such a thing here in the Kingdom of Artemis?
(Do you realize your mistake, human known as Judus?) The voice spoke to him mentally.
Sir Roman who stood next to him quickly turned to him, "Prince, what are your orders?" He asked desperately.
"Amazing," He mutters. He sat there completely dazed.
"Your Highness! Snap out of it! If we don't act now, we could all die here!?" Sir Roman yells.
"What of it? We do not fear that dragon!" A few adventurers stepped forward at that moment and pointed toward the dragon.
That's right! He had almost forgotten about the adventurers!
(What bold words coming from such weak creatures. Then I shall show you the might of an Ancient Dragon such as myself. I dare not let my future Mistress dirty her hands with such miscreants!) The dragon roars.
"Wait!" Someone from the crowd yells but it was too late for the adventurers that decided to face the dragon.
Because now the adventurers were reduced to ashes in a spit second.
A woman wearing a Mage's robes emerged from the crowd, followed by three others.
"If we face this dragon we will all be massacred within seconds, besides those adventurers that just lost their lives. All of us will surely also perish." She says.
The look on her face gave Prince Judus pause, "how do you know if we don't try?" He asked.
"Did you not hear him? He's an Ancient Dragon! That is a rare type dragon that hasn't existed for more than a thousand years! Besides that he killed those adventurers without hesitation!" She yells.
Prince Judus wasn't sure what this has to do with anything, but her expression was not only of curiosity but a mixture of pure fear. While it was true that this dragon killed those adventurers just now, does that truly mean that he was unbeatable? Does being an Ancient Dragon make him something they could not go up against?
(What a wise Mage. That is right, I am the Great Ancient Dragon Yset Bright. And I am the first of the Four Ancient Dragons to live for more than two thousand years." The dragon spoke.
The mage gawked with disbelief, it was even more shameless for her to let he curiosity win over her reason. "Yset Bright? That Ancient Dragon who is said to have destroyed half the human population four thousand years ago?" She asked.
(So, you know me. I'm honored. I might just let you live.) He says.
"We cannot allow such a monster to live!" Someone shouts.
That is true. Having something that strong nearby could be a problem for not only the human race but the whole world, especially one that just recently killed humans in front of them. No one was backing down despite what they all heard, a dragon which from four thousand years ago nearly took out all of the population was still standing until this day.
This only meant one thing, even then, no one could kill him. Damn, this is looking bad. Is there really no way? This dragon did not care for human life and it seems he'll protect that demon woman even if it meant killing all of them here right now.
(What will you humans decide, leave or be destroyed right here?)
The Dragon Yset Bright asked, his massive amount of mana pouring out and inflicting a sense of warning.