< 137. There Are No Bad Dragons in the World (9) >
If the fur of a tri-colored cat on a white canvas looks like a pattern made by dropping two types of paint and letting it spread, the scales of a tri-colored dragon (三色龍) resemble sedimentary layers distinguished by era. Among Kentus's dragon scales, the golden ones revealed Lord's genes.
Therefore, Min-jun naturally had high expectations. He believed Kentus would be a strong dragon for his age.
Dragon Lord was the strongest dragon on Earth before his death. Of course, he lived the longest, but there was more to it. Min-jun knew that even when he was young, Dragon Lord was classified as a monster among dragons. Thus, it was reasonable to expect Kentus, who inherited relatively pure blood, to be formidable.
However, the current fight between the two dragons showed that Kentus's strenuous struggle seemed quite unsatisfactory.
The magic being cast was not bad for his age. Though somewhat slow, it was properly executed and released. In contrast, his opponent, Bogor, did not seem to recite impressive spells. Instead, he clumsily and stubbornly crashed into the magic with his body, using his innate resistance to crush it.
But that crude method was working.
Kentus appeared disconcerted by this fact. Although younger dragons often faced deadly spells they could not block with their bare bodies, Bogor crushed them with his sheer physical strength. He attacked with the intent to tear Kentus into three parts by color. Kentus was gradually being pushed back. The determination to hold onto the brain dragon's neck like a tenacious guard was fading.
Seeing this, Min-jun's thoughts changed.
'No, Kentus isn't weak…'
Upon closer examination, Kentus's skill for his age was not bad.
So, the problem might not be Kentus, but his opponent.
'I see.'
Min-jun, who had been observing carefully, reached a conclusion.
'Bogor's body is far tougher than expected.'
The information the committee had on dragons was not perfect. For dragons that had only recently reached adulthood and had little external activity, many details remained obscure.
Min-jun updated his understanding of Bogor's abilities.
'Lord's genes are not very apparent, but… he's a monster in a different sense.'
Unlike his father, Bogor did not possess an outstanding physique in all aspects.
His strengths were immense durability. His magical resistance was comparable to that of dragons hundreds of years old.
On the other hand, his dragon-like keen senses seemed to be lacking. Some of Kentus's attacks, which would have missed other dragons, hit Bogor. He couldn't dodge them, and the gaps created by the strikes were too significant to be intentional.
Min-jun finished summarizing Bogor's abilities. The dragon's stats were excessively unbalanced. In a way, it could be seen as…
'A kind of mutation.'
After finalizing his thoughts, Min-jun took to the air.
If this mana-consuming battle continued, Kentus would surely lose. A change of plan was necessary for him to intervene. Although the beautifully conceived plan was falling apart, it couldn't be helped.
In his hand was a brilliantly shining silver frying pan.
Whoosh!
The shapeshifter soared into the sky. The air around him split with a tearing sound. He ascended sharply toward the tangled dragons above.
"······!"
Among the two immersed in the fight, Kentus was the first to notice. He detected the intent and adjusted his body to create a cunning angle, clearing a path for easier attacks rather than blocking the target.
The dull-witted Bogor remained focused on attacking Kentus. He aimed to tear his half-brother apart like chicken along the grain. It was only later that he noticed Min-jun. The frying pan, relatively located in the rear of the twelve eyes of the fire dragon, caught his attention.
And Bogor's reaction was…
"Kyaaaah!"
He roared with a mix of disdain, rage, and irritation. There was also an element of incredulity in his emotions. Bogor saw that Min-jun was holding 'that' as well.
'…Is that a frying pan?'
Despite his lower intelligence, Bogor was still a dragon with a minimal level of discernment. He scoffed at the sight of an alien charging with an incongruous cooking tool.
And he directed the derogatory term used by other dragons at Min-jun this time.
'Dimwitted fool…!'
Instead of attacking the shapeshifter, Bogor focused on Kentus. His back was completely exposed. Of course, he did not entirely ignore Min-jun. He maintained his primitive shield around his body.
However, that shield was only sufficient to block ordinary attacks.
And Bogor did not anticipate.
That Min-jun's prepared attack would surpass the level of ordinary attacks.
Whoosh!
Meanwhile, Min-jun, flying toward Bogor, felt a surge of tension for the first time today.
His whole body tingled as if electrified.
He reminded himself inwardly.
'I must not kill him.'
Having realized that this item was unusual, Min-jun had conducted various experiments and training. He was about to showcase those results. He absolutely did not want the dragon's head to explode like a soft grape.
So, he adjusted his power with utmost precision…
'Here!'
Drawing a swift arc.
Boom!
He struck the dragon's back of the head with all his might.
--------!
At that moment.
"Kroaaar!"
Bogor heard a terrifying roar that even overshadowed his own scream.
It was like the noise of merging the sky and the earth into chaos and then separating them again.
The intense pain splitting his skull came a bit later than the sound. Bogor thought he had never felt such pain even when struck by lightning. But that realization quickly faded as his consciousness grew hazy.
'Wh… What is…?!'
The world turned red. Simultaneously, a storm of sensations like his head being torn apart at a cellular level overwhelmed him. Conversely, the deafening noise receded.
The strength drained from his body, which had easily resisted Kentus's magical onslaught. The feeling of helplessness was overwhelming. Everything visible grew faint. The ground seemed to pull him down with an invisible hand.
Whiiiiing!
The ground approached.
As all his senses ebbed away like receding tide, Bogor lost consciousness.
"Do you understand what I'm saying?"
After finishing his explanation, Min-jun asked for confirmation.
"I understand."
Kendus replied. Returning to his human form, he nodded seriously.
"I will declare to all the surrounding dragons that a contest over the legacy took place between Bogor, Hallisnaim, and me, and that I won. I will say that as a result, the legacy Lord passed down to you has now returned to me."
The two had left the ruined national forest, carrying the unconscious dragon siblings, and moved to a safe location.
"I'll make something similar to the real legacy and give it to you, so use it to distract the other dragons."
The plan was to shift the dragons targeting and tracking him onto Kentus. In the meantime, Min-jun would study the real legacy to uncover its contents.
Of course, he needed to confirm one thing with Inais before that.
"But."
Kendus said.
"If you reveal to others that you are a dragon, wouldn't the situation improve? Bogor and Hallisnaim imposed unfair terms because they didn't know you were of their kind. Once you reveal your true identity, you would receive unprecedented respect and reverence."
Min-jun, who had been listening with a look of confusion, soon realized that he had previously hinted at Kentus with nonsensical lies as an experiment.
So he corrected him.
"Oh, I'm not a dragon."
"Is that so? Hmm. Well, if that's the case."
Just as Min-jun had easily believed himself to be a dragon earlier, he now accepted the denial with no resistance. It was too easy.
In a normal state, one should be suspicious of such flip-flopping statements, but Kendus, thoroughly brainwashed, had no doubts whatsoever.
Seeing that reaction, Minjun thought again. Isn't Kentheus acting like a fanatic who takes everything he says as truth?
Then he thought further. Perhaps, religions in the world are born in this manner?
Minjun quickly erased such idle thoughts from his mind. This was a moment that required swift cleanup.
'It's okay if Hallisnaim wakes up now, as all he'll remember is the encounter with Kentheus.'
He turned his head. There was Borgor, unconscious and bleeding profusely from the back of his head.
Thanks to his precise control, Minjun had managed not to smash Borgor's head.
'That guy is the problem. He saw me using the frying pan.'
Noticing the gaze, Kentheus moved towards Borgor, examining the head injury while mumbling.
"Already carrying a big head as an ornament, I wonder if he'll become even dumber after waking up."
The words were spoken without a trace of emotion. There was no hint of pity for the half-brother, just a tone of someone stating that Minjun had done what was naturally expected of him.
The frying pan asked Kentheus.
"Are there any other monsters among your siblings?"
Even with all the dragons he had seen, both past and present, Borgor was quite a strange entity.
"No, there aren't. Among us, Borgor is the only mutant."
As Minjun had guessed, it seemed Kentheus and his siblings regarded Borgor's traits as a form of deformity.
Though Borgor had been recognized as an adult dragon due to his mother's permission, it had been a close call.
"Just as low intelligence is abnormal, it's also not normal for a dragon under a hundred years old to have such magic and physique. At least the latter wasn't considered a disadvantage, hence his recognition as an adult."
Kentheus added one more remark.
"It's a miracle that, with so many offspring planted on Earth by the Lord, only one has turned out to be a deformity."
Dragons were evaluated as having the most powerful physical bodies among interdimensional creatures, yet the rate of deformed births was unusually high.
"So, there's no other like this fellow?"
"As far as I know, there isn't. Unless there is an unknown child of the Lord."
Minjun felt a pang in his chest. Kentheus, who couldn't see his expression, continued.
"But that's unrealistic. Seventeen is already too many. There's no need to hide and bear another one."
He then muttered to himself.
"Yes, seventeen is too many. Looking back, the Lord was obsessively focused on having children. Each with only one spouse... Moreover, judging by the criteria for choosing his wives, there wasn't a single dragon similar to the others. He picked from various factions, and even if there were overlaps, the women had distinctly different appearances and scale colors. It was as if... he was experimenting with how diverse his offspring could be."
But among them, no dragon resembled the Lord as closely as Kentheus did. Most dragons were born looking like exact copies of their mothers, as was typical.
'In fact, Kentheus resembles him relatively more, but it's ambiguous by absolute standards.'
Thinking this, Minjun put away the silver frying pan and took out a black pan instead.
The magical tool from the spatial realm oozed psychic waves.
=Wouldn't it be simpler to hold one frying pan in each hand, instead of putting one in and taking one out each time? It's such a hassle to do this every time...=
'Be quiet.'
That was something Minjun could not tolerate.
He quickly cut off the frying pan's suggestion and asked.
'How many more dragons can you handle?'
The unspoken word was "brainwashing."
The frying pan pondered before responding.
=With the spare supplies I brought, I think one more dragon could be handled. But I can't be sure how long it will last.=
Minjun nodded and summoned a shadow. The black tendrils slithered into the unconscious Borgor's mouth, exposing his throat. Minjun retrieved the prepared food from the spatial realm.
What followed resembled a foie gras production facility for geese.
Gluck!
Glug!
Minjun force-fed the unconscious dragon, stuffing the food into his esophagus and then closing his mouth.
If dragons knew the power of the frying pan, such situations might be repeated. Thus, it didn't seem like a bad idea to brainwash a couple of dragons. Externally, today's victory would be left entirely to Kentheus. Minjun had no regrets about passing over the credit.
Afterward, Minjun gave Kentheus an additional instruction.
"You said Inais is currently in her lair?"
"Yes. Unlike other heirs or guardians, she couldn't stay in Hong Kong."
Her egg was still unhatched. As everyone knew, eggs were even more vulnerable than hatchlings, so Inais had returned to her lair immediately after confirming the Lord's corpse.
She would not permit any other dragons to visit the lair while she was incubating the egg. Since the father of the egg, the Lord, was dead, no one else could enter.
"Try using magical communication. She should respond to that."
Kentheus nodded as if it were an easy task and asked.
"What should I say?"
"Ask her to find the killer of the Lord. I tried negotiating with her, but she reacted strongly. She said that without advance notice of the tax evasion method, no further discussions could be made."
Kentheus hesitated.
"She would have doubts about my inability to subdue you."
Aside from the absolute trust in Minjun, it was a question that would naturally arise given his logical thinking.
"Make a reasonable excuse that she was tougher than expected."
Kentheus nodded and asked.
"So, will you really help? With finding the culprit?"
Minjun pondered for a moment.
Should I help the brainwashed heir obtain the Dragon Heart?
The answer returned was negative. Though it would be a great success, Minjun thought the chances were slim.
Among feasible scenarios, the most beneficial for Minjun was for Jenkins to be elected as the next Dragon Lord and have the Dragon Heart in his possession.
Jenkins was the most favorable dragon for Minjun (aside from the brainwashed dragons) and...
...was still a debtor who hadn't fully repaid his debt.
Of course, even if that situation arose, Minjun had no intention of threatening Jenkins for the Dragon Heart. He believed he had enough conscience to refrain from that.
"Let's see the situation first."
Despite Minjun's attitude, Kentheus's trust remained unwavering. The dragon simply thought vaguely.
"Then, I will contact Inais."
Kentheus hoped that Minjun would quickly inform him if he decided not to help. But there would be no resentment.
There was a reason for his hope. Until today, Kentheus's short-term goal was solely to obtain the Dragon Heart, but now the situation had changed.
If finding the culprit became too difficult, he would have to shift focus to a new task immediately.
There were many preparations needed to move to a larger lair.
"Connection established."
The space in front of Kentheus's eyes distorted, and Inais's lair, located in a distant place, appeared.
< 137. There Are No Bad Dragons in the World (9) > End