Volume 2 Chapter 16 Moonlight That Pierces Dragon Scales II
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Tch!”
(This is no opponent that can be dealt with using a wooden sword.)
He needed to get serious.
A powerful technique to kill the opponent for real──!
While taking a defensive stance with the wooden sword, Kian called out to the sky.
”Come!”
The crows he had kept in waiting soared into the air above the training ground all at once.
Just like when he had buried ‘Spoon Wing’ in the Eastern Forest.
It was familiar magic.
The crows gradually increased in number, forming a dense black cloud.
Black feathers rained down like snow.
The red dragon looking up at the sky glared with its yellow eyes and bared its fangs.
’Who are you…?’
”That’s my line!”
’You ominous creature…! If I turn into a beast, I can tell, you reek of something disgusting! The smell of death and decay. I’ll burn you to a crisp right here!’
With a sudden movement, the dragon’s nose inhaled the air.
The dragon’s nose sucked in air.
’Bad news, he’s going to breathe fire!’
(If I get hit, this armor will leave me burnt to a crisp. Then, I must cut the breath with my sword.)
’Are you insane!?’
”Haaaaaaah!”
Kian’s magic power flared up from within.
It was a dark, stagnant magic power.
The red dragon opens his mouth wide as Kian crouches down and prepares to attack.
A deep red heat swirls in the bottomless darkness of his throat.
Kian’s eyes widen.
(Azrael! Lend me your strength!)
’Die!’
”──That’s enough!”
”……!”
’────!’
A figure stepped in front of Kian, catching the blazing fireball that had burst forth.
It’s Oswald.
He held a golden greatsword on his shoulder like a shield, gripping it with his right hand.
The breath of fire rapidly shrunk and was absorbed as it struck the blade of the golden greatsword.
As the fireball was devoured by the sword, Oswald twisted his wrist and spun the golden sword around.
Then he drove the point into the sandy ground.
’Move aside! Oswald! If you get in my way, I’ll crush you too!’
”Renaud, have you forgotten the promise you made? This fight is yours to lose.”
’What…? …!’
The fighting spirit of the dragon rapidly diminished.
Along with it, his body also shrank quickly.
From a monster over ten meters long, he turned into a figure of a man over 3 meters tall.
He proudly displayed his muscular, bare body, standing in front of Oswald.
”……”
Returning to the form of a big man with a black beard, Renaud silently looked down at his right knee.
His knee, damp with his own sweat, was caked with the golden sand of the training ground.
This was evidence that he had knelt on the ground for even a moment.
”Tch, was it when I took that strike from the bell break? The truth is, my balls are completely fine… but that moment of kneeling was really painful. If it weren’t for my balls, I wouldn’t have knelt at all.”
Renaud spat this out with a hint of regret.
Oswald shrugged.
”No matter how you look at it, it looks like you lost.”
”Damn it… I don’t have any intention of denying it. I will never break the rules I’ve set for myself. ──Hey! You! Kian!”
”……”
He does not let his guard down.
He keeps his wooden sword raised.
The large man seemed to have already lost his fighting spirit, but what he had just seen was indeed something.
There was a possibility that in an instant of carelessness, his body could be torn apart.
Renaud clicked his tongue softly again.
”I’ve lost. And you’ve won.”
”Does this mean the duel is over?”
”Yes. The match is decided. It seems I’ve missed my chance to obtain the precious vampire’s coat. If I continue any further, I would end up turning Oswald and that owl bastard into my enemies. If I kill them all, a terrible civil war would break out in Izerland.”
Renaud grabbed the sword wrapped in cloth by his subordinate and thrust it out towards Kian.
”Take it. You’re an annoying guy, but you’ve fought bravely against me and won according to the rules. This is your reward.”
”Thank you.”
He received the sword, holding it up with both hands.
The sword sealed in white cloth continued to emit a low, whispering sound from its blade.
”Damn it… today is a bad day.”
The naked large man turned his back and walked away from Kian and the others.
His squire hurriedly approached with a cloak and a change of clothes.
Receiving it carelessly, Renaud tilted his head and glared at Kian.
His eyes were not the blue eyes of a human but the yellow eyes of a reptile.
”Kian. Kian…. Alright, I’ve memorized your face and name. I will absolutely not forget you until I kill you. Well then. Let’s see which one of us dies first in our next encounter.”
”……”
As Kian felt the weight of the magic sword in his hand, he couldn’t help but regret, albeit belatedly, why he had picked a fight with someone like that.
However, the overwhelming desire that had surged from within him had already subsided.
Kian looked down at the sword’s blade, now revealed after the white cloth had been removed.
A twisted sword full of holes──.
(I had impulsively gambled and snatched it away… but was its performance truly worth the risk?)
”You did it, Kian”
”Yes…”
”What’s wrong? You defeated that ‘Knight of the Dragon Scales’. You should be wearing a more proud expression. There are hardly any knights in the Western world who could fight and win against him.”
”────”
”What’s the matter? Are you perhaps surprised at your own impulsive desire for that sword?”
”────!?”
”Hmph, I thought so.”
Oswald shook the sun’s earring with a sly smile, like a serpent.
”You’ve been abnormal until now. Despite having such power, you didn’t know your own strength, and therefore, you buried your desires deep within. Now, you have finally become human-like. What’s wrong with wanting something you desire? You simply possessed the courage, wisdom, and strength to wield that magic sword. It’s nothing complicated.”
”But… what I did was, in the end, forcibly take the magic sword from Lord Renaud for my own selfish desires… As a follower of Azrael, this cannot be forgiven.”
”Renaud was also trying to take your coat. If you hadn’t resisted, you would have been stripped bare. Besides, gambling is something every adventurer does. The Azrael faith is just too strict.”
”────”
”Kian”
Kian, lost in thought, looked down at the spoils of the magical sword before him, while Oswald’s right hand was extended.
On it lay a red apple.
”……”
”Kian, you should open your eyes more. To those around you, and to yourself as well.”
”You are”
”Huh?”
”What are you? You keep lecturing me, trying to teach me things. What are you after?”
He said, staring back at the blond young man.
The young man narrowed his golden eyes.
”Nothing. It just feels like I’m looking at my former self, and I’m helping you out of goodwill.”
”You know what they say among adventurers──there’s nothing more expensive than something that’s free.”
”Hahaha! You’re a suspicious one. I’m on your side. Isn’t that good enough? ──But, if you want a more plausible explanation, I’ll give you one.”
Oswald placed the apple on top of the magical sword, forming a slight wrinkle at the corners of his eyes.
”What I want is a friend. Someone to walk through life with and share dreams with──an equal friend. Kian, will you be my friend?”
”Huh, um…”
He gazed back into the eyes of the golden youth, whose true intentions were unclear.
However, he only smiled somewhat sadly and did not continue with any further words.
Kian gently slid his fingertips over the apple placed atop the magic sword.
It is the sweet and dangerous fruit of the tree of knowledge──.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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