Tsuyokute New Saga (LN)

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“Can’t believe I’d come here again…”

Kyle looked up at the giant door in front of the throne room at the bottom of the castle, with its ritual circle engraved on it. It hadn’t changed at all since last time—which was a bit inaccurate of an expression considering the incident in Kyle’s memory hadn’t even happened yet. However, this place acted as a strong connection to him, something he should never forget. As a last-ditch effort, they stormed this castle, where he engaged in a battle with all of humanity’s fate on the line. It was only barely that he managed to emerge victorious. Unlike back then, he now had two dragons with him. They weren’t exactly allies, but they shared the same goal at least.

“Now then, we should decide on our direction before we charge in here.”

The only condition that was the same as back then was Shildonia’s presence, who now called out to the two dragons.

“Or rather, this is for you two. I just need to know…It might come to a battle between you and Juvars. Are you prepared for that?”

The dragons, met with that question, swallowed their breaths. It was something they didn’t think about…or rather, didn’t want to think about, but it was more than possible.

“That’s…”

To Irumera, Juvars was on the same level as the Dragon King Zeurus, an existence she had nothing but respect for, and even the rebellious Ghrud felt the same way.

“Then let’s think of a few hypothetical situations. First, what if Juvars is not sane? There’s a good chance the demons might be controlling him.”

“Controlling him?! Is that truly possible?!” Irumera couldn’t contain her shock like she hadn’t even thought of that.

“Of course it’s possible. There’s already been one instance where it happened,” Shildonia glanced over at Ghrud with a profound look.

Since he had been under the control of a human thanks to strong magic, this comment absolutely hurt.

“Of course, you were still inexperienced then. I can guarantee that there shouldn’t exist any magic strong enough to control the Ancient Dragon Juvars. So, the chance for that is incredibly low.”

“Sorry for being inexperienced. But in that case…”

“Yes. he must have a reason for doing all this. There is a chance something urges him to assist the demons. And that…would be even more problematic.”

Ghrud understood what Shildonia was trying to say, and Irumera swallowed her breath. All dragons should be neutral to demons and humans. This has been decided since the ancient days. Of course, exceptions do exist. And they had the option to side with either, but being involved in a battle for the throne like Juvars did was unthinkable. If he was being controlled, they could just try to undo the control forcefully. But if he joined their side on purpose, then they had to stop him no matter what. It was their duty as dragons.

“In that case, we’ll have to try and convince him, but…You need to be prepared for the worst case. Is that clear?”

Shildonia’s words might have seemed heartless, but Irumera had to agree even so.

“If the need arises, I’ll fight, too,” said Kyle, although he also wished this could be resolved peacefully.

That said, if it came to a battle, he was ready and prepared.

“Though, I don’t know if we’ll be able to beat an Ancient Dragon.

Just who’d be more dangerous, the Demon Lord or an Ancient Dragon? Kyle didn’t even want to think about it as he opened the door.

The inside was big enough you wouldn’t think it was inside a castle, with a tall ceiling and mostly empty space. The only thing that stood out was the altar in the center, with an old man sitting on the ground in front of it. A magic circle was drawn on the ground, with the old man—Juvars—sitting in the center of it.

“It’s probably to preserve energy. Whenever Zeurus-sama was tired, he would assume his human appearance like that,” Irumera answered Kyle’s doubt.

Dragons would assume their human appearances whenever they needed to save energy. That said, it was obvious he wasn’t at full strength.

“Apologies for meeting you like this. I am one of the dragons serving under the great Zeurus. My name is Irumera. You must be Juvars-sama, yes?”

Irumera slowly approached the old man and introduced herself as she rammed her elbow into Ghrud’s side.

“…Same here. I’m Ghrud,” he reluctantly introduced himself.

Juvars opened his eyes to inspect the two and then gave them one word.

“Leave.”

With that done, he closed his mouth once more.

“P-Please wait! Please tell me. Why are you helping the demons?!”

“I have nothing to tell you. So let me tell you one more time…Leave. If not, you will not live to see tomorrow,” Juvars completely blocked off Irumera despite her desperate plea for answers.

No matter how much Irumera tried, his answer remained the same.

“Aren’t you a stubborn old man. Why not listen to the words of the youngsters?”

As Irumera was lost on what to do, Kyle joined in. The reason he chose such a provocative tone was because he wanted to get Juvars’ attention. After all, he hadn’t once even looked at Kyle.

“Nobody asked for your opinion…human. Why are you even—”

That comment seemed to have worked because Juvars finally directed his attention over at Kyle, only for his face to distort in shock.

“Isn’t that Zeurus’…?!”

Seeing the armor Kyle wore, Juvars immediately understood that it was Zeurus’ skin.

“And it’s not just the armor…I can feel Zeurus’ presence from that sword, too…Who the hell are you?!”

“This human is Kyle. His efforts have been recognized by Zeurus-sama, and he was granted some of his shed skin to use as armor.”

“Zeurus gave his skin…to a human? That utter fool! Isn’t he the one who always said to remain neutral?!”

Contrary to his old appearance, just a gaze alone from him emitted enough pressure to grip your heart, so much so anybody untrained could probably pass out. However, since Kyle stood face-to-face with the Goddess Mera, someone arguably even stronger than Juvars, he met that gaze head-on. Juvars seemed to have been taken aback by that as he moved his gaze, when Kyle asked him the burning question.

“Where is the Black-winged Demon right now?”

“Not here. A blood-drenched demon just arrived earlier and pleaded for him to follow,” Juvars answered like he couldn’t be bothered.

“…Is that so.”

He’s not here. A part of Kyle was relieved, but also disappointed. Still, he had an incredibly bad feeling about this. He was worried that danger might befall his allies. However, he couldn’t leave Juvars to his own accord, so he decided to end things quickly here.

“Please tell me! Why are you doing this?! Why would you side with the demons?! I want to hear your reason!”

“I have no intention of telling you, and I don’t think you’ll understand, either. However, I’m doing this out of my own will…and I can’t go back, either,” he said with a somewhat hurt tone.

“But breaking the very rule set in place by the Divine Dragon Valzed…”

“Don’t use his name!” Juvars roared in anger like Irumera had stepped on a sensitive mark.

It contained so much pressure that even she flinched.

“I don’t intend on making you understand. If you leave now, I’ll let this slide. So go, I don’t want young ones like you to die here.”

“J-Juvars-sama…”

He must have calmed himself down because of his own outburst, as he used a tone much more gentle than before. Even though Irumera understood he was just trying to be kind, she was more bewildered than anything.

“I swear, you’re just like Zeurus…Stubborn and unwilling to listen. Though, he was at least a bit better than you are right now,” said Shildonia with a judgemental gaze, breaking her silence.

“Who are you? Judging from that state…you can’t be human.”

“My name is Shildonia Zaales. I’m the Ancient Magic Kingdom Zaales’ Magic King and Zeurus ally.”

More accurately, she was a magical lifeform carrying that king’s personality, but alas.

“Zaales…? I see…So it’s all your fault!”

Juvars seemed shocked for a moment, only to grit his teeth while glaring at Shildonia. Filling his eyes was undeniable rage, as well as something close to hatred, which bewildered even Shildonia who simply played her trump card of being Zeurus’ close friend.

“Of course, I share a connection with the dragons…or rather, my real body did. But I don’t understand such hatred. In fact, I was always trying to be sincere.”

After all, Shildonia had saved the entire dragon race at one point. Granted, she used that favor to ask for help from them thousands of years ago, but it shouldn’t have reached the point of Juvars resenting her.

“Silence! You…What do you understand?! If you do not leave this very moment, I will no longer hesitate!”

Kyle and the others knew that this was their last warning, but they didn’t have any option of leaving.

“Your existence is too dangerous. We can’t let you be here.”

Kyle couldn’t risk having a dragon side with the demons during the [Great Invasion], so he drew his sword. At the same time, Irumera was forced to make up her mind, with Ghrud wanting to say something but ultimately swallowing his words.

“I warned you…”contemporary romance

Together with those words, Juvars changed into his dragon appearance.

‘I will not hold back, for I am not as naive as Zeurus!’

With the transformation done, Irumera and Ghrud did the same, as the battle began.

***

A battle of three dragons like that had crossed the boundary of a regular bout and entered the realm of myth. Even from a normal human’s point of view, Irumera and Ghrud were giant, but Juvars surpassed even that, rivaling Zeurus’ size.

“I’ll leave this to you!”

As for Kyle, he immediately moved away from that battle. He knew he couldn’t hold his ground in that carnage, so he had to use his advantage. The absolute pressure emitted from the Ancient Dragon Juvars was on a different level. Irumera and Ghrud were also dragons, but if this was a regular one versus one, they would have gotten slaughtered immediately. Meanwhile, Kyle used the large space in the hall to walk around Juvars and attack from behind. In Juvars’ eyes, Kyle was not an existence he should pay attention to—and since Kyle thought that, he attempted to strike Juvars’ vital spot, his head, only to be blown away by Juvars’ attack. And this happened because of a single tail whip like he had eyes at the back of his head.

‘I’m not afraid of a puny human, but that blade was made from Zeurus’ fang, right? Even that will be able to hurt me. And you wear his armor, so I cannot ignore you.’

That voice was calm, contrary to before the battle began, and it showed Kyle that most of Juvars’ attention was more directed at Zeurus than himself.

‘In fact, you’re even more dangerous. I feel the experience with you that these two younglings lack.’

“You attacked in rage, yet you’re awfully calm down…You couldn’t be more annoying to fight.”

It was an impact strong enough to normally kill a human, but Kyle just barely blocked it with the hilt of the sword and returned to attack.

After that, Kyle couldn’t even get close to Juvars after he had declared Kyle a threat. He attempted to change up his pattern by using magic stones, but those Juvars just took without even flinching. It didn’t even seem like he took any damage from them. Hence, Kyle left the attack to the two dragons, as he ran around doing what he could do best with his mobility.

Meanwhile, Juvars faced the two dragons as he paid attention to what Kyle was doing. This situation continued for a while, when Kyle caught on to something. It seemed like Juvars was fighting genuinely, but he emitted no killing intent whatsoever. Instead, he seemed to just be rushing to end this fight quickly. It was almost as if wasting too much time here would spell his own defeat, as he sometimes attacked more or less recklessly.

“Hm, I see.”

Not being able to fight directly, Shildonia instead inspected the magic circle where Juvars had previously sat within. The expression on her face was one of sadness and anger. She then looked over at the altar. A gemstone red as blood laid on top of it.

“I swear…It’s haunting me at every corner.”

The Divine Dragon’s Heart—the heart of all evil made Shildonia sigh in disbelief.

done.co