21 - The Betrayal of the Five Dragon Generals

The Betrayal of the Five Dragon Generals.

This battle appears to be recorded as such in the history books.

Well, it's almost true.

Even if it was for the sake of Dragon God-sama, it was still a betrayal.

Without a doubt, it was betrayal.

However, there was a big mistake.

Specifically, only Four Dragon Generals participated.

Because I did not fight in it.

Someone had to clean up afterward.

When Dragon God-sama and the Five Dragon Generals fight.

Some of us would die.

Maybe all of us.

That would decapitate all of the leadership of the Dragon World.

Who would lead the dragon warriors, slay the demon beasts, research the arts, or assist Dragon God-sama then…?

Thus, I was asked to stay out.

A vital role, but shameful.

Why would I feel ashamed?

Don't you know?

The Five Dragon Generals disobeyed the orders of Dragon God-sama.

The only punishment for that was our destruction, until not even a claw or fang remained.

Setting aside whether we managed to stop Dragon God-sama from invading the Human World, our betrayal was an undeniable fact.

Even if everyone survived, the punishment would be inevitable.

Only death could make up for it.

Still, I alone escaped responsibility.

Even though I did not participate in the fight, I had already disobeyed and conspired against Dragon God-sama.

Yet, I alone would maintain my position among the Dragon Generals.

Nothing was more shameful than that.

Even for the future of the Dragon World, it was an unforgivable act.

But as the most junior member.

I accepted my role.

By the way, we did not start the fight immediately.

Dragon God-sama and the Five Dragon Generals.

If we fought, we could easily have annihilated one or two mountains.

Preparations must be made for the battle.

To stop Dragon God-sama.

Easier said than done.

Some punches and kicks, restraining him and locking him away somewhere.

Do you think it would be that easy?

The power required to resist Dragon God-sama could wipe mountains off the map.

Of course, no structure could imprison Dragon God-sama outside of an appropriately large magic circle.

It's like babies defying an adult.

You may not have interacted much with babies, but even when sick or injured, it is hard to lose to a baby who can barely crawl.

There was such a huge power difference between Dragon God-sama and the Dragon Generals.

That is why four Dragon Generals worked together to seriously confront Dragon God-sama.

The same tactic that defeated the Demon Kings.

No, even more power was necessary.

The preparations took a good amount of time.

Dragon God-sama agreed to wait.

You might find it strange, perhaps Dragon God-sama wanted to give the Five Dragon Generals a chance to hand over responsibilities and evacuate the Dragon Race.

Whatever the reason, he waited.

Maybe Dragon God-sama couldn't win alone in the Human World, or perhaps he was waiting for the Dragon Generals to reconsider after a while?

I don't know.

While the other Dragon Generals were preparing, I was by Dragon God-sama's side, helping him evacuate the population of Kayos to somewhere else.

I also did not know exactly where the fight would take place, but Kayos was the center of our world.

The possibility of collateral damage was high.

I spent my days leading the evacuation effort.

Everyone was worried.

No one would believe that four of the Five Dragon Generals would turn against Dragon God-sama.

Some even said they wanted to fight alongside Dragon God-sama.

But Dragon God-sama silenced those voices and stopped them.

The common Dragon Race would have no chance in a fight between Dragon God-sama and the Five Dragon Generals.

Dragon God-sama must have wanted to avoid any unnecessary casualties.

After the evacuation was complete, I returned to Dragon God-sama.

Besides showing my continued loyalty, it was also a silent check to prevent him from taking off abruptly for the Human World.

He remained silent in his thoughts.

Dragon God-sama did not speak to me, nor did he act dangerously, only silently pondering something…

At any moment, it seemed he would ignore me and abruptly head toward the Human World.

I could only imagine what he was thinking at that moment.

But Dragon God-sama was wise.

Perhaps at that moment, he had already looked through the fog to understand the mentor and his true motives.

Or perhaps, he had already foreseen the worst-case scenario.

Either way, the day finally came.

I received word from the Dragon Generals that the preparations were complete.

Upon receiving the news, Dragon God-sama looked at me.

"What are you going to do?"

"I will fight alongside Dragon God-sama."

I felt the weight of duty.

Heir to the will of the Five Dragon Generals, not leaving Dragon God-sama alone.

As the last of the Five Dragon Generals, I will carry his legacies…

"…"

Dragon God-sama looked at me for a while, then slowly shook his head.

"I will not allow you to fight."

"!"

My first reaction was to protest and ask why I should stand?

"Just as a precaution, go protect my son."

Instead, Dragon God-sama gave me such an important task.

Protecting the son of Dragon God-sama.

Dragon God-sama must have thought that even the strongest dragon warriors could not protect him now.

If you think about it, perhaps Dragon God-sama feared that even his son might become a target, while he was worried.

"Do not let any harm come to him."

"Yes!"

At that time, I did not realize how important the mission to protect that child was.

I thought of him as the legacy of Lunaria-sama, being entrusted by Dragon God-sama with what he valued most in the world.

That is what I was protecting… I thought.

Thus, I mounted Saleyakt and evacuated with the child to a safe distance.

Soon after… Kayos disappeared.

■

Maxwell's long-range bombardment from the Dragon Gate Artillery wiped Kayos off the map.

Rays of light shot through the air and landed on Kayos.

They hit everyone at the same time and formed a ball of light, and thus an entire mountain was erased from existence.

The highest peak of the Dragon World.

The most historic city.

I was shocked.

I wasn't sure how the Five Dragon Generals would fight.

I never thought that such a historic and well-defended city would be so impunely destroyed.

For a moment, I really thought that the Dragon Generals had betrayed Dragon God-sama.

But with some reflection, I understood their line of thinking.

It goes without saying that the Five Dragon Generals did not intend to kill Dragon God-sama.

They simply wanted to stop him.

Force Dragon God-sama to remain in the Dragon World instead of heading to the Human World.

If Kayos were destroyed, it would need to be rebuilt.

A great effort and time to return our people to normal life.

If that reminded Dragon God-sama that "the Dragon World must be prioritized over the Human World," then, regardless of the outcome of the battle, it is a victory for the Five Dragon Generals.

Perhaps a bit of trickery…

But the Five Dragon Generals were already prepared in case of failure.

The fight would be futile if, after defeating them, Dragon God-sama went to the Human World anyway.

When the debris and smoke from the destruction of Kayos dissipated.

Only one existence remained.

Dragon God-sama.

He was completely unscathed.

He was too far away to see his expression, but he was clearly looking at the source of the light.

Beyond the light of vision.

Something enormous emerged from the clouds.

A giant mass of rock covered in dragon scales.

Its surface was covered with purple threads attached to iron stakes.

A common floating rocky mass in the Celestial World.

A core of concentrated magical energy, its movement driven by layers of magic circles.

It is covered in dragon scales and equipped with demonic-origin magical towers, a complete fortress.

Its name?

It had no name.

Ah… if I were to give it a name.

Chaosbreaker.

I would call it that.

Because that scene and that moment of Kayos's destruction are forever etched in my eyelids.

Next.

Four great beings, as well as forty-four small beings, were aboard the fortress.

The four Rebellious Dragon Generals and the kin they summoned.

Spirit Summoning developed during the war with the demons.

The Dragon Race was known for being powerful, but not for delicate or versatile work.

Spirit Summoning was a technique to overcome that weakness.

These were created to combat Dragon God-sama, each with unique abilities, more powerful than those used during the war.

When they identified Dragon God-sama, they flew around the fortress in formation.

However, Dragon God-sama had already made his move before they were fully deployed.

Raising his hand slowly, he pointed his fingertip at the fortress.

At that moment, something invisible emitted from his fingertip and flew toward the fortress.

A torrent of overwhelming power.

Even a Dragon General would have serious problems if caught in it.

But before it reached its target, the fortress warped.

A huge field of distortion.

That torrent of power was diverted by the field to a distant mountain, erasing it.

The combined forces of forty-four spirits blocked the attack from Dragon God-sama.

Dragon God-sama unleashed one torrent after another.

However, the spirits' distortion fields deflected each one.

Don't you think it was a very easy way to combat Dragon God-sama?

I thought so too.

No matter how weakened by his previous battles with the other gods he was.

Forty-four spirits should not have been able to stop his attacks.

But that stalemate did not last.

As the fortress approached, the light from the spirits began to diminish.

Just one step less.

No, it isn't fair to call it a misstep…

Anyway, when the fortress made contact with Dragon God-sama, the spirits lost their power and disappeared, one by one.

The distortion field also disappeared, leaving the fortress exposed.

Even if it was vulnerable, it was still covered in hard dragon scales.

Slowly, Dragon God-sama drew a sword from his waist.

A sword forged by one of the Five Dragon Generals, Dragon King Chaos Mad.

A true God Sword that could withstand the power of Dragon God-sama.

Dragon God-sama posed with the sword.

A cut.

I witnessed the power of the gods many times.

But it was always against other gods.

Other gods were always able to withstand those blows.

But this blow from Dragon God-sama seemed to distort the world.

Everything seemed out of place.

In fact, everything was split in half.

The sky, the clouds, the dragons flying in the distance, the approaching fortress.

Everything cut in half.

What are dragon scales against a god?

What is the point of defenses in a splinter of wood?

The enormous fortress was split in half. The upper half, losing energy, fell toward the sky.

Its lower half remained floating. Its core likely survived the attack.

The Dragon Generals landed on the fallen masses.

Then they quickly took off.

Their appearances were very different from what I remembered.

Their physiques were about three times larger than they should be.

So densely covered in scales that even their faces were well concealed.

Their noses and mouths protruded, with horns growing from the back of their heads, almost resembling dragons.

The demons developed a mysterious technique to transform the body with magic.

The Dragon Race evolved even further.

Transforming the body into a more primitive form and gaining an explosive amount of power.

In exchange, the user's lifespan was greatly diminished.

The four transformed ones also carried unknown weapons.

A spear.

The Dragon Generals were all armed with god spears created by Chaos.

Normally, the Dragon Generals do not use weapons.

But not when the opponent is none other than Dragon God-sama himself.

Without a weapon, you can't even scratch him.

The four flew with tremendous speed, dancing around Dragon God-sama.

They probably intended for close-quarters combat the entire time.

Both the fortress and the spirits were made to counter Dragon God-sama's long-range attacks.

Enhanced physical strength with arcane techniques, attacks empowered by God Spear, as well as all the techniques elaborated during the demon war to weaken Dragon God-sama.

Concentrating all the wisdom and knowledge of the Dragon Generals to hurt a god.

The Dragon Generals launched a terrible attack.

With every attack, shockwaves echoed, lights flashed, and the entire Dragon World trembled.

The attack of the Dragon Generals was terrible.

Every subtle movement, a shockwave ran, a flash of light exploded, and the entire Dragon World trembled.

Their collateral damage destroyed mountains, killed entire bands of dragons, even tens of thousands of the Dragon Race were caught in it.

The Dragon Generals gained the power to hurt a god.

But only the possibility of it.

Because even with that power, it was not enough to dominate Dragon God-sama.

One-on-one, it wouldn't be a fight, but with all four, they barely managed a single hit.

Barely.

Just barely.

Even if they were inferior, the power of the Five Dragon Generals managed to reach Dragon God-sama.

The power to reach a god.

Even if it was just barely, they reached.

They proved that the efforts of man could even reach the gods.

That proof was the reason why I… no, let's leave that aside.

Anyway, Dragon God-sama and the Dragon General fought for a long time.

Dragon God-sama, who was near death and full of wounds.

The Dragon Generals, who had finally reached the realm of the gods.

The battles among these five continued incessantly.

I was always watching.

I suppose it was my duty to witness this.

I think the battle continued for days.

Perhaps not for that long.

A fight between gods could last years.

Only a few days.

Yes, six days.

The Dragon Generals probably intended for the battle to be decided quickly.

Probably.

No matter how much they prepared, how much their powers developed.

If it turned into a war of attrition, they would have no chance of victory.

So they wanted it decided quickly.

Maximum offense, for that one in ten thousand shot of victory.

One shot.

One in ten thousand.

Unfortunately, this was not that shot.

The seventh day.

The light and shock of the battle diminished.

The battle was decided at the fortress that was split in two.

I approached the fortress to witness the outcome of the battle.

I witnessed a terrible sight.

Four men and women collapsed to the ground.

Needless to say, they were the Dragon Generals.

They were all on the brink of death.

Szilard lost his left arm, half of his face burned.

Chaos without an eye and a large hole in his belly.

Maxwell's claws were all crushed, his wings torn, on his knees.

Dora-sama fared the worst.

Her right arm and lower body were both gone, she was barely holding on.

A complete victory for Dragon God-sama.

But there was something strange.

There was an extra arm growing from the chest of Dragon God-sama.

Szilard's lost arm or Dora-sama's?

No.

There were no scales on that arm.

An arm without characteristics, flesh-colored.

Surrounded by mist, hard to recognize.

Everyone, including Dragon God-sama, was staring at the arm in astonishment.

To be precise, the owner of that arm.

Behind it, the god who struck had delivered a mortal blow to Dragon God-sama.

"Human God..."

Human God had pierced the chest of Dragon God-sama, grasping his divine jewel.