Ch.125125. Red Dragon Kaiser

The clock hands announced morning, but the sky remained a stifling gray.

Just as the oppressive clouds began to constrict her heart, thunder cracked and torrential rain began to pour down.

“Come outside. Everyone, right now!”

The girl moved with about thirty other children from their dilapidated room, not having eaten breakfast.

The orphanage director seemed unusually rushed today.

While the other children were excited about going outside for the first time in ages, the girl knew it wasn’t a good sign. None of the children who had left before ever returned.

It certainly wasn’t a happy ending of normal adoption. Never in this unregistered, unmonitored slum orphanage.

Especially considering that all the children who had left so far were ability users.

“Heroes… can’t believe… have to. Sell them all… escape…”

She caught fragments of conversation between the orphanage director and another staff member. The girl instinctively knew that today would end her life at the orphanage.

It didn’t matter to her either way. In her eight years of life, she had never known her parents’ faces or experienced a single good memory.

She simply waited for the next misfortune, too numb to even recognize it as such.

Recently, she’d heard rumors that the world had already ended, or that a great war had broken out, or that everyone here would soon die.

None of that mattered to her either.

The girl lined up outside the orphanage with the other children. The cold raindrops made her shiver involuntarily. Her breath came out white without her noticing.

The orphanage director was meeting with a giant of a man. It seemed he was buying her and all the children.

The director rubbed his hands together obsequiously. His forced smile revealed a gold tooth.

Then the situation suddenly reversed.

“Aaaagh!!”

The orphanage director was struck by the giant, his body transforming into a lump of iron as he fell and twitched.

The giant approached the children. Several subordinates stood behind him. He cleared his throat and explained in a booming yet kind voice.

“Attention, children. As you may know, the world is at war. We are villains who have crossed over from the other world. Your world will soon be destroyed. We’ve come to rescue you.”

All the children fell silent at his words. Some burst into tears, frightened by his appearance.

“Don’t you know? Incursion, heroes, villains.”

The children shook their heads. The man scratched the back of his head.

“This is difficult. Anyway, follow me for now. If you stay here, you’ll die.”

“Why should we trust you?”

The girl asked boldly. The man met her eyes and approached. The girl shrank back at his intimidating footsteps.

The man draped his coat around the rain-soaked girl.

The girl slowly looked up at him.

“I have a daughter about your age. So you can trust me.”

The man stood up and turned to his subordinate.

“The Lord?”

“The battle is still raging, but we need to hurry.”

“Let’s move to the next sector.”

The man extended his hand to the girl.

Though nothing had been properly explained, the girl decided to take his hand.

The girl asked.

“What’s a villain?”

The man answered simply.

“A good person.”

***

When they saw Gerogius’s face, everyone in the space froze.

No one thought to move. No one could move. Whatever had become of the fierce battle until now, whatever had become of the fight for their lives and their world.

Only his words flowed through the silence.

His face, voice, expression. Not a single element suggested he was an impostor.

“Ui-seok… oppa?”

Ji Se-hwa was the first to react. She lowered her saber and stared blankly at the second Jung Ui-seok.

“Gerogius is Jung Ui-seok? What on earth…”

Shin Yukyong was equally shocked.

“So that’s why. I couldn’t understand why you spared me…”

Pak Hayoung nodded in understanding.

“Then what about Sulphur… What happened in your world?”

Kang Yerin asked, trying to calm her startled heart.

Han Somi took out the rainbow snake. The entire Dragon King Sentai recognized what it was.

“Good heavens.”

“Yulong? Is that you, Somi unni?!”

Han Somi nodded.

“Just as many things happened in your world, many events occurred in ours as well. I can’t explain everything right now. But I can tell you this for certain.”

Han Somi widened her eyes.

“Your Red Dragon is wrong. The one I believe in and serve is Gerogius, Jung Ui-seok. As a villain, he will realize justice and bring peace to the world. And.”

Han Somi emitted her aura.

“I’m sorry, but you are the enemy. You were once precious comrades, but you’re not the same people. To protect our world, I will eliminate you mercilessly.”

“Somi unni…”

Pak Hayoung bit her lip. She hesitated, but seeing Han Somi’s attitude, Ji Se-hwa, Shin Yukyong, and Kang Yerin steeled their resolve.

Retreating meant certain death.

“Haha, such spirit, Ursula!”

BOOM!

Sulphur appeared, exploding a black hole. Han Somi glared at him.

“What are you thinking?”

“My, what an unpleasant look. Did you meet a traitor somewhere?”

“If you’re thinking of siding with the heroes now…”

“Even I wouldn’t do something so pointless. Let’s wait a bit. It seems the showdown between Gerogius and Red Dragon will be settled soon. Won’t our fates as small fry follow that outcome anyway?”

“Who are you calling small fry, you jerk!”

Ji Se-hwa protested. Sulphur looked at her and grinned.

“Still cute, Se-hwa.”

“What nonsense? Are you hitting on me?”

“Yes, I love you.”

“You’re insane.”

Sulphur chuckled and turned his body. Then he flicked his finger, spewing forth a galaxy.

The spaces were separated by Sulphur’s galaxy, preventing Lee Lu-a, Lena, Boksil, Han Somi, Ji Se-hwa, Shin Yukyong, Kang Yerin, and Pak Hayoung from interfering with each other.

“What a bother.”

“Well, enjoy the show. It’ll be quite a spectacle. The transformation scene of the strongest hero ever—one that’s never existed before and never will again.”

Sulphur folded his arms and his cape fluttered. His gaze fixed on Gerogius and Red Dragon.

***

Red Dragon, Jung Ui-seok, felt as if his head had been struck by a massive club.

When information seemed suspicious and inconsistent, he should have recognized it as noise and reconsidered everything from the beginning. His former self would have done so.

But the comfort that had consumed him for too long had dulled his senses.

After defeating Emperor Recter and becoming a hero by eliminating villains in the Civil War, everything was given to him. Money, fame, women.

This was the peak of his corruption, already enjoying this world with a gamer’s mentality. His brain deteriorated from drug use.

His clouded judgment led to disaster in the fight against the Synthetic Monsters and resulted in anxiety.

That ultimately prevented him from understanding what the irregular known as Gerogius truly was.

When Gerogius deactivated his transformation, appearing like a mirror image, Red Dragon finally understood.

The reason he had been so overwhelmingly defeated in rounds 1 and 2.

If his opponent was himself, the strategic direction needed to be completely revised.

His evaluation of his sentai members also needed to be completely reversed.

Even the concept of villains.

There must be a reason why Jung Ui-seok had chosen them.

The opponent knew who he was.

With all his cards revealed, he had no chance of winning.

But by the time he realized all this, it was already too late.

In Gerogius’s right hand was the Revelation Switch, the crystallization of his power. He pressed the left button forcefully.

[REVELATION!]

A voice he had heard countless times.

Realizing what was about to happen, Red Dragon exploded his leg muscles. This was his last chance before transformation. He charged to tear out Gerogius’s heart.

Click!

Gerogius was fast too.

He inserted the switch into the transformer. Light enveloped his body, and a red dragon emerged, knocking Red Dragon away.

“Ugh!”

It differed from his own red dragon in both size and power. Red Dragon instinctively felt it.

The difference in class that Gerogius had mentioned.

[On your way!]

[Here comes the Dragon—]

[OverLord!]

The red dragon opened its mouth as if to devour Gerogius’s body.

Brilliant light burst forth, and standing there was a hero in a red suit that gleamed more majestically than Red Dragon’s.

“Red Dragon Kaiser.”

Gerogius declared in a low voice. Red Dragon understood what it meant.

The enhanced form of the red dragon as a hero, which even he hadn’t achieved, had now been unlocked by this man.

“Haha.”

A hollow laugh escaped him.

And his blood began to boil.

Red Dragon clenched his fist with unprecedented strength.

Gerogius also took a fighting stance. His composed attitude was irritating.

“I’ll kill you!”

He charged forward. It happened in perfect unison, neither one moving first.

“War’s”

“Red.”

“Death’s”

“Blue.”

“Cross”

“Release!”

Five steps for momentum.

Their left legs planted firmly on the ground as axes, crossing in perfect symmetry, and then.

Their fists collided.