Ch.129129. Ben Guytenping (2)

Ben was furious.

Rage surged within him, boiling up from the depths of his heart.

‘These half-formed creatures… dare to target me?’

Of course, Ben Gaitenphang didn’t possess the inherently ferocious temperament of a Red Dragon, but he was still undeniably a proud member of the dragon race with a strong sense of dignity.

And the moment he heard that these dregs not only treated him like some wild beast but also continuously swarmed in to “hunt” him and sell his flesh…

“Heh, hehehe… I’ve told you everything, so please spare m—”

—CRUNCH!!

Ben Gaitenphang crushed the vermin he had been magically interrogating in his hand, his eyes flashing with burning rage.

Even an ordinary human would be enraged by such insulting, beast-like treatment, let alone a dragon whose pride reached the heavens—hunt him?

[I will, I WILL crush every last piece of your flesh without exception!!!]

Thus, though he would normally have left such a filthy place behind in disgust, Ben Gaitenphang decided to defend his nest and deliver merciless punishment to those creatures.

Ah, of course, though enraged, he hadn’t lost his reason. Ben simultaneously began modifying his nest to show them hell.

They might enter freely, but leaving would be another matter entirely.

※ ※ ※

And so, how much time had passed?

While occasionally fending off mindless vermin who attacked with pathetic heroic delusions, Ben deliberately tore them apart in cruel ways as he modified the cave he had claimed as his nest.

After about a month, Ben had used all the magic he had learned to transform what had been merely a comfortable cave into something on the level of a dungeon.

Detection spells densely covering the entire mountain range. Familiar birds of chimeric design patrolling everywhere to alert him of intruders’ positions.

Ten thousand skeletal-looking low-grade golems—Spartoi—mass-produced with moderate effort to prepare for battles against large numbers.

Dozens of homunculi created through his specialty, alchemy, in facilities built underground—short-lived but possessing combat ability comparable to trolls.

Twenty-three mid-level magical beasts and creatures he had beaten into submission while roaming the mountains.

And on top of all this, the cave had been thoroughly modified with magical defenses, automatic magical interception systems, and traps installed throughout.

Thanks to these preparations, Ben waited with relative peace of mind deep within his cave. Just then, one of the chimeric bird familiars he had created reported discovering a large crowd of people.

At this, Ben Gaitenphang barely managed to calm the rage boiling within him as he shared the vision of the chimeric bird familiar that had reported the discovery….

‘…There are many.’

His eyes saw what appeared to be over two thousand veteran warriors, along with mid-level fighters who seemed to have hunting experience.

They were also dragging heavy equipment like giant ballistae loaded with harpoons connected to chains. To Ben Gaitenphang’s eyes, these looked like nothing more than pathetic, contemptible tools.

But as Ben was watching these self-proclaimed dragon hunters with contemptuous eyes, at that very moment.

“…Hm? What is… that one?”

He suddenly noticed someone emanating an ominous aura standing among the vulgar crowd adorned with the byproducts of lesser dragons, carrying a shield on his back.

The man, with a considerably large build of about 180cm, wore an ordinary ivory-colored cloak, with glimpses of metal armor and a sword at his waist visible beneath it.

And by chance, Ben recognized the identity of that sword visible under the cloak…. At that moment, he couldn’t help but mutter in astonishment.

“…A dragon’s tooth… from at least a mature one?”

Yes. Ben Gaitenphang could tell from the magical energy that the sword the man was carrying was made from a fang, and that it came from a mature dragon or higher.

Upon closer inspection, he also realized that the cloak the man wore was made of Giant skin…. and unbelievably, the shield on his back was made of Orichalcum.

Orichalcum. This metal, also called divine metal, is a type of gold so beautiful it is considered a metal bestowed by the gods.

It is a precious and expensive metal even among gold, as sturdy as mythril and highly conductive to magical power—especially divine power.

Because of this, the Empire’s pantheon essentially controls all supply lines, making it a material that cannot be carried without divine permission, no matter how wealthy one is….

For such a metal to be carried by this rabble?

Something was wrong. Something was not right.

[………]

Having come to this conclusion, Ben Gaitenphang decided that allowing them to invade this far was itself a problem.

[Appear!]

With the thought of killing the rest of the rabble first, he deployed the homunculi and Spartoi he had prepared in advance, using his watching familiars as mediums.

Sixty mid-level combat homunculi—pitiful artificial life forms modified for battle, with swollen pale bodies and long tentacle-arms.

Ten thousand Spartoi—mass-produced small golems made of stone resembling skeletons, created using lesser dragon teeth or dragon magic as catalysts, stamped out from earth and ash.

Though they were inferior forces capable of nothing but charging forward, having as many as ten thousand of them meant quantity had a quality all its own.

Therefore, he thought these would be enough to hunt down those self-proclaimed dragon hunters, but…..

“Haaah—ha!!”

“Crush the trash!!”

When they clashed, surprisingly,

These so-called dragon hunters were fighting unexpectedly well, standing their ground against enemies more than five times their number.

In truth, their claims of hunting true pureblooded mature dragons were lies… but conversely, they did have experience hunting immature pureblooded dragons or various lesser dragons.

Moreover, many of them had banded together after military discharge when in need of quick money, so most utilized tactics and experience from their time as legionnaires.

Thus, these hunters wore equipment made from lesser dragon bones and hides, handled military-grade mechanical weapons like ballistae, and were veterans with abundant combat experience against various enemies.

Because of this, they were now overwhelming the numerical advantage of five to one with their experience.

They crushed Spartoi with hammers made from Earth Drake bones and shattered their heads with maces worn at their waists.

The mid-level warriors focused on fighting the homunculi, while others turned homunculi into skewers with stakes shot from ballistae.

Though casualties were steady, they were putting up what might be considered heroic and admirable resistance by their standards, facing far greater forces….

[….Why, why are they holding out!?]

From Ben Gaitenphang’s perspective, they were just armed robbers overwhelming security, and he could hardly view them favorably—he wanted to rush out and sweep them away.

But considering that warrior hidden among the crude crowd, rushing to the front lines right now carried too much risk.

[………]

And having forcibly suppressed his draconic pride to think this way, Ben also recognized that he needed to deal with them somehow.

Therefore, just as he had transferred his forces earlier, Ben Gaitenphang began to chant a spell using his familiar birds as catalysts.

Originally, dragons used their own language with magical power—dragon speech—so when using ordinary magic, a few words were sufficient without elaborate incantations.

However, there were spells where such abbreviation through dragon speech was impossible, and among such spells was—Nuclear Magic.

A strategic-grade spell with the strongest wide-area firepower, demanding enormous magical power as its price, but Ben Gaitenphang could use Nuclear Magic with a bit of strain.

A 4LV spell, with difficulty higher than most 5LV spells, yet he could use it. The name of this spell was—

[《Little Boy》!!!]

‘Little Boy.’ A truly “small” name considering its destructive power—a 4LV spell named after the first nuclear weapon used in combat in a distant foreign land.