Ch.20Chapter 20. Dragon of Smoke

Party, and Clan.

Words that define the representative groups where adventurers gather.

Among these, clans refer to large organizations that strengthen their bonds around common purposes or specific individuals, and naturally, the heroes who came from other worlds form the core of these clans in the current era.

Yes, the attacker who appeared at this moment was one of those heroes leading such a clan……

“So, it’s that old man over there? The one who turned my subordinate into a cripple.”

Commonly known as Flame Dragon.

The flames that rise from his sword cause devastating infernos that scorch the entire area, and it’s no exaggerated rumor that their intensity resembles the breath of a legendary “dragon.”

This was evident from the fact that the woman who had been conversing with him was burned alive without being able to lift a finger.

“Tachia. Are you dead?”

“……”

“…Tsk tsk, talking about short-lived races, there’s no set order for departing this world.”

Jean mourned her death with a playful laugh.

Seemingly irritated by this behavior, the Flame Dragon soon pointed his sword at Jean’s face.

“Just to confirm, are you the one who split my subordinate’s head?”

“If you’re talking about splitting the head of someone who acted rudely… you’ve come to the right place. But isn’t it a bit undignified for a hero to personally come all this way?”

“After hearing my subordinate was attacked, I couldn’t maintain my dignity as clan leader if I just sat quietly.”

While his words make him sound like a leader standing up for his subordinate, well…

It was hard to take it at face value when the crosses erected among the clan members he brought were so disturbing.

“Well, as you said, it’s annoying to have to come all the way here, but I suppose I need to make an example to prevent such incidents in the future.”

Two crosses standing prominently as if for public display.

Of the two bodies burned while tied to them, one had a large crack in its skull, as if it had received a strong impact from outside.

Perhaps they considered it a stain on the clan’s reputation to have been beaten somewhere?

For someone who merely taught them a lesson and sent them back, this was truly an uncomfortable outcome.

“…That’s a nice sword you have.”

But the opponent was in a state where he considered himself transcendent beyond human, comparing himself to a dragon.

In chaotic times, it’s natural for the strong to trample the weak, just as humans step on insects.

“Doesn’t the heat emitted by this sword feel hot to you?”

“Khuhuhu, such concerns only apply to ordinary people who weren’t born with special abilities.”

Was he pleased that someone else mentioned the symbol of his pride?

Despite having found his target, he didn’t immediately swing his sword but leisurely provided an explanation.

“What I awakened when crossing into this world was complete immunity to heat… Would it be strange for someone like me, who can survive inside a volcano with bare skin, to wield a sword that produces flames?”

-Whoosh, whoosh.

The moment the ego weapon in his hand erupted in flames while in its owner’s grip.

It was a reaction caused by the soul within rejecting him, but for someone with perfect immunity to heat, even this was merely seen as a useful tool.

“So that’s the basis of your confidence.”

“It’s too late for regrets, old man. If I return without cleaning up my subordinate’s mess, it would tarnish the name of the clan I established.”

His joyful explanation of his powers was ultimately brief.

After that grace period ended, he pointed the tip of his sword and spoke in a gentle voice.

“Well, I’m a hero after all, so I should at least listen to a senile old man’s last words. Do you have anything you want to say?”

“Hehehe, how merciful of you, befitting a hero.”

Was he hoping that Jean would beg pathetically for his life?

To display such a sight to his subordinates, and then trample it mercilessly to emphasize his cruelty?

“Well, since I’ve been given this opportunity, it might be good to tell you an old story as a commemoration for my journey to the afterlife.”

“…An old story?”

“It’s a fact many have forgotten. That those from other worlds like you have been called heroes in this world for less than 20 years.”

Before that, while there were dangers, the situation wasn’t dire enough to focus on summoning heroes from other worlds.

Therefore, the term “hero” merely referred to the strongest individual or a small party led by such a person.

“Heroes existed in this world too, but they didn’t possess special powers like you folks. It was just a title given to the strongest person, or someone who achieved great feats.”

“Haha, sounds like they were quite pathetic beings.”

“Compared to you folks, perhaps. But the being that the hero I knew faced was not.”

Jean continued his explanation with half-closed eyes.

As he placed his hand on his mouth, he began to put strength into his grip while continuing his reminiscence about the past.

“That’s because she was a ‘dragon’ at the pinnacle of all creation, beyond what mere humans could dare approach.”

“…Dragon?”

“I’m talking about a real dragon, not just a nickname like yours.”

Sruuk.

A pungent odor began to slowly creep up from behind.

Unaware that it was silently spreading around them, the Flame Dragon and his subordinates merely snickered as they listened to Jean’s words.

“That dragon was once called the ‘Volcano Dragon’ because it made its nest in a volcano, and when it fought the hero, it was also called the ‘Dragon of Kindling’ because it burned itself while attacking.”

Yes, they didn’t notice.

That something more lethal than any poison was slowly seeping into their bodies at this moment.

“Do you know what remained after it burned everything against its worthy opponent?”

“Cough!”

As violent coughs began to escape from their mouths one by one.

The Flame Dragon also noticed something was wrong and prepared to put strength into the sword in his hand.

“You, what are you doing…!!”

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust… Even the most magnificent form eventually crumbled and had to disappear from this world.”

No, it’s not this old man.

The suspicious smoke spreading at this moment was coming from behind, from the position of the woman he had burned to death earlier.

“But its innate nature didn’t allow even that, forcing it to persist in this world.”

-Thud, thud.

As the corpse rose, the ash covering it fell away, revealing the being within.

In place of the burned human skin remained reptilian scales with a grayish hue.

Though the eyes covered by these scales were cloudy, they were fixed precisely on the one who had attacked her.

Yes, the mouth opening at this moment was an act aimed at attacking them.

“Living in such a crumbled state, I personally call her this.”

Smoke Dragon.

The symbol of a declining legend, whose lifespan has reached its limit, barely permitted to maintain its form in this world.

“Smoke Dragon – Tashian Pailoi.”

The grayish-white breath exhaled by such a being soon spread heavily toward the clan members, including the Flame Dragon.

An attack carrying massive volume, like a “pyroclastic flow” erupting from a volcano.

-Kwaaaaa!!

The clan members exposed to this pyroclastic flow collapsed without even being able to scream.

The ash sticking to their bodies solidified them, hardened their respiratory systems from within, and cooked their bodies with the hundreds of degrees of heat contained within.

Even the Flame Dragon couldn’t escape such an attack.

“Ugh, huk. Ack…”

While he could withstand heat with his ability, the pyroclastic flow he inadvertently inhaled was damaging his lungs and spreading throughout his body in place of oxygen, making movement difficult.

“Ugh, aaaaaaah!”

Despite this, the Flame Dragon, trying to resist by burning his body, soon swung his sword and spewed flames toward the being that had risen.

But it wouldn’t burn.

Despite being engulfed in flames, the woman with her outer skin already stripped was completely accepting the flames with her arms crossed.

“Wh-what… How?”

When his attack, which he was confident could burn through any defense, was blocked so futilely.

The Smoke Dragon spoke to the Flame Dragon, who felt a sense of emptiness at this moment.

“Does ash burn when you try to burn it?”

Even though her body had nothing left to burn even if someone tried.

Isn’t it laughable to think such flames could kill her?

“Ugh, huk, ack…”

Without ever realizing this fact, his body collapsed in suffocation.

As his consciousness faded and his ability weakened, the power that had earned him the name Flame Dragon also disappeared, and his body was consumed by the ashes.

In the end, he was just a bit late, but he too became no different from the crumbled statues around him.

“Hehehe, perhaps it’s because I don’t have much life left. You’ve become quite unsightly compared to the last time I saw you.”

Jean, who was the only one who successfully protected himself in this scene, slightly removed his hand that had been protecting his respiratory system and looked back at the Smoke Dragon.

The unimpressive form of a dragon with barely a trace remaining, making the legend that once threatened the world seem hollow.

“…I must be becoming obsolete too. Even being ridiculed by a little kid who just follows that foolish hero around.”

“I’m not ridiculing you. Rather, I’m worried you might die before me.”

In the past, there were no threats from Demon Lords, the Undead, Beastmen, or vampires.

Even the heroes from other worlds who would oppose them didn’t exist, and she was called the greatest calamity in this world.

Even such a being, as her lifespan reached its limit, could no longer exert her former status.

As if proving that even the most brilliant light is destined to eventually extinguish.

“…Hey, kid.”

But even so, she remains a being that mere mortals dare not compare themselves to.

Soon, she posed a question to the companion of the hero who had fought fiercely against her.

“Is this world where such idiots openly strut around what that youngster wanted?”

Those who trample their own kind with power, and intoxicated with their ego, unhesitatingly kill even comrades who swore loyalty to them…

Is this the path chosen by the humanity that the hero she burned herself fighting against protected?

“Where is there ever a bad intention from the start? It’s just that people have different thoughts, and with frequent conflicts, things didn’t go as intended.”

“Tell me if there’s even one reason why such a mess of a world should be maintained.”

When her skepticism toward such a state of affairs vaguely emerged upon seeing the heroes of the new era.

Jean couldn’t give a proper answer and quietly asked her in return.

“What will you do if I say there isn’t one?”

“I’ll do whatever it takes.”

If he couldn’t stop her, she would destroy what he most wanted to protect with her own hands.

The contract made during her bloody battle with the hero who fought her in the past was still valid.

For now, she was just hiding among them, watching to see which direction the world he protected, though now gone from this world, was heading.

“Whatever I can do.”

But one of his successors has forgotten his mission and is showing off his power.

When even the leaders are immersed in luxury and pleasure, focusing only on squeezing those below them, what meaning is there in further observation?

“…Then why don’t you act immediately?”

Despite such a resolution being made right now, why doesn’t she set out to destroy humanity here?

Facing Jean’s expressed doubt, Tachia silently looked up at the sky, remembering someone.

‘I’ll accept it.’

Despite being obsolete, pushed aside by heroes drunk on arrogance and vanity.

A courageous weakling who wants to go out into the world to fulfill his own will.

‘Really? Taking this might cause all sorts of trouble…’

‘Well, yes, that’s true. But I don’t want to easily give up an opportunity to utilize my abilities.’

Because he entered this world as such a weakling.

A being with a perspective that can objectify himself without being immersed in vanity and arrogance.

‘Besides, if I have this weapon, I’ll naturally have opportunities to meet Tachia again, right?’

And perhaps the most foolish human she had ever met.

‘…Opportunities to meet again?’

‘Yes, I liked you, Tachia. You’re a bit gruff, but I like how you listen to me kindly despite that, haha.’

…Liked her because she was kind.

She was just in a hurry to handle matters due to her limited remaining lifespan.

He couldn’t be more wrong about a person, could he?

“For now, I’ll wait for him to return.”

But even such a fool made a promise, so she’ll wait until then.

“A dragon’s promise is absolute.”

If, by any chance, he fails to keep his promise for whatever reason.

Then she would continue what she had planned, quietly burying that thought in her heart.

***

And, in a tent located in an alley at the border of the Empire.

“Wh-what is this?”

A fortune teller preparing to do business while avoiding the surveillance of guards began to sweat as he looked at the crystal ball in front of him.

He had only wanted to check his future as a precaution.

Why was his peaceful fortune-telling in the city suddenly replaced with an image of himself lying miserably in the middle of a burned city?

“Did the future suddenly change?”

Observed futures can be changed, but only when the observer makes an attempt to change it.

If the future changes suddenly without such an attempt, there’s only one possibility.

“…Transcendent.”

Even prophets who receive revelations from heaven find it difficult to predict their movements.

The whims they impulsively cause sometimes lead to calamities that engulf the world…….