Ch.389Chapter 389 – White Dragon and Lizardman (1)

It felt like time had frozen.

“…White, dragon?”

White Dragon.

The name demons used to refer to the one who defeated the Demon Lord in Albheim.

A term for the warrior clad in white armor created with the power of dragons.

That’s right.

It was a title used to refer to me.

Not a word that should be coming from that mouth right now.

“Helmet, do you perhaps have some lizardman comrades we don’t know about?”

“This is my first time seeing lizardmen though?”

Besides, I just learned now that reptilian beastmen are called lizardmen.

It’s a name that naturally comes to mind from their appearance, but still.

“More importantly, why are those creatures using Kei’s title?”

“Who knows?”

Honestly, I was curious, but at the same time, I wondered if I really needed to know.

In a way, it’s more of a title demons use for me rather than what people call me.

Other than feeling slightly annoyed at what seemed like identity theft, I didn’t think I needed to worry too much about it.

That title might be infamous, but probably only circulates around Bestia.

I just need to take care of my own people.

As if knowing my desire to dismiss the matter, the lizardmen’s leader shouted loudly.

“Fight! Destroy! Spread the glory of the White Dragon to the ends of the continent! Stain yourselves with the blood of enemies in a manner worthy of the name of the Dragon’s descendants!”

“Take everything they have and offer it to the White Dragon! Ah, He is watching over us!”

Looking at the excited lizardman, Sia quietly asked.

“From the sound of it, you seem like some fanatical bandit leader.”

“…That’s probably just how I’m known around Bestia.”

It just makes me feel bad, but it shouldn’t be a big problem.

And once again, as if reading my mind, the lizardman leader shouted.

“Make everyone kneel before the White Dragon!”

“Death to those who do not submit!”

“White Dragon, look upon us with favor!”

“He desires blood!”

“Offer the women and children to Him! Please Him with the blood of sacrifices!”

I can’t ignore this anymore.

“Beatrice.”

“I’ll blast them with a big one.”

Beatrice, who was already preparing an attack, nodded and extended her hand.

Soon the space around her began to distort, and a massive purple gravity sphere formed and flew toward the lizardmen.

She wasn’t aiming at the frontlines where they were fighting with the bull-heads, but slightly behind the lizardmen’s formation.

“M-magic!”

The lizardmen who were rushing to support their comrades fighting the bull-heads were sucked into the gravity sphere.

A significant number of the vanguard lost their lives in that single attack.

The bull-heads seemed confused by the sudden attack and were staring blankly from behind.

Then one lizardman who had survived because he was far back shouted loudly.

“How cowardly to use magic! Can’t you fight fairly in hand-to-hand combat?!”

“Who are you calling cowards, you lizard-heads?!”

Soon the two groups of beastmen charged at each other in rage.

Despite their fury, the situation looked grim for the lizardmen.

Since a significant portion of their forces, including the unit that should have been fighting at the front, had been swept away by Beatrice’s magic, the lizardmen were at a numerical disadvantage, and the bull-heads didn’t miss that opportunity.

Meanwhile, the bull-heads who had been preparing to attack us turned and began charging toward the lizardmen, and the lizardmen who had been trying to reach our carriage began to hesitate.

Beatrice immediately extended her hand toward them.

“Still thinking of coming?”

A magic circle appeared above Beatrice’s hand.

The lizardmen immediately shouted.

“K-kill her before she casts magic!”

“Throw the spears!”

Some lizardmen tried to throw their spears.

But it was already too late once the magic circle had appeared.

As Beatrice muttered softly, several balls of electricity began flying from the magic circle.

Some missed the lizardmen, but most of the electric shots hit the lizardmen charging toward us, causing them to convulse and scream as they were electrocuted.

Despite this, somehow some lizardmen managed to throw their spears, which flew toward our carriage.

“Please protect the carriage, Kei.”

“Leave it to me.”

I immediately stood up from the driver’s seat and deflected the spears flying toward the carriage with my halberd.

Looking up, I saw Sia cutting in half the spears flying toward Beatrice.

Then, Sia tossed me a half-cut spear and said.

“I grabbed one while cutting.”

“You caught that quite well.”

At least I have something to throw now.

I spotted one lizardman still alive and threw the shortened spear.

The lizardman whose luck had run out after barely dodging the electric shot was impaled by the spear and collapsed to the ground. Seeing this, another lizardman shouted.

“R-retreat…!”

“Shut up.”

Beatrice, who had already prepared her next spell, snapped her fingers.

Ice spikes erupted from directly beneath the lizardman who was trying to give orders, impaling him.

Finally realizing that attacking a carriage with a mage would only increase casualties, the lizardmen began to turn and flee.

At the same time, I could see the lizardmen fighting the bull-heads being pushed back significantly and falling one by one.

To break this unfavorable situation, the lizardman leader shouted loudly.

“Retreat!”

With that unhesitating, spirited voice, the fighting lizardmen all turned and began to flee.

The bull-headed beastmen began pursuing them with mockery, and I could see several captured lizardmen being slaughtered.

As the battlefield moved away from us, I could hear the lizardman leader’s voice from a distance.

“Cowardly humans!!! You’re nothing without your magic!! The curse of the White Dragon will be upon you!!! His warrior will take your lives!!!”

And the leader began retreating faster than anyone else, holding the White Dragon’s flag high.

Looking at the retreating bull herd and lizardmen, Sia turned to me and asked.

“So, are you going to curse us?”

“Are you crazy?”

Seeing Beatrice and Sia laugh at my response, Ive began to slow the carriage to a stop.

‘…Still, it bothers me a bit.’

I thought, looking in the direction of the lizardmen who had now disappeared from sight.

I was curious about why the lizardmen were using the term White Dragon.

+

Fortunately, we didn’t encounter any more beastmen after that.

When we reached the gateway to enter Bestia proper, we decided to take a short break.

“I’m exhausted…”

Chris sighed slightly and sat down, leaning against the carriage.

You might wonder what she had to be tired about since she didn’t fight directly, but with beastmen rushing at us from all directions wanting to enslave us, everyone had to stay vigilant whether inside or outside the carriage.

“Not just people who can’t protect themselves… even those who can only protect themselves shouldn’t come here.”

“They keep coming from all directions.”

While Beatrice was grumbling, Ive brewed tea and handed cups to everyone.

Then she sat down on my right, tilting her teacup slightly as she spoke.

“This tea is good for fatigue. Try it.”

“Thanks.”

As I drank the tea, I felt my head clearing a bit.

The aroma was so pleasant that I suspected she had used very high-quality tea leaves.

As if to counter this, Sera took out a bottle from inside her clothes and said.

“This is a fatigue recovery potion. Everyone, please drink one bottle each after your tea.”

“Thanks.”

I saw Sia take a bottle from Sera, down her tea in one gulp, and then drink the potion straight from the bottle.

It wasn’t because she was very tired; she just found it more convenient that way.

And Sera sat down on my left, opposite to Ive.

“I’ll pass it to you after you finish your tea.”

“Alright.”

Having Ive and Sera sitting on either side of me felt nostalgic somehow.

The difference was that there was no tension flowing between them.

They both seemed more relaxed.

Watching us, Chris had an “oh” expression as she looked at Sera and Ive, while Beatrice smiled mysteriously and said.

“Flowers in both hands, Helmet.”

“Jealous?”

When I smiled and asked, Beatrice slightly pursed her lips.

Then with an unreadable expression, she said.

“Yes. I am.”

With those words, Beatrice turned away.

Then Sia spoke up from beside me.

“Kei.”

“Yeah?”

“I once heard that being a ‘bad boy’ was trendy. Is that what this is?”

“What are you talking about now?”

When I reacted with bewilderment to Sia’s words, she said it was nothing and leaned against the carriage like Chris.

Then she quietly said.

“Those lizardmen bother me a bit. Why are they throwing around Kei’s title?”

“Maybe they heard about Helmet’s exploits somewhere.”

Beatrice raised a finger as she spoke.

“Since we’re directly involved, we might not realize it, but most of the battles we’ve been through would be difficult for ordinary people to survive.”

Beatrice spread her fingers as she continued.

“In Metis County, we protected Sestas from monsters coming from all directions. In Albheim, we fought the Demon Lord’s army. In Ferarius, we resolved the soul-absorbing formation incident. In Firenchena, we fought against the royal army and the Emiris Order over the royal palace.”

“…I didn’t realize it at the time, but each one was an intense battle.”

Ive muttered in amazement.

It would be abnormal for an ordinary person to survive all those battles.

Beatrice continued.

“Plus, in Ferarius, we defeated Kara, who was Emiris’s saint, and in Firenchena, we repelled Idea, the Dragon Slayer.”

“Am I excluded? What about Emiris?”

“Sia and Emiris aren’t beings that people’s imagination can easily grasp, so they’re excluded.”

Sia was a Demon Lord, and Emiris, though hard to believe, was a god.

People wouldn’t believe it if told we fought beings from fairy tales and legends.

Still, Beatrice added that the names of Kara and Idea carried significant weight.

“Come to think of it, Kei was the easiest to identify among our group. Not his normal appearance, but when he draws on the dragon’s power.”

“A warrior of the dragon flying around in pure white armor. That would certainly be easy to recognize.”

“It’s also the kind of image children would love.”

Ive, Sera, and Chris each added a comment.

Then Ive smiled and said.

“Perhaps, at least in the Mikea Kingdom or Albheim, books or stories about Kei’s exploits are spreading? The heroic tales of the White Dragon.”

“I’d rather not see that.”

Because it’s embarrassing.

But I could understand what my companions were trying to say.

“In other words, as my reputation grew, the story flowed all the way here, and the lizardmen got excited about it.”

“Since they claim to be descendants of dragons.”

Beatrice said as she drank her tea.

She seemed pleased, smiling slightly, and I quietly asked.

“If they’re self-proclaimed, then they’re not really dragon descendants?”

“No, they’re not. There’s no connection at all. It’s not a pleasant history, so I’ll be brief, but there are records of research done at the magic tower.”

Beatrice added that how the research was conducted is now forbidden to access.

Specifically, conducting such research on beastmen has become taboo.

“However, the findings of the research are still maintained. They don’t hide everything, but rather keep the facts clear so we don’t forget past mistakes.”

So even the magic tower doesn’t have only good history.

I nodded quietly at Beatrice’s words.

“So dragons and lizardmen have no connection at all.”

“That’s right. Of course, if you say this to lizardmen, they go berserk. They seriously believe they’re dragon descendants.”

So they’re basically fanatics who believe they’re dragon descendants.

Fanaticism causes problems everywhere.

While we were discussing this, Sia interjected.

“I’m worried about what’s ahead.”

“Why?”

“We aimed our magic at the lizardmen. I’m concerned they might think we’re allied with the bull tribe and focus solely on attacking us.”

Indeed.

At the time, everyone looked relieved, but what we did was essentially declaring ourselves as enemies to the lizardmen.

As Sia said, there was a possibility that the lizardmen would continue to attack us.

Soon Beatrice looked at Sia helplessly and said.

“Honestly, what can we do when they’re charging at us with spears intending to kill us? We just have to stay alert and deal with them each time.”

“That’s true.”

Unless we decided to eliminate every single lizardman without exception, it was impossible to prevent attacks if they were determined to ambush us.

We’d have to deal with each situation as it came.

‘…Just like now.’

As I quietly picked up my weapon, sensing the killing intent and presence around us, Sia quietly said.

“Looks like it’s time to shake off some embers.”

“Kei, take this fatigue recovery potion.”

Sera quickly opened a bottle and handed it to me, and I quickly drank the fatigue recovery potion.

I felt my mind clearing as I tasted the familiar flavor.

And immediately after that.

The surrounding bushes rustled, and soon figures with lizard heads or scaled faces began to emerge.

Among them, I could spot one familiar face.

“There they are! Those ones!”

It was the lizardman leader we had seen earlier today.

After fleeing faster than anyone else, he had apparently survived to report on us.

Just as I was about to greet him.

“Move aside.”

Someone pushed that leader aside and stepped forward.

At the same time, something was thrown toward us.

‘…A bull’s head.’

Perhaps one of the bull beastmen who had been pursuing the lizardmen.

Eyes filled with terror were embedded in the bull’s head.

“I heard these ones are your allies.”

I quietly looked at the one who had thrown it.

It was a white-haired woman with white scales slightly visible on her cheeks and horn-like decorations on her head.

“Answer me, human.”

Reptilian pupils filled with killing intent stared at us, alongside a blood-dripping halberd.