Chapter 149:Switched ‘Strongest’

Tenebrix Nox, the evil dragon appearing in [Twilight Starlight].

In the story, Tenebrix Nox was truly a being worthy of the title ‘the strongest.’

Ferocious, violent, and the strongest dragon who brings despair to all who tread the earth.

However, if Tenebrix Nox was truly ‘the strongest,’ [Twilight Starlight] would not have been so popular.

She experienced ‘defeat’ in the story.

No, in the first place, Tenebrix Nox was sealed until she appeared in the latter part of the original story.

Then, why was that ‘strongest’ dragon in a ‘sealed’ state?

Precisely because, even if she was the strongest, there were still ‘worthy opponents’ who could fight her to some extent, making that development possible.

“Is that her? No, I know without being told. I can tell just by looking.”

She, who had been nodding off and unable to resist her drowsiness, muttered while looking at Tene, who was embedded in the wall.

Lux Dies.

A White Dragon with a name meaning the brilliantly shining day, she had been the guardian dragon of the Empire during the Thousand-Year War, sleeping in the capital’s underground.

In the latter part of the original story, sensing the aura of Tenebrix Nox, she woke up from her slumber and helped the protagonist, Eileen, and her party to stop Tenebrix Nox, resulting in the mutual destruction of the two dragons and countless sacrifices.

The fact that such a being was now attacking Tene, helping Eileen just like in the original story, made her feel a sense of irony.

“Let’s finish this quickly and get some sleep. I’m so tired.”

Hooong—

Soon, Lux Dies, still drooping her shoulders as if she was tired, lightly stretched her body and then disappeared.

Kwaagaagaang-!!

“Guheuk…!?”

At the same time, a thin fist struck Tene’s stomach directly.

However, contrary to its appearance, the wall of the mansion collapsed with just one punch, and Tene’s mouth opened wide.

Tene, who had never felt pain from anything until now, had actually been struck by that punch.

“Ugh…! Th, thit!?”

Hooong hooong—

Tene, who had been greatly shocked, staggered, and then swung her fist towards Lux Dies’s face.

Tene, who was exposed to the raw violence and pain for the first time since possessing this body, did not control her strength at all.

If an ordinary human were to be hit by that fist, they would not only be crushed but literally ‘annihilated’ along with the space around them.

Tak-

“Huh.”

“What? Is this a punch?”

Lux Dies dodged the punch far too easily and effortlessly, and then, grabbing her wrist as it was, said with an absurd expression.

As she lifted the hand holding Tene’s wrist, her feet, which had been touching the ground, dangled in the air.

“L, let go…yot!? lick…!”

Tene, who had been subdued by someone’s hand and was struggling in the air, twisted her body to try to escape from the restraint, but Lux Dies did not budge.

“It’s cramped. Shall we go outside?”

Peoeok-

“Keo…heok!?”

Kwareureureung-!

Lux Dies, who was looking at Tene, who was struggling in her hand, and the interior of the mansion, which had been almost half-destroyed, released Tene and kicked her body, which was falling from the air.

Then, Tene, who had been sent flying by the impact, crashed through the wall of the mansion and flew outside.

“I’ll beat you up just enough so you don’t die. Take care of it yourself. I’m going to finish this quickly and go to sleep.”

“Yes, please do.”

Huoong-

Soon, Lux Dies, glancing at Eileen, spoke in a notification-like manner and then disappeared in the direction Tene had flown.

With the two dragons gone, only a heavy silence remained in the office.

The Evergarden family members were stiff as if they had witnessed an unbelievable sight, and Eileen’s side looked at them with a relaxed expression.

“Tenebrix Nox. She’s really strong.”

Then, looking at the still-stiff family members, Eileen opened her mouth.

“To be frank, even if we poured our dragon and our entire force into it, the best we could hope for would be mutual destruction.”

“But, is that being you call ‘Tene’ really…the same being as Tenebrix Nox?”

Of course, ‘Tenebrix Nox’ is strong.

Even in the original story, when she fought Lux Dies head-on in a one-on-one battle, she showed such an overwhelming difference in skill that she used the White Dragon merely as a ‘time-waster.’

However, paradoxically, ‘Tene’ was weak.

“According to our investigation, she doesn’t even know how to use magic, and she can’t even breathe fire, right? All she can do is polymorph and fly in her true form. And, relying solely on her physical stats to fight…”

“It’s like cooking with a perfect kitchen knife that can cut any ingredient, but using the handle instead of the blade.”

Tene’s true form was that of a pure, naive, but kind-hearted teenager.

Although she would be an adult soon, she had never been violent with anyone in her life, did not like violence, and was not particularly good at studying, just an ordinary student who enjoyed the fantasy genre.

That’s why Tene had not changed since her first possession, even after a year had passed since she had possessed this world.

When it came to learning combat skills, all she had to do was approach someone at a speed that ordinary people couldn’t even perceive and lightly press them with her finger, and one hundred out of one hundred would collapse.

She would like to learn magic, but when she tried to memorize and use the complex formulas, her head spun and she quickly gave up.

In the first place, Tene could see and feel the mana around her, but she had not yet figured out how to use it.

It was literally an extreme example of ‘if you’re not smart, be strong.’

However, Lux Dies, the other dragon who was fighting her, was different.

“She, Lux Dies, is weaker than Tenebrix Nox.”

“Inherent limitations? No. It’s just that Tenebrix Nox is an irregularity compared to other dragons.”

“However, she is far stronger than ‘Tene’.”

“She knows how to ‘use’ the body of a ‘dragon”.”

“I guarantee that, at her current level, no matter how many ‘Tenes’ there are, she can never beat her.”

“Kellock…! Keheck…!”

*    *    *

Tene, who had been rolling around in a large pit that had appeared in the training grounds, coughed roughly, completely covered in dirt.

‘M, my side hurts…’

Tene couldn’t help but shed tears at the sharp pain she was feeling for the first time.

“Hey.”

“…Huh?”

Then, Lux Dies, who was looking at Tene from above the pit, spoke to her.

“What are you? Are you really that Tenebrix Nox?”

“Y, yes…I am.”

“Why are you so weak? It’s absurd.”

Kureureuk-kukeuk—

Following that, Lux Dies lightly jumped into the pit.

“This is the Black Flame Dragon? This thing?”

Kkwak-

“Augh!?”

Then, she roughly grabbed Tene’s hair, who was still curled up because the pain in her side had not yet subsided, and pulled it, causing Tene’s eyes to close tightly as she cried out in pain.

“…I don’t think I even needed to step in. Should I just go back to sleep…”

“This body is great, but I’m so sleepy no matter what I do, seriously…”

She, who was watching Tene struggling with her hair grabbed, hesitated for a moment because it was so different from what she had expected.

She was much weaker than what she had been told.

According to the information she had received, she had heard that she was living in a way that she avoided violence and tried to hide her identity as much as possible, even though she was inside the Black Flame Dragon.

That’s why Lux Dies thought that Tene was simply doing something like ‘The unremarkable me is actually the strongest dragon?!’

If you ask why, it’s obviously because she’s Tenebrix Nox!

She herself had possessed a dragon, but she was a degraded version of the dragon that was inferior to her in all specs.

That’s why Lux Dies was very annoyed that Tenebrix Nox had appeared and that she was a possessor.

…To be exact, she was too tired to sleep even while that was happening, but anyway, she was annoyed.

Lux Dies was definitely great, but it was such a waste because there was a better body.

In the first place, even she herself was an amazing being that could make ‘humans’ into ants.

The saying that the grass is always greener on the other side was exactly right.

However, when she actually checked the person in question, she was completely deflated.

Looking at the fist she reflexively swung at her, she could tell that she was an amateur who had never thrown a punch in her life, rebelling with clumsy skills.

Even though she was being beaten like this, she didn’t know how to use magic, and seeing this, it was clear that she didn’t have the information that she used breath, but that she didn’t know how to use it.

This was because she herself had to transform into a dragon for several weeks to accurately grasp the organs throughout her body in order to spew breath.

If such a being was the strongest in this world, then at this moment, she had become the strongest, so there was no need to pay attention to her.

“…Hmm. Should I just massage her as I was told?”

Kkadeudeudeuk-

“Ah…”

‘Well, I should just do what I was told and go back to sleep.’

Then, she came to a conclusion as if she didn’t want to think about complicated things, and clenched her remaining hand into a fist.