Nido Tensei Shita Shounen wa S-rank Boukensha Toshite Heion ni Sugosu ~ Zense ga Kenja de Eiyūdatta Boku wa Raisede wa Jimi ni Ikiru ~

Episode 92: The King of the Golden Dragon

“That’s the strongest dragon, the Golden Dragon.”

“……”

Hearing Rex’s mutter, I thought it was a death sentence.

The Golden Dragon.
The most famous and worst existence among the dragons in mythology.
It boasts the strongest power among all dragons and is said to be equal to the gods, a literal dragon king.

When anyone hears its name, they would laugh it off as a fairy tale existence.
I used to think the same.
But now, we… couldn’t laugh at all.

Because right in front of our eyes, the Golden Dragon was flapping its wings and covering the sky.

“Ah…”

I couldn’t speak.
Just feeling its presence made my body tremble uncontrollably, so there was no need to say what would happen when I saw the real thing.

Ah, I finally understood Rex’s words.
Compared to this dragon, the dragons we defeated were truly weak.
This Golden Dragon is the true embodiment of fear that people truly fear.

I desperately tried to hold back the feeling of losing consciousness, but a part of me whispered that it would be happier to lose consciousness and never wake up again.

Once I saw its figure, I couldn’t look away and continued to gaze at its radiant form.
Its appearance, as if light had taken the form of a dragon, was so divine that it made me think a god had descended upon this world.

And within its luminous body, only its eyes had color and were staring at us.
As if it were looking at something boring.

And another color appeared in the Golden Dragon’s body.
It was in the shape of a sideways crescent moon, shining brightly red, and at first, I didn’t realize it was its mouth.

And as the red crescent moon shone brighter, I understood that I was about to die.
Because that radiance was death itself in the form of a shape.

My body went limp.
I understood that my instincts were telling me that it was impossible to escape, and I should quietly accept death.

That is not something humans should touch.
In the first place, it is presumptuous to even approach such an existence.
We are about to learn this through death.

Ah, I wish I could see my mother one more time before I die.
I can’t move my gaze anymore, but I think everyone is thinking the same thing.

In the face of inevitable death, regrets and attachments disappear.
There was only one thing I wanted to do, to repay Rex’s kindness, even if only once…

“Wait, wait, you’re blinding me!”

Rex casually approached the Golden Dragon and punched it, along with his complaints.
The godlike giant body of the Golden Dragon, which had received a clean uppercut from below, spun in the air and crashed to the ground headfirst.

And the Golden Dragon twitched a few times and then dropped its wings and lost consciousness.

Being punched by Rex…

“…………Huh?”

We rubbed our eyes and blinked repeatedly as we looked back at the scene that unfolded before our eyes.
The Golden Dragon was punched and sent flying? The existence that was said to be equal to a god was spinning in the air and fell to the ground unconscious?

The Golden Dragon… was defeated?

“……….Eh?”

“……….Eeeehhhhh!?”

What, what, what!? What happened!?

The legendary creature, the Golden Dragon, appeared in front of us, and now it’s been punched and knocked out!?

“Hey!? Rex-san!? What are you doing!?”

“Huh? Oh, well, it was a bit blinding, so…”

“Wait… You’re saying that’s the mythical dragon? Hahaha, no way.
Its parents are quite strong, but this one is still a child.”

No, no, even if it’s a child… Wait, huh?

“……….But this Golden Dragon is weak, huh?”

While saying that, Rex casually climbed on top of the Golden Dragon as if he were standing on a chair.

“Wait, wait, Rex-san.
This dragon is a mythical creature… why are you treating it so casually?”

“Huh? This is the mythical dragon? Hahaha, no way.
Its parents are quite strong, but this one is still a child.”

No, no, even if it’s a child… Wait, huh?

“……….Child!?”

The Golden Dragon was called a child, and we were on the verge of losing consciousness from shock.

“Well, creatures are born from parents, right? So, if there’s a child, it’s natural to assume that there are parents.”

Well, that’s true.
But you know, even if this Golden Dragon is called a child… we were prepared to die just by looking at it, you know? To think that there are parents even stronger than this dragon… I can’t even imagine how strong they must be.
We might die just by looking at them!

“Hey, in that case, shouldn’t we run away before the parents come back? They’re probably stronger than this Golden Dragon…”

And at that point, I stopped speaking.

“What’s wrong, Liliera?”

Mina noticed that something was wrong with me.

“Hey, earlier, Rex-san said that the Golden Dragon is strong, right?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, he did say that.
What about it?”

“Don’t you realize?”

“Realize what?”

It seems like Mina has been poisoned too much by Rex’s words and couldn’t understand the meaning.

“Listen, Rex-san said he’s strong.
He treated the dragons we fought before as weak and continued to hunt S-rank monsters.
Rex-san ‘said’ that, you know?”

“……….!?”

Mina seemed to understand what I was trying to say and looked at me with a start.
Good, it seems like she understood.

Meguri and Norbu were looking at us with the same expression.

“Amazing, big brother! I can’t believe you defeated a mythical monster… I’m glad I followed you!”

…Well, let’s leave Gyro alone.
We don’t have time to explain.

“So, what do we do?”

Mina and the others nodded in agreement.

“First of all, if there are parents, we should consider that there are two Golden Dragons, a father and a mother.”

“……!?”

Two of those beings, and they are far more powerful than the individuals we encountered.

“There’s no doubt we would die.”

“Knowing Rex, he would probably take care of one, and the rest of us would fight the other one together.”

“He would probably say that.”

Meguri’s words resonated with our thoughts.
Or rather, Rex would definitely say that.

“So, is that okay? We need to come up with a reason and leave from here.
We have to do it before the parents come back.
And before the Golden Dragon that’s unconscious over there wakes up and remembers our faces.”

We don’t know the habits of the Golden Dragon, but it is a proud dragon king.
Depending on the situation, it might come after us to seek revenge for embarrassing it.
We have to run now!

“Understood.
We must successfully convince Rex no matter what.”

“It’s a heavy responsibility.”

“Lies are not good, but this is a matter of life and death for the entire party.
There’s no other choice.”

Surprisingly, Norbu is flexible.
Well, if you’ve had such an unreasonable experience multiple times, it’s natural to become a little more flexible.

“So, what are we going to do?”

“Let’s go, everyone!”

“Yes/Yeah/Okay!!”

With unwavering determination in our hearts, we stood up.

*Gobble*

And I saw it.
Beyond Rex, who we were trying to persuade, a white useless pet was biting the wings of the Golden Dragon.

“Munch munch”

“Gyaaaahhh”

What on earth is happening? The Golden Dragon woke up from the pain of being bitten.
It woke up perfectly.

“What the hell are you doing!?”