The truth was that Hollywood blockbusters were deceptive. Film after film portrayed a rag-tag group of soldiers hacking their way through impressive monsters or mysterious aliens. Relying on nothing but their iron wills, bravery and skill, they would banish all attackers and save the world.
Total bullshit.
Aliens and monsters would never be as stupid as they were portrayed in the movies. With their intelligence and power, why would they fight humans on their terms?
The soldiers’ equipment was useless before the dragon’s natural defenses. Bullets ricocheted off, frag grenades bounced away and even a howitzer shell was stopped dead in its tracks. A crazy soldier even took out a knife to slash at the reptile but was rebuffed with a flick of its tail. He was promptly snapped in half.
Well, it was not as though their attacks did absolutely nothing. At the very least they managed to smudge Louie’s scales slightly. He might need to give them a good wiping to get them gleaming again.
Louie was unbelievable fast and unbelievable strong to the soldiers. All too soon the battle was over, and the soldiers’ dismembered corpses littered the forest floor.
After his evolution, Louie’s genes had become optimized. Even juvenile dragons from San Soliel would be unable to bridge the gaps in their physical abilities. Truly he was the Terran Civilization’s ‘ultimate strategic weapon’.
“P-professor…… what do we do…….”
A trembling student turned to their mentor. Among his peers, he was the only one who could still stand. All the others had collapsed moments ago and were lying on the ground crying and vomiting. The dragon’s vicious motions and the gruesome aftermath of its assault had left them paralyzed in terror.
Perhaps of all its victims, the three who had died initially had it best. Their deaths were instant and clean, unlike their mangled and dismembered compatriots.
A few unfortunate soldiers were split in two, their entrails decorating the forest floor right before their own horrified eyes. Their screams as the pain clouded their final moments rent the otherwise tranquil air of the Amazon.
None of the students had ever expected to witness such a wretched scene.
Of course, myths told of how only special weapons could harm dragons, but they never expected even modern weaponry to do absolutely nothing.
“I… I don’t know what to do… I haven’t studied how to survive against a dragon.”
The professor was no different. He knew how to survive in the wild, and he knew how to avoid or confront wild animals if need be, but nothing in all his years of experience and education could prepare him for this!
Louie flicked the blood and bile off his claws with a single fluid motion. Satisfied at their cleanliness, he gazed straight at the professor and his students.
He did not intend to kill them. Not only had they not attacked him, but they could prove themselves useful.
“Foolish mortals,” he boomed, “This is the result of your arrogance. Did you really think you were a match for a dragon?”.”
Raising his head, he spoke in the draconic tongue. It was not that he forgot how to speak English, but that he felt it humiliating to recourse to it immediately.
At Louie’s words, the professor had a revelation.
He quickly fell to his knees and shouted, “Mighty dragon, we did not mean to intrude into your territory. We are just a group of researchers and have nothing to do with those soldiers who launched an attack on you.”
Ignoring whether the dragon understood English or not, there was nothing wrong with begging for mercy. Moreover, he had to quickly disassociate himself and the students from the soldiers. The other students followed suit immediately.
“Shut up!”
Suddenly Louie spoke in English. His tone was sharp, and his accent clearly American.
The professor and his students froze.
‘It actually speaks English!’ he thought inwardly.
A small part of him wished he had researched mythical creatures instead of biology.
“Stupid mortals, is this your current language? So inelegant and harsh on the ears…”
Louie spoke with strong contempt for the human race. His words made it seem as if humans were nothing more than some humble worm, or his food.
“It….. this dragon can speak English?!”
The young girl named Lucy accidentally murmured out loud. Realizing her misstep she covered her mouth. Gazing at the dragon in front of her, she felt trepidation at having caught its attention.
“English? It is not worth anything. Such a crude language can be learned at once with a simple Language Comprehension spell.”
Louie approached Lucy slowly. His hot sulfuric breath caused her eyes to water and made her feel as though she stood at the rim of a volcano.
She remained silent as she trembled.
“Language Comprehension? Spell? M-magic……?!” the students wondered.
Somewhere, deep within the recesses of their horror lay a spark of curiosity and excitement. Who had not dreamed of a world of magic?
But soon, they shivered and lowered their heads again. Right now they were fishes on a chopping block, the terrifying dragon’s captives.
Suddenly, the sound of wind and propellers could be heard. The branches of the trees were blown aside by the gale. Louie raised his head to the sky and saw three helicopters approaching his location.
“Humans always invent interesting toys.”
With these words, Louie shot up the sky and charged at the aircraft.