Side Stories: Chapter 23
Suddenly, the dragon turned. Considering that it had to turn around its gigantic body while flicking its tail, it was an attack that should’ve created many openings. Yet, the dragon’s explosive speed completely erased all openings and added enormous power on top of it. As a result, Wekser couldn’t even think about blocking the attack—instead, he stared blankly at the dragon’s tail looming in front of him.
‘I’m going to die.’ His head became blank. It rang with the thought of needing to escape, but his body didn’t move. All of a sudden, Wesker felt a shadow jump in front of him.
Baaam! An explosive sound pierced his ears. The ground shook as if there was an earthquake. Dust clouds bloomed, shrouding his vision, and specks of debris tackled his body. Wesker didn’t know what was happening, but one thing was certain.
‘I-I’m alive!’ He felt all his strength leave his body. He had dropped his sword without noticing, and his hands felt empty. However, the relief that he felt from surviving made him unconcerned that he had done something that should’ve been shameful for a knight.
After a wave of relief washed over him, Wesker became curious. How was he alive? Whoosh! The wind rose and blew dust clouds—it wasn’t a natural wind. As his view became clearer, Wesker could see one person standing in front of him. He recalled the shadow he saw before the dragon attacked him and knew that the wind had probably been created by that person.
‘Hans.’ There was no way Wesker wouldn’t recognize him. Though not as much as Zich, he was one of the most famous people among the dragon slayers. He was someone with a grand title as the ‘Sun Hero,’ which Wesker yearned for very much. Hans looked back at Wesker and said, “Withdraw your troops immediately!”
“W-What…?”
“I said, withdraw your troops!”
Wesker looked around him. The first thing he saw was the dragon’s giant tail that struck the area right beside him. It seemed like Hans had bounced off the tail just now, and the floor where the dragon’s tail struck cracked into pieces. Wesker thought about what would’ve happened if that had struck him, and he immediately felt chills. Yet, considering his personality, Wesker also felt another emotion: jealousy.
He thought his skills wouldn’t lack behind any dragon slayer, but look at the state he was in now. He almost died from a dragon flicking its tail without even putting up a proper fight. The person who saved him was a dragon slayer with a heroic title which he desired the most. Yet, Wesker’s haughtiness didn’t lower any bit even after facing near death.
“How dare you tell me to back my forces! Just because you have some fame, you think you can command…!”
“If you have eyes, talk after taking a look at your subordinates!” Hans retorted.
It was a complete tragedy; there was no better way to describe it. The Miftil Kingdom’s knights bravely took a step forward to fight the dragon, but they were squashed like flies. Their passionate swings and attacks inflicted barely any damage onto the dragon, but each of the dragon’s movements inflicted the knights with critical injuries.
Whoosh! The dragon’s tail rose and quickly swung toward another knight again, but the knight wasn’t as lucky as Wesker and disappeared into the ground. It was clear that the knight wouldn’t be in one piece.
“D-Duke!” Fejiadiru ran next to Wesker and heaved hard. “There are great casualties among the knights! W-we need to retreat first and reorganize…!”
Suddenly, people’s screams alerted them of the presence of a new enemy.
“Ahhhh! U-Undead!”
“Kyaaaaah!”
Hans, Wesker, and Fejiadiru turned in the direction of the screams. They saw the undead heading toward the masses. Furthermore, they weren’t ordinary undead creatures. They were monsters with huge bodies and sharp teeth. Without any flesh and skin on them, they were basically moving skeletons. Naturally, the undead monsters were naturally superior to undead humans.
“More undead! Where did they come from?”
“It’s obvious! Those Bellid guys must have stored them in magic boxes!”
It was a method the Bellids often used. As an undead dragon stood from the back and undead monsters rushed to the front, the masses evacuating became stricken with fear.
“Everyone calm down! We have the dragon slayers with us! The undead aren’t even worthy opponents for them!”
“If we act calm, we can evacuate to safety! The dragon slayers will take care of those monsters!”
Thankfully, the masses didn’t enter a blown-up frenzy thanks to the people managing the situation. The dragon slayers’ fame also tremendously helped the situation, and these slayers proved themselves through action. A considerable number of forces, including the dragon slayers, headed toward the undead monsters. A couple of holy knights guiding the masses also joined the battle, and when the support forces joined on top of that, they gained the upper hand against the undead monsters. Seeing this, the masses felt relieved and the chaos settled down dramatically.
‘Thank goodness.’ Hans also felt relieved seeing this, but it was still early for him to let down his guard.
“Hmph!”
Baam! The dragon’s tail bounced off again from his swing. His palm ached.
‘Damn it! It really feels like they recreated almost all the dragon's strength when it was alive…’ Hans thought. Dealing with one dragon wasn’t that dangerous. Everyone who defeated the dragon last time had gathered here, and they had Zich. Yet, the problem was that they were in a city right now with crowds of people participating in the festival. It seemed like the Karuwimans had the same worries as him as they moved cautiously.
‘We still might be able to manage…’ Hans thought, but their opponent wasn’t finished yet. Soon, Hans heard someone casting a dark spell over the dragon’s head.
‘Isn’t that…?’ He saw a figure on top of the dragon’s head. Hans’ hand moved faster than his mind and Estellade shone. Baam! Yet, Estellade’s light was blocked by the dragon’s raised arm.
‘Damn it!’ They completed the spell. Whooosh!
The terrible Bellid energy swept through their surroundings. The holy Karuwiman knights were sensitive to Bellu’s energy, and they all frowned in disgust.
Kiiiiiiiik! The undead dragon’s shrill roar rang out once again. It was not like the furious roar that made one’s hair stand, but a shady and unpleasant roar. The dragon’s roar seemed to reflect its degraded state.
Hans asked, “What is that spell?”
A holy knight helping to suppress the dragon replied, “It’s probably a spell to strengthen the undead.”
‘Did they just strengthen the undead dragon?’ No, it wasn’t just the undead dragon. It felt as if the fight against the undead monsters also became fiercer; judging by this, it was clear that the spell probably reinforced all the undead in this area.
‘That bracelet is suspicious.’ Bellu’s energy was being vigorously emitted through the bracelet of the person who appeared above the dragon. Hans was sure that it was an artifact that amplified the power of the spell. However, even then, the thought of losing didn’t even cross his mind.
‘If I just keep the citizens safe…!’
“Move the troops out!” Hans shouted at Wesker once again. Until now, the knights of the Miftil Kingdom were getting one-sidedly slaughtered while refusing to cooperate with the others. Their valor alone was praiseworthy, but their spirits were clearly dead. Anyone could see that they had no chance of winning. The situation might change if others supported them, but most of the troops, including the dragon slayers, were focused on moving the citizens away from the dragon.
Wesker’s face turned bright red. Even he could tell how bad the situation was in front of him.
“Sir…” Even Feijadiru looked at him with an anxious expression.
Wesker clenched his teeth. “…Withdraw the troops.”
“Yes, sir!” Feijadiru nodded adamantly and issued orders to the knights. The Miftil knights were also well aware that their actions right now were no different from suicide, so they immediately stepped back as soon as Feijadiru issued the order.
“Keuhahahhaha!” Piros laughed after he landed on the dragon’s head. He looked down at Wesker, and it seemed like he was looking down at a small bug.
“You don’t look so good, Wesker Grashane. My dear comrade.”
Everyone’s eyes instantly focused on Wesker.
“Why, are things not working out as you planned? That’s why I told you to remove yourself from security on the big day of our plan.”
“What nonsense are you spouting?!” Wesker immediately denied Piros’ words. He had no choice but to deny it because his future would be doomed if he was branded as a Bellid collaborator.
‘Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!’ If everything went as planned, this situation should not have happened. He should have knocked down the dragon and been treated like a hero before Piros even appeared. Even if Piros showed up, Wesker thought he could kill him immediately. There would be no way he would be charged with cooperating with the Bellids after successfully stopping the Bellids’ plan. However, the current situation was far from his ideal vision.
‘There’s no credibility in what the Bellids’ say anyway! If I just deny it, it’ll be over!’ However, he couldn’t help but break out in cold sweat, and his condition worsened as Piros continued to speak.
“Your thoughts were so obvious. I really can’t explain your superficial aspiration to defeat the resurrected dragon and gain the title of dragon slayer as anything other than you grasping at straws. You really should know your rightful place.”
“I told you to stop saying nonsense!”
“Ughh! It was really fun to see you act so high and mighty without knowing that you were the one being used instead.”
“You, you…!” Due to the people’s gazes around him, Wesker couldn’t express his anger. However, Wesker’s pride was too enormous for him to act calmly. In the end, he had no choice but to grit his teeth. Hans and the others watched the conversation between Piros and Wesker in silence because apart from anything else, it was better for them if Wesker dragged out the time as much as possible for them to get the masses to safety. However, Wesker didn’t buy them much time.
“Thanks to you, we were able to make the undead dragon so easily. In return for your hard work, I’ll let you watch as Yuras and this city falls into ruin since you also wanted revenge against the Karuwimans.” Piros mocked Wesker with the false justification that he used to deceive the Bellids.
Thud! The dragon turned. Its back was exposed to Hans and the others protecting the citizens.
‘Should I attack?’ However, Hans wanted to buy a little more time for the citizens to evacuate. He glanced at the undead monsters; it seemed like the holy knights needed more time to deal with them.
“Where do you think you are going, Karuwiman Pope?!” Piros shouted with his arms wide open toward the Pope who hadn’t evacuated yet due to the rapidly changing situation. “Don’t tell me you’re trying to run away from this detestable enemy! How can you call yourself the supreme leader of the Karuwimans?!”
“Piros Bulington. As expected of a cockroach, you pull out a scheme like this. It would have been great if the Western General Branch had put up such a fight when it was being burned down to the ground.”
Piros’ face stiffened slightly.
“Or when your heads will fall. Please don’t tell me you’re idiotic enough to believe that you and your cockroaches can erase your pathetic downfall by interfering with the festival. I beg of you to deny it. I don’t think I can keep my head up in front of God Karuna later on if I believe I got ambushed by such an idiot.”
Zich nodded as the Pope let out biting insults. ‘I don’t need to worry about whether I corrupted Lubella too much.’
Even if it wasn’t for him, her character would have definitely gone through significant changes under the Pope’s influence.
‘How did Zenard maintain Lubella’s personality like that in an environment like this?’ In many ways, Glen Zenard was an amazing guy.