Book 8: Chapter 7: Dragon God

I was a Sekiryuu in the past. I received an order from the Creator God-sama to manage the dungeon in the Kingdom of the Beastkin.

It was a dungeon exclusive for the heroes’ use, created to nurture them. And so, I had a lot of free time because ordinary adventurers didn’t come here.

Nobody came for a long time, but finally, a hero entered my dungeon around a hundred years ago.

I remember how excited I was back then.

That was  because I came up with a thousand ideas on what to say to the hero who finally made it to the last floor.

A hero duo attempted to challenge my dungeon

The human hero was probably teleported from another world, and he was accompanied by a half-elf woman.

This woman was probably his retinue.

I remembered that her swordsmanship was good.

The hero was strong, but he also had instances where he narrowly escaped harm. That half-elf woman skillfully supported him.

They were a good pair, so I thought.

Finally, they reached the last floor where I was waiting.

I finally used the lines that I had thought carefully during these hundred years, so I was brimming with satisfaction.

Okay, all that was left was to deal with them.

I had been watching their movements through the dungeon management crystal, so I knew that they weren’t powerful enough to defeat me.

When the battle with the heroes began, they skillfully evaded my barrage while also attacking me. They worked well together, but their strength wasn’t enough to wound me, as expected.

It didn’t matter how hard they struggled; it was impossible for them to defeat me.

They should give up right away, and just return later on. 

That was what I thought, but —

The woman suddenly put her sword away and rushed behind the hero.

In the next instant, my survival instinct shouted at me to leave this spot immediately.

It was the first time I felt this way since I was born.

I was born as the most powerful dragon, so I never experienced any predicament that placed my life in jeopardy. This terror — this was the first time.

The words that the hero directed to me as I felt overwhelmed with fear were still etched on my mind till now.

“Sorry, but let us cheat just for a lil’ bit.” — that was what the hero said.

That hero probably didn’t go all out while battling with me.

However, when he sensed that he would never win against me, he decided to activate the cheat skill peculiar to the heroes teleported from another world and use it against me.

I lost.

There was nothing I could do about it.

I didn’t even manage to see his figure in my peripheral vision as he charged towards me at an unbelievable speed; I was already beaten black and blue by the time I regained my senses.

He ended my life without a single trace of mercy.

I also thought a lot about the words that I would say when it was my turn to be defeated, and yet — he didn’t even let me say a single line.

My last words were “eh, wa-wai—”, that’s it.

Argh, too uncool.

I died.

Well, I supposedly died, but I still woke up.

Creator God-sama stood right before my eyes, and he declared that he would make me the next Dragon God.

He bestowed a new life to me.

Well, it was a bit different than being bestowed a lifespan.

It was because I became a deity.

I no longer had any connection with life and death.

There was a possibility that my existence would vanish if the piety towards me was too meager.

Regardless of that, deities could not directly intervene with the people and monsters of these worlds. That was  why I created the [Dragon’s Shrine Maiden System].

The dragonoid woman that I designated — in other words, the Dragon’s Shrine Maiden — would receive my divine protection and power, and she would be able to heal the wounds of both dragonoids and dragons.

When the dragon race thanked her, those feelings of gratitude would be converted to faith in me, and it would be my nourishment.

I copied Creator God-sama’s [Saintess], just a little bit.

That was a splendid system, after all.

It wasn’t a rip-off, okay? 

It was  called paying homage, got it.

Hakuryuu and the Dragon Shrine Maiden called out to me.

I frequently played with Hakuryuu in the past.

Actually, before I became a deity, I fought with Hakuryuu several times, but the younger white dragon was stronger than me.

I was a bit frustrated with that.

But, I am the Dragon God now, so there’s no way I will lose against Hakuryuu! — was what I thought.

I…will win, right?

The current Dragon’s Shrine Maiden was doing her job well.

I received a huge amount of pieous feelings just recently.

Dear Hakuryuu and the Dragon’s Shrine Maiden who sent me pious feelings called me out, so I decided to manifest myself.

When I faced both of them, I smelled the scent of that hero’s soulfrom them. It was faint, but I could also smell the Half-Elf’s scent.

I had turned into a dragon back then, so I had the ability to sniff the souls of people at that time.

“The scent of the guy who defeated me long ago is coming from both of you.”

I thought it was something impossible, but I couldn’t help saying that out of nostalgia.

“Uncle lost to him? Then —”

“Are you perhaps talking about the Guardian Hero?”

“Yeah. That’s right, he was called that way.”

I learned that the guy who defeated me was called the Guardian Hero after I became a deity.

Apparently, his status would multiply if there was someone he needed to protect behind him.

Suppose he was Level 100 back then. When the Half-Elf woman put away her sword and moved behind him, the hero’s status rose to Level 200.

Hey, isn’t that cheating!?

That was why it couldn’t be helped that I lost against him.

Well, I became a deity now, so there was no way I would lose against him this time around.

I was justifying my loss in the past, when an unimaginable information suddenly spilled from Hakuryuu. 

“Actually, that Guardian Hero has reincarnated.”

“— Huh?”

W-what?

What on earth was that?

“I-is that true?”

“Yes, it’s the truth. The scent of the Guardian Hero’s soul that you sensed is probably his, I believe.”

The Dragon’s Shrine Maiden replied.

The Dragon’s Shrine Maiden would never lie to me.

The Guardian Hero reincarnated?

Eh, seriously!?

I-in that case —

“It’s my chance for revenge against him!”

“Eh, ah, ahm… Dragon God-sama?”“Fuhahaha, Guardian Hero. I’m going to make you regret being reborn into this world!”

Nah, I didn’t have any plans to kill him.

I just want to make him pay for the past.

Pay for not allowing me to finish the lines that I had painstakingly thought about long and hard.

Deities couldn’t intervene with humans directly, but that was only in the Realm of Humans.

It’d be enough to just bring that Guardian Hero back to the Divine Realm, and challenge him to a battle. That guy would probably let down his guard because he already won against me before.

Also, if there was reason for the battle, then…

I must look for a reason that would make him want to fight against me; I couldn’t fail on this.

Well, I could just think about it when I meet him.

I had become a deity, so there was a mountain of things I could offer as a reward for winning against me.

Of course, the thought of losing never crossed my mind.

I would face him as he knelt on the ground before me, and I would definitely say all those lines that I didn’t manage to say back then!

It had been a while, but I transformed into Sekiryuu.

The amount of power overflowing from me couldn’t compare to before, thanks to me becoming a deity.

I grabbed the Dragon’s Shrine Maiden and Hakuryuu, who had morphed back into her human appearance, and I flew away while clutching them in my talons.

They seemed shocked by my sudden actions, but both the Shrine Maiden and the Hakuryuu never kicked a fuss, and they obediently stayed inside the claws.

If I followed the scent wafting from these girls, I would definitely reach that person.

Fuhahhaha, just you wait, Guardian Hero.

I’m coming now! 

I’m so going to make you pay for all the grudges of the past hundred years!!

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E/N: Lolol so he’s gonna go and lose too. Poor sekiryuu. I really wanna see Halt lose lmao. Because if he can defeat deities, just make him a god too. What’s the use  of weaker gods if a normal human is stronger than them.