CH 68

“They all ran in that time?”

Unlike a little while ago, the terrified people were gone without a trace. What there was instead was a wide-open door next to where they used to be, shaking in the wind as if saying, ‘Wouldn’t you have run then?’ It was at that moment.

Shwwk!

An intense, crimson light shot toward the dragon’s body accompanied by the sound of something breaking through the wind, and at the moment it collided against the beast…

“Gaargh!”

A booming explosion occurred, blowing Girgantia backward greatly. The dragon spread its wings and set its claws against the walls of the audience room in response to the sudden attack. Meanwhile, Richard—who was half-bloodied all over and buried beneath Girgantia’s feet—went rolling to a corner of the room, but no one cared.

“How dare you, the likes of a human!” The dragon roared.

“Too late for that after taking a beating.” Estian swung his sword again at the dragon glaring at him. Sword aura was a power even knight commanders had difficulty using, yet it materialized oh so easily each time Estian moved his blade. Another explosion occurred and the sound of something collapsing followed; pushed back and knocked over by Estian’s sword aura, Girgantia’s feet and wings had slammed against the walls and columns of the building. 

The floor and ceiling began to split apart with audible cracking. In the first place, the very building had been shaking from the moment that massive dragon stood on the floor. Estian scowled at Girgantia as the latter raised its head again amidst the falling fragments of the ceiling.

‘How am I to take that down?’ The emperor pondered.

He had never encountered such an enemy before. He had once heard that, as said by Richard who was currently squirming in the corner, dragons were immune to magic. It was unknown as to whether physical force was effective against the creature of ancient times. Estian looked at his hand that was gripping his sword and saw what appeared to be hazy, red smoke revolving around it. “Damn it.”

He knew what it was. The blood of Eugendiph, which he was forced to ingest so long ago, had sensed a crisis and was trying to come out into the open. Its appearance was not out of fear, but merely out of joy at encountering a foe worthy of ripping and tearing apart. Estian turned his head toward the door through which all the others had left. He had entrusted Cecile to Kane and ordered him to have her escape quickly, along with the other people as well.

‘That being the case…’

Since there was no one to see… would it not be fine to use the power within the blood of Eugendiph? But as Estian was briefly locked in thought, something moving that was not Richard caught his eyes.

“Go, go away!”

He had thought everyone had fled, yet one person remained in the corner, trembling. It was a familiar face; Tania, the lady-in-waiting chosen by Cecile, quivering in the corner as she gazed at the dragon.

‘Blast it. Why did she of all people stay behind when all the others had no trouble running for their lives?’

Judging by her trembling, it appeared she could not even move out of panic. In truth, Estian did not care in the slightest whether someone else lived or died, but that woman was a different story. ‘I’m sure Cecile will be sad if that woman dies.’

Estian had told her many times that she could do nothing but eat and play, yet she insisted on doing what she had to do and picked a lady-in-waiting, and it seemed they had studied hard in various things as well. Moreover, Cecile eagerly looked after Tania, saying she had found a friend with a hobby to share.

‘Do I just leave her?’

When he thought back to how Tania had gobbled up fruit from Cecile’s hand, he did not feel much inclined toward saving her, but he shook his head a moment later. Though Estian did not like the woman, he could not allow someone in Cecile’s favor to die. It was easy for him to imagine how much she would cry upon Tania’s death. She had cried all day because of him throwing a jewel, so surely she would cry an ocean for a good month if someone were to die. Estian found the thought of seeing her sorrowful face hard to bear.

It was then that Girgantia raised itself up. “An opening!” It said.

Girgantia stretched its maw wide open at seeing Estian with his back turned. The surrounding air was furiously sucked into the dragon’s mouth, making an intense noise, and sparks of flame began to rise from within—it was trying to unleash dragon breath, the specialty of its kind. That was as far as it went, however.

Pow!

Someone suddenly climbed one of up Girgantia’s wings and kicked its mouth shut as it was attempting to breathe fire.

“Egh-peh-peh!”

Thanks to that, the dragon had to shut its mouth making disgraceful sounds.

“Kane!” Estian cried out. It was Kane who had kicked the dragon. “Why did you return!”

The knight commander had returned out of worry for Estian when he should have stayed still and protected Cecile since he had taken her away.

“Did you just kick me? I bit my tongue!” Girgantia spat bloody saliva, then wrapped its tail around Kane’s leg and tossed him aside, sending him colliding against the floor with a thud and sliding into a corner of the room. Now with the hindrance gone, the dragon turned its attention to Estian again. 

It had expected him to have run away, but forget escaping, it saw he had gone to the human woman in the corner. The beast’s large body moved with haste and the floor sunk with every heavy step its limbs took. But just as Estian was about to stand before Tania, upon seeing the furiously approaching Girgantia, Tania shrieked from behind him, “Ahhhhhh! Stay away!”

As if that’ll make the dragon stop. In the instant Estian contemplated whether to toss her into the moat outside the window, Tania screamed again. “I hate lizards more than cockroaches!”

And then… she dashed past Estian to swing her fists at the dragon.