“Hey, what’s wrong with you? Aren’t you the guy who treasures his life above all else?”
“Of course I do. My life is certainly precious.”
Rudelite gave a bitter smile.
“But not enough to break a dragontongue oath.”
At the very least, he had to avoid becoming a fallen dragon.
“A dragontongue oath… What on earth did you promise?”
“It’s nothing big,” Rudelite replied, his tone dismissive. “A long time ago, when the race was in peril, I made a vow. As a Ceremonial Priest, I promised to offer my life for the sake of our survival. That’s all.”
“Rudelite, you…!”
“Go. Davey, that human, is sharp. He’ll figure you out in no time. I’ve done a good job of hiding myself, so there’s no way I’ll be caught, but you’re different.”
“...”
Sapphire made a complicated face before clicking his tongue in frustration. He then disappeared on the spot.
The two were rivals, always constantly at each other’s throats—red and blue dragons were naturally opposed. But Sapphire had come all this way to warn him when it mattered. He had defied the elders’ orders and told him to run away.
“That idiot… sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong,” Rudelite muttered with a bitter smile, placing a hand over where his heart was.
‘A promise is a promise.’
Even if it was a decision made by those wretched elders, it didn’t matter.
At that moment, a familiar voice called out from the distance.
“Rudel! Rudel, are you here?”
Hearing Evangeline’s voice, Rudelite frowned in confusion before stepping out of the library.
“My lady? What’s the matter?”
“Oh! Are you busy?”
“Not particularly… Why do you ask?”
“Great! Can you come with me outside the territory for a bit?”
Her sunny smile was so cheerful that it momentarily caught him off guard. There was something about her—a strange sense of deja vu.
It wasn’t like looking at a human—he felt like he was seeing his own kin. Something about her kept bothering his mind.
“Understood. What do you need me for?”
“Just outside the territory, there’s a barren land, and I heard some cactus shell fruits have ripened there! I really want to go pick some, but Daddy said I could only go if you come with me.”
Rudelite let out a bitter laugh. He couldn’t believe how she could trust him so easily—it hadn’t even been that long since they’d first met. However, Rudelite couldn’t help but feel bitter as he remembered how few dragons trusted him as much as she did. Those dragons were worse, compared to these humans whom he considered lower beings.
He chuckled sardonically to himself.
“Yes, my lady.”
Following Evangeline out of the territory, Rudelite noticed the wide plains shifted into the barren wasteland she had mentioned. He observed it with a curious expression.
‘Strange. It’s a scene of nature, but there’s an odd energy lingering here.’
Unbeknownst to him, there was an ancient mana emanating from the underground ruin beneath Heins Territory. All he could sense was that the area felt peculiar.
Despite existing for a long time, this territory gave him a different impression compared to the world he was accustomed to. Of course, the fact that elves and dwarves roamed freely among humans here was already astonishing on its own.
“Ah! It bloomed!”
Evangeline, hopping ahead of him, suddenly exclaimed with bright eyes as she plucked a ripe fruit from a massive cactus.
“Wow… It’s perfectly ripe! This will make for an amazing ingredient.”
Evangeline was a mage as well, and she couldn’t hide her delight as she carefully picked the fruits and placed them into her sack. Watching her toil so earnestly, Rudelite let out a quiet laugh.
“My lady! Be careful not to prick yourself on the spines!”
As though caring for a troublesome younger sibling, Rudelite instinctively rushed over to assist her.
Evangeline beamed with happiness, laughing at his gesture. As Rudelite helped her in her task, he found himself laughing along and forgetting all his worries. He didn’t know why he felt so lighthearted.
“Whew… We gathered a lot! Thanks so much, Rudel!”
“It’s no trouble, my lady. Seeing you so cheerful makes me happy as well.”
“Alright… Shall we head back now? Daddy’s probably worried.”
This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.
“Yes, let’s do that…” Rudelite began, but he trailed off, confused by his own uncharacteristic joy.
And then it happened.
“Hmm? What’s that?”
In the sky above, violet magic circles began to form one after another.
One turned to two; two turned to four; then eight had manifested. They ended up surrounded by more than ten shimmering circles, the sizes growing rapidly.
She stared at the ominous sight, letting out a gasp of exasperation.
Suddenly, the magic circles tore open, unleashing massive icebergs with their tips pointed toward the ground.
“My lady!!!”
Rudelite quickly threw himself toward Evangeline, grabbing and pulling her out of the impact zone. He gritted his teeth, the attack only narrowly missing them.
“Gahhh!!!”
Even so, one of the ricochet iceberg shards struck his leg, lodging itself deep in his flesh.
‘Damn it!’
It wasn’t typical magic—no ordinary spell should be able to cause him such excruciating pain, even while polymorphed. Unless it was a spell strong enough to affect his true form… like something a dragon might cast.
“Rudel!! Rudel, are you okay?!”
Evangeline frantically yelled as she stood up. Rudelite tried to reassure her, but the freezing cold and searing pain spreading through his body made it impossible to keep himself calm.
“Heh. Things turned out pretty good. We were struggling on how to tackle the strange magic circle,” a voice sneered.
Rudelite looked up to see five figures approaching. Each of them had hair of vivid, unnatural colors. All of them had young appearances, seemingly around their late twenties. There were two red-haired figures, one with blue hair, one with golden hair, and one with black hair.
“Well, well, well… if it isn’t Rudelite. What are you doing here?” the blue-haired young man mocked with a proud smirk on his face.
“Gah… Ka… Karma…”
“It’s been a while.”
“What is this…? Hey! Did you use that magic just now?!” Evangeline shouted in panic as she supported Rudelite.
“Huh? A mere lower being is accompanying you.”
“Just erase her along with him,” the black-haired girl said coldly. “Humans dying here and there means nothing to us—they’re a lower species by birth.”
Karma shrugged at her remark. “True, but seeing Rudelite groveling on the ground like that is oddly satisfying.”
Laughing nastily, Karma turned his gaze back to Rudelite.
“You got injured by just this level of magic? Don’t tell me… did you seal your magic while staying polymorphed?”
“…”
“Hah! Seriously? You really are something else, Rudelite! You’re a real piece of work!”
“Shut up, Karma!” Rudelite snarled.
Karma’s grin only grew wider.
“You know, you’ve always been a pain. A cowardly hypocrite. Even when your little sister was dying, you were too scared to step up, just a useless idiot clinging to his own life.”
Rudelite flinched, but said nothing.
“Hey, you,” Karma said, turning his attention to Evangeline. “Want to hear something interesting?”
“What is it?” Evangeline asked cautiously, positioning herself behind Rudelite as she unsheathed her jet-black sword.
“Oh… that’s no ordinary sword, is it?”
“Be careful. That sword gives off a bad vibe. Don’t mess around with her, just kill Rudelite. If this gets out of hand, the elders won’t let us off.”
“Mind your own business,” Karma shot back before addressing Evangeline again. “Hey, you. Do you know who we are?”
“You’re not human,” Evangeline muttered. It was impossible not to notice; the overwhelming presence they exuded was clearly beyond human.
“That’s right. We’re not human.”
As he spoke, his pupils narrowed into slits, and he radiated a suffocating Fear.
“Ugh…” Evangeline gritted her teeth at the Fear that instilled instinctive fear.
Though she was superior in terms of race, she was still a baby compared to the beings in front of her.
“Oh, a Master-level human? Interesting. You’re holding up well against my Fear.”
“I like her,” one of the red-haired men said with a sly grin. “She’s pretty and sturdy. If I make her my guardian, she’d be useful.”
“Do what you want,” Karma said while shrugging. “But first, let’s have some fun with her, per our usual rules.”
“You guys…”
“Do you get it now? Do you know who we are?”
There was no way she couldn’t tell now. Though their aura was familiar, it was distinctly different from hers.
“Dragons…”
“Oh, sharp one, aren’t you? But… why aren’t you bowing your head, you insignificant being?”
Thud!!
“Ugh…”
Evangeline wondered why they had appeared out of the blue and revealed themselves as dragons. In the midst of her confusion, Rudelite snapped his eyes wide open as he understood what Karma was about to do.
“Don’t… don’t do it…” Rudelite croaked, his pupils shaking uncontrollably.
“Dragons, you see, have a rule. If their true identity is exposed during their game, the game ends immediately—no exceptions. And everything connected to them must be erased. And if that’s not possible, the dragon must die. That’s the oath we made to ourselves.”
“So?”
“Here’s the real question: Why would a mighty dragon like me know so much about a mere human stuck at the 4th Circle, and why would I come all this way just to attack him?”
“Don’t… Don’t do it! Stop!!”
Rudelite shouted desperately. He didn’t fully understand why, but his body moved on instinct.
He didn’t want this to end. Not like this.
He didn’t know why he was fighting so desperately. Not long ago, he had resigned himself to simply letting things unfold if something went wrong.
But now, that was the last thing on his mind. There was no time to dwell on his feelings. The only thought consuming him was that he had to stop Karma no matter what.
“No!!!”
In a flash, Rudelite summoned a ball of flame and hurled it directly at Karma.
Boom!!
The fireball exploded upon impact.
“Wha… What?! Rudel?!” Evangeline exclaimed, her eyes wide in shock.
“My lady! Come with me! I’ll get you to safety!” Not even a Swordmaster like you can stand up to dragons! You must run!”
Fortunately, the situation hadn’t spiraled completely out of control just yet. As long as no one explicitly uttered the word dragon in the same breath as his name, the oath remained unbroken. He gritted his teeth, reassuring himself that things were still okay.
‘Not now…. I can’t let the lady discover my true identity!’
Chanting those words to himself, Rudelite grabbed her arm and began to run, pulling her away from the chaos. He pulled an emergency signal flare out of his pocket.
‘If Prince Davey sees this… Maybe, just maybe, he can stop them.’
But while he knew Davey was certainly strong, facing five fully combat-capable, full-fledged high-ranking dragons would be no easy feat.
Still, Rudelite couldn’t bring himself to give up without a fight. There was something about Evangeline that reminded him of someone—someone he didn't want to lose again.
Even if he was selfish or wrong, he couldn’t bear to lose her.
But his enemies were far from ordinary.
Through the thick smoke, spears of icy blue energy shot forward in an instant.The spears pierced through his arms, legs, and abdomen.
“Rudel!”
“Gah!Gaaa…” Rudelite coughed as he stumbled on the ground.
“You filthy red lizard. You dare throw magic at me?!” Karma yelled as he stepped forward.
Enraged, Karma closed the distance with a Blink spell, reaching for Rudelite’s head to grab him by the hair.
But just as he was about to make contact—
[Longsword]
[Mountain Crush]
A black blade energy swept through the air, carrying immense force and severing his arm in a single blow.
“You won’t get past me! If you want to hurt Rudel, you’ll have to go through me first!”
Karma stumbled, his expression hardening as he stared at the arm he had never imagined would ever be severed.
“You damned, insignificant human…”
Thud!!!
An overwhelming wave of cold energy exploded outward as Karma’s icy blue eyes began to glow. His body began to shift, rapidly transforming into a massive dragon.
[I will crush you, tear your corpse to pieces, and feed it to goblins!!]
An overwhelming amount of Fear surged across the battlefield. Rudelite grimaced, seeing the signal flare be destroyed in the chaos.
Now, he was truly the only one who could protect Evangeline.
But to do so, he would have to end his game and reveal his true form.
If he did that, his time here would be over. Barring a few improbable exceptions, he wouldn’t be able to remain by her side.
Yet if he didn’t, Evangeline would surely die under Karma’s attack.
Gritting his teeth, Rudelite muttered under his breath.
“My lady… When you asked me what I would do, if two precious people were drowning and I could only save one…”
“...”
“You said the right answer is to save both. That’s what the ideal hero would do.”
Evangeline widened her eyes as she looked back at him.
“Rudel?”
“I’m sorry, my lady. I guess I still can’t save both. Not then, and not now.”
As he spoke, a powerful storm of mana began to swirl around his body.
They hadn’t even known each other for a month—it wasn’t nearly enough time for a bond to form.
And yet—
“I lost someone once… I won’t lose someone again.”
This was just a game. A mere act of role playing.
But for some reason, when Rudelite was near Evangeline, he couldn’t keep his emotions in check.
It reminded him of the feeling he had when standing before his own kind, no, the statue of the Great Primordial Dragon.
ChubbyCheeks & FriedNook's Thoughts
Editorb’s Thoughts
Here I find myself conflicted, readers. Being a reader myself, experiencing these chapters as I go, I would normally be throwing tons of theories and breakdowns for predictions and probably endings to each situation.
Can I think of at least four reasonable ends to this fight/predicament?
Of course.
Can I tell you about them with all my excitement, looking to see who also shares my thoughts?
I think not, unfortunately. I can't reach into spoiler territory, even if I don't yet know that they're spoilers. With great power truly does come great responsibility…
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JK got the approval! All hail my manager Namu 🙇♂️
>inb4 he's exposed but only to Evangeline, who's a dragon, so by sacred law he hasn't revealed himself to a human
>inb4 Davey saves the day before he transforms
>inb4 everyone says they already know he's a dragon, so by a technicality it turns out he wasn't exposed (per se) to a game piece
>he just claims to be polymorphing into a dragon instead
>Davey just calls him a dumbass, and that's enough to get him to break his vow and everything he stands for
I mean obviously he's not gonna die as a main-ish arc-specific character, but predictions of how he’ll not die are still fun :D