NOVEL NEXT chapter 3
3 – The Dragon of the Human Continent (3)
It seems like they’re getting angry because I made too much noise.
Judging by the whip flying towards my shoulder, my guess was right.
The rough leather whip coiled around my shoulder.
Luckily, I wasn’t injured.
Even though I had polymorphed into a human body, some of my original traits seemed to manifest. But…
Damn it. It still hurts the same?
If that’s the case, I can’t keep getting hit like this.
As the whip was being pulled back to strike again, I dodged it.
In the meantime, the taste and sensation of the tough leather felt vivid.
When I grabbed the whip with my teeth, the human became flustered and tried to pull it back with both hands.
But of course, there was no way they could take the whip away from me.
As I twisted my waist and pulled the whip, the human was dragged along with it and fell off the camel.
“Help me!”
When the fallen human screamed, a commotion could be heard from the direction of the bonfire.
I looked back and saw other slaves rushing towards us upon hearing the noise.
Seeing my fallen comrade on the ground and me with the whip in my mouth, the other slaves seemed to understand the situation and drew their weapons, speaking in a rough tone.
“Ahhhhh!”
A woman behind me let out a loud scream.
“Who would kill such a worthless creature!”
Under the hazy moonlight of the desert, the blades and spears flew towards me.
Leaping backward with a whip in my mouth, I avoided the blades and spear tips.
These humans. They truly intend to kill me.
Gripping the whip with my right hand, I swung it towards the humans rushing towards me.
Boooooom-!!
With a despairing sound of rupture, the whip struck the crowd of humans.
The few humans hit by the whip first were very lucky.
Their upper jaws disappeared completely, causing instant death.
However, the humans who were behind or beside them were not so lucky.
The whip that exploded several heads lost some of its initial strength, so it did not inflict fatal injuries on the other humans.
Their waists ripped apart, their intestines bursting out, their forearms torn off, their thighs deeply pierced, and their ankles crumpled, but the humans did not immediately lose their breath.
Almost simultaneously, the collapsing humans let out screams of agony and convulsed.
The blood spurting from their bodies sprayed the sand.
The sand greedily absorbed the blood, as if it had been tormented by thirst for a long time.
Throwing the whip to the ground and spreading my arms wide, I broke the chains.
Looking down at the dying humans with the broken chains hanging from my wrists.
To think it would turn out like this with just one strike of the whip… Humans are such weak beings.
“Teacher! Are you okay!?”
When I turned around, I saw a woman stumbling towards me.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“That’s a relief. In this world…”
The woman passed by me and knelt down next to the person lying closest to her, blood gushing from their thigh like a waterfall.
The person had lost so much blood that their face had turned pale, lying motionless on the ground.
The woman placed her hand on the person’s neck and murmured.
“They’re already dead.”
“Other people probably won’t last long either.”
“That seems likely.”
The woman stood up slowly and looked at the other people.
Most of the slaves had already stopped breathing, silently lying in the pools of their own blood.
“What on earth happened…”
“Well, it turned out to be a fortunate incident. The situation worked out as you predicted.”
“I didn’t know you would actually kill them. And if I had known you were this strong, I might have thought of a different solution.”
“No matter what, wouldn’t it have ended up like this?”
The woman looked at me quietly and nodded as if she understood.
“Yes, you’re right. It does seem like it turned out for the best.”
“Anyway, what do we do now?”
“I don’t know… For now… Everyone except us has fled.”
As I turned around at the woman’s words, the three carriages were all empty.
I could see humans fleeing in all directions, except for us.
“Why are they running away?”
“Didn’t you see people scattering in groups with just one swing of the whip?”
“Then why are you still here?”
“I’m not from this area, and the only person I can communicate with is the teacher. If I try to escape on my own, I’ll only end up in a dangerous situation.”
The woman answered, looking down at her ample chest.
“Now, shall we continue the conversation we were having? But before that…”
I walked briskly through the lifeless humans.
I wanted to wear some clothes, but the clothes of the humans around me were soaked in blood, making it impossible for me to wear them.
Where could there be spare clothes…
As I looked around, my eyes fell on a large bag hanging from a camel’s saddle.
There might be clothes there.
Just as I reached out my hand towards the bag, the woman suddenly intervened and snatched the bag before me.
“Wait a minute!”
The woman turned the bag upside down with her hand wrapped in a chain and began to rummage through it.
The contents of the bag spilled all over the floor.
What is she trying to do…?
“What are you doing?”
“I’m just trying to take things that could be worth money. It would be a waste to leave them here.”
The woman who spilled the items on the floor squatted down and rummaged through them.
Hmm… I guess you could say she was rummaging through someone else’s bag.
“hehehe, take a look at this.”
The woman held up a gold coin and giggled.
They say humans really like gold coins.
Because of them, they cry, laugh, kill, and get killed.
Well… it’s not hard to understand that everything in the human world revolves around money.
If you read books related to the human world, almost all of the problems arise from money.
But… no matter how much they like gold coins, how can they let so many people die right in front of them?
When asked about that, the woman smiled and answered.
“When you’re doing the work of a saint, you see things worse than this. Can I say I’ve become immune to it?”
“A saint? You mean a clergy member?”
“That’s right. We saints have the ability of divine healing, so we often go to places like battlefields. Naturally, we end up seeing scenes like this frequently. Of course…”
The woman paused for a moment and looked at me suspiciously.
“Using a whip to kill people like this is a first for me though. Honestly, it was more surprising than seeing people die.”
“If it surprised you, then I apologize.”
The woman handed me a spare set of clothes from her bag.
“Here, I have spare clothes.”
“Thank you.”
While I was getting dressed, the woman went to the dead body and removed the jewelry, such as rings and necklaces.
It’s one thing to rummage through the bag, but to go as far as the corpse…?
The human priests I know are somewhat distant from such things…
I don’t know if it’s the book’s fault or if the woman is the one at fault.
If someone sees us, they might think we’re a pair of slave raiders and plunderers.
“This should be enough.”
The woman put gold coins and jewelry into a small bag she took from the corpse of the slave trader and reached out her hand to me.
“Please cut the chains.”
As I held the chains with both hands and cut them, the woman whistled in astonishment.
“You have incredible strength… Are you part giant or something?”
With her hands free, the woman tightly wrapped the bag containing the gold nuggets and looked at me.
“Well, then… where were we?”
“I proposed that if this situation is resolved, will you accompany me?”
“Oh, right. But do you know who you’re asking to accompany you?”
“I am Black Dragon.”
“I am Rianna… Excuse me… Black what…?”
“It’s hard to believe, but I am a dragon.”
“Oh… Yes… I see… a dragon… hahahaha…”
The woman named Rianna awkwardly laughed and nodded her head in surprise.
“My name is Ergaduk. You can call me Erga.”
“Erga… Yes… What a splendid name. But why would someone called Dragon be wandering barefoot in the middle of the desert?”
“I sought freedom, fleeing from my habitat and arriving in this vast continent. I had to escape in a hurry, so I couldn’t bring anything with me.”
“Hmm… Yes… I see…”
Liana took a few steps back, shaking her head.
She probably thinks I’m a crazy human.
If a dragon suddenly blurted out something like, “Actually, I’m a human,” even I would react like that.
“A dragon… It’s a bit surprising… I had a feeling that something was off, but… If there’s any evidence, that would help… I’ve never heard of a dragon that looks like a human before.”
“Evidence…”
Hmm… I guess I won’t be immediately caught by detection magic if I briefly dispel part of my polymorphed body.
With my decision made, I took off my top and released the polymorph on my right arm.
Dark obsidian scales shimmered eerily on my skin, and sharp claws like blades grew out forcefully.
“Uh…!”
Liana screamed like a wild beast, quickly backing away, but then her legs gave out and she hesitated, falling to the ground.
“Do you believe me?”
“Uh… My arm… My arm…”
Liana stammered as she leaned on my arm for support.
After she was certain of what she saw, she returned my arm to its human form.
Fortunately, it seemed that detection magic didn’t catch me during that brief moment.
Liana was still so excited that she shouted loudly.
“Scales on your arm…! Claws…!”
I patiently waited for her to calm down.
For a dragon who has lived for thousands of years, patience is not difficult at all.
After some time, Rianna slowly stood up from the floor, seemingly more composed.
“I believe you. That you are a dragon, Eurga. I can’t help but believe it. My goodness, a dragon.”
“In a world where there are priests who can resurrect corpses, there is no rule that says a dragon cannot turn into a human.”
Rianna chuckled softly, amused by the joke.
I’ve noticed it before… She really does have a thick skin and an optimistic personality.
Any ordinary human would have lost their mind or escaped long ago.
“But why are you here?”
“I told you. I ran away in search of freedom. It seems inappropriate to go into detail about the place and situation.”
“Um… I understand.”
Nodding her head, Rianna fell silent for a while.
“Well, for now…”
After a moment, Rianna slowly opened her mouth.