chapter 129
* * *
The Dragons’ friendly gathering under the guise of a meeting progressed faster than expected.
“Who has a dragon with a holy relic? There’s nothing quite like it when dealing with the undead.”
“The last time I used it was a thousand years ago, but it’s still going well. And aren’t you planning to help the young dragon by disguising yourself as a demon? But what if I hear the holy relic?”
“There’s no way that Negev girl could have become smart in a thousand years. Even a thousand years ago, only his strength was filthy, but his intelligence was the same as in the days of Hatchling.”
“That’s right. It was too stupid to be considered a bondi dragon. It must have been difficult for the younger ones to deal with it, but I didn’t even send it out to fight against our dragon because I was a guy who closed my eyes and wielded only the power I had.”
Philip nodded as he listened to the dragons’ conversation.
‘I know exactly.’
It was an evaluation that seemed to accurately understand the characteristics of the Negev. The ability of the evil dragon, Negev, was great, but it was not able to use that power effectively, for example, politically.
If Negev had any political flair, she would have become one of humanity’s greatest enemies.
‘In the devil, in the dragon, in the breath. I’ve got all the tricky things.’
However, there are two problems, that her mighty ability does not last long due to injuries sustained in the war a thousand years ago, and that her subordinates are literally the army of the Tang Dynasty itself.
“Man, why are you keeping your mouth shut? If you have any opinions, don’t hesitate to give them. It is you who act directly.”
A beautiful woman with green hair looked up at Philip and said, It must have been a green dragon.
On the outside, she was a suspiciously beautiful lady with a kind impression, but her true identity was a dragon that could melt and kill him with just the mucus from a sneeze.
Philip nodded, promising not to let go of the tension.
“… ah. Yes, I understand.”
“No. no First of all, you need to look at the limits of your ability to know what, how much, and how you can do it. that’s the order no? Shouldn’t you know how far you can go before you plan to fit within that limit?”
“yes. You spoke well. It looks like he’s a swordsman, seeing as he’s wearing a sword around his waist, so maybe we should try fighting the dragon soldier.”
Freevia, who watched the scene, slightly bit her lip.
“Now is not the time for that. seniors.”
Her dragon disease was more powerful than most high-ranking wizards, but the dragon disease that the old dragons had was powerful enough to transcend imagination.
Originally, dragon soldiers were just made to drive away those who approached the dragon’s nest. However, about five hundred years ago, the hobby of remodeling dragon bottles became popular among dragons, and terrible tactical weapons were born.
“Don’t worry. Could we possibly harm the person you care about? I just want to see a little bit. I am curious about the level of humans these days.”
When the white dragon, who had transformed into an old man, spoke up, Philip stood up as if he couldn’t help it.
“You are right.”
These dragons were the ones that Philip must become friends with in order to live comfortably in the future. Even such a small request could be granted.
“Oh, that’s hot. okay. Let’s take a look. Our dragon soldiers are a bit too much for humans… Hey Loelia. I hope the one you found in the ruins a while ago.”
The red dragon woman called Loelia tilted her head.
“That child must be too heavy for a human, right? That child seems a bit weaker than what humans call Auror Masters… .”
“If a dangerous situation arises, we can help ourselves. a human child If you defeat Loelia’s new mercenary soldier, I’ll give you a special gift from me.”
When the old white dragon stroked his long beard and said that, the other dragons also helped.
“I’ll give you a treasure even if you cut off one arm.”
“But don’t push yourself too hard. baby If it’s Roelia’s dragon soldier, I’ve seen it once, but it’s going to be difficult at your current level.”
“Don’t be like this, let’s make a bet. I bet a siren’s tears that that child will defeat Loelia’s dragon soldier.”
In a situation where a bet had been made over himself, Philip looked at Privia’s face.
‘Is a person’s attitude determined by the environment?’
When I was alone with him, I felt that I had lived thousands of years, but being among dragons who had lived much longer than her, I felt like an adolescent girl brought to a family reunion.
‘Still, he still worries about me.’
Seeing him looking at him with worried eyes, it seemed that they had become quite close.
‘Looking at it like this, it looks a little cute.’
It seemed that it was because she had the appearance of a girl in her late teens.
“Come on, is there anyone else willing to join the bet? If not, I’ll leave. It must be fun after a long time.”
Philip entered the portal opened by the excited dragons.
* * *
The place where the dragons and Philip arrived through the portal was a desolate wasteland with nothing. Even if there were any, it was only migratory birds that were resting their wings for a while to avoid predators.
“Are you sure you want to be okay? This child is weaker than your dragon soldiers, but it must be a burden to humans… That kid still looks weak.”
A red dragon named Loelia looked at Philip as if he were looking at a child left at the water’s edge.
“The mere fact of being here in a human body has something special about it. Of all the races on the continent, are there any that can unexpectedly follow humans? He said he would try, so summon him first.”
When Rod came forward, Loelia nodded as if she couldn’t help it.
“… Mmm. If Lord says so. come out.”
When she snapped her fingers, space tore apart like a portal, and a knight in massive armor emerged from beyond the rift.
Philip looked inside the knight’s helm and realized that it was empty.
‘It’s living armor.’
A magical creature that enchanted its armor to move itself. Living Armor. Usually, it was an existence that only carried out the input commands without intelligence, but that was something special.
“I was bored so I looked into the ancient ruins near the nest and found it. I left the treasure alone, but I thought it would be a bit dangerous in human hands… … Its armor is entirely made of Orichalcum, and it responds quickly to very weak mana movements. Besides, it has some powerful magic built in, so be careful. child.”
The red dragon, Roelia, approached Philip and told him to be careful. Philip was slightly amazed at the kind and caring look.
‘Red dragons are known to be ferocious, but why is this woman so kind?’
“cheer up! Human!”
“Don’t be afraid! If you’re going to get hurt, I’ll save you!”
The other dragons were already tilting glasses of beer after summoning tables and chairs from a distance. Philip, who was forced to play the role of an unlucky gladiator, shook his head with a laugh.
“You don’t have to do this… .”
Freevia was feeling a little guilty.
‘I brought it for no reason.’
If she had known this was going to happen, she would have been the only one to voice her opinion.
It was because he had lived for a long time and forgot the habit of old dragons who would turn on the light in their eyes whenever they had something fun to do.
Philip drew his sword without a word. He deliberately didn’t bring Neria out of fear of attracting the attention of the dragons, so what he was holding was a high-quality steel sword.
“Attack that kid. got it? But never kill them.”
At Loelia’s command, Living Armor, which was three times taller than Phillip’s, pulled out the huge two-handed sword. Just looking at it, it seemed that it weighed easily over a few hundred kilograms.
‘Even if I use sword steel, it will be difficult to stop.’
If I attacked with that great sword, it seemed that I would never be able to counter it. Even if he received it with sword steel, the amount of shock did not disappear, so it was perfect for being a rat.
Philip slowly raised his aura. The Living Armor moved its huge torso in line with Phillip’s movement. That ridiculously delicate movement made Philip break out in a cold sweat.
‘You’re reading my movements? Does this make sense?’
It was a performance that far exceeded the level of ordinary living armor. Philip’s only way to win was to aim for his gaps and aim for the seams of his sturdy armor, but it didn’t seem easy with such delicate movements.
When Philip didn’t move, the Living Armor moved first. Aiming for Philip’s head, he swung the huge two-handed sword, and the wind pressure alone pushed back the skin on his face.
“Ugh!”
Philip narrowly escaped the attack. When Philip avoided the attack from top to bottom, he hit the ground in the wasteland violently.
In an instant, dust rose as if something had exploded, limiting Philip’s vision. Phillip grasped the movement of the Living Armor as it rushed through the dust, raised his aura as much as possible, strengthened his body, and took a large step to the side.
‘An oblique cut!’
Phillip, who avoided the next attack by rolling one round towards the attack, was cornered into a one-sided defense after that.
‘Isn’t there a gap? Does this make sense?’
All of Living Armor’s attacks were made as if they had predicted Philip’s next move. As Philip’s movements became more sophisticated, the living armor’s attacks also became more sophisticated.
The dragons giggled as they watched Phillip grit his teeth and dodge the attack.
“You have a better sense of battle than I thought. Will it be worth seeing in ten more years?”
“Did you say you’re over 20 now? People like that often appear among humans, so they’re not extinct yet. They are a great race.”
“Shouldn’t we stop soon? No matter how much I think about it, I don’t think that kid can win. Humans won’t be able to beat an ancient weapon of that level. Even though it’s my dragon soldier, it has the function of detecting and tracking mana, and it has infinite physical strength, so it’s too harsh for humans.”
Philip couldn’t hear any other voices, but he could clearly hear that it had the ability to detect mana. As soon as that information was entered, a bright light bulb turned on in Philip’s head.
‘… Detecting mana? I should have told you that earlier.’
Philip thought as he rolled on the ground to dodge the thrust that was aiming for his heart. Since he said he was a dragon soldier, he must have been strengthened by Loelia’s teeth.
Then it was only natural that Philip couldn’t win. But what if it really works with a system that detects and tracks mana?
‘A draw is possible.’
Philip stood up like a tumbler and relaxed his entire body. Then, he focused his whole mind and consciously slowed down the flow of aura accumulated in his body.
Thanks to the control beyond the level of a human, the Aura’s active movement quickly subsided. When the movement of mana, which is weaker than ordinary people, had subsided to a much more static level, Philip felt that the mechanical life force directed at him had disappeared.
That meant the Living Armor stopped working.
The dragons tilted their heads when they saw Living Armor, which suddenly stopped fighting, and Philip, who was slick like someone who had just come out of a lazy bath.
“what? How did you do it?”
“You artificially slowed down the flow of mana. Do you think humans can do that?”
“Even elves who live close to a thousand years wouldn’t be able to do that.”
“But what if that happens?”
A heated discussion soon broke out between the dragons.
“Isn’t it right to see that we won?”
“I couldn’t knock it down, but it’s a bit hard to say that I won… .”
“Isn’t it the end if we leave that human child like that? If the role of the mercenary soldier is to protect the nest, then the human child has won since we prevented him from carrying out his mission.”
“It’s plausible, but it’s kind of ambiguous to see that we won. Anyway, that’s really great. Is the ability to control mana innate? Well, that’s enough, so that’s probably why Privia cares so much.”
“road! What do you think, Lord? I’ve already started betting, so I have to come to a conclusion somehow. If Lord doesn’t decide, those old people will fight for the next five hundred years.”
The Dragon Lord, who had been watching Philip with interest, stepped forward.
“Don’t do it in a draw. Are there any dragons that bet on a draw?”
Then, a blue-haired female dragon jumped out of her seat and cheered.
“Hurray! Me! I! Because I bet on a draw alone? What kind of windfall is this!”
Phillip laughed awkwardly as she ran up to him and hugged him tightly. But the blue dragon didn’t care, grabbed Philip’s head and kissed him on the cheek.
“Thanks to you, I won the first time! It’s like a belly button!”