Early Morning - Late Spring : Kingdom of Zan x Kaelallan Border

As I nonchalantly grabbed my sword after dropping it to catch the arrow, I looked at the remaining six people with a wide smile on my face. "Are you all really just going to stand there while I kill you all one by one?! Come on! If you don’t gang up on me, it’ll be no fun!"

The only humans still remaining, consisting of two archers and a swordsman, wore looks of nervousness and fear. But surprisingly, they kept themselves quite calm even after watching their comrades get slaughtered like cattle.

But something about the situation was so out of place that even a human child would notice.

The three figures on their riders behind the humans still wore confident, angry expressions.

The expressions that had remained unchanged and indifferent as their subordinates were slaughtered, finally started to bend. "Haah… I really can’t believe it." The bear-demihuman halfie’s voice ripped through the silence surrounding us before a blinding light blocked out my vision.

-So, they’re finally gonna make a move themselves, huh?- As the light finally faded, I found myself looking up at two large, dark-grey halfies, both standing a little over 20 meters tall.

Lowering my gaze, I saw their riders crushed beneath them with the oldest halfie still sitting between them in his humanoid form. -Is he serious?-

"To think a mere demihuman would cause us so much issue…” He gave a casual glance to the two archers who stood in front of him without fear. “Mark and Susan, please assist from the back."

Giving quick nods, they turned around and gripped their bows.

Jack, the grey-haired knight-looking swordsman, gave the halfies hostile glances before turning to the archers. “So you two knew all along, huh…” He was shockingly fearless considering the situation.

But as he reached for his sword, the leader spoke up again. "Jack." He gave him a heartless glare. "If you wish to go against orders and try to fight us, I will gladly send you and your family to the afterlife."

As the halfie’s aura flooded forward, Jack hesitated and started to sweat.

It was a sight that left a bad taste in my mouth. -Those halfies really piss me off more and more, huh…-

Feeling pity for the man, I spoke up before he could do anything stupid. "I'll send you off like a warrior, come on. Pick up your sword and come at me." -If he’s really as strong as his hostility implies, he might be worth bringing to Kaelallan’s side…-

As he turned to me, his hostility slowly disappeared. “To still be unfazed after seeing them turn into dragons… I guess I'm the only one who hasn’t seen the peak beyond the clouds. Hooh…” Taking a deep, controlled breath, he unsheathed his sword with a surprisingly content smile on his face. "Before we begin, may I have the honor of hearing your name?"

A smile came to my face the second he asked. “Vasilias. Vasilias Whyte.”

“Haha, I will engrave that name on my soul, young man! My name is Jack Annora, I hope we can have a good fight!”

Seeing he was excited to fight as well, the sour taste in my mouth started to disappear. “Haha, of course!” As I set my sword on my shoulder, I glanced back at the archers and halfies with a surging bloodlust. “If any of you butt in, I'll kill you.”

“Alright, Sir Whyte, may the victor send the other off with honor!” As his smile grew, he leaned forward and lunged straight at me with enough force to crack the ground. “Hyuup!” *crack*

He reached me almost instantly, but it was still far from being fast enough.

His first swing was meant to slash across my body, but before it could meet my flesh, my sword came off my shoulder. *Clank*

But instead of losing his grip as I expected, he used the recoil from my hit to swing again. -Oh sh*t!-

*Clank-Clang-Shing-tink-Clang-Shing* Our exchange of nearly 20 swings took less than a single second, but with every collision, I unknowingly started to develop my own swordsmanship. -To think fighting a strong swordsman could be so fun!-

But as I pulled back to give him a chance to breathe, a dark-grey dragon foot came slamming down on my head with an accompanying arrow.

-They dare interrupt!- Swiftly swinging my sword up through the arrow and into the halfies foot, I let go of my sword and jumped up over its head. "I told you.. NOT TO INTERRUPT!!" Using thrusters incomparable to what I used with Maria, I drove my fist into the area between the halfies eyes.

*CRACK-WHAM* Its skull shattered and its brain turned to mush before its head was driven into the ground fast enough for its neck to snap.

*THUMP* As its standing body went limp and fell to the ground, I landed and casually pulled my sword out of its foot. *shiiing*

But before it could come all the way out, another arrow came blazing towards my face. “Tch…”

Forming a tiny metal marble in the air next to me, I glanced at the archer watching their arrow fly with confidence. -Impudent bi*ch…- *CRACK* The marble blasted through her arrow before zipping through her head faster than a neuron could fire.

Setting my sword on my shoulder again, I moved towards the underside of the dead halfie and used thrusters to throw it out of the road. *pssh-RUMBLE* *THUD*

"Sorry for the interruption, Jack. It seems like some people just can’t follow a single rule."

Glancing at the other halfies, I noticed their rage-filled expressions, but right when I got excited, the leader suppressed the rage in his eyes again.

-He’s going to make a move soon… He’s just waiting for the right moment, isn't he…- "Haah, shall we continue?"

Turning back to Jack, I expected him to look discouraged but instead, he looked like he had already accepted fate. "Yes. But before that, let me thank you for letting me take a warrior's way out." He gave a small bow before getting back into stance.

Seeing his chivalry, my smile returned. -I really like this guy…- “What are your thoughts on coming back to Kaelallan with me? If you agree, I will at least guarantee your life.”

He gave me a confused look before showing me a grateful smile. “Thank you for the offer, but I believe losing my life to a warrior as strong as yourself is simply my fate.” Tightly gripping his sword, he gave me a determined look.

“Haah…” I was a little disappointed he didn’t agree, but I was also excited to continue our fight. “In that case, I will send you off with honor.”

After closing his eyes and taking another breath, his expression turned serious and he lunged at me. “HYUP!”

*Clank-Fwip-Clang-Clang-crunch-WHAM-crackle* It was another flurry of blows, each faster and more powerful than the last until the ground started to shatter beneath us.

After several dozen swings, his swords started struggling to handle it and started to crack, but he only swung harder. *Crackle-tink-WHAM-Fwip*

-To think a human could reach into the realm of dragons!- Getting a little too excited, I accidentally ended the exchange with a heavy downward swing.

*FWOOSH* Immediately understanding he couldn’t block it, he angled his blade above his head to attempt to redirect my blade.

His stance was perfect, and he still had just enough strength to perform it, but no matter how great everything else was, his sword had reached its limit.

*tink-shatter* Before he could completely redirect my blade, his sword shattered, and my blade sliced through his collarbone, completely cutting off his arm.

But instead of screaming from the pain, he only fell to his knees and hung his head toward the ground. He already knew what was going to happen.

“Thank you for the fight, Jack. I will remember your name as long as I live.” As I raised up my sword, I noticed he was wearing a look of contentment. -It was a good fight, Jack.- “I wish you luck in your next li-” But before I could give him a warrior's ending like I wished, a massive brown tail swooped through and smashed apart Jack's body.

The tail then hit me with so much force that when I tried to block it with my sword, the blade shattered and left nothing else to dampen the blow. *WHAAAM* The next thing I knew, I was launched several hundred meters through the forest and was embedded into a rock.

*Gasp* *Cough* *Cough* -What the f*ck was that?!- Looking up as I gripped my chest, I saw a massive, 46-meter brown halfie looking at me like I was an ant.

Quickly trying to stand up, I got extremely light-headed and nearly fell over.

Millions of thoughts passed through my head in an instant, before my mind finally recognized something I hadn’t seen since I reincarnated.

Fear.

But my pride as a dragon didn’t allow that. -How could I fear this bast*rd?!- Looking up at his towering dragon form, a flood of emotions came barreling through my mind, but before they could cause problems, they were all funneled into rage.

“How dare a weakling like you make me feel fear…” My pupils dilated as I finally stopped controlling my aura. *vwooom* Just on the edge of my aura, I saw Ilios looking at me like he wanted directions. “Ilios, I got the big one…”

The halfie still had no idea of his existence though. “Haha, did I hit you hard enough for you to lose your mind?” He wore a smug smile that I simply wanted to rip off his face.

Seeing Ilios run away to reposition, I let my bloodlust flow. “I'm gonna slaughter you like a pig…”

In the next instant, a blinding purple light lit up the night sky and the surrounding forest.

-There is a special place in hell for people like you…-