Chapter 1203: 190. Charging Again

“Shut up!”

Kran growled under his breath, trying to drive that voice out of his mind.

What was the point of saying such things at a time like this? Give up resisting? Of course he did not want to give up, but what else could he do now besides obey?

He could not possibly, because of his own unwillingness alone, go and......

“This is not only your unwillingness. It is the unwillingness of many people. How could everyone possibly accept that evil dragon trampling over our homeland however she pleases? Those feelings have merely been suppressed for the time being.”

That voice seemed to see straight through his heart, or perhaps...... it was parasitizing his heart to begin with.

“Turn around and look...... You will see the true answer.”

Kran did not want to listen. He had already put down his weapon in exchange for the enemy’s mercy...... Yet as though compelled by some unseen force, he still turned his head.

“Captain?”

Behind him stood the members of the Dragon-Slaying Team who had been following him all this time.

The one closest to him was his assistant, a very young man named Toby.

Behind Toby were many people who had once fought shoulder to shoulder with him. Morey, Anthony, Avett...... He knew all of their names well, because he still remembered training with them, fighting alongside them, and imagining together the moment when they would defeat the evil dragon, back when they had all been so full of spirit.

But now, all of them wore numb expressions, like walking corpses.

“Is this really all right?”

Kran’s heart jolted. He abruptly covered his mouth, completely unable to believe that he had suddenly spoken the exact same words as that voice.

But very soon, he lowered his hand.

Because what that voice had said was also what he wanted to say.

“To simply give up resisting like this, to be casually ordered around and driven like slaves...... Is this really all right?”

He spoke to the companions who had already abandoned resistance, anger filling his voice.

“Captain?”

Toby widened his eyes in surprise, then straightened his body, raised his fist, and struck his chest forcefully.

“Of course it is not! Giving up is what I hate most!”

“That is right! We cannot do this! She is an evil dragon. Even if she did not come to destroy us, she must have come to enslave us!”

“We do not want to become slaves!”

“Resist! We must resist!”

The response was fervent.

Far more fervent than expected.

Kran forced a bitter smile onto his face. He had thought that after what had happened just now, the fighting spirit in everyone’s hearts should have been completely ground away.

Unexpectedly, the disgraceful one had been him, the mighty dragonblood-bathed warrior.

“But......”

Even now, Kran still felt somewhat uncertain.

“If we resist...... it may instead truly bring about New Tars’s destruction. The Proxy’s choice may actually be the correct......”

“He is wrong.”

That voice immediately interrupted Kran’s thoughts.

“That coward...... that spineless coward. His choice must be wrong.”

“Why are you so certain?”

“Because I have the right to be.”

The voice said:

“Kran...... Even now, have you still not recognized who I am?”

“You...... No, you......”

Kran was horrified.

He had felt from the beginning that this voice was familiar. He had simply never dared to confirm it.

“Is it really you......? I thought you had...... abandoned us?”

“Do not worry. I will never abandon you.”

That voice became exceptionally gentle.

“Kran, I will not force you, because the choice must be made by you. But I hope you can believe in yourself. Do not forget...... You are the one bathed in dragon blood, a man capable of slaying an evil dragon. There is only a tiny, insignificant gap between you and that evil dragon.”

“Believe in myself......”

“That is right. Believe in your own strength. And I have already imbued your weapon with a special power sufficient to shake an evil dragon. If you have not completely knelt down yet...... then raise it and swing it.”

“......”

Kran abruptly returned to his senses.

He discovered that the dragon-slaying sword he had thrown away had somehow returned to his hand.

The blade, which had originally gleamed with cold light, now seemed to be coated in a thin film of oil. Under the reflected glow of the magic stones, it displayed an eerie array of colors.

“A special power...... sufficient to shake an evil dragon?”

Kran gripped the sword......

And felt the blood throughout his body, which had already fallen silent, gradually begin boiling once more.

......

“Not this one.”

“Not this one.”

“This one is not either......”

Hamreign touched and inspected them one after another with her finger.

Her movements were extremely fast. In less than ten minutes, more than half of the several hundred people present had already been examined.

The process had also gone smoothly.

Those who were inspected at first had been anxious and uneasy, afraid that this Dragon Lord intended to plant some sort of slave mark inside them and leave them unable to ever free themselves.

But after they later discovered that it truly was only a trace of magic power used as a marker, most people no longer resisted as strongly.

After all, in the eyes of most people here, choosing to surrender meant that the evil dragon would subject them to all kinds of cruel treatment. Some pessimistic people had already mentally prepared themselves to kneel down and......

Yet in the end, all that happened was that they were touched once and left with a little magic power. The entire process was so quick that it only required a few short seconds.

This was practically something so good that they would never have dared imagine it before.

People always sought compromise. That principle applied everywhere.

“I told you [N O V E L I G H T] those people could not possibly be this bold.”

For Muen, the work was somewhat boring, but at least it was easier than being tormented by Miss Dragon’s jade-like hand.

Especially now that her hand was busy and completely unable to find an opening to deal with him.

Muen could even make a few teasing remarks.

“Miss Dragon is clearly this powerful, yet you are still so cautious. That is truly rare.”

“Do those two things conflict?”

“......They do not. It simply feels strange.”

“You only find it strange because the stories you have experienced were not cruel enough.”

Hamreign did not even raise her head. She remained extremely focused while inspecting every person.

“......”

The corner of Muen’s mouth twitched.

Not cruel enough?

Did she mean encountering Evil Gods causing large-scale Pollution at the slightest opportunity?

Or encountering terrifying villainous organizations plotting conspiracies at every turn, sacrificing hundreds of thousands of people at a time?

Miss Dragon was looking down on him far too much.

“Although I am very weak in Miss Dragon’s eyes, along the way, I have still experienced many complicated stories.”

“Is that so?”

“So I also have a certain understanding of those scheming old bastards.”

Muen swept his gaze over the people who had not yet been inspected and confidently said:

“People capable of hiding from Miss Dragon for hundreds of years certainly would not be unable to keep their composure. How could they possibly deliver themselves to us like this......”

“Evil dragon!”

“......?”

The smile that had only just begun forming on Muen’s face immediately froze.

No way, brother......

Are you really this brave?

I had not even finished speaking yet!

“Die, evil dragon! I will represent this city and completely execute you!”

Muen raised his head and looked over.

Everything between heaven and earth had fallen deathly silent, leaving only a murderous chill behind.

A figure shot directly out of the crowd.

His speed was unbelievably fast. In the blink of an eye, he had already arrived before Hamreign.

Even Muen was somewhat surprised by that speed.

Unfortunately, that kind of speed was still merely “fast” beneath the Crowned threshold.

In Hamreign’s eyes, it was completely no different from a comically slowed-down performance by a clown.

Therefore, the moment that person charged out, her sharp golden pupils had already locked onto the target.

Without the slightest hesitation, she lightly raised her jade-like hand and seemingly casually pressed it toward Kran.

Though she moved later, she arrived first.

To those watching from the outside, what happened did not even look like Hamreign had reacted quickly and prepared a response in advance.

Instead, it looked more like...... Kran had refused to dodge and voluntarily slammed himself into her jade-like hand.

Everyone who witnessed the scene simultaneously felt regret in their hearts.

They thought Kran was like an ant that did not understand its own insignificance. Even at a moment like this, he still imagined that he could shake......

“Hmm?”

But suddenly, Hamreign seemed to notice something.

Her gaze swept across the longsword in Kran’s hand.

That sword......

When this human had attacked earlier, she had not even spared it a glance.

Given its material, sharpness, and its owner’s strength, it did not even possess the qualification to break through her defenses.

But now......

Hamreign’s figure flashed and directly vanished from the sword’s attack range.

In this clash of offense and defense, she had actually chosen to retreat.

“Hmm? What happened?”

Muen, who was watching from the side, immediately widened his eyes.

One had to know that earlier, inside his mental space, Miss Dragon had not shown the slightest intention of dodging even when facing the descending Black Sun.

Yet now, against an ordinary Fifth-Rank warrior......

She had actually dodged on her own initiative?

Was he under an illusion?

Or was Miss Dragon under an illusion?

Muen rubbed his eyes, then quickly locked his gaze onto Hamreign, whose figure had appeared on the other side.

Her face remained indistinct, but her slender brows were slightly furrowed.

From that, Muen actually read a hint of...... disgust?

That was right. Disgust.

The kind of disgust one would feel during a fight if the opponent suddenly charged at you while swinging a mop covered in filth.

“Is there something wrong with that sword?”

Muen also identified the source.

Clearly, the sword Kran was currently wielding was not ordinary.

But no matter what, the scene was still shocking enough.

A Fifth-Rank warrior forcing back the strongest calamity?

How could he be having such an absurd dream?

“Ha...... Hahaha...... As expected.”

Kran was likewise immersed in astonishment.

His gaze locked onto the retreating Hamreign. Then he lowered his head and looked at the dragon-slaying sword in his hand before bursting into delighted laughter.

“Even an evil dragon who appears invincible is not impossible to defeat! Everyone, look! I successfully forced this evil dragon back!”

The sword tip lifted.

Kran drove all the strength in his body and once again advanced toward Hamreign without hesitation.

“Look! Look! This time, I will not merely force her back. I will completely defeat her! That is right, I will utterly eliminate this evil dragon...... Huh?”

His wild laughter abruptly stopped.

Like a duck whose neck had suddenly been seized.

Kran’s eyes widened, and his expression visibly twisted.

A violent wave of pain rapidly drowned out his joy.

His vision quickly became blurry.

The entire world seemed to be separated from him by a thick sheet of frosted glass.

Yet even through that frosted glass, Kran still saw......

The humanoid evil dragon extending a single finger toward him from a distance.

Pale and slender, completely incompatible with the words “evil dragon,” as though carved from white jade.

Yet with that single casual finger, the battle aura protecting his body was instantly pierced through.

His flesh, bones, and internal organs were all reduced to pulp beneath a power so overwhelming that he could not comprehend it.

A huge hollow appeared in his abdomen.

Kran blankly reached down and touched it......

His hand passed directly through empty space.

“How...... can this be?”

Kran murmured in terror.

He lowered his head and saw the shattered organs in his abdomen flowing out through that hole.

He tried to swing his sword again.

But at such a great distance, his sword could not even touch the corner of her clothes.

No......

That was not right.

This was the power sufficient to shake an evil dragon?

Why did it feel......

Different from what he had been promised?

“My lord...... My lord......”

Kran hurriedly called out to the voice inside his body.

“Help me...... Help me......”

There was no response.

Instead, at the edge of his peripheral vision, the slender finger extended toward him was gradually curling......

Pressing downward.

Crack. Crack.

Kran’s body began to be crushed......

At an extremely rapid speed.

“Miss Dragon! Don’t!”

Muen suddenly realized something.

He brought his hands together, and blazing light abruptly erupted!

Illumination Spell · Modified!

Pure pale light enveloped everything around them.

The people watching the scene were forced to close their eyes.

Only Hamreign remained unaffected and continued crushing Kran’s body from a distance.

“Wait.”

Muen grabbed her wrist and temporarily stopped her from continuing.

“Do not publicly torture and kill that man in front of the people of New Tars. His status here carries considerable weight.”

“I am not so bored that I would torture and kill a weak human.”

Hamreign glanced at Muen’s offending hand and gave a cold snort.

“I am searching.”

“Searching for what?”

“He was able to attack me again. Do you think...... that was merely courage?”