Chapter 87
"Disastrous...!"
I only meant to observe for a moment, but I locked eyes with the dragon that must have been hiding there.
Startled, I dropped the fruit I was holding onto the ground.
The injured dragon that had been hiding widened its eyes. Somehow, I felt like there was fear in its gaze as well.
I had no intention of being taken down by just any monster... but dragons are dangerous. They're not opponents someone like Clael can defeat.
Even if the dragon was wounded, I couldn't afford to fight it head-on.
(They say a wounded beast is the most dangerous. Should I run?)
I turned my back to flee... but then hesitated, thinking that might provoke it more, then wondered if I should fight, only to remind myself I couldn't possibly win.
Clael, far more shaken than he expected by the sudden encounter, reflexively raised the Blue Moon Ring he had on his finger.
"Water...!"
He tried to restrain the enemy with water magic and use that opening to escape.
He didn't know if it was the right move, but he acted on instinct.
'Gyaoooooooooooooooooooooo!'
"Whoa...!?"
But the dragon let out a mighty roar and spread its wings wide.
Wind swirled around them, causing Clael to stumble.
"Ouch!?"
And then... Clael stepped on the fruit he had dropped and took a spectacular fall.
The water magic he had been about to cast splashed all over his face... and just like that, he lost consciousness.
"Nyaa!?"
A small figure leapt out from the shadow of a tree and shook Clael's unconscious body.
What appeared was a plushie infused with a Holy Spirit. It had been hiding as Clael's bodyguard.
It had been prepared to help the moment Clael encountered the dragon and it attacked... but unexpectedly, the dragon fled, and Clael passed out on his own.
This was a completely unexpected turn of events.
'Gyaoooooooooooooooooooooo!'
Letting out a scream-like cry, the dragon flew into the sky and fled.
Though its flight was unsteady due to its injuries... it was trying to put as much distance as possible between itself and that 'something' behind Clael.
"Nya, nyaa..."
The plushie cat was at a loss.
Reina had ordered it to mercilessly eliminate anyone who tried to harm Clael, but... what about this case?
You could say it was the dragon's fault, but you could also say Clael passed out on his own.
For now, it decided to go inform its master, Reina, of what had happened...
"......forgive............"
"Nya!?"
"Unforgivable... unforgivable... unforgivable...!"
At the bone-chilling voice from behind, the plushie cat jumped in surprise.
As it turned around fearfully... there stood a girl wearing nothing but a leaf bikini.
"How dare you harm Lord Clael... I will never forgive you...!"
"Nya, nyaa..."
It seemed that, by Reina's standards, this situation was a definite violation.
Reina's golden eyes gleamed, her silver hair shimmered with a red aura and slithered like Medusa's... and from her back sprouted three pairs of six wings, her face twisted in rage.
Just like vampires, the more terrifying a monster is, the more beautiful its appearance.
'Beauty' and 'ugliness' are two sides of the same coin. Consumed by extreme rage, Reina was beautiful—and even more terrifying.
"Lord Clael..."
Reina touched Clael's unconscious face.
A white light enveloped Clael. The highest level healing spell... 'Omega Heal'.
Clael's expression softened as the magic took effect.
"............"
Reina's face showed a moment of relief, but like a flipped coin, it immediately turned back to rage.
"...Judgment upon those who harm Lord Clael."
Reina's body began to float.
She spread her white wings and soared into the blue sky... fixing her gaze on the fleeing dragon.
The dragon flew unsteadily. It seemed familiar, but... it didn't matter.
There was no point in remembering someone who was about to die.
"Judgment"
A massive pillar of light rained down from the heavens.
It was the same technique she had used before on a thug who tried to assault her out of wicked desire... but the divine power infused in it now was on an entirely different scale.
"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah......"
The pillar of light, like the wrath of a god, carved a massive hole in the sea and completely obliterated the dragon without a trace.