Chapter 53: Garth

Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Garth

​They resumed their journey in the early morning.

It was then a bizzare incident occurred.

Booom!

A heavily armored Mountain Dragon crashed into the clearing.

He was easily 60 meters tall, covered in thick, mossy gray scales, and possessed a remarkably round belly.

​"Ah, a morning breakfast. I was just feeling a bit hungry." Krono muttered greedily.

​"Wait!" the giant dragon yelled, "Hold on a second, tiny pale human! There is absolutely no need for violence!"

​Krono paused, his hand still raised. "You are not attacking me?"

​"Attack you?" the dragon gasped, clutching his chest dramatically. "Heavens no! Do you have any idea how much energy fighting takes? I just finished a very heavy breakfast. I am Garth, by the way."

​Nova stared at the massive beast in absolute disbelief.

"You are a friendly dragon?"

​"I like to think so," Garth smiled, revealing rows of surprisingly blunt teeth. "You two look completely exhausted. And you, my pale friend, look incredibly tense. Have you considered chamomile tea?"

​Krono tilted his head. He looked at Garth as if the giant reptile was a defective piece of meat.

​"You know, I slaughtered a Mountain Dragon exactly like you last night.I fed his raw flesh to her."

​Garth blinked his massive yellow eyes. He looked at Nova, then back at Krono.

​"Was his name Steve?" Garth asked.

​"I did not ask for his name before I snapped his neck," Krono replied flatly.

​"If he had a missing scale on his left elbow, that was definitely Steve," Garth nodded thoughtfully. "Honestly, he had it coming. The guy owed me fifty gold crests and was incredibly rude at parties. Good riddance, I say."

​Nova rubbed her temples. "Are you not going to try and avenge your fallen kin?"

​"Avenge Steve?" Garth let out a booming, rumbling laugh that shook the pine trees. "Haha, Do you know how much paperwork the high council requires for a formal blood feud? It is a bureaucratic nightmare. Plus, it is a remarkably beautiful Tuesday morning. Why ruin it with murder?"

​"You are a disgrace to your ancestral bloodline."

​"Oh, absolutely. My mother tells me that all the time. But I sleep incredibly well at night. Speaking of which, do you two like cheese?"

​"Cheese?" Nova echoed, completely thrown off balance.

​"Yes, goat cheese," Garth said, reaching behind a large boulder and pulling out a wooden barrel the size of a small carriage.

"I trade shiny rocks with the local dragonoids down in the valley for it. It is exquisite. You look like you could use a snack, little silver lady."

​"I do not eat cheese..I eat pure life force. I am a walking calamity. I am the Usurper." Krono replied.

​"That sounds like a very stressful job, Mr. Usurper. You really need a hobby. Have you tried knitting?"

​Nova completely lost her composure. She covered her mouth, trying desperately to hold back a burst of laughter.

The terrifying, god like entity who had just eradicated an entire baron house was being offered knitting advice by a chubby reptile.

​"Are your eyes supposed to glow like a supernova?" Garth asked, leaning in uncomfortably close. "Because that looks like a severe magical infection. I know a guy who makes a great herbal salve for that."

​"Damn reptile! It is the raw manifestation of my apocalyptic power," Krono hissed, his patience wearing dangerously thin.

Garth shrugged,

​"Right, right. Apocalyptic power. Very cool. Just make sure you wash them out with cold water."

​Krono narrowed his eyes, scanning the dragon’s magical signature.

​"I see your bloodline is absolute trash. Devouring you would actually lower my stats. You are not even worth the effort of killing."

After hearing that, Garth stopped chewing his goat cheese. His massive yellow eyes slowly widened as the words finally registered in his tiny reptilian brain.

He looked at the flawless pale man, then thought about the terrified aristocratic descriptions he had heard floating around the mountain trade routes earlier that morning.

​"Wait just a single minute," Garth muttered, dropping the cheese wheel. "Pale skin. Glowing eyes. Casually snaps necks. Are you the Dragon Devourer? The absolute madman who ate Baron Arklong and wiped out his entire bloodline?"

​Nova simply nodded her head. "He is."

Thud.

​The giant Mountain Dragon immediately dropped to his knees. The raw weight of his massive, mossy body crashing against the dirt caused the entire clearing to shake violently.

He bowed his large head so low that his snout buried itself deeply into the pine needles.

​"Oh, great and terrible Usurper! The Apocalyptic lord of the wasteland! Please accept this humble, completely harmless reptile as your loyal companion!"

​Krono looked completely disgusted. "Absolutely not. Get out of my sight before I change my mind and turn you into a leather coat."

​"But I am incredibly useful! I know all the hidden paths through the Human Realm! I know where the best taverns are! I can carry all your heavy luggage!"

​"I do not carry luggage, I carry death. And you are entirely too fat. You do not even have wings. A dragon that cannot fly is just a giant, defective lizard."

​"Flight is highly overrated My lord! The sky is full of lightning and angry griffins! Down here on the ground, I am an unstoppable battering ram! I can bulldoze through an entire stone fortress in seconds! Plus, I have an excellent sense of smell. I can find truffles!"

​"I do not eat truffles," Krono sighed, rubbing his temples. The sheer absurdity of the situation was starting to give him a headache.

​Nova stepped closer to Krono, looking at the groveling beast, then down at her own bruised and bare feet.

Nova then whispered,

​"Krono, We have a very long journey ahead to reach the human kingdoms. My body is healing, but I will slow you down on foot. Having a massive mount would save us weeks of travel."

​Krono looked closely at the pathetic dragon. A flightless, cheese eating reptile was an absolute disgrace to the draconic race. But having a 60 meter tall meat shield would definitely conserve his magical energy.

Furthermore, the sheer humiliation the Draxen Emperor would feel upon seeing a majestic Mountain Dragon acting as a human’s pack mule brought a very dark smile to Krono’s face.

"Very well. You’re on