Chapter 133: A Lunari, a Human, and a Goat?

How long had Julian been asleep?

He could no longer tell. It felt as though he had been swallowed by darkness, sealed inside it for a length of time he couldn’t comprehend.

Normally, in a case like this, people would simply fall asleep and feel as though time had blinked by when they opened their eyes. But Julian didn’t.

He couldn’t move his body, and his emotions seemed to have been drained until he could barely react.

His consciousness was split between awake and unaware, leaving Julian knowing only that he was asleep, with no thought in his head other than the question of how long he had been sleeping.

In that state, Julian could still feel the strange changes that kept happening to his body. For some unknown length of time, he had felt completely empty and helpless, kept going only by the foreign Mana that continued to sustain his organs.

But recently, the emptiness inside Julian’s body had changed. Something refreshing, familiar, and pleasant was slowly filling back in. Like rain finally coming to fill a tank that had been empty for so long.

It was refreshing, and Julian slowly felt his consciousness beginning to wake.

***

"Stop right there, you lowly creature!"

A faint whistling sound rang out. Something shot forward at a terrifying speed, leaving a blurred trail in the air as it tore through and shattered everything around it.

The fierce gusts of wind split apart under that speed, revealing a creature with sturdy blackish scales and wide wings, each beat of which could send trees flying.

Ahead of it, it was chasing a little girl whose body floated in the air, racing at an equally fast speed, though not fast enough to make it difficult for the Dragon to catch her.

Behind the girl, two unconscious bodies floated as well, making the situation even harder for her.

And the biggest problem was that there wasn’t just one dragon in pursuit. There were four of them, each chasing with fierce enthusiasm.

Of course, that girl was Felicya.

It was terrible luck for her. Upon arriving in this world, what awaited them outside the Breach was a group of Dragons who seemed to be guarding the Breach itself.

And now, Felicya had to try to escape from four Dragons who had been sent to capture her.

Under normal circumstances, this wouldn’t have been difficult for Felicya. But after supplying an absurd amount of Mana to Monk and Julian, and considering how the annoying seal caused her trouble whenever she used Mana, Felicya’s Rank had now fallen very far, down to Rank-D, almost Rank-E.

There was no way she could fight Dragons who were each at Rank-C, while the one leading the chase was at Rank-B.

That was why Felicya had to get away somehow.

Luckily, even though she wasn’t at her peak, Felicya could interfere with the seal itself, and by pouring in a certain amount of Mana, she could still use her skills at a lower Grade.

"Haa..."

A lazy sigh escaped her lips as she turned slightly, revealing her sharpened reptilian pupils.

The Dragons were already very close. If they got any closer, Felicya could guess what they would do, so before that happened, she had to stop their momentum.

Felicya forced herself, using the Mana she had painstakingly gathered ever since she was still in egg form.

After this, she would need a long time before she could recover her Mana, but that was only possible if she managed to survive this.

Waaah—!

Her reptilian pupils narrowed even sharper, Felicya’s eyes trembled slightly and widened. Then, as the Dragons’ gazes met her eyes, a change immediately showed in them.

The air became heavy and gloomy, something that felt like a cosmic presence, something that should not exist in this world, descended upon it.

Of course, all of it was only an illusion, born from the suppression that came from a being standing at the very top.

"...! Wh-what is that!?"

"Damn it, isn’t this the suppression of a primordial being?"

"Impossible! Primordial beings went extinct long ago! Only a few remain, and I don’t recall any of them being a goat girl!"

"This might just be some kind of petty trick."

They realized it quickly, just as Felicya had hoped. Even though it was truly Primordial suppression, because of her current level, the skill ended up feeling like a joke.

But it was enough to frighten the Dragons, even if only briefly, and Felicya had no intention of waiting for them to recover.

With her gaze sharpening, she stretched out her hand toward the Dragons who were trying to recover their composure.

Seeing Felicya raise her hand, they all instantly became wary.

And at that moment,

Crack...! Crack—!

The sound of cracking spread through the air, right in front of the Dragons.

"This...! Watch out!"

The air seemed to shatter, creating a fissure that could produce distortion for a short while.

It wouldn’t last long, so Felicya immediately took advantage of it to turn around.

A red portal appeared before her, a portal with a thick, dense darkness that beckoned and twisted within.

Without hesitation, Felicya was about to enter it, but before that, she heard a faint whistling sound that made her turn instinctively, twisting her body and taking a protective step in that brief moment.

Baam—!

A terrifying impact rang out, hurling Felicya along with the two bodies she carried.

They were thrown far into a land filled with giant, strange purple trees.

Felicya’s body slammed into one of those trees, while Julian’s and Monk’s bodies were flung a few steps across from her.

Wincing a little in annoyance, Felicya lifted her gaze and found the Dragons had now changed into humanoid forms.

One of them, the leader of the pursuit and the one at Rank-B, was looking at Felicya as though gazing upon something disgusting.

Black hair, black eyes, dark skin covered in black scales, and wide wings that kept flapping without pause.

"...A Lunari, a Human, and a Goat? What a unique combination. Hmm, but what kind of goat are you? I don’t recall any goats with pupils like that and horns curved that way."

"Lord Tulkan, could it be some new kind of Goat? I’ve heard there’s a madman conducting experiments by crossbreeding various races to create something new. Perhaps this goat is one of those?"

The leader Dragon, Tulkan, looked on with curiosity. "Is that so? Who would do something so revolting?"

"Hey, kid, are you really the product of crossbreeding? With what? A snake and a goat?"

Tulkan tilted his head, then his face wrinkled as he grimaced and opened his mouth in disgust.

"Ah, never mind. Anyway, I’m going to kill that Lunari and that Human. I suppose I can let you live. At least you look more interesting than the others."

"....."

"Why aren’t you saying anything? Say thank you, fool. When I say I’ll let you live, that is the same as receiving a tremendous honor. You should be grateful. Kneel, kiss our soil, which you have trespassed upon, and finally, praise me."

Tulkan grinned with a thoroughly twisted smile, crossing his arms as he tilted his head slightly.

"Of course, if you don’t want that, we can do this another way. We have plenty of time for this."

Tulkan slowly descended to the ground, landing gently, studying Felicya’s condition with a complicated gaze.

"...Weren’t you at Rank-D before? What is this? Why are you at Rank-F now?"

"....."

"Disgusting. What kind of creature is this, really? A failed experiment? A defective product that managed to escape? Is that it?"

Tulkan shook his head. None of the other Dragons dared to speak, because unlike the rest, Tulkan was no ordinary Dragon.

So his words, his decisions, whatever he wanted to do, everything depended on his wishes, and the others followed obediently.

"Tsk. How disappointing. I take back what I said. You’d be better off dead."

After that, Tulkan stretched out his hand. There, scales grew to cover his entire arm like a thick, sturdy suit of armor, while the skin of his hand was wrapped in the same scales, and his nails lengthened into razor-sharp, glossy claws.

The next moment, Tulkan approached Felicya, who only kept standing in silence with a listless, empty gaze.

There was no fear or anything else that Tulkan expected, so he frowned slightly once more.

"I don’t understand. What kind of disgusting creature are you, really? Don’t you feel afraid in the face of death?"

But Felicya still looked listless. She hadn’t planned to answer at first, but in the end, Felicya closed her eyes and answered.

"...Why should I?"

From the very beginning, escape had been impossible. So Felicya could only rely on whatever she had in order to survive.

And the only thing she could rely on was...

"Haa..."

The sound of calm breathing rang out in the silence of the surroundings.

Tulkan turned slightly, finding Julian standing somewhat awkwardly and with difficulty, but his gaze stayed fixed on Tulkan with an incomprehensible emptiness.

It was very, very empty.

"...Ah. Where am I?"