Chapter 155: Voidborn 2

"...."

"...."

"..."

"...Boss? W-why are you looking at me like that?"

Why was Julian looking at her like that?

Julian himself didn’t even understand, he was simply too surprised by it and couldn’t respond for a while.

"You really understand the language of that Dragon? That flying lizard over there?"

"L-lizard?" Monk seemed shocked by Julian’s words, but she quickly nodded nervously. "Yes! I understand the languages of all races that have awakened their own intelligence."

Monk glanced toward the Dragon, as though worried that the creature might hear the nickname Julian had just given it.

Julian tilted his head slightly.

’So, she means creatures that have awakened their intelligence?’

In that case, could Monk also understand the language of this little Fox?

Julian almost wanted to ask right away, but the voice from above made him abandon the idea.

While wondering about it, Julian listened as the Dragon grumbled about something above once more, making Julian turn.

"What did it say?"

"Th-that... It says hand over the Fox quickly, or it will call the Dragons nearby. It also says it will let us go if we hand over the Fox."

There was not a shred of doubt. This alone showed that the little Fox was clearly no ordinary fox.

Even the Dragons seemed to be targeting it, and perhaps luck, or as usual, fate, might be at play and had made it meet Julian.

"B-Boss! Wh-what do we do? We’ll become rabbit skewers if we don’t do something...!"

"...Only you will become a rabbit skewer. I’m not a rabbit."

Monk opened her mouth, but couldn’t find anything to refute that.

Julian didn’t give it a thought.

He didn’t think even slightly about handing over the little Fox. Especially after how fate had whispered to him that the little Fox had become a key for him in some unknown way.

But wouldn’t refusing here bring far bigger trouble?

’Should I just kill that Dragon? Here, right now?’

It seemed that was indeed the right choice. Kill the Dragon before it could call its other flock.

Julian moved his finger slightly, weighing the distance between himself and the Dragon.

It should have been so, but Julian realized he was wrong. From the start, that Dragon had no intention of confronting him or anything of the sort.

They were an arrogant race and would not lower themselves even slightly.

Because, the moment Julian was about to kill the Dragon, he could feel several other Dragons coming after it, not far from here, coming from the place Monk had earlier mentioned as the Dragons’ civilization.

Julian immediately sensed the menacing danger, his entire body screaming an alarm to flee.

The feeling was so sudden that Julian momentarily forgot about the Dragon right in front of him.

Yet, Julian didn’t move an inch. Not out of the same confidence as before, but more out of something that made even him wonder why.

"Don’t run."

The wind whispered to him, conveying what fate wanted to tell him. It was Ilunia’s skill again, which had once told him to flee right away. But this time, instead of fleeing, the skill was telling him to stay.

’...Seriously? Is this skill trying to kill me? Isn’t this like Google Maps telling me to turn right when there’s a cliff on my right?’

Julian felt that irritation in his mind, but his face stayed still and showed none of it.

There was no guarantee that following that guidance would feel pleasant. Unfortunately, Julian didn’t have a strong enough reason to ignore it either.

His body didn’t move, thinking about what to do, and in that not-so-long thought, the rhythmic sound of beating wings rang out.

Huge shadows fell over Julian’s body, revealing a number of Dragons gathered for the Fox.

The air around the cave entrance churned. The sunlight that had previously lit the place was now blocked by the huge bodies above.

Julian let his mouth fall open, then closed it again, his dark gaze shifting and landing on the group of Dragons who had just arrived.

Rank-S.

That looked like very bad news.

***

’A human?’

Garph had come here after receiving a call from a younger Dragon who belonged to his clan.

A Young Dragon who once belonged to his clan, to be exact. But unfortunately, that Young Dragon had chosen to switch Clans and work for a Dragon from the Drazhuel Clan.

It was a great pity, and now here was that Young Dragon, who had just frantically asked for help after encountering an opponent stronger than himself.

Garph had come to give help purely because that Young Dragon had once been part of his Clan.

But he had never expected to see a human in a world dominated by Dragons.

Moreover, his Rank was decent, and...

"That Fox... Isn’t that a Voidborn? Ah. I suppose it’s the Voidborn that was reported to have escaped recently."

Garph had only heard that news a few hours ago, and now he was seeing it himself.

There was also a rabbit girl who looked ordinary, and... A goat girl who was difficult to identify even for a Wise Dragon like Garph.

Garph looked at them one by one. The longer he looked, the stranger the combination of that group felt.

"Elder Garph! Thank you for coming here. As you can see, there is an intruder in our world, it seems he is planning an Invasion?"

The Young Dragon spoke. What he said sounded like a joke, especially considering that what had come was merely a fairly strong human.

Did they really come to invade with such a strange combination?

Flapping his wings, Garph let out a low sigh.

Still, because this was a world dominated by Dragons, the call made by the Young Dragon did have a clear reason.

It was because of the arrival of an intruder. Something the Dragon world could not accept more than anything.

"I will kill him."

The Young Dragon brightened upon hearing that Garph had heeded his words.

Garph himself wasted no time, ready to kill them all at once. But at that moment, the human looked in his direction, showing an empty, dark expression with absolutely no emotion or fear.

There was not the slightest change on the human’s face, even when their gazes met.

That wasn’t strange, many creatures were emotionless like that. But what stopped Garph was... When he sensed something far stranger.

When the world seemed to slow down.

"It’s probably just a fee—"

His sentence stopped.

He lifted his gaze, looking around him.

Garph had only just realized it.

"Since when did the world become like this!?"

All the colors of the world vanished, leaving gray, every one of his flock, every leaf, the wind and everything around him frozen.

Even time itself froze, creating a terrifying silence that left Garph unable to move for a while.

The sound of beating wings that had filled the air vanished just like that. Even the smallest movements he had seen around him a moment ago stopped entirely.

Garph tried to understand what was happening, but the scene before him did not change at all.

Cold sweat spread, and as he was about to try to do something, a voice rang out.

"Just how exalted are you, to dare touch Master?"