Chapter 86. < 35. Ryan Promhart's Dignity >
Fwoooosh-
Flying with the baby dragon Seme was more pleasant than expected.
I couldn't feel the wind rushing against me at all, and its back was soft and fluffy, so it wasn't uncomfortable.
Moreover, the scenery viewed from above the sky was breathtaking.
He had never once thought to envy winged beasts, but this moment was enough to slightly change his mind.
"Mmm......."
However, that was only temporary. Once the flight time exceeded two hours, it gradually became tedious.
He considered taking short breaks, but didn't like that idea either.
One wrong move and he wouldn't be able to participate in next week's class. Even if that weren't the case, it was better to finish tasks quickly.
Therefore, Lumian, searching for something to do atop Seme's back, thought of aura cultivation.
'The posture is fairly stable. Shall I try?'
It was a crazy thought.
No matter how stable the situation, thinking of aura cultivation while moving at high speed— an ordinary knight wouldn't have even been able to conceive of it.
But Lumian had confidence beyond himself.
Sinking too deep was dangerous.
But if he kept his mind half-awake, he could respond to unexpected situations.
Having finished his thoughts, he spoke to Seme.
"Seme."
"Yes! Lord Lumian!"
"I'm going to do aura cultivation while mounted, so understand without me saying anything."
"Huh? Huh?"
"Don't worry. There's no problem. Well then."
With those final words, Lumian closed his eyes.
The legs and arms embracing Seme still maintained their strength. However, his consciousness turned inward.
And after a moment, the aura within his body slowly began to move.
Uuuuuuung-
The flow of energy was felt riding along Seme's back. The baby dragon's eyes grew as large as a full moon.
"Wow! Amazing!"
It was astonishing!
Though he wasn't human, he knew well enough how difficult aura cultivation was. This was because he had accumulated knowledge by observing various knights before meeting Lumian.
That was why he could immediately recognize how remarkable Lumian was at this moment. There were countless knights who couldn't even reach Lumian's toes even in static and quiet situations.
Seme wore a proud expression and thought.
'As expected, Lord Lumian is amazing! The best!'
Then again, it wasn't anything new. The appearance he showed yesterday was at a level that destroyed common sense.
He swallowed a massive demon stone and safely digested it.
It sounded simple, but it was by no means something a human could do. At least that was what Seme had thought.
Yet Lumian accomplished it. Very easily.
Absorbing every drop of mana that surged like waves without spilling a single one.
And the magic energy that rushed in along with it was pushed out and burned away. Though he had helped, honestly speaking, it was absurd.
'Furthermore, he perfectly overcame the cold energy like ten-thousand-year snow!'
Lumian's energy was hot like lava erupting from a volcano!
Recalling that, Seme wore an emotional expression.
Truly a magnificent human. He had made the best choice.
Humming came naturally. Even though they were on their way to face strong and wicked demons, he wasn't afraid at all.
'Just wait! You wicked villains!'
The dashing dragon Seme and the vigor king Lord Lumian are coming!
The fellow who muttered internally increased his speed even more.
Lumian, riding on his back, continued his cultivation with a peaceful expression.
***
Night passed and day broke.
Lumian, having descended from the baby dragon Seme's back, looked up at the sky.
The sun was at its zenith. That meant they had flown without rest for that long a time.
Despite that, Lumian was brimming with energy.
He formed a bright smile.
'As expected, aura cultivation is better than sleep for fatigue recovery.'
Originally, he had intended to rest for a few hours after landing before starting the assault, but that didn't seem necessary.
Power surged within him. Enough that he wanted to unleash it right this moment.
His eyes shining, he clenched his fist tightly. A confidence he had never felt since becoming Lumian welled up.
However.
"......W-what is this."
Seme's reaction was different.
The fellow looked around with a face full of anxiety. After pressing low on all fours, he sniffed the air like a beast.
Then, 10 seconds later, he rushed toward Lumian with an expression looking ready to cry at any moment.
Standing on two legs, the fellow hugged him tightly.
"Lumiaaan."
"Waah! What is it!"
"What do we do? What do we do? Waaahhh!"
"Argh, snot! Gross!"
Eventually, unable to hold back, Seme poured out tears like a waterfall. Snot also flowed like a stream, dirtying Lumian's clothes.
Seeing that his polite speech had reverted to casual speech, the shock must have been tremendous.
Lumian pushed the fellow away and asked.
"What's wrong, Seme?"
"The demon territory's, the demon energy has...... become much stronger than before......."
"Hmm?"
"A year ago it definitely wasn't this bad! It was much weaker than now! Waaahhh!"
Seme wailed loudly again.
Lumian, watching the fellow, raised his head to look into the distance.
There was no need to enhance his vision with aura.
Lumian's entire body was currently filled with aura. He could see through the illusion barrier the demons had set up without any particular effort.
A deep red mountain entered his eyes.
"Hmm......."
Truly, everything was red.
The trees were red, the rocks were red, the ground was red.
It was ominous and bizarre, as if the blood of tens of thousands had been poured out.
Lumian knew well what this meant.
It was obvious. Having fought against demons on the frontlines for decades in his past life, how could he not know?
'A fairly high-ranking demon has made a territory declaration.......'
Territory declaration.
An ability possessed by the powerful ones even among high-ranking demons, changing part of the human world into an environment similar to the demon world. Through this, they could utilize their power more effectively.
This was a different matter from the incubus in the Kalad territory or the ice demon fellow he had met a few days ago.
However, those with even greater power couldn't display 100% of their strength in the human world, so they nibbled away at the human world little by little in this manner.
This was also the reason the Demon King hadn't come out of his castle.
He wasn't confident he could defeat humans, including the Knight King, outside his own domain.
'Of course, he was defeated even while holed up inside.'
Lumian smiled as he recalled the past.
Though he died in the Demon King's castle, he didn't regret those events.
Rather, he was proud. It was because of that he had been able to make a name for himself as one of the continent's three great knights.
'I also saved my lord's life.'
Of course, what was important right now wasn't the events of that time.
Lumian, narrowing his eyes, assessed the demon territory even more carefully.
Fortunately, it was all red. He couldn't find any purple at all.
He tilted his head.
'This is within the expected range though?'
It was strange.
Lumian had originally come flying thinking the demons were at about this level.
No, he had thought they might even be stronger.
'Red is...... the lowest rank among demons capable of territory declaration.'
If purple was mixed in, the danger level increased, and a fellow whose territory was completely covered in purple possessed power at the level of the Four Heavenly Kings.
Only the Demon King's castle was stained entirely black. Like utter darkness from which not even light could escape.
"Seme."
Lumian, who had been continuing his thoughts in silence, spoke to Seme.
He was curious.
Why the fellow was so afraid like this.
Whether there was something he was thinking about wrongly.
Seme, who had been sniffling, stopped crying and answered.
"Waaah...... Mm, Lumian. Are you perhaps sensing it too?"
"Hmm, if you're asking about the demons' level, I'm sensing it."
"Then...... then let's go back....... Lumian has gotten incredibly strong, and you're completely amazing but...... you can't defeat a demon that strong. The energy is bigger than Lumian's......."
"Hmm?"
"And besides the boss demon, there are also tons of subordinates. If they all bother Lumian at once, Lumian will...... heeek, waaaah......."
Seme burst into tears again.
He wailed so sorrowfully that he was worried the demons might come rushing out upon hearing the sound.
However, on the contrary, Lumian's worry lessened. Peace finally came to his mind.
This was because he realized Seme's worry stemmed from a misunderstanding.
Hehe, he let out a hearty laugh and tapped Seme's head lightly.
And he said.
"Look carefully."
"Hmm? At what? Look at what?"
Seme raised his head with puffy eyes.
That moment.
BOOM!
The sound of air tearing.
Seme was startled. The fellow fell backward onto his butt and looked at Lumian.
He grinned and thrust his fist out again.
It was faster than before.
BOOM! Bam! Boom-boom-boom!
Fist, foot, and elbow swung in succession.
Each strike contained enough power to bring down even a mountain.
The speed was even more amazing. Even Seme, a spirit among spirits, couldn't perceive even half of it.
"Hmm. The body is definitely better than in my past life."
Because he had escaped being a eunuch. Seeing his bulging muscles, a proud feeling rose up.
Lumian, nodding, took out a sword from his spatial backpack.
A real sword of moderate length that could be used with one or two hands.
It wasn't a masterpiece, but it was a high-quality item.
He swung it.
Swish!
Srrrrrk-
Lumian's sword roamed through the void.
A figure showing pure swordsmanship without melting in even a bit of aura.
A dragon, who had good senses but wasn't familiar with human combat methods, wouldn't be able to recognize this.
That should have been the case, but for some reason, Seme couldn't take his eyes off Lumian's figure.
He couldn't explain the reason.
He simply watched Lumian's sword dance with a dazed expression. So deeply that he didn't even realize five minutes had passed.
"Swordsmanship is still slightly lacking."
Lumian muttered to himself.
It was definitely about 2% lacking compared to his past life.
It couldn't be helped. The period since reincarnation was too short to catch up to his past life's proficiency. He thought he would need additional training to perfectly handle his changed body.
Having finished his thoughts, he exhaled a spirited breath.
There was still one last check remaining.
As he displayed his full power, a fearsomely large aura sword began to soar from his sword.
Zzz-zzz-zzzzzzzzzng-!
"......!"
This time too, Seme couldn't utter an exclamation.
He just stood with his mouth hanging open. And simply gazed at the massive aura sword with eyes full of shock.
Green, brown, blue, orange, red.
The thirteen-meter blade changed moment by moment. Accordingly, the energy also changed like different people.
Lumian's muttering flowed out once more.
"The amount of aura is similar to my past life...... and the range of application is wider."
"......."
"At this level, it would be safe to say I've caught up to my past life's realm."
Tsuuuung......
He retracted the aura sword. Then cast his gaze toward Seme.
Even by then, the fellow still hadn't come to his senses.
Lumian approached closely and spoke in a firm tone.
"How is it?"
"Huh, yes?"
"Hahahahaha."
Lumian laughed.
It was because Seme, who was using polite speech again, was cute.
He stroked the fellow's head and spoke again.
"My skills, not bad, right?"
"Yes! But, how can that be? The size of the energy is......"
"Of course the size of energy is also important. But equally important is how to utilize and use it."
Lumian's words contained strength.
They had to.
Right now, he was speaking based on what he had experienced over the past decades of battle.
The reason he could defeat demons much stronger than himself, demons much larger than himself.
The reason humans who were much weaker and insignificant-looking could fight well against demons.
After briefly explaining this, he patted Seme's shoulder and said.
"I'll finish this and come back, so hide and wait."
Lumian's back as he turned away looked incredibly reliable.
Seme nodded his head without a word.
***
BOOOOM!
"Damn it! Failed again!"
A laboratory at the summit of the red mountain.
The high-ranking demon Kirikorokoro, wearing a white gown, clutched his head.
However, no hair was caught. He was a bald demon, after all.
"Lord Kirikorokoro, here's some water......."
"Shut up! Do you think water will go down my throat right now!"
BAM!
BOOOOM!
He swung his fist at the assistant offering water.
The fellow's head who took the blow to his face exploded.
Watching the brain matter and skull fragments spreading like fireworks, Kirikorokoro held his belly and laughed.
"Hehehe! Kehehehehi! Ah! That feels refreshing!"
Wiping his hand with a towel, he looked back inside the laboratory.
The sight of chimeras unable to stand properly and continuously falling over entered his view.
Anger rose again!
Kirikorokoro unleashed a body slam!
CRAAASH!
KWANG!
BOOOOM!
Along with the glass windows, the failed chimera was shattered.
His mind at ease again, he laughed refreshingly.
Wiping the blood splattered on his glasses, he muttered.
"Damn it, I thought things were going well lately, but for such a piece of shit to pop out. Soon my lord will come visit......."
At latest half a year, at earliest within 2 months. His lord, having achieved his first goal, would come visit.
He had to produce usable results before then!
To do that, he needed to squeeze the researchers even more!
Having finished his logical thinking, Kirikorokoro pressed the call bell to summon his subordinates.
But it was too late. Before that, a surveillance soldier managing the illusion barrier approached and reported.
"What? The barrier was breached? Who is it? A knight? A mage? Is it someone famous? How many?"
"S-s-sir, well......"
"Speak quickly, you brat! Ugh! Angry! I'm getting angry!"
"J-just one person. He's not on the list of key figures, and he appears to be a swordsman."
"Really? That's strange. You'd need to be a Sword Master to breach that barrier, so at that level they should definitely be on the list...... You! Did you see it properly?"
"It's really true! As for other notable characteristics, his age is very young......"
"What? How old does he look?"
"Probably not even 20 years old......."
BAM!
BOOM!
Kirikorokoro swung his fist again. The fireworks were recreated.
He snorted and muttered.
"Are you an idiot? How could a brat like that breach the barrier! The barrier wasn't breached, it's that the one who made the barrier was stupid and it had a hole! Right? Isn't it!"
"That's correct!"
"Then bring the one who made the barrier before me! Bring him quickly! Just send anyone to clean up the brat!"
"Yes! Understood!"
One assistant who received the order quickly disappeared from his spot.
He snorted and lay down on the messy laboratory floor.
"Ah, I have so much to do, but why are there only idiots under me. Making a report just because some brat wandered in wrongly."
It was something to lament.
But that brat was the reincarnation of the figure called the synonym of terror among demons— something Kirikorokoro didn't know.
Naturally, the three mid-ranking demons going to capture Lumian didn't know either. No one knew.
It was the beginning of tragedy.