Chapter 104
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Crackle, crackle.
Asil was riding a horse together with Edenber, rushing toward Fier.
The entire street was engulfed in flames from the fire that Fier had spewed.
No people were visible, and only muffled, indistinct screams blended with the sound of the blazing flames all around, clamoring in their ears.
It was truly a scene of hellish chaos. The situation was frantic, yet even in the midst of it, Asil kept glancing sideways at Edenber.
‘Why isn’t he saying anything?’
She had revealed that she, Asil-i, was Asil, so she had expected him to say something—anything.
But Edenber wasn’t even looking at Asil, he was just staring straight ahead as they galloped.
Of course, when she had first transformed back to her original appearance, he had looked startled…
But he had quickly returned to his usual expression, as if it had never happened.
‘Is it because the situation is urgent?’
Yeah, that could be it.
As expected, her husband is mature. No matter how shocking something is, he never shows it.
‘I should learn from him, too!’
Asil nodded to herself inwardly, pushed thoughts of Edenber aside, and focused solely on Fier.
However, contrary to Asil’s guess, Edenber’s mind was in utter turmoil.
Every time he looked at the baby dragon cradled in his arms, he felt he wouldn’t be able to hold back the words buried in his chest.
That was why he was clenching his teeth and desperately trying not to direct his gaze that way.
Before they knew it, the two had arrived right beneath Fier.
The former Duke Skya, who had been loaded onto the prisoner transport carriage, was there.
He was covered in soot from the explosion and had lost consciousness, but his life still seemed to be hanging on.
“Why… is Fier protecting the former Duke Skya?”
A confused Edenber muttered.
Where on earth had he left Duke Starafit to be doing this here?
At that very moment, Asil shouted clearly.
“Ppiya-!” (Little brother-!)
“Hoooouuuuk!”
Fier spotted them and responded with flames.
The startled Edenber pulled Asil, whom he had just set down, back into his arms and dodged.
“Danger!”
Boom!
The spot where Asil had been standing melted away in an instant.
“Hooouk… hoooou…” (I must… protect… my master…)
“Ppiiya!” (There’s no Duke Starafit here, my little brother!)
At those words, Fier shot back sharply, as if greatly insulted.
“Hooouk, hoooouuuk! Hoooou- hoooouuu…” (My master isn’t Duke Starafit! My master is- my master is…)
…Who was it?
Fier’s face became confused.
But soon, as if it had never happened, he roared ferociously again.
“Hoooouuuuuk!” (Just die!)
A fierce torrent of flames created by Fier poured down like rain.
Boom!
Edenber hurriedly evaded the spot while holding Asil.
“It would be good if we could bring him down to the ground.”
Since he was flying in the sky, there were no means to counter at all.
At this, Asil turned to him with determined eyes.
“Ppiya ppi.” (Asil will bring him down.)
“That won’t do, it’s dangerous.”
“Ppit, ppiya. Ppiiyaa.” (It’s not dangerous. Asil is the strongest in Monlepe!)
This is the chance to show how cool a dragon Asil is!
Asil slipped out of Edenber’s restraining arms.
“Don’t go! Come back!”
“Ppiya! Ppiiya!” (It’s okay! Asil is the strongest in Monlepe!)
Then, with a flap of wings, she flew up and instantly reached the front of the frenzied Fier.
“Ppiyat ppiya!” (Snap out of it, little brother!)
“…Hoooouk…” (…Bald lizard…)
“Ppiiyaaaa!” (Asil is not bald!)
This won’t do. Looks like I have to give my little brother a taste of heat to bring him to his senses!
“Ppiiiyaaaaa!” (Here I gooooo!)
With a loud battle cry, Asil charged with a body slam.
Hoooouuuuuuk! Fier staggered in the air from the impact, greater than expected.
“Hooouk… hoooouuuuk…!” (How dare you… you bald lizard…!)
“Ppiiyat!” (Hiyah!)
Thwack!
The baby dragon’s short hind leg kick landed squarely near Fier’s jaw.
“Ppiyat!” (Yaaah!)
Her small but sharp front paws drove straight into Fier’s face as he prepared to breathe fire.
Then, blows that could not be ignored began landing all over his body.
“Hoooouuuuuuuk!”
The enraged Fier tried to catch her, but it was no use.
Fier was too big, and Asil was too small.
By the time he turned his head, she was already flapping her wings on the opposite side, attacking him.
This damn bald lizard!
Fier, furious to the tips of his scales, flapped his wings powerfully.
“Hooouk… hoooouuuuk…!” (You gnat-like thing… get lost…!)
“Ppiyat!”
Asil faltered, losing her balance in the fierce wind. The wind was so strong she could barely keep her eyes open.
Just as she curled her body into a ball and struggled to endure, Fier curled a piece of burning building debris with his tail and hurled it.
“Hoooouk!” (Die!!!)
“Ppit!”
“No!”
Edenber, who had been climbing the collapsing building to chase Asil, turned pale.
He was about to throw himself into the air to somehow save Asil when—
“If you jump like that, only you will die.”
Someone firmly grabbed his back. At the same time, a sharp fox cry rang out from behind.
“Kyaaang!”
An invisible wind struck the burning building debris. The debris instantly flew far away and turned to dust.
“…?”
Edenber turned his head.
And upon seeing the enormous brown fox divine beast he had only seen in childhood, along with Ikart, he froze stiff.
Ikart, looking indifferently at his son, drew his sword.
“I meant to come a little earlier, but Rain’s power recovered more slowly than expected, so I only arrived now.”
“H-how…”
“Explanations later. Isn’t our daughter-in-law suffering?”
Daughter-in-law?
He blinked at the unexpected word for a moment, then Edenber reflexively looked up toward where Asil was.
Asil was still fighting Fier’s wind in the air.
Come to think of it, Rain was a divine beast that controlled wind.
‘If we can bind Fier’s wings with wind—’ When he looked at Ikart with those eyes, the man shook his head.
It was because Rain’s power had not yet fully recovered.
Instead, without taking his eyes off the baby dragon in the sky, he commanded the fox divine beast.
“Rain.”
“Kyaaang.” (Yes.)
The fox laid its lush tail in front of Ikart. He used the tail as a foothold and leaped straight up.
His movements were so light, as if wings had sprouted on his back.
Soon, as he neared Fier’s wings, Ikart swung his sword widely.
“Hoooouuuuuuuk!”
Fier, whose wing was slashed, lost his balance.
Because all his attention had been on Asil, he had not noticed Ikart’s intrusion.
Fier lost equilibrium completely and crashed to the ground.
Thud!
“Hoooouuuuuuuk!”
As the Fier, now filled only with malice, tried to spew flames in all directions, Rain exerted his power.
His brown fur seemed to turn golden, and his single tail split into nine.
Rain instantly closed the distance and pressed down Fierr’s beak with all his might using his front paw.
“Kyaaang!” (Snap out of it!)
“…!”
With his mouth blocked, Fier glared wide-eyed and twisted his entire body to escape Rain.
But no matter how much strength he used, let alone escape, he couldn’t even move the fox’s front paw.
In the meantime, Asil came shooting down to the ground like a cannonball.
“Ppiyat! Ppiya ppiya!” (Father! We have to feed little brother the silver helmet flower!)
“Got it. Rain.”
“Kyaaang!”
Rain’s brown eyes turned golden. At the same time, Fier began to writhe in pain.
“Hooop! Hoooouuuuup!”
“Ppiyat!” (Little brother!)
“She’s removing the surrounding air to make him briefly lose consciousness.”
Ikart explained to the startled Asil.
As he said, not long after, Fier lost consciousness and quieted down.
Asil immediately opened her sub-space and took out the silver helmet flower.
Its brilliant light was still the same.
Thanks to the preservation magic Arcian had cast.
She opened Fier’s beak and roughly shoved it down his throat, and Rain, watching, firmly pressed the beak so he couldn’t spit it out.
“Kyaaaaang.” (This stuff tastes awful.)
Only then did Edenber, who had been blankly watching the situation, open his mouth with a trembling voice.
“How… did this happen? Father was definitely struck by the divine beast’s wrath… The covenant with the divine beast was said to have been completely severed—”
“It will be a rather long story, so I’ll explain later. But our daughter-in-law—”
Ikart’s gaze landed on Asil, who was proudly feeding the silver helmet flower to her little brother.
“Do you not need to go see her? Her due date should be approaching soon.”
“…!”
Ah, that’s right. Asil had been on her way back to the beastmen’s forest?!
She had left the carriage without a word, so her dad must be looking for her—what a big problem. On top of that, she had left her rabbit friend alone for far too long.
‘I have to hurry back!’
Asil quickly turned around and tried to run toward the carriage.
But realizing Edenber was staring intently at her, she stopped short.
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