Chapter 49: The Price of Vengeance

Alicia and Aesop’s battlefield.

“Thirty to two. Beautiful lady, and that cringey lunatic, are you sure you still want to fight?”

One by one, the raid team members rubbed their fists, shouting at Alicia and Aesop.

Without her mask, Alicia truly resembled a graceful noblewoman, her elegant posture making the raid team members particularly reluctant to harm such a beauty.

As for Aesop… given his nonsensical remarks upon his arrival, he had been automatically labeled a lunatic.

Aesop said, “…Well, if we can maintain a certain safe distance from each other, and not interfere with Theodore’s duel, there’s really no need for us to fight.”

“Hey, lame guy, are you serious? Do your eyes need to be donated? Can’t you see we have the advantage here?”

The raid team member spoke menacingly. “My meaning is that you should surrender immediately. If you cooperate nicely, we don’t mind treating you well as captives. After all, we need to rush to support Theresia, the most evil dragon, and we truly don’t want to waste time here. Wouldn’t you agree, Miss? You look like a gentle, kind, and peace-loving angel. You must understand our difficulties.”

When the speaker turned to Alicia, the raid team member’s voice instantly softened, as if afraid to speak too loudly and startle Alicia, who appeared like a delicate flower.

Aesop had already despaired of this world that judged by appearance. Had they not realized that *he* was the pacifist, and Alicia was the true warmonger?

‘Forget it,’ he thought. ‘I originally intended to suppress the hatred these people harbored for the burning of my comrades, but it seems they won’t give me that chance.’

‘Then they can’t blame me for being impolite!’

Alicia tilted her head, observing the opposing raid team members’ positions. Having determined the optimal attack spot, she gracefully curtsied in her plated skirt and addressed them, “Thank you for your kind reminder. However, I also possess the pride of an adventurer. Since I have accepted the commission, I must diligently complete the task entrusted by my employer. I imagine such excellent gentlemen as yourselves must feel the same. I aspire to live up to your example.”

“Indeed, one must complete the employer’s task diligently after accepting the commission.” The raid team members nodded, visibly pleased, then sighed regretfully as one of them said to Alicia, “I understand. Then we will simply have to forcibly incapacitate the lovely young lady. This way, your pride won’t be wounded. Rest assured, we always show compassion to beautiful women.”

Alicia tilted her head charmingly and asked, “Then, shall we begin?”

The opposing raid team had no idea what was about to happen, and they all nodded, “Let’s begin, let’s begin.”

The words had barely left their lips when they realized Alicia, who had been a hundred meters away moments before, had charged towards them at terrifying speed. Her left arm rapidly swelled and expanded, transforming into a massive, muscular limb, while Alicia’s petite body appeared to hang from the giant hand. The immense distortion contrasted sharply with her delicate charm.

Then, a heavy punch landed squarely on the weakest point of their formation, instantly incapacitating eight raid team members on the spot. Ten more suffered injuries of varying degrees, leaving only a handful of about ten individuals who had managed to dodge based on their crisis awareness.

“What the hell is this?!”

“It’s a barbarian’s ability! This angel is a barbarian!”

“No, how is that possible! How could a barbarian be so polite and adorable!”

“Stop your goddamn blabbering! Are your eyes blind too? Quick, scatter!”

However, retreating was not an easy task.

Like a ghost, Aesop seized the opportunity while Alicia drew everyone’s attention from the front, silently reaping the ‘heads’ of the injured.

Both sides’ attacks were actually very restrained, as their respective patrons had secretly indicated that there were no irreconcilable conflicts between them, and thus no need for lethal force, unless one party broke the rules.

“Another bloodline user? No wonder he’s a lame guy?”

“What do you mean? Don’t slander the entire bloodline community because of one rotten apple! He’s the lame one, it has nothing to do with bloodline users!”

“Do you still have time for prejudice at a moment like this? Damn it, hurry up and take them down! What the hell, reorganize the formation! They’re only two people; they won’t be harder to deal with than those labyrinth bosses.”

****

Larkin’s battlefield.

Due to Larkin’s excellent ‘spy’ work earlier, there was no persuasion stage. The raid team members charged at him, shouting slogans about taking Larkin’s dog head and offering it to the great and most evil dragon.

Larkin was in a predicament he couldn’t express.

What could he do? Forced to go all the way to the dark side, he could only throw scrolls, couldn’t he?

The raid team members huddled behind the rock formation, feeling the wind, rain, and thunder outside, whispering amongst themselves.

“Has anyone counted how many magic scrolls he’s thrown?”

“Haven’t counted precisely, but probably over 200 now.”

‘That’s enough to buy two apartments in the imperial capital’s core district.’

“Damn, and they’re all different types! Not just elemental attacks, but curse attacks too. That guy has also set up at least three layers of defensive barriers around himself.”

“That damned rich bastard, I hate people like that the most.”

“Me too. By the way, how are the preparations coming along? We can’t just wait here for him to run out, can we?”

“Definitely not. Give us ten more minutes. I’ll kick the first blow later. It’s the first time someone has made me sick to my stomach with money.”

“No problem, but have you noticed that Theresia and Lola seem very interested in the magic armor on that kid?”

“I did notice. Not only are they interested, but I am too! I’ve never seen such a stylish and powerful magic item.”

“What good is your interest? If this thing breaks, there’s nowhere to fix it. The daily maintenance and upkeep must be sky-high, probably no noble could even find a place for its upkeep.”

“Then what do you mean?”

“Of course, we’ll confiscate it and sell it to Theresia. She’s not short on money, and she can probably find a place to repair it. I think we could earn more than double our commission.”

“Hiss, that makes sense. When we break through, let’s go easy on him. Don’t break the magic armor on him. If worst comes to worst, just hit his face. A little damage to the face armor is fine.”

“Alright!”

****

Theresia and Theodore’s battlefield.

The clash of the giant and the dragon was magnificent, their colossal bodies endowing them with unparalleled destructive power.

Theodore’s sweeping attack was fiercely bitten by Theresia, and after the dragon’s claws plowed several meters into the ground, the giant and the dragon became locked in a struggle of strength.

After a brief stalemate, Theresia suddenly executed a crocodile roll, sending Theodore flying.

However, Theodore flipped in mid-air and landed steadily, causing the earth to tremble.

“Theodore, must it really be this way? Although victory is destined to be mine, I truly don’t have the heart to fight you so fiercely.”

Theresia had to admit one thing: Theodore was indeed a bit troublesome now.

He was so familiar with her attack patterns that even though it was her first time using them against Theodore, he always managed to neutralize them.

Though she spoke of a hundred percent chance of victory, she was starting to have doubts internally.

There was no help for it; the cost of losing was simply too dire.

She couldn’t imagine if, while conscious, she were to be ‘played,’ whether she would dig her own grave on the spot and bury herself.

Thus, as a scummy dragon who was a man in her previous life, she decided to make good use of her understanding of men and employ the art of ‘talk-no-jutsu.’

“Theodore, I understand my mistake. This matter is my fault.”

First, her attitude had to be proper, taking the blame upon herself to lower the opponent’s anger.

Sure enough, Theodore did not attack immediately but stood quietly, watching what she was about to say.

‘It’s working!’

“Back then, I chose you from among thousands, I saw your potential, and believed you could bear the burden…” Theresia mentally restrained herself for three seconds before biting her dragon maw and saying, “…of my estrus period.”

Theodore nodded repeatedly. “Mhm, yes, I like hearing that. Go on.”

Theresia’s tone grew somewhat mournful. “But I shouldn’t have kept it hidden from you due to my own shame. Even if I wasn’t mentally prepared at first, I should have told you when there were only a few days left, so you would understand what you were about to bear. But I didn’t. This is the first mistake.”

As she spoke, Theresia secretly glanced at Theodore. ‘Good, his emotions are stabilizing. Keep it up.’

“The second mistake: after tormenting you for three days, I didn’t ask for your consent. I presumptuously thought that deleting your memories was for your own good—and, of course, for mine. I disregarded our three years of close camaraderie, believing that money could buy anything.”

She emphasized ‘camaraderie.’

“Alas, thinking about it now, such an action was truly vile, defiling our pure friendship and your trust in me. I am truly a grave sinner.”

Theodore nodded repeatedly. “Indeed, that makes sense.”

Theresia grew more confident. She held up her third dragon finger and said, “The third mistake is that I didn’t properly handle our subsequent issues, simply walking away. Although I don’t know what that Old Patriarch said to you, it caused your behavior to become aggressive, and I didn’t even notice for seven years afterward. This is my sin.”

Theodore sighed and said, “It seems you truly have reflected well. Yes, if only you had made one less mistake, we wouldn’t have reached this point today.”

“Exactly, it’s come to this. I don’t want to make any excuses.” Theresia’s voice was filled with sorrow. “I am willing to pay the price, but! I must say, I absolutely did not mean to ‘play’ you. ‘Playing’ someone comes with no guilt whatsoever. And your current revenge against me is merely retaliation against my former self.”

“When will this cycle of vengeance end? What you are doing now, isn’t it precisely what I once did?! My former self disgusted you; how can you let yourself become that kind of person too?”

Theodore fell into deep thought.

Theresia pressed her advantage. “I will compensate you for what happened back then, but I hope it can be in a form that both of us can accept, rather than using insulting terms like ‘played’ to push our relationship to extremes. What do you think?”

“Even if you have romantic feelings for me, perhaps we can first examine each other from a male and female perspective, then gradually develop a romantic relationship. Finally, if both parties are satisfied, we can officially be together. How does that sound?”

Theodore slowly spoke. “What you’re saying seems quite reasonable.”

Theresia was overjoyed, thrilled by her own brilliant wisdom. ‘Ah ha ha ha ha, Old Patriarch, the devil is one foot high, but the Dao is ten feet high!’

‘If you can corrupt Theodore, then I can purify him!’

The first three ‘sins’ Theresia mentioned were indeed heartfelt, but as for the final promise… ‘Heh heh heh, I’ll just spend some time changing all the parts of myself that Theodore might find attractive, and then we can have a peaceful breakup. Perfect!’

‘Alas, Theodore, it’s not that I don’t want to sacrifice myself, it’s just that you deserve a better little dragoness!’

‘Heh heh heh.’

It proved impossible for a scummy dragon, especially a black dragon, to change its vile dragon nature in a short time due to a little guilt.

Theodore nodded to himself and said, “You’re right. Give me back the payment I gave you for playing me. I won’t play you anymore.”

Theresia’s mouth twitched slightly. “Huh? I have to return it?”

Theodore raised his eyelids. ‘As expected of a black dragon, their nature is hard to change.’ “Of course, that was payment for playing me. If you want to keep it, I don’t mind, though.”

“No, no, no, of course I don’t want to keep it.” Theresia hurriedly threw the spatial ring back to Theodore. Just as she was overjoyed, thinking she was about to welcome a happy ending, Theodore put away the spatial ring and suddenly said:

“I somewhat understand why my thirteen brothers were convinced by you after only a year and launched a self-destructive rebellion against the Old Patriarch.”

“Ah? Haha, it wasn’t persuasion.” Theresia gave two dry laughs, then said earnestly, “It was that after my encouragement, they awakened their spirit of rebellion, realized the Old Patriarch’s cruelty, and were willing to go through fire and water to forge a new era for the dragon race.”

“Yes, appealing to emotion, moving with reason, using both carrot and stick—it’s hard not to be convinced,” Theodore mused.

“If they hadn’t warned me beforehand, and if I didn’t have a deeper understanding of you, Theresia, I would also think that your plan was the best right now.”

Theresia’s heart sank. “Do you have an even better plan? You truly are Theodore, my most trusted brother. Come, tell me your suggestion.”

“No, as for the plan, if the person executing it had no issues, yours would be the best. But precisely because of the executor, alas.”

Theodore sighed heavily, then revealed a gentle smile to Theresia. “I have no suggestions. I just want to play a game with you, Theresia.”

Theresia licked her sensual dragon maw, an alarm bell ringing in her heart, and asked, “What game?!”

Theodore smiled. “The game of ‘forced.’ It can be you forcing me, or me forcing you. Of course, I’d prefer it to be me forcing you. But I always respect ladies, so you choose.”

“I won’t choose, and I absolutely won’t play!”

Theodore aimed his spear at Theresia, smiling. “If you were willing, would it still be called ‘forced’?”

Theresia’s scales bristled. “Theodore! I can’t believe you’ve been corrupted so thoroughly! It seems there’s no other way. Besides erasing your memories and resetting you, there’s no other way to save you! Be purified by the great Black Dragon King!”

“Black Dragon King, only by conquering you can my defiled heart be purified! Let me correct your awkward and twisted personality!”

“Stop talking nonsense, let’s see what you’ve got! You’re a dead man, Theodore!”

“Good! That suits me perfectly! Theresia, you have no choice but to lie down!”

****

“Ouch, what’s going on?”

A chunk of shattered stone struck Promen on the head.

Stones dislodged by the two behemoths struck Promen’s head.

Waking him from his slumber.

Dazed with lingering drunkenness, Promen struggled to look around.

‘Huh? Why does the world feel upside down?’

‘No, it seems I’ve been turned upside down.’

‘Why am I upside down?’

Promen pondered the question vaguely.

But before he could find an answer, immense vibrations continuously emanated from below. The rock where Promen was suspended quickly became covered in cracks.

With a snap, a dazed Promen fell from the ceiling, then was swept away in mid-air by a Black Dragon Tail Whip from Theresia.

He crashed heavily into a nearby rock wall.

Rolling onto the ground with the falling debris, Promen abruptly stood up, about to shout, “Who the fu—”

Boom!

Before he could finish his sentence, a gigantic foot descended from the sky, pinning him beneath it, embedding him into the hard stone floor.

Both Theodore and Theresia had their full attention focused on each other. Promen was as inconspicuous as a small pebble, yet he had been drawn into the battle between the giant and the dragon.

A normal small pebble would quickly turn to dust, ending its tormented fate early.

Promen wasn’t so lucky. Before he could even grasp the situation, he was inadvertently caught in the swing path of Theodore’s enlarged stone spear, flying off like a golf ball and crashing into the nearby rock wall.

As he fell, he was precisely caught by Theresia’s dragon claw, this time like a violently spiked ping-pong ball, bouncing twice, then thrice, on the inelastic ground. Immediately after, being directly in Theodore’s path, he collided with the giant’s mountain-like thigh…

“Wait, no.”

“Give me a chance to speak.”

“Respect your elders! You two brats!”

“Don’t go too far! I have a temper too!”

“Damn it, do you know the consequences if I just unleash my full power without restraint?!”

“…”

Clearly, the giant and the dragon only had eyes for each other.

****

Boom!

The colossal dragon body was struck head-on by the enormous stone spear. Theresia reeled back repeatedly, finally crashing into the rock wall behind her, causing large sections of it to shatter and, incidentally, burying Promen, as if building a grave for him.

Completely unaware of what she had done, Theresia was deep in shock.

She realized she might not be Theodore’s match!

For the first two minutes, the giant and the dragon had exchanged blows, but after that, every one of her moves was systematically countered.

As a result, she was reduced to passive defense.

Theodore was too familiar with her attacks; this couldn’t be explained by combat talent alone. He had practically memorized her entire fighting strategy!

“What’s wrong? Surprised, Theresia?” Theodore shouted, raising his arm. “Don’t be! Because I am not fighting alone. I bear the will of countless dragons who suffered your bullying!”

She wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but after Theodore finished speaking, Theresia seemed to see fourteen dragon shadows behind him.

Beneath a gigantic Old Patriarch dragon, there were thirteen smaller dragon shadows. They stood united behind Theodore, looking at her with eyes full of fighting spirit, silently telling her that today was the day the Black Dragon would fall.

“For this, everything I’ve learned and thought over these past seven years has been about how to defeat you. Every single one of your moves is ingrained in my mind. It may seem like today is our first battle after seven years, but in those countless days and nights, I have already fought you thousands of times in meditation!”

Theresia: “!!!”

‘This guy is cheating!’

Before Theresia could think further, Theodore charged, closing the distance between them. The massive stone spear thrust towards her.

Theresia instinctively grabbed the stone spear with her dragon claws, but to her utter surprise, Theodore suddenly abandoned his spear and moved forward, executing an over-the-shoulder throw at close range, slamming her, the Black Dragon, onto the ground.

He then immediately pounced onto the Black Dragon’s body, beginning to apply grappling techniques specifically designed for dragons.

Once again, skin-to-skin with Theodore, even in her dragon form, Theresia was reminded of those three unbearable days seven years ago.

She struggled wildly like a pig being slaughtered for the New Year, yet her unrefined struggles only made Theodore’s hold tighter.

During the era of the Giant-Dragon Alliance and the Age of Deities, due to the existence of Giant Dragon Knights, giants frequently interacted with dragons.

Facing a race whose strength and size were in no way inferior to their own, and who could unleash terrifying destructive power when enraged, giants hoped to subdue dragons without harming their old comrades. After all, giants possessed immense strength, and being clumsy would only further enrage the dragons, proving counterproductive.

Thus, this set of grappling techniques, specifically designed by giants for dragons, came into being.

In the past, due to the extinction of the giant race, these exclusive giant combat techniques were preserved by dragon ancestors as a memorial.

And then personally handed down by the Old Patriarch to Theodore, who diligently studied them.

As for whether the dragon race had a way to counter these grappling techniques?

They did.

But they weren’t taught.

Presumably, the dragons never imagined a day would come when a giant would use these combat techniques against them.

Furthermore, even if they knew, the Old Patriarch would absolutely not have taught them to Theresia.

Thus, Theresia was in despair.

No matter what, she could not break free from the giant’s restraint. With her advantages in strength and size negated, she was merely a weak, pathetic, newly adult female dragon.

Theodore proudly shouted, “Don’t waste your strength! This is my obsession for seven whole years! How could you possibly break it in a single day?!

Held so tightly by Theodore, Theresia felt her entire dragon being almost faint. “What do you want?!”

“Return to human form and let me ‘play’ you!”

“You’re dreaming! Never in this lifetime!”

“If you don’t change back, I’ll just keep you locked up like this!”

“If you keep me locked up like this, I won’t change back!”

The giant and the dragon remained in a stalemate, and as Theresia restlessly twisted, Theodore had a strange thought.

‘Look at these smooth, cool dragon scales.’

‘Look at this elegant dragon form.’

‘Look at this adorable little dragon.’

‘Hmm~’

‘Speaking of which, in dragon form…’

Theresia suddenly felt an extremely dangerous aura.

‘Theodore seemed to be brewing some dangerous idea!!!’

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