Chapter 246 (2/2)

Its two heads were still inside the sh.e.l.l. The knight quickly tried to retreat, but the creature rammed into his horse, sending it flying. The hard sh.e.l.l struck the knight's leg, tearing his flesh into shreds.

「Archers! Aim for its eyes!」

「Strike its feet to stop it from moving!」

「It's surprisingly fast! Don't stay in one spot!」

The knights' movements were disciplined, but they didn't seem to be dealing any damage at the Rock Dragon. They managed to dodge some of the monster's attacks. Although, its attacks. .h.i.t every once a while, slowly reducing the knights' numbers.

「I heard rumors of a dragon here, but I didn't expect one to actually show up.」

「What do we do?! His Majesty is at the back!」

「We have no choice but to retreat for now—」

The moment the commanding officer decided to withdraw, a silhouette seemed to appear before the monster. The Rock Dragon buried its face inside its sh.e.l.l, using its hard skull to block arrows. But it would have to use its eyes to gauge the situation. And when it peeked for a bit, a person clad in black appeared out of nowhere, wearing a silver mask, and stabbed the dragon's golden eye. The blade went deeper without much resistance.

「What the…?! 」

A chill ran down the spines of the knights as they watched the blade.

「So the other head is a dummy.」

In an instant, the Rock Dragon's huge body collapsed to the ground. Wind caused clouds of dust to rise, blocking the black clothes from sight.

「Ugh… Where'd he go?!」a man said, coughing up from the dust.

The black figure was long gone.

While the Rock Dragon had two heads, only one actually gave orders to its whole body. Hikaru saw through it with his Life Detection. The head was a serious weak point of a creature that had a sh.e.l.l for protection. Perhaps the creature evolved to grow another head to make up for that, or maybe it was a spare for when the other stopped functioning. Hikaru didn't know. But either way, he concluded that the dragon would stop functioning if he destroyed the other head, and he was right.

Hikaru wanted to raise his soul rank and the dragon was a perfect target. As a matter of fact, his rank went up by one. Using the clouds of dust as cover, Hikaru used his Stealth and returned to his carriage.

Then a shadow appeared up ahead. Hikaru looked up, but saw nothing.

Dragons had been spotted in these mountains, but Hikaru thought the timing of the attack was too perfect. The route they had chosen should be safe for the emperor. Even if there was a possibility for a dragon to appear, whoever planned this route believed the chances to be almost nil. Yet despite the odds, a dragon appeared.

Is it just a coincidence? Hikaru returned to the carriage, absorbed in his thoughts.

「What are you doing here?」Hikaru asked.

「Oh, there you are. You did great. Thank you.」

Kaglai was in Hikaru's carriage with an unfamiliar man by his side.

「I came here because I thought you would be bored. Do you want some?」the emperor asked, raising a bottle and a beautiful gla.s.s.

「I don't drink.」

「Is that so? Then we will drink ourselves.」

「Your Majesty, if you want to drink, you may do so alone.」

「As always, you are too uptight.」

Hikaru eyed the man. He appeared to be in his forties or fifties—if he were human. He wore a rigid expression, and his build suggested he was not a military man.

「I serve as the empire's Prime Minister.」

The man on top of the internal government. I thought he stayed behind.

「We'll end up creating an opening without me around.」the Prime Minister said, as though reading Hikaru's mind.「It won't last long, but I pretended to stay in the capital and tagged along quietly. I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Sir Silver Face.」

「Likewise.」

「Thank you for taking care of the Rock Dragon. When I heard a dragon appeared, my blood froze for a moment.」

「So you already know.」

「Yes… Our knights still need more training.」

「It's not their fault. The enemy was just too much for them to handle.」

「That makes me feel at ease. We'll pay you for the kill as well.」

The man didn't pry much and only mentioned the necessary information. He didn't trust Hikaru, but he didn't perceive him as an enemy either. This type of person isn't so bad, Hikaru thought.

「Come take a seat, Silver Face. We still have a long way to go.」Kaglai said cheerfully.

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