493 Chapter 493: Here be Dragons (1/2)

Draco burst into existence with a thunderous roar, his black frame almost rivaling the Chaos Chimera in size. Immediately, the entire area was frozen in ice, the temperature plummeting drastically. A fog drifted throughout the husk of the ruined museum, bringing a ghostly chill with it. Snarling, Draco swiped at the skeletal Chaos Chimera, sending it crashing onto the ground with a whimper.

”W…what the hell is this?!” Henry James spluttered. Then his eyes widened. ”That's right…you summoned this dragon during your duel against Charles Lacroix during the national tournament.”

”Oh, I'm glad you remembered. And you still thought I couldn't defeat your Chaos Chimera?” I scoffed. Henry James stiffened, trembling from both the chill and dead.

”But…but it wasn't as powerful back then…I don't remember it being this powerful…!”

”What, did you think I was going to stay the same forever? Of course I would be continuing to grow stronger. And my Constellation spirits will be growing stronger with me.”

Draco slammed another claw down upon the wailing Chaos Chimera before triple bursts of black mana formed in its mouth and lanced into it, blowing shards of bone out. An entire portion of the titanic beast simply ceased to exist, disintegrated by the potent rays of Draco's spell.

Not only that, but the areas where Draco had slashed with his claws were beginning to freeze over, ice rapidly expanding across the cracked, skeletal portions and encasing bone in ice. The Chaos Chimera's struggles slowly ceased, even as it crumbled under Draco's assault.

However, it still had several cards to play. The bony spines along its neck, body and tail shifted and over thirty concentrated mana beams surged toward Draco. Explosions seemed to litter across Draco's body, only for the fog to slowly dissipate and reveal dozens of ice shields hovering between the two titans.

Evidently Draco had summoned individual ice shields to block the incoming beams.

”Your dragon isn't supposed to have that ability!” James yelled, almost frothing in the mouth from both rage and despair.

”Oh?” I looked at him coldly. ”Says who?”

”You…you…!” he spluttered.

The Chaos Chimera whipped its head up, its long neck stiffening as it prepared a charged mana beam. The more powerful spell streaked out of its jaws and detonated against Draco, smashing through his multiple ice shields and engulfing my titanic Constellation spirit in a colossal conflagration. More of the already demolished museum continued to fall apart, debris disintegrating from the sheer firepower. Sprawled on the ground, James laughed triumphantly.

”Hah! No matter how powerful your Soul Beast is, even it can't withstand a direct hit from the Chaos Chimera's charged mana beam!”

I didn't say anything, and just waited for the smoke to disperse. Draco didn't disappoint, bursting out of the smoke in shards of ice, snarling as he clobbered the Chaos Chimera with his tail, sending the gargauntaun skeletal monster to the ground with an earthshaking impact.

”What…?!”

”My Draco is a lot tougher than you think,” I explained with a smile. ”He's been through quite a few fights. As you already surmised, he is my strongest Constellation spirit. It'll take a lot more than a charged particle cannon…ahem, I mean charged mana beam to break his energy shield…ahem, I mean ice shield.”

James tried to scrabble away, but I closed in on him. Drawing one of my swords, Hei Yue in my right hand, I approached. Behind me, Green Dragon materialized, rearing up to fix the pale criminal scum with his majestic eyes.

Then Green Dragon swung down a claw and pulverized the shrieking guy. Behind us, Draco finished off the Chaos Chimera, freezing black rays streaming from his jaws and obliterating its bulk. The skeletal monster shattered and fell apart, its pieces scattering across the ground and disappearing.

I glanced at the space where the Emergence event had occurred, but the rip in time-space fabric had already mended, sealing off the other dimension from others. Whatever ritual Grimaldus planned to conduct, it only had enough power to summon a single Chaos Chimera. I didn't have to worry about other monsters coming through.

”You…”

To his credit, James was still alive. His body was crushed and broken, and he was speaking through bloodied lips and missing teeth, but he continued to draw breath. What a tenacious bastard.

”What about me?” I asked, turning back to him.

”What is someone as strong as you doing here in Flandor?” he growled. ”Why are you even pretending to be a private tutor and playing make-believe?! You have the potential to move beyond here and achieve greater things…”

”Like what?” I scoffed, sheathing my sword and crossing my arms. ”And if I'm truly as strong as you make me out to be, isn't that more of a reason for me to impart my knowledge to others, to ensure that we have more powerful people?”

”Hah! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!” James laughed, despite his crushed chest and ruined lungs. ”Don't be naïve! In this world, the only person you can trust is yourself! You can't rely on other people! The moment you believe in somebody, they will turn around and stab you in the back!”

Wow, we had a nihilistic edgelord here. I rolled my eyes and shook my head, but didn't bother to argue with him. It would be a total waste of time, and he was going to die anyway.

Take note, I wasn't naïve enough to make blanket declarations like the world is good, and we shouldn't be afraid to trust everyone. It was just that I found it ridiculous to go off to the opposite end and claim that we should never trust anyone either. The truth was, like everything else, somewhere in between. There were people you could trust, and people you should never trust. Most people were lucky enough to be born in families where they could trust their parents. Now, nobody was perfect – there would be times where the people you trust lie. But think about it – are you so sure you have never told a single lie before? I know I have…there were times where I was dishonest with my own family. If I couldn't be 100% honest with others, how could I expect the same of others?

Even so, that didn't mean you couldn't trust people just because they lied a few times. As I said, things weren't so black and white. You could, for example, trust your family to always have your back. Friends for being there for you. Stuff like that. The key was just to know who to trust and who to doubt. Not go one opposite end or the other. Reality was fluid, and you had to adapt accordingly to circumstances and learn more about the other people around you.

That was all.

However, I said none of that to James, and turned to leave. Green Dragon raised a claw to finish him off.

”W…wait!”