'W-What is a Dragon Lord doing here...?'
As Adonis watched the Skeletal Dragon, overwhelming fear and intense trauma began to take over his body. More than even the rest of Adventurers around, he couldn't stop trembling intensely.
That was because he knew just how powerful and cruel a single Dragon Lord was.
'Back then… we were never able to beat a single one.'
The Dragon Lords were recognized as the unshakable pillar of the Dragon Society, and so it was practically impossible for a human to beat them.
'I thought we'd have a few more years to get stronger before trying, but… why now?'
Sure, this was a Skeletal Dragon—and Undead were usually weaker than their living counterparts, with a few exceptions.
If a dead entity came back as a Skeleton, though, then they were most definitely weaker than their living versions. Other than the perks of having a somewhat undying body, there were no real advantages of becoming a Dragon.
'So… yes… it's going to be a lot weaker than the real thi—'
"THOSE BARRIERS WILL DO YOU NO GOOD."
The instant the Skeletal Dragon Lord uttered those words, the golden barrier that covered Adonis' group, and the white dome protecting the other side, instantly shattered.
'A-ah…?' His eyes nearly bulged as he powerlessly watched everything with sweat appearing all over his face.'
Without nearly putting in any effort at all, this Dragon Lord had devastated the effects of his [Absolute Defense].
That meant one thing…
'It still has an SS-Tier Skill… Damnit!'
The reason why Dragon Lords were so scary and practically invincible was because they had at least S-Tier Classes, as well as one SS-Tier Skill.
In essence, they had a similar build to Adonis—who was the strongest among the Otherworlders.
However, even with the same Tiers of Classes and Skills, Adonis was nowhere close to them when it came to Stats and simple biological advantages.
Dragons Leveled Up fast. Their limits weren't the same as humans. They lived long lives, especially Dragon Lords, so they must have amassed a lot of EXP—hence, more Stats.
Dragons also had more Skills than any human—or even Otherworlder—could dare to imagine.
They were on another level entirely.
'I thought we'd have more time. If I Leveled Up more and finally advance my Hero Class to that point… according what the Oracle said…'
But now, it seemed like all his planning had come to an end.
Having a Dragon Lord appear here was pretty much game over for everyone.
"Looks like we've found your culprit, Sebas…" Jet's voice emerged, seemingly out of nowhere, causing Adonis to slowly turn his face to look at the man beside him.
"Y-you…"
Adonis was stunned to find the look on Jet's face. 'H-he's smiling?! In the presence of THAT?'
Jet had a fearless expression on his face, something that Adonis sorely lacked. At this moment, he was reminded of how he was in the past.
—The weak, scrawny one who always trailed behind his Master, Lucielle.
It seemed, even after becoming a Hero, nothing had changed.
"That is the Dragon you're looking for. The one who caused all of this… and also the one that put the Guildmaster in that state."
Adonis' eyes twitched as he found himself going over everything that he blamed Jet for, now fitting it into a new context where the Dragon's existence came into account.
Not everything made sense, but for the most part, he could see a difference.
'It has been watching us fight all this time, which means the chances of it watching us even when we were on the Ground Floor is high.'
That meant he could have decided to use a Mass Teleport, even if he didn't use it in the previous timeline's Dungeon Conquest.
'Maybe it was asleep then, or wasn't compelled to do so.' Either way, it made sense.
Also, the Zone shift could have also been his doing. He probably wanted to mess around with them, displaying the true nature of a Dragon—something Jet and Lux sorely lacked.
'I still don't understand why Jet was shrouded in Spatial Energy, but maybe the Dragon did it intentionally, to fool me.'
Perhaps the Dragon expected, or orchestrated this outcome.
Why else would the Zones have shifted at the convenient time so he could enter this massive hall with his group and see Jet doing 'something' to the Guildmaster.
It was all the Dragon's doing!
"I… I was wrong." Adonus mumbled, his face as crestfallen as possible. "I was so wrong."
Due to the knowledge of the future, Adonis had unconsciously gotten some kind of tunnel vision that made him obsessively focus on central parts of something without taking the full picture into account.
Perhaps if he didn't have such hubris, he would have been able to avoid the present situation.
Adonis blamed himself.
He felt like crumbling to the ground and begging for forgiveness. Even though he still knew about how the names "Jet" and "Lux" belonged to people that would wreak such havoc in the future, he still had no right to be so forward and self righteous in his approach.
What if these people were different from, though related to, the ones who came much later—the true Malefactors of the Adventurer Massacre several months from now?
The timing of their arrival, the nature of their abilities, their appearances… they were all different from the ones he heard of back then.
Yet, because he so desperately wanted to fit them into a narrative, he did just that.
"I'm sorry, Je.t…" Adonis muttered, his eyes leaking out hot tears.
The Skeletal Dragon watched all of them—most likely even the current exchange—with a disconcerted gaze. Adonis could feel the pressure of its stare from above, but he still struggled to speak, just as he struggled to breathe.
"… I was wrong about you."
He was wrong about everything.
"You truly are—"
"FUWAHH… YOU'RE STILL TALKING?"
A loud yawn, followed by the thunderous voice of the Skeletal Dragon Lord forced Adonis' words to remain buried.
"THAT'S ENOUGH OUT OF YOU ALL." As it said this, a massive spike of corrupted energy began to rush from its body.
"TIME TO FLOAT!"
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Thanks for reading!
