Huff—!
A scorching wave of heat slammed straight into Kurose Akira, snapping his clothes violently and sending his hair whipping wildly in the gale.
"Human."
BOOM!
A massive dragon claw, plated in blazing crimson scales, slammed down in front of him, shaking the ground as it landed squarely within his field of vision. Before this colossal existence, Kurose Akira looked impossibly insignificant—no more than an ant beneath an elephant's foot.
Gulp—
Though his face remained composed, his heart was already reeling from the sheer shock of what stood before him.
A dragon nearly ten thousand meters long towered in front of him.
The overwhelming pressure of it was beyond words.
He slowly lifted his head. Marey Rhine's mountain-like body completely blocked his path forward, leaving him nowhere to look but up.
Compared to her, that hundred-meter-class black dragon was laughably small—like nothing more than a wriggling black loach.
"I'll give you one sentence," Marey Rhine's low growl reverberated beside his ears. "Then I'll crush you to death."
She allowed him only an instant to think.
And yet—Kurose Akira saw opportunity.
Though Marey Rhine appeared perpetually enraged, she was not stupid. She understood perfectly well that her long-awaited revenge depended on the seemingly ant-like man standing before her.
How ironic.
If not for her defeat thousands of years ago in the war of red and blue, how could she have fallen to such a pitiful state?
Kurose Akira spoke calmly.
"I know you lost to another dragon thousands of years ago."
Before his sentence could fully land, Marey Rhine burst into thunderous laughter, as if trying to drown out the unease rising within her.
"Ridiculous! I never lost to that blue bastard! He only won because he relied on a divine artifact!"
"If you hadn't lost," Kurose Akira replied coldly, "your enormous body wouldn't have turned into white bones. And you wouldn't be standing here talking to me. Face reality."
"..."
Marey Rhine fell silent.
Her draconic pupils shifted, flames of fury burning within them.
"What are you trying to say?" she asked icily.
"I can help you take revenge on that blue one," Kurose Akira said evenly.
"By you?" Marey Rhine sneered. "A weak human?"
"You have no other choice," Kurose Akira replied indifferently. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have slept here for thousands of years. I was the one who awakened you—and only I can help you. I'll give you one chance as well. Lower your stance and speak to me properly. At the very least, show me some sincerity."
"!"
The moment she heard his tone—one that placed him on equal footing with her—Marey Rhine's rage surged.
But quickly, she forced herself to calm down, sinking into brief contemplation.
She knew the truth.
If she could truly revive through her own power, she would have already returned to the world long ago instead of lying dormant for millennia in the Dragonfall Land.
This human's combat strength was negligible—but he undeniably possessed a special power.
Otherwise, her soul would not be so unstable, so compelled to obey his commands.
More importantly, awakening within the Dragonfall Land should have been impossible. That place was still saturated with the lingering might of a divine artifact. Even after unleashing devastating power and summoning countless powerful believers in an attempt to erase that residual force, she had failed again and again—remaining trapped in a half-slumbering state.
And yet…
This insignificant human had resolved it.
That alone forced her to take him seriously.
After a long, heavy silence, Marey Rhine's colossal form slowly dispersed—condensing instead into the figure of a young girl.
She had long, blazing red hair like roaring flames. Her skin was snow-white, overlaid with vivid dragon scales. Compared to Nata, her draconic traits were far more pronounced.
Her arms and thighs were almost completely covered in scales, as though she wore gauntlets and greaves forged from dragonhide, giving her an aura that was both mysterious and powerful. Nata's dragon claws, by contrast, looked more like gloves.
Her torso retained a human form, her flawless white abdomen exposed—impossible not to notice.
Despite her petite stature, her curves were… unexpectedly overwhelming.
Commonly known as—
"Ahem."
"Human."
With a casual wave of her sharp dragon claw, a throne of blazing flames materialized in an instant.
She sat upon it, crossing her legs, her voice icy.
"If you truly can revive me, I shall grant you the Crimson Dragon's treasure as reward. But if you dare deceive me…"
As her words fell, scorching red flames ignited in her palm, destruction gleaming in her eyes.
In response, Kurose Akira studied Marey Rhine's human form with open curiosity.
She didn't seem like an ordinary red dragon.
At the very least, her scales differed greatly from Nata's—both in color and shape. More astonishing still, every single scale appeared engraved with ancient, mysterious runes.
"I can grant you rebirth," Kurose Akira said.
"Rebirth?" Marey Rhine chuckled softly as the flames in her palm faded. Her tone was frigid. "We are beings who challenge the gods. What vessel could possibly exist in this world to bear our souls? I'd love to hear how you plan to give me rebirth."
"If none exists," Kurose Akira replied calmly, "then we'll create one."
"…?"
"You'll begin again—from a dragon egg. Hatch into an entirely new life."
Marey Rhine fell silent.
Suspicion and curiosity flickered in her crimson eyes as she weighed his words.
"You can really do that?" Her voice carried a faint, involuntary tremor.
"Yes," Kurose Akira answered firmly. "And I can make you even stronger."
"…But there's a condition."
"What condition?"
"Submit to me."
For a moment, Marey Rhine froze—then erupted into derisive laughter.
"Hahahahaha!" She laughed so hard she nearly doubled over. "You expect us to obey a mere human? Absolute farce! Even the gods wouldn't dare speak to me so arrogantly!"
Kurose Akira wasn't surprised in the slightest.
"There's always a first time."
Her laughter gradually faded.
She stared at him, displeasure seeping into her voice. "Do you really think I'd agree to that?"
Kurose Akira smiled faintly. "Weren't you quite obedient earlier?"
"That was—!"
She started to speak, only to be interrupted.
"I'm only asking once," Kurose Akira said coldly. "Yes or no. Choose wrong, and you'll stay here forever."
"You—!"
Marey Rhine burned with fury, so angry she wanted nothing more than to stomp him flat.
But her thirst for revenge told her the truth.
Without Kurose Akira, she would never achieve it.
After a brutal internal struggle, she finally made her decision.
"Our relationship is cooperation," Marey Rhine said through clenched teeth. "Not master and servant!"
"Call it whatever you want," Kurose Akira replied casually. "As long as I get to ride you."
"…What?"
Before Marey Rhine could react, Kurose Akira placed his hand on top of her head, casually measuring her height.
He couldn't help but think—
A dragon nearly ten thousand meters long… turns into a human form that's barely one and a half meters tall?
Is this some kind of personal preference?
And yet, that one-and-a-half-meter height somehow came paired with snow-white assets rivaling Ivsha's—
Honestly, the contrast shouldn't work.
But visually?
It was dangerously effective.
There really is a market for this kind of thing.
Suddenly—
A furious roar exploded.
"How dare you touch my dragon head! Are you courting death?!"
Crunch!
Marey Rhine viciously bit down on Kurose Akira's hand. Her sharp dragon fangs pierced straight through his soul.
"Let go! That hurts like hell!"
"Stupid human!" she snarled. "Consider this a warning. Touch me like that again, and I won't just bite your hand!"
..
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