Became a Dragon kidnapped by Humans

He hid behind a pillar cracked in many places, gasping for breath.

He was just him.

The nametag on his chest had long been stained crimson, obscuring the letters “G-6031” ages ago.

The firearm issued to G-6031 had already left its owner’s hands, crushed into uselessness by claws that didn’t allow it to serve its purpose even for a moment.

The comrades who had entered in groups were all torn apart, leaving not a single body to cry out for help to G-6031.

Most decisively, the operation G-6031 was supposed to carry out had failed long ago.

He was no longer G-6031 but merely himself.

The originally red uniform seemed even darker today, reeking of iron.

He gritted his teeth.

Because he feared that the slightest sound might give him away.

His heart pounded loudly despite his caution.

A pungent smell of sulfur filled the air.

‘I took it down once two days ago. It should’ve been submerged in molten metal regenerating…! Damn it, why is it so intact?! The recompressed nuclear bomb ‘Notung’ didn’t do jack!’

It was true.

‘It’ had half its body reduced to bone, four out of six limbs skeletal, and ribs exposed, yet it still lived, and with that form, it continued to threaten everyone’s lives, an unforeseen scenario indeed.

A sharp piece of rock fell near his feet, grazing his ankle.

With a slight sound, a thin red line appeared on his ankle, startling him nearly to death.

This vibration echoing everywhere meant ‘it’ was nearby.

Thud, thud, thud.

The pillar he hid behind swayed precariously.

Though the sound resembled a blind reptile slithering low to the ground, the thick concrete floor couldn’t support its massive bulk, cracking under the pressure.

Despite its monstrous size,

There wasn’t a single sound of breathing, footsteps, or cries.

He couldn’t bring himself to turn his head to check.

All he could know was that the floor, unable to bear the weight, was collapsing, sending fragments flying everywhere.

Thud, thud, thud.

The sound grew distant.

But without the certainty that the monster had left, he did not rise from his crouched position.

At first glance, it might seem foolish.

This appeared to be the only chance to escape this place.

Yet, it was only three minutes ago when a member of his team, saying there was nothing else to do but die if they stayed, returned as nothing more than a puddle of blood.

Had it not been for that, he would have run towards the exit despite his deeply wounded leg, exposing bone.

He knew.

That monster.

IF-684 was an entity of unreasonable intelligence.

At least, far smarter than himself, who had ended up doing forced labor at FPL after questioning the sanity of his younger brother’s strange religion—things like group orgies, human sacrifices, and gunfights being rather odd for South Korea.

He knew too well.

Attempting any clever tricks would absolutely not save him.

Therefore,

He ignored the enticing red light flashing beside the entrance, pretending it wasn’t there, tempting him to believe running there now would save him.

The surrounding area was in utter chaos, having exploded several times already.

Every warning light around was broken except for that one, which was highly suspicious.

He resisted the instinctual urge to dash towards it.

As expected,

— BOOM!

The entrance he had been staring at, along with the light illuminating it, was shattered in a single attack.

Even though it was large enough for a dump truck to pass through,

Its three-clawed forelimb pressing down lightly turned it into something even more pitiful than a child’s sandcastle.

And the irritable hissing sound that followed.

“KRRRrrrrrrr….”

It sounded less like breathing and more like fire burning.

Indeed,

He barely managed to win the staring contest with the scaled fisherman intent on turning him into ash.

But could this be called a victory?

He had merely extended his life by a few seconds, while angering the ever-furious beast even more.

Thud, thud, thud.

All he could do was console himself for not going there, listening to the heavy tail of the monster carving through the concrete floor.

His goal was not mere survival for a few more seconds.

He had a plan.

‘It’ll be fine, right? It has to be fine. The calculations must be correct. Please, damn it, please!’

He repeatedly checked his wrist.

Soaked in blood, but the gamma-rank wristwatch provided by the organization functioned admirably despite the abuse.

Looking at his watch, he forced a smile with lips that wouldn’t curl upward and glanced at the ceiling.

A straight, deliberate groove cut across the column he was hiding behind.

This groove was clearly artificial, unlike the natural cracks spreading elsewhere.

The reason he had fled here, sacrificing dozens of teammates unwillingly, was because of this groove.

One minute.

He needed to survive at least one minute for any chance of escape.

He anxiously counted down the seconds.

‘Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry…!’

The silent wristwatch was replaced by the loud beating of his heart.

While empty carts make much noise, the monster’s ‘heart’ made none, yet his own, fist-sized heart, thundered so loudly he feared it would expose him.

At least, that’s how it felt to him.

Then,

Clink, screech.

‘Finally!’

Hearing the mechanical sounds above, he ran out from behind the pillar.

There was no time to hesitate.

He wasn’t the only one who heard the activation sound.

The sound of splitting concrete vanished completely. This meant only one thing:

He had to outrun IF-684.

A voice identical to a recently deceased teammate echoed in his ears.

“Are you going…? Weakling…!”

For some reason, the content of the message didn’t try to disguise itself as a teammate.

Did IF-684 already know he wouldn’t look back for his comrade?

He had no time to ponder such things.

If he met its eyes, he feared his weakened legs would give out, so he leaped forward without looking back.

— BOOM!

As he leapt, the ceiling split open and a thick steel wall descended.

“KYAAAAA…!”

A chilling scream came from beyond the wall.

The ceiling hadn’t collapsed; the material was different.

Having served as a gamma-rank operative for quite some time, he knew exactly what this wall was.

Clang, clang, clang.

The sound of walls closing in sequence.

Bulletproof blast walls that remained unscathed even from direct hits.

Six layers, each three meters thick.

Even a monstrous creature like IF-684 surely couldn’t break through.

“This way, huh… Heheheh…”

Of course, it shouldn’t be possible.

“Damn lizard brat, creepy till the end…!”

It certainly shouldn’t be possible.

“…”

So, he turned his head away, ignoring reality.

— Screeeech…

“Ah… It’ll be fine, it’ll be fine, it won’t be…”

Because it was absurd for the walls to evaporate without a trace, untouched by the dragon’s breath.

“Judging by your joy, this side must lead outside, right…?”

Breaking through an escape route designed for humans but too small for IF-684, scattering concrete debris with its tail,

All actions leading him here intentionally.

Or perhaps using him as a guide, despite being blind.

Such scenarios shouldn’t happen, mustn’t happen.

— Thump, thump,

The source of IF-684’s transcendent power, the Dragon Heart, pulsed before his very eyes.

“Hehehehehehehehe….”

From the monster mocking him in the voice of the first fallen comrade, he turned his head away.

“Huff, ugh… KRAAAAH!”

Though he couldn’t bear to turn his head away from the searing pain of his entire body roasting.

Well, nothing unusual happened.

After all, ashes can’t turn their heads.

Who blames the ashes?

“Blood, flesh… I can feel the meat rising to my eyes… Not a bad final play… Worms.”

Now,

‘Ashes’ were nothing.

The sole person who knew the ashes were ‘him’ had no intention of calling them ‘him’.

They were simply ‘ashes.’

“When I first heard of it, it was revolting… A water snake spouting nonsense about safety…”

A living flame, a being akin to death itself.

“Stop. Behold, creatures of the earth. Listen, worms. Isn’t this tiny, weak water snake rather wise…? Isn’t there something to learn from it…?”

A storm of rage capable of reducing everything beneath its wings to ash.

“Soon. Following my sight… My lost two wings will be restored. I shall burst forth from this narrow, disgusting cage towards the sky…”

There was no reason anywhere to refer to those ashes as ‘him.’

“This cunning water snake makes a fitting first treasure to commemorate eternal freedom… Hehehe.”

In the end, all that remained was a thick, thick smell of sulfur.

“Precious eyes worth more than any jewel… Truly, they are desirable…”

— Thud. Thud.

No longer bothering to hide its movements, the colossal body shook the ground with every step.

The sulfuric stench spread throughout the entire Research Facility 4.

An alarm signaling a Code Dark level emergency blared.

“True, worms are merely tools to regain my wings. They were never the goal…”

The highest-ranked IF.

The extremely hostile IF.

The unknown phenomenon causing the most containment breaches in history.

“Thank you for showing me the way out directly, water snake. Heheheha. Heheheheheheha…”

IF-684 had escaped.

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