Hunter Academy’s Battle God

Newborn dragons were rare, and there were times when a hatchling wasn't born for over a thousand years.

Crack.

To make up for that, dragons were considered the strongest. Once a hatchling broke through the egg and came into the world, they were already complete and perfect.

Crack.

'Light...'

It was a sensation she hadn't felt before, but even within the egg, dragons naturally knew what light was, what a dazzling sensation was, and many other things.

Even among dragons, Sardonyx was still impressive.

*

“Mana is like air to us. We absorb the mana around us and use it."

The elder of the Red Clan was educating the little hatchlings. The elder, who had polymorphed into an old human, touched his beard.

"Dragon language is like talking with mana. Our words have strength, and talking itself can be a sort of magic."

The elder looked at Sardonyx and gave her a warning.

"That's why a dragon mustn't make a promise in vain!" A promise that can't be fulfilled becomes a lethal poison for a dragon! And the stronger the dragon, the more lethal a promise can be!"

The elder insisted on that point and stared at Sardonyx as if he'd seen something.

"I won't do something like that."

Only high-level magicians could use 5th-circle magic. You had to be a grand magician to be able to use 6th-circle magic, and only the strongest dragons could use 7th-circle magic.

Sardonyx ended up learning 7th-circle magic while she was a 10-year-old hatchling, and she realized something at that moment…

'Boring.'

A dragon’s life was boring.

They were the strongest beings, so there were no conflicts. They were perfect from the moment they were born, so they had no goals. They just lived boring, immortal lives..

—Eat, learn magic, gather treasures in the lair…

Sardonyx felt there was no point in living like that. She'd become bored with how dragons lived.

"So, Sardonyx, you’re the new lord of the red dragons. I'll leave the clan to you."

Even when Sardonyx became the lord of the Red Dragon Clan, she accepted it indifferently.

'What's the point of a life like this?'

Sardonyx knew she wouldn't have to try hard for anything in her life.

She just had to rule over others and live meaninglessly.

That’s when Sardonyx suddenly began wondering about something—maybe nothing was important to dragons because they had everything.

That's why she chose to explore the human world.

The strongest dragon, Sardonyx, chose to live a second life as a weak human girl because she was bored.

She wasn’t sure how long she would stay. It had started from boredom, after all, but everything felt new.

"It's this kid... I heard she lost her parents because of bandits..."

Sardonyx's new house was old and rusty.

"Bandits... It was scary, right?"

The old woman’s reaction also felt new.

"We're going to protect you from now on... What's your name?"

Despite being a weak human being, she promised her protection. Sardonyx found the woman funny, but it didn't feel bad.

"I don't have one."

"You don't? Then… Lepina! Do you like it?"

That's how her second life began.

Although dragons were good at everything, she found it difficult to imitate a young human girl.

Humans were immature, weak, and dumb.

"You're Lepina, right? I'm Taru!"

The young boy who presented himself as Taru was just like that.

Although he had a pretty face for a human, he spent the entire day swinging a wooden stick in a field.

He couldn't even beat a boar in the forest, so what was the point of training so hard?

Unlike Sardonyx, Taru always tried his best.

He lived a more intense life than anything Sardonyx could ever do.

'That guy...'

At first, she thought he was dumb.

'Today, too...?'

Then, she began envying him.

Sardonyx had never lived while giving her all.

"Lepina, hi!"

After greeting her, the young Taru walked toward her. For some reason, Sardonyx had called out to him.

"Hey, you shouldn't swing your sword like that."

She'd only read a basic instruction manual in her lair, but Sardonyx was a dragon lord, so she was a better teacher than an Imperial Knight.

As time passed, Taru encountered a wall because he didn't know how to use mana, so Sardonyx gave him an elixir that was as valuable as an artifact.

"Hey, drink this."

"Yes! Eek, how bitter..."

"Drink it all."

"Okay! After all, it's you who gave it to me."

Sardonyx thought it didn't matter. After all, she had many of those in the lair, but those actions weren't out of caprice anymore.

"Hey, Taru!" Sardonyx went searching for Taru first.

"Wake up! Ms. Heinda says to come to eat! The soup has a lot of meat, so you should hurry."

She began cheering for Taru's dream.

"Lepina... Will I be able to become a knight?"

"Of course."

"I heard the Imperial Knights are quite strong!"

"Believe in me."

At first, she treated him as if she were raising a pet.

"You can become a stronger knight than anyone else. You'll be able to win any war."

Time passed in what seemed like the blink of an eye from a dragon’s perspective, and Taru became more important than any treasure in her lair.

And the day that treasure went to war, Sardonyx made a promise.

"You made a promise, so you have to come back, okay?”

A dragon's promise was absolute, and it was even more absolute if the one who made that promise was a dragon lord. A dragon lord’s words were strong enough to change the course of a battle.

"Yes, Lepina. I swear."

But Sardonyx had made a promise.

If she could see Taru again, if it was to protect the human she cared about, she was willing to go against the dragons’ rules.

Still, they experienced time differently. Their meetings had to end at some point.

She had an opportunity to leave when Taru returned as a war hero at 17 years of age.

Two years later, she got another chance before marrying Taru.

When it was 30 years since she'd met Taru, she got yet another chance.

"Taru..."

"Lepina... thanks for staying by my side for such a long time."

It wasn't much later when, at 70 years of age, Taru was about to die.

"No... should I call you Sardonyx? Once I’m gone... you're probably going to leave... Thank you, Lepina."

Time wasn't the same for a dragon and a human. That's why love between a dragon and a human couldn't be eternal.

Sardonyx's adventure could've been a success if she'd respected that truth, but the 60 years she spent with Taru became an irreplaceable treasure.

Just like those 70 years were everything for Taru, that time was also everything for Sardonyx.

"No... I'm not going to leave. I'll... find you."

Sardonyx shed tears.

A crying dragon was a rare sight. Since they were absolute beings, they didn't cry easily.

Sardonyx cried like a child.

"I swear it... People from Rendell are reborn, right?"

Tears dripped endlessly down Sardonyx's cheeks.

"No matter how many years pass... No matter how you look, Taru... I'll find you."

Sardonyx ended up making a promise, and an unbelievable amount of mana was used in the midst of her intense emotions.

"No matter how many years pass, I'll..."

Everything was distorted.

"Find you."

It was too late for her to reverse things.

* * *

* * *

WHOOM!

A huge magic circle was drawn on the floor, and the power of the Incarnations gathered in one place.

'Where am I...?' Sardonyx's personality waking up meant that all of her Incarnations had disappeared.

She'd definitely been subjugated before, so how come she was still alive?

Everything was confusing.

BZZT!!

Regardless of her confusion, the magic circle of Castellana Cave summoned Sardonyx at her peak.

Thanks to the mana’s effect, rocks began falling from the ceiling, and cracks appeared on the floor from the summoning process of Dragon Lord Sardonyx, who was called a calamity.

The red magic circle began ripping apart, and Sardonyx walked out the other side. She was in her human form and looked like a normal red-haired girl, but the sheer volume of mana leaking out of her was incomparable to a normal human’s.

Sardonyx calmly fell into thought. 'I guess it doesn't matter.'

It didn't matter what happened or what world she fell into—her goal was to find Taru.

'If it's to find Taru, I can do anything.'

Sardonyx was thinking about gathering all of the humans in the world in one place. If someone dared refuse her proposal, she just had to make them pay the price.

Even if it took her many years, she would do anything she could if it helped her find Taru.

Slide-

The dragon lord opened her eyes.

"Sardonyx has been summoned!" HimChan's loud voice spread through the cave.

'He's quite strong for a human.'

If she compared him to someone from her world, he would be similar to one of the brace, but since HimChan wasn't a rank 7 hunter, he wasn't a danger to Sardonyx.

Sardonyx quickly glanced over her opponents.

"Don't start moving before Sardonyx uses magic!" Mei Lin nervously shouted.

"Focus on stalling for time. Don't move out of range."

Shoichi held up his sword and stared at the dragon, one eye covered in an eyepatch, Ultra stood in his suit, and Elisa was holding a rapier.

'It will be simple.'

Adela was extending her hands and preparing to use her Trait, but Sardonyx’s eyes just passed her over.

When her eyes reached the last person….

Sardonyx went still..

"Y-you..." she mumbled. Although he was wearing different clothes, he was who she'd been waiting such a long time for. There was no way she wouldn't recognize him.

Pang!

Using her mana, Sardonyx leaped toward YuSung at great speed.

Grab!

"Taru!" She hugged YuSung and began crying.

"S-sob. I... I told you that I’d find you."

The rank 7 boss cried and clung to the subjugation member.

"What the…?" Mei Lin was confused.

None of the hunters knew what was going on. As YuSung tried to move back a bit, Sardonyx hugged him even tighter.

"Now... Sob... I won't let you go."

It was the first raid in which a subjugation member captivated the raid boss.