"Oh boy, you would regret that."
Kael laughed out loud, and then,
The space around him cracked.
A red snout pushed through, and a majestic, now full-meter-tall creature flew out.
Igni laughed in delight as he quickly jumped on top of Kael.
Kael tried to hold him. The little dragon, however, had now grown up and was much heavier than before.
The Hero slipped, and Igni started licking Kael's face, showing the same joy and love he showed when he first saw Kael.
"Hahaha! Igni—stop—! That tickles—!"
Kael laughed out loud, trying to protect himself from Igni's relentless attacks, but he couldn't. Little Igni was very strong.
"Igni-! The enemy- Stop! Hahaha!"
The Hero warned, and at his warning, Igni stopped.
The dragon's large ember eyes finally landed on the terrifying creature that stood in front of him, staring at them with its menacing crimson eyes, lightning crackling violently around its deformed wings.
Igni blinked as he stared at the Beast in silence.
Kael was silent as well, curious to see what Igni would do.
The dragon completely ignored the 'thing' in front of him and started licking Kael again.
The ticklish feeling made Kael laugh again.
The corrupted Roc stared at the scene in front of it in silence.
No, it was not silent. It was frozen.
These beasts had no intelligence. No emotions. No hesitation. In theory, they should not feel fear.
What if that fear was etched into the very core of their beings…?
A Common Ranked Beast standing in the presence of a Mythical Rank Predator—even in its corrupted, mindless state—its very instincts warned it to run as far as possible and never come back.
The corrupted Roc, however, could not do that.
As it stared at the Hero, a voice told it to tear him into pieces and endless rage took over its mind, suppressing even its fear.
Igni laughed as he continued to lick Kael, then suddenly,
"SSCCRREEEEEEEEEEECCCHHHH!!!"
THUNDER THUNDER THUNDER
The beast screeched in rage and gathered dense thunder around it. The gathered thunder surged towards Kael, prepared to disintegrate him into nothingness, but before something could happen—
A wall of dense flame materialized in front of Kael and Igni. The lightning struck the wall, only to be swallowed whole.
The wall of flames quickly enveloped the lightning, and then, it disappeared out of existence, together with the lightning.
Silence fell over the field.
Let alone the Roc, even Kael himself was taken aback.
THUNDER THUNDER THUNDER
The Roc, unwilling to accept what happened, tried again. This time, the lightning it gathered was even denser than before, but,
The flames materialized again, this time, however, they did not defend.
The fire wrapped around the Roc and the lightning it summoned like living chains, coiling up around its legs, its wings, its throat.
The Roc screeched and thrashed. Trying to resist with all its might, it tried to fly in the air and generate powerful gusts of wind using its wings to deal with the flames, but…
The flames simply covered its entire body and…
Disappeared out of existence.
Yes, the terrifying Stormveil Roc was no more.
There was no explosion.
No trace of what once stood there.
And the one responsible for it…
He was busy licking Kael's face, not even bothering to see how it ended.
Kael, on the other hand, could only stare at the little guy in front of him in utter disbelief.
The Stormveil Roc was strong, you know…?
Yes, Kael knew Igni was strong, extremely strong.
Heck, he had seen the little thing's growth with his own eyes.
Why do you think he was always humble despite his absurd growth? Because this little thing was right next to him, prepared to humble him every time he needed it.
Kael and Igni's relationship was different from others.
Unlike how other humans in this world grew as their beast grew, Kael and Igni's relationship seemed the opposite.
Igni grew together with Kael.
Every time Kael leveled up, so did Igni, and… since little Igni was a Mythical Rank Beast, every time he leveled up, his stats rose at an absurd rate.
Even now, while Kael was happy when he saw his stats rise, when he stared at Igni—
[Strengths: Physical Power, Dragon Magic, Resilience, Early Flight Capability]
[Weaknesses: Inexperience, Energy Dependency, Immature Flight Skills]
Kael couldn't help but smile wryly.
"I can never surpass you, can I?"
Igni laughed as he finally stopped licking Kael and backed away, waiting for Kael to stand up.
Kael stood up with Igni in his arms. Even if the little guy had grown up, he still wouldn't let Kael go.
Igni would remain in Kael's arms as long as it was physically possible.
"Ahh, why are you growing up…"
Kael muttered with a weak smile as he tightened his hug.
The moment he did that, it seemed like everything that had been weighing him down all this while disappeared.
Soldiers died? People were hurt?
As long as Igni was safe, it didn't matter.
Yes, Kael's selfish side was taking over.
From the start, he had always been selfish. He never cared about anyone other than himself. After all, he grew up all alone, without anyone's help.
He got what he got because of his own hard work, so why should he care about others?
Yes, he helped others, but it was never at the cost of himself.
The lonely Kael, who never cared about anyone else, had found Igni.
A creature who completely changed the way he saw the world. Yes, he was selfish, even now. His selfishness, however, was now directed at Igni and...
It had now become even stronger.
As long as Igni was safe…
Even if he had to risk everything he had for that, he would do it without question.
If it is to protect Igni,
He would NEVER let that vision turn into reality.
Kael thought inwardly as the picture of dead Igni appeared in his mind, but it was quickly replaced by cheerful Igni, who was currently in his arms, and his smile widened.
"We have quite a lot of time on our hands now."
Kael commented as he looked around. Then, he turned towards Igni and—
"Let's play around, shall we?"
Igni's eyes brightened up.