Demon Beast Mountain Range.
At the white pillar of light.
The first figure crawled out, looking utterly miserable.
“Bleurgh~”
He spat up a mouthful of bile.
“I never thought... I, who fear nothing, would get motion sick from a teleportation array...”
“Bleurgh~”
Another mouthful.
......
“Meow~”
“I finally made it out, meow~”
Another figure emerged from the white pillar of light. It was tiny and utterly adorable.
“Mrow~”
A nice stretch. So comfy.
“The air is so nice, meow~”
......
“Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!”
“I’m finally out!”
“Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!”
At last, another figure stepped out of the white pillar, accompanied by laughter that sounded almost crazed.
“Wait, where’s that brat?”
He looked around. Nobody was there.
“Oh, then what the hell was I laughing for? Time to get out of here.”
He was secretly overjoyed.
He lifted his foot.
“Smack~”
Suddenly, a hand grabbed his foot.
Cold sweat burst out of him.
“Hehehehe, old man, where do you think you’re going? Bleurgh...”
That demonic voice exploded right beside his ear.
“No, no! I was just going to scout the way for you, young friend. Just scout the way...”
The old man replied guiltily.
Just as the situation had grown awkward, an unexpected change occurred.
A fierce gust swept past, and a massive black figure landed in front of them.
“Who are you people? What gave you the nerve to come here and run wild in the depths of the Demon Beast Mountain Range?”
A dignified voice rang in their ears.
“...”
“...”
“...”
The scruffy old man thought the voice sounded awfully familiar.
So he dug at his ears, trying to hear it more clearly.
“Hey, old man over there! Why are you still picking at your ears? I am the ruler of the Demon Beast Mountain Range, the Nine-Star Sacred Beast, Black Sacred Dragon Emperor. Answer me at once! Don’t make me act. You’ll bear the consequences.”
The figure opposite them spoke sternly once more.
“...”
“...”
“...”
That voice was way too damn familiar.
The old man couldn’t help raising his head to take a look—and grinned.
“Oh, so it’s you, Little Black Dragon. Long time no see!” the old man greeted it.
“You rotten old man, what did you just call me?” The figure seemed a little angry.
“Little Black Dragon? You, who ran away with your tail between your legs after I scared you back then... Wait, no. I should call you Little Whelp Dragon now...”
“You...”
“...”
That figure was the Black Sacred Dragon Emperor. It wanted to keep raging, but now it couldn’t get another word out. An immense pressure bore down on it, enveloping it from every direction.
“What, you’ve forgotten this old man after just a few tens of thousands of years? Little Whelp Dragon...”
“Y-you... you’re...”
Its anger vanished the moment the pressure descended. A familiar fear rose within it, leaving it too terrified to even move.
“You’re still the same as ever. It’s only natural you’ve forgotten me, but you haven’t forgotten this pressure, have you?”
The Black Sacred Dragon Emperor racked its brains. This pressure was far too powerful to belong to that brat. Right, that had to be it. Which meant the one in front of it was...
“N-no... I, your little dragon... wouldn’t dare forget...”
The Black Sacred Dragon Emperor immediately figured it out and hurried to answer.
“Oh? Why the change in how you address me? Weren’t you acting all tough just now, calling yourself ‘this seat’ and everything?” the old man teased.
“N-no... Your little dragon was... presumptuous in front of you, Senior... In front of you, Senior... everything else is trash...”
The Black Sacred Dragon Emperor’s bravado faded. It was terrified the “Senior” would take its disrespect the wrong way and punish it.
“Hahaha! Not bad, that flattery. Since I’m in a good mood, I’ll let you off this time.”
As he spoke, the old man withdrew his pressure.
“Whew~”
The Black Sacred Dragon Emperor felt the weight on its chest lift in an instant, and its body returned to normal.
“Little Whelp Dragon, what’s happened to you? How come you’re still so weak...”
“Waaah, Senior, I’ve had such a miserable time!”
The Black Sacred Dragon Emperor burst into tears right where it stood.
“Huh? What happened?”
The old man asked with concern.
“Senior, I’ve lost my home...” the Black Sacred Dragon Emperor sobbed.
“Oh?”
“That day, your little dragon wasn’t strong enough. I was no match for the enemy at all. Not only did they humiliate me, I could only watch helplessly as they captured my subordinates.”
“What? Something like that happened? Quick, tell me who it was! I want to see who dares to run wild on our magical beasts’ territory!”
“I’ll teach them a good, hard lesson.”
The old man grew angrier as he listened.
Sure, he hadn’t lived on the surface for more than a hundred thousand years, but he was still one of the magical beasts. If someone had dared to bully their kind, then as the strongest among them, he’d have to go and have a word with that person.
And if they were too weak, they shouldn’t blame him for showing no mercy.
“Huh?”
Suddenly, the Black Sacred Dragon Emperor seemed to spot something. It stopped crying at once.
“Hahahahaha! You rotten brat, so this is what you look like now!”
It even burst out laughing, and its tears vanished without a trace.
Right in front of it...
Someone was sprawled miserably on the ground, one hand clamped around the “Senior’s” foot. Their expression was twisted with pain, as if they’d been put through some horrible ordeal. They were even spitting foam.
“As expected of Senior Dragon God! You really are amazing! Hahahahaha!”
“Oh no... My lord... Don’t...”
A weak voice came from behind someone, but no one—human or beast—heard it.
“Weren’t you acting pretty cocky back at my Mountain of Heaven? Go on, act cocky now!”
“Tch, what a weakling.”
“And you still got beaten up by Senior.”
After seeing Xiaobai sprawled on the ground, the Black Sacred Dragon Emperor no longer respectfully called it “Great One” as it had at Mountain of Heaven.
Now, its face was full of disdain.
Nervous? Afraid?
Not a chance.
It knew full well that it was the one who’d get utterly beaten by the other.
But Senior Dragon God was backing it up.
So none of that mattered.
Senior had already said that someone like this deserved a good, hard lesson.
“Um...”
The old man seemed to want to say something.
“Ah, Senior, you don’t have to say a word. Your little dragon understands.”
“In Senior’s eyes, this rotten brat is nothing but a little fly, the sort you can swat dead with one slap.”
The Black Sacred Dragon Emperor cut the old man off and launched into a confident spiel.
It was so excited that it seemed not to notice the temperature around them plummeting.
“That’s not it. You...”
“I get it, I get it. I misspoke. You mean calling this brat a fly is already giving it too much credit. You could blow it flat with a single breath... Ah!”
“Smack~”
The old man’s right hand transformed into a giant claw, and he slapped it across.
“Shut up.”
“Senior, why did you hit me?”
The Black Sacred Dragon Emperor was bewildered, completely at a loss.
“That brat I mentioned as the enemy is this one!”
“Senior, let me beat this brat up good and teach it a lesson it won’t forget... Aaaah!!!!”
“Thud~”
This time, the old man put a little too much force into it, and the Black Sacred Dragon Emperor went flying after being smacked by the enormous dragon claw.
“Get lost! How did I not realize you were this stupid back then?”
“Are you trying to get me killed?”
“Thump~”
“Thump~”
“Thump~”
“Thump~”
In the quiet, the sound of their hearts beating could be heard.
The old man was panicking like crazy. He could feel cold sweat pouring down his body.
Give it a little longer, and he’d have enough to make a lake.
“Um... young friend... It was just talking nonsense... Don’t take it to heart, don’t take it to heart.”
The old man turned around and forced a smile.
The “miserable figure” had already stood up and was looking at the old man with a “pitiful” expression.
“Old man.”
“Mm-hmm...”
“I really want to be a fly. Please, won’t you let me?”
