Chapter 29: The Lizard Commanders

As I was grinding my teeth, the Throne Lord asked me quietly.

“Can you handle it?”

I calmed the boiling rage inside me.

After all, this isn’t even really my problem—there’s no reason to get this angry.

‘But then, there’s no reason not to be angry either.’

If they were doing this to an Elder Dragon, I might understand, but all the ones who came to face me were just kids.

In human terms, they’re like children barely in their early to mid-teens at best.

Since dragons live almost endlessly, their mental growth is far slower than other races.

And yet, they’re putting even these kids through such torturous training methods?

It’s like handing a ten-year-old a steel sword and having a drill instructor go all out in a real duel… No, it’s even worse than that.

‘You’re trying to expand their mana channels by shocking the Dragon Heart?’

Without that, dragons die.

For them, it’s basically the same as a human heart.

Even taking that into account, the methods are the problem.

Making them take hits to toughen them up, or deliberately devastating part of the kingdom’s territory just to raise Magic Resistance—it’s the same as being hit point-blank by a known Seven-Tier Magic spell.

Even the Kingdom of Lumin, famed as a nation of knights, wouldn’t commit such child abuse.

I bet there’s more poison than just this, but I don’t even need to look.

“Can I handle it my own way?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

At the Throne Lord’s immediate answer, I nodded.

“Don’t forget you said that.”

At the same time, I bent down to meet Thrall’s eyes.

“Stay here for a while. I’ll be back soon.”

“…Before you go, may I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“Why do you go this far for me?”

He’d brought this up once before, so I asked again.

“Why are you asking what you already know?”

“Even if it benefits you, you never explained what benefit it actually is.”

“Hmm.”

Admittedly, I haven’t really told him properly.

But how am I supposed to say, ‘In my previous life, you became the Dragon King of Destruction, so I’m trying to stop you from destroying Dragonkind’?

“To be blunt, I need your strength.”

“…What?”

“Hoho.”

The Throne Lord, listening beside us, let out a meaningful sound.

I ignored the dragon’s snort and continued.

“What I’ll be facing from now on… is something I can’t defeat on my own. I need people with the power and potential to stand by my side.”

Thrall asked again, his eyes trembling.

“But… I can’t use magic at all?”

“That’s to be expected.”

Magic is impossible to use for someone with Mana Insensitivity.

But… the Dragon King of Destruction used magic.

It wasn’t proper magic like the other dragons, but it was magic all the same.

I know why, so I patted Thrall’s shoulder and replied.

“I’ll tell you the answer when I get back. So… wait quietly. Understand?”

Thrall looked at me with quivering eyes, then nodded as if mesmerized.

After ruffling his hair a few times, I steeled my expression and looked at the Throne Lord.

“And yet, you did that to such an innocent kid.”

“What do you mean?”

Tsk. Playing dumb? Not something you should do in front of a Hero.

I clicked my tongue and turned away from the familiar stench coming from the Throne Lord.

“We’ll need a private talk later, just between the two of us.”

The Throne Lord gave a meaningful smile.

“If you grant my wish, then by all means.”

In the end, the explanation the Throne Lord just gave more or less revealed the roots of the Perfectionism and Unity Ideology.

‘The Unity Ideology probably started with the very first dragon Throne Lord.’

From the moment this world was created and dragons were trapped in the Heavenly Palace, they would have needed a leader.

Especially when their self-esteem was low, they must have hoped for someone to lead them.

Dragons naturally worship strength, so the strongest dragon at the time would have become the first Throne Lord.

What would be the first thing the ruler would do?

First, boost the confidence of dragons with low self-esteem, making them strong enough to defend themselves.

That’s likely the origin of the Unity Ideology.

As generations passed, this ideology spread throughout dragon society, eventually forming its own order.

“Just as I thought.”

I left the Throne Lord’s plains and took in the atmosphere of the Heavenly Palace.

Dragons’ presence is so overwhelming you can sense it just by looking, making the inner workings of the Heavenly Palace plain to see.

‘They’re all watching each other.’

I used to wonder why there would be traitors among them.

Now I was certain.

The Throne Lord’s actions were surely a problem, but the deepest root was the ideology permeating their entire society.

‘A dragon that does not maintain perfection is not a dragon.’

Therefore, they’re a traitor.

Anyone who tries to mar that perfection is also not a dragon, thus also a traitor.

Gatherings that seek to mar the ideology, or private, unreported gatherings are also like gatherings of traitors and should be excluded.

The fact that not a single dragon is gathered together or flying in the skies anywhere in this vast Heavenly Palace is proof enough.

‘Ha, really.’

Imagine if these guys ever left the Heavenly Palace and spread their ideology.

Society would turn into one where everyone watches everyone else, and the many are sacrificed for the greater good.

Those who die will be buried without a voice, and so-called eternal peace would be built atop piles of bloody corpses.

For dragons, their numbers are stable and they never starve thanks to endlessly multiplying food in the Heavenly Palace, so this works.

But if humans tried to imitate this, they’d be destroyed by the Demon Army in a flash—or worse, self-destruct through internal conflict.

It’s that radical and self-destructive an ideology.

No wonder. It’s a philosophy that excludes anyone but themselves.

Now I finally understood where dragons’ arrogance came from.

‘So what should I do?’

For a moment, I wondered what Ryuk would have done.

But I gave up right away, thinking he would have done something I can’t even imagine.

Still, I knew the reason Ryuk, the Great Sage, could act so boldly.

It’s because he could overwhelm dragons with magic alone.

‘And I can do something similar.’

That being the case, it’s right for me to use my own way.

I don’t even know what the Great Sage’s way is, I don’t have time to figure it out, and even if I did, I couldn’t copy it.

“Whew, this is turning out to be way more work than I thought.”

Leaving the Throne Lord’s territory, I headed toward the outer edge of the Heavenly Palace.

As I moved, all the dragons’ gazes followed me.

I let it be—after all, that was my intention.

Finally, standing at the edge of the Heavenly Palace, I turned around.

“You can all hear me anyway, so I don’t think I need to use any divine blessing for this. My dear lizard friends.”

No reaction at all.

I didn’t care, and continued.

“Long ago, the first Throne Lord called you all perfect. I guess you took comfort in that and thought you were the best in the world. And, in fact, you are strong enough for that. There’s not a single human kingdom that could handle you all at once. That, I can guarantee for sure.”

Dragons are strong.

No one could deny that.

They’ve saved the world countless times, and every race living under this sky owes them a debt.

“But there’s one huge mistake you’re making. It’s about that word, ‘perfection.'”

The word perfection ensures certain quality.

But being obsessed with perfection leads to the worst outcome, without ever considering quality.

That’s the state the dragons are in now.

“Do you all really think you’re perfect? Sorry, but I don’t. If you were truly perfect, as guardians of this world, you should have prevented the emergence of a Demon King in the first place. At the very least, you should have made sure there were no monsters or Demon Army invading the world you protect.”

At that moment, a grand voice boomed from the sky.

“What nonsense you speak.”

A giant dragon appeared in the air and landed in front of me.

The ground trembled under the weight.

“And what does a mere human know to lecture us about our ideology?”

“What’s your name?”

“Tutoora.”

“Alright. Our lizard Tutoora. Tutoora ma’am? Ah, I don’t know, whatever you prefer.”

“It’s Miss Tutoora. And I am a dragon. Call me a lizard again, and I’ll roast you on the spot.”

Ah, so she’s female.

“Good. Our Miss Tutoora, well said. Are you curious if you can roast me or not? Of course, you should be able to. But if you can’t, what happens then… hmm, I have no idea. I have no intention of taking responsibility. That’s fine with you, right?”

“You wretched human!”

A massive breath attack shot toward me in an instant.

She must have been ready to unleash it from the start.

I immediately summoned the Holy Sword and slashed the breath horizontally.

Clang!

“Kh?!”

Following the Holy Sword’s trajectory, the breath was split, cutting Tutoora’s mouth.

“Well, you failed. You couldn’t roast me, so you’re not perfect. Admit it?”

“Y-You damned human!”

Even after that blow, she’s still not coming to her senses.

Looks like this Unity Ideology is engraved deep into their bones.

The more they deny reality and thrash around, the more damage they’ll take.

Just as she looked ready to unleash another breath, large magic circles began to form around Tutoora.

Since this is the outskirts of the Heavenly Palace, she must be planning to use full-scale Nine-Tier Magic without causing too much collateral damage.

It’s far more lethal and faster than what those young dragons tried, and the mana gathering in the circles is on another level.

Some of the mountains behind me might be erased for real.

“A dragon who claims to protect the world is about to destroy nature. Not perfect.”

I swung the Holy Sword and severed the gathering mana.

“…What?!”

With the mana cut, the forming magic circles were sliced apart.

“Khak!”

Tutoora coughed up blood from the backlash of the failed magic.

That’s the recoil from forcibly breaking a Nine-Tier Magic spell.

The amount of mana gathered was incomparably greater than what the young dragons mustered, so the recoil is also in a different league.

Looking at Tutoora, now pale and trembling on her knees, I quietly clicked my tongue.

“Tsk, a so-called perfect dragon, on her knees. What a sight. Don’t you think so, my lizard friends?”

In the cold silence, a sharp murderous intent shot my way.

Ha, even after all this, their tempers aren’t cooling.

‘So many beasts in this world.’

To think these are supposed to be the world’s guardians—it’s utterly ridiculous.