Reincarnated as a Dragon – The path of the Dragon God

The savages came in a large drove. Since Vishara did not properly take care of the savages she fought and maimed, the whale shark that was the savages’ mount was probably discovered by the other savages and they quickly made heads and tails of the transpired events.

Henry had already foreseen this development and he allowed it to happen all the same. It was better to face the threat now when the circumstances were favourable, rather than wait until other issues arose and the problems ended up clashing. It reminded Henry of his time as a college student, one of the few memories he retained from his time as a human. He would always finish his assignments as soon as possible instead of waiting until the last minute.

There were a total of six whale sharks flying his way from afar and each mount housed a dozen troops on their backs. Seven, if Henry counted the one at the vanguard with a bloodied back but the blood was not of the whale shark. Henry recognised that whale shark as the one which carried the savages that Vishara mutilated.

Even from a distance, Henry could hear the screams and cries of the savages. He could feel their wrath and anticipation. They were probably angry over the deaths of their fellow kin and excited over the possibility of a big yield. But unfortunately, they were too excited for their own good.

Henry leapt into the sky and assumed his true form. His wings spread out all of their glory as his imposing size and appearance caused the whale sharks to stop abruptly in their flight. The sudden cessation caught the riders off guard and threw quite a few of them off the whale sharks’ backs. Henry then roared at the clouds while also unleashing his Fire Breath, intimidating the whale sharks even more. The giant fishes would have turned tailed and swam away had it not been for their masters who forced them to stay.

Henry had thought about a peaceful approach but the heavy scent of fresh blood oozing off the savages dispelled any possible amicable notions Henry had of the savages. They were indeed what their appearance suggested they were. Their savage personalities were further enhanced by the fact they seemed to wear human parts as accessories and trophies.

Angered by the deaths of their brethren, the savages made the first direct move in this confrontation. At the orders of the one who appeared to be the leader of the savages, Henry was greeted by a barrage of spears, thrown by none other than the savages. Instead of dodging the spear flurry, Henry stayed where he was and allowed the spears to hit him. As could be expected, the spears bounced right off his hide.

Witnessing this, the excitement of the savages died down and their anticipating shrieks also faded. Fear began emanating from the savages and Henry couldn’t help but smirk when he smelled their terror. After all, one of their primary means of assault was proven to be completely ineffective. Henry didn’t doubt he could easily dispatch the savages but his curiosity got the better of him. He decided to wait for their next move.

It was then he felt something mystical brimming amidst the savages. When he peered at them, he saw savages who were more dressed than the rest and wielding staffs began chanting with arms raised. Henry immediately guessed the peculiar savages’ position and role to be shaman, the spell casters of the savages.

Vast balls of fire began manifesting above each six of the whale sharks. Meanwhile, the savages continued throwing spear after spear at Henry, as if trying to stall him for time. Some were even throwing boomerang-like blades at him but those were also ineffective against Henry’s hide. Henry almost found them pitiful. The savages’ foul stench immediately banished any disillusion he had of them.

After the waves of stone-made projectiles were over, the six giant balls of flames were shot towards him. Henry held down his laughter as he let the flaming orbs crash into him, resulting in a huge spectacle of colossal fireworks. The explosion was huge and strong, even the savages had to hold on tightly to their mounts to not be thrown off by the shockwave. Unfortunately, some were thrown off by the shockwave due to them overestimating themselves and underestimating the shockwave’s strength.

The savages looked distraught over the idiotic deaths but they were comforted by the fact that at least their newfound nemesis was eliminated, or so they thought. When the smoke cleared, Henry was still in one piece and he had not moved from where he was. The savages gasped, jeered, and yawped at the apparent unscathed Henry. Their fear became a dense and unseen mist that even Henry was starting to find it nauseating.

It was then the savages scattered their formation instead of huddling closely in a pack. Each of the groups went to their respective position, forming a circular perimeter around Henry. The Shamans then blew into queer-shaped horns that emitted an eerie sound.

A headache instantly assailed Henry but it was not to the level of unbearable or agonising. Henry immediately understood the horns were meant to discombobulate him while the others tossed ropes with hooks at him. A few of the hooks managed to hang on to the gaps between his scales and the savages pulled on the ropes with the strength of all the savages combined.

The shamans quickly went about preparing another spell and Henry could see the spell they used this time was of the lightning attribute. Henry sighed inwardly at their futile attempts and decided to end things here. He had seen enough of them.

Despite giving their all, the savages couldn’t even make Henry budge. They tied the ropes to the harness strapped to the whale sharks and used the fishes’ strength to pull. But Henry did not dawdle further. With a strong beat of his wings, he sent not a small number of the savages flying off the whale sharks with a brief tremendous gust. He channelled lightning through his body and rid himself of the hooks.

The sudden loss of weight caused the whale sharks to stagger violently while pulling on the rope, causing more savages to fall to their deaths. This time, one of the Shamans was included in this risible misfortune. The Shamans finished their casting at this moment and they launched their spells at Henry in tandem. He was bombarded by giant lightning bolts from all sides. Unlike the fire-type spells, Henry wasn’t completely unfazed by the lightning attacks but nevertheless, it wasn’t enough to bring him down.

Henry unleashed his corrosive breath and swung the devastating stream in a circular motion. Cries and shouts of despair echoed throughout lands and skies as all of the whale sharks were bisected. The savages aboard were helpless. They could do nothing but scream for their lives as they all fell to their deaths.

Henry did not feel an ounce of regret over the slaughter of so many lives. He wasn’t sure if these savages were human but they certainly looked human, though only in appearance. They acted nothing like the humans he knew. They were as monstrous as the beasts of this vast forest, which was why he didn’t feel any remorse for killing them.

Henry flew down to the ground and took on his humans and went about assessing the aftermath of his slaughter. It was truly a gruesome sight but it didn’t bother him as much as before. If this was him a month ago, he was sure he would have thrown up right here and then.

Though he called it assessing, in truth, he had come to harvest the Murux Hearts of the whale sharks. He didn’t feel much Murux or mystical energy from the whale sharks but no matter how paltry the cores would be, a Murux Heart was a Murux Heart.

There were seven in total and all of the whale sharks’ innards, where they were cleaved, had melted into gruel-like substances due to Henry’s Corrosive Breath. Thankfully, the corrosive properties were quick to decay after its usage. Otherwise, the collateral damage would be unimaginable.

Henry trotted up to the first carcass of the seven whale sharks he slew and partially transformed his arms into his Dragon claws. The instant Henry punctured the whale shark’s belly with his claw, it burst apart and doused him in blood and the pieces of its innards. Henry sighed and continued with the harvesting. The whale shark was bisected and it wasn’t even an underwater creature like its Earth counterpart, so Henry didn’t know how its belly could still explode in that fashion.

Fucking skewed physics and shit, Henry grumbled while rummaging through the whale shark’s insides.

In a short time, or at least it was a short time for Henry, he successfully harvested the whale sharks’ Murux Hearts. In truth, an hour had passed after he dug out the seventh Murux Heart from the carcass of the last whale shark. The reason that it took an hour was that the Murux Hearts of the whale sharks were only a third of the size of his paw. Instead of the usual red, their Murux Hearts were palish blue in colour.

Regardless of their colours, Henry didn’t hesitate to just toss those Murux Hearts into his mouth. Unlike how Murux Hearts instantly melted into gas-like substances in his mouth, these ones needed to be chewed and the texture resembled that of soft chewing gums that slowly melt in one’s mouth. It was a bizarre experience but Henry endured the eerie feeling and swallowed them.

Though the process of consumption was different, the effects were all too familiar. He immediately felt refreshed and his Murux reserves met a slight increment. The whale sharks were huge but they didn’t possess a lot of Murux or their Murux was of low quality.

Henry waited for a while and only after a minute, he began feeling the true effects of the Murux Hearts he just consumed. He raised his brows in wonder when he realised what ability he obtained from the whale sharks. Upon relaxing his body, he started to float and his wings weren’t even materialised.

Whoa whoa… Am I floating? No, I’m levitating.

It wasn’t as quick as flying with his wings but it was easier to manoeuvre around at such a low altitude. He couldn’t make any huge movements but the smaller movements were much easier to make. The levitation ability was basically his flight ability but with flexibility as the main attribute at the cost of speed. Also, he couldn’t levitate high. At best, he could only hover for around ten feet above the ground. Still, it was a new ability, so he wasn’t complaining.

Once Henry had finished testing his new ability and was about to return, he caught the scent of Iluna.

“Lord Henry!” Iluna shouted from afar while running towards him.

“Iluna?” Henry muttered in bewilderment and rapidly dashed to Iluna’s side, meeting her halfway. “What are you doing here? What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? You were gone for more than an hour. I saw the fight ended from where you left me and Vishara behind but you didn’t return even after a long time.”

Henry smiled coyly at the priestess. “Are you worried about me?”

“Of course I am!” Iluna responded unabashedly. “Why would I not be? We’re all in this together. If you die, we will be stranded. And I consider you a friend. I will be devastated if something terrible happens to you.”

Henry’s smile turned wry. “I suppose you have a point…” He wanted to tease Iluna but he didn’t expect his attempt to fly over her head.

“How embarrassing,” said Vishara who was sauntering over to them leisurely.

“Embarrassing? What was?” Iluna asked.

Vishara shrugged. “Why don’t you ask him?”

“Lord Henry?”

Henry rolled his gaze. “Ignore her. It’s nothing.”

Vishara tittered. “I’m sure it wasn’t.”

Iluna bounced her gaze between Henry and Vishara, unsure of the cause that seemed to have sparked another argument between the two.

“Well, anyway, I see that you are capable of such ruthlessness too. I’m impressed and reassured.”

“Reassured? Why would you be?” Henry questioned.

“If you were… clement, it would have caused us a lot of trouble as we continued our journey.”

“Vishara, rest assured fully then. When it comes to my enemy, I will not show any mercy.”

“What about Rayne?”

“She shall be the last enemy I ever show mercy to and her circumstances were… complicated. She is the daughter of the Zeva Clan’s head, unlike a certain someone who’s just a vagrant at best.”

“A vagrant, for now,” Vishara retorted with a confident smirk.