Reincarnated as a Dragon – The path of the Dragon God

Everything went back to normal the day after Henry’s return. Peace once again permeated his routine. Although, what could be considered normal or peaceful was relative. At present, Henry was going around the border of his territory after breakfast, hunting down all those monsters that dared to attack his abode during his absence.

Most of the monsters that took advantage of his presence were those he was already familiar with but there were quite a few that he had never seen before. More precisely, there were two new species he came across.

The first ones were Lindwurms. They weren’t completely foreign to Henry but these ones looked a bit different than the ones he had encountered in the river at the foot of the mountain where the Zeva tribe lived. The Lindwurms that invaded his territory had plates of organic armour covering their bodies. They were hard enough to withstand a physical blow from him. His Fire Breath was effective but it took quite some time to melt through their carapaces. His Corrosive Breath, on the other hand, was extremely effective. It melted right through their carapaces almost instantly. The Lindwurms lost their bravado and retreated from Henry’s territory afterwards.

The second new species he encountered was more exciting and significantly more threatening than nearly all of the creatures he had met, aside from the Titans and the Slayer. They had the body of a lion, the disfigured face of a man, the wings of a bat, and the tail of a scorpion. According to the knowledge of his previous life, the thing in front of him was a Manticore. Even on all fours, it stood around six feet of height, approximately a hundred eighty-three centimetres tall.

But of course, the Manticore was nothing against Henry, who was larger than a double-decker bus in his true form. But for the sake of convenience, Henry had taken the liberty to walk around in his human form. With his true size, he would inadvertently leave behind destruction everywhere he trod. He could no longer even fit inside the cave if he didn’t shrink himself down.

At present, Henry was in his human form. He had just taken care of the small pack of Lindwurms and wandered further east of his territory when he came upon half-eaten carcasses of various animals. He followed the trail of wasted meat and found the Manticore gnawing on a still-living giant boar. The swine could do nothing but whimper in agony as the Manticore took its time with its meal.

Henry's blood boiled at the sight of the Manticore’s sadism. It wasn’t even hungry. It was hunting for sports and it was unregulated. Henry walked closer to the Manticore and revealed his presence to the sadistic beast. The Manticore swung his head upwards at Henry when it picked on his presence. It had looked surprised and shocked at first but when it saw Henry, its mouth curled into a sickening grin.

Sadistic fuck… Where did you hail from?

The Manticore stepped over the half-eaten boar that was still breathing and crawled towards Henry. It didn’t even bother to end the boar’s misery first before moving on to its next victim. In its eyes, Henry looked like nothing more than some larvae of a creature unknown to it. The Manticore showed no sign of caution as it approached Henry with glee written all over its smug face.

However, as the Manticore drew closer and closer to Henry, it realised one thing that was absent from its expectation. It smelled no fear from Henry. It saw no hint from Henry that he was afraid of it. Normally, this would cause just about any beast or creature to become wary but instead, the Manticore became enraged. It assumed Henry was underestimating it and therefore, exuding no scent of fear. The truth wasn’t far off. Henry was underestimating the Manticore and rightfully so.

The Manticore was nothing before Henry and the poor sadistic beast had yet to realise the fact. Even if it already did, it would be too proud to accept that fact. Once the Manticore was close enough, it growled right in Henry’s face, plastering him with its foul breath. Then, it circled Henry and brushed its tail against Henry’s back to further intimidate him.

It can’t tell the gap between our strengths and might. What a pity…

The Manticore’s smug expression curled into one that exuded bitter indignation. It was inflamed by Henry’s lack of reaction to its intimidation. The Manticore snarled and raised its claws but before it could bring it down on Henry, an arrow pierced right through its claws. The Manticore howled in pain and spun around, in search of the one who shot the arrow.

The Manticore raised its brows in surprise. The one who shot the arrow was a woman in robes and leather armour. Her furry ears and tails denoted her race as a Kivu. Her hair and fur were bright orange. She had a bow in hand and two short swords holstered on her waist.

“Run, human!” the Kivu shouted at Henry and quickly nocked an arrow to her bow.

The Manticore screeched at the Kivu and charged at her after dislodging the arrow from its paw.

The Kivu shot the arrow she nocked in a hurry but the Manticore battered the arrow away with its tail.

“Curses!” the Kivu uttered and put away her bow, shifting her choice weapon to the short swords she carried by her waist.

The Manticore took a swipe at the Kivu but she dodged low and rolled to the side. The Manticore responded to her evasion and swung its tail on her. She tutted and flipped backwards to avoid its massive tail. However, the Manticore predicted her movements and slammed the bulb of its tail into the Kivu. She went bouncing across the ground before coming to a halt from slamming into a tree.

The Manticore growled disparagingly in content at the Kivu. It hissed at her and waved its tail around as if taunting her to attack it.

“Kid! Why are you still here!?” The Kivu baulked as she saw Henry was unmoving and still staying put like a statue. “Do you want to be torn apart and eaten alive by this abominable creature?!”

“Hmm, I suppose the Kivus do not know about this form of mine.”

“I don’t know what you’re mumbling about, boy, but you better run now! I can’t keep this beast occupied for long!” She struggled to get to her feet but even so, she was much more concerned about the safety of the human boy in her eyes than her own health.

As if mocking her noble sacrifice, the Manticore turned its attention back to Henry.

“No! You accursed beast! Leave the child alone! I’m right here! Don’t turn your ugly face away from me! Hey! Are you listening, you diabolical creature!?”

The Manticore chuckled in more and more pleasure the louder the Kivu shouted at it. The Manticore did not rush towards Henry. Instead, it walked leisurely as if it had all the time in the world.

“Boy! Why aren’t you running!?” The Kivu fired an arrow at the Manticore but her arrow was easily repelled by the accursed beast’s tail. “Curses!! This despicable monster… And this stupid child… For heaven’s sake, why aren’t you running?”

“Because there’s no need to,” Henry said calmly.

His calm demeanour shocked both the Kivu and the Manticore.

“Forgive me, lady. It wasn’t my attention to see you getting hurt for my sake. I merely wanted to see the kind of person a Kivu is. And I am content with what I have witnessed. Now, just sit back and be at ease. I will take care of this… puny creature.”

“P-puny creature?”

The Manticore didn’t understand Henry’s words but it could guess the meaning from Henry’s expression alone. It knew it was being belittled and ridiculed. Shedding its patience, the Manticore lunged at Henry with its fangs bared.

“Watch out!” the Kivu screamed.

The Manticore’s grin widened to its limits when its claws and fangs were inches away from Henry. However, neither his claws nor fangs reached his intended victim. It couldn’t comprehend what just happened. All of a sudden, its weight was multiplied by more than ten folds and it ended up slumping to the ground in mid-leap. It tried to get up but it could barely raise a single claw.

“W-what in the name…” the Kivu gasped in astonishment. “What just happened? Are you a sorcerer by any chance, boy?”

“Well, I have my fun. I suppose I should be honest with you now,” Henry said and materialised his wings. He didn’t assume his true form as he would destroy the terrain around him. It could potentially upset the balance of the forest. He had outgrown the forest and he was in serious need of a new home that wouldn’t be troubled by his size.

The moment Henry showed his wings, the Manticore finally realised what it was up against. It felt the immense Murux emanating from him when he brandished his wings.

“Those wings are Dragon wings… N-no… It can’t be… Y-you’re Lord Henry…”

“Indeed, I am. Now, what should I do with this sadistic beast? Are you familiar with this beast, lady?”

“I-I am, Lord H-Henry,” the Kivu answered.

“What’s it called?”

“It’s a Manticore. Its nest lies in the far Northeast. They don’t usually come this far away from their nest.”

“What should I do with it? Obviously, I’m going to kill it but is there any part of it that I should avoid damaging?”

“U-um… Except for its wretched face and head, just about every part of a Manticore is very useful. Especially its hide and the poison gland in the bulb of its tail.”

“Jolly good to know.” Henry smiled at the Kivu and then at the Manticore.

The sadistic beast saw Henry’s smile and began whimpering. It was pleading for mercy, Henry inferred.

Yeah, no. Mercy is too good for fuck ugly beast like you, personality and appearance-wise.

Henry swung his arm, producing an Aura Blade that severed the Manticore’s head from its neck. The strength behind that single Aura Blade surprised Henry himself. He didn’t think he would be able to decapitate the Manticore with one Aura Blade, a clean cut no less.

Huh… I’m really fucking strong right now.

“L-Lord Henry?”

“Yes?”

“Have I stumbled into your territory? I-I didn’t mean to. I was just out hunting and surveying the borders when I caught a whiff of a Manticore’s foul stench of a scent. I didn’t mean to trespass but then I smell the scent of a human lingering much too close to the Manticore. And then I—”

“I understand, lady. You were just trying to help. You should not be apologising. You did something good. You were willing to put yourself in harm’s way just to save someone you know nothing about. It’s a naive move but a commendable one. You meant well. As a reward, this Manticore carcass shall be my gift to you.”

“W-what? That’s absurd, Lord Henry. This is your kill. I couldn’t possibly—”

“Take it,” Henry commanded. “I have no use for it. I don’t find it savoury as food, so I might as well just give it to someone who would make good use of it. Besides, I only want one thing from the Manticore.”

“Which is?”

Henry stuffed his claw inside the Manticore’s body through the stump, startling the Kivu. After a short rummaging around, Henry retracted his claw and pulled out a clump of crystal from the carcass.

“I’ll be taking this. You can have the rest.”

“T-truly, Lord Henry?”

Henry nodded. “Yes, truly.” And he tossed the Murux Heart into his mouth. The crystal clump took effect immediately but other than rejuvenating his vigour and increasing his Murux pool, there were no other effects.

“B-but—”

“Are you rejecting my generosity?” Henry questioned. He didn’t want to sound so imposing and conceited but sometimes, this was the only way for them to listen.

“No, Lord Henry. I’m not rejecting your kindness. It’s just that… I can’t carry this entire carcass back to the village by myself and the village is quite a distance away.”

Henry sighed. “Then allow me to help,” he said. “And before you say anything, I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer.”

The Kivu nodded. “I understand, Lord Henry. Then I’ll be relying on you, my lord.”

“Anyway, what’s your name?”

“Ruri, my lord.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Ruri.”

“Likewise, Lord Henry.”