Reincarnated as a Dragon – The path of the Dragon God

The scenery below Henry gradually changed into one that was a myriad of colours. No longer were the surroundings the gloomy brown and the bland green. The flowers were in full bloom, giving off the impression that the ground was touched by the grace of a rainbow. As for the trees, the leaves also varied greatly in their colours. Red and pink were the most common colours. They resembled the maple trees and cherry blossom trees, respectively, that Henry knew in his previous life.

The forest in the east was dissimilar to the ones in the other regions. The forest here wasn’t so densely packed and therefore, Henry could perceive the ground easily from high above. He was currently in the air, flying across the sky, with Ruri on his back. He was taking the air route, of course.

“Wow… this is amazing,” Ruri breathed in awe as she gazed at the landscape spreading out before her. Unlike the Lavans and the Augrus, Ruri wasn’t afraid of heights despite being her first time being so high up in the air. “I can see so much of Ulrum from up here… So this is the privilege of every creature with wings. How envious…”

“Do you not have any means of flying? Not even using mounts?”

“Aside from Wyverns, there are no other flying creatures large enough to be ridden as mounts. And Wyverns are very fierce beasts. They are impossible to tame, unless we enthral them, but that’s forbidden.”

“I see…” Henry smiled wryly. “Good to know.” Whenever the topic of enthralling got brought up, he couldn’t help but think about his own experience, about how Rayne managed to make him into her willing slave for a brief period. It was a fleeting moment but it was a very consequential experience.

“Ah, there’s the village!” Ruri exclaimed and pointed in front of them.

It was a large open field. Large enough to be called a plain but there were a few hillocks scattered about. A couple of hills and a long circling river bordered the vast plain that was the Kivu’s home. The scenery reminded Henry of the countryside in Japan but this one was infinitely more colourful, to the point that it was borderline ostentatious.

“Where can I land?” Henry asked.

“Um… there,” Ruri said and pointed hesitantly at a large open space. In front of the open space was a castle-like building with four storeys that was fenced in with high walls of wood and stones.

Once they were much closer, Henry was sure the building wasn’t castle-like. The building was a castle and the place Ruri pointed to was the courtyard. Perhaps the Kivus had seen Henry’s approach from afar, a small group of soldiers had gathered around the courtyard and he could see the Kivu Queen, Tiana, standing at the forefront. He also saw the Kivu Princess, Rinea, standing by her mother’s side, looking all excited and thrilled.

Unlike the other tribes, the Kivus didn’t look too nervous or agitated by Henry’s abrupt presence. He could not smell any fear emanating from them. They had nothing to fear from him. The innocents had nothing to fear, as the saying went. In their eyes, Henry was their benefactor, the saviour of their princess. There was also the factor of bias on Henry’s part as the Kivus were all female Fox-kin and he found them a delight for his gaze.

Henry made his landing and it ended without stirring much of his surroundings. He had learned to control the winds he would stir up during his landing, albeit not perfectly. The moment he landed, Ruri hopped off from him and strode straight up to Tiana.

Henry saw how Rinea wanted to just run up to him but her guard, Vira, was keeping her at bay. Her face was full of anticipation but it was a wonder that she did not just shout out for his name right then and there. He could only surmise that her mother, the Queen, had told her to be quiet or something.

The orange-haired Kivu then got down on one knee and bowed her head. “Greetings, Your Majesty. I have unwittingly brought the Princess’ saviour to our lands. There was no coercion involved but it was thoughtless of me. For that, I beg your forgiveness, Your Majesty.”

“You are forgiven,” Tiana said with a wave of her hand.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Ruri replied and rose to her feet.

“Is that the carcass of a Manticore?”

“Yes, Your Majesty and it’s in pristine condition.”

Tiana smiled at Ruir and shifted her attention to Henry. “O Great Dragon, welcome to the Land of Kivus, Kivren. Your presence is unexpected but it is welcomed.”

“Hmm…”

“A thousand apologies are in order, Lord Henry.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. When I realised what my daughter had done, she was already caught. I hope that you understand that my daughter meant you no harm.”

Of course, Tiana was talking about the time when Henry caught a ball-rabbit spying on him and Yula. To be honest, he had already forgotten about that after the whole ordeal in the other world with floating islands and flying fish.

“Your visit may be abrupt but I will assure you that you shall have the most luxurious reception we can offer to the best of our abilities. As redress for my daughter’s thoughtless act, allow us to—”

“I won’t be staying for long, Your Majesty,” Henry cut the queen off curtly. “Don’t be mistaken. I am not offended by the princess’ whim. I’m not here for an apology. I have only come here to help Ruri here to deliver this Manticore carcass as she alone could not haul it all the way back here. I appreciate your offer but my brides are waiting for me back at home.”

“I see…” Tiana said. “That is a pity but I won’t persuade you, Lord Henry. Just know that you are always welcome in this land.”

“Wait, you’re leaving already!?” Rinea questioned but her voice was so loud that it came off as a shout.

“Rinea, what did I say before this?” Tiana rebuked her daughter. “Have you forgotten already?”

“But mother, Henry’s leaving just like that. You promise that you will—”

“Enough, Rinea.”

The stern and firm voice of a mother silenced the enthusiastic Rinea.

“Things have changed. And it’s Lord Henry to you. Don’t be rude.”

“Promise? What promise?”

“It’s nothing, Lord Henry. I have merely promised her that I would allow you to spend some… private moments with you should you decide to stay for the feast we would be preparing for you.”

Henry’s ears perked up at the mention of a feast. He then recalled the smoked salmon Vira had offered him the last time they met. He certainly wanted to have a taste of that delicacy again and he was sure there would be more than just smoked salmon in a feast. He did see a large river bordering the plain. No doubt they would have a variety of seafood dishes in their feast.

“You don’t need to feel obligated to adhere to my daughter’s wishes, Lord Henry.”

“Well, I won’t mind participating in a feast but just not on such short notice.”

“Oh? Lord Henry, do you mean—”

“If it’s not too much trouble, mayhaps we can agree upon a date?”

“We most certainly can, Lord Henry,” Tiana said. “It would be our honour and privilege to have you at our feast. Bring along your bride if you wish, Lord Henry.”

Henry didn’t miss how Rinea’s gleeful expression darkened in the corner of his eyes at the mention of his bride, or brides to be exact. In the next second, her expression hardened with resolve as if she had decided on what needed to be done.

Now, what has this brat come up with again?

****

Henry had not flown out of Kivren yet when he caught sight of a strange creature. At first, he thought it was a werewolf but upon closer inspection, the thing that caught his interest was hairless and devoid of eyes. Its figure was bulkier than that of a wolf’s. Its claws were as big as its head. It had concave ears. Its nose was huge and hooked, with large nostrils.

What the fuck is that?

It was none of his business but Henry couldn’t help but sate his curiosity, especially when the monster held an immense amount of Murux within its body. Henry made an abrupt descent and made his landing in his human form. The moment his two feet touched the ground, the eyeless creature spun around.

Now that Henry was taking a good close look at the creature, shivers ran across his skin. Aside from the creature’s blatantly horrifying appearance, it was also exuding a dark aura that was on par with the one he felt from demons. Yet, he couldn’t sense any demonic energy from the bizarre creature.

Just where the fuck did all of you come from?

Recently, more and more creatures and monsters that he had not seen before were sprouting from random places. He had initially thought it was due to Rayne’s scheme that caused the animals’ erratic migration but he was starting to doubt that conjecture.

He took a whiff of the creature and that gave him another eerie feeling that spread through his body. The stench was unbearable as if it had not washed itself for years. He was shuddering from the odour alone but he kept his wits about him. Henry dared not let his guard down against a monster he had no idea what it was capable of but one thing was for sure, the monster was not fazed by the aura he intentionally emanated.

The monster began to growl and sneer at Henry.

It’s hostile.

The monster lunged at Henry with around ten metres in between them. It crossed that wide gap in a single leap despite its bulky figure. Henry didn’t waste his time being surprised and retaliated by throwing an Aura Blade. His skill struck the monster square in the face. It went tumbling to the ground but it quickly bounced back on its feet and lunged at him again.

In its lunge, Henry saw the monster’s face. It was bruised but the monster didn’t look perturbed by the injury it just sustained.

Unfeeling? Or just resilient to pain?

Henry sidestepped the monster’s assault and drove a fist into its body from the side. The monster went spinning in the air before crashing into a tree.

What the hell? What’s with its bones? It felt like I’m punching steel or something.

Henry winced and flexed his hand around in the air. His hand was trembling from the punch he just threw. The monster’s hide was no big deal and neither was its flesh. In fact, he barely felt any flesh in spite of its bulkiness. He felt only bones and they were unlike anything he had punched. It was no exaggeration to compare them with steel.

Obviously, the monster was not dead yet with just that single punch. It scrambled to its feet and rushed at Henry as if nothing had happened.

Does it not feel any pain at all?

Henry questioned but he didn’t let his musing dictate his next action. He partially transformed into his humanoid Dragon form and unleashed Jetstream Breath at the monster. The monster made no attempt to dodge Henry’s breath attack and met the Jetstream Breath head-on. As a result, the head of the monster was sliced horizontally in half. The carcass dropped to the ground like a doll cut from its strings.

The fight hadn’t been difficult but that was only for him. He knew for a fact that if it had been anyone else, even Vishara or Rayne in her prime, they would have had some hardship going up against this monster. It wasn’t quite at the level of a Slayer but he reckoned a group of these monsters could be on part with one.

“Nadea, you there?” Henry called.

But there was no answer even after a minute had passed.

Henry shrugged and moved on. He shifted his attention to the factor that incited him to take action in the first place, and that was the monster’s Murux Heart.

Whoa…

Henry was astonished to find a layer of skeleton encasing the monster’s organ. It was not easy to break them but he managed after some brute forcing. He shattered the skeleton by hammering it repeatedly with his fists.

“Holy shit…”

Henry gasped in his head at the sight of the strange creature’s Murux Heart. Unlike how the other Murux Hearts were just clumps of crystals but not the current one in his hand. It was an apple-sized sphere with a smooth surface, dyed in the most striking blue he could imagine.

This Murux Heart… It’s pure.