Reincarnated as a Dragon – The path of the Dragon God

“Rayne, run!” Henry shouted and charged straight at the Slayer while it was still assessing the new environment it just strode into. He did not wait for a response from Rayne. There was no time.

The Slayer saw Henry charging towards it and it began to react. The markings running along its arm glowed vibrantly. It splayed its palm open and a beam of energy was shot towards Henry. The energy beam closed the distance of around a dozen metres in under a second, but it was more than enough time for Henry to respond.

Henry slanted his head ever so slightly to the side and the beam missed him by a few inches breadth.

The Slayer wasn’t deterred and decided to meet Henry’s charge upfront. It threw its glowing fist at Henry’s head.

Fool.

Henry unleashed his true form, taking the Slayer by surprise. The Slayer stopped in its track and attempted to change its trajectory but it could not go against the momentum it had built up. Still, that didn’t stop the Slayer from trying.

In spite of its best efforts, Henry pinned the Slayer under his claw which was now as big as the entirety of the Slayer itself. The Slayer kicked and punched at Henry’s claw but he didn’t budge, though that didn’t mean Henry didn’t feel any pain. In fact, it was excruciating. The Slayer’s strength was no joke.

However, the Slayer was no match for Henry. He channelled lightning into the claw that was trapping the Slayer, frying the circuits within. The Slayer convulsed and shuddered violently as the lightning coursed through its whole body. In the midst of its convulsion, Henry sliced its head off with Jetstream Breath. He also sliced off its limbs and severed its body in half.

In the end, the Slayer was in many pieces and charred black with smoke coming out of the various severed parts.

“That wasn’t so terrible,” Rayne remarked. She had not run. Instead, she stayed and watched the show. “So this is the Slayer you mentioned? What’s with the urgency if this thing only amounted to that much of a threat?”

Henry didn’t answer and shifted his attention to the rift portal that the Slayer came out from. He reverted into his humanoid form and clasped his hands together. The rift then began to close up like an open wound being stitched shut.

Just as the rift was closed up completely, something had tried to go through it. Needless to say, it failed to do so but part of it did. It was an arm. It was severed from the body just as the rift closed shut. The severed arm rolled up to Henry’s feet. It didn’t take Henry long to realise that the arm belonged to a Slayer.

Henry swallowed a lump in his throat at the discovery. Had he been any slower, another Slayer would have crossed over and he wouldn’t be able to catch it off guard like the previous one.

“Hmm, it’s metal,” Rayne muttered as she inspected the arm. She poked it lightly with a finger. “I can still feel small traces of Murux in it. Did this arm belong to some kind of metallic golem?”

“It’s a machine of war, designed by humans.”

“So it’s true. Humans do love to come up with new ways to wage wars. But just where do they all get all the resources to fund their wars?”

“From the spoils of the wars they waged.”

“Humans truly are despicable. I heard so much about them and I always thought my people were simply exaggerating the wickedness of humans.”

“Human greed knows no bounds.”

“That much is obvious. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have conquered so many lands. Still, is this Slayer that much of a concern? You took one down with ease.”

“That’s because I caught it off guard. My size also plays a huge factor in my triumph. If it was you going against a Slayer, I doubt you would fare well when even Vishara didn’t.”

Rayne grinned. “Now you’re just making me curious and eager to fight one.”

Henry cast an annoyed glance at Rayne. “Not if I can help it.”

“I have been nothing dutiful and loyal in my time as your slave and servant. And you wouldn’t even grant me this respite?”

“You consider fighting something like a Slayer a respite?”

“Don’t you just love the thrill of fighting a strong opponent? It’s exhilarating.”

“I don’t deny that I enjoy the thrill but just not when there’s so much at risk.”

“The bigger the risk, the more exhilarating it is.”

Henry glared at her. “Not in my presence.”

Rayne smiled mockingly and feigned a bow. “As you say, my master.”

Henry tutted inwardly. “And to think you were fidgeting like a blushing maiden not a few minutes ago.”

Reminded of an embarrassing moment she had so desperately wanted to forget, red flushed Rayne’s entire face once more. “S-shut up-p!” she stammered. “Listen here. I am no maiden.”

“I’m sure you’re not,” Henry said and continued on his patrol.

Rayne glowered after him.

Not ten minutes later, another rift appeared. Since this one didn’t feel so ominous as the last, Henry wasn’t too worried but he was vexed. The rift emerged slightly above the trees to the right of their path. Henry prepared to face whatever was coming through that rift but his preparations were overestimating the threat, or if it was even a threat at all.

A large stag with leaf-green fur came out of the rift. Since the rift was in the air, the stag fell right to the ground after it had emerged. Henry was expecting to hear the cracking of bones but his expectations were way off the mark. The stag fell but only for a short moment before it suddenly stood upright in midair and began galloping across the air.

“Whoa…” Henry gasped, captivated and enchanted by the unexpected spectacle transpiring in front of him.

“It can’t be…” Rayne had a similar reaction but there was a subtle difference in her surprise.

“What? You don’t believe a deer can walk in the air?”

“No, not that. I very much believe that a deer can walk in the air. Murux is full of wonders. My disbelief lay in the origins of that deer. Its green fur… it can only be from the lands of the Faeries.”

“What? Land of the Faeries? I do not know anything about that.”

“The Faeries are believed to be a race blessed by the gods to protect nature from the greedy sapient races.”

“Faeries… Are they perhaps elegant, graceful, beautiful, and long-eared? Do they also have translucent wings on their back?”

“Yes… they are. I thought you said you don't know anything about Faeries?”

Henry shrugged. “I thought so too.” There was no way Henry wouldn’t know something like this. The concept of Faeries in this world was not that different from the fictional ones on Earth. Still, it begged another question. “Are they palm-sized?”

“Are they what?”

“I mean, are they only as big as a palm?”

Rayne frowned. “If you’re referring to the size of your palm in true form, master, then the answer is yes.”

Ah, so they are not that kind of fairies. Just elves with wings, then.

“Anyway, to think even the lands of the Faeries are affected.” A tinge of worry dyed Rayne’s face. “This can’t be good for them. I heard they are quite… sensitive to changes, especially the harmful kind. I wonder how they are going to take this. They are going to look for someone to blame.” Rayne stared at Henry.

“Not my problem so long as they don’t make it mine. I’m not responsible for the appearance of these rifts. If anything, I’m trying my damndest to remedy it.”

“I also heard that the Faeries are not very understanding when it comes to changes.”

“As I said, not my problem. But should they make it mine, I will not just stand still.”

Rayne tittered with her face turned away. “In any case, shouldn’t you be trying to close that rift?”

“I’m doing it,” Henry said and splayed his palm open at the rift. But before he could close it, something came through the rift and it was not a friendly invader this time. Henry forewent his current action and confronted the newly emerged invader. It had a large and bulky appearance but the sun behind it had shadowed its fore appearance.

Nevertheless, Henry could faintly make out the invader to be a rock golem of some kind. Dark tendrils were coiling around the golem’s body as if holding its body together and dictating its every movement and action.

Henry, along with Rayne, hopped out of the way to avoid being crushed under the golem’s weight. Not that it would actually happen to Henry but it would still hurt.

“A stone— no, a rock golem,” Rayne muttered as she finally got a good look at their assailant. “And those tendrils… It’s a dark spell.”

Henry was also quite familiar with the feeling the tendrils were giving out. “Necromancy?”

“No, it’s not death, but something close.”

The golem glanced around as if Henry and Rayne were not its priority.

“It’s looking for something,” Rayne observed.

“Probably the stag that just came through the rift. Whatever it’s here for, it’s not welcome if all it has are ill intentions. The feast will go on. It must.”

Rayne raised a confused brow at Henry’s reasoning.

Henry unleashed his Jetstream Breath, cutting across the golem’s literal rock-solid body. However, not even a scratch was inflicted.

“What the hell?”

“Golems are known to be highly resistant to spells or sometimes completely immune, dear master.”

“Oh, now you tell me.”

The Rock Golem’s attention shifted to Henry after that attack. Its hollowed eyes shone red.

Okay, that’s creepy.

Rayne got into her fighting stance. “It’s coming.”

The Rock Golem began charging at them.

“I can see that.”

“Do I have your permission to crush that soulless puppet, master?”

“...Just don’t get yourself hurt. You’re more of use to me in perfect health than wounded.”

“Have you forgotten that I have been debilitated by my very own ancestor?”

Henry rolled his eyes.

“Please rest, master. Allow me to handle this thing,” Rayne said and met the Golem’s charge head-on.

The Rock Golem swung its large fist at Rayne but she swiftly duck under the hook and countered with an upward kick that sent the Golem stumbling backwards.

“Damn it,” Rayne cursed, rubbing the leg that she used for the kick. “It’s way tougher than I expected. It consists of no simple rocks.”

“If you can’t beat it, then step aside.”

“Just a mild hindrance. It’s nothing that could decide the result of this battle.”

The Rock Golem recovered its bearing, brought its fists together, and swung them down like a hammer. Rayne waited until the hammer-fists were just inches away from her before jumping. She avoided being smashed into smithereens and landed on the Golem’s arms.

“Too easy,” Rayne muttered and ran up to the Golem’s head using its arms as pavement. However, the dark tendrils slithered covering the Golem began creeping up her feet, stopping her in her tracks. “The gods be damned…” she gasped.

With her feet trapped by the tendrils, Rayne could only await her demise as the Golem’s hand reached out for her.

“Haven’t you learned your lesson?” Henry said as he appeared before Rayne and the Rock Golem. He grabbed the Golem’s head and slammed it to the ground, instantly crushing its head under the force of the slam and the weight of his grip.

“It’s not stopping!” Rayne cried when she realised the dark tendrils didn’t stop crawling up her body even though the Rock Golem was destroyed.

“You are such a hassle,” Henry scoffed and laid a claw on Rayne. “Now, this might hurt a bit— no, it will hurt a lot. Let’s hope the blood of Vishara that runs through your veins will keep you alive.”

“What are you—” Before Rayne could even finish asking, Henry channelled lightning into Rayne’s body. Her sharp and loud shriek pierced the air and sent the birds flying and the small animals fleeing with their tails tucked between their hind limbs.

Henry didn’t know what to do when he saw the dark tendrils continuing in their infestation of Rayne despite the host being destroyed. The first thing that came to his mind was to burn the dark tendrils but Rayne would get charred along with it. Lightning was the next thing he thought of. It wasn’t as lethal as his flames but lethal nonetheless.

Still, it was better than just letting Rayne get consumed by those unknown dark tendrils. By the goodwill of the whimsical fate, Henry’s quick thinking had paid off. Once shocked, the dark tendrils retreated from Rayne’s body in an instant.

Henry quickly pulled Rayne away from the dark tendrils and incinerated it with his Fire Breath. He made doubly sure by reducing everything to ashes and more.

Once that was done, Henry turned to Rayne with an amused expression. She was hurt but not terribly so. At least, in the mortally wounded sense. Nevertheless, she was still in quite a lot of pain.

“Shut… up…” Rayne croaked weakly as Henry laid her on the ground with smoke coming off of her.