Reincarnated as a Dragon – The path of the Dragon God

In the following days, the Lavans worked day and night to prepare for the arrival of the emissaries from Argon Kingdom. The preparations were for the emissaries’ reception and also for the safety of the Lavans should the humans have bold ideas.

Soon, it was the day before the pre-established date of the emissaries’ arrival and as Iluna had expected, the humans came a day earlier than the appointed date. But since she had anticipated this, all the preparations were completed.

The company of human envoys appeared in the distance. There were around thirty of them and a good portion of the company consisted of Slayers. The clangour and clacking of the Slayers’ metallic bodies, as they marched, could be heard clearly even with a kilometre between them and the Lavans.

Iluna stood at the egress of a small pass between two hills with gentle slopes. By her side, there were two of her personal guards and also Henry in his human form, wearing garments traditional to the Lavans.

A small battalion of Lavan soldiers stood behind Iluna, all fully armoured and armed. Apprehension could be seen on all of the soldiers’ faces. Some were even outright panicking internally as they had faced the detestable greed of the humans firsthand and they were not looking forward to a repeat of history.

“What happened the last time the humans came?” Henry couldn’t help but ask after noticing the strained expressions of so many of the soldiers.

“A fight broke out,” Iluna began to explain. “Our side started the fight but in essence, the humans provoked us first. The whole matter was settled after we offered the humans twice the amount of Murux Ores they bought from us as compensation for throwing the first punch.”

“What was the payment?”

“Iron, copper, sometimes pieces of jewellery.”

“I thought Ulrum had plenty of ores and veins of the metal kind?”

“Yes, Ulrum had plenty of, but only a few are within safe reach. The rest resided in dangerous territories. It’s not worth the risk.”

“But do the Lavans need so much of these metals?”

Iluna smiled wryly. “The metals are useful but as you have guessed, we don’t need them. Buying metals from humans is just deterrence against their greed.”

A loud horn resounded from afar, coming from the approaching human envoy.

The Lavan soldiers became more tense than ever and so did Iluna. However, Henry wrapped his hand around Iluna’s hand and gave her an assuring smile.

“It will be alright,” he said.

Iluna returned the smile. “Thank you, Henry…” she responded while squeezing Henry’s hand as if to reciprocate his subtle confession.

Eventually, the human envoy arrived before the Lavans and Henry immediately held a bad impression towards the emissaries. There were only two of them but they were flanked by four Slayers on each side.

The two emissaries were men and they looked to be in their late thirties. They had smooth skin and unblemished hands as if to proudly declare they were privileged enough to never need to experience hardship in their lives.

Henry sighed inwardly, already guessing how this negotiation would end. However, his expectation was slightly thwarted when a beautiful girl appeared in between the two flamboyant men who hurriedly made way for her.

The girl had long hair in the colour of copper and she was donned in what Henry could only describe as a battle gown. A pair of swords was holstered on each side of her waist.

Unlike the two supposed emissaries, who bore conceited gazes that seemed to look down on everyone around them, the girl had a levelled gaze. There was caution and a hint of respect in that gaze of hers. Her steps were firm and graceful as she approached Henry and Iluna.

Iluna gasped when she saw the appearance of the girl. “The princess… this is unexpected,” she muttered.

Henry nearly widened his eyes upon hearing that but he kept his composure.

One of the two young men trotted over to the princess and leaned into her ear. “Your Highness, maybe you should let us handle—”

The princess shot them a look and that was enough to shut the man up. The princess then walked right up to Iluna and Henry until they were a mere ten feet apart.

Iluna stared the princess in the eyes and the princess did the same.

“How impertinent!” one of the young men scoffed. “You primitives should be kneeling before Her Highness.”

That was a small frown on Iluna’s face. “I kneel only before the gods,” she retorted.

“This f—”

“Enough, Silas,” the princess uttered with a voice that wasn’t too loud or faint.

The man named Silas immediately shut up and stepped back.

“Apologies for my subject, Your Grace.”

“Don’t mind it, Your Highness.”

Then, the princess’s gaze went over to Henry. “And who might this gentleman be, Your Grace?”

“This here is Lord Henry, the guardian and the Overlord of Ulrum.”

“Is that so?” the princess, suddenly flashing a grin that contrasted her demeanour.

But Henry showed no sign of being perturbed by the princess’ contrasting demeanours.

“Lady Iluna, for what reason have you brought your Overlord to this talk? Perhaps you already have an answer to my previous request, is that it?”

“She doesn’t have an answer,” Henry said and moved between Iluna and the princess.

The Slayers took a step forward when they saw Henry’s movements but the princess signalled the Slayers to stand down.

“But I do.”

The princess looked taken aback but only briefly before her grin returned.

Iluna clasped Henry’s shoulder. “Mayhaps we can further this discussion in a more amicable place?” she suggested.

“No need,” Henry refuted. “This place is good enough. If we move to other places, only the princess and two of her guards can follow. Otherwise, the discussion will continue to be held here.”

Henry’s audacity struck a chord with the two young men behind the princess. Their faces contorted into ugly frowns.

“How dare a subhuman talk to Her Highness like that!?” one of the two shouted and pointed at Henry with a finger.

The princess sighed and snapped her fingers.

One of the Slayers spun with its claws stretched, instantly decapitating the man who spoke up. The other young man, in particular, let out a very distinctive shriek.

Everyone gasped, except for the Slayers, of course, and Henry.

Clever girl…

Since Henry could hear the sound of people’s heartbeats and somehow feel their emotions, he found it intriguing that the princess exuded a sense of relief and triumph when she commanded the Slayer to kill her subject as if she had been waiting to do so.

“Sorry for the scare and the sight,” the princess apologised with a remorseful tone but her expression was the opposite of remorseful.

Iluna looked at the princess and struggled to conceal her disgust. “You call us savages and primitives but you will kill your own kind without any proceedings or a trial.”

“You are mistaken, Your Grace. Savages and primitives are the words of these two foolish subjects of mine. Personally and honest to god, I don’t see your kind as savages or primitives. Besides, this is not his first offence. His inflated pride had caused the kingdom many diplomatic problems.”

“Yet, you sent these two here, regardless.”

“I did not send them here. It is my brother, the king’s decision. My presence here is also my brother’s decision. I’ll have you know, I'd rather be lounging in my room, painting.”

Henry glimpsed at the remaining supposed emissary behind the princess. The young man’s heartbeat was fluctuating, swinging between rage and fear.

I see. Internal conflicts within the royal court. How typical.

Henry made his guess. Though he couldn’t confidently say he had figured everything out, he had at least known the gist of the circumstances.

“Doesn’t matter whose decision it is, Your Highness,” Iluna said. “This talk isn’t about who should be taking the blame now, is it?”

The princess smiled wryly. “It is not.” Her gaze turned to Henry. “Lord Henry, may I hear your answer?”

“The one who has been causing your kingdom great unrest, I am offering my aid to combat this problematic individual.”

Someone let out a scoff of disbelief but it was brief. Needless to say, it was the supposed emissary.

“You jest, Lord Henry,” the princess said with a titter.

“Why would you presume my offer to be a joke?” Henry inquired with a glare. “Do you doubt my sincerity?”

“I’m not doubting your sincerity, Lord Henry. I am questioning your abilities. I have seen the strength and power of this… vampire. Her ferocity and might overshadow even the prowess of a Titan.”

Although Henry knew Vishara was strong, he didn’t expect her to have already grown this strong. He hoped the princess was merely exaggerating but his instincts were telling him that the princess was not being dramatic.

“Which is why we request to speak with a certain tribe within Ulrum that is said to be the descendants of vampires. Mayhaps they have a solution to our problem.”

“If you only wish to speak to the tribe in question, we can bring a representative here. There’s no need to tread into Ulrum.”

“I don’t wish to trouble the tribe. It is we who are seeking an audience. It’s only courteous that we should be the one taking the trouble of travelling to their… home.”

“If courtesy is your concern, then you should know it’s not courteous for outsiders to tread into Ulrum with flimsy reasons. Moreover, there’s no need for you to have an audience with the tribe in question. I alone will be sufficient in handling your… vampire problem.”

“We have sent tens of Slayers to exterminate the vampire but she easily destroyed all of them. You are aware of a Slayer’s strength and prowess, I hope.”

Henry smirked and walked towards the princess.

The Slayers, sensing Henry’s intent, moved to protect the princess. They brandished their claws and bored Henry with their glowing red eyes.

Henry wasn’t flustered and continued walking forward.

Iluna wanted to dissuade Henry from what he was about to do but remembering their discussion beforehand, she refrained herself from intervening.

“Lord Henry, if you take another step forward, my guards will take it as an act of transgression,” the princess asserted with an unseemly proud look.

“This farce of yours is an act of transgression,” Henry said and took another step forward.

The Slayers lunged as soon as the step was taken. Reactions from the onlooking gallery varied but all held a great sense of anticipation of the outcome.

Henry ducked under the attack from the first Slayer and he put his hand on its chest before channelling lightning into the Slayer, frying its magic circuits. This was something he couldn’t do before as his power output wasn’t great enough, but now it was more than enough.

Just like that, the first Slayer collapsed to the ground with smoke coming out from its body.

The princess, along with her entourage, stared at the unexpected outcome with gaping mouths and eyes.

The next Slayer came at Henry along with one other. Henry immediately immobilised the three with his Gravity Manipulation, something he couldn’t do before but now he was doing it with ease. While the three were immobilised, Henry partially transformed his hands into claws and ripped out the Slayers’ cores from their bodies.

The following Slayers continued with their assault but Henry easily and swiftly dispatched all of the Slayers who came at him. He did not need to pull off any elaborate tricks or tactics and simply overwhelmed them with superior strength and power.

In mere minutes and with no collateral to even the surroundings, Henry had destroyed all eight of the Slayers on the front lines of the human battalion.

As the Slayers from the reserves began to march forward, the princess stopped their advance with a raised hand.

“Enough,” the princess said, trying to sound firm but her resolve betrayed her. “You have proven yourself, Lord Henry. I apologise for my—”

Henry scoffed at the princess with a sneer. “You are sorely mistaken, Your Highness. I’m not doing this to prove anything to you.”

The princess shivered and unconsciously took a step back.

“This is a demonstration, a glimpse into a future where you think of crossing me or the Lavans.”