— — — — — —
The two cloaked figures stopped breathing.
Standing just a few steps away, Ryo casually tossed a cross up and down in one hand. The sight alone had their bodies wound tight as bowstrings.
While they were tense, Ryo was studying them as well.
His gaze settled on the person to the right, whose hand was covered in golden scales. Narrowing his eyes, he said with an amused smile,
"Golden scales? Dragon scales? The Golden Dragon Fafnir is on my side, you know. This disguise is pretty pointless."
"Isn't that right, Insomniac Dragon... Ladon-san?"
Ladon. Guardian Dragon of the Sacred Tree. The dragon from Greek mythology who guarded the Golden Apples. In the myths, he had been slain by Heracles as one of the hero's Twelve Labors.
Faced with Ryo, Ladon knew there was no point hiding anything.
He let out a bitter laugh, "So you saw through me after all."
Without removing his cloak, he raised a hand. The golden scales faded away, revealing dark green wood-like skin beneath.
"Just so we're clear, I wasn't trying to pin this on Fafnir. The plan was to finish the job, earn my freedom, and avoid ever crossing paths with you people." He sighed. "Didn't expect to get caught the moment I made a move."
Ladon would bet his life that Indra's camp had a mole buried deep in its upper ranks. The only problem was figuring out who.
If he ever found out, he'd skin that traitor alive.
"The only side with an informant isn't Indra's," Ryo said with a smile, turning toward the other cloaked figure. "Well, well, well… the three-headed dragon of Zoroastrian mythology… Azi Dahaka?"
Azi Dahaka tore off his cloak immediately.
Beneath it was the appearance of a dark-haired, brown-skinned human. Yet his mouth split open far wider than any human's should, revealing rows of razor-sharp fangs.
"A warrior! And stronger than anyone I've ever seen!" His grin widened. "To fight someone like you? This trip was worth it."
"...You really do live up to your reputation as a battle maniac." Ryo sounded genuinely impressed.
"Azi Dahaka, don't do anything stupid!" Ladon nearly jumped out of his skin. "He isn't someone we can fight!"
His attitude was absurdly cowardly.
But honestly, who could blame him?
He was only one of the countless sons of Typhon. At best, he was Dragon King level. Meanwhile, the man standing before him was Ryo Yagami, the monster who could supposedly wipe out all of Greece and had even defeated Ophis.
Not being afraid would be the strange thing. And cowards lived longer.
"Get lost!"
Azi Dahaka kicked Ladon aside and stepped forward.
Purple-black dragon scales rapidly spread across his body with a rattling sound. His cloak ripped apart as two enormous serpent heads burst from his shoulders.
In an instant, the unmasked Azi Dahaka stood before Ryo.
He crouched low, face twisted with ferocity, every inch of him ready for battle.
Seeing this, Ryo narrowed his eyes.
Then, to Ladon's astonishment, he extended a hand. "You enjoy fighting that much? A dragon like you following Indra is kind of a waste. How about joining me instead?"
"Huh?" Azi Dahaka froze.
Ladon, meanwhile, scrambled to his feet. "If he doesn't want to, I do!"
One of the heads on Azi Dahaka's shoulders turned and glared at him, "He was talking to me."
Ladon instantly shut up.
The three-headed freak was completely insane. Best not to provoke him.
A moment later, Azi Dahaka's central head fixed its gaze on Ryo. "Will there be fights?"
Ryo merely smiled.
Seeing that expression, Azi Dahaka nodded. "Fine. Fight me once. Remove Indra's control device. Then I'll follow you."
"Straightforward. I like it." Ryo clapped once. "So when do we start?"
"Now!"
All three of Azi Dahaka's heads bared savage grins.
He stomped the ground. And the earth exploded.
A shockwave overturned the soil for dozens of meters around him as his body shot forward with terrifying momentum.
For a brief instant, Azi Dahaka seemed to become a beam of light.
At least, that was how it looked to Ladon.
One moment the dragon was standing there. The next, he was gone.
Running away at full speed. In the opposite direction.
Ladon stared blankly for several seconds before turning toward the rapidly shrinking speck on the horizon.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
"That freak actually ran away? And here I thought he was going to challenge Ryo-sama to a real fight."
The way he called him Ryo-sama sounded completely natural, as if he'd been doing it all his life.
His survival instincts were impeccable.
Meanwhile, Ryo waved a hand.
The dust that had nearly landed on his clothes drifted harmlessly aside.
When Azi Dahaka had launched himself, the two of them had been less than two meters apart. The ground beneath them had long since vanished.
Ryo was now standing calmly in midair.
"This kid's skills aren't much, but he sure knows how to make an entrance." He shook his head with a chuckle.
The High School DxD version of Azi Dahaka was surprisingly interesting.
A battle junkie wasn't bad. Throw him out somewhere to scare people once in a while.
Maybe some of the gods would mistake him for a fragment or incarnation of the Evil God of Zoroastrianism from Little Garden.
That would certainly be entertaining.
The thought made Ryo grin.
Turning back to Ladon, he asked, "So, you're planning to swear loyalty to me too?"
"Haven't I already done that?" Ladon blinked innocently.
Ryo laughed. "You're also pretty interesting."
His mood seemed excellent.
"Go pick Azi Dahaka up." As he spoke, he pulled a glass vial filled with medicine from his Gift Card and tossed it over. "Give him this healing potion."
"Right away!" Ladon caught the vial and eagerly hurried off in the direction Azi Dahaka had disappeared.
But just after transforming back into his dragon form and taking flight, he suddenly realized something.
"Pick Azi Dahaka up? And give him a healing potion?"
He froze.
Then slowly turned his head toward the distant horizon.
"If that freak wasn't leaving on his own... Then doesn't that mean..."
"Ryo-sama knocked him away?"
His mouth fell open.
Steam burst from his enormous nostrils.
"Dear gods... I didn't even see him move."
"And that freak got sent flying and seriously injured? Judging by the distance, he's probably halfway across the Pacific Ocean by now..."
Ladon knew Ryo was powerful.
He just hadn't understood how powerful.
Before today, he'd assumed the difference between top-tier beings and Dragon Kings was something like Typhon versus a Heavenly Dragon: overwhelming, sure, but not enough for an instant kill.
Now he finally understood. A real gap in power meant this: You never even saw the attack.
"Hiss... Good thing I didn't resist."
Ladon shivered. For the first time in his life, his thick dragon scales provided absolutely no sense of security.
He made a silent decision.
Once this was over, he was going to gain weight. A lot of weight.
At least extra fat might make him feel safer.
This world was just too terrifying.
...
..
After dealing with Ladon and Azi Dahaka, Ryo brushed off his hands and laughed. "Indra actually told Loki to come here and receive Azi Dahaka. Hahaha, the day he learns the truth is going to be a hell of a show."
No matter how much Ladon guessed, he would never figure out the truth.
The mole beside Indra... was Indra himself.
At that moment, Ryo looked up and caught the falling cross.
The earlier shockwave had blasted it high into the air, and only now was it finally coming back down.
He examined it for a few moments before narrowing his eyes. "This aura... something from another world? From Evie Etoulde's side? And it's a cross?"
Beside him, Ophis silently emerged from the air itself. Her dark eyes remained fixed on the cross in Ryo's hand.
Seeing that, Ryo smiled, "What? Want to help Indra lure out Great Red?"
"You promised me." Ophis' voice remained calm, though there was the faintest trace of grievance beneath it.
Ryo chuckled and ruffled her hair.
"Yeah, yeah. I promised. And I always keep my promises."
After speaking, he glanced at the cross one last time, memorizing its appearance.
Then he crushed it in his hand.
Crack!
The cross shattered into more than a dozen fragments.
And at that exact moment—
ROOOOOAAARRR!!!
A roar beyond the limits of human hearing erupted from every direction at once.
From the sky. From the ground. From every corner of existence.
A savage, overwhelming roar.
The roar of the Red Dragon God Emperor.
.
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