Chapter 166

But Disis had no intention of playing along with the dragons’ melodrama.

“…Why are you all still alive? I distinctly remember ordering every magical beast on this island to fight until their final breath.”

It was the exact same question I had asked. However, the dragons couldn’t bring themselves to answer her as easily as they had answered me.

And for good reason. Doing so would be tantamount to admitting they had betrayed their master, the Demon King.

“Ah, I see. You rejected my call. Unbelievable… You pathetic worms hid away like cowards and just watched me die, didn’t you?”

Floating up into the air, she smoothly drew the sword resting at her waist.

Immediately after, a pristine shroud of Pure Spiritual Power wrapped around the blade.

Strictly speaking, her current self shouldn’t be able to lift a finger against those Transcendent Dragons.

After all, she wasn’t inhabiting her true physical flesh right now, but rather a vessel made of Pure Spiritual Power that I had crafted for her.

Because of that, the only power she could wield was the Pure Spiritual Power I supplied. The only reason she even bothered carrying a physical sword as a medium was to prevent wasting any of that energy.

If the replication level of the vessel improved, or if she grew more accustomed to it, she might be able to reclaim some of her past might independent of my spiritual power… but that felt like something that would take a long time.

Yet, far from resisting her, the dragons were too busy groveling flat on the ground. It was as if the concept of absolute obedience had been permanently branded into their minds.

“Heeieek…!”

“Master…!”

“P-Please, have mercy…!!”

The dragons rubbed their heads against the ground as if attempting to dig their way into the dirt, while Disis looked down at them with freezing cold eyes.

Checking over Hazes and the maids whom the blue dragon had initially treated, I spoke to Disis just loud enough for her to hear.

“Are you going to kill them?”

At my words, the red, blue, and black dragons flinched and trembled. If the one I had killed earlier had been the black one instead of the yellow one, they would have looked exactly like a traffic light. A bit of a shame, really.

“I wonder. Considering what they did, my urge to crack open their skulls is practically touching the sky, but…”

The dragons slammed their heads against the earth once more. Given their colossal size, that movement alone caused the entire ground to shudder violently.

The red dragon, the largest of the three, shouted at the top of its lungs.

“Forgive us…! Compared to you two, we are nothing but insignificant worms, but even worms can be of use in their own way! We will obey any order! We will work ourselves to the bone like dogs and horses!”

“Oh? You’ll obey any order, you say… and yet creatures like you chose to betray me?”

“It will never happen again! Please, spare our lives!!”

“……”

A heavy silence descended.

Right around the time they were about to suffocate from the sheer pressure of that silence, Disis turned her gaze toward me.

“Do you happen to have any use for these worms?”

“Well… they are Transcendent Dragons, after all. I’m sure we can find a use for them.”

“Should I let them live, then?”

Looking up at the dragons—who, despite groveling, were still taller than most high-rise buildings—I briefly weighed their value.

‘Three Transcendent Dragons, huh…’

For starters, they could cast dragon-tongue magic on par with an Archmage, and they could exert a similar level of telekinesis, which dragons naturally used like their own limbs. On top of that, their mobility was outstanding since they could fly. Considering the island was as massive as Greenland, there couldn’t be any better guard dogs.

‘When Disis is away, I can also leave them in charge of managing the other monsters.’

The only real issue was the possibility of them stabbing us in the back later…

‘…But that shouldn’t be an issue.’

Granted, if it came down to an outright frontal clash, handling even one of them would be difficult, let alone three. The wall separating transcendent beings from mortals was just that high and thick.

However, I possessed a cheat code of a technique that even transcendents couldn’t replicate.

—Space Cleave.

It was a technique that required a massive amount of practice even for me, but in gaming terms, it possessed a ‘100% defense penetration’ and ‘absolute hit’ attribute.

I could guarantee that on the first strike, a lower-tier transcendent incapable of manipulating dimensions would absolutely never be able to dodge it.

Well, of course, if they somehow survived getting hit by it, that would be a different story.

‘Anyway, slicing through three hearts would take less than a second. By the time they even realize they’ve been struck, it’ll already be over. Having a clear weakness like a Dragon Heart is a stroke of luck.’

Ending my brief simulation, I nodded at Disis, who was waiting for my answer.

“Let them live.”

“Hmm. Well, if that’s what you want. …You’re lucky, you worms. Your lives have been spared.”

At her declaration, the dragons, who had been curled up like balls with their scales standing on end, slumped down like deflated slimes. It was a stark display of just how terrified they had actually been.

“However… you must pay the price.”

Those words caused them to freeze right back up.

“T-The price, you say…?”

Disis smirked, curling the corners of her lips upward, and snapped her fingers. Instantly, a bright light enveloped the three dragons, and their massive sizes began to shrink rapidly.

‘Polymorph? To force them to cast magic completely against their own will… that’s some terrifying domination. At this rate, couldn’t she just order them to commit suicide? No wonder the dragons are shaking in their boots.’

A moment later, three handsome human youths appeared in place of the dragons.

With red, blue, and black hair respectively, they were so absurdly good-looking they seemed to have jumped straight out of a fairy tale. After a brief moment of confusion, they hastily dropped to their knees before Disis with solemn expressions.

“If this is the price for our sin… we accept. We will abandon our dragon forms unless you permit otherwise.”

“…We shall atone for our actions in these lowly human vessels.”

“Such humiliation… but if it is your command…”

Disis let out a scoffing laugh.

“What kind of absolute nonsense are you babbling about?”

“…Pardon?”

“You lot have clearly lost your minds. How on earth is that a punishment?”

“T-Then…?”

Disis snapped her fingers once more, and their luscious, beautiful hair began to scatter wildly into the wind.

Whhhhhhhosh.

All that remained under the bright sunlight were three glistening, flesh-toned eggs.

“From this day forward, you shall live as bald men.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

Running their hands over their own heads as if they couldn’t comprehend what had just happened, the three men finally unleashed an agonizing shriek that echoed from the very depths of their souls.

.
.
.

“…This is the cursed heavenly punishment that only humans are supposed to suffer from…! Is this why you forced us to polymorph into humans…!”

“Bald… to think I am bald…! How can a person not have hair on their head! How is this any different from being a monster!”

“The Demon King has ordered us to become shiny domes worse than orcs instead of dragons, so what is the point of living anymore!”

Watching the dragons seriously contemplate suicide, I let out a hollow laugh.

Was being bald really that terrible of a treatment?

Depending on the region, I had heard rumors that a bald human would be spared even if they committed a capital crime—since living their life was already hell itself—and that certain long-lived races categorized bald humans as an entirely separate species from normal humans… but I never expected even dragons to react this way.

Just what exactly did a bald person represent in this world?

Even the maids, who had been burning with rage and hostility toward the dragons just moments ago, looked on in sheer horror.

“B-Bald…!”

“Oh my god…”

“How could she… sigh… honestly, losing your entire head would be better than losing your hair…”

“I agree. A Dullahan is definitely better than a bald man.”

“As expected of the Demon King. To dish out such a horrific punishment without even blinking…”

“Shh! Lower your voice! What if the Demon King hears you and turns you bald too?”

…They were staring at the dragons’ glistening heads, turning away as if looking at a total eyesore or wearing thoroughly pitiful expressions.

‘No, what on earth is “to go bald”? Is that even a real verb? And what do you mean losing your entire head is better than losing your hair? Is a bald man really lower than a Dullahan?’

A brief moment later.

The dragons—who had barely recovered their will to live after Disis mentioned she might return their hair depending on their future performance—looked up with their glistening heads and questioned her.

“Master… may we dare ask just one thing?”

“Go ahead.”

“If we may be so bold… on that day, I personally witnessed the moment you perished, Master. Yet here you are, standing before us in such robust health… how exactly did you resurrect? And why are the Sword God and Master acting together?”

Disis let out a scoffing laugh as if they were asking the most obvious question.

“It’s simple. I lost, and I died. And the Sword God here brought me back to life on the condition that I enlist under his banner.”

“Brought you back to life…? Is the Sword God truly capable of such a feat?”

“Since it was possible, I am standing here right now, able to punish you lots again.”

“Ah…”

Red stared at me with wide, awe-struck eyes as he stammered out his next words.

“Then, does that mean the Sword God has become your liege lord, Master…?”

“It’s a bit different, but you are free to understand it that way.”

“……!”

“……!!”

“……!!!”

At that moment, the three bald heads that had been facing Disis smoothly glided over, shifting their angles to point right halfway between her and me. Look at these guys trying to read the room and pick a side.

“I see, so that is what happened… t-then, what would you have us do from now on?”

“…From what I hear, rumors are currently spreading across the Western Continent that I am dead.”

Hearing that, Red slightly lifted his polished head.

“Which means… those fools who don’t know their place will try to target this island. Should we consider it our mission to exterminate those pesky flies?”

“Hmph. You catch on quick. For that, I shall specially grant you a single strand of hair.”

Immediately after, a single strand of crimson hair sprouted right out from the exact center of his crown.

Red’s entire body trembled with immense gratitude.

“Thank you…! I will do my absolute best to wipe out those worms the moment they arrive!”

Blue and Black glared at Red with eyes full of half envy and half jealousy.

“Damn it…! If we crush those guys, we can receive hair just like Kuharlan (which seemed to be Red’s actual name), right…?”

“I, too, shall count down the days until that moment arrives!”

I stepped in to answer them on Disis’s behalf.

“I don’t think you’ll have to count down the days at all.”

“…Pardon?”

“Something is heading this way.”

It took less than a few seconds for them to comprehend my words.

Rumbleeeeeee…

A faint vibration echoed from the distant horizon.

Before long, that vibrating sound transformed into over a hundred small dots appearing in our field of vision.

I let out a bitter laugh as I sharpened my senses even further.

“Talk about timing. Speak of the devil… if we had been just a little bit later, it would have been a real disaster. Are those airships?”

Disis shook her head.

“They are magic stone airships. There look to be easily a hundred of them. Operating that many ships would be too heavy a burden for a single faction… so it’s likely a coalition of several forces.”

To be completely accurate, the disaster wouldn’t be happening to our side, but to theirs.

We hadn’t even repaired the Demon King’s Castle yet, nor had we filled the Demon Territory with monsters. If those suspicious flying objects landed on the island now, our current situation would be completely exposed to the Western Continent.

In that case, I would only have two choices: kill them all, or detain them.

The former would definitely weigh heavily on my conscience, so I would have to choose the latter…

But how on earth was I supposed to deal with all that tedious paperwork?

“They must be from the Western Continent, right? The numbers are a bit too high to just be a reconnaissance team…”

“They’re probably planning to test the waters, and if things look clear, establish a forward operating base right here in the Demon Territory.”

“…They’re much faster than I expected. Was there something going on that we didn’t know about?”

“If you intend to let them leave alive, you’d better hurry. They’ll be within long-range scrying distance shortly. We also need to watch out for familiars.”

“Hmm…”

I had sent the Northern Continent members ahead to scout precisely to prepare for something like this… well, I guess nothing in life ever goes exactly as planned.

At that moment, the baldies… no, the dragons flared their killing intent, their eyes flashing dangerously.

“What would you like us to do?”

“Can you handle this by yourselves?”

The dragons let out a hollow laugh at my question.

“What a disappointing thing to ask…”

“Try your best not to kill them. Just bring down the airships.”

With that condition added, the smiling expressions of the dragons stiffened slightly.

“Mm… we shall try. We can just use telekinesis instead of our breath weapons.”

“One strand of hair per ship. If you bring them all down, that’ll be a hundred strands.”

“A-A hundred…!”

“I shall handle them immediately!”

“I’m going first!”

Their eyes flashing with sheer greed, the dragons competed with one another as they reverted back to their dragon forms.

They shared a brief moment of silence as they looked at each other’s bare, scaleless heads, but they soon unleashed ferocious roars and soared up toward the airships.

Groooaaaoooor!

Roraaaaaaaaar!!

Kyaaaaaaaah!!

Watching them fly off, Disis tilted her head in confusion and spoke.

“One strand per ship… isn’t that a bit too generous?”

“…Yeah, you’re definitely a Demon King, alright.”

And that night.

While the maids were setting up sleeping arrangements on the first floor of the Demon King’s Castle for me, Disis, and Shia—who had joined us a bit later—the gate flashed, signaling the arrival of a new guest.

Thud. Thud.

My eyes widened as I saw a bipedal lion approaching with a familiar, welcome face accompanied by heavy footsteps.

“Sword God.”

“Oh? Leo? Are you by yourself? What about the others?”

“Because the political situation on the Western Continent is moving so rapidly, the others plan to gather a bit more news before coming. Therefore, I have come ahead alone with the information we have gathered so far.”

I left a handprint on each of the dragons’ bald heads—who were strutting over to pick a fight with the lion with a ‘what is this thing’ look on their faces—and warmly welcomed Leo.

“S-Sir, who might these individuals be…?”

“Ah, just some baldies passing by. You don’t need to pay them any mind.”

“W-We are not bald… believe it or not, I possess forty-two strands of hair.”

“I have thirty-one strands.”

“I have twenty-eight strands.”

“Shut up. More importantly, aren’t you going to turn off your Spiritual Pressure? Do you want me to turn your heads back into a vast plain without a single blade of grass?”

The baldies whimpered and backed away at my threat. Glancing over them, I turned back to Leo and questioned him.

“Actually, about a hundred airships flew toward the island today. It was way faster than we anticipated, which caught us off guard… did something happen over there?”

The lion let out a low groan and nodded his head.

“It did. Something utterly monumental occurred.”

“What was it?”

“…Are you familiar with Equos, the God of Balance and Justice, and Morta, the God of Death?”

Equos and Morta?

If it was those two, they were definitely the True Gods who had sided with the false gods. They were the ones who had issued divine revelations to the Western Continent declaring that the Demon King was dead.

“I know them well.”

“…Angels have descended upon the temples of those very gods.”

“…Huh? Angels?”