Chapter 66 – The Early Bird (3)
The sound of huge wings covered the sky. Humans who were unable to fly from birth raised their heads helplessly as always. The hot north wind, forgetting the season, ruffled our hair.
Soon, beyond the ridge, a young being of destruction began to appear. It approached, scattering the shadows of destruction with an inexperienced flap of its wings. The shadows that were approaching little by little fell over our heads at some point.
The children trembled in fear and the immature opened their mouths in a daze. And those who were foolish, spread their arms as if hoping for hope. Even now, I hope this world will embrace them warmly.
However, Hetzling did not have the ability to grant their wishes. What could a mouth that spews flame and acid do? The incompetent dictator simply let out a terrible scream and soared through the air.
“Ehe eh eh !!!”
“…!!!”
As the sound echoed, those who watched it shed tears. Some of them even prayed as if moved. Hetzling answered their call. He seemed to think so.
But it was only a sign of infantile joy at the successful first flight. The sight of swallows jumping in the air, gliding on the wind, and displaying their talents was clearly nothing more than a joke by young birds. It was pitiful to see people who had to give meaning to such trivial actions.
After enjoying the pleasure of flying for such a long time, he suddenly rushed into the middle of the clearing. It was only then that he felt the smell of prey on the ground. He didn’t even think to slow down and came down and crashed into the ground.
Familiar roar. And a wind of dust blew through the air. For a moment, Hetzling’s figure faded in the dust. The silhouette of him dancing like a mirage was somehow mysterious, so I felt a strange feeling for a moment.
The guy who struggled in the fog for a while soon let out a noise and spread his wings. The recoil dissipated all of his fog, revealing his entire body under the clear sky. Long slanted eyes. Claws poking out between his fingers. Huge horns sprouted from above his head. It was evident that he had grown much more than the Hetzlings he had seen before.
It was embarrassing. To sum up my impressions, it was. However, those directly surrounding Hetzling seemed to have a slightly different impression.
They hesitated and worshiped Hetzling’s figure. The boy looked at them and suddenly lowered his gaze downward. Then he bit off a piece of meat, spraying blood all over the place.
Only then did people open their mouths. It seemed like he was finally trying to react. Their shouts of unity erupted from the scene, which had been rigid for a moment.
It was a scream
“Quaaaaah!”
“AA AA AA…!!!”
“Everyone! Calm down! Your guests will be amazed!”
Even in this situation, the mayor did his best to calm people down. However, no matter how many times I repeated this ritual, it seemed that I couldn’t help but feel an instinctive fear.
“Please everyone! Please calm down! It’s rude to scream in front of guests!”
“But…You seem much taller than the last time you came…!”
“What does that matter! What if the customer gets mad at this! Please, everyone…”
“Yes, everyone, calm down! The fact that our customers have grown is rather good news for us!”
Then Mrs. Lopez yelled back. Then she stretched out her arms at Hetzling.
“Look. You’ve grown so much. This is all thanks to our hard work.”
“But it’s too big…”
“Then isn’t it better? It’s proof that we’ve served this person that much. Isn’t it?”
“Madam. It’s too close. Step back.”
“No. There’s no need for that. He’ll never attack me.”
Mrs. Lopez slowly approached Hetzling. Her face was filled with pure joy.
“Is this our fourth or fifth meeting? You may not have felt it, but I did. There is a clear bond growing between this person and us.”
“…”
“Yeah. It’s definitely a bond. Look at those pure eyes. Can’t you feel that everyone has a goodwill towards us?”
“Ma’am…”
“I know because I’m a mother too. Our cute Erica had eyes like that when she was suckling her breast. Now we are raising a savior with our own hands. She will save us from destruction with this one.”
“Mom…Don’t do that…”
“I’m sure it will. No, it must be. It must be.”
Thin dewdrops formed around her eyes. Meanwhile, she was busy eating her chunks of meat lying on the hatchling floor. Mr. Lopez looked at her and threw the black shawl off her shoulder.
Then she revealed a large wing tattoo hidden inside.
A tattoo of a scale incomparable to the one on Lopez’s wrist filled her back. Although the size is large, it was so delicately drawn that I even had the illusion that it had wings of a real dragon.
It came as a shock to everyone that the elegant body of an aristocratic woman was stained with such madness. And Erica, who had to see it right in front of her eyes, must have been even more shocked. She covered her mouth in surprise and said in a trembling voice.
“Uh…Mom…”
“Oh, Erica. Mom forgot. I should introduce you to this person.”
“I don’t like… I…”
“Don’t do that, come here. It’s not scary at all.”
“Mom!”
Mrs. Lopez pulled her resisting Erica by force. Erica looked behind her with a longing look on her face, but Mr. Lopez was gone somewhere. There was no one there to help her now.
“What’s wrong, Erica? You’re the one who will save us? We’ll have to put a proper snow stamp on her.”
“That’s not like a savior. You know Mama. What the hell is she saying?”
“Erika! You mustn’t say such… Rude things like that. Never!”
“Mom, please calm down…”
“Get your mind together, Erica! Why don’t you know this is the only way! What the hell!”
At that moment, her sincerity, hidden in madness, exploded. Mrs. Lopez must have known that this was irrational.
But because that’s the only way. Because that’s all that’s right in front of you. She couldn’t help but believe. She couldn’t help but think that if she put her heart into it, it would come true.
That’s why she attracted her daughter, who was more precious than anything else in this world, to her beliefs. If you do this, I hope that even that nonchalant sky will be admired.
“Yes Erica. You may not know. But you will understand when you look into her eyes. Come on, come on.”
“No Mom…I…”
“No, it’ll be fine. I promise mom on her little finger.”
“Mom…”
“Wait…You eat too fast…”
“Geeck…”
Then, along with the mayor’s worried voice, Hetzling raised her head. True to his word, the guy ate his prey at an excessively fast pace. It seems that the people who prepared the food did not calculate the hatchling’s growth rate.
And that mistake was fatal.
Hetzling bared his teeth and looked at Mrs. Lopez. The human and the dragon, who met their eyes for the first time, each raised their bodies with different emotions. The emotion that appeared on Mrs. Lopez’s face at that moment was joy.
“Look Erica. Finally… Finally answered. This person will take us to a world beyond destruction…”
“Uh… Mom! Don’t do this. Now this is…”
“It’s okay, my baby. Come to your mother’s arms. Don’t be afraid and come to your mother.”
“Mom!”
“Ah… My lovely baby…”
Now she couldn’t even tell if her words were directed at Erica or Hetzling. Her earnestness towards her life reached out her hand to both good and evil. As if to reciprocate, Hetzling also opened her mouth.
And a fire boiled in his throat.
“Uh…?”
Mrs. Lopez’s hand drooped down at the response, which was hotter than expected. It was a reality she had to face someday, but it was approaching so fast. So no one on the scene could react in time.
“Ah…!”
At the last moment, Erica held her mother in her arms. Her lips parted in vain toward the death she was about to face. Her trembling eyelids slowly closed to face the darkness.
But her father had no intention of ending her daughter’s fate there.
“Erika!!!”
At the last moment, along with his voice, gray smoke exploded in the air. As he raised his head, huge steam rose into the sky with a heavy metallic sound coming from the rails. Even Hetzling was taken aback by the overwhelming sight.
That’s why he couldn’t see a man walking down there. The man who came with various weapons dangling from his body dropped them all on the floor and picked up a heavy cannon.
Then he raised his muzzle at Hetzling and shouted with all his might.
“Fuck off you lizard bastard!!!”
“…!!!”
Along with his voice, a dark blue magic bullet shot like lightning and hit Hetzling’s head directly.
“Keeeee!!!”
“Quaaaaah!”
His screams of pain and Erica’s voice simultaneously tore through the air, and red bubbles of blood splattered everywhere. It was definitely the blood that Hetzling had spat out, and it was the moment when mankind’s technology finally paid off.
But the weapon was too much for an ordinary man like Lopez to operate alone. He somehow ran towards his daughter and wife even while violently pouring out vomit.
“Woo… Uh… Darling…! Erika…!”
“What the hell are you doing…!”
“Please wake up! You saw him do it. He’s just a demon from the sky! He’s here to kill us all!”
“But…”
“The rest of you, wake up! You’ve all seen it with your own two eyes! He tried to eat my wife! And your family will be next!”
“Miss Lopez…”
“He’s not even a savior! It’s just…!”
“Keeeee!!!”)
The Hetzling’s roar exploded between his earnest cries. He was furious like never before at the first wound he received, and he spewed flames all over the place. Only then did the guards begin to activate their weapons, but their speed was remarkably slow because they were too flustered. Some even ran away with their backs turned.
It seemed obvious to anyone that the moment of ruin would come to this city. And it was Mr. Lopez who stood at the forefront of the ruin. He closed his eyes tightly as he grabbed his daughter and wife.
At that moment, Mr. Lopez’s desperate cry pierced the air.
“Lope!!!”
“…!”
In the end, what he chose at the last moment was none other than my name. Knowing that I was not at the scene, I just called that name with earnest faith and hope. Even though he had already confirmed yesterday that the possibility was low, he cried out for help from a young man he had only known for less than an hour.
The end of such meaningless hope was usually bound to fall toward despair.
…
But we were already running towards the scene long before his call.
I slid down the slope and rolled wildly on the ground. Then, he shouted at Rebecca, who was already running ahead.
“Miss Rebecca! Weapons!”
“Damn Lope. First of all, the train…!”
“It’s useless if you can’t subdue Hetzling anyway! Saya! Haru!”
“Okay, I get it.”
“Oh really… I wish someone would lend me an eye!”
Even in this situation, her Haru told her jokes and Saya sprinted at her own pace with her on her back. Then, he snatched a weapon from one of the guards who was running away and raised it with Haru.
“This is what Rebecca said… Lope! How does it work?”
“Wait for Rebecca’s instructions!”
“But…!”
“Erika! Bow down!”
And without hesitation, I ran to the Lopez family, hugged them by the waist, and rolled forward. At that moment, the flames of the hatchlings glided past overhead, heating the air around them. Then Saya’s scream sharply cut through the air.
“Oh my God… Lope!”
“I’m fine! Rebecca!”
“Here! Take it!”
Just then, another bolt of lightning pierced Hetzling’s head, and a heavy weapon flew over his shoulder. I snatched it as if to hug it, and then raised my head without delay.
And, finally, I made eye contact with him.
Even as he struggled against another attack, he sent hateful eyes at the fly that flew in front of him. When he met that gigantic gaze directly, his whole body shuddered and a chill ran down his spine.
But it was impossible to avoid forever. I felt the weight of the metal wrapped around my hand and gnashed my teeth at the harbinger of doom I finally faced.
“Okay, let’s try it. Dragon.”
