One thought had been bothering Rey for the longest time now.

"Do all Dragons really need to die?"

This question had been amplified ever since he arrived at the Dragon Empire and found a civilization that he wasn't expecting to see.

Surely, not all of these people were evil monsters who deserved to die... right?

Then, he went to the Academy and found even more reasons to doubt his initial position. Of course, he found many atrocious thoughts and values shared by the Dragons, but strangely enough... he found something else.

Rey found humanity in the Dragons.

It was at that moment that Rey found his answer-even though he tried very hard to still question it.

"No. Not all Dragons need to die."

*************

~SQUISH!~

The Automaton's blade fell on flesh, but it only dug about an inch deep thanks to the flesh that it fell on.

It was Rey's.

"You can't just go dying on somoene like that..." Rey grunted as he spoke, his hand directly stopping the blade while he stood in front of the shocked girl behind him.

"... If you really love them!"

It had only taken him a split-second to decide that Cyn'dy wasn't going to die on his watch, and it took him even less to stop the weapon from reaching her. He cut himself along the way, so it seemed like the weapon injured him, but it really didn't.

This was simply the best way to maintain his identity, while also protecting someone he didn't want to see get killed.

'I know this is dumb and selfish of me. So many other Dragons are dying here, yet I chose the one I am close to...' In the end, he wasn't being kind or good for what he was doing.

He recognized that, but he did what needed to be done anyway.

Why?

'I just couldn't allow her to die after she said that.'

The sacrifice she showed... the bravery and genuineness of her words and actions truly spoke to him.

Cyn'dy wasn't evil.

She was just misguided-just like a lot of the Dragons here.

It took Rey this long to fully accept that realization, but he could no longer shy away from it.

"I'll continue to protect you." A fiery burst of energy manifested all over his hand, and he sent it charging at the Automaton, which was already raising its second hand to attack.

It was too slow for Rey, though.

~BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!~

A loud echo burst into the air, and the metallic portions of the construct broke into pieces thanks to the powerful impact that it recieved.

"Haaa... haaa..."

Rey fell to his knees as soon as he did this, his eyes slightly open as he continued to keep up his act.

Cyn'dy ran to him, kneeling right by his side as he continued to leak out heavy breaths. "R-R'ai! R'ai, are you alright!" More tears was bursting from her eyes as she brought him close with her arms and tightly embraced him.

"You saved me again! Thank you so much!"

As soon as she said this, though, the ground around both her and Rey began to tremble.

~RUMBLE!~

~RUMBLE!~

~RUMBLE!~

Plenty of Undead Giants and Monsters were closing in on the two, casting an inescapable net that was sure to put them to an end.

"R'ai get up! Get up! They're closing in...!"

As Cyn'dy begged, Rey shook his head slowly and smiled at her.

"I can't. I'm all spent..." He whispered.

Despite saying all of this, he was perfectly calm. Was it because he had someone who worried so much about him like this, or was it due to something else?

'Right now, there's no need for me or anyone else to exert ourselves.'

Rey knew something that no other student knew, which was why he decided to clock out at the exact moment that he did.

'He's here.'

~VWUUUSH!~

A fingure suddenly appeared in the sky, causing everyone around to pause for a moment as they soaked up the presence of the stranger.

He had pure white hair, with sparkling blue eyes.

His face was clear and pale as ice, and seated on his head like a crown of thorns were five horns. He dressed in a black and white attire-predominantly black-akin to a stylized uniform, and he also had his frosty wings and tail spread out like an angel.

All the Dragons who witnessed his appearance instantly knew that they could relax.

There were barely fifty of them, yet these survivors counted themselves fortunate that they

held on for this long.

... For the strongest Dragon General to arrive.

"[Perfect Expansion]"

Those were the only words that flowed out of his lips, and they were enough to completely

turn the tide of the one-sided massacre.

In an instant, all of the adversaries—in their hundreds, if not thousands-froze.

Literally froze.

They all turned into pillars of ice, completely white and unmoving.

The entire area was also purified of all the Miasma that had polluted the air, and the corpses

of all the students that littered the beach were piled up in a single location.

All of this happened in less than a second.

To the students, it felt even shorter than that. They could barely compreend what had just happened, and how long it took to achieve that.

But Rey could.

One look at the Dragon floating above the rest of the students told him all he needed to know

about this existence.

'The one who will become the next Dragon Lord... the strongest Dragon General and most talented genius that the Empire has ever seen.' He narrowed his eyes on the only one who had the title of Strongest' among his peers.

"O'jog..."

[STATUS WINDOW]

- Name: O'jog

- Race: Dragon (Royal Species)

- Class: Grand Admiral (S-Tier)

- Level: 500 (10.50% EXP)

- Life Force: 50,000

- Mana Level: 100,000

- Combat Ability: 75,000

- Stat Points: 0

- Skills (Exclusive): [Perfect Expansion]. [Perfect Protection]. [Perfect Constitution]

- Skills (Non-Exclusive): [Divine Growth]. [Absolute Magic Utility]. [Absolute Recovery]. [Absolute Destruction]. [Dragon Breath: Choas]. [Absolute Draconic Flight]. [Absolute Magic

Disruption]. [Perfect Sight].

- Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

[Additional Information]

The prince of Dragons, and the one of the strongest Dragons in the world.

His potential is seemingly endless, and he is incredibly talented as well as skilled. He

possesses the perfect attribute for a being of chaos.

[End Of Information]

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Thanks for reading!

I know... I know... this is fun for me too.