Primordial Awakening: Rise of the Legendary Dragon God

Silence sat thick in the cavern—an almost awkward kind of silence—after Kael casually commented on the taste of the Dire Sovereign's head.

Lyratheia rose slowly from the rubble, still in somewhat disbelief, still pale, still visibly processing the fact that the creature that traumatized her for decades had died in one bite.

Then—

She raised her hand.

"…Wasn't I supposed to kill him?"

Kael froze.

Selene and Evethra turned to her in identical slow-motion confusion.

Kael's eyes shifted from Lyratheia… to the headless corpse... to his own jaws, still faintly glowing with golden fire.

"…Ah."

He blinked as the terms of the deal surfaced in his mind.

He was supposed to put the beast in a half-dead state so that Lyratheia, who wanted to exact her revenge, could kill it herself.

"Right. That was the arrangement."

Lyratheia stared at him flatly, and Selene buried her face in both hands, while Evethra just coughed, as if not sure what she should say right now.

Kael, pretending that everything was fine, cleared his throat and crouched beside the corpse, inspecting it with magic for the first time.

Because yes, he messed up, and he knew that.

He impulsively killed the beast she was supposed to kill.

But as the inspection magic swept over the beast's corpse…

Kael paused.

His golden eyes gleamed as he grinned.

"Oh, looks like the promise still stands."

Three heads tilted in unison.

"What?" Lyratheia asked.

"What do you mean?" Selene squinted.

Even Evethra blinked, confused.

Kael stretched his leg and stepped on the dead beast's chest.

"Are you gonna come out," he said flatly, "or do you want me to crush you along with the shell?"

The three girls exchanged baffled looks.

"Shell?"

"What is he talking about?"

"Is this normal for dragons?"

Still, they waited, curious because they knew that Kael wouldn't do that for no reason.

But even after a few tens of seconds, nothing changed.

That made Kael frown. "Well, you asked for it."

Without a second's delay, he pressed down harder, but before he could—

"STOP!!! STOPSTOPSTOPSTOP—!!"

—A yelp shot through the air.

The voice was high-pitched. Panicked.

Absolutely not befitting a mighty region-lord beast.

Then from the broken ribcage, something tiny pushed out—

A small nose.

A pathetic whine.

And then…

A dog.

A tiny, trembling, scruffy dog—barely the size of a rabbit—squeezed out of the monstrous corpse using its stubby paws.

Its ears flopped backward.

Its tail curled between its legs.

"I—I surrender! I surrender!! Don't kill me!!"

Selene's eye twitched.

Lyratheia's jaw dropped.

Evethra covered her mouth to keep from laughing.

Kael exhaled.

"This is the real one," he explained, hooking the tiny dog by the scruff with telekinesis and lifting it like a misbehaving pup. "The big one was just… an outer structure. A shell."

The dog kicked its legs helplessly in the air.

"P-Put me down! W-We can talk!"

"Oh, we will," Kael said and flicked his wrist.

The dog flew through the air like a squeaky toy—

—And landed right at Lyratheia's feet.

"This is your Dire Sovereign," Kael announced. "Exact your revenge."

"No, no, NO!" the dog yelped, scrambling backward. "I—I never meant harm! I was… misunderstood! I merely wanted cooperation—partnership! A mutually beneficial—"

Lyratheia stared down at it.

Her expression went cold.

Memories washed over her—

Her villagers had nearly starved, her roots were almost torn apart, and the same could be said about her mind.

She could still remember the beast's threat: 'Become my mate, or watch your village burn.'

Recalling all that, rage rose in her like a storm.

"You expect me to believe this pathetic display?" She whispered.

The dog, however, whimpered pitifully, its body trembling.

That made Lyratheia narrow her eyes.

"Fine. Then prove your regret." She pointed to the dirt. "Kneel."

The dog instantly fell on its belly.

"L-Like this?!"

"No."

She pointed at her feet. "Lick."

Selene choked.

Evethra's ears turned crimson.

Kael raised a brow, impressed.

The dog didn't even hesitate. "YES, MA'AM!!"

It pressed its face to the ground, rubbing its nose in the dirt before trying to lick Lyratheia's feet, only to be kicked away.

The dog whined, but Lyratheia only stared down at it with icy disgust.

"…Pathetic."

Then she turned to Kael.

"I want him alive."

Kael blinked. "Are you sure?"

Her eyes flicked to the dog.

"Yes."

Kael shrugged. "As you wish."

Relief washed over the tiny dog's face so fast it was comical.

Lyratheia exhaled and turned around, preparing to lead him out toward the clearing where the humans waited.

"I want you to repeat the same thing before the humans you used to treat like insects," she said. "Let's see how it would feel then."

With that, she turned around and began walking.

The dog followed.

And just when they were some meters away from Evethra, Selene, and Kael—

The dog's expression shifted.

The cowardice drained from its features.

Its eyes sharpened—cold, murderous.

A glow ignited in its throat.

Not large.

Not grand.

But deadly—

A tiny concentrated breath that, from this range, would kill her instantly.

The dog knew that Kael would kill it the next moment, but it didn't care.

It merely wanted to kill Lyratheia, the source of everything, and to get a chance to do that, it even kneeled on the ground.

It was the Dire Sovereign Beast—the ruler of this forest—yet it had done something like that.

All because it wanted to get a chance, and now that it got it, the dog wasn't going to miss this chance.

'You dare reject me?!'

The dog opened its jaws, ready to kill Lyratheia.

But just then—

CRACK—!!

A thick root burst from the ground beneath the dog, spearing straight through its soft underbelly.

The breath attack flickered out like a candle in storm wind.

The dog's eyes bulged.

Its body stiffened.

A strangled wheeze escaped its throat.

Lyratheia didn't even turn around.

She merely exhaled.

"…Predictable."

Behind her—

Kael, who was now resting on the ground, shook his head.

Selene was already nodding as if she had been waiting for exactly this moment.

Evethra didn't even flinch; she merely brushed a stray dust speck off her dress.

Of course, they knew.

With beasts, with people, with monsters across entire worlds, personalities never changed that drastically.

Not even for survival.

And especially not for a creature as arrogant as this one.

Lyratheia finally glanced over her shoulder, her expression as flat as polished stone.

"You truly thought I wouldn't expect this?" She murmured.

The root twisted, dragging the squealing dog closer to her feet.

"Did you think pride could be faked that easily?"

The dog whimpered, a weak spark flickering in its throat again, but Lyratheia stepped on its chest, pinning it with ease.

"Don't try."

She twisted her heel.

The beast yelped.

Kael raised a brow. "You sure you don't want to make it quick?"

Lyratheia didn't look back.

"No."

Her voice was cold.

Measured.

Controlled.

"This… is thirty years overdue."

She grabbed the dog by the scruff—just as Kael had done earlier—and yanked it up effortlessly.

What followed was less a fight and more… an execution mixed with physical education.

She slammed it into the ground.

Wham.

Into the wall.

Whack.

Into another root.

Crack.

Evethra's eyes drooped in sympathy—

—For the wall.

"…Wow," Selene whispered, wincing. "She's really… uh… expressing herself."

Kael crossed his arms.

"Therapy."

"You call that therapy?" Selene muttered.

"For dryads?" Kael shrugged. "Maybe that's pretty standard."

Lyratheia raised the dog again—the once "Dire Sovereign," now barely the size of a shaking rag—and with a sharp twist of her glowing root-covered fingers—

Crack.

It went limp.

Silence fell again.

She dropped the corpse, exhaling deeply, as if a weight had fallen from her shoulders.

Only then did Kael step forward.

"… Can I eat it?"

Everyone froze.

Selene blinked three times.

Evethra tilted her head, baffled.

Lyratheia stared at him as if he had suddenly announced he wanted to marry a potato.

"…You want to eat this?"

Kael nodded sincerely.

"Yes."

Selene slowly raised her hand.

"Kael… you are aware that this is a dog, right?"

"Very small," Evethra added helpfully. "Very… non-nutritious."

Lyratheia looked at the corpse, then at Kael.

"But why? This thing wouldn't even fill one percent of your stomach!"

Kael paused, then frowned at their reactions.

"I'm not eating it because it's tasty. I'm eating it because I noticed something."

Three sets of eyebrows rose.

"What did you notice?" Selene asked.

Kael didn't answer.

His eyes glowed gold.

He flicked his finger.

The tiny corpse floated into the air, suspended by his telekinesis.

Then—

FWOOOM—

Kael breathed the same concentrated flame technique the Dire Beast had used earlier, except his was clean, precise, and controlled.

The corpse roasted instantly.

The cavern filled with the warm, savory smell of cooked meat.

Kael inspected the now-browned body.

"…Now this looks like a hot dog."

Selene slapped her own face.

Evethra turned away to hide her laughter.

Lyratheia just stared at him, defeated.

Kael popped the roasted dog into his mouth like a snack.

The crunch echoed.

He chewed.

Swallowed.

"…Hm."

He wiped his hands.

"Interesting."

Selene groaned. "I will never understand dragons."