Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 181: The Dragon That Shouldn’t Be

CH181 The Dragon That Shouldn’t Be

***

”Don’t you dare covet the treasure of the Dragon Race, human boy!”

Alex clutched his head as the thunderous voice boomed in his mind.

Still reeling from the backlash, he gritted his teeth.

He had neither the support of his mana nor the bolster of his Spiritual Force to shield his mind from such overwhelming force. The voice was not only telepathic—it echoed with a pressure that felt all too physical, resonating through his skull and brain.

His knees threatened to buckle from the vertigo that followed, but he held firm—relying on sheer willpower and stubborn grit to withstand the unseen pressure.

Turning towards the source of the voice, Alex’s eyes narrowed.

From the horizon came a silver Winged serpent, sleek and sinuous, its three-metre long body glided effortlessly through the air. When it arrived, its forty-centimetre girth and four-metre wingspan cast an ominous shadow over Alex and the entrance to the drake’s den.

But its size was not what held his gaze.

Its presence... was wrong.

Winged serpents—Amphipteres—were dragonkin. Lesser ones, like drakes.

Alex had experience with both True Dragon and lesser dragons, and their dragon presence were distinct, especially to someone like him, who had tasted the essence of a true Elder Dragon.

Yet this one...

This pressure wasn’t that of a common Amphiptere. No, it radiated the unmistakable aura of a True Dragon.

In fact, the sheer quality of its dragon presence came dangerously close to that of the Elder Dragon Heart Alex had consumed.

That shouldn’t be possible.

No dragonkin could climb to the later stages of the Legendary Rank without undergoing atavism or an evolutionary leap into full dragonhood. That was the ceiling... an ironclad rule.

And yet this creature seemed to defy it.

Even odder, despite its overwhelming aura, its body remained a mere four metres long. That was smaller than the Elite-rank drake Alex had just slain.

’This shouldn’t exist...’ Alex thought, eyes narrowing.

”Human, how dare you kill a member of the Dragon Race?” the serpent’s voice thundered again.

”If you get on your knees and plead now, I will grant you a swift death... and not wipe out your entire bloodline!”

Its tone was dripping with arrogance. The kind of scorn only the ancient and powerful could wield.

But before Alex could utter a word, a familiar bulwark figure stepped appeared in front of him—solid as a fortress.

Clad in pitch-black plate armour, the man’s presence intercepted the Amphiptere’s oppressive aura like a wall of iron will.

”Jared!” Alex exclaimed, eyes widening in surprise.

Indeed, the bulwark standing before him was none other than the Saint Dark Knight—Jared, the (presumed) right-hand of Earl Drake Fury.

Jared didn’t glance back. His attention was fully on the winged serpent above them.

”Please, calm yourself, your Excellency,” Jared said firmly, yet with respectful deference.

”Our young lord had ample reason to slay the drake, your Excellency, Zilbris.”

Alex stiffened.

’Zilbris?!’

That name... it clicked in his mind.

But even more shocking was Jared’s use of ’your Excellency.’

For a Saint like Jared to speak with such reverence could only mean one thing:

This creature was a Legend.

A genuine Legendary-ranked being.

At that level, titles like race or species lost weight. Whether human, elf, dragon, or beast, a Legendary existence commanded respect. Even sworn hostile races would hesitate to show open disrespect to one of such stature from their enemy race.

’Zilbris, the Spatial Dragon! A legendary figure who rose from being the weakest of the wind Amphiptere—crippled by a congenital defect—to mastering Spatial Laws while still beneath the Legendary rank. He evolved into a never-before-seen Silver Dragon... a unique species at the pinnacle of all coloured dragons, thanks to his spatial affinity. Just one step shy of becoming an Elder Dragon.’

’Come to think of it... Zilbris was said to have a bizarre quirk—he would often revert to his original Amphiptere form and compress his body down to around four metres using Spatial Manipulation. That’s barely double the humble two-metre frame he had in his weakest days.’ Alex recalled.

His gaze sharpened as Jared, ever unfazed, addressed the arrogant dragon.

”The forest protector neglected its duty, allowing goblins—vermin with a kill-on-sight decree within the Empire—to not only infiltrate but thrive in Dankrot Forest. This is a clear violation of the Treaty signed by our Fury Family and the Empire with the Law Guardians of this Forest.

”By the terms of that treaty, our young lord had every right to slay a mere peripheral dragon who ignored its charge,” Jared declared coolly.

Alex was quietly impressed. Even in the presence of a being as powerful and unpredictable as a Legendary dragon, Jared remained his curt self, neither meek nor arrogant—just resolute.

’If this is how he acts before a Legendary being... I suppose all those moments of ”disrespect” he showed me don’t count for much.’

”The one he killed was no mere forest guardian! He was of the dragon race! It is the dragon race alone that holds the right to punish their own—not some insolent human!”

Zilbris flapped his wings dismissively, as though wafting away a foul stench.

’Ah, yes...’ Alex mused, recalling the entry he had read about Zilbris in the compendium of Pangea’s most notorious figures.

Zilbris had been described as immensely arrogant—even by the standards of dragons, a species already infamous for their pride.

The book had warned: ”Give him an inch, and he will take not just a mile, but a kingdom. The only way to deal with him is to crush his momentum before it builds.”

Alex’s grin turned sharp—wolfish.

Jared’s spine stiffened.

That grin... For a split second, Jared’s instincts betrayed him—he almost mistook Alex for Earl Drake.

’That expression... Don’t tell me he’s going to—?!’

Calm Madness!

Alex activated the only trait he had access to. With his mana and spiritual force sealed, even OmniRune lay dormant. He was its living battery, after all.

”You’re right, Zilbris. That fool could only be punished by the dragon race. And that’s exactly why I did it.”

He tilted his head, his voice dripping with insolence, speaking not as an equal... but as if Zilbris were beneath him.

”You...!” Jared’s eyes widened in disbelief.

He knew Alex was bold... but this? Even Earl Drake wouldn’t go this far.

”You dare...?!”

Zilbris’s aura flared with wrath.

”I do. What are you going to do about it?”

Alex held his gaze. His voice neither submissive nor prideful—just infuriatingly flat. A deliberate provocation, tuned to avoid feeding Zilbris’s superiority or defiance.

A single breath stretched into an eternity.

And Alex didn’t blink.

***