Chương 181: Reborn as the Dragon — Chapter 181 - Unite

When it comes to making humans appreciate the beauty of life with bare hands, Bugs Bunny is exceptionally gifted. It had undergone rigorous training. It could dislocate every joint in an enemy's body, have an absolute blast doing it, and leave the enemy still breathing at the end. Just like now. Bugs Bunny raised one hand and seized Akatsuki Akase by the skull.

"Ho ho!" It sneered, then pulled Akatsuki Akase straight into its arms. Akatsuki Akase barely cleared 1. 6 meters. Against Bugs Bunny, who was closing in on 1. 8, she genuinely looked like a little kid being scooped up by an adult. The unfortunate part was that this particular "boyfriend's" embrace carried absolutely zero tenderness. Its muscles surged and locked. The two rabbit paws clamped tighter and tighter until the creaking of bone grinding against bone rose from inside the hug like a symphony of regret.

The Blaze Rabbits spread through the bushes were doing much the same. Through dedicated study, they had mastered an extensive catalog of WWE technique: Avalanche Powerbombs, Arabian Facebusters, Armbreakers, Alabama Slams, and more. The problem was that they'd never had sparring partners. These big rabbits had been itching to practice for a long time. It wasn't like they could use their cup-sized female rabbits for drills. So now, with actual targets on hand, they were practically vibrating with excitement.

They lined up and took turns trying their moves on the Sakura Players. To make sure the players lasted long enough for everyone to get a turn, the rabbits had even laid soft grass mats on the ground first, so the impacts wouldn't be quite as catastrophic. Even so, there were only so many players in Akatsuki Akase's breakout group, and there were at least a thousand Blaze Rabbits in those bushes. The supply was nowhere near adequate.

In the end, each rabbit got to try exactly one technique per player before passing them along to the next rabbit in line, in the name of fairness. It was, by any measure, a tragic situation. The bushes had become the stage for "Brotherly Rabbits ♂ Love's Education," and the atmosphere was growing increasingly intense ♂. Su Nian glanced over once and looked away. He'd spotted Akatsuki Akase's breakout group ages ago. He simply hadn't felt the need to do anything about it.

His attention drifted back to Anna, who was flinging Fireball spells into the chaos. Since fusing with the dragon heart, her personality had shifted in ways that were hard to ignore. Watching her now, hurling fire at people with clear enthusiasm and zero hesitation, treating the players like they were stationary targets rather than living beings, Su Nian's last remaining worry quietly dissolved. He'd been afraid Anna was killing enemies only for his sake.

He hadn't wanted his soft, gentle little companion to carry the weight of that many deaths. She wasn't carrying anything. She looked like she was having the time of her life.

"Master." Rolls-Royce came swooping in, his dragon face taut with alarm.

"I have discovered a problem." He landed close. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"These humans — they don't seem to be able to die."

"They can resurrect."

"I personally stomped one to death, and not long afterward, he walked out of a small structure right in front of me."

"I thought I was seeing things, so I stomped him again. He appeared from the same structure again."

"I assumed the structure was the real body, and the human was just a projection, so I demolished it." Rolls-Royce's voice climbed higher.

"And he still resurrected. From the exact same spot. Flesh and bone knitting itself back together, and he just climbed up off the ground!" The words were coming faster now, fear compounding with each sentence. Even a dragon had a ceiling for bizarre. Players had punched straight through it. An enemy that couldn't be killed. How do you fight something like that?

"Since you've already noticed," Su Nian said, "it's time I told you exactly what these humans are." He gazed out over the sea of fire consuming Sakura Island Newbie Village No. 2, his eyes flat and dark, carrying a quiet weight of killing intent.

"The world we occupy is not the only one. Beyond ours, there are many others. I imagine the dragon inheritance mentions this." Rolls-Royce nodded slowly. It did. The records on other worlds were extensive, though they'd always felt theoretical, the kind of thing a dragon studied after reaching the Legendary tier, not before.

"They came from another world." Rolls-Royce connected it immediately. Then his brow furrowed.

"But even so, resurrection with no cost, no consequence? They're more dangerous than the undead."

"More dangerous than the undead, and more dangerous to you and me both." Su Nian nodded.

"To this entire world." He turned and led Rolls-Royce toward the center of the ruins. What remained of Newbie Village No. 2 was wreckage. In the middle of the shattered plaza, something glittered against the debris, a crystal core, catching the firelight, pristine and sharp-edged among the rubble. The heart of the village. What was left of it. Su Nian collected it and kept moving.

"As you can see, they don't belong here. They came to invade. If they succeed, this world gets discarded, pushed into something worse, or used as bait for whatever comes next." He let that sit for a moment.

"But their resurrection isn't free."

"Every time they come back, the timer doubles."

"Every time they die, they drop items. Their strength drops with it." Rolls-Royce opened his mouth.

"I know what you're going to ask." Su Nian looked at him, voice quiet and deliberate.

"I don't know exactly what happens to a world after a successful invasion. I have guesses. None of them are good." A beat.

"What I know is this: we die. Everything in this world dies. That's why I will not stop until these humans are gone." The protective shield over the newbie village hadn't fully faded yet. As they moved deeper into its range, both dragons felt it simultaneously, a heaviness settling over them like a hand pressing down. Their power, dulled. Blunted. Cut short before it could fully form.

"And they were just a village," Su Nian said quietly.

"Can you feel it?" He was standing on the remains of a collapsed structure, the night sky spread out above him, looking down at Rolls-Royce below. Rolls-Royce nodded, expression tight. At least a third of his strength had simply vanished within the shield's boundary.

"There are countless villages like this across the continent," Su Nian continued.

"Many have already upgraded to towns. Some may be further along than that."

"And every single one of these humans is a professional. Their path to power is simple: kill creatures like us. That's all it takes." The image assembled itself in Rolls-Royce's mind without being invited, tens of thousands of professionals swarming Dragon Island, cutting down dragon after dragon with practiced efficiency. Extracting hearts. Taking livers. Looting the hoards.

"No." His voice came out low.

"This is, Master, what do we do? If the entire world is full of them, how do we hold?"

"Calm down." Su Nian gave him a sideways look, privately thinking: is this thing actually a dragon? Folding like a wet piece of paper at the first sign of trouble.

"I don't know how the rest of the world handles it."

"What I know is what we do here. We unite every monster under one banner. We destroy their villages. And we build cities of our own." He held up the crystal core fragment, letting it catch the light between his fingers.

"This is how we do it. Every structure we want — every function, every defense — it runs through these shards. And the only way to get them is to destroy their settlements."

"So that's the path, Rolls-Royce. Real unity. Not an arrangement, not a temporary truce, genuine alliance, monsters standing together, building something that belongs to us. And we drive every last invader out." Su Nian's gaze burned. His crimson-gold dragon eyes held something that looked like fire given form, not the wild kind, but the kind that doesn't go out. Rolls-Royce stared into them. It was like staring at the sun.

He took in the Black Dragon's face, the fierce lines of it, the sheer mass of him, the authority that sat on him like something natural and inevitable. Slowly, Rolls-Royce lowered his head. Not because he was told to. Not because of any contract or compulsion. Because he meant it.

"Brass Dragon Rolls-Royce is willing to become your vassal." His voice was steady.

"I swear to the Dragon God Bahamut. I will follow you until my last breath." A pause.

"Wherever your dragon breath reaches..."

"There will be scorched earth, and I will have put it there." ➤ Next: Pride Before a Fall