Chapter 50: No Havoc
"Your orders?" Hanna asked.
Behind her, Xena ignored the commotion and kept working on her heavy makeup. If she went out now, people would think she was a clown, and she wouldn’t rest until she massacred anyone who called her that.
Han nodded. "We have to clean up a mess. Let’s head down and keep everyone at attention. I’ll deal with the problem myself."
Without asking why, Hanna nodded. "As you wish."
She hurried downstairs to relay Han’s orders and make sure the others didn’t handle it on their own. She suspected Han meant to use any incident for training, and she was right.
His maids were experienced. At most, he’d let Hanna handle it to test the limits of her dragonized body. The others might fight in formation to keep in shape. Xena and Bellatrix would go first to probe the enemy and read their moves.
As much as he valued both, his maids were far more devoted than his pets.
Downstairs, Han entered the restaurant’s main hall and saw a humanoid mass of flesh wreaking havoc, grabbing chairs and hurling them, flipping tables. Each broken item screamed expense. It infuriated Han, broke as he was, but he stayed calm on the outside.
This place is my face in this city. No one trashes it.
"It’s a human strengthened by some kind of spell or external source. I suspect it’s a slave who ran away from their owners and stumbled into our restaurant, but I won’t let coincidence dull my suspicions. First. Bellatrix, kick this thing out of my restaurant," Han said.
Bellatrix nodded and sprinted. She outclassed Han physically. He had only awakened recently and had trained only a little. Her well-toned body matched her monk-like fighting style. She closed the distance and slammed her palm into its back, sending it rolling out of the restaurant onto the cold thoroughfare.
"Done," Bellatrix whispered.
"Well done," Han chuckled, playing with the words.
Crunching debris underfoot, Han walked through the restaurant and then out of it. He felt a chill on his skin, as if more than the night air chilled him.
It isn’t just the night’s cold.
As the monster pushed itself up from the concrete and turned toward him, Han narrowed his eyes. A cold gleam lit them.
And you didn’t target my restaurant at random. There’s more to this attack than I thought.
The enemy rushed him. Han sent mana in waves around himself and conjured three magic circles. Cold Dark Dragons slid out. Born of his draconic dark mana, their presence sank the thoroughfare into even deeper cold, but the monster didn’t care.
It kept barreling toward him.
"Go."
The Dark Dragons stretched toward it, slammed into bulging flesh, and bit deep. Blood and flesh splattered, yet the monster kept coming.
Its vital points are hard to see. Those bulging muscles hide them. Getting to the skull would be even harder.
Han analyzed quickly. He didn’t have much time. The monster closed in, and he had to react. He sidestepped, avoiding the charge like a rugby player. It cut to the side and came after him.
It flailed its arms like a zombie. Han danced around it, staying just out of reach, but it kept getting harder to evade. His legs tangled, and he nearly fell, catching his balance by sheer luck.
But the monster’s punch was already on him. Han raised his forearms in a guard and took the blow head-on, flying back and rolling. Dark scales under his sleeves cracked as the impact sank in. It hurt, but not enough to make him scream.
File the pain. Fix the flaw later. Kill now.
In both lives, I neglected training. Close combat is a dragon’s forte, but I’m terrible at it. I need to fix that. Whatever that thing is, it opened my eyes, so I’ll kill it as painfully as possible.
Han’s blue eyes shone brightly. "Howl."
BANG!
All three dragons spat flames while still biting the monster’s flesh. Black Flames with Blue Clouds erupted across its muscles, finally making it scream in genuine agony. It raised its arms and clutched its face, muscles shaking.
It locked its wild eyes on Han again and charged.
Good. Come closer.
Still charging me? Your resilience is intriguing. I like it. You’re above me in close combat, so I’ll fight like a Warlock. Let’s try this trick, ’cause why not?
As Han exuded mana, a raw magic circle formed in front of him. It had no markings, drawn from the darkest mana in the world, barely visible in the shadows. The circle hovered before Han like a shield. When the monster slammed its fist into the circle’s surface, it stopped.
Hold the shape. Don’t blink.
Goosebumps raced up its arm and through its body. It went numb, unable to move an inch.
Han dropped low and drove a straight kick, sending the monster skidding away from him.
I may be terrible at close combat, but I’m still a dragon. I can pack a punch or a kick.
Inside, Xena watched with a smirk, enjoying Han’s suffering.
The moment the raw magic circle appeared, her smirk vanished.
That was an Adept trick for self-defense! He replicated it after seeing it once from that Quasi Domain trash? Did he even practice during stops? Wait. A fucking Initiate just did an Adept trick!
She wouldn’t smile or talk for the rest of the night. That much was certain.
Meanwhile, Han’s Dark Dragons fulfilled their mission by implanting the Obsidian Cauldron in the monster’s flesh. No one would suspect it. He had buried it deep in the bulging flesh because he suspected someone was watching the fight from the shadows.
With more mana flowing into him, his Dark Dragons started winning the battle of attrition. It was only a matter of time before the monster died.
Han smiled. "Before you perish, dance more with me. You’re a good training partner, though I have a few better ones at home."
His maids smiled at his words.