The Foreigner on the Periphery

If the Developers had heard the gold dragon's howl, they would have felt incredibly wronged.

The commander who commissioned them wasn't the worst client—at least he knew what he wanted. Considering how often clients submitted requests without a clue about their own needs, it was actually a welcome change of pace.

Still, they couldn't exactly call him a good client. He had fed the Developers false information.

"The infiltration team reported that the bomb was defective. It needs improvement."

The truth behind the perfectly fine bomb being dismissed as a dud during the first infiltration was simple: someone trapped inside had absorbed all the dragon blood, depriving the Kavites of the chance to even exhibit symptoms of poisoning.

This truth naturally never reached the Developers. Instead, they racked their brains and speculated on a dozen different causes.

As a result, the subsequent model was overhauled to increase the concentration of dragon blood and decrease the amount of the coating compound.

"We're sacrificing some balance. The new goal is to make it burst stronger and faster!"

That was when the side effects appeared—the inevitable consequence of overworked Developers sacrificing stability for performance under the crushing weight of tight deadlines.

Even after handing the modified bombs over to the rescue team, some of the Developers muttered in anxiety.

"Is this... really going to be okay?"

It was not okay.

"Goddammit!"

Boom! Crash!

Jenkinson, using Polymorph to take the form of an elf, smashed through the walls as he sprinted.

The sectors the Ancient Race had expanded later crumbled easily, but the older foundations built by the primordial race in the distant past could not be destroyed, even by him. Furthermore, the distorted space rendered any Teleport spell impossible.

As a result, he constantly found himself backtracking over the same paths or taking long detours just to cross short distances. And every time he did, the Kavite pursuers closed the gap.

"Damn it, they caught up again!"

He chanted a spell, gathering light into the shape of a blade. With a flick of his hand, it shot forward like a bullet. The flash of light tore through the air and surged toward his enemies.

Swoosh!

"Keeek!"

The leech-like aliens tumbled to the floor, severed in half. It was a sequence that had already played out countless times.

Ever since Jenkinson's concealment was broken and his infiltration exposed.

'To hand over such an absurdly defective product!'

It was the bitter truth. Out of the five bombs distributed, the one Jenkinson received just had to be a dud.

This time, it wasn't the dragon misunderstanding the situation—it was a genuine defect.

A few minutes ago, Jenkinson had been spraying the colorless, odorless dragon blood like a pesticide when he noticed something wrong. Kavite screams echoed down the corridors he had already passed. The facility quickly descended into chaos as guards armed with Anti-Poison Artifacts began combing through the interior.

With the enemy actively hunting him down, discovery was only a matter of time.

"Intruder! We have an intruder here!"

The other rescue teams were being discovered one by one, forcing them to attempt their escapes. Jenkinson felt a creeping sense of dread.

'To think this operation ended in failure too!'

It was a horrific defeat, made even worse by his incredibly slim chances of making it out alive.

Fwoosh!

Roasting the elongated body of the last charging Kavite, the Ancient Dragon desperately searched for a way out.

'My magical power is running low.'

He had been herded by their relentless pursuit, ending up in a completely unintended part of the facility.

"What?!"

Jenkinson's gaze snapped to a single spot, as though he were sniffing the air. His senses, pushed to their absolute limits by tension, had just caught onto something. Could it be? At a time like this? He mulled it over in disbelief before his eyes suddenly widened.

"This pulse...!"

His pupils trembled.

From very close by, he felt a familiar flow of magical power—one he could never mistake for anything else.

Every Dragon Heart possessed its own unique magical wavelength, one that did not change easily unless fused with that of another dragon.

And Jenkinson perfectly remembered the wavelengths of the family he had spent thousands of years with.

He couldn't possibly be mistaken.

'I didn't feel it this clearly during the last infiltration!'

The very reason he had volunteered for the second infiltration team was because he had sensed this same pulse during the previous operation.

His father and mother's Dragon Hearts.

But back then, the sensation had been incredibly faint. It had felt as if they were hidden behind a barrier deep within an unreachable area.

Now, on the other hand...

'Did they take them outside the barrier? Why?!'

Whatever the reason, he couldn't let this opportunity slip by.

The noble legacy left behind by his late parents.

The oldest inherited token of power, one that had to be passed down to a special dragon.

He truly believed this was fate. It felt like a miracle arranged by his parents from the afterlife.

'Father, Mother... thank you. I will reclaim your legacy and make it out of here alive!'

A resolute determination settled over Jenkinson's face.

*

"It appears there has been an incident. I will escort you elsewhere for the time being."

After ending the transmission, the Kavite pulled out various pieces of protective gear and strapped them on, before preparing to cast Polymorph to turn Minjun into a Kavite. Minjun's presence was a top-tier secret even among their own kind, making this disguise an absolute necessity whenever he left the quarantine room.

Hummm!

The Kavite's fur twitched as it released magical power, and Minjun carefully lowered his magical resistance. He wouldn't have needed to do this in the past, but thanks to the recent 'miracle,' he had regained a fraction of his strength. If he wasn't careful, he might reflexively repel the spell.

Thanks to his deliberate effort, the spell washed over him without resistance.

Flash!

The man who looked no different from an ordinary human vanished, replaced by a creature he often likened to a bird's reproductive organ.

Swallowing his humiliation, Minjun put on the protective gear the Kavite handed him. He recognized at a glance that it was designed to defend against biochemical weapons.

'He mentioned an intruder.'

Who would dare infiltrate an Ancient Race base?

'It must be a dragon.'

"Now then, let us move."

The Kavite led the way toward the central sector, an area Minjun had been strictly forbidden from entering until now.

He and his escorts hurried down a secluded corridor.

According to the radio chatter, the intruders were running rampant nearby. Since they had been discovered and were on the run, they were most likely heading for the exit. Because Minjun's group was positioned deeper in the facility, their paths weren't expected to cross. Still, they were evacuating him just to be safe.

The chances of running into them were incredibly slim.

Or at least, they should have been.

Boom! Crash!

"Wh-what the?!"

The fleeing Kavite stared in horror.

The roaring blasts were closing in rapidly. Frantic shouts erupted from the Communicator. The control room was screaming at them to evacuate the primordial race immediately.

One of the intruders was barreling straight toward them at terrifying speed!

"Why are they coming here...?!"

Were they the target?!

Crash!

The wall to their left exploded. Shrapnel and dust sprayed everywhere, and a strange silhouette loomed through the debris. It looked like an elf, its clothes reduced to rags and its body covered in wounds. Of course, no one actually believed that this hulking, heavily muscled figure over three meters tall was genuinely an elf. A massive aura of magical power, one that the elf race could never hope to mimic, swirled wildly alongside thick killing intent.

'A dragon...!'

Pinned down by the intruder's savage glare, the Kavite felt a surge of profound confusion.

Why had the dragon chased them all the way down here instead of fleeing toward the exit? Was it aiming for the primordial race? But how? These beasts weren't even supposed to know they existed!

The Kavite official would never learn the answer to those questions.

Slash!

A dark blue arc cleaved the air. The Kavite watched as his vision split perfectly in half, the darkness between the two halves rapidly swelling.

It was the very last thing his consciousness registered.

Squelch!

Bodily fluids erupted like a waterfall, and the snake-like body hit the floor, cleanly bisected. But Jenkinson knew that these bugs didn't die that easily. Blades of light rained down upon the Kavite in a torrential downpour, dicing its flesh horizontally and vertically to ensure a swift, absolute death.

The dragon's intent was fulfilled. The moment the Kavite died, its bound sub-space ruptured, spilling its contents onto the floor.

Clatter!

The Ancient Dragon effortlessly dodged the incoming attacks of the guards, his eyes zeroing in on the most precious treasure among the spilled items.

With a wave of his hand, a telekinetic whip lashed out and snatched the item. It was sealed inside a case, but he didn't even need to open it to know what it was.

It was his parents' Dragon Hearts.

'I got them back!'

His personal goal for infiltrating this place had been fulfilled.

The real problem was what came next.

'Now, how do I get out of here?'

That was when his eyes fell upon the remaining Kavites.

While a handful of guards shrieked and charged at him, the vast majority had pulled back, forming a tight defensive ring to protect someone.

'...Huh?'

Dragons couldn't tell one Kavite from another. It was much like a human trying to tell two earthworms apart.

But this time, Jenkinson recognized someone. Cornered with their escape route blocked, the guards were desperately putting their lives on the line to shield a specific alien.

It looked no different from the other Kavites, but...

'That light!'

Their eyes met.

The Kavite they were so desperate to protect was one of the individuals who had stepped off the transport ship during the first infiltration.

The very entity engulfed in a blinding light that only Jenkinson had been able to perceive.

The dragon's mind raced.

'Whatever the nature of that light may be, based on the procession back then, this bug has to be an incredibly high-ranking official. They're still desperately shielding it with their lives!'

He could finally see a way out of this alive.

He made his decision in an instant.

'I'm taking that thing hostage!'

Just then, reinforcements flooded in through the wall Jenkinson had just shattered. The troops dispatched to escort the primordial race had finally arrived.

"Capture him!"

A savage smirk twisted Jenkinson's lips.

Dash!

The moment he moved, his body blurred into an afterimage.

Wham! Wham! Wham!

"Aaaargh!"

The surrounding guards were shredded in a heartbeat.

The dragon disguised as an elf seized the primordial race disguised as a Kavite.

Completely unaware of each other's true identities, the two beings crossed paths for the first time as hostage-taker and hostage.

"...!"

Jenkinson recalled the procession he had witnessed earlier.

This luminescent leech had seemed physically impaired, moving with great difficulty. As if proving his theory right, the hostage simply froze stiff, unable to even struggle.

The dragon roared at the surrounding troops.

"Take one more step, and I'll blast this bastard's nerve cord to pieces!"

Vrrr! Vrrrrr!

The surrounding air vibrated sharply, practically screaming his intent to blow the hostage's head off at a moment's notice.

His voice and expression were perfectly threatening, but inwardly...

'...Is this going to work?'

It was merely a guess that this bug—which looked like the unholy crossbreed of a leech and a firefly—was a high-ranking official. In reality, Jenkinson had no idea who he was holding.

What if this thing was completely worthless as a hostage? Or what if it was just high-ranking enough to be important, but still expendable if push came to shove?

But Jenkinson's anxiety lasted only a fleeting moment.

"Eeeek!"

The Kavites hesitated, utterly paralyzed. They kept their weapons trained on him, but it was agonizingly clear that they were too terrified of harming the hostage to actually pull the trigger.

Jenkinson cheered internally.

'It worked!'

Jenkinson felt a bright, radiant dawn breaking before his eyes. And it wasn't just because of the literal light radiating from the Kavite in his grip. It was because he finally saw a path to survival.

At that exact same moment, Minjun also felt a bright, radiant dawn breaking before his eyes. It was because of something emanating from the elf holding him hostage. Every cell in his body was suddenly boiling with power.

'Who the hell is this guy?!'

Minjun had just encountered his second miracle.

The elf (undoubtedly a dragon in disguise) playing the role of hostage-taker was carrying a bizarre contraption on his back.

And from that device...

Psssssssh!

A fine mist, thinner than fog, was constantly spraying out.

Even though it had been refined into a colorless, odorless liquid, Minjun instantly recognized its true essence.

The vapor spraying mere inches from his face was, without a shadow of a doubt, dragon blood.

It was a bizarre sight, something he had never witnessed even before going into his long slumber.

'This is no ordinary guy. Who the hell walks around with a dragon blood fountain strapped to their back?!'

Regardless, he couldn't let this opportunity slip away. Held firmly in the dragon's grasp, Minjun stealthily deactivated his protective gear. The sweet, damp mist of dragon blood condensed on his skin. Before the moisture could even form droplets and run down, his flesh hungrily absorbed it.

"Make way!"

The dragon bellowed.

The Kavites were at a complete loss.

"H-hand him over, you filthy beast!"

Terrified to reveal the hostage's true identity, the Kavites could only fidget and hesitate. Seeing this, Minjun's mind began racing just as fast as Jenkinson's.

The hostage-taker was clearly planning to use him to escape the planet. That was exactly what Minjun wanted as well.

'I can't let him doubt my value as a hostage!'

There was no need to reveal that he wasn't actually a Kavite in this situation, nor was there any reason to blab about being a member of the primordial race.

Instead, Minjun projected his voice with absolute authority.

="What is the meaning of this?! Remove your filthy hands from me at once!"=

"...!"

That voice carried the overwhelming arrogance and unquestionable authority of a ruler who had once commanded an entire race. It was so potent that even the dragon flinched. For a split second, Jenkinson actually considered obeying the command and letting him go.

But that feeling lasted only a moment. A second later, the dragon was absolutely convinced.

'This guy... his status might be even higher than I imagined! Once I escape, I can definitely use him for a prisoner exchange!'

If that was true, then today's operation wasn't a total failure after all. He had obtained the perfect bargaining chip to rescue the other captives later.

Completely ignoring the actual words Minjun had yelled, the dragon's mind was consumed by the urge to take his hostage and run. Since this aligned perfectly with his original plan, he felt no inner conflict.

Jenkinson hoisted the Kavite over his shoulder. The leech wriggled as if to resist, but by some bizarre coincidence of opposing forces, it looked exactly as if the bug had forcefully climbed onto the intruder's shoulder under its own power. The onlookers failed to notice the awkwardness of the movement, and the hyper-tense Jenkinson was equally oblivious.

Flash!

Having secured both his parents' Dragon Hearts and a top-ranking Kavite official (he presumed), Jenkinson unleashed a spell in a surprise attack.

Boom!

"Aaargh! C-capture him!"

Scraping together the last dregs of his magical power, Jenkinson bolted. He moved at blistering speeds, barely staying one step ahead of his pursuers. The surroundings stretched into blurred lines as he whipped past them.

But Minjun was dismayed.

'...Ah, this idiot. It's not this way.'

In his frantic haste to outrun the guards, Jenkinson had sprinted down a corridor he hadn't bothered to scout beforehand. Because of this, he had completely bypassed the fastest route to the exit, opting for a far more complicated path. Slung over his shoulder, Minjun was in agony.

It would be awfully suspicious for a kidnapped Kavite to start giving his captor directions to the exit.

Instead...

'Maybe I can do it now?'

Minjun silently wove a spell. The Kavites bleeding out across the facility would serve as the perfect sacrifices.

Sizzle.

A dying Kavite drew its final breath, and the shadow beneath its corpse shuddered. A pitch-black figure slipped free, riding the darkness to surge ahead of Jenkinson.

A moment later, the gold dragon arrived at an intersection.

Crash!

An explosion echoed from straight ahead. The shadow construct had smashed into a wall.

Jenkinson flinched, his body tensing up. At the exact same time, he heard the shouts of his pursuers from that direction.

"This way! The noise came from over there! After him!"

"...Damn it!"

The explosion was already drawing the guards toward that path. Left with no other choice, Jenkinson veered off and sprinted down a different corridor. It was exactly the route to the exit Minjun had wanted him to take.

'Yes, that's it. Good boy. Keep going.'

In that moment, an old memory unbiddenly surfaced in Minjun's mind.

Why on earth he was suddenly remembering the old methods used to train tracking dragons, he couldn't say.

Hsssss.

The device strapped to the dragon's back continued to endlessly spew the colorless, odorless dragon blood. Now entirely free of hesitation, Minjun absorbed every last drop of it.

The dragon was overjoyed, having reclaimed his parents' legacy, discovered an escape route, and secured the perfect bargaining chip to rescue his captive allies.

And the primordial race was equally thrilled, having been blessed by a rapid succession of miraculous gifts.

Harboring two completely different sets of intentions, the two fugitives hurtled forward together, charging toward the freedom that lay beyond the facility's walls.

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