CHAPTER 26: 26 I AM A DRAGON, THAT’S FINE.

A long, long time ago, there was an era unknown to man.

During that time, the Ancient Gods had briefly fallen into slumber beneath the earth.

The deities of faith had not yet been born.

At that rare moment in time, a powerful race seized this precious opportunity.

They became the masters of the heavens and this world in one fell swoop!

Countless gigantic figures occupied the sky.

Flames scorched the wilderness.

Lava covered the earth.

At that time, all life bowed under their supreme pressure, lowering their heads.

They instilled this fear deep into the bloodlines of every race, causing their descendants to tremble and prostrate at their sight.

Although later, the tide of chaos surged again, and new races overthrew them and ascended the throne, the sky no longer belonged to them.

But no one can deny there was an era that belonged to them.

That was the era of the Giant Dragons!

...

Fire.

Fire, fire, fire.

Everywhere he looked, there were flames.

Gazing out, whether the sky or the earth, all were covered in fire.

Only fire.

Nothing else.

It seemed as if fire was the only theme of this world.

But strangely, Herbert, standing amidst the blaze, did not feel it scorching. In fact, it felt somewhat comfortable.

Warm and considerate.

When he saw those flames, he felt a faint hunger in his heart.

Gurgle!

When a deafening rumble emanated from his stomach, Herbert couldn’t suppress the instinct in his heart and involuntarily inhaled a breath toward the flames before him.

Inhale——

With a whirlwind, the fan-shaped flames in front of him flowed into his mouth, creating a gap and revealing the dry, cracked scorched earth beneath.

As the flames entered, scorching his throat like strong liquor, Herbert suddenly realized something was amiss.

Hmm?

Is fire something to eat?

He hesitated for a moment but ultimately followed his instincts and swallowed it.

Gulp!

Hiss—it wasn’t hot.

Not only was it not hot, it tasted quite good.

The flavor was excellent!

And at that moment, it was as if Pandora had opened the magic box, the family dog tasted human food for the first time, and the first repeated message in a chat group...

Everything was too late.

Herbert, who had been enlightened, couldn’t think of many reasons; only the thought of taking another bite of fire remained in his mind.

He ran wildly in the land of flames, embracing and devouring them eagerly.

Inhale——

Slurp——

Inhale from the left, slurp from the right, how delightful.

Not knowing how long it had been, when the flames within tens of kilometers were devoured by Herbert like a mad dog, he slowly stopped his frenzied feasting.

When he finally stopped, his body was dozens of times larger than before, and his every move could stir up wind and waves, shaking the earth.

He lay lazily on the gradually cooling earth, letting out an earth-shattering burp from his throat.

Burp!

Simultaneously, as he burped, a blinding pillar of fire was emitted from his mouth, illuminating the surroundings.

At that moment, Herbert finally realized his current identity—he was no longer human!

Mom, I’m not human anymore!

Although he didn’t know what had happened, it seemed that he had turned into a giant dragon.

If I am a dragon, then so be it.

Moreover, there was an even more important matter—he couldn’t recall his origins.

His mind was blank as if it were wiped clean, with not a trace of memory remaining.

The only things left in his heart were a name and a faint subconsciousness of once being human.

"What on earth is going on? Where am I now... huh?"

Herbert pondered, suddenly feeling everything around him begin to shake.

Uh... was I drunk from the carbon?

Oh, it was the fire I consumed that was hot—no.

No, it was the earth that was trembling!

Click, click, click...

Along with the earth’s roar, the scorched ground cracked, shattered, and rose... a massive mountain so large it blocked out the sky erupted from the earth.

"Roar!!!"

When the roar sounded, Herbert realized it wasn’t actually a mountain, but a head.

The head of a giant dragon!

Wow—

Although Herbert thought his body was already massive, he never expected it wasn’t even as big as this dragon’s eye, so tiny that he was like a toy.

The One-Eyed Dragon King lowered its head, staring at the stunned Herbert lying in front of it, and let out a low growl: ["Dare to awaken the great Dragon King! State your name!"]

"Me? I’m Herbert."

Herbert answered honestly. Despite being in awe of its enormity, he strangely didn’t feel afraid and even dared to ask in return:

"And who are you? What kind of dragon king are you?"

Are you the East Sea Dragon King? Or the West Sea... Wait, what sea is the East Sea?

Xia Donghai?

No, and what is Crooked Mouth Dragon King?

What kind of chaotic nonsense is stuffed into my head!

The Dragon King seemed to be confused by this question too, and didn’t answer for a while.

Stare—

It just silently stared at Herbert for a long time before strangely asking:

["You ask who I am? Your bloodline is powerful enough to enter the ancestral lands, yet you don’t know who I am?"]

"I don’t know, so who exactly are you?"

The One-Eyed Giant Dragon fell silent for a while longer, then finally burst into hearty laughter.

["...Hah! Hahaha! Interesting, how interesting!"]

In the confused gaze of Herbert, it roared and shot out from underground, flapping its scarred and damaged wings to soar into the sky.

That massive body, whose mere movement would alter space itself, was covered in countless scars: a single eye, broken wings, severed limbs...

Old wounds were not yet healed, new ones added again and again, until countless injuries accumulated into its current state.

At this moment, even the amnesiac Herbert could comprehend purely from his soul—its very existence signified destruction.

["Remember my name—"]

["In the call of the abyss and murmurs of chaos, my name is softly uttered in forbidden words—I, the Dragon Descendant’s Demise, the eternal flame that never extinguishes, the perpetual night before dawn!"]

["The Destroyer!!!"]

The Dragon King roared, and then, that terrifying figure suddenly dived down from the sky—charging straight toward Herbert.

Herbert: ?

With no time to react, that terrifying behemoth stomped its foot right on Herbert’s head.

Boom!

["Remember this moment of rage."]

["Little one, we will meet again!"]

.

.

"What kind of palm technique is this, descending from the heavens?!"

"Hold on, why did I turn into a paper person again!?"

"Wait, why am I saying again?"

Herbert suddenly opened his eyes, twitching his mouth slightly as he reached out to touch his still-attached head.

Thankfully.

This time he didn’t turn back into a flat and flimsy Herbert-chan.

Shaking his head, Herbert suddenly noticed the candle flame on the table, and with a thought, reached his hand out toward the flame.

Hiss... not hot.

After hesitating for a moment, Herbert leaned forward, gave a sharp suck at the flame.

Sss!

"Cough, cough..."

Darn, sucked the wax into my mouth!